JP2002360761A - Rotary belt type pattern display device for game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable stopping or controlling of the rotary belt by detecting the origin with a simple structure while eliminating the need for separately providing an index for determining the positions of patterns, hence getting rid of space required, in the rotary belt type pattern display device for game machines such as slot machines. SOLUTION: In the rotary belt type pattern display device, the rotary belt having multiple kinds of patterns displayed thereon is rotated by making a gear-like protrusion of a drive drum, rotating with a drive motor, engaged with latch holes for rotary drive of the rotary belt for game machines such as slot machines. The latch holes for the rotary drive of the rotary belt are utilized as an index for the positioning of the patterns and a slot is provided for the origin as reference for determining pattern stopping positions among the latch holes to detect the origin depending on the variations, long or sort, of detection signals obtained from the latch holes for rotary drive with a photosensor thereby controlling the pattern stopping positions with the origin as reference.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotating belt type symbol display device in a game machine such as a slot machine for playing a game by combining symbols, and more particularly, to a symbol by a stop operation of the rotating belt type symbol display device. The present invention relates to a symbol positioning index for controlling a stop position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional rotary belt type symbol display device for a game machine is composed of a belt driving device comprising a driving drum rotated by a driving motor, a guide roller and a tension roller, and a plurality of types of belt driving devices wound around the belt driving device. Of the rotating belt that displays the symbol on the front side, and a control circuit that controls the stopping position of the symbol. A detectable index is provided, the index is detected by a photo sensor or the like, and the stop control of the rotating belt accompanying the stopping operation is performed based on the detection signal, and the symbol displayed on the rotating belt is a horizontal line or a line on the winning determination line. They are lined up diagonally.

[0003]

However, the conventional index for design positioning which can be detected by the light transmittance or the like is provided at the side end of the rotating belt or between the symbols at the center of the rotating belt. It is necessary to separately provide an index by drilling a transmission hole or printing so that the light transmittance is different, especially with the gear-shaped protrusion of the drive drum that rotates the rotating belt with the drive motor. When an index is provided on a rotating belt type symbol display device which is rotated by engagement with the rotating driving hook hole of the rotating belt, a symbol is displayed at the center of the rotating belt of a predetermined width, and the rotating driving hook holes are provided on both sides thereof. In addition, it is necessary to provide an index outside the hook hole, which causes a problem that the symbol display portion becomes narrow and the portion where the index is provided has many restrictions. It was. In view of the above problems, a rotating belt type symbol display device of a gaming machine according to the present invention is configured to rotate a rotating belt by engaging a gear-shaped protrusion of a driving drum rotated by a driving motor with a hook for driving rotation of the rotating belt. In the belt-type symbol display device, the rotation driving hook holes provided in the rotary belt are used as indexes, and it is not necessary to separately provide an index, and the origin serving as a reference for determining the symbol stop position is rotated. A rotating belt type symbol display device of a gaming machine which can detect a photo sensor by making one or more of the driving hook holes into a long hole and accurately control a symbol stop position by a rotation stop operation based on a detection signal. It is intended to be provided.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotating belt type symbol display device for a game machine, which rotates a plurality of rotating belts on which a plurality of types of symbols are displayed. A stop button corresponding to the belt is used to stop the rotating belt, and in a gaming machine for playing a game by a combination of symbols at the time of stopping, a gear-shaped protrusion of a driving drum rotating the rotating belt with a driving motor and a rotating belt. In the rotating belt type symbol display device which rotates by engaging with the rotation driving hooking hole, the rotation driving hooking hole of the rotary belt is used as a pattern positioning index, and the rotation driving hooking hole is detected by a photo sensor. The gist of the present invention is to control a symbol stop position by a stop operation of the rotating belt based on the detection signal.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotary belt type symbol display device for a gaming machine according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the rotary belt type symbol display device for a gaming machine is used as the index for positioning the symbol. Of the rotation driving hook holes to be used, the origin serving as a reference for determining the symbol stop position is defined as a long hole, and the origin is detected based on the length of a detection signal obtained from the rotation driving hook hole by a photo sensor, and the origin is used as a reference. The gist is to control the symbol stop position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotary belt type symbol display device for a game machine according to the second aspect of the present invention. The gist is that one of the hook holes is formed to have a predetermined length by extending in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the rotating belt.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotating belt type symbol display device for a game machine, wherein a plurality of types of symbols are displayed, the plurality of rotating belts are rotated, and a stop button corresponding to each rotating belt is provided. Is used for a game machine in which the rotating belt is stopped by the operation of and the game is performed by a combination of symbols at the time of stop. When the control circuit controls and rotates the drive motor, the drive drum rotates and the drive drum is rotated. The gear-shaped projections of the drum and the rotation driving hook holes of the rotary belt are successively engaged, and the gear-shaped projections drive the hook holes to rotate the rotary belt.

