JP2002292075A - Recording medium management device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a management device that an administrator can grasp information on granted value for game and consumed value for game at the same time regarding both two types of recording media of an owner-specific recording medium processed at a recording medium processing device and the owner-nonspecific recording medium. SOLUTION: Regarding member cards and visitor cards, a consumed amount of money consumed for renting balls and a deposited amount of money deposited in card are totaled according to the type of card, and the totaled consumed amount (consumption) and deposited amount (deposit) are put out in the output mode that member cards (member) and visitor cards (visitor) can be checked at the same time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a management device represented by a management computer, for example.
It accepts money, identifies the accepted money, and determines the magnitude of gaming value that can be used for games corresponding to a predetermined amount within the range of the identified amount of money. An owner-specific recording medium on which information that can specify the value of the utility value is recorded, and an unspecified owner on which the recording medium is an unspecified owner and the information that can specify the value of the game value is recorded A game value assigning means for performing processing for assigning to the value of the game value specified from the record information of the recording medium, and the game value value specified by the record information of the both record media. Is connected to a recording medium processing device having at least a gaming value use means for performing processing for use in the game, and manages the use status of the two recording media based on information transmitted from the recording medium processing device. On the recording medium management apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a management apparatus of this type, a communication apparatus which is generally known in the related art, for example, communicates with a recording medium processing apparatus such as a card unit provided for a game machine such as a pachinko game machine. There has been a management device that manages a possible and communicable recording medium processing device.

[0003] As a recording medium processing device managed by such a management device, it is possible to accept money, identify the accepted money, and use it for a game corresponding to a predetermined amount within the range of the identified amount of money. The owner-specifying recording medium on which information that can specify the magnitude of the game value, such as a member card whose owner is specified, is recorded, and the magnitude of the game value such as the card balance is recorded. Attach to the value of the game value specified from the record information of the non-owner-specified recording medium in which information that is a non-specified recording medium and that can specify the value of the game value is recorded (for example, a card is issued. Value addition means for performing processing for recording a card balance for recording, updating of the card balance upon payment, and the like, and using the magnitude of the game value specified from the recording information of these recording media for the game. (For example, a process of generating payout command information such as game balls and coins by debiting the card balance) and a game value use unit that is provided with at least a game value use unit. ,
In some cases, the usage status of both recording media is managed based on information transmitted from the recording medium processing device.

[0004] As such a management device, there is known a management device that totals the gaming values given for each of the two types of recording media as described above and outputs the totaled result for each type of recording media.

[0005]

However, in the case of the conventional management device which totals the assigned game values for each recording medium as described above, the manager assigns the game value assigned to the recording medium to the manager. Although it can be grasped, the manager cannot grasp the consumed game value, and cannot grasp information about both of the two types of recording media at the same time.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide two types of recording media, an owner-specific recording medium and an owner-unspecified recording medium, which are processed in a recording medium processing apparatus. In both cases, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium management device that enables an administrator to simultaneously grasp information on a given game value and a consumed game value.

[0007]

Specific Examples of Means for Solving the Problems and Their Effects
(1) The owner accepts money, identifies the accepted money, and specifies the size of a game value (card balance) that can be used for a game corresponding to a predetermined amount within the range of the identified amount of money. Owner-specific recording medium (member card 21) in which information is recorded which is a designated recording medium and which can specify the magnitude of the gaming value, and a recording medium in which the owner is not specified and the magnitude of the gaming value is designated. Assigned to the size of the game value (card balance) specified from the record information of the owner-unspecified recording medium (visitor card 23) in which the identifiable information is recorded (payment for updating the card balance of the member card) ,
A game value providing means for performing a process for receiving a visitor card) and a game value for performing a process for using the magnitude of the game value specified from the recording information of the both recording media for the game. A recording medium management device (card) that is communicatively connected to a recording medium processing device having at least value use means and manages the use status of both recording media based on information transmitted from the recording medium processing device (card unit 3) A unit management device 400) that is used by the game value providing means, the size of the granted game value (issue amount data, deposit amount data), which is the game value assigned by the game value assigning means. Summing means (control unit 40) for summing up the size of the used game value (consumption amount data) which is the game value
1) and an output unit (see FIGS. 8 to 11) that outputs the total value of each of the added game value and the used game value for each recording medium totaled by the totaling unit in an output mode (see FIGS. 8 to 11). A display unit 405 and a printing unit 406).

[0008] According to such a configuration, regarding the two types of recording medium, the owner-specific recording medium and the non-owner-specific recording medium, which are processed by the recording medium processing device, the magnitude of the added gaming value and the used gaming value Are summed up for each recording medium, and the summed up value of the provided game value and the size of the used game value are output in an output mode that allows simultaneous confirmation of the two types of recording media. For this reason, the administrator can simultaneously grasp the information regarding the added game value and the used game value for both of the two types of recording media processed by the recording medium processing device.

(2) Further, the tallying means performs the tallying for all the recording medium processing devices (card units 3, 3...) Installed in the game arcade (game arcade 100) (see FIG. 6). ), The output means outputs the tally value of the entire game hall counted by the tally means (see FIGS. 8 and 10).

[0010] According to such a configuration, the total value of the granted game value and the value of the used game value are output from the recording medium processing device of the entire game arcade. Can be grasped simultaneously for the two types of recording media.

(3) Further, the tallying means performs the tallying for each of the recording medium processing devices (card units 3, 3,...) Installed in the game arcade (game arcade 100) (FIG. 16). S51), the output means includes:
The tally value for each of the recording medium processing devices tallyed by the tallying means is output (see FIG. 10).

[0012] According to such a configuration, the sum of the added gaming value and the used gaming value is output separately for each recording medium processing device. The value can be grasped simultaneously for two types of recording media.

(4) Further, the tallying means performs the tallying for each of the gaming machine installation islands (gaming machine installation islands 200a) in which the recording medium processing is installed in the game arcade (S52 in FIG. 16), The output means outputs the tally value of each of the gaming machine installation islands tallyed by the tally means (see FIG. 9).

According to such a configuration, the sum of the added gaming value and the used gaming value is output separately for each of the gaming machine installation islands. The value can be grasped simultaneously for two types of recording media.

(5) Further, the tallying means performs the tallying for each time zone (S53 in FIG. 16), and the output means outputs the tally value for each time zone tallyed by the tallying means (S53). See FIG. 11).

[0016] According to such a configuration, the size of the totaled provided game value and the used game value is output separately for each of the totaled time zones. , The total value can be simultaneously grasped for the two types of recording media.

(6) Further, at least one of the owner-specific recording medium and the owner-unspecified recording medium is
The value of the game value specified by the record information of the recording medium can be converted into money corresponding to the size and returned for payment, and the tallying unit performs the payment. The value of the settlement game value, which is the game value, is tabulated (S50 in FIG. 16), and the output means outputs the tabulated value of the settlement game value tabulated by the tabulation means (see FIG. 8). ).

According to such a configuration, the totaled clearing game values are output in a visually recognizable manner for the recordable media, so that the manager can grasp the total value of the clearing game values. can do.

(7) The remaining game value obtained by subtracting the total value of the used game value and the total value of the settlement game value from the total value of the granted game values totaled by the totaling means ( The value further includes a remaining game value calculating means (S54 in FIG. 16) for calculating the size of the reclaimed money, and the output means outputs the remaining game value (FIG. 16) of the size calculated by the remaining game value calculating means. 8 is output (see FIG. 8).

According to such a configuration, the size of the remaining game value obtained by subtracting the total value of the used game value and the total value of the settlement game value from the total value of the provided game values is calculated. Is output, so that the administrator can grasp the magnitude of the game value remaining in the state given to the recording medium.

(8) The total value of the provided game values obtained by summing up the total value of the provided game values for each recording medium totaled by the totaling means (the total value of the deposit information of the member card and the visitor card, Means for calculating a total value of added gaming value (S51 to S54 in FIG. 16) for calculating the total value of the consumption information of the member card and the visitor card, and a value of the used gaming value for each recording medium totaled by the totaling means. Used game value total value calculation means (FIG. 16) for calculating the used game value total value (total value of the consumption information of the member card and the visitor card) obtained by summing up the total values.
S51 to S54), and the output unit includes:
The added game value total value calculated by the added game value total value calculation means and the used game value total value calculated by the used game value total value calculation means are output in an output mode that allows simultaneous confirmation. (See FIGS. 8 to 11).

According to such a configuration, the total value (the sum of the consumption information of the member card and the visitor card) obtained by summing up the value of the used game and the value of the provided game for the owner-specific recording medium and the owner-unspecified recording medium, respectively. Value, the total value of the payment information of the member card and the visitor card).

(9) Further, the tallying of the size of the used game value by the tallying means includes the size of the used game value (for today) based on the size of the provided game value on the tallying day; The size of the used game value based on the size of the provided game value before the tallying day is distinguished from the size of the used game value (the carryover amount), and the output unit outputs the tallyed game value calculated by the tallying unit. The aggregated value of the used game value based on the magnitude of the value and the aggregated value of the used game value based on the magnitude of the provided game value before the aggregation day are output in a distinguishable output mode (FIGS. 8 to 8). (See today's portion and carry-over portion in the consumption amount in Fig. 11).

According to such a configuration, the size of the aggregated game value in use is based on the magnitude of the granted game value on the day of the aggregation and the size of the granted game value before the aggregation day. Since the information is output in a visually recognizable manner, the manager grasps whether or not the total used game value is the one given as the granted game value on the totaling day. be able to.

[0025]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment,
As an example of a recording medium processing device in which the management device is used, a card unit provided corresponding to a pachinko gaming machine will be described and described. As the card unit, for example, a coin gaming machine, a slot machine using coins,
A card unit provided corresponding to another gaming machine, such as a gaming machine that inserts a predetermined number of pachinko balls in place of coin insertion and performs a slot machine game, may be a recording medium other than the card unit. It may be a processing device. That is, the present invention accepts money, identifies the accepted money, and determines the magnitude of a gaming value that can be used for a game corresponding to a predetermined amount within the range of the identified amount of money, by the owner. An owner-identifying recording medium on which information that can specify the magnitude of the gaming value is recorded, and an information recording medium on which the owner is not identified and that can identify the magnitude of the gaming value is recorded. Game value assigning means for performing processing for assigning to the value of the game value specified from the record information of the non-owner-specified recording medium, and the game value assigning means specified from the record information of the two record media. Game value use means for performing a process for using the magnitude of the value in a game is connected to a recording medium processing device having at least the value of the game, and based on information transmitted from the recording medium processing device, If the recording medium management apparatus for managing the use status, is applicable to any recording medium management apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a pachinko gaming machine 2 as an example of a gaming machine installed on a gaming machine installation island and a card unit 3 as an example of a recording medium processing device. In the amusement arcade, a plurality of gaming machine installation islands 200a in which a plurality of pachinko gaming machines 2 are provided side by side (in a mode in which the back sides face each other) are provided. On the left of each pachinko gaming machine 2, one pachinko gaming machine 2
A card unit 3 is provided in a one-to-one correspondence.

The card unit 3 includes a membership card (see the membership card 21 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3C) individually issued to players who have been registered as members at the game arcade. Visitor cards (see visitor cards 23 in FIGS. 3 (b) and 3 (d)) that can be used by the player can be used to borrow balls.

The member card is a recording medium that can be issued by a player, for example, by filling in required information on a predetermined registration form and submitting the card to a game arcade. As will be described later, various information such as a card balance as a consideration for a player's input price and member information for specifying individual members is recorded on the member card as card information. The member card is owned by the member, and can be used in any card unit 3 in principle. The visitor card is a recording medium incorporated in the card unit 3 and is a recording medium that is issued and issued after a player inserts bills or coins, and is used repeatedly in one card unit 3. . As will be described later, various information such as a card balance as a consideration for a player's insertion price is recorded on the visitor card as card information. These membership cards and visitor cards are constituted by non-contact type IC cards as described later.

In the gaming machine installation island 200a,
At one end, an island end control box 201 provided with an island end control device for performing various controls related to the gaming machine installation island 200a such as a money transfer control in the gaming machine installation island 200a and a device such as a coin collection box is provided. Have been.

When a player inserts a membership card into the card insertion / ejection port 4 provided at the lower end of the card unit 3,
The record information of the inserted membership card is read by a card reader / writer device (see FIGS. 4 to 6) provided in the card unit 3. And ball rental switch 8
When 0 is pressed (lending request operation), a part or all of the card balance included in the read data is withdrawn and the number of cards corresponding to the card balance is withdrawn to the upper plate 5 of the pachinko gaming machine 2. Balls are lent (paid). The card unit 3 and the pachinko gaming machine 2 are connected by wiring,
It is configured so that both data can be exchanged.

When a member card is inserted and a card balance is withdrawn and a ball is lent out according to the operation of the player, a ball lending command signal is transmitted from the card unit 3 to the pachinko gaming machine 2. . The pachinko gaming machine 2 pays out a predetermined number of balls to the upper plate 5 in accordance with the ball lending command signal. And
The player can play the ball by paying out the lending ball paid out to the upper plate 5 to a game area provided in the pachinko gaming machine 2. When returning the member card, pressing the return switch 81 returns the member card. Also, when the card balance of the member card becomes 0, it is automatically returned.

The upper plate 5 is provided with a card balance display 8 for displaying the card balance recorded on the inserted membership card and the card balance recorded on the issued visitor card. I have.

On the other hand, in a state where the member card is not inserted through the card insertion / ejection port 4, the player inserts a banknote (1000 yen banknote) into the banknote insertion slot 61 provided in the card unit 3, or By inserting coins (500 yen and 100 yen coins) into the coin insertion slot 62 provided in the card unit 3, the above-mentioned visitor card in which the card balance corresponding to the inserted amount is recorded is inserted from the card insertion / ejection opening 4. Issued to the player. This visitor card is
The prepaid card issuing company carries the card into the game arcade, and is set in each card unit 3 one by one in the game arcade, and is built in each card unit 3. At the time of issuance, the visitor card is once ejected from the card insertion / ejection port 4 in a manner that can be visually recognized but cannot be removed from the player. It is taken inside.

When a visitor card is issued, the entire card balance of the taken-in visitor card is automatically deducted and paid out to the upper plate 5 in the same procedure as in the case of the membership card described above. The lending of the ball is performed, and the lending for the entire card balance is performed collectively.

