JP2005110777A - Customer management method for game parlor and customer management system for game parlor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a customer management method for game parlors which reads out customer identifying information from a customer identifying medium carried by a customer through radio communication and relates the read customer identifying information with a game machine more adequately, and a customer management system for game parlors . <P>SOLUTION: The customer management method for game parlors includes a step in which device operation history information showing "information on operating status" for each game machine is stored by relating with device identifying information capable of specifying the game machine, a step in which "information on the beginning of the use" for each game machine is detected based on the "information on operating status", a step in which customer location information including the customer identifying information received by a customer identifying information reading means from the customer identifying medium located in a prescribed area by radio transmission is transmitted to a information management means based on the "information on the beginning of the use", and a step in which the customer identifying information included in the received customer location information and newly detected is stored by relating the customer identification information with the "information on operating status" corresponding to the "information on the beginning of the use". <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a game hall customer management method and a game hall customer management system for automatically detecting which game machine is playing which customer in a game hall.

Conventionally, in most amusement halls where customer management is performed, an IC card embedded with an IC chip or a magnetic card using a magnetic tape or the like is inserted by a customer into a stand terminal device adjacent to a gaming machine. , Customer management is performed to detect which gaming machine is playing which customer is playing.
In addition, there are amusement halls that require the use of multiple cards, such as “customer cards”, “save card”, “point card”, “prepaid card”, etc. It is very troublesome because you have to have multiple cards and you have to select the cards according to the service you use. Therefore, a gaming system that can use the same services as a “customer card”, “stored card”, “point card”, “prepaid card”, etc. with one mobile phone without using multiple cards using the mobile phone Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-172262 A

In the game system proposed in Patent Document 1 and the conventional system using various cards, it is necessary for a customer to install or insert a mobile phone or a card at a predetermined position by his / her own intention, which is troublesome. In addition, some customers do not want to add their own gaming status, and if they can play without using a mobile phone or card, do not install or insert the mobile phone or card in place. In some cases. As a game arcade, it is difficult to appropriately determine the contribution level even if the game state is counted for each customer, the degree of contribution to the store is obtained, and a service or the like corresponding to the degree of contribution is provided.
In order to solve this problem, a method is conceivable in which a customer is identified by performing wireless communication with an identification medium in which identification information is recorded using a non-contact IC tag or the like. In this case, the customer side only possesses the identification medium and does not require any particular operation, and the equipment on the game hall side can automatically identify the customer (read the identification information).
However, when identifying a customer by performing wireless communication with an identification medium, when identification information is read from a plurality of identification media in the wireless communication area (the customer's identification information to be actually read from the facility side and the customer's identification information). In some cases, the identification information of other customers in the vicinity may be read out), and it may be difficult to specify which gaming machine each read out identification information should be associated with.

For example, if each game medium lending device provided with each game machine has equipment capable of wireless communication with a non-contact IC tag, the identification information of a plurality of customers is read by one game medium lending device. It is fully conceivable. As a game arcade, it is not desired that 100% perfect correspondence between the read identification information and the gaming machine. We want to be able to match more appropriately than the conventional system that can hardly collect the game status for each customer without using customer cards, and to collect more game status for each customer than the conventional system. .
The present invention was devised in view of the above points, reads customer identification information from a customer identification medium carried by the customer by wireless communication, and more appropriately reads the read customer identification information and the gaming machine. It is an object to provide a game hall customer management method and a game hall customer management system that can be associated with each other.

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the first invention of the present invention is a game center customer management method as described in claim 1.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a customer management method for a game hall, a customer identification medium in which customer identification information is recorded, customer identification information reading means capable of reading customer identification information from the customer identification medium, and the customer identification information reading. A game center customer management method using information management means communicable with the means, wherein the information management means associates the device identification information with which the gaming machine can be identified with "information on the operating state" of each gaming machine. “Information on the start of use” for each gaming machine based on the “information on the operating state” included in the device operating history information by the step of storing the device operating history information indicating “ Detecting the customer identification information from the customer identification medium existing within a predetermined area from the customer identification information reading means based on the detected “information about the start of use” by the customer identification information reading means. Is transmitted wirelessly, and the customer location information including the received customer identification information is transmitted to the information management means, and the information management means performs “operation” corresponding to “information about start of use” in the device operation history information. And storing the newly detected customer identification information that is included in the received customer location information and corresponds to the “information about the state”.

