JP2003135764A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit a larger capacity of data than conventional data from a main control part to a sub-control part without requiring greatly changing of hardware constitution. SOLUTION: Between a main CPU 21 and a sub CPU 31, a transmission path 23a for transmitting the control signal of 8-bit constitution and a transmission path 23b including three transmission lines for transmitting a strobe signal are formed. The main CPU 21 divides the data of 16-bit constitution indicating the number of held balls to the data of high-order 8 bits and the data of low- order 8 bits, transmits control signals indicating these pieces of data in order, and transmits strobe signals corresponding to the respective control signals through respectively different transmission lines.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises a main control unit for controlling the progress of a game and a sub control unit for controlling a predetermined drive system related to the game based on a control signal from the main control unit. The present invention relates to a gaming machine provided with the gaming machine and a gaming machine provided with a signal indicating an operation state according to a progress state of the game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, game machines such as pachinko machines and slot machines directly control a main control unit for controlling a series of games and a drive system such as a symbol display unit and a sound effect output unit. And a sub-control unit for controlling the drive system under the jurisdiction of the main control unit in accordance with a control signal from the main control unit.

For example, a pachinko machine is provided with a sub-control unit for the symbol display unit at the center of the board, and the main control unit sends to the sub-control unit a control signal indicating a command or setting data relating to variable display or stop display of symbols. I am sending. In addition, since the fluctuation display of this symbol is performed according to the fact that a pachinko ball has entered the starting winning opening, when a new pachinko ball enters the starting winning opening during the variable display of the symbol, the fluctuation of the symbol due to the winning will occur. In order to make the display stand by, the main control unit transmits to the sub control unit a control signal indicating the number of winning balls (generally referred to as “holding balls”) in the standby state. Based on the control signals from the main control unit, the sub-control unit repeats a special game in which the symbols are variably displayed and whether or not a big hit is achieved, as many times as the number of held balls, and the vicinity of the symbol display unit. By controlling the lighting operation of the holding ball number lamp provided in the player, the player is notified of the current holding ball number.

In the conventional gaming machine, the main control unit transmits an 8-bit control signal to the sub-control unit and a 1-bit strobe signal to read the control signal. I am trying to inform you.

Further, in gaming machines such as pachinko machines and slot machines, it is necessary to inspect whether or not the operation content by the control program is appropriate in an external inspection engine. In recent years, this type of gaming machine is provided with an output connector for connecting to an external inspection device in order to increase the efficiency of the inspection, and outputs a signal indicating the progress state of the game through this connector for inspection. In the device, whether or not the signal is output according to the determined sequence is checked to determine the suitability of the control program. According to this method, the operation of the gaming machine can be confirmed in detail according to the progress state of the game.

[0006]

As described above, since the current control signal transmitted from the main control unit to the sub control unit has an 8-bit structure, the type of data that can be transmitted is limited to 256 types. I will end up. On the other hand, recent game machines are required to have a specification capable of transmitting a control signal exceeding this capacity as the symbol display is diversified and complicated.

[0007] For example, in the case of a pachinko machine, the current maximum number of held balls is four, but with the complication of the aspect of the effect due to the variable display of symbols, a pachinko machine capable of accepting a large number of held balls may be considered. ing. However, 25
In order to be able to send control signals indicating 6 or more holding balls, it is necessary to change the CPU of each control unit to one with high performance or change the hardware configuration such as increasing the transmission capacity of the data bus. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost is increased.

Further, the connector for connecting to the inspection device is
The output terminal is set according to the current regulations, but if the number of output signals increases or the signal configuration is changed,
There is a problem that the configuration of this connector also has to be changed.

For example, in the case of a pachinko machine, the signal indicating the number of held balls is represented by a 1-bit signal for each of the number of held balls of 1 to 4 in accordance with the current regulations. , Four output terminals for outputting these signals are provided. However, when a large number of reserved balls is allowed, the configuration of the connector has to be changed, which causes a problem of high cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to transmit data having a larger capacity than before from the main control unit to the sub-control unit without the need to significantly change the hardware configuration. By doing so, a first object is to provide a gaming machine with improved functions easily and at low cost.