Since it is possible to issue a visitor card in response to the insertion of a bill, a relatively large amount (for example, 1000 yen) can be consumed with one issue, There is an advantage that sales of the amusement arcade are improved. Also, if a visitor card is issued once, the entire amount of the card balance will be deducted for lending of balls,
Since the player plays the game at least until the card balance specified from the record information of the issued visitor card is used up, the operation rate of the pachinko gaming machine 2 in the game hall is improved.

In the gaming machine installation island 200a, a transport path of the money transport device is provided in a space between the rows of the pachinko gaming machines and the card units 3 in which the back side is arranged opposite to each other. The banknotes and coins received by the card unit 3 are subjected to a process of identifying the banknotes, discharged from the back side of the card unit 3 onto the transport path, and collected at the end of the gaming machine installation island 200a. Transported and collected.

Next, the configuration of the card unit 3 will be described in detail. FIG. 2A is a partially enlarged front view of the card unit 3, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the card insertion / ejection port 4 along the line AA in FIG.

A card insertion / ejection port 4 is provided at the lower end on the front side in the card unit 3, and a card reader / writer device including an IC card reader / writer is provided behind the card insertion / ejection port 4 (see FIGS. 4 to 6). Is provided, and one visitor card 23 is set in the card reader / writer device and is always held (see FIG. 5).
(B)). Then, in a state where the member card is not inserted from the card insertion / ejection port 4, the player inserts a currency by inserting a banknote into the currency slot 61 or by inserting a coin into the coin slot 62. Then, the card balance corresponding to the amount of the inserted money is written into the visitor card 23 by the card reader / writer device, and the visitor card 23 is issued by partially protruding from the card insertion / ejection port 4 (FIG. 2 (b)). )reference).

Referring to FIG. 2B, the card unit 3
The vicinity of the card insertion / ejection port 4 on the front side of the card unit 3 has a concave portion
The cover 24 made of a transparent resin is fitted in the space of the recess 40. The cover 24 has a card insertion / reception hole 41 through which a card can be inserted / exited according to the shape of the card insertion / ejection opening 4, and is attached so as not to protrude outside the front surface of the card unit 3.
The cover 24 is configured so that even if the card is slightly ejected from the card insertion / ejection port 4 by the prism effect, the ejection state of the card can be visually recognized from all angles including the front of the card unit 3. A part of the visitor card 23 is ejected from the card insertion / ejection port 4 to a position where the player can visually recognize the issued visitor card 23, and is issued immediately thereafter without passing over to the player's hand. At the time of this issuance, the visitor card 23 is discharged into the cover 24 so as not to fly outside from the cover 24. For this reason, the visitor card 23 can be taken into the card unit 3 again without being handed over to the player at the time of issuance. As described above, since the card insertion / ejection opening 4 is covered with the cover 24, it is configured such that a player cannot pull out the visitor card 23 when the visitor card 23 is issued.

It is to be noted that a card insertion / discharge port is provided on the front surface of the card unit 3 without providing a depression on the front surface portion of the card unit 3, and a cover member made of a transparent resin (the cover 24 described above) is provided outside the card unit 3. Similarly to the above, a card card insertion / removal hole through which the member card 21 can be inserted / exited) is provided so as to protrude, and when the visitor card 23 is issued, a part of the card is projected into the cover member. Good. Even in that case, the presence of the cover member allows the card issuing state to be visually recognized, and prevents the player from pulling out the visitor card 23.

The card balance of the visitor card 23 taken in after the issuance is read by the card reader / writer device. Then, the number of lending coins corresponding to the total card balance read from the visitor card 23 is paid out from the pachinko gaming machine 2 into the upper plate 5. That is, the lending of the ball using the visitor card is performed collectively for the entire amount of the card balance. Then, after the ball is lent out, the visitor card is automatically returned to a predetermined standby position inside the card reader / writer device, and is brought into a standby state for the next issuance. As a result, the visitor card can be used repeatedly.

As described above, in the card unit 3, the operation of once issuing the visitor card 23, retaking it, and lending the ball can be repeated, so that the running cost in the game hall can be minimized.

The cover 24 includes a member light-emitting lamp 241 that emits red light when the entire member card 21 is used and a visitor light-emitting lamp 24 that emits green light when the visitor card 23 is used.
2 are provided. Specifically, the light-emitting lamp 2 for members
41 emits light while the member card 21 is inserted. On the other hand, the visitor light-emitting lamp 242 emits light from the time of issuance of the visitor card 23 to the end of lending of balls after issuance. Due to such difference in emission color,
The card unit 3 allows the player to know which card is being used, and the player can clearly recognize which card is being used by distinguishing the luminescent colors. it can.

In the present embodiment, the card balance of the visitor card 23 is shown to be collectively debited. However, when the visitor card 23 is issued, only a part of the card balance may be debited. Good.

At the top of the card unit 3, an online display lamp 91 is provided to inform the card unit management device (see FIG. 6) whether or not the card unit 3 is online. I have. The online display lamp 91 is turned on when the card unit 3 is online with respect to the card unit management device, and is turned off when the card unit 3 is offline. At the bottom of the online display lamp 91, there is a visitor card 2
A visitor card usable lamp 92 is provided for notifying the user of the use of No.3. The visitor card usable lamp 92 is turned on when the visitor card 23 is usable, and is turned off when the visitor card 23 is not usable.

When an error occurs in the card unit 3 or when a communication error occurs between the card unit 3 and the pachinko gaming machine 2,
The visitor card available lamp 92 flashes.

Below the visitor card usable lamp 92, a bill insertion slot 61 and a coin insertion slot 62 are provided side by side in the vertical direction. The bill insertion slot 61 has 1000
A plurality of types of banknotes of yen, 200 yen, 5000 yen, and 10000 yen can be inserted. A plurality of types of coins of 100 yen and 500 yen can be inserted into the coin insertion slot 62.

When a bill is inserted into the bill insertion slot 61, the bill is recognized by the bill discriminating device 31 (see FIG. 6) and it is determined whether or not the bill is proper. By inserting a coin into the coin insertion slot 62, the coin identification device 3
2 (see FIG. 6), the coin is taken in and it is determined whether or not the coin is a proper coin. If such bills and coins, that is, the currency, are appropriate, payment to the member card 21 (in this embodiment, payment up to 10,000 yen is possible, depending on the situation, is possible) ) Or issuance of a visitor card 23 (in the case of this embodiment, it is possible to issue a card with a card balance of up to 1,000 yen).

In a state where the appropriate member card 21 is not inserted into the card insertion / ejection port 4, a currency (a banknote, a bill, a bill, etc.) which does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value (for example, 1000 yen).
When a coin is inserted, a visitor card 23 in which an amount corresponding to the inserted money is recorded as a card balance.
Is automatically issued without the player's operation. Further, in a state where the member card 21 is inserted into the card insertion / ejection port 4 and money is inserted not exceeding a predetermined upper limit (for example, 10,000 yen), the card balance becomes “0”. ", The member card 21 can be paid. Here, depositing refers to updating the card balance by adding an amount corresponding to the inserted money to the card balance. In this embodiment, in response to the insertion of money while the card balance is “0”,
Payment is automatically made without any operation by the player. As described above, the member card 21 cannot make a deposit unless the card balance once becomes “0”.

Below the coin slot 62, there is provided a return button 93 which is operated to request a return when the inserted coin is jammed inside. When the return button 93 is operated, the ejected coins are returned from the coin return port 94 provided below the display plate 30 by performing a mechanical ejection operation in accordance with the operation.

Below the return button 93, a display plate 30 for performing various displays and operations is provided. The display plate 30 has a currency usable lamp 1
3, a price setting button 14, a price display 15, a fraction display button 16, a price display 17, a ball display 18, a connecting stand direction display 19, and a card insertion lamp 20 are provided.

The money usable lamp 13 is a member card 21
This is to notify whether or not money (banknotes and coins) can be inserted into the bill insertion slot 61 or the coin insertion slot 62 for depositing money into the banknote and issuing the visitor card 23. The currency usable lamp 13 is turned on when at least one of a banknote and a coin can be inserted, and is turned off when both the banknote and the coin cannot be inserted.

In this card unit 3, the membership card 2
When 1 is inserted, the visitor card 23 cannot be issued. Further, the card unit 3 is configured such that if the visitor card 23 is issued and the card balance of the visitor card 23 is not 0, the issue of the visitor card 23 and the payment to the membership card 21 cannot be performed. ing.

The amount setting button 14 is for setting the amount of a card balance used for one ball lending using the member card 21 (hereinafter referred to as a lending set amount). With this, the lending set amount can be selected. Each time the amount setting button 14 is pressed, the card balance used for one ball lending is switched. The amounts that can be selected by the amount setting button 14 are, for example, 100 yen, 200 yen, 300 yen, 400 yen,
A plurality of types are provided, such as 00 yen,... 1000 yen, and one of the amounts can be selectively determined by operating the amount setting button 14. Therefore, the player can freely select and set the lending set amount.
On the other hand, as for the visitor card 23, the entire amount provided for the card issuance is used for one lending, so that the lending set amount for one time cannot be freely set.

The relationship between the operation of the amount setting button 14 and the selection of the lending amount is as follows. For example, the loan setting amount has an initial value (default value),
Each time the amount setting button 14 is pressed once, the lending set amount is 100 yen, 200 yen, 300 yen, 400 yen,
The order is switched in the order of 500 yen,... 1000 yen, and if a further operation is performed from the selection state of 1000 yen, the lending set amount returns to 100 yen again, and is switched in the same order. In other words, each time the amount setting button 14 is operated, a plurality of types of lending amounts are rotated.

As the initial value of the loan setting amount, one amount selected from a plurality of types of amounts is set. As the loan setting amount, one of the plurality of types of selectable loan setting amounts described above is predetermined as an initial value. The initial value of the loan setting amount is desirably set to, for example, an amount (for example, 500 yen or the like in the case of the above-mentioned amount) which is considered to have the highest probability that the player selects the loan setting amount. By making such a setting, it is possible to save the trouble of the player performing the operation of changing the lending set amount, which is convenient for the player.

The lending set amount selected according to the operation of the amount setting button 14 is displayed on the amount display 15. Then, by operating the amount setting button 14, for example, 2
If the member card 21 is inserted and the ball lending switch 80 provided on the pachinko gaming machine 2 is operated with the lending set amount of 00 yen being selected, the member card 21 is recorded on the member card 21. 200 yen is deducted from the remaining card balance and 200 yen lending is paid out from the pachinko gaming machine 2.

When the use of the member card 21 is completed, such as when the member card 21 is ejected from the card insertion / ejection port 4 and removed from the member card insertion port 4 by the player, a new member card 21 is used. When a predetermined time (for example, 1 minute) has elapsed without being used, the set value of the lending set amount used for one ball lending (ball lending) is returned to the above-described initial value, and the initial value ( 500 yen) is displayed on the price indicator 15.

When the fraction display button 16 is pressed, a display for specifying a card unit setting state such as an ID number for identifying the card unit 3 and a lending state immediately before the last time is performed.

The money amount display 17 is used to display various kinds of money, such as money paid in to the member card 21 or issuance of the visitor card 23, etc. , The number of replays is selectively displayed.
In this embodiment, the savings and the replay are permitted only to the member. Here, the term “storage” refers to an act of depositing the value of the points or balls possessed by the player to the game arcade side or a third-party management organization entrusted from the game arcade and the deposited value. For example, when a player brings a ball and a member card 21 to a ball counter (jet counter) in a game hall and counts the number of balls to be played, the player inserts the member card 21 into the device. If an operation is performed to designate that the player wants to save a ball, the counted number of balls is registered as a saved ball in a member management device (see FIG. 6), which will be described later. Further, the replay means that the player plays a game by borrowing a ball using the accumulated ball. The number of replays refers to the number of replays that can be performed in a predetermined number of balls as one unit and deducted from the number of stored balls. The relationship between the number of saved balls and the number of lent balls in the replay is predetermined, and the lending of the balls is performed by subtracting the number of replays from the number of the stored balls.

In this embodiment, as a ball,
The example of depositing a pachinko ball has been described as an example, but the concept of a ball-saving also includes depositing not only a pachinko ball but also other values such as a medal for depositing a medal, a saving score for depositing a score such as a score.

Further, the price display 17 is also used for displaying an error code. For example, an error code is displayed for each cause of abnormality, such as various abnormal states occurring in the card unit 3 and a communication abnormality between the card unit 3 and the pachinko gaming machine 2 corresponding thereto.

The ball display 18 displays the card unit 3
Is selectively lit to indicate whether it is for renting a pachinko ball or a medal. Some of the card units 3 are for lending medals (coins), such as slot machines, instead of lending pachinko balls.
Is configured to be able to be recognized by the lighting display of.

The link stand direction indicator 19 is for lighting and displaying which pachinko gaming machine 2 the card unit 3 is connected to by wire. The card insertion lamp 20 is for notifying by a lighting display that the membership card 21 is inserted into the membership card insertion slot 4.

A coin return port 94 is provided below the display plate 30. The inserted coin can be returned from the coin return port 94 as described above. Below the coin return port 94, a numerical value input unit 95 including a numeric keypad capable of inputting a numerical value such as a password is provided. When the player becomes a member, the personal identification number determined by the member is included in the member information and registered on the gaming side. When the member performs the coin saving and the replay, the player inputs the personal identification number from the numerical value input unit 95 for the personal authentication. When the entered password matches the registered password, replay can be performed. At the time of replay, the player can specify the number of replays by inputting the number of replays from the numerical value input section 95.

When the member card 21 is inserted into the card insertion / ejection slot 4 and is used for a game, and the player performs a pressing operation of the return switch 81 (see FIG. 1) as a game ending operation, the amount is reduced and updated. The member card 21 in which the card balance is recorded is ejected (returned) in such a manner that a part thereof jumps out of the cover 24 from the member card slot 4. In addition,
The zero card that has completely used up the card balance is similarly discharged (returned) from the card insertion slot 4. The player receives the discharged membership card 21 by extracting the discharged membership card 21 in such a state.

Next, the membership card 21 and the visitor card 23 will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration and recorded information of the membership card 21 and the visitor card 23.

In FIG. 3, (a) shows the membership card 21
, (B) is a partially broken plan view of the visitor card 23, (c) is recorded information of the member card 21,
(D) shows the record information of the visitor card 23, respectively.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the membership card 21 has the same size as a conventional general card, but the visitor card 23 is smaller than the membership card 21. It is also composed of cards of small dimensions. The member card 21 and the visitor card 23 are both non-contact type IC cards.