A second aspect of the present invention is a game center customer management method according to the second aspect.
The game hall customer management method according to claim 2 is the game hall customer management method according to claim 1, wherein the information management means further includes an “operation state” included in the equipment operation history information. The step of detecting “information about the end of use” for each gaming machine based on “information about” and the customer identification information reading means based on the “information about the end of use” detected by the customer identification information reading means Receiving the customer identification information wirelessly from the customer identification medium existing in a predetermined area, transmitting the customer end information including the received customer identification information to the information management means, and operating the equipment at the information management means In the customer identification information stored in the history information, it is the customer identification information included in the customer location information received based on the “information regarding the start of use” and newly detected customer identification information The step of extracting customer identification information not included in the customer termination information received based on “information about termination of use” from the inside, and the customer identification information extracted by the information management means is the device operation history information And determining the customer identification information to be stored in association with the “information regarding the operating state” corresponding to the “information regarding the start of use”.

A third aspect of the present invention is a game center customer management method as set forth in the third aspect.
The game hall customer management method according to claim 3 is the game hall customer management method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: one game machine or one game medium lending device. When it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers who have started use, after the first predetermined time has elapsed, customer identification information is received wirelessly from a customer identification medium existing in a predetermined area from the customer identification information reading means, The step of transmitting the customer reconfirmation information including the received customer identification information to the information management means, and the customer identification information stored in the device operation history information by the information management means based on “information about start of use” Customer identification information included in the customer location information received in this way and included in both the newly detected customer identification information and the customer identification information included in the received customer reconfirmation information Identification The customer identification information extracted by the information management means and the customer identification to be stored in correspondence with the “information about the operation state” corresponding to the “information about the start of use” in the device operation history information And determining that the information is information.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is a game hall customer management system as set forth in the fourth aspect.
5. A customer management system for a game hall according to claim 4, wherein a customer identification medium in which customer identification information is recorded, and customer identification information that can be read from the customer identification medium and provided for each gaming machine It is a customer management system for a game arcade comprising reading means, a game medium lending device provided for each gaming machine, and information management means capable of communicating with the customer identification information reading means.
Each customer identification information reading means is classified into a plurality of groups in advance, and at the timing when “information regarding the start of use” of “gaming machine and / or game medium lending device” is detected, the start of use is started. The customer identification information is wirelessly received from the customer identification information existing in a predetermined area from each customer identification information reading means corresponding to the group including the detected gaming machine or game medium lending device, and the received customer identification information and The customer location information including the device identification information that can identify the gaming machine and / or the game medium lending device is transmitted to the information management means.
The information management means stores device operation history information indicating “operation state information” of “each gaming machine and / or each game medium lending device” corresponding to the device identification information, and the device operation history information Based on the “information regarding the operating state” included in the “information about the start of use” can be detected for each “game machine and / or each game medium lending device”.
Further, the information management means, in the device operation history information corresponding to the device identification information that matches the device identification information included in the received customer location information, “gaming machine and / or game medium rental corresponding to the device identification information” Lending machine and game media of the group corresponding to the customer identification information included in the received customer location information and the device identification information included in the customer location information The customer identification information estimated based on the device arrangement information is stored in correspondence.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is a game hall customer management system as set forth in the fifth aspect.
The game hall customer management system according to claim 5 is the game hall customer management system according to claim 4, wherein each of the customer identification information reading means further includes one game machine or one game. When it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers who have started using the medium lending device, a gaming machine or a game medium lending device in which it is estimated that a plurality of customers have started using the device after the first predetermined time has elapsed. Wirelessly receiving customer identification information from a customer identification medium existing in a predetermined area from each customer identification information reading means corresponding to a group including the received customer identification information, a gaming machine and / or a gaming medium lending device The customer reconfirmation information including the device identification information that can identify the device is transmitted to the information management means.
Then, the information management means, in the customer identification information stored in the device operation history information, the customer identification information estimated based on the customer location information received based on the “information regarding the start of use”, and the received customer reconfirmation The customer identification information included in both the customer identification information included in the information is extracted, and the extracted customer identification information corresponds to the “operation start information” in the device operation history information. It is determined that the customer identification information should be stored in association with “information about”.