Further, according to the present invention, even if the configuration or the number of signals such as inspection signals to the external device is changed, the specifications of the output line from the control unit and the connector for connection to the external device are not changed. The second purpose is to enable easy handling.

[0012]

A first gaming machine according to the present invention is a main control section for controlling a progress state of a game, and a predetermined drive related to the game based on a control signal from the main control section. A sub-control unit for controlling the system,
A plurality of identification signal transmission lines are provided between the main control unit and the sub control unit to identify the time when the sub control unit reads the control signal. When transmitting a control signal exceeding the capacity of parallel transmission to the sub-control unit, the main control unit divides the control signal for each capacity of the parallel transmission and sequentially transmits the control signal to the sub-control unit. And a means for transmitting an identification signal corresponding to the control signal via different transmission lines. Further, the sub control unit includes means for recognizing the control signal transmitted by the division as a series of signals based on the identification signal from each of the transmission lines.

Each of the main control unit and the sub control unit is mainly a computer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM and the like, and is provided with a relay port and a buffer for a control signal. The main control unit and the sub control unit A transmission path for parallel transmission of a control signal for a predetermined number of bits is provided between and. It is desirable that each control unit is mounted on a different substrate, but the present invention is not limited to this, and each control unit and the transmission line between these control units can be mounted on one substrate. Also, the number of sub-control units is not limited to one,
It is also possible to provide individual sub-control units for each of the plurality of drive systems.

It is desirable that each of the transmission lines of the identification signal transmits a signal of 1 bit.
In this case, at least the same number of transmission lines as the number of divisions of the control signal exceeding the capacity of the parallel transmission are set, and the identification signal corresponding to each divided control signal is logically inverted at the time of reading the control signal. It is desirable to configure it as a strobe signal to be notified by.

In the gaming machine having the above structure, when it becomes necessary for the main control unit to transmit a control signal exceeding the capacity of parallel transmission to the sub control unit, the control signal is divided for each parallel transmission capacity, While transmitting sequentially through the same transmission path as the control signal of, the identification signal corresponding to each control signal is transmitted through different transmission lines in order to make the sub-control unit recognize that these control signals are a series. Output via. Since the sub control unit recognizes the divided control signals as a series of signals based on these identification signals, it is possible to perform processing according to the instruction from the main control unit.

Therefore, according to the present invention, by increasing the number of transmission lines of the identification signal, it becomes possible to transmit the data having a capacity much larger than the conventional transmission capacity without changing the basic configuration of each control unit or the data bus. Therefore, it becomes possible to provide a gaming machine with improved functions easily and at low cost.

In a preferred mode of the above-mentioned gaming machine, the capacity of parallel transmission of the control signal is 8 bits, and the main control unit serves as a control signal for causing the sub control unit to recognize numerical information used for predetermined processing. , 16-bit control signal is generated. That is, the main control unit divides the control signal for recognizing the numerical information into a high-order 8 bit signal and a low-order 8 bit signal, and transmits them to the sub control unit in order.
The identification signals corresponding to these control signals are transmitted via different transmission lines, and the numerical values up to 65535 can be transmitted only by increasing the transmission lines of the identification signals between the control units. The "numerical value information used for a predetermined process" may be, for example, the number of reserved balls for setting the number of times symbol fluctuation display is executed in the pachinko gaming machine described above.

Further, in another aspect of the above-mentioned gaming machine, one of the transmission lines is a control signal corresponding to the capacity of the parallel transmission, and the remaining transmission lines are control signals exceeding the capacity of the parallel transmission, Each is assigned. According to this configuration, the sub-control unit easily distinguishes the control signal corresponding to the capacity of normal parallel transmission from the special control signal exceeding the capacity of parallel transmission based on the identification signal, and responds to each signal. Processing can be performed.

Next, the second gaming machine of the present invention is a control unit configured to output the progress state of the game to the outside, and a plurality of units for outputting a signal indicating the progress state of the game to the outside. Output terminal. In addition, in the process of outputting the progress state of the game to the outside, the control unit divides a predetermined signal for each predetermined capacity and serially outputs the signals through individual output terminals, and outputs the divided signals. An identification signal for identifying the read time is output through an output terminal not used for the serial output.