Inside the member card 21, an IC chip 21a and an antenna coil 21b connected to the IC chip 21a are provided at one end. Such an I
The C chip 21 a and the antenna coil 21 b are provided so as to be embedded inside the membership card 21. The figure shows a state in which the vicinity of the IC chip 21a and the antenna coil 21b is broken.
1A shows a configuration in which the antenna coil 21b is embedded inside the card. The antenna coil 21b receives an electromagnetic wave output from the card reader / writer. As a result, power supply power is generated in the IC chip 21a,
The chip 21a operates. Also, the antenna coil 21b
Transmits and receives various data to and from a card reader / writer.

The IC chip 21a includes a power supply unit, a control unit,
Various components such as a memory (not shown) and the like are provided, and power supply power is generated by a power supply unit and supplied to each unit, and the control unit and the memory operate. The control unit is a processor that can execute various calculations and controls, and performs various controls such as data transmission and reception and data reading and writing by executing a control program.
The memory stores the data without losing data even when there is no power, and stores and holds card information.

Referring to FIG. 3B, inside the visitor card 23, an IC chip 23a and an antenna coil 23b connected to the IC chip 23a are provided at one end. In the drawing, a state in which the vicinity of the IC chip 23a and the antenna coil 23b is broken is shown, and a configuration in which the IC chip 23a and the antenna coil 23b are embedded in the card is shown. The IC chip 23a and the antenna coil 23b have the same configuration as the IC chip 21a and the antenna coil 21b of the membership card 21 described above, and perform the same function.

Referring to FIG. 3C, member card 21
, Card number information 211, issuer information 212, card balance information 213, member identification information 214, deposit unit number information 215, number of stored coins information 216, security information 217, and other information 218 are recorded in the memory. . In the memory of the member card 21, an area for recording each information is provided in order to record such information.

The card number information 211 is information that can specify a member card number, which is identification information given to each member to identify the member. The issuance store information 212 is information for specifying a game arcade where the membership card 21 has been issued.

The card balance information 213 is information for specifying the card balance. The recording area of the card balance information 213 is further divided into a plurality of balance recording areas so that card balances with different payment dates can be consumed in chronological order.
In each of these balance recording areas, every time a deposit is made, data of the deposit amount as well as data specifying the deposit date are recorded as a card balance. In this example, the total value of the card balances recorded in the plurality of balance recording areas is the card balance of the member card 21. When reading information in the card unit 3, the card balances recorded in the plurality of balance recording areas are read out together with data specifying the payment date. For this reason,
The card unit 3 can recognize when the read card balance has been paid. And
The card balances recorded in the plurality of balance recording areas are consumed (deducted) in chronological order.

The member specifying information 214 is information for specifying a member individual such as a member's name, address, and date of birth. The deposit unit number information 215 is information for specifying the unit number of the card unit 3 in which the card balance recorded on the card is recorded. The number-of-ball-stored information 216 is information for specifying the number of ball-stored members. Security information 217
Is information for performing a security check on the member card 21, and when the security information 217 matches predetermined security information, the card is determined to be a legitimate card. In addition to such information, the member card 21 records various information, that is, other information 218.

Next, referring to FIG. 3D, the visitor card 23 has card number information 231 and issuer information 2
32, card balance information 233, issue unit number information 2
34, security information 235, and other information 236 are recorded in the memory.

The card number information is information capable of specifying a visitor card number which is identification information given to each visitor card 23 in order to identify the visitor card 23. The issue store information 232 is information for specifying a game arcade where the visitor card 23 is issued, that is, a game arcade where the card unit 3 is provided. Card balance information 233
Is information for specifying the card balance of the visitor card 23. The issue unit number information 234 is information for specifying the unit number of the card unit to which the visitor card 23 has been issued, that is, the card unit 3 in which the visitor card 23 is built. Security information 235
Is the security information 217 of the member card 21 described above.
Is the same information as. The visitor card 23 records various information, that is, other information 236, in addition to such information.

Next, the processing operation of the membership card 21 in the card reader / writer device 33 will be described. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the card reader / writer 33 showing the processing operation of the membership card 21 in the card reader / writer 33. 4A to 4E show changes in the state over time.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the card reader / writer device 33 is provided with a space having a width such that one card can be moved.
3 and the membership card 21 are conveyed. The transport of the card is performed by a plurality of transport belts (the transport belts 332 and 332) driven by a motor provided in the card reader / writer device 33.
333, 334).

A communication section 331 including an antenna coil for communicating with the antenna coil sections 21b and 23b of the card is provided at a central portion in the longitudinal direction of the space in the card reader / writer device 33. In the space inside the card reader / writer device 33, when the antenna coil portions 21b and 23b are located at positions facing the communication portion 331, each card and the card reader / writer device 33 can communicate with each other, and the recording information of each card is recorded. Can be read and written. The internal space at the peripheral position where such a communication unit 331 is provided is a card receiving unit 33b that selectively receives the membership card 21 and the visitor card 23.
Is composed.

The card reader / writer 33 is provided with a plurality of card detection position sensors 335 to 338 for detecting the presence or absence of a card in the internal space of the card reader / writer 33. Each card detection position sensor optically detects the presence of a card by arranging a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit in the internal space of the card reader / writer device 33 so as to oppose each other and detecting whether or not the light receiving unit receives light emitted from the light emitting unit. It is a sensor. In the space inside the card reader / writer device 33, four card detection position sensors 33 are sequentially arranged from the card insertion / ejection port 4 side to the back.
8, 337, 336, 335 are provided.

The card detection position sensor 338 is provided at an intermediate point between the card insertion / ejection port 4 and the communication section 331. The card detection position sensor 337 is provided near the communication unit 331 and at a position closer to the card insertion / ejection port 4 than the communication unit 331 is. Card detection position sensor 336
Is provided near the communication unit 331 and at a position facing the card detection position sensor 337 with the communication unit 331 interposed therebetween. The card detection position sensor 335 is provided at an intermediate point between the card insertion / ejection port 4 and the communication unit 331.
The card reader / writer 33 is provided on the innermost side of the internal space.

In the internal space of the card reader / writer device 33, a transport belt 332 capable of transporting a card from the deepest position of the internal space to a position around the communication unit 331 is provided on the side behind the communication unit 331. Have been. The transport belt 332 transports the card by sandwiching the card from both sides, and only one transport belt is shown in the drawing. In addition, the card reader / writer device 3
3, on the card insertion / ejection port 4 side of the communication unit 331, transport belts 333 and 334 capable of conveying cards from the position of the card insertion / ejection port 4 in the internal space to a position around the communication unit 331. They are provided side by side in parallel in the vertical direction. The transport belts 333 and 334 transport the card by sandwiching the card from both sides.
In the drawing, only one conveyor belt is shown.

Referring to FIG. 4A, in card reader / writer device 33, member card 21 is also a visitor card 23.
In the standby state in which the visitor card 23 is not processed, the visitor card 23 is held at the innermost position in the internal space of the card reader / writer device 33. The internal space at this position is provided at a position connected to the card insertion / ejection port 4 and constitutes a card storage section 33a for storing the visitor card 23. In this state, the visitor card 23 is
And the card detection position sensor 33
5 detects the end.

Next, referring to FIG. 4B, when the member card 21 is inserted, the member card 21 is detected by the card detection position sensor 338. In response to the detection, the conveyor belts 333 and 334 are driven in the direction of conveying the member card 21 to the inside, and the conveyor belts 333 and 334 convey the member card 21 to the inside (see the white arrow in the figure).

Next, referring to FIG. 4 (c), the member card 21 is conveyed to the inside and its end (the front end in the conveying direction).
Is detected by the card detection position sensor 336, the driving of the conveyor belts 333 and 334 is stopped, and the member card 21 stops at a position where the antenna coil unit 21b faces the communication unit 331. As a result, data can be read and written between the member card 21 and the card reader / writer device 33. In other words, the card detection position sensor 336 is disposed at a position where the antenna coil portion 21b faces the communication portion 331 when detecting the end portion (tip portion in the transport direction) of the member card 21. . Also, even when the member card 21 enters the position of the communication unit 331, the visitor card 23
Since the card is held at a position where it does not come into contact with the incoming card, the built-in visitor card 23 does not come into contact with the inserted membership card 21.

Next, referring to FIG. 4D, in the case where payment is made to the member card 21, the card balance is updated and recorded by the payment to the member card 21, and then the conveyor belts 333 and 334 are transferred. Is driven in the direction of transporting the card to the outside (see the white arrow pointing right in the figure). As a result, the member card 21 is transported to the outside. Then, as shown in the figure, when the member card 21 is not detected by the card detection position sensor 337,
3,334 is temporarily stopped, and the member card 21 is stopped in a state in which the end (the leading end in the transport direction) protrudes into the case 24. Then, immediately, the conveyor belts 333, 3
34 is driven in the direction of transporting the card into the inside (see the left arrow in the figure). With this, membership card 2
1 is conveyed inward.

Next, referring to FIG. 4E, the member card 21 conveyed inward is returned to the original position. As described above, when the deposit is made to the member card 21, a part of the member card 21 is once projected into the case 24 to indicate that the deposit has been made, and then returned to the original position. In this case, when the end of the member card 21 (the rear end in the conveyance direction) is no longer detected by the card detection position sensor 336, the driving of the conveyance belts 333 and 334 is stopped, and the member card 21 is returned to the original position. Returned to

Next, the processing operation of the visitor card 23 in the card reader / writer device 33 will be described. FIG.
Visitor card 2 in card reader / writer device 33
FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the card reader / writer device 33 illustrating the processing operation of No. 3; In FIG. 5, (a) to (e) show changes in the state over time.

Referring to FIG. 5A, in the card reader / writer device 33, when the visitor card 23 is issued, the transport belt 332 is driven in the direction for transporting the card to the outside, and the visitor card 332 is driven by the transport belt 332. 23
Is transported to the outside (see the white arrow in the figure).

Next, referring to FIG. 5B, when the visitor card 23 is conveyed and its end (the rear end in the conveying direction) is detected by the card detection position sensor 337, the conveying belt 332 is The driving is stopped, and the visitor card 23 is stopped at a position where the antenna coil unit 23b faces the communication unit 331. As a result, data can be read and written between the visitor card 23 and the card reader / writer device 33. That is, the card detection position sensor 337 is disposed at a position where the antenna coil portion 23b faces the communication portion 331 when the leading end of the visitor card 23 is detected. When the visitor card 23 is issued, various card information is recorded on the visitor card 23 at a position as shown in FIG.

Next, referring to FIG. 5C, after various kinds of card information are recorded on the visitor card 23, the conveying belts 332, 333, and 334 convey the card to the outside (rightward in the figure). (See white arrow). Thereby, the visitor card 23 is transported to the outside. Then, as shown in the drawing, when the visitor card 23 is no longer detected by the card detection position sensor 338, the driving of the transport belts 332, 333, 334 is temporarily stopped, and the visitor card 23 projects the tip end portion into the case 24. Stop in the mode in which it was performed. That is, the visitor card 23
Is transferred to the card insertion / ejection port 4 at least to a position where the player can visually confirm a part of the visitor card 23. Then, immediately, the transport belts 333, 334,
332 is driven in the direction of transporting the card inside (see the white arrow pointing left in the figure). Thereby, the visitor card 23 is conveyed inward. Thus, when the visitor card 23 is issued, the visitor card 2
By once discharging 3, the player can visually recognize that the visitor card 23 has been issued.

Next, referring to FIG. 5D, the visitor card 23 conveyed inward is once sent to the communication unit 331.
And the antenna coil portion 23b are returned to the original position where they overlap. Then, in this state, the record information is read. In this case, when the end of the visitor card 23 (the rear end in the transport direction) is no longer detected by the card detection position sensor 337, the driving of the transport belts 332, 333, and 334 is stopped, and the visitor card 23 is restored. Is returned to the position. Then, after that, the transport belt 332 is further added.
Is driven in the direction of transporting the card into the inside (see the white arrow pointing left in the figure).

Next, referring to FIG. 5E, the visitor card 23 conveyed inward is returned to the original position. That is, as shown in FIG.
When the end portion (the leading end portion in the transport direction) of No. 3 is detected by the card detection position sensor 335, the drive of the transport belt 332 is stopped, and the visitor card 23 stops at the standby position.

Next, the configuration of the card unit 3 and the configuration of the management system inside and outside the game arcade 100 will be described. FIG.
Is a block diagram showing a configuration of the card unit 3 and a configuration of a management system inside and outside the game arcade, and illustration and description of a part of the configuration are omitted.

In the amusement arcade 100, a card unit management device 400 comprising a management computer for managing a plurality of card units 3 provided in the arcade is provided so as to be able to communicate with the card units 3. Outside the gaming arcade 100, a unit management center 500 is provided, which is an institution that manages all the card units 3 in the plurality of gaming arcades 100 in which the card units 3 are provided. In this unit management center 500, a central management device 50 including a computer that comprehensively manages all card units 3 in a plurality of game arcades 100.
1 is provided. The central management device 501 is communicably connected to the card unit management device 400 of each game arcade 100 via a communication line.
00, all the card units 3 are collectively managed. In addition, the central management device 501 manages the card balances of all members registered in each of the gaming arcades 100.

The control unit 340 of the control unit 34 in the card unit 3 includes the bill recognizing device 31, the coin recognizing device 3
2. Card reader / writer device 33, sensors and lamps 9
, 338, buttons 14, 16, and
It is connected to the numerical value input unit 95. Also, the control unit 340
Is provided in the pachinko gaming machine 2 and connected to a payout control unit 200 including a control microcomputer capable of performing payout for lending out balls through a communication unit 36 so as to be able to communicate with each other. I have. Further, the control unit 3
40 is a ball lending switch 80, a return switch 81 provided on the pachinko gaming machine 2 via the communication unit 36, and
It is connected to the card balance display 8.

The bill discriminating device 31 includes a discriminating unit for discriminating whether or not the bill inserted from the bill insertion slot 61 is a proper bill and a transport unit for transporting the bill (both not shown). In the bill discriminating apparatus 31, the inserted bill is sent to the discriminating section by the transport section, the discriminating section performs bill discriminating processing, and provides information indicating the discrimination result of the bill to the control section 340. The bill identifying device 31 is controlled by a control signal from the control unit 340.

The coin discriminating device 32 includes a discriminating portion for discriminating whether or not the inserted coin is a proper coin and a transport portion for transporting coins (both not shown). Coin identification device 3
In 2, the inserted coin is sent to the identification unit by the transport unit, the identification unit performs a coin identification process, and provides information indicating the identification result of the coin to the control unit 340. The coin identification device 32 is controlled by a control signal from the control unit 340.