A sixth aspect of the present invention is a game hall customer management system as set forth in the sixth aspect.
A gaming machine customer management system according to claim 6 is a customer identification medium in which customer identification information is recorded, and customer identification information that can be read from the customer identification medium and provided for each gaming machine. It is a customer management system for a game arcade comprising reading means, a game medium lending device provided for each gaming machine, and information management means capable of communicating with the customer identification information reading means.
Each customer identification information reading unit wirelessly receives customer identification information from a customer identification medium existing in a predetermined area from the customer identification information reading unit, and receives the received customer identification information; Customer location information including device identification information that can identify the gaming machine and / or gaming medium lending device is transmitted to the information management means.
The information management means stores device operation history information indicating “operation state information” of “each gaming machine and / or each game medium lending device” in association with the device identification information.
Further, the information management means, in the device operation history information corresponding to the device identification information that matches the device identification information included in the received customer location information, “gaming machine and / or game medium rental corresponding to the device identification information” Arrangement of the game machine and game medium lending device corresponding to the customer identification information included in the received customer location information and the device identification information included in the customer location information in the “information regarding the operating state” of the “device” The customer identification information estimated based on the information is stored in correspondence.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is a game hall customer management system as set forth in the seventh aspect.
The game hall customer management system according to claim 7 is the game hall customer management system according to claim 6, wherein each customer identification information reading means is one game machine or one game medium rental. When it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers for the apparatus, after the first predetermined time elapses from each customer identification information reading means, customer identification from the customer identification medium existing in a predetermined area from the customer identification information reading means Information is received wirelessly, and customer reconfirmation information including the received customer identification information and device identification information that can identify the gaming machine and / or gaming medium lending device is transmitted to the information management means.
The information management means is included in the customer identification information stored in the device operation history information, the customer identification information estimated based on the customer location information received every second predetermined time, and the received customer reconfirmation information. Customer identification information included in both the customer identification information and the customer identification information that should be stored in correspondence with the “operation status information” in the device operation history information. Judge that there is.

If the game center customer management method according to claim 1 is used, for example, the customer has a customer identification medium (customer card or the like) provided with a non-contact IC tag in which customer identification information is recorded.
And customer identification information is read by radio | wireless communication by a customer identification information reading means (IC tag reader etc.) at the timing which detected the information regarding utilization of a gaming machine.
Thereby, since the customer identification information is read at the timing when the customer starts use, it is possible to suppress frequent reading of the same customer identification information.
In this case, according to the example of the “basic determination procedure” in the description of the first embodiment, it is possible to appropriately associate the newly detected customer identification information with the gaming machine.

In addition, the game site customer management method according to claim 2 is a correction method in the case where there are a plurality of pieces of customer identification information newly detected based on “information on start of use”.
In this case, when the customer leaves the game and leaves, the customer identification information is read out, and the customer identification information of the customer who left the game after leaving the game (customer identification information detected last time but not detected this time) is extracted. Then, it is determined which of the plurality of customer identification information that existed at the start of the game corresponds to which gaming machine.
Even if the game machine and the customer identification information cannot be properly specified at the time when the customer starts the game (such as when it is not possible to determine whether the customer A or B played the game machine 1 or 2), the customer If the gaming machine and the customer identification information can be specified at the time when the game ends (for example, the customer A who exited the game of the gaming machine 1 and left), the gaming machine The customer identification information can be appropriately identified (in this case, it can be determined that the customer A ends the game with the gaming machine 1 and the customer B continues the game with the gaming machine 2).
In this case, in the description of the first embodiment, “when a plurality of units start operating simultaneously from the state of nobody” and “when a plurality of units are operating, a plurality of units start operating simultaneously, and there is a passerby. According to the “case” example, the read customer identification information and the gaming machine can be associated more appropriately.

In addition, in the customer management method of the amusement hall according to claim 3, when the customer identification information reading means reads the customer identification information, the customer identification information of the customer who has passed by chance at that timing is appropriately displayed. Can be excluded.
In this case, the customer identification information of a customer who has passed by the vicinity according to the example of “when a plurality of units are operating, and a plurality of units start operating simultaneously and there are passers-by” in the description of the first embodiment, etc. Can be appropriately excluded, and the customer identification information and the gaming machine can be associated more appropriately.

