JP2003230692A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve smooth varying operations without step-out even when other varying pattern specifying commands are received during the variation of figures. <P>SOLUTION: A reel controller is provided with a non-successive varying adjustment means which starts specified varying operations after varying figures are stopped for a specified period of time when other commands for specifying varying operations are received from the main controller during the variation of the figures. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pachinko gaming machine using a so-called mechanical reel as a symbol varying device, a spinning drum gaming machine, and the like.

[0002]

This type of reel system is driven by a motor represented by a stepping motor, and the fluctuation and stop of the symbol are controlled. Also,
The reel control device that controls the motor is provided independently of the main control device that determines the main items of the game in order to improve the processing load and the like, and is responsible for the distributed processing according to the command transmitted from the main control device. Under this circumstance, when the reel control device sends another variation pattern designation command to the reel control device while the reel is rotating, that is, when there is a variation in the design, there is no margin in the timing of transition from the previous variation to the current variation, The motor may be overloaded and the operation may become unstable, resulting in step-out.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a gaming machine in which fluctuations can be made smoothly without causing step-out even if another fluctuation pattern designating command is received during fluctuation of a symbol.

[0004]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In a gaming machine including a reel having a plurality of symbols, a motor for driving the reel, and a reel controller for controlling the motor to change and stop the symbols of the reel according to a command received from a main controller, the reel When the control device receives a command for designating another variation from the main control device during the variation of the symbol, after stopping the symbol in variation for a predetermined time, a non-continuous variation for starting the designated variation Adjustment means were provided.

As a result, there is a margin corresponding to the predetermined time at the timing when the change from the previous change to the present change is made, and the operation of the motor is stabilized without being overloaded. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the motor from getting out of step, and the current fluctuation can be performed smoothly.

[0006] The invention according to claim 2 is the wind management law, Article 2, paragraph 1, 7
In order to solve the above problems while reducing the burden of inspecting a game machine used for business such as a pachinko parlor at a testing organization, the main controller and the reel controller are the main controller. From one side to one side by means of one-way communication means for transmitting a command in one direction toward the reel control device.

Thus, the software related to the concrete effect of the reel called the discontinuous fluctuation adjusting means is provided in the reel control device connected to the main control device by the one-way communication means, and the software is used for the control of the main control device. It does not have an impact. Therefore, while preventing out-of-step of the motor, it is not necessary to perform a strict inspection of the software in terms of security, and the inspection load on the testing organization can be reduced.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a pachinko gaming machine 1 according to the present invention, in which a main body 11 is supported by a game frame 10 so that the main body 11 can be opened. At the front upper part of the main body 11, there is a front door 14 in which a glass 13 is fitted in a round window 12, and the game board 2 is provided inside thereof. The lower part of the front surface of the main body 11 is provided with an upper plate 3 for receiving balls to be rented and prize balls, a lower plate 4 for receiving balls overflowing inside the ball outlet 30 when the balls are full, and a handle 50 of the ball launching device 5. The upper plate 3 has a built-in stereo speaker 6 for outputting sound effects, BGM, error sounds, and the like, and
An operation switch unit 31 for lending a ball from a CR sand (not shown) installed adjacent to the gaming machine 1 is provided. Currently, one ball is 4 yen.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the game board 2, guide rails 20 and 21 for partitioning the game area and guiding the launch ball from the ball launching device 5, a decorative frame 22 and display windows 23L and 2 inside thereof are provided.
3C, 23R left reel 7L for changing and stopping the special symbol, middle reel 7C, right reel 7R, a jackpot that rotates these reels and arranges three specific symbols on any of the winning lines L1 to 5 Starting hole 24 consisting of tulip type ordinary electric auditors to start the lottery, a special winning opening 25 of special electric auditors called an attacker that opens at the time of a big hit,
The left and right upper winning openings 26, 26 and lower winning openings 27, 27, which are general winning openings, and the left and right windmills 28, 28 are provided. Reference numeral 29 is an out port for discharging out balls that have missed a prize on the game board 2. Although illustration is omitted, a large number of game nails are struck on the game board 2.