The control unit in the gaming machine having the above-mentioned configuration is usually composed of a single computer, but this control unit may be used as the main control unit described above, and a predetermined number of sub-control units may be provided. Further, a configuration including the main control unit and a predetermined number of sub control units can be regarded as the control unit here. Further, it is desirable that the output terminal is provided on the connector for connecting to the above-mentioned inspection device. The identification signal in this gaming machine can be configured as a read signal that inverts the logic while the control signal is serially output, and instructs the sub-control unit to read the signal. However, the identification signal is not limited to this, and a signal whose logic is inverted for a predetermined time may be output at each of the signal reading start timing and the signal reading timing.

According to the gaming machine having the above structure, for example, 16
If you need to output a bit-wise control signal,
This control signal is divided into an upper 8-bit signal and a lower 8-bit signal, and each signal is serially output through an individual output terminal, while the other two output terminals are used to output the divided signals. It suffices to output an identification signal for identifying the timing of reading the control signal. That is, when a plurality of output terminals are assigned as in the above-described signal indicating the number of held balls, the number of signal divisions can be set according to the number of the terminals. Further, even when the number of signals increases and the number of output terminals becomes insufficient, each signal can be output without any problem by reducing the number of output terminals assigned to one signal and applying the above method.

[0022]

1 shows the appearance of a pachinko machine to which the present invention is applied. On the front face of the pachinko gaming machine 1, a game board 2 is formed in which a large number of winning holes 3, winning objects 4, obstacle nails (not shown) and the like are arranged. Further, a symbol display portion 5 is provided at the center position of the game board 2, and below that, there are a start winning opening 6 and a pachinko ball out opening 7.
Etc. are provided. Below the game board 2, a pachinko ball throwing tray 8 and a receiving tray 9 and an operating handle 1 for ball firing.
0, ball payout exit 11 and the like are provided.

The symbol display section 5 is for executing a special game by the variable display of symbols, and a main display for starting the variable display of numbers and symbols when a pachinko ball enters the starting winning opening 6. In addition to the device 51, to display the number of holding balls corresponding to the number of times of operation of the sub-display 52 and the main display 51, which starts the variable display of various numbers in response to the pachinko ball entering the accessory 4. The number of reserved balls 53 is provided.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the control system of the pachinko machine 1. In the pachinko machine 1 of this embodiment, in addition to the main control unit 20 for performing a series of control related to the game, the main display unit 51 of the symbol display unit 5, the sub display unit 52, the number of retained balls display unit 53 The sub control unit 30 for controlling the display operation is provided. These control units 20 and 30 are mounted on separate boards, and are set so as to perform one-way signal transmission from the main control unit 20 to the sub control unit 30.

The main control unit 20 and the sub-control unit 30 have a memory 2 including CPUs 21, 31 and ROM, RAM, respectively.
2 and 32 are mainly used. (Hereafter, the CP of the main control unit 20
U21 is "main CPU 21", CPU of sub control unit 30
31 is referred to as a "sub CPU 31" for distinction. An 8-bit data bus 23 is connected to the main CPU 21, and the data bus 23 further includes a signal (hereinafter referred to as a "control signal") indicating a command or setting data for instructing a specific process. Collectively)), a transmission path 23b for transmitting a strobe signal indicating the timing of reading these control signals, and a connector 1 for connection to an external inspection device (not shown).
5 to the output path 24a, 24 for each of the transmission paths 23a, 23b, 23c.
b and 24c are provided.

Further, the main control unit 20 is provided with the control signal,
For the strobe signal, the output port 24a,
A buffer circuit 25a for delaying the control signal sent from 24b for a predetermined period and then outputting it to the sub-control unit 30;
25b (indicated as "output buffer" in the figure) is incorporated.

On the other hand, in the sub control unit 30, the sub CPU 31
Incorporating input ports for control signals and strobe signals, buffer circuits 33a and 33b (indicated as "input buffer" in the figure) corresponding to the control signal and strobe signals are provided in the preceding stage.