The control unit 340 of the control device 34 includes an off-line display lamp 91, a visitor card available lamp 92,
Money available lamp 13, amount indicator 15, amount indicator 1
7, ball display 18, connection stand direction display 19, card insertion lamp 20, member card use lamp 241, and
A display control signal is given to each of the visitor card use lamps 242, and the above-described display control is performed for each lamp and display.

The control section 340 of the control device 34 receives operation signals of the respective buttons from the price setting button 14 and the fraction display button 16 and performs the above-described control in accordance with the operation signals. Further, the control unit 340 includes a numerical value input unit 95
And receives an operation input signal from the
The control as described above is performed.

When the member card 21 is inserted while the member card 21 is not inserted into the card insertion / ejection slot 4, the controller 340 of the controller 34 records the amount of money corresponding to the inserted money as a card balance. The control for issuing the visitor card 23 is performed. In the control, a control signal is given to the card reader / writer device 33 while monitoring the position of the visitor card 23 based on the detection signals from the card detection position sensors 335 to 338, and the issuance control of the visitor card 23 as described above is performed. .

The control unit 340 of the control device 34 indicates that when money is inserted in a state where the member card 21 is inserted into the card insertion / ejection port 4, the card balance becomes “0”. On the condition that this is the case, control is performed to add the amount corresponding to the inserted money to the card balance of the member card 23. At the time of the control, a control signal is given to the card reader / writer device 33 while monitoring the position of the member card 21 based on the detection signals from the card detection position sensors 335 to 338, and the payment control to the member card 21 as described above is performed. Do.

The control section 340 of the control device 34 performs the above-described ball lending control according to the lending request operation signal from the ball lending switch 80. Also, the control unit 340
Performs the card return control as described above in response to a return request operation signal from the return switch 81 ball lending switch 80. Also, the control unit 340 gives a display control signal to the card balance display 8 provided in the pachinko gaming machine 2,
The card balance of the member card 21 or the visitor card 23 is controlled to be displayed on the card balance display 8.

Further, if any abnormality occurs in the card unit 3, the control device 34 controls to display an error code indicating the cause of the abnormality on the money amount display 17 or the card balance display 8. As a result, the money amount display 17 or the card balance display 8 displays an error code indicating the cause of the abnormality.

The control unit 340 of the control device 34 controls the lending of the ball by deducting the card balance immediately after the issuance of the visitor card 23 and when there is a lending request operation when the member card 21 is inserted. . At the time of control for lending the ball, the control unit 340 performs control to transmit a lending command signal for lending a number of pachinko balls corresponding to the lending amount to the payout control unit 200 in the pachinko gaming machine 2. .

The lending command signal is a signal for instructing lending of a ball by one payout unit (for 100 yen).
When instructing lending of a ball for 000 yen, a lending command signal for instructing lending of a ball in one payout unit is sent ten times. The payout control unit 200 controls the lending of the ball in response to the lending command signal, and outputs the lending completion signal to the control unit 3 of the control device 34 each time the unit of the unit is paid out.
Reply to 40.

The control section 340 performs an operation of subtracting and updating the card balance read from the membership card 21 or the visitor card 23 and stored in the control section 340 every time the lending completion signal is received. Further, the control unit 340 performs control to display the updated card balance on the card balance display 8 in accordance with the subtraction update of the card balance. Then, when the lending of the ball for the set lending amount (in the case of the member card 21) or for the inserted amount (in the case of the visitor card 23) is completed, the control unit 340 sets the member set in the card reader / writer device 33. Update record control is performed to rewrite the card balance of the card 21 or the visitor card 23 with the updated card balance.

When the visitor card 23 is issued, issuance amount data indicating the amount (issue amount) recorded (deposited for issuance) at the time of the visitor card issuance in response to the insertion of the bill is issued in real time to the control unit 340. Is output to the outside of the card unit 3 via the communication unit 35. When a deposit is made to the member card 21, the deposit amount data indicating the deposit amount is sent to the control unit 3 in real time.
The data is output from the communication unit 35 to the outside of the card unit 3 via the communication unit 35. When a ball is lent by the withdrawal of the visitor card 23 or the member card 21, consumption amount data indicating the lending amount is transmitted from the control unit 340 to the card unit 3 via the communication unit 35 in real time. Is output to the outside.

When such issue amount data, deposit amount data, and consumption amount data are output, the following data is added to the data. A game arcade number (a number specifying a game arcade in which a card unit is installed), a unit number (a number specifying a card unit), and a member ID are added to the deposit amount data and the consumption amount data by the member card 21. Is done. Further, to the consumption amount data by the member card 21, data for specifying whether the consumed amount is paid in on the day or in a day earlier than that is also added.

The issue amount data and consumption amount data of the visitor card 23 include a game place number (a number specifying a game place where a card unit is installed), a unit number (a number specifying a card unit), and , A visitor card ID (a number assigned to the visitor card in advance and identifying the visitor card) is added. By adding such data to the issue amount data, the deposit amount data, and the consumption amount data output to the outside, on the receiving side, the output data is output from any card unit. Of the membership card 21 and the data corresponding to the visitor card 23. Further, for the membership card 21, I
D-specific data can be grasped.

The issuance amount data, deposit amount data, and consumption amount data output to the outside as described above are relayed by a plurality of relay devices 60 provided in the game arcade 100 and provided to the card unit management device 400. Can be The relay device 60 is a game machine installation island 200a in the game hall 100.
Each of these devices is provided with an information relay function, and relays various data output from a plurality of card units 3 in the gaming machine installation island. A plurality of card units 3 are connected to each relay device 60 by serial communication. The plurality of relay devices 60 are connected in serial communication with the card unit management device 400.
Except for the relay device 60 directly connected to the card unit management device 400, the data is transmitted to the card unit management device 400 via another relay device 60. in this way,
Due to the connection relationship between the card unit 3, the relay device 60 and the card unit management device 400, the card unit 3
00 is connected by serial communication.

The issue amount data, the deposit amount data, and the consumption amount data are similarly provided from the control unit 340 to the game information of the pachinko gaming machine 2 provided in the game hall 100 and the game information of the game hall 100. Is also transmitted to a hall management computer (not shown) for managing the sales of the hall.

The card unit management device 400 is a management device including a microcomputer for executing various management processes. One card unit management device 400 is provided in the game arcade 100, and manages all the card units 3 installed in the game arcade 100 in an integrated manner. The management contents include management of the operation status of the card unit 3, sales management of the card unit 3, management of the membership card 21, and management of the visitor card 23. For example, the card unit management device 400 classifies and compiles sales information such as issue amount data, deposit amount data, and consumption amount data for each member card and visitor card, or for each card unit 3. By transmitting the information to the unit management center 500, it is possible to help the management of the prepaid card issuing company. further,
The card unit management device 400 provides, for each type of card,
The payment information including the issuance amount data and the payment amount data and the consumption information including the consumption amount data are totaled, and sales management in the gaming hall 100 is performed.

Further, the card unit management device 400
In order to manage sales and the like by members registered in the amusement arcade 100, a member management database including various management data including member information and the like is stored. The member management database also stores authentication data for authenticating whether the member card 21 inserted into the card unit 3 is a proper member card.

In the amusement arcade 100, the card unit management device 400 is connected to a member management device 71 for managing members on the amusement arcade 100 side and an adjustment device 72 for performing an adjustment for the member card 21. I have.

The member management device 71 includes an input unit, a display unit, a processing unit (a microcomputer capable of executing processing for managing member information), and a communication unit. When the member is registered, the member management device 71 inputs member information regarding the member from the input unit. In the member management device 71, based on the input member information,
Predetermined member information such as member card numbers, names, addresses, birth dates, card balances, the number of coins, and personal identification numbers of all the members registered at 00 is stored in a database.

The member management device 71 is communicably connected to the card unit management device 400. When member information is input according to a new member registration, the newly registered member information (the number of coins to be saved and Member information excluding PIN)
To the card unit management device 400. This allows
In the card unit management device 400, the member management device 71
Is added to the member management database and stored. By additionally storing the member information in this manner, the card unit management device 400
The latest member information is stored in the member management database.

The player enters the membership card 2 in the card unit 3
When the card unit 3 is inserted, the card unit 3 first reads out the record information of the member card 21 by using the card reader / writer device 33 and, based on the read out information, communicates via the relay device 60 to the card unit management device 400.
Authentication data (card number information, card balance information, security information). The authentication data is data for authenticating that the inserted card is a proper card. When the card is recognized as a proper card based on the authentication data, the member card 21 is used. Various processes such as payment and lending can be performed.

In the card unit management device 400, the authentication data (card number information, card balance information) stored in the member management database corresponding to the member card number included in the authentication data sent from the card unit 3 is stored. , Security information), and compares the read authentication data with the authentication data sent from the card unit 3. If the data match, it is determined that the member card 21 is an appropriate member card. After authentication, the use is permitted, and permission information indicating that the use is permitted is returned to the card unit 3. In other words, the player can freely insert the member card 21, but payment and lending using the card are performed on condition that the card is authenticated by the card unit management device 400.

When a replay using a coin is to be performed using the membership card 21 permitted to be used by authentication as described above, the card unit 3 inputs the password from the numerical value input unit 95 described above. Input is requested from the player. In that case, the card unit 3 transmits the information of the member card number and the password of the inserted member card 21 to the relay device 60 and the card unit management device 40.
0 to the member management apparatus 71 by communication. In the member management device 71, based on the member information stored in the above-described database, the password of the transmitted member card number is compared with the password of the member card number stored in the database, and the password is compared. When the numbers match, replay by ball storage is permitted, and replay number information indicating the number of replays corresponding to the number of stored balls is returned to the card unit 3 indicating that replay is permitted. The card unit 3 receiving such replay number information,
The number of replays specified by the replay number information is displayed on the money amount display device 17, and replay is permitted.

When the member card 21 is inserted, every time the card balance or the number of stored coins is updated and recorded in the member card 21 for lending a ball, the updated record information specifies the member card number. Along with the information
It is provided to the card unit management device 400 by communication via the relay device 60. Card unit management device 400
Then, the information of the card balance of the corresponding member is updated based on the received card balance information. Further, the information on the card balance or the number of accumulated balls received by the card unit management device 400 from the card unit 3 is also given to the member management device 71. The member management device 71 updates the information of the card balance and the number of stored coins of the corresponding member in the database based on the received card balance information and the information of the number of stored balls.

When the card unit 3 and the card unit management device 400 are online, the member communicates with the card unit 3 and the card unit management device 400 as described above. The card 21 is authenticated. When the card unit 3 and the card unit management device 400 are offline, the card unit 3 authenticates the member card 21 alone. In the authentication in that case, for example, security information is stored in the control unit 340 of the card unit 3 and if the security information matches the security information read from the member card 21, the member card 21 Perform simple authentication to authenticate the card. In the case of such an offline state, the upper limit of the payment is set to a lower value than the upper limit in the case of the online state for the purpose of preventing fraud.

Also, in this amusement arcade 100, when a member is registered, as described above, the member management device 71
Is registered, but on the day of registration, the member card 21 is managed so as not to be used. That is, when a member is registered, the registration information is stored in the member management device 71 on the day, and the new registration information is sent from the member management device 71 to the card unit management device 400 the next day. It is. Furthermore, the member identification information described above is not recorded on the member card 21 on the day of registration. Then, when the new member card 21 is inserted into the card unit 3, the card management device 400 is notified from the card unit 3 that a new card in which the member identification information is not recorded is used. The member identification information of the member is sent from the card management device 400 to the card unit 3 and recorded on the member card 21 by the card unit 3 of the member identification information, so that the member card 21 becomes a usable card. It is. The member card 21 may not be used from the day after the member registration, but may be used from the day of registration.

The settlement device 72 performs such a settlement process for a player who requests settlement of the card balance of the member card 21. The payment device 72 is communicably connected to the card unit management device 400, and includes an input unit, a display unit, a processing unit (a microcomputer capable of executing payment processing), a cash dispensing unit, and a communication unit.

In the case of this embodiment, when the card balance remains in the member card 21, the player who wants to settle the card balance carries the member card 21 to the settlement device 71, and the settlement device 71 The card can be inserted into the payment processing.

When the player inserts the membership card 21 into the settlement device 72, the settlement device 72
1 is read, and based on the read information,
The authentication data (card number information, card balance information, security information) is sent to the card unit management device 400. It is obtained by communication from the card unit management device 400 via the communication unit, and is collated with authentication data (card number information, card balance information, security information) recorded on the member card 21. If the authentication data matches, the card unit management device 400 authenticates the data stored in the member management database (corresponding to the member card number included in the authentication data sent from the card unit 3). Card number information, card balance information,
Security information) is read, the read authentication data is compared with the authentication data sent from the card unit 3, and if the data match, the member card 2 is read.
1 is authenticated as an appropriate member card, the use thereof is permitted, and permission information indicating that the use is permitted is returned to the card unit 3. In other words, the player can freely insert the membership card 21, but the settlement using the card is performed on condition that the card is authenticated by the card unit management device 400. The payment device 72
When the card is authenticated, the balance of the card is displayed on the display unit, and a payment process for paying out the cash corresponding to the entire card balance of the inserted member card 21 from the cash dispensing unit is performed. By providing such a settlement device 72, the card balance of the day can be paid out to the player as cash as desired by the player. When such a settlement is performed, the card balance information after the settlement is sent from the settlement device 72 to the card unit management device 400 together with the member card number information, whereby the card unit management device 400 is sent as such. The card balance of the corresponding member card number is updated in the database based on the incoming information.

The following information is communicated between each card unit 3 and the central management unit 501 via the card unit management unit 400. Playground 10
When the power of the card unit 3 is turned on before the store is opened on the 0th business day, the operation start indicating that the business operation (normal operation) is started from the control device 34 of the card unit 3 to the card unit management device 400. Information is given. The card unit management device 400 transmits the operation start information received from all the card units 3 in the game arcade 100 to the central management device 501 by specifying the unit number of the card unit 3 of the transmission source. When the central management device 501 receives the operation start information from each of the amusement arcades 100, it indicates that the operation of the corresponding card unit 3 is permitted on condition that a predetermined operation permission condition is satisfied. The operation permission information is sequentially transmitted to the card unit management device 400 of each game arcade 100 by designating the unit number of the destination card unit 3. Then, the card unit management device 400 that has received the operation permission information immediately transmits the operation permission information to each card unit 3 together with the self-managed date information (at a stage before the start of business). The card unit 3 is permitted to operate for business on condition that such operation permission information is received, and starts business operation.