Since the rotation hole of the rotary belt is used as an index for positioning a symbol, the index, ie, the rotation hole is detected by a photo sensor, and a detection signal is input to a control circuit. The stop position of the symbol by the stop operation can be accurately controlled, and the positional relationship of each symbol can be determined. As a result, the symbols arranged in a plurality are not aligned on the winning determination line in a horizontal or diagonal line, and the symbols on the winning determining line can be determined. further,
Since the rotation drive hook hole is also used as a symbol positioning index, there is no need to separately provide an index on the rotating belt. Therefore, the symbol can be displayed on the surface of the rotating belt in a size that is easy for the player to see, without being limited by the symbol display area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotary belt type symbol display device for a game machine, wherein one or a plurality of rotation driving hook holes used as a symbol positioning index are used as symbols. Since the origin used as the reference for determining the stop position is longer than the other hook holes, the detection signal obtained from the rotation drive hook hole by the photo sensor becomes longer only at the origin, and the other rotation drive hook holes become longer. Is short, the origin is detected.This detection signal is input to the control circuit, and based on the detected origin, the step angle of the drive motor is controlled, the rotation of the drive drum is controlled, and the symbol stop position is controlled by a stop operation. Can be accurately controlled based on the origin.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotating belt type symbol display device for a game machine, wherein a long hole for detecting an origin for determining a stop position of the symbol is provided with one of the rotation driving hook holes, It is formed in a predetermined length by extending in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating belt, so the photo sensor detects this long hole, and since the detection signal is longer than other hook holes, it may be the origin. The symbols detected and displayed on the rotating belt are accurately stopped at predetermined positions. The long holes can be provided without affecting the design displayed on the rotating belt, and the origin can be detected more accurately by the length of the detection signal.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In order to further clarify the main structure and operation of the present invention described above, a preferred embodiment of a rotating belt type symbol display device for a game machine according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The illustrated embodiment is a case where the rotating belt type symbol display device of the gaming machine of the present invention is applied to a slot machine, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating the appearance of the slot machine of the embodiment. In the figure, A is a slot machine main body, and a display window 2 through which a design 1 can be seen is provided at a central portion near the upper front, and a transparent resin plate is mounted on the display window 2 to cover the display window 2. At the same time, three parallel horizontal lines a, b, and c in the upper, middle, and lower rows are used as a winning determination line for determining a combination of the symbols 1 when the symbol 1 stops.
And two oblique lines d that cross at the center
e is drawn so as to be understood by the player. In the display window 2, three rotating belts 3 of a symbol display section C, which will be described later, are arranged so that the symbols 1 of a left belt, a middle belt, and a right belt can be seen. The upper and lower three frames of the symbol 1 thus obtained, that is, a total of nine symbols 1 can be seen through the display window 2. In addition, 4 in the figure
Is a coin insertion slot, 5, 6, and 7 are operation buttons for stopping each of the rotating belts 3, 8 is a start lever or a start button for starting a game, and 9 is a medal tray.

The belt driving device B of the symbol display section C is shown in FIG.
3, a drive motor M fixed to the upper part of the substrate 10, a drive drum 12 fixed to the rotating shaft 11 of the motor M, and a support shaft 13 to the lower part of the substrate 10. A guide roller 14 rotatably mounted; and two upper and lower tension rollers 15, 1 urged outward to impart a constant tension to the rotating belt 3.
6 is comprised.

As the driving motor M, a stepping motor or a pulse motor is used. The driving motor M is rotated by a step angle according to a pulse signal from a control circuit D described later, and the rotation of the driving drum 12 fixed to the rotating shaft 11 is controlled. The rotation angle can be controlled.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the driving drum 12 has a short cylindrical portion 12a slightly wider than the rotating belt 3 to be rotated and a rotating shaft 11 of the driving motor M at the center of the center. It has a bearing 12b for mounting and fixing, and a large number of gear-shaped projections 17 are provided in parallel at equal intervals on both sides of the outer surface of the short cylindrical portion 12a. The gear-shaped protrusion 17 may be a prismatic protrusion other than the illustrated columnar protrusion.