Although not shown here, the main controller 2
At 0, a winning ball signal (a pachinko ball has entered the winning hole) is detected from a pachinko ball sensor (not shown) provided in an actual winning hole (3, 4, 6 in FIG. 1). signal)
An input port etc. for receiving is incorporated. Further, the sub control unit 30 is provided with an output port for a control signal for the symbol display unit 5 and the like. Further, the connector 15 has an input terminal for inputting a winning ball signal,
An output terminal is provided for outputting a signal indicating the progress state of the game output from the main control unit 20 in response to the input signal to the inspection device.

In the above structure, the memory 22 of the main control unit 20 stores a control program for setting a series of flows of the game, and the main CPU 21 carries out the processing based on this program and wins the prize. A control signal for instructing the start or end of variable display of symbols according to the input of a ball signal, a control signal indicating a display mode established when the symbols are stopped and displayed (presence or absence of a prize, kind of a prize, etc.), main display 51 The number of variable display of symbols is set on the sub display unit 52 or a control signal indicating the number of reserved balls necessary for controlling the display of the number of reserved balls display unit 53 is output to the sub control unit 30.

On the other hand, the memory 32 of the sub control unit 30 stores a program for specifically controlling each of the display devices 51, 52 and 53. Based on this control program, the sub CPU 31 controls each of the display devices 51, 52, 53 to execute a process according to a control signal from the main control unit 20, and the main control unit 20 has a desired game. To proceed.

The main display 51 and the sub-display 52
The mode of the variable display and the type of the symbol to be stopped and displayed after the variable display are determined by the lottery executed by the main control unit 20 in response to the input of the winning ball signal.

In the above structure, three transmission lines are provided in the strobe signal transmission path 23b. The potentials of these transmission lines are normally set to a high level, and by inverting this potential to a low level, the on state indicating that it is time to read the control signal is set. I am trying to set it.
On the other hand, the 8-bit transmission line from the data bus is directly relayed to the control signal transmission path 23a. The strobe signal may be normally set to low level and may be turned on when it is high level.

When transmitting a control signal to the sub CPU 31, the main CPU 21 outputs the control signal through the output port 24.
An 8-bit control signal is set via a, and a strobe signal corresponding to a predetermined transmission line is turned on via a strobe signal output port 24b.
Bit signals are transmitted in parallel. The output buffers 25a and 25b of the main control unit 20 and the input buffers 33a and 33b of the sub control unit 30 are for performing the waveform shaping of the transmission signal according to the harness connection between the two control units. The sub CPU 31 takes in the control signal in response to the strobe signal changing from the off state to the on state, recognizes the content of the 8-bit data indicated by the control signal, and executes the processing according to the recognized content.

Further, in this embodiment, the main display 51
In order to greatly relax the limit of the number of balls to be held for the symbol display of, the data indicating the number of balls to be held has a 16-bit structure, and this data is divided into upper 8-bit data and lower 8-bit data. I have to. Also, two of the three transmission lines for the strobe signal are
The remaining one is assigned to data indicating the number of reserved balls, and the remaining one is assigned to normal 8-bit data (data and commands related to symbol display, reserved balls for symbol display on the sub-display 52, etc.).

FIG. 3 shows the sub CPU from the main CPU 21.
A specific method of transmitting a signal to the PU 31 will be described. 4 in the figure
The second row shows the contents of the data transmitted in parallel from the main CPU 21 to the sub CPU 31 as the control signal, where D1 is the upper 8-bit data of the reserved ball and D2 is the data.
Indicates the lower 8-bit data of the reserved ball, and D3 indicates the 8-bit data as a normal control signal.
STB1, STB2, STB3 are strobe signals corresponding to the data D1, D2, D3, respectively, and are transmitted via the above-mentioned three transmission lines to the sub CPU 31.
Sent in parallel to.

The main CPU 21 of this embodiment is a sub CPU.
When transmitting the number of reserved balls to the PU 31, first, the strobe signal STB1 is turned on to transmit a control signal indicating the upper 8-bit data D1, and then the strobe signal STB2 is turned on to indicate the lower 8-bit data D2. The control signal is transmitted. On the other hand, when transmitting 8-bit data D3 such as data and commands relating to symbol display and the number of held balls to the sub-display 52, the strobe signal STB3 is turned on and a control signal indicating the data D3 is transmitted.