In FIG. 2, 8 is a normal symbol display device composed of a hit lamp 81 and a disengagement lamp 82, and 9 is a passage gate involved in the lottery process of the ordinary symbol. Reference numerals 71 to 74 are reserved ball indicators for the starting opening 24, and 91 to 94 are reserved ball indicators for the passage gate 9. 9L is a left LED for performance, 9C is a middle LED, and 9R is a right LED.
It should be noted that the number of prize balls per winning ball into the special winning opening 25 is set to, for example, 15 and the other winning openings 24, 26 and 27 are set to, for example, 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, red 7, green 7, blue 7, red dragon, green dragon, blue dragon, 1, 1, around the outer circumference of each reel 7L, 7C, 7R.
A total of twelve types of symbols 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, symbol numbers 1 to
It is drawn in a unique arrangement corresponding to 12. The jackpot pattern is 6 patterns, each of which includes red 7, green 7, blue 7, red dragon, green dragon, and blue dragon. Among them, in the case of three sets of each of red 7, green 7, and blue 7, the next big jackpot winning probability is, for example, 5
It is a sure change jackpot that doubles. In the special game at the time of a big hit, the special winning opening 25 is a maximum of 30 seconds or 10 for one round.
Open until the ball wins, operate the accessory continuous operation device on condition that the ball passes through the V prize area in the special winning opening 25,
Up to 16 rounds are continued.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control device for the gaming machine. It is provided with a main board MC which is a main control device which takes charge of all winning determination processing such as jackpot lottery processing and winning ball processing and determines the main items of the game. Further, as a sub-control device connected to the main board MC by a one-way communication line PL, a symbol control board SC1 forming a reel control device, a lamp control board SC2 forming a decoration lamp control device, and a voice control forming a voice control device. A substrate SC3 and a prize ball control substrate SC4 which constitutes a prize ball control device are provided.

The main board MC is provided with a main CPU, ROM, RAM, and CTC (counter timer circuit) as a microprocessor, and on the input side, a starting winning ball sensor J1 for detecting a winning ball at the starting opening 24, a general winning prize. Mouth 2
General winning ball sensor J2 for detecting 6, 27 winning balls, large winning ball sensor J3 for detecting winning balls in the special winning opening 25, V winning ball sensor for detecting passing balls in the V winning area within the special winning opening 25 J4 and the passing ball sensor J5 of the passing gate 9 are connected. Further, a start opening actuator D1 for opening and closing the tulip of the starting opening 24 and a special winning opening actuator D2 for opening and closing the special winning opening 25 are connected to the output side.

Symbol control board S constituting the reel control device
C1 is a sub CPU, R as a microprocessor
Equipped with OM, RAM, CTC, reset IC, each reel 7 through the stepping motor control interface
Stepping motor PML for driving L, 7C, 7R,
It controls PMC and PMR. Further, via the lamp control interface, the left reel inner lamp BL, the middle reel inner lamp BC, and the right reel inner lamp BR, which are back lamps for illuminating the symbols of the reels 7L, 7C, and 7R from behind, are controlled to be lit. Each reel 7L, 7C, 7R has a reel index HL, H for detecting a reference position.
C and HR are attached, and the signal is sent to the pattern control board SC.
Input to 1.

The lamp control board SC2 is a left LE for production.
It controls decoration lamp display devices such as D9L, middle LED9C, right LED9R. The voice control board SC3 controls the voice output device including the speaker 6. The prize ball control board SC4 controls the ball launching device 5 and the prize ball payout device.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the main board MC, from power-on, initialization of all output ports, power-down error determination,
After MPU operation initialization process including CPU initialization,
The loop processing of the special symbol variation processing including the jackpot lottery processing and the reach effect of each reel 7L, 7C, 7R and the determination processing of the stop symbol is performed by allowing the interruption and winning the winning in the starting opening 24.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the interrupt processing of the main substrate MC,
Save each register, random number update processing such as jackpot random number, timer update processing, each input signal processing such as sensor, ordinary pattern processing, decoration control processing such as production LED, prize ball payout processing, error processing, After the command transmission process of transmitting the symbol variation pattern designation command and the like stored in the RAM to the sub control device side, each register is restored, the interrupt is permitted, and one process is completed.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the special symbol variation process of the main substrate MC, there is a starting winning prize memory in the starting port 24, and when it is determined that the jackpot is determined based on the jackpot determination random number, it is determined based on the winning symbol determination random number. Determines the jackpot design, and determines the winning effect based on the random number for effect determination. When it is out, the presence / absence of the reach effect is determined based on the reach determination random number, and when the reach is present, the reach presence / absence stop pattern is determined based on the out symbol determination random number, and the reach is determined based on the effect determination random number. Determine the performance. When there is no reach in the case of disengagement, the reachless disengagement stop design is determined based on the random number for disengagement symbol determination, and disengagement performance is determined based on the random number for effect determination. Then, a symbol variation pattern designation command corresponding to each decision item is generated and stored in the RAM. In addition, a special game process is prepared depending on whether or not there is a big hit, and the process ends after the end process. If there is no start winning prize memory, the process is finished through the demonstration control process of the lamp in the reel and the like.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the symbol control board SC1 which constitutes the reel control device, after the initialization processing at the time of turning on the power, the analysis of the command transmitted from the main board MC and the initialization processing according to the command are executed. A loop process of the received command analysis process is performed.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the received command analysis processing, the command data (2 bytes) transmitted from the main board MC stored in the RAM of the design control board SC1 is read (a), and the design variation pattern is designated. In the case of a command other than the command (b), initialization processing is performed according to the received command (c). In the case of the symbol variation pattern designation command (b), it is determined whether or not all the left, middle, and right symbols are stopped (d), and when not stopped, the variation prohibition timer is set to, for example, 500 (e), If it is stopped, the fluctuation prohibition timer is not set and the fluctuation pattern is initialized (f). The above is performed for all received commands (g).