Further, in the game hall customer management system according to claim 4, the management device reads the read customer identification information (customer location information received from a plurality of customer identification information reading means in the group), each gaming machine and game From the arrangement information of the medium lending device, it is possible to sequentially estimate and associate customer identification information of customers who are playing in front of each gaming machine.
In this case, although a plurality of in-game hall devices read customer identification information of one customer, the customer's position can be appropriately estimated from the arrangement state.
In this case, according to the example of “basic determination procedure” in the description of the second embodiment, it is possible to appropriately associate the read customer identification information with the gaming machine.

In addition, in the game hall customer management system according to claim 5, when it is impossible to estimate by the procedure of claim 4 (for example, when the equipment in the game hall reads the customer identification information, accidental proximity is detected at that timing. Even if there is a customer who passed by), the customer identification information of the customer who accidentally passed can be appropriately excluded.
In this case, according to the example of “the case where a plurality of units are in operation simultaneously and a plurality of units start operating at the same time and there are passers-by” in the description of the second embodiment, the customer identification information of the customer who passed by accident is appropriately The customer identification information and the gaming machine can be more appropriately associated with each other.

According to the customer management system for a game hall described in claim 6, customer identification information is read from all customer identification information reading means every second predetermined time. Then, the management device can sequentially estimate and associate customer identification information of customers playing in front of each gaming machine from the read customer identification information and the arrangement information of each gaming machine and gaming medium lending device. it can.
In this case, although a plurality of in-game hall devices read customer identification information of one customer, the customer's position can be appropriately estimated from the arrangement state.
In this case, according to the example of “basic determination procedure” in the description of the third embodiment, it is possible to appropriately associate the read identification information with the gaming machine.

Further, according to the gaming facility customer management system according to claim 7, when it is not possible to estimate by the procedure of claim 6 (for example, when the gaming device reads out the customer identification information, it coincides with that timing. Even when there is a customer who has passed by in the vicinity), customer identification information of the customer who has passed by chance can be appropriately excluded.
In this case, according to the example of “the case where a plurality of units are operating simultaneously and a plurality of units start operating simultaneously and there are passers-by” in the description of the third embodiment, the customer identification information of the customer who passed by accident is appropriately The identification information and the gaming machine can be associated more appropriately.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic connection diagram of an embodiment of a game hall customer management system 1 of the present invention. The game hall customer management system 1 includes a game hall management device 10 (information management means, hereinafter referred to as “management device 10”), a relay device 20 (hereinafter referred to as “island unit 20”), and device management. A device 30 (hereinafter referred to as “table unit 30”) and a terminal device 40 (a game medium lending device provided for each gaming machine 50, hereinafter referred to as “table terminal device 40”), a gaming machine 50, It is comprised by the display apparatus 60 grade | etc.,. First, FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of a game hall customer management system 1.

● [Overall structure (Fig. 1)]
The gaming machine 50 is connected to the base unit 30 via a communication line 83. In addition, a display device 60 for displaying the table number arrangement position information (hereinafter referred to as “table number”) of the gaming machine, the gaming information about the gaming machine, and the like is provided in the vicinity (above, etc.) of the gaming machine 50. It has been. The display device 60 is provided with a machine number display section and a game information display section (not shown), and the game information display section displays the number of special prizes assigned by the gaming machine.
The stand unit 30 detects (receives) game data of the gaming machine 50 connected to itself through the communication line 83, and manages the detected (received) game data via the island unit 20 and the communication lines 82 and 81. Transmit to device 10. The base unit 30 has, for example, as a game data every predetermined time (every minute, etc.), a safe number (game medium payout number, etc.), an out number (game medium input number, etc.), a start number (winning symbols ) And the special prize state (a state in which a prize is awarded and a special prize is assigned) and the like are transmitted to the management apparatus 10 via the island unit 20. Then, the management device 10 stores and displays game data based on the received game data.