FIG. 4 is a sub CPU for the above signal transmission.
31 shows a procedure of processing. In addition, in FIG. 4 and the following description, the step of each process is shown as “ST”. Now, when the third strobe signal STB3 of the three strobe signals is turned on, ST1 in FIG. 4 becomes “YES” and the process proceeds to ST7, where the sub CPU 31 transmits the control signal associated with the strobe signal STB3. Are taken in and the contents of the signal are recognized as data D3.

Further, the main CPU 21 uses the main display 51.
When the number of held balls for the variable display of the symbol is updated, the upper 8-bit data D1 and the lower 8-bit data D2 are respectively set to the strobe signal S as described above.
The signals are sequentially transmitted as control signals associated with TB1 and STB2. Therefore, in this case, since the first strobe signal STB1 is turned on, ST2 becomes "YE".
Then, the data indicated by the control signal at this time is recognized as the upper data D1 and is held in the work area of the memory 32. Then the second strobe signal S
When TB2 is turned on, ST4 becomes "YES" and the process proceeds to ST5, and the signal indicated by the control signal at this time is recognized as the lower data D2. In the next ST6,
The upper-order data D1 and the lower-order data D2 are recognized as a series of data indicating the number of held balls, and are saved in a storage area for the number of held balls in the memory, and the number of held balls is displayed according to the recognition result. Update the display on the container.

According to the signal processing shown in FIGS.
In addition to the normal strobe signal for the control signal, simply setting two transmission lines for the strobe signal corresponding to the control signal for the number of held balls can change the capacity of the number of held balls that can be transmitted from 8 bits to 16 bits. You can increase. Further, since different strobe signals are assigned to the normal control signal of 8 bits and the control signal indicating the number of held balls, the sub CPU 3
1 can recognize various control signals easily and accurately. Therefore, a pachinko machine that has the function of accepting a large number of holding balls without changing the main CPU 21 or sub CPU 31 to a high-performance one or a major hardware change such as changing the data bus to a 16-bit compatible one. The machine can be provided easily and at low cost.

In the above embodiment, the main display 5
Although the data capacity is increased only for the number of reserved balls for the variable display of 1, the data capacity can be increased for the number of reserved balls for the variable display of the sub-display 52 by the same method. Further, the same signal transmission method can be applied to data other than the number of held balls such as a mode of variable display of symbols.

By the way, as described above, the conventional connector for connecting to the external inspection device is provided with only four output terminals for the number of retained balls. Therefore, if the capacity of the data indicating the number of held balls is significantly increased as in the above embodiment, there arises a problem that the configuration of the signal for inspection and the number of output terminals on the connector side must be changed.

In the pachinko machine 1 of this embodiment, a signal indicating the number of holding balls with the increased capacity is output by the method shown in FIG. 5 while the same connector as the conventional connector is used as the connector 15. I am trying.

In FIG. 5, E0 to E3 are signals output from the four output terminals for the number of held balls. When the main CPU 21 receives a winning ball signal to the starting winning opening 6, it outputs high-order data D1 and low-order data D2, which have the same configuration as that of the sub-CPU 31, through output terminals of the signals E1 and E3, respectively. Output serially. For the remaining signals E0 and E2, the data D1,
During the serial output of D2, the logic is inverted to function as a read signal indicating the read timing of the data D1 and D2. Since the inspection device is generally constituted by a device having a high-performance CPU such as a personal computer, the output data D1 and D2 is a series of 1
It can be integrated as 6-bit data and its contents can be recognized.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the signals E1 and E
In order to clarify that 3 indicates 8-bit data, each bit is shown with the same logic, but in the actual data, the combination of the logic of each bit is arbitrary according to the number of reserved balls. Is set. In the example of FIG. 5, the signal E0 is used as the read signal for the higher-order data D1 and the signal E2 is used as the read signal for the lower-order data D2. D
It can also be used as a read signal common to 1 and D2. (In this case, the remaining signals may be used for transmission of other signals.)

FIG. 6 shows a processing procedure on the inspection device side for the signal transmission of FIG. In this procedure, the step of each process is shown as "st". First, in st1, it is checked whether the read signals E0 and E2 are turned on. If this determination is “YES”, st2
Then, the signals E1 and E3 at that time are sampled, and the sampled values are stored in the memory as the first data of the upper data D1 and the lower data D3.