As shown in FIG. 10, in the timed interrupt processing for every 1 ms, for example, by the internal timer interrupt of the symbol control board SC1, the output of data for controlling each stepping motor PML, PMC, PMR and each lamp BL, BC, BR in each reel. Processing, input port reading processing for each reel index HL, HC, HR, etc., special symbol control processing and lamp control processing described later are performed. Each reel index HL, H
The time when the input of C, HR changes to 1, 0, 0 is the index detection position, and this position is the initial position of the reel. At the time of index detection, for example, each reel 7L, 7
Design number 1 (red 7) of C, 7R is each display window 23L, 23
It is supposed to be located in the middle line L2 of C and 23R.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the interrupt process of a mode different from the regular interrupt of the pattern control board SC1, in the main board STB (strobe) input processing, the command data transmitted from the main board MC is received, and the pattern is received. Control board SC1
Stored in the RAM.

As shown in FIG. 12, in the special symbol control process (FIG. 10), the variation prohibition timer that can be set by the received command analysis process is evaluated (h), and if the timer value is 0, the left reel 7L Each stepping motor PM is passed through the reel control process (i), the reel control process (j) of the middle reel 7C, and the reel control process (k) of the right reel 7R.
Output data of L, PMC, PMR is generated (l).
Each stepping motor PML, PMC, PMR has 4
One rotation is made in the number of 00 steps (400 step angle).

On the other hand, when the timer value of the fluctuation prohibition timer is not 0 (h), the timer value is decremented by 1 (m).
When another fluctuation pattern designation command is received when all the symbols are not stopped, the fluctuation prohibition timer is set to the initial value 500, so a margin time of 500 ms is obtained by multiplying this 500 by the interrupt period 1 ms, A predetermined symbol stop time is secured. Therefore, the current fluctuation is adjusted to be discontinuous from the previous fluctuation. Incidentally, 500 ms is roughly equivalent to the time for one shaking operation in which the design is slightly shaken up and down after temporary stop due to re-changing of the design. By this time, the time to end the planned fluctuation tends to be prolonged, but the fluctuation time managed by the main substrate MC can be made the same as the conventional one by reducing the number of shaking motions until the symbol is determined once. All scheduled changes can be completed in time.

As shown in FIG. 13, the lamp control process (see FIG.
In (0), if an error is not occurring (n), on the condition that the variation prohibition timer is 0 (o), a back lamp control process for producing lighting of each of the reel lamps BL, BC, BR is performed ( p), if an error is occurring, error lighting processing is performed by the in-reel lamps BL, BC, BR (q), and output data of the in-reel lamps BL, BC, BR is generated (r). Even in this lamp control process,
The value of the fluctuation prohibition timer is evaluated by turning on the back lamp in synchronization with the rotation of the reel. When the rotation of the reel is stopped by the fluctuation prohibit timer, the back lamp also stops lighting. This is to allow it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gaming machine to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a game board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 3 is a reel development view of the gaming machine.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the gaming machine.

FIG. 5 is a main processing flow chart of the main board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 6 is an interrupt processing flow chart on the main board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 7 is a special symbol variation processing flow chart on the main board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 8 is a main processing flow chart of a symbol control board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a received command analysis processing in the symbol control board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 10 is an internal interrupt processing flow chart in the symbol control board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 11 is an external interrupt processing flow chart in the symbol control board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 12 is a special symbol control processing flow diagram on the symbol control board of the gaming machine.

FIG. 13 is a lamp control processing flow chart in the symbol control board of the gaming machine.

[Explanation of symbols]

7L, 7C, 7R Reel PML, PMC, PMR Stepping motor MC Main board (main controller) SC1 Symbol control board (reel controller) (sub controller)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A game including a reel having a plurality of symbols, a motor for driving the reel, and a reel control device for controlling the motor and varying and stopping the symbol of the reel according to a command received from a main control device. In the machine, when the reel control device receives a command designating another variation from the main control device during the variation of the symbol, after stopping the symbol in the variation for a predetermined time, the designated variation is changed. A gaming machine provided with a discontinuous fluctuation adjusting means for starting. 2. The game according to claim 1, wherein the main control device and the reel control device are connected by one-way communication means for transmitting a command in one direction from the main control device to the reel control device. Machine.