The terminal device 40 is connected to the management device 10 via a communication line 84, and information about the amount deducted from the prepaid card received at the prepaid card reception port (not shown) or the amount of cash inserted, etc. Is transmitted to the management apparatus 10 via the communication line 84, and a game medium corresponding to the amount is lent out.
Note that game media refers to pachinko balls, medals, cash, etc. that are used when playing games on a gaming machine. Pachinko machines, pachislot machines, slot machines, video games (most game content is video). Etc.), which is a device installed in a so-called pachinko hall or a casino and capable of playing games.
The management device 10 is connected to the storage device so as to be accessible, can communicate with the island unit 20 via the communication line 81, and can communicate with the base terminal device 40 via the communication line 84. The storage device may be arranged anywhere as long as it can be accessed from the management device 10. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the management apparatus 10 includes a storage device.

● [Arrangement of gaming machines and stand terminal devices in the game hall (Fig. 2)]
Next, an example of arrangement positions of the gaming machine 50 and the stand terminal device 40 in the game hall is shown in FIG. Normally, the stand terminal device 40 is installed adjacent to the left of the corresponding gaming machine 50.
Further, in FIG. 2A, a group (group) of gaming machines from the machine numbers “001” to “008” is “island group 0”, and a group of gaming machines from the machine numbers “011” to “018” is “ “Island group 1”, gaming machine groups with unit numbers “021” to “028” are “island group 2”, and gaming machine groups with unit numbers “031” to “038” are “island group 3”. .

Next, the transmission / reception area of the customer identification information reading means (non-contact IC tag transceiver) will be described with reference to FIG. For example, when a transmitter / receiver of a non-contact IC tag having a transmission / reception area of 1 to 2 m is mounted on the stand terminal device 40, the send / receive areas A402 and A407 from the stand terminal devices 402 and 407 are shown in FIG. It can be shown by hatching. In this case, the base terminal device 402 reads the customer identification information “A”, “B”, “C”, and the base terminal device 407 reads the customer identification information “D”. Note that “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D” in FIG. 2B indicate each customer who possesses each customer identification medium in which customer identification information (A, B, C, D) is recorded.
In addition, as an example of the customer identification medium in which the customer identification information is recorded, various forms such as a customer card having a non-contact IC tag and a portable terminal strap having a non-contact IC tag can be used. . Hereinafter, “customer identification information” is described as “customer ID”.
Further, in all the embodiments described below, not only members but also customers who are not members possess customer identification media in the game hall.

[First Embodiment (FIGS. 3 to 6)]
In the first embodiment, each terminal device 40 (game medium lending device) is provided with customer identification information reading means. Then, at the timing when the start of use of “the gaming machine 50 or the terminal device 40” is detected, the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the “game machine 50 or the terminal device 40” is wirelessly communicated. It is an example of the customer management system 1 of the game hall read.
First, the “basic determination procedure” will be described with reference to FIGS.

● [Basic judgment procedure (Fig. 3)]
FIG. 3A is a schematic connection diagram of the customer management system 1 of the game hall.
The base unit 301 detects the number of gaming media (pachinko balls, medals, etc.) that are thrown into each of the gaming machines 501 and 502 corresponding to the base numbers “001” and “002” within a predetermined time (for example, one minute). Then, operating information (game data) including the detected number (out number) and the machine number (device identification information) is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.
The management device 10 stores the machine operation history information 12 for each gaming machine and date based on the received operation information and the time when the operation information is received (see FIG. 3B). In the example of the device operation history information 12 shown in the example of FIG. 3B, the item to be stored based on the operation information received from the base unit 301 is the “out number” item (12b) shown in FIG. It is.
FIG. 3B shows an example of the device operation history information 12 corresponding to the unit number “002”, and the device operation history information of other gaming machines such as the unit number “001” is omitted.

In addition, when a prepaid card or cash is inserted, the terminal device 401 to 404 pays out a game medium corresponding to the input amount, and when the payout is performed, the base number and input amount (amount, amount, The payout information including the point amount and the like is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.
The management device 10 stores the device operation history information 12 based on the received payout information and the time when the payout information is received. In the example of the device operation history information 12 shown in the example of FIG. 3B, the item to be stored based on the payout information received from the base terminal device 402 is the item “sales” shown in FIG. 12c).
In the description of the present embodiment, the “information regarding the operating state” corresponds to the item “time” (12a), the item “out number” (12b), and the item “sales” (12c).