The upper and lower two tension rollers 15,
Reference numeral 16 denotes a distal end bearing portion 2 of movable arms 21 and 22 whose base ends are pivotally supported by the substrate 10 by support shafts 19 and 20 and swing.
3 and 24 are rotatably mounted on shafts, and tension rollers 15 and 26 are provided by torsion springs 25 and 26 provided on a base pivot portion.
Numeral 16 constantly urges the rotating belt 3 outward (to the left in FIG. 2) via the movable arms 21 and 22 so that an appropriate tension can be applied to the rotating belt 3.

The rotating belt 3 of the symbol display section C
Is an endless shape in which both ends are joined by a polyethylene terephthalate or polyethylene film belt. As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of types of symbols 1,
For example, a pattern 1a, a number 1b, a character 1c and the like are displayed in a random order at regular intervals, and on both sides thereof, rotation driving hook holes 18 with which the gear-shaped protrusions 17 of the driving drum 12 engage are provided at regular intervals. The hook holes 18 are slightly larger in diameter than the gear-shaped protrusions 17 of the drive drum 12, and the hook holes 18 are formed with the gear-shaped protrusions as the drive drum 12 rotates. The rotating belt 3 is driven and rotated while being engaged with the wake 17 one after another. The hook hole 18 may be a square hole in addition to the illustrated round hole.

The rotation driving hook hole 18 is used for driving the rotation of the rotating belt 3 and is also used as a symbol positioning index. One side end of the rotation belt 3 in which the hook holes 18 are arranged in line. Is configured to pass through a photosensor 27 set at a substantially intermediate position between the two upper and lower tension rollers 15 and 16 on the substrate 10, and the photosensor 27 allows light to pass through the rotation drive hooking hole 18 as an index. The detection signal is detected from the time, and a detection signal is output from the photosensor 27 as a pulse waveform shown in FIG.

The symbol display portion C is located on the outer periphery of the belt driving device B, that is, the driving drum 12 → the guide roller 14 →
Lower tension roller 16 → a plurality of patterns 1a, numerals 1b, characters 1c on the outer surface of the upper tension roller 15
The endless rotating belt 3 on which is displayed a trapezoidal shape (FIG. 2)
(See FIG. 3) (the upper hole 17 of the rotating belt 3 is engaged with the gear-shaped protrusion 17 in the upper half of the drive drum 12). Are set as a set and are used side by side with a small gap and used as a symbol display device. A control circuit D described later is connected to each symbol display portion C, and each symbol display portion C is controlled by the control circuit. Is controlled to control the rotation and stop of the rotating belt 3.

One of the hook holes for driving the rotation of the rotary belt 3 in each of the symbol display portions C is formed by extending one of the hook holes 18 in a direction opposite to the rotation direction to have a long hole 18 formed to a predetermined length.
a (see FIG. 5), and the long hole 18a is used as an origin serving as a reference when controlling the symbol stop position.
Accordingly, the origin can be detected by making the waveform f of the detection signal wider than the waveform h of the hook hole 18 (see FIG. 8). That is, the driving hook hole 18 as an index and the long hole 18a serving as the origin are detected by the photosensor 27, connected so that the detection signal is input to the control circuit, and the origin is detected from the detection signal. The symbol is controlled so as to stop on the winning determination line based on the origin. In addition, symbols stopped on the winning determination line can be indexed to determine whether or not a winning has been achieved. Incidentally, the base end face 18b of the elongated hole 18a is engaged with the gear-shaped projection 17 of the drive drum 12 so as not to hinder the rotation drive. Further, the long holes 18a can be provided at positions where the rotary belt is divided into two and four, respectively, and various controls and settings can be made based on a plurality of origins.

The control circuit D includes, for example, a sensor input circuit 2 for inputting a pulse signal output from the photo sensor 27 as illustrated in the block diagram of FIG.
8 and a ROM 29 storing a control program and a CP
A RAM 30 functioning as a work memory for the U, and a CPU 3 controlling the gaming machine in accordance with the control program
1 and a motor drive circuit 32 for driving and stopping the stepping motor M in response to a command from the CPU 31, for example.

Therefore, the light from the light emitting portion is transmitted by the photosensor 27 through the hooking holes 18 on one side of the rotation driving hooking holes 18 arranged at both ends of the rotating belt 3 and the light is detected by the light receiving portion. A pulse-like detection signal is output from the possible photosensor 27, a detection signal with a wide pulse width is output from the long hole 18a, and a detection signal with a narrow pulse width is output from the other hook holes 18 as shown in FIG. The pulse signal is sent to the control circuit D, and based on these pulse signals, the rotating belt 3
Is controlled.