When the game hall 100 is closed, after the store is closed, daily sales information on each card unit 3 in the game hall 100 is transmitted from the card unit management device 400 to the central management device 501 in a lump. You. Here, the sales information is information including the above-mentioned issue amount data, deposit amount data, and consumption amount data. In response to the receipt of the sales information, the central management device 501 totals the sales information for each card unit, totals the sales information for each amusement arcade, and aggregates the sales information for the card units of all the arcades. And manage sales information.

[0131] Here, an example in which the sales information is transmitted to the central management device 501 after the game hall 100 is closed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the sales information may be transmitted from the card unit 3 to the card unit management device 400. Each time the sales information is received, it may be transmitted from the card unit management device 400 to the central management device 501. Further, the card unit management device 400 receives the sales information from each card unit 3, aggregates the sales information to some extent, and manages the card units at a timing longer than the cycle at which the sales information is sent from each card unit 3. The information may be transmitted from the device 400 to the central management device 501. That is, for example, when the cycle at which the sales information is sent from each card unit 3 is 30 minutes, the timing at which the sales information compiled from the card unit management device 400 to the central management device 501 is transmitted every three hours May be used.

As described above, the visitor card 23
In the case of using, when a player inserts a bill or a coin, a visitor card 23 is automatically issued, and thereafter,
Balls for the entire issue amount are automatically lent out, regardless of the operation of the player. This prevents the player from leaving the pachinko gaming machine 2 and the card unit 3 in front of the pachinko gaming machine 2 and the card unit 3 for purchasing a card usable for a game, and as a result, the operation of the pachinko gaming machine 2 and the card unit 3 Rate can be improved. Furthermore, since the issued visitor card 23 is taken in without being handed over to the player's hand, it is possible to make it difficult to perform an illegal act of recording illegal information on the visitor card 23.

Next, the configuration of the card unit management device 400 will be described in detail. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the card unit management device 400. The card unit management device 400 includes a control unit 401, a communication unit 402, an input unit 403, an external storage unit 404, a display unit 405,
A printing unit 406 is included.

The control unit 401 has a CPU (Central Procedures).
sing Unit) 401a, ROM (Read Only Memory) 4
01b and RAM (Random Access Memory) 40
1c. Control unit 40
In 1, the CPU 401 a reads out the control program stored in the ROM 401 b and executes various processes by executing the control program using the RAM 401 c as a work area.

The control unit 401 communicates with the relay device 60, the member management device 71, the settlement device 72, and the central management device 501 by the communication unit 4
02. The display unit 405 includes an image display device such as a liquid crystal display device, and is controlled by the control unit 401, and displays various information such as management information described later. The printing unit 406 includes a printing device such as a printer, and prints various information such as management information described later. The display unit 405 and the printing unit 406 are provided as output units in the card unit management device 400. The external storage unit 404 is formed of a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk device, and stores various information such as the above-described member management database. The input unit 43 includes various operation input means such as a keyboard and a switch (button), and inputs operation input information to the control unit 401.
Give to. In the control unit 401, according to the operation input information,
A predetermined control process such as display of management information on the display unit 405 and printing of management information on the printing unit 406 is performed.

Next, management information output by the image display on the display unit 405 or by printing on the printing unit 406 will be described.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an output example of the hall daily schedule. The daily schedule for the hall is a game hall (also called a hall) 10
Payment information (“payment” in the figure), consumption information (“consumption” in the figure), settlement information (“payment” in the figure), and retired money information (“figure” in the figure) for the entire card unit 3 in one day Retained money ").

Here, the deposit information is the deposit amount (yen) transmitted as the deposit amount data in the case of the member card 21.
In the case of the visitor card 23, this is information indicating the total value of the issue amount (yen) sent as issue amount data. The consumption information is information indicating the total value of the consumption amount (yen) sent as the consumption amount data for both the member card 21 and the visitor card 23. Also,
The settlement information is information indicating the total value of the settlement amount (yen) of the member card 21 sent as the settlement amount data from the settlement device 72. Further, the retired money information is information indicating the total value of the remaining amount (yen) as a result of subtracting (subtracting) the consumption amount and the settlement amount from the received amount, and is a member card 2
This is the total value of the card balance remaining in 1.

[0139] In the hall daily schedule, for the member card (member in the figure), payment information, consumption information, settlement information, retired money information, and consumption information for carry-over are shown for today. Carryover in this case means that the consumption of the card balance has been carried over from the next day onward due to the occurrence of a withdrawal. The amount carried forward is the amount of money carried over from the previous day (yen), in the information field of the member card (in the figure, "
Circle "). The consumption information of the carry-over is a total value of data indicating that it is a carry-over amount indicating the consumption from the amount of money received before the previous day in the transmitted consumption amount data. In other words, the consumption amount data relating to the member card 21 is sent with information indicating whether it is today's portion or carry-over portion, and is divided into today's portion and carry-over portion according to the information. .

[0140] For the member, the total value of the today's and the carry-over for the totaled information is further shown.
However, since there is no carry-over information for the payment information, settlement information, and retired money information, the total value of these information matches today's value, so the total value in this case is essentially consumption information Is shown for grasping the total value of.

Further, in the hall daily schedule, payment information and consumption information for today's visitor card (visitor in the figure) are shown. In addition, in the hall daily schedule, for each of the deposit information, the consumption information, the settlement information, and the withdrawn information, the total of the member card and the total of the visitor card (yen) are further shown. It is. In the total of the members and visitors, there is no settlement money and no withdrawal money for the visitor card. (The visitor card cannot be settled and it is built-in type. The member / visitor total value of each of the settlement information and the deposit information matches the total value of the members (because of exhaustion).

Such a hall daily schedule is displayed in the input section 403 by inputting information for the administrator to specify a due date (can be specified on the current day or any day before the current day), and displaying the hall daily schedule. Is performed, the hall day total table on the specified day is displayed on the display unit 405.
Will be displayed. For this reason, for the hall daily total table, the specified date (the date specified as described above) and the current date and time are displayed at the upper left of the table, and the relationship between the current date and time and the displayed specified date is displayed. Make it clear to managers. In addition, such a hall daily schedule is input to the input unit 40.
In step 3, the administrator inputs information specifying the due date and requests printing of the hall diary table (print request operation).
Is performed, the hourly hole total table of the designated day is printed out by the printing unit 406.

By displaying or printing out the hall daily schedule as described above, the manager can check the status of deposit, consumption and withdrawal of the membership card and deposit of the visitor card for the entire game arcade. , Consumption situation can be grasped at the same time.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an output example of the tabulation table by island. Description of FIG. 9 will not be repeated with respect to portions common to FIG. The tabulation table for each island is for all gaming machine installation islands 200a in the game arcade, and for each gaming machine installation island, the daily payment information, consumption information, and withdrawal of all card units 3 installed in the gaming machine installation island for each day. This is management information that totals and shows money information.

In the tabulation table by island, the gaming machine installation island is distinguished by the island number (in the figure, island 1, island 2,...). In the tabulation table for each island, the payment information, consumption information, and retired money information of the member card, and the payment information and consumption information of the visitor card are displayed in total for each gaming machine installation island.
The tabulated display items in the island-based tabulation table are the same as the tabulated display items obtained by removing the tabulated value of the settlement information from the tabulated display items of the hole daily total table described above.

[0146] Such an island-based tabulation table is displayed in the above-described input section 403 together with input of information by which the administrator specifies a due date (can be specified on the current day and any day before the day). Is performed on the display unit 405. Therefore, for the island summary table, the specified date (the date specified as described above) and the current date and time are displayed at the upper left of the table, and the relationship between the current date and time and the displayed specified date is displayed. Make it clear to managers. Further, such an island-based tabulation table is designated by the input unit 403 when the administrator performs an operation of requesting printing of the island-based tabulation table (print request operation) together with input of information for designating a due date. Tally of the island by day is printed by printing section 4
06 is printed out.

[0147] By displaying or printing the above-mentioned tally table by island as described above, the administrator can divide the state of each of the gaming machine installation islands into the status of deposit, consumption and retirement of the membership card, It is possible to simultaneously grasp the status of visitor card payment and consumption.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an output example of a tally table for each unit. Description of FIG. 10 will not be repeated with respect to portions common to FIGS. The unit-by-unit summary table is management information indicating the total of one-day payment information, consumption information, and retired money information of all card units 3 for each card unit for all card units 3 in the game arcade. .

In the tabulation table for each unit, units are distinguished by unit numbers S1, S2,... S400. In the tabulation table for each unit, payment information, consumption information, and retired money information of the membership card, and payment information and consumption information of the visitor card are totaled and displayed for each card unit.

As the total display items in the total table by unit, in addition to the same items as the total display items of the above-mentioned total table by island, in addition to the total display items for the card unit of the last unit number (S400 in the figure), On the side, there is provided an overall total column indicating the total value of the values of each aggregation item for all card units in the game arcade. In the total total column, a total display area is provided for each item that is totalized and displayed in each unit column of the unit totalization table for the payment information, consumption information, and retired money information. Displays the value.

Since the total values displayed in such a total total column are the total values of the card units of the entire game arcade, they correspond to the respective values displayed in the above-described hall daily schedule in FIG.

Such a unit-based total table is displayed in the input unit 403 described above, together with input of information by which the administrator specifies a due date (can be specified on the current day and any day before the current day). Is performed, the unit-based totalization table is displayed on the display unit 405 on the specified day. For this reason, for the unit total table, the specified date (the date specified as described above) and the current date and time are displayed at the upper left of the table, and the relationship between the current date and time and the displayed specified date is displayed. Make it clear to managers. Further, such a unit-based total table is designated by the input unit 403 when the administrator performs an operation of requesting the printing of the unit-specific total table together with the input of the information specifying the due date (print request operation). The printing unit 406 prints out the unit-by-unit summary table on the date.

By displaying or printing out the unit-based totalization table as described above, the administrator can divide the credit card unit by card unit and receive the membership card payment,
It is possible to simultaneously grasp the state of consumption and withdrawal money, the state of visitor card payment, and the state of consumption reports.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an output example of the time-based aggregation table. Description of FIG. 11 will not be repeated for portions common to FIGS. 8 to 10. The time slot summary table covers all card units 3 in the amusement arcade.
This is management information indicating the total value of the payment information, consumption information, and retired money information for all card units 3 in one day, summed up by time zone.

[0155] In the tabulation table by time zone, "10:00"
The time zone is indicated by a column of the time zone such as “−10: 30”. In the time slot totaling table, the payment information, consumption information, and retired money information of the member card, and the payment information and consumption information of the visitor card are totaled and displayed for each time zone.

[0156] Such a time-slot-based totaling table is input to the input unit 403 described above, together with input of information by which the administrator designates a due date (can be specified on the current day or any day before the current day). Is performed on the display unit 405 by performing an operation for requesting the display of the specified date. Therefore, for the time-slot-based totals table, the specified date (the date specified as described above) and the current date and time are displayed at the upper left of the table, and the relationship between the current date and time and the displayed specified date is displayed. Is clearly understood by the administrator. In addition, such a time-based aggregation table,
In the input unit 403, when the administrator performs an operation (print request operation) for requesting the printing of the time-slot-based total table along with the input of the information specifying the due date, the time-slot total table of the specified day is printed. The printout is performed by the unit 406.

[0157] By displaying or printing out the time-slot-based total table as described above, the administrator can divide the time-slots according to the time-slots into the status of deposit, consumption and retirement of the member card, and the visitor. It is possible to grasp the status of card payment and consumption at the same time.

Next, the card processing executed in the control section 340 of the control device 34 will be described. This card processing is one of subroutine programs started by a main program executed for various controls in the control unit 340, and is used to lend a ball using the member card 21 and the visitor card 23. This is the process to be performed.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the contents of the card processing. First, step S (hereinafter simply referred to as S
1), it is determined whether the member card (member card authenticated as a regular member card) 21 is being inserted. If it is determined in S1 that the insertion is not being performed, the process proceeds to S6 described below. On the other hand, if it is determined in S1 that insertion is being performed, the process proceeds to S2, and it is determined whether or not money (a bill or a coin) has been inserted.

When it is determined in S2 that money has been inserted, a subroutine of a member deposit process is executed to deposit the inserted member card 21. The contents of the member deposit processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S2 that there is no money to be inserted, the flow advances to S4 to determine whether or not a lending operation (lending request operation) by the ball lending switch 80 has been performed. If it is determined in S4 that a lending operation has been performed,
Proceeding to S5, a subroutine of a member lending process is executed for lending a ball using the balance of the inserted member card 21. FIG. 14 shows the contents of the member lending process.
Will be described later. On the other hand, if it is determined in S4 that there is no lending operation, the card processing ends.

In addition, the membership card 21 is obtained by the aforementioned S1.
When it is determined that no is inserted, and the process proceeds to S6, it is determined whether or not money (banknotes and coins) has been inserted. If it is determined in S6 that money has been inserted, the process proceeds to S7, where a visitor processing subroutine is executed to issue the inserted visitor card 23. The details of this visitor process will be described later with reference to FIG. On the other hand, when it is determined in S6 that there is no insertion of money, the card processing ends.

As described above, in the card processing, the progress of the processing depends on whether the member card 21 is inserted at the time of insertion of money, and the processing of the member card 21 and the visitor card 23
And processing.

Next, the member deposit processing executed in S3 of FIG. 12 will be described. This member deposit processing is performed by the control unit 34
0, which is one of the subroutine programs executed in order to deposit money into the member card 21.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of the member deposit processing. First, in S11, processing for displaying the inserted amount on the amount display 17 is performed. Next, S
Proceeding to 12, it is determined whether or not the card balance of the inserted member card 21 is "0".

In the case of the card unit 3, the fact that the card balance is “0” is one of the conditions for permitting payment to the member card 21. Therefore, if it is determined in S12 that the card balance is not "0", the flow proceeds to S21 to perform a process of returning the inserted amount, and then the member payment processing apparatus ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in S12 that the card balance is “0”, the process proceeds to S13, and it is determined whether or not the card unit 3 and the card unit management device 400 are online.

If it is determined in step S13 that the server is not in the online state but in the offline state, the process proceeds to step S1 to be described later.
Go to 5. On the other hand, if it is determined in S13 that the online state is set, the process proceeds to S14, and it is determined whether the inserted amount exceeds the online upper limit. Here, the online upper limit value is the upper limit value of the amount of money to be inserted in the case of the above-mentioned online state, and payment exceeding that amount is not allowed. In the case of this embodiment, the online upper limit is set to, for example, 10,000 yen. Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, payment of any denomination is allowed in the online state. Note that the on-run upper limit may be set to another amount such as 5000 yen in operation.