Thereafter, the signals E1 and E3 are sampled at predetermined time intervals until the read signals E0 and E2 are turned off, and the data of each digit of the data D1 and D2 are sequentially stored in the memory. When the read signals E0 and E2 change from on to off, the process proceeds from st3 to st4, and D1 and D2 stored in the memory are integrated as 16-bit data.
Recognize its contents. The transmission order of the data D1 and D2 that are serially output as the signals E1 and E2 may be from the upper bit to the lower bit or from the lower bit to the upper bit.

According to the above signal output, a signal indicating the number of held balls can be transmitted to the inspection device by using the same four output terminals as in the conventional case. Therefore, the transmission path 23c and the connector 15 are configured. It is possible to perform efficient signal transmission without the need to change. Regarding the number of held balls for the symbol variation display of the sub-display, the conventional connector also outputs up to four held balls through four output terminals. Even when the capacity of the number of balls is increased, it is possible to cope with the same signal output method as described above. Also in the simulation test in which a pseudo input signal is given to the main CPU 21 to check the operation, the signal can be output to the outside by the signal output method of FIG.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, when it becomes necessary to transmit a control signal exceeding the capacity of parallel transmission to the sub-control unit, the control signal is divided for each capacity of parallel transmission and transmitted sequentially. At the same time, an identification signal for identifying the time when each divided control signal is read is transmitted through an individual transmission line, and the sub-control unit outputs a series of divided control signals based on the identification signals. Since it is recognized as a signal, it is possible to transmit data with a capacity that greatly exceeds the conventional transmission capacity without having to make major changes to the hardware, and a gaming machine with improved functions can be easily and inexpensively. Can be provided.

Further, according to the present invention, when a signal indicating the progress of a game is transmitted to an external device such as an inspection device, the signal is divided into predetermined capacities and serially output through individual output terminals. At the same time, since the identification signal for identifying the read time of these divided signals is output via the output terminal not used for serial output, even if the signal configuration or number is changed, Since it is not necessary to change the specifications of the output line and the connector for connecting to an external device, it is possible to cope with the situation easily and at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an appearance of a pachinko machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the pachinko machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a signal transmission method from the main control unit to the sub control unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the sub CPU for the signal transmission of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing a signal transmission method of a main control unit with respect to an external inspection device.

6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the inspection device for the signal transmission of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Pachinko machine 5 Symbol display 15 connectors 20 Main control unit 21 Main CPU 30 Sub control unit 31 sub CPU

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A gaming machine comprising a main control unit for controlling a progress state of a game, and a sub-control unit for controlling a predetermined drive system related to the game based on a control signal from the main control unit. In the above, between the main control unit and the sub-control unit, a plurality of identification signal transmission lines for identifying the time when the sub-control unit reads the control signal is provided, and the main control unit is When a control signal exceeding the capacity of parallel transmission is transmitted to the sub-control unit, the control signal is divided for each capacity of the parallel transmission and transmitted to the sub-control unit in order, and the identification corresponding to these divided control signals is performed. The sub-control unit includes means for transmitting signals via different transmission lines, and the sub-control unit recognizes the control signals transmitted by the division as a series of signals based on the identification signals from the transmission lines. The gaming machine comprising comprises a. 2. The capacity of parallel transmission of the control signal is 8
2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, which is a bit, and the main control unit generates a 16-bit control signal as a control signal for causing the sub-control unit to recognize numerical information used for a predetermined process. . 3. One of the transmission lines is assigned to a control signal corresponding to the capacity of the parallel transmission, and the remaining transmission lines are assigned to control signals exceeding the capacity of the parallel transmission. Or the gaming machine described in 2. 4. A game comprising a controller configured to output the progress of the game to the outside and a plurality of output terminals for outputting a signal indicating the progress of the game to the outside. In the machine, in the process of outputting the progress status of the game to the outside, the control unit divides a predetermined signal for each predetermined capacity, serially outputs the signals through individual output terminals, and divides them. A gaming machine configured to output an identification signal for identifying a signal read time through an output terminal not used for the serial output.