In the above arrangement, when the player inserts one to three coins into the coin slot 4 and operates the start lever 8, a start signal is sent to the control circuit D, and the control circuit D sends the start signal to the symbol display section C. A drive pulse signal is sent to the drive motor M, and the drive motor starts to rotate.
The driving drum 12 fixed to the rotating shaft 11 is rotated.
Therefore, the rotating belt 3 wrapped around the outer periphery of the belt driving device B is successively engaged with the rotation driving hooking hole 18 of the rotating belt 3 with which the gear-shaped projection 17 of the driving drum 12 engages. 18 and the rotating belt 3 starts rotating and moving without causing slippage with the driving drum 12.
Each of the rotating belts 3 of the symbol display portions C arranged in a row starts rotating at the same time.

Hereinafter, an example of a routine for detecting the origin as a reference for controlling the symbol stop position will be described with reference to a flowchart for detecting the origin shown in FIG. 7. Until the speed is reached, the origin detection operation is returned. When the rotating belt starts rotating and reaches a constant speed, measurement of the time when the rotation driving hooking hole 18 passes through the photosensor 27 is started.
For the measurement, a timer interrupt or a hardware interrupt is provided within a certain period, and a voltage at a predetermined position of the photosensor 27, for example, a collector voltage of a phototransistor constituting the photosensor is detected for each interrupt, and the photosensor 27 is turned on. Or off.

Therefore, when the rotating belt is not rotating or has not reached a certain speed, the photo sensor 27 is off, and when the rotating speed exceeds a certain speed, measurement is started, and the rotation driving catching hole 18 is rotated. When the photo sensor 27 is reached along with the rotation of the belt, the sensor 2
7 turns on. Then, since the photosensor 27 is off in the previous detection, the rising of the pulse signal is detected, and the counter is cleared once. Next, similarly, when the voltage at the predetermined position of the photo sensor 27 is detected and turned on, +1 is added to the value of the counter since the previous time was turned on. Each time a detection signal for turning on the photo sensor 27 is sent to the control circuit, the value of the counter is incremented by one each time and is stored in the storage area of the RAM of the control circuit D.
The photo sensor 27 is turned off when the previous time is turned on and the current time is turned off, that is, when the rotation driving hook hole 18 passes through the photo sensor 27 with the rotation of the rotating belt, and by detecting this, The pulse width from when the photo sensor 27 is turned on to when it is turned off is converted into a counter value. Then, when the photo sensor 27 is turned on again, the counter is cleared and the same operation is repeated. The value of the counter is compared with a discrimination value determined to be the long hole 18a, that is, the origin, and when the value is equal to or larger than the discrimination value, the counter is recognized and set as the long hole 18a, that is, the origin. When the origin is detected and set, stop control or the like is performed based on the origin. If the detection value is smaller than the discrimination value, it is recognized as the rotation driving hook hole 18 instead of the origin, and +1 is added to the frame number. +
1 is added and stored in the control circuit D, and the position of the symbol can be determined from the relationship between the frame number and the symbol and the origin.

Therefore, the control circuit D includes the photo sensor 27
From the detection signal, the position of the design of the rotating belt at present is determined.
When the player arbitrarily selects the three stop buttons 5, 6, and 7 and performs a stop operation sequentially, the stop signal is input to the control circuit D, and the stop signal is input. The step angle of the drive motor M is controlled based on the relationship between the pulse count number up to the point in time and the origin, and after a predetermined time, each rotating belt 3 wins one of the symbols 1 displayed on the rotating belt 3 It is positioned accurately on the determination lines a, b, c, d and e and stopped. Then, the symbol 1 stopped on the winning determination lines a, b, c, d, and e of the display window 2 from when the origin of the output signal having a long waveform is detected until the rotation belt, that is, the drive motor M stops. The winning determination lines a, b, and
When the symbol 1 appearing on c, d, and e is determined, symbol information is input to the winning determination circuit, and when it is detected that a winning combination symbol has been formed based on the input symbol information, the number of sheets responding to this is determined. The medal is paid out to the tray 9 on the player side.

As described above, in the conventional rotary belt type symbol display device, the symbol for index detection is formed by forming a hole through which light passes through between the symbols at the side edge or the center of the rotary belt. Alternatively, the index is provided by printing so as to change the light transmittance, but in the present invention, the hook hole for rotation driving is used as it is as an index, and one or a plurality of the hook holes is formed into a long hole. Since the pulse width is narrower and wider than the pulse-shaped detection signal output from the photo sensor, the reference point for controlling the stop position of the rotating belt can be determined. , The symbol 1 can be accurately stopped at a predetermined position, and the symbols displayed on the winning determination line do not become uneven.