If it is determined in step S14 that the value exceeds the online upper limit, the process proceeds to step S21, in which the processing for returning the inserted amount is performed, and then the member payment processing ends. In addition, in the case of this embodiment, the online upper limit is set to 10,000 yen, and since the input of the amount is limited to one banknote or one currency, the input amount is returned. Never. On the other hand, if it is determined in S14 that the value does not exceed the online upper limit, the process proceeds to S16 described below.

As described above, when it is determined in S13 that the user is in the offline state and the process proceeds to S15, it is determined whether the input amount exceeds the offline upper limit value. Here, the offline upper limit value is the upper limit value of the input amount in the case of the offline state described above,
Deposits beyond that amount are not allowed. In the case of this embodiment, the offline upper limit is set to a value lower than the online upper limit, for example, 1000 yen.

Here, the reason why the offline upper limit is set lower than the online upper limit is as follows. That is, in the off-line state, the card unit management device 400 does not manage the sales information and the membership card information for the card unit 3, and thus it is considered that an illegal act is more easily performed than in the on-line state. For this reason, even if fraud is likely to occur, if the amount of one deposit is low, multiple fraudulent deposits must be made in order to make a large fraudulent deposit, and the efficiency of fraudulent activities will be reduced. As a result, fraudulent acts can be suppressed. For this reason, the offline upper limit was set lower than the online upper limit.

If it is determined in step S15 that the value exceeds the offline upper limit value, the process proceeds to step S21, in which the processing for returning the inserted amount is performed, and then the member payment processing ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the value does not exceed the offline upper limit value in S15, the process proceeds to S16.

In the case of proceeding to S16, in the inserted membership card 21, the card balance recorded in the recording area of the card balance information 213 shown in FIG. A process of updating and recording the deposit unit number recorded in the recording area of the unit number information 215 to the number of the card unit 3 is performed. As a result, the input amount is paid, and the number specifying the card unit 3 in which the input was made is recorded.

Then, the flow advances to S17 for performing a process of discharging a part of the member card 21 in order to perform a partial discharging operation of the member card 21 at the time of payment shown in FIG. 4D. You. This process is performed as shown in FIG. 4 while checking the detection signals of the card detection position sensors 335 to 338. Then, the process proceeds to S18, and FIG.
In order to take in the member card 21 after the partial ejection operation shown in (1), a process is executed to execute the operation of taking in the partly ejected member card 21. This process is performed as shown in FIG. 4 while checking the detection signals of the card detection position sensors 335 to 338. Such an operation makes it possible to visually appeal to the player that the deposit has been made.

Next, the flow advances to S19, where the card balance indicator 8
Is displayed to update the display of the card balance to the card balance after the addition update according to the payment.
Is performed to clear the input amount displayed on the amount display 17 to "0". As a result, it is possible to clearly indicate to the player that the card balance has been increased by the inserted amount. Further, by updating the card balance after the partial discharging operation of the member card 21, the meaning of the partial discharging operation can be easily understood by the player. After S20, although not shown, the payment amount data indicating the received amount is stored in the card unit management device 40.
After the process of transmitting to member 0, the member deposit process ends.

Next, the member lending process executed in S5 of FIG. 12 will be described. This member lending process is performed by the control unit 34
0 is one of the subroutine programs executed at 0, and is a process executed for lending a ball using the card balance of the member card 21.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of the member lending process. First, in S21, it is determined whether or not the space between the card unit 3 and the card unit management device 400 is online.

If it is determined in S21 that the user is online, the process proceeds to S23 described later. On the other hand, if it is determined in S21 that the user is not in the online state but in the offline state, the process proceeds to S22, and the member card 21
And the credit card unit 3 that has just been deposited and the credit card unit 3 that has been inserted and is about to lend.
Are determined to be the same card unit. Specifically, the deposit unit number recorded on the member card 21 and the currently inserted card unit 3
By determining whether or not the unit numbers match, the identity of the card units is determined.

In the case of this embodiment, in the off-line state, the card balance of the member card 21 can be used for lending only in the card unit 3 where the deposit has been made. In other words, in the offline state, the card balance paid in one card unit 3 cannot be used for lending in another card unit 3. That is, in S22, the distribution is performed to exclude the use of the member card 21 in which the card balance in which the payment has been made in the other card unit 3 is recorded.

If it is determined in S22 that the payment and lending are not the same card unit, the flow advances to S27 to discharge the inserted member card 21 to a position where the player can take out the card for return. After the return process is performed, the member lending process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in S22 that payment and lending are the same card unit, the process proceeds to S23. Thereby, in the case of the offline state, the same card unit 3
Only the card balance due to payment at can be used for lending.

If the processing has proceeded to S23, it is determined whether or not the currently inserted member card 21 has a card balance corresponding to the set lending amount. If it is determined in S23 that there is no card balance for the set lending amount, the card balance is insufficient, and the process proceeds to S23a, where the card balance is “0”.
Is determined.

If it is determined in step S23a that the card balance is "0", the flow advances to step S27 to perform the member card return processing as described above, and the member lending processing ends. As a result, if the card balance of the member card 21 is "0" and the balance is less than the set lending amount, the member card 21 is returned as it is.

On the other hand, the card balance becomes “0” by S23a.
If it is determined that the total amount of the card balance is less than the set lending amount in S23b, the process proceeds to S23b. A process of updating and recording the subtracted card balance to “0” is performed. Then, the process proceeds to S27, where the member card return processing as described above is performed, and then the member lending processing ends. As a result, if the card balance of the member card 21 is not “0” but the balance is less than the set lending amount, after all of the current card balance is used and balls are lent,
The member card 21 whose card balance has become “0” is returned.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S23 that there is a card balance for the set lending amount, the flow advances to S24 for lending balls for the set lending amount and subtracting the card balance due to withdrawal at the time of lending. , And a process of updating and displaying according to the withdrawal of the card balance.

Then, the flow advances to S25 for performing processing of subtracting, updating, and recording the card balance recorded in the recording area of the card balance information 213 in the member card 21 by the amount of the loan. Next, the process proceeds to S26, where it is determined whether or not the card balance is "0".

If it is determined in step S26 that the card balance is "0", the flow advances to step S27 to perform processing for discharging the inserted member card 21 to a position where the player can take out the card. As a result, the member card 21 for which the card balance is exhausted is returned without going through a return operation by the player. By automatically returning the member card 21 with no card balance,
The operation burden on the player can be reduced, and the player can be prevented from forgetting to take the member card 21. After S27, the member lending process ends. on the other hand,
If it is determined in S26 that the card balance is not "0", there is no need to return the member card 21, and the member lending process is terminated as it is.

As described above, the member card 21 is discharged in a state in which the player can withdraw the card when the card balance is exhausted, but after such discharge, when the same card unit 3 is deposited again. It is only necessary to once remove the member card 21 and insert it again. When the member card 21 is ejected in response to the card balance being exhausted, in response to the insertion of money while the member card 21 is still in the card insertion / ejection port 4, The member card 21 may be automatically taken in without the player's insertion operation, and the depositing control may be performed.
By doing so, the operation burden on the player can be reduced.

Next, the visitor process executed in S7 of FIG. 12 will be described. This visitor processing is performed by the control unit 34
0 is one of subroutine programs executed in order to issue a visitor card 23 and lend a ball using the card balance.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the visitor processing. First, in S31, processing for displaying the inserted amount on the amount display 17 is performed. Next, S
Proceeding to 32, it is determined whether or not the inserted amount exceeds the visitor issuance upper limit. Here, the visitor issuance upper limit is the upper limit of the amount of money to be paid when a visitor card is issued, and the amount of issuance exceeding that amount is not allowed.

In this embodiment, the visitor issuance upper limit is set to, for example, 1,000 yen. The above-mentioned visitor issuance upper limit is set in order to give the member a privilege related to the usage amount (equivalent to the deposit amount for members and the equivalent to the issuance amount for visitors) in the relationship between the member and the visitor. Is set to a value lower than the online upper limit of the deposit amount of the membership card 21 that has been set. Note that the visitor issuance upper limit may be changed to another amount such as 500 yen other than 1000 yen in operation.

If it is determined in step S32 that the visitor issuance limit has been exceeded, the flow advances to step S38 to perform a process of returning the inserted amount, and then the visitor process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in S32 that the value does not exceed the visitor issuance upper limit value, the process proceeds to S33.

In the case of proceeding to S33, the card information as described above is recorded on the visitor card 23 while performing the operation control as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C in the card reader / writer device 33. Then, processing for issuing the visitor card 23 is performed. This causes a part of the visitor card 23 to be ejected in the state shown in FIG. 5C, thereby indicating to the player that the visitor card 23 has been issued.

Then, the flow advances to S34, where the card reader / writer device 33 performs the operation control as shown in FIGS. 5 (c) and (d) in FIG.
Is read out from the visitor card 23 and the record information recorded at the time of issuance is read out.

Next, the process proceeds to S35, where the visitor card 23
Is performed for lump-sum lending of balls for all card balances, calculation for card balance deduction by debit at the time of lending, and processing for updating and displaying according to the debit of the card balance.

Next, the flow proceeds to S36, where the visitor card 23
Is performed to update and record the card balance recorded in the recording area of the card balance information 233 to “0” (becomes “0” for full lending). Then, the input amount displayed on the amount display unit 17 in S37 is set to “0”.
Is performed. This makes it possible to clearly indicate to the player that the player has been debited for lending the ball by the amount of the inserted money. After S37, the visitor process ends.

If a password is input while the member card 21 is inserted, replay using the stored coins can be executed. The processing for performing such replay is described above. Since the subroutine is executed by a subroutine different from that of FIGS. 12 to 15, a detailed description thereof will not be given here.

Next, a process for information management executed by the control unit 401 of the card unit management device 400 will be described. Here, the aggregation processing and the output processing will be described as examples.

FIG. 16 shows a card unit management device 400.
6 is a flowchart showing the processing content of a tallying process executed by the control unit 401 of FIG. First, in S40, it is determined whether or not any of the deposit amount data of the member card, the consumption amount data of the member card, the issue amount data of the visitor card, and the consumption amount data of the visitor card has been received. Done.

If it is determined in S40 that no data has been received, the counting process ends. On the other hand, S4
0, if it is determined that data has been received, S41
If it is determined that the deposit amount data of the member card has not been received, the process proceeds to S43 described later. In S41, it is determined whether or not the deposit amount data of the member card has been received. If it is determined in S41 that the deposit amount data of the member card has not been received, the process proceeds to S41 described later.
Proceed to 43. On the other hand, if it is determined in S41 that the deposit amount data of the member card has been received, the process proceeds to S42,
After the received data is recorded in the deposit amount data recording area for the member card provided in the RAM 401c, and the data is totaled, the process proceeds to S43.

If the processing has proceeded to S43, it is determined whether or not the consumption amount data of the membership card has been received. S43
If it is determined that the consumption amount data of the member card has not been received, the process proceeds to S45 described later. On the other hand, S4
When it is determined that the consumption amount data of the member card has been received by S3, the process proceeds to S44, where the received data is stored in the RA.
After a process of recording in the consumption amount data recording area relating to the member card provided in M401c and totaling is performed, S
Proceed to 45.

[0200] In the case of proceeding to S45, it is determined whether or not the issuance amount data of the visitor card has been received. S
If it is determined in S45 that the visitor card issuance amount data has not been received, the process proceeds to S47 described later. On the other hand, if it is determined in S47 that the issuance amount data of the visitor card has been received, the process proceeds to S46, in which the received data is recorded in the issuance amount data recording area for the visitor card provided in the RAM 401c, and the process of counting is performed. After that, the process proceeds to S47.

When the flow proceeds to S47, it is determined whether or not the consumption amount data of the visitor card has been received. S
If it is determined by 47 that the consumption amount data of the visitor card has not been received, the process proceeds to S49 described later. On the other hand, when it is determined in S47 that the consumption amount data of the visitor card has been received, the process proceeds to S48, where the received data is recorded in the consumption amount data recording area for the visitor card provided in the RAM 401c, and the process of counting is performed. After that, the process proceeds to S49.

When the flow advances to S49, it is determined whether or not the settlement amount data of the member card has been received. S49
If it is determined that the settlement amount data of the member card has not been received, the process proceeds to S51 described later. On the other hand, S4
9, when it is determined that the consumption amount data of the member card has been received, the process proceeds to S50, where the received data is stored in the RA.
After the data is recorded in the settlement amount data recording area relating to the member card provided in M401c, and the data is totaled, S
Go to 51.

If the processing has proceeded to S51, processing for updating the total data (total data in each column of the total table for each unit) for outputting the total table for each unit as shown in FIG. 10 is performed. In the RAM 401c, a storage area for total data for outputting each total item of the total table for each unit is provided, and S42, S44, S46, and S4 are provided.
8. Based on the data recorded and aggregated in S50, the corresponding aggregate data is updated. That is, in this S51, the addition and update processing of each amount, the calculation processing of the stored money,
The processing for updating the data of each display item in the unit-based total table including the calculation processing of each total value is performed.

Next, the flow proceeds to S52, in which processing is performed to update the total data (total data in each column of the island total table) for outputting the island total table as shown in FIG. RA
In M401c, a storage area for total data for outputting each total item of the total table by island is provided.
Based on the data recorded and aggregated in 42, S44, S46, S48, and S50, the corresponding aggregated data is updated. That is, in S52, processing for updating the data of each display item in the island-based totaling table including the addition and update processing of each amount, the calculation processing of the stored money, and the calculation processing of each total value is performed.

Then, the flow advances to S53 for performing processing of updating the total data (total data in each column of the total table by time zone) for outputting the total table by time as shown in FIG. In the RAM 401c, a storage area for total data for outputting each total item of the total table by time zone is provided, and S42, S44, S46, S48, S50 are provided.
The corresponding tabulated data is updated based on the data tabulated by. That is, in this S53,
The processing for updating the data of each display item in the time-slot-based totaling table including the processing for adding and updating each amount of money, the processing for calculating the stored money, and the processing for calculating each total value is performed.

Next, the flow proceeds to S54, in which a process for updating the total data (total data in each column of the hall daily total table) for outputting the hole daily total table as shown in FIG. 8 is performed.
The RAM 401c is provided with a storage area for total data for outputting each total item of the hall daily total table. Based on the data totaled in S42, S44, S46, S48, and S50, the corresponding total is stored. The data is updated. That is, in S54, processing for updating the data of each display item in the hall daily total table including the processing of adding and updating each amount of money, the processing of calculating the stored money, and the processing of calculating the total value is performed. After S54, the counting process ends.

[0207] The total data stored in the RAM 401c as described above is deleted after printing out various management data such as a hall total table, an island total table, a unit total table, and a time period total table when the store is closed. Before that, RAM 401
The data is transferred from the storage area c to the external storage unit 404 and stored in the storage area of the past total data in the external storage unit 404, and is used as the past total data from the next day. The total data stored in the external storage unit 404 is read out from the external storage unit 404 to the control unit 401 when outputting the various management tables on the day before the current day as described above, and Used for output.

According to the tabulation process described above, the card unit management device 400 determines the amount data of the deposit of the membership card,
Member card consumption amount data, visitor card issuance amount data, visitor card consumption amount data,
When the settlement amount data of the member card 21 is received, the received data is tabulated into card types (member card and visitor card), and the above-mentioned hall daily total table, island total table, unit total table, time The tabulation data for outputting various management tables such as a tabulation table is updated.

FIG. 17 shows a card unit management device 400.
3 is a flowchart showing the processing content of output processing executed by the control unit 401 of FIG. First, in S61, it is determined whether or not there has been a hall diary table output request (including a display request operation or a print request operation).

[0210] If it is determined in S61 that there is no request to output the hall daily schedule, the flow proceeds to S64 described later. on the other hand,
If it is determined by 61 that there has been a request to output the hall daily schedule, the process proceeds to S62, and a process of reading the total data for the hall daily schedule on the designated day is performed. In this case, the data of the current day is read from the RAM 401c, and the data before the previous day is read from the external storage unit 404.
Read from Then, the process proceeds to S63, in which the process for outputting the hall daily schedule on the specified day in the specified output form (display on the display 405, printing on the printing unit 406) using the total data read out in S62 is performed. Done.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to S64.

If the processing has proceeded to S64, it is determined whether or not there has been an output request (including a display request operation or a print request operation) of the island-based aggregation table. If it is determined in S64 that there is no output request for the island-based aggregation table, the process proceeds to S67 described later. On the other hand, if it is determined at 64 that there is a request to output the island-based aggregation table, the process proceeds to S65, and a process of reading the aggregation data of the island-based aggregation table on the designated day is performed. In this case, the reading is performed on the RAM 401 for the data of the day.
c, and the data before the previous day is read from the external storage unit 404. Then, the process proceeds to S66, in which a process for outputting the island-based aggregation table in the specified output form (display on the display 405, printing by the printing unit 406) using the aggregation data read out in S65 is performed. Done. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S67.

If the processing has proceeded to S67, an output request for the unit-based aggregation table (including a display request operation or a print request operation)
A determination is made as to whether or not there was. If it is determined in S67 that there is no output request for the unit-based aggregation table, the process proceeds to S70 described later. On the other hand, if it is determined by 67 that there is an output request for the unit-based total table, the process proceeds to S68, and a process of reading the total data of the unit-specific total table on the designated day is performed. In this case, data of the current day is read from the RAM 401c, and data before the previous day is read from the external storage unit 404. Then, the process proceeds to S66, in which a process for outputting the unit-based tally table on the specified day in the specified output form (display by the display 405, printing by the printing unit 406) using the tally data read out in S65 is performed. Done. Then, S7
Go to 0.

If the processing has proceeded to S70, it is determined whether or not there has been an output request (including a display request operation or a print request operation) for the time slot-based tally table. If it is determined in S70 that there is no request to output the time-based aggregation table, this output processing ends. On the other hand, if it is determined by 70 that there has been a request to output the time-slot-based totals table, the process proceeds to S71, and a process of reading the total data of the time-slot-based totals table on the designated day is performed. In this case, data of the current day is read from the RAM 401c, and data before the previous day is read from the external storage unit 404. And S72
Then, the process for outputting the time-based total table on the specified day in the specified output form (display on the display 405, printing on the printing unit 406) is performed using the total data read in S71. . Thereafter, the output processing ends.

According to the output processing described above, a specified management table on a specified day is output in response to an output request of an administrator, based on the totalized data obtained by the above-described totalizing processing.

Next, the main effects obtained by this embodiment will be described together. As shown in the tabulation process of FIG. 16, the member card 21 processed by the card unit 3
And two types of recording media, visitor card 23,
The consumption information (consumption amount data) and the payment information (issue amount data and payment amount data) are totaled for each card type, and as shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, the totaled consumption information and payment information are of two types. The cards are output in a visually recognizable manner at the same time. Therefore, the card unit 3
The administrator can simultaneously grasp the payment information and the consumption information for both of the two types of cards processed in the above.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the payment information and the consumption information totaled from the card units 3 of the entire game arcade 100 are output in such a manner that the membership card 21 and the visitor card 23 can be simultaneously viewed. Therefore, the manager can simultaneously ascertain the payment information and the consumption information totaled for the entire game arcade 100 for the two types of cards.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10, since the totaled payment information and consumption information are output in a visually recognizable form separately for each card unit 3, the administrator can collect the information for each card unit 3. Payment information and consumption information can be simultaneously grasped for two types of cards.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the totaled deposit information and consumption information are output in a visually recognizable manner separately for each gaming machine installation island 200a, so that the administrator is able to output the information for each gaming machine installation island 200a. In addition, the totaled payment information and consumption information can be simultaneously grasped for the two types of cards.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the totaled payment information and consumption information are output in a visually recognizable manner separately for each totaled time zone, so that the administrator can be provided for each totaled time zone. Thus, the totaled payment information and consumption information can be simultaneously grasped for the two types of cards.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, the total value (member / visitor total) obtained by summing the consumption information and the deposit information on the member card 21 and the visitor card 23 is the totaled consumption information and deposit. Since the information is output in a visually recognizable manner at the same time as the information, the administrator can grasp the total value of the aggregated consumption value and the added value for the two types of cards.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, for the member card 21 which can be settled, the totaled settlement amount is output in a visually recognizable manner, so that the administrator can grasp the total value of the settlement amount. be able to.

As shown in FIG. 8, the size of the reclaimed money obtained by subtracting the total value of the consumption amount and the total value of the settlement amount from the total value of the deposit amount is calculated and output. The administrator can grasp the size of the card balance remaining in the state given to the card.

As shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, the total value of the deposit amount and the total value of the consumption amount are calculated, and the consumption amount and the deposit amount of the member card 21 and the visitor card 23 are totaled. Total value (total value of consumption information of member card and visitor card, total value of deposit information of member card and visitor card)
Is output simultaneously with the aggregated consumption information and payment information in a viewable manner, so that the administrator can grasp the total value of the aggregated consumption information and payment information.

As shown in FIG. 8 to FIG. 11, the one based on the sum of the sum of the consumption amounts on the day of the sum (today) and the one based on the sum before the day of the sum (the carry-over amount). Is output in a visually recognizable manner, so that the administrator can grasp whether or not the aggregated consumption amount was paid on the day of the aggregation.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and the like, since the visitor card 23 stored (built-in) can be issued in the card unit 3 in a reproducible manner, the stored visitor card 23 can be issued. Can be repeatedly issued. As a result, the card consumption can be reduced and the running cost of the card can be reduced, and the visitor card 23 can be reused without providing a card recovery processing device, thereby reducing the cost related to the recovery of the card. it can. Also, (a) to (c) of FIG.
Etc., the visitor card 23 to be issued
However, since the player is transferred to the card insertion / ejection port 4 at least to a position where the player can visually confirm a part thereof, the player can visually recognize that the visitor card 23 has been issued. .

Further, as shown in (c) and (d) of FIG. 5, the issued visitor card 23 is accepted by the card accepting section 33b without any operation by the player. The operation burden can be reduced.

Further, as shown in S1 to S3 of FIG. 12 and S11 to S21 of FIG. 13, when the amount of money identified while the member card 21 is received exists, the amount of money of that money is reduced. Is added to the card balance specified from the record information of the member card 21, so that the member card 21
Can be paid by the card unit 3 corresponding to the pachinko gaming machine 2. Thereby, it becomes possible for the player to make a deposit without going to a place away from the pachinko gaming machine 2.

Also, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6,
When the member card 21 is inserted and received by the card receiving unit 33b, the member emits light, and the member light emitting lamp 241 is provided to notify the player of the fact. It can be easily recognized that the card 21 has been accepted.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4,
Since the visitor card 23 is smaller than the membership card 21, the area required for incorporating the visitor card 23 can be saved in space, and thereby the entire card unit 3 can be saved in space. it can.

Also, S17 and S18 in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, when the deposit into the member card 21 is completed, an operation of taking in the member card 21 without performing an operation by the player is performed after a part of the member card 21 is discharged in a visually recognizable manner. Therefore, the completion of the deposit can be easily grasped visually.

Further, as described above, a plurality of types (for example, 100
Yen, 500 yen, 1000 yen, 2000 yen, 5000 yen,
(10000 yen) can be accepted, and a plurality of types of currency can be identified by the bill identifying device 31 and the coin identifying device 32. Therefore, it is possible to cope with the use of the currency desired by the player, and as a result, The convenience for the player can be improved.

Next, modifications and features of the above-described embodiment will be enumerated below. (1) Although the gaming machine described in the present embodiment pays out gaming media such as lending balls or lending coins, the present invention is not limited to this, and is specified by recording information of a recording medium. Instead of paying out (using) the game value and paying out the game media, the gaming machine gives a score corresponding to the deducted value (score indicating the number of game media for lending such as lending balls or lending coins). ) By adding and updating the score of the player, so that the game is performed using the number of game media corresponding to the score, and by controlling the score to be increased or decreased according to the situation of the game, A game machine may be used in which the game media is not directly paid out, but the game media is provided to the player in the form of scores. In addition, the ball or coin included in the game media, in addition to the actual ball or coin,
Also included are those displayed from images.

In the above-described embodiment, the control device 34 controls the debit of the membership card 21 and the visitor card 23 to transmit a lending command signal for lending a ball. Card 2
1, a game value (card balance) of a size specified from the recorded information of the visitor card 23) is shown as an example of processing for using the gaming machine (pachinko gaming machine 2) for a game. Here, in the case of a gaming machine that pays out gaming media (balls, coins, etc.) based on the card balance, a process for using a gaming value of a size specified from the recording information of the recording medium for a game by the gaming machine. Is a recording medium (card)
This is a process including all processes related to withdrawing game media (balls, coins, etc.) by deducting a game value (card balance) of a size specified from the record information of the above-described lending instruction. It is not limited to signal transmission and the like. Further, in the case of a gaming machine that gives a score based on the card balance, a process for using a gaming value of a size specified from the recording information of the recording medium for a game by the gaming machine includes a recording medium (card) This is a process including any process as long as it is a process related to deduction of a gaming value (card balance) of a size specified from the record information of the above and awarding a score.

In order to monitor an abnormal situation in which the player breaks the cover 24 and pulls out the visitor card 23, a wire is laid on the inner surface of the cover 24, electricity flows through the wire, and electricity flows. If the state is detected and determined to be normal, and if the cover 24 is broken and the wiring is cut and the current stops flowing, an abnormal alarm control such as sounding an alarm may be performed.

(2) The cover 24 prevents the non-owner-specified recording medium (the visitor card 23) issued from the recording medium issuing means (the card reader / writer device 33) from reaching the player's hand. Is configured.
The blocking means is not limited to the cover 24. For example, if the owner-unspecified recording medium that partially protrudes from the recording medium issuing means is locked and the player tries to pull it out, it cannot be pulled out. Etc.
It can be anything.

(3) Non-owner-specified recording medium issuance display indicating that the non-owner-specified recording medium (visitor card 23) can be issued using the banknote usable lamp 13 using funds owned by the player. Means are configured.
In addition, issuance of the visitor card 23 is performed in place of bills.
Coins may be used, and may be issued, for example, using a credit card or a debit card or using electronic money. As described above, the issue of the visitor card is not limited to the banknote, and other value objects may be used.

(4) The money amount display 17 constitutes value display means for displaying the size of the game value (card balance) specified by the record information of the visitor card. This value display means also has a function of displaying information by which the cause of the abnormality at the time of occurrence of the abnormality can be recognized.

The card insertion lamp 20 constitutes an already-issued recording medium insertion display means for displaying that an already-issued recording medium is being inserted.

(5) In the above-described embodiment, the game value (card balance) is recorded directly on the membership card 21 or the visitor card 23 in addition to the recording medium identification information such as the card number. In addition to the above, the management computer for the hall of the game hall or the management computer of the card issuing company (card unit management device 400)
The game value at the present time of the recording medium is stored together with the recording medium identification information, and when the recording medium is used, the recording medium identification information of the recording medium is transmitted to the management computer, and the game value corresponding to the recording medium identification information is transmitted. A configuration may be adopted in which a search is performed, and after checking that the magnitude of the retrieved game value and the game value of the member card 21 match, a game can be performed using the game value. Further, the game value is not recorded on the member card 21, but the game value is recorded only on the hall management computer, and based on the recording medium identification information recorded on the member card 21 as described above. The corresponding game value may be searched, and the game medium may be lent (lent) using the game value.

Further, both or one of the above-mentioned membership card 21 and visitor card 23 may be constituted by a contact type IC card. Further, these cards may be constituted by magnetic recording type cards provided with a magnetic stripe. Further, one or both of these cards may be constituted by a magnetic recording and IC recording combined type IC card in which a magnetic stripe is partially provided. In this case, for example, the membership card may be an IC card that uses both magnetic recording and IC recording to magnetically record information relating to the coin storage.

(6) The card unit 3 shown in FIG. 1 and the like constitutes a recording medium processing device provided corresponding to a gaming machine. The recording medium processing device may be a device that can use not only money but also a recording medium such as a debit card and a credit card for depositing and issuing a card. That is, the recording medium processing device is applicable to any recording medium processing device provided corresponding to the gaming machine.

(7) The above-mentioned money amount display 17 is provided on, for example, the upper plate of a pachinko gaming machine instead of being provided on the card unit 3, and is connected to the control device 34 by wiring so as to display the card balance (card frequency). It may be.

(8) The value objects accepted by the recording medium processing device (card unit 3) include bills, coins,
A debit card or a credit card may be used, but the value object identification means for identifying the authenticity of a value object is a bill identification device for a bill, a coin identification device for a coin, a debit card and a credit card. In this case, a card identification device is used.