Although an example of the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment, and may be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course. For example, similarly to the slot machine, the present invention can be applied to a symbol display device of a pachinko machine of a type in which the opening time of a winning hole is determined by a combination of symbols.

[0029]

The rotating belt type symbol display device of the gaming machine according to the present invention is embodied in the form described above, and has the following effects.

According to the rotary belt type symbol display device for a game machine according to the present invention, the gear belt-shaped protrusion of the drive drum rotating the rotary belt by the drive motor and the rotation driving hook hole of the rotary belt. In the rotating belt type symbol display device which is rotated by engagement, the driving hole for driving the rotation of the rotating belt is used as an index for positioning the symbol, so that a light transmission hole is separately formed. It is not necessary to provide an index by printing or the like so that the transmittance of the index is different. In addition, since the rotation drive hook hole is used as it is, there is no need to provide a space for providing an index.
The rotating belt having a predetermined width can be effectively used, and the symbol can be displayed in a large size, so that the player can easily see the symbol. Furthermore, since the rotation driving hook holes are arranged at equal intervals,
By detecting the hook holes with the photo sensor, it is possible to control the stop of the symbol and to determine the position of the symbol based on the detection signal. Therefore, the aligned and horizontal lines of the symbols arranged in a plurality are not uneven, and the game can be performed properly and fairly.

According to the rotary belt type symbol display device for a game machine according to the second aspect of the present invention, among the driving hook holes arranged in a row on the rotary belt, the origin serving as a reference for determining the symbol stop position is determined by the elongated hole. Since the origin is detected by the length of the detection signal obtained from the hook hole by the photo sensor, the origin can be provided by simply making the hook hole longer. Therefore, it can be extremely simple and inexpensive. Then, based on the waveform of the detection signal from the photo sensor, it is possible to easily and reliably detect the origin as a reference for determining the symbol stop position by the stop operation.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the game machine, the elongated hole extends one of the hooks for driving the rotation of the rotating belt in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating belt. Since it is formed in this way, there is no hindrance in driving and driving the rotation driving hook hole of the rotary belt by the gear-shaped projection of the driving drum. Also, by providing the origin, the display area of the symbol is not restricted, and the origin can be detected accurately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic perspective view showing an example of a slot machine to which a rotating belt type symbol display device of a gaming machine according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view of only a rotating belt type symbol display section.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing only one set of a rotating belt type symbol display unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of an engagement relationship between a driving drum and a rotating belt.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a positional relationship between a photo-sensor and a rotation driving hook hole and an origin detection long hole of the rotary belt.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a control circuit for a photosensor and a drive motor.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an origin detection routine.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a relationship between a long hole and a hook hole of a rotating belt and a waveform of a detection signal output from a photo sensor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Slot machine body B: Belt driving device C: Symbol display unit 1 ... Symbol 2 ... Display window 3 ... Rotating belt 5, 6, 7 ... Stop operation button 8 ... Start lever 9 ... Medal tray 10 ... Substrate M ... Drive Motor 12: Drum 14: Guide roller 15: Upper tension roller 16: Lower tension roller 17: Gear-shaped protrusion 18: Hook hole 18a: Slot for detecting the origin of the symbol stop position 27: Photo sensor D: Control circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A gaming machine that rotates a plurality of rotating belts on which a plurality of types of symbols are displayed, stops the rotating belts with stop buttons corresponding to the respective rotating belts, and plays a game by a combination of symbols at the time of stopping. In the rotating belt type symbol display device, the rotating belt is rotated by engagement of a gear-shaped protrusion of a driving drum rotated by a driving motor with a hooking hole for rotating the rotating belt. The rotation of a game machine, wherein the hook hole is used as a symbol positioning index, a photo sensor detects the rotation drive hook hole, and the stop position of the rotating belt is controlled based on the detection signal to control the symbol stop position. Belt design display. 2. A detection signal obtained from a rotation driving hooking hole by a photo sensor, wherein an origin serving as a reference for determining a symbol stop position is a long hole among the rotation driving hooking holes used as the symbol positioning index. 2. The rotating belt type symbol display device for a gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein an origin is detected based on a length of the symbol, and the symbol stop position is controlled based on the origin. 3. The gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the elongated hole is formed to have a predetermined length by extending one of the rotation driving hook holes in a direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating belt. Rotating belt type symbol display device.