(9) Central management unit 50 shown in FIG.
According to 1, a plurality of recording medium processing devices (card units 3) provided in each game center are intensively managed via a plurality of management devices (card unit management devices 400) provided in a plurality of game rooms 100. A centralized management device is configured.

(10) Between the centralized management device and the plurality of management devices provided in the amusement arcade, the plurality of management devices are divided into districts where the amusement arcade is located (for example, the whole country is divided into blocks of a plurality of districts). ) May be provided with a block management device that manages the data in a plurality of blocks. In that case,
The block management device counts and manages sales information of the management devices in the block, and transmits the management information to the centralized management device. Then, the central management device further collects and manages information transmitted from the plurality of block management devices that manage each area. That is, the block management device has some of the functions of the central management device 501 described in the above-described embodiment. If you do this,
Since the central management device 501 and the block management device share the processing load of the total management, the processing load of the central management device 501 can be reduced.

(11) The management device is not limited to the card unit management device 400 described in the embodiment. For example, the card unit management device 400 may not be provided, and the central management device 5 shown in the embodiment may be omitted.
01 may directly manage the card unit 3. In that case, the central management device 501 corresponds to the management device. The card unit management device 4
00 may be provided outside the game hall, not inside the game hall.
In that case, each card unit 3 is connected using a communication line.
And the card unit management device 400, and perform information mutual communication as described in the above embodiment. When the card unit management device 400 is provided outside the game hall, a plurality of game halls (for example, a plurality of game halls of different management provided in a predetermined area and a plurality of game halls of the same management) are provided. One card unit management device 400 (a card unit management device that manages the card units 3 of a plurality of amusement arcades) may be provided in correspondence with both.

(12) In the above-described embodiment, information capable of specifying a game value (card balance) corresponding to the total amount of money of money identified by the money identifying means (the bill identifying device 31) is recorded. Only the example in which the enclosed recording medium (the visitor card 23) is issued is shown. Control means)
And a game value (card balance) corresponding to a partial amount (for example, 1000 yen) of the identified money (banknote).
It is also possible to issue a visitor card 23 in which information capable of specifying the information is recorded and pay out the remaining amount as change. For example, in the embodiment described above, 1
1000 such as 0000 yen, 5000 yen, 2000 yen
It is possible to accept and identify banknotes of yen or more, and to issue a visitor card 23 recording a card balance of a predetermined amount (1000 yen), a necessary change (for example, 500 yen).
In the case of 0 yen reception, a change of 4000 yen) may be calculated and paid out. In other words, the enclosed recording medium (the visitor card 23) has a game value (card balance) corresponding to a predetermined amount (including both the entire amount and a partial amount) within the range of the money amount identified by the money identifying means. ) May be recorded as long as it can specify the information.

(13) In the above-described embodiment, the password is used for personal authentication when replaying using the ball, but the present invention is not limited to this.
Personal identification may be performed using physical features of the individual such as a face and a fist-shaped shape. In addition, personal identification may be performed using personal characteristics other than the physical characteristics of the user, such as handwriting. That is, such a feature point of the person is converted into data and registered on the game arcade side, and a detection device capable of detecting such a feature point is provided in the card unit,
When the data of such feature points match, the user may be authenticated. Note that replay may be permitted without performing personal authentication using a password or the like as described above.

(14) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the member information management device 71 is provided in the game arcade to manage the member information including the savings. However, the present invention is not limited to this. 400 may also be used as the member management device 71.

(15) The card balance display 8 shown in the above-described embodiment is a dual-purpose display that also displays the card balance of the membership card 21 under the control of the control device 34. A member card dedicated display may be provided. In addition, when it is provided, it is not limited to the upper plate 5 and may be provided at another location, for example, a curtain plate or the like, or may be provided at the same location as the trouble lamp.

(16) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been shown in which only one bill or coin can be inserted in depositing the membership card 21 and issuing the visitor card 23. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the case of depositing the membership card 21 and issuing the visitor card 23, a plurality of bills and coins may be inserted.

(17) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been shown in which only one bill or coin can be inserted in the case of depositing the membership card 21 and issuing the visitor card 23. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the case of depositing the membership card 21 and issuing the visitor card 23, a plurality of bills and coins may be inserted.

(18) In the above-described embodiment, the upper limit of the deposit amount is more restricted than in the online state when using the member card 21 when the card unit 3 and the card unit management device 400 are offline. An example of doing this has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. When the user is offline, the same processing as that of the visitor card 23 may be performed, such as, in addition to the upper limit of the deposit amount, using the entire amount of the input amount collectively for lending balls. It may be.
By doing so, fraudulent acts in the offline state can be prevented as much as possible.

(19) In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the visitor card 23 is of a built-in type. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the visitor card 23 is not built in the card unit 3 and is similar to the member card 21. May be portable by the player.

(20) In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which the visitor card 23 was unable to settle the card balance. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The card balance may be settled like the member card 21. Such payments are based on the visitor card 23
Is provided in the card unit 3, a payment function for the visitor card 23 is provided.
Regarding 3, a function is provided that enables the same settlement as the membership card 21.

(21) In the above-described embodiment, the card unit management device 400 outputs the above-described various management tables (hole daily totals table, island-specific totals table, unit-specific totals table, time-specific totals table) and the output thereof. The example of totalizing data for output has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and such data may be totalized and various management tables may be output by a device other than the card unit management device 400 such as the hall management computer or the central management device 501.

(22) In the above-described embodiment, when the issue amount data, the deposit amount data, the consumption amount data, and the settlement amount data are received, they are created while updating the aggregate data for various management tables. In the above, an example has been shown in which, when an output request for the various management tables is issued, various management tables are output based on the aggregated data. However, when the issue amount data, the deposit amount data, the consumption amount data, and the settlement amount data are received, those data are simply stored without being processed, and there is a request to output the various management tables. In this case, data necessary for outputting the corresponding management table may be totaled, and various management tables may be output based on the totalized data.

(23) With the card insertion / ejection port 4 shown in FIG. 1 or the like, it is possible to specify the size of a game value (card balance) which is a recording medium whose owner is specified and which can be used for a game. A recording medium insertion slot into which an owner-specific recording medium (member card 21) on which information is recorded is inserted is configured. As described in the above-described embodiment, the recording medium insertion slot allows the owner-specific recording medium (member card 21) to be inserted from the outside of the recording medium processing device (card unit 3). This includes a part of the specific recording medium (the visitor card 23) which can be put in and taken out of the player's hand.

(24) The pachinko gaming machine 2 shown in the above-described embodiment has a configuration in which a game can be played by firing a ball into a game area. That is, in the embodiment, the case where the pachinko gaming machine 2 is a gaming machine in which the player can directly get a pachinko ball is described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. Other gaming machines such as a ball-filled pachinko gaming machine of a type in which pachinko balls enclosed therein are circulated and used for gaming may be used. In the pachinko gaming machine 2 described above, structures related to the pachinko gaming machine such as pachinko balls, such as pachinko balls, include a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquor).
Other game machines, such as image-type game machines, which are displayed by an image on an image display device such as an id crystal display and can play a game based on the displayed image.

(25) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which payment to the member card 21 is possible when there is no card balance (when the card balance = 0). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the condition under which the member card 21 can be paid may be a condition in which there is a card balance (when card balance> 0). In addition, the conditions under which the deposit to the member card 21 becomes possible are irrespective of the card balance,
Payment may be made at any time.

(26) The card balance recorded on the member card 21 shown in the above-described embodiment may have an expiration date or may not have an expiration date (unlimited). If you want your card balance to expire,
The expiration date may be set to a predetermined period (for example, a fixed period such as one day, one week, one month, one year, etc.)
In addition, the expiration date may be irregularly extended such that it is extended every predetermined period (for example, every 30 days) based on the update by the player.

(27) In the above-described embodiment, the settlement information shown in the hall daily schedule of FIG.
An example is shown in which today's portion (payment of the card balance for today's deposit) and carryover (payment of the card balance for the deposit before today) are distinguished from each other, and they are summarized and displayed as today's portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For the settlement information shown in the hall daily total table of FIG. 8, today's payment (payment of the card balance for today's deposit) and carryover (payment of the card balance for the deposit before today) May be separately displayed and displayed separately for today (the settlement of the card balance for today's deposit) and the carry-over (the settlement of the card balance for the deposit before today). By doing so, it is possible to easily manage the settlement information by distinguishing between today's balance and carryover balance.

(28) In the above embodiment, the issue amount data, the deposit amount data, the consumption amount data, etc. transmitted from the recording medium processing device (card unit 3) to the recording medium management device (card unit management device 400). Has been shown in real time when issuance, payment, consumption, etc. are performed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and transmission of information from the recording medium processing device to the recording medium It may be performed at other timings such as the end timing of use of the card (for example, the ejection timing of the card in the case of the member card 21, the timing of returning the card to the standby position in the case of the visitor card 23). Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the card reader / writer for the member card 21 and the card reader / writer for the visitor card 23 are configured by one card reader / writer (card reader / writer device 33). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a card reader / writer for the membership card 21 and a card reader / writer for the visitor card 23 may be separately provided.

(29) In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the visitor card 23 is issued in the card unit 3. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the visitor card 23 used in the card unit 3 may be used.
May be issued by an issuing device such as a card issuing machine other than the card unit and can be used by being inserted into the card unit 3. Further, in this embodiment, as the visitor card 23, a card which is built in the card unit 3 and cannot be taken out is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a visitor card which can be taken out is used. (It is a card that is built and used repeatedly, but it may be made to be able to be taken out, or a card that can be freely inserted and taken out without being built in.)

(30) The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a pachinko gaming machine and a card unit installed on a gaming machine installation island.

FIG. 2A is a partially enlarged front view of a card unit, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a card insertion / ejection port taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure and recorded information of a membership card and a visitor card.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the card reader / writer showing a processing operation of a membership card in the card reader / writer device.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the card reader / writer showing a processing operation of a visitor card in the card reader / writer.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a card unit and a configuration of a management system inside and outside the game arcade.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a card unit management device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an output example of a hall daily schedule.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an output example of an island-based aggregation table.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an output example of a unit-based aggregation table.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an output example of a time-based aggregation table.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing contents of card processing.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing contents of a member payment processing.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the contents of a member lending process.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the details of visitor processing.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the contents of a tallying process performed by the control unit of the card unit management device.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the contents of output processing executed by the control unit of the card unit management device.

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 pachinko machine, 23 visitor card, 21 member card 21, 3 card unit, 400 card unit management device, 401 control unit, 405 display unit, 4
06 printing unit, 100 amusement arcade, 200a gaming machine installation island, 34 main control unit, 340 control unit, 6 bill insertion slot, 22 visitor card issuing slot, 33 card reader / writer device.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C088 BA88 BB03 BB07 BB14 BB19 BB20 BB21 BB23 BB33 BC77 CA02 CA07 CA09 CA31 CA35

Claims (9)

[Claims] Claims: 1. accepting money, identifying the accepted money,
The magnitude of the game value that can be used for the game corresponding to the predetermined amount within the range of the identified money is indicated by the information that is the recording medium whose owner has been identified and that can identify the magnitude of the game value. For a game specified from the record information of an owner-unspecified recording medium in which an owner-specific recording medium to be recorded and a recording medium whose owner is not specified and in which information capable of specifying the value of the game value are recorded are recorded. A game value assigning means for performing a process for assigning a value to the value; and a game value for performing a process for using the value of the game value specified from the recording information of the both recording media for the game. A recording medium management device that is communicatively connected to a recording medium processing device having at least a use unit and that manages the use status of the two recording media based on information transmitted from the recording medium processing device. Aggregation in which the magnitude of the provided gaming value, which is the gaming value provided by the value providing means, and the magnitude of the used gaming value, which is the gaming value used by the gaming value using means, are aggregated for each of the recording media. Recording means, and an output means for outputting, in an output mode, the total value of each of the added game value and the used game value for each of the recording media totaled by the totaling means in an output mode that allows simultaneous confirmation. Media management device. 2. The tallying means performs the tallying for all of the recording medium processing devices installed in the game arcade, and the output means performs the tallying for the entire game hall counted by the tallying means. 2. The recording medium management device according to claim 1, wherein the total value is output. 3. The tallying unit performs the tallying for each of the recording medium processing devices installed in a game arcade, and the output unit performs the recording medium processing tallyed by the tallying unit. The recording medium management device according to claim 1, wherein the total value is output for each device. 4. The tallying unit further performs the tallying for each of the gaming machine installation islands in which the recording medium processing is installed in a game arcade, and the output unit performs the tallying by the tallying unit. 4. The recording medium management device according to claim 1, wherein the total value is output for each of the machine installation islands. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tallying unit performs the tallying for each time period, and the output unit outputs the tally value for each time period tallyed by the tallying unit. 1
5. The recording medium management device according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. The game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the owner-specified recording medium and the owner-unspecified recording medium has a game value specified by recording information of the recording medium according to the size. It is possible to perform a settlement that is converted into money and returned, and the counting means totals the size of the settlement game value, which is the game value for which the settlement was performed, and the output means, 6. The recording medium management device according to claim 1, wherein a total value of the settlement game value totaled by the means is output. 7. The value of the remaining game value obtained by subtracting the total value of the used game value and the total value of the settlement game value from the total value of the granted game values totaled by the totaling means. 7. The game device according to claim 6, further comprising: a remaining game value calculating unit that calculates the remaining game value, wherein the output unit outputs a remaining game value having a size calculated by the remaining game value calculating unit. The recording medium management device according to any one of the preceding claims. 8. An awarded game value total value calculating means for calculating an awarded game value total value obtained by summing up the aggregated value of the awarded game values for each recording medium calculated by the tallying means; Further comprising a used game value total value calculating means for calculating a used game value total value obtained by summing up the total value of the used game values for each recording medium totaled by the totaling means, and the output means The total value of the added game value calculated by the total value of the added game value calculating means and the total value of the used game value calculated by the total value of the used game value calculated by the used game value total calculating means are output in an output mode which allows simultaneous confirmation. The recording medium management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein 9. The tallying of the size of the used game value by the tallying means includes the size of the used game value based on the size of the provided game value on the tallying day, and the given game before the tallying day. The size of the used game value based on the value of the service value is distinguished from the value of the used game value. And outputting the total value of the game value and the total value of the used game value based on the magnitude of the provided game value before the total day in a distinguishable output form. The recording medium management device according to any one of the preceding claims.