Then, the management device 10 determines whether or not the use of the “table terminal device 402 or the gaming machine 502” is started based on the “number of outs” or “sales” corresponding to each time in the device operation history information 12. To do.
For example, the management apparatus 10 is in a state that is not “0” after the “out number” stored in the device operation history information 12 shown in FIG. 3B continues “0” n times (n is a natural number). In this case (in this case, the timing of “time 12:05” in FIG. 3B), or when it is not “0” for the first time after opening (in this case, the “time in FIG. 3B”). 10:01 ”(detection of these states corresponds to detection of“ information regarding start of use ”), it is determined that the game has started. Then, the fact that the game start is detected is stored in the “detection timing” in the “game start” item (in this case, “◯” is stored in the item (12d) of “detection timing”).
Alternatively, when the “sales” stored in the device operation history information 12 shown in FIG. 3B is not “0”, the management apparatus 10 (in this case, “time 10: At the timing of “01”, it is determined that the game has started. Then, the fact that the game start is detected is stored in the “detection timing” in the “game start” item (in this case, “◯” is stored in the item (12d) of “detection timing”).

In the above state, the game hall is opened at 10:00, the customer “A” carrying the customer identification medium (customer card or the like) in which the customer ID “A” is recorded and the gaming machine 502 having the machine number “002” is carried. Is an example of a state in which the game is selected and the game is started. In this example, there is no customer in the adjacent gaming machines 501 and 503 having the machine numbers “001” and “003”.
In this case, the management device 10 identifies the customer corresponding to the gaming machine 502 or the terminal device 402 from which the game start is detected at the timing of “time 10:01” when the game start (information regarding the start of use) is detected. The information reading unit (in this case, the customer identification information reading unit provided in the stand terminal device 402) is instructed to read the customer identification information.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 402 receives the customer ID from the customer identification medium carried by the customer “A” by wireless communication. Further, the customer identification information reading unit of the terminal device 402 transmits customer location information including the received customer ID (in this case, “A”) and the machine number (in this case, “002”) to the management apparatus 10.

The customer identification information reading means reads the customer ID by transmitting the customer identification information request signal from the customer identification information reading means by wireless communication and receiving the customer ID returned by the customer identification medium by wireless communication. May be. Alternatively, the customer identification medium periodically repeats the transmission of the customer ID, the customer identification information reading means captures the customer ID received at the timing when it wants to read the customer ID, and discards the customer ID received at other times Also good. As described above, various methods can be used for reading the customer ID.
Hereinafter, the same applies to all the embodiments.

Then, the management device 10 stores the customer ID that is included in the received customer location information and is newly detected in association with the information about the start of use in the device operation history information 12 (in this case) The received customer ID “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) of “game start” corresponding to “time 10:01” in FIG. 3B).
In the item “detected customer ID” (12e), even when a plurality of customer IDs are received, the received plurality of customer IDs are stored. When a plurality of customer IDs are stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e), one of the stored customer IDs is a customer who is actually playing, and the other customers are adjacent. A customer or a customer who is passing by in the vicinity. In the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID”, a customer ID determined to be confirmed by one person is stored.
The “detection timing” item (12g), the “detected customer ID” item (12h), and the “confirmed customer ID” item (12i) in the “game end” will be described later (in FIGS. 5 and 6). explain).
In addition, the management apparatus 10 performs the same process at the timing of “time 12:05” when the game start (information regarding the start of use) is detected. Although the processing contents in this case are omitted, the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” and the item of “confirmed customer ID” of “game start” corresponding to “time 12:05” in FIG. In (12f), the received customer ID “B” is stored.

Next, FIG. 3C illustrates an example of the operation state information 14 in which the management apparatus 10 associates the machine number and the customer ID based on the device operation history information 12. The operating state information 14 is information that updates which customers are playing in the game machines of the respective numbers as needed.
When the operation state information 14 is obtained from the device operation history information 12 shown in FIG. 3 (B), as shown in FIG. 3 (C), in the initial state (when the store is opened, etc.) No customer (customer ID) has been associated yet. As can be seen from the device operation history information 12, since the game machine 502 with the machine number “002” determines that the customer ID “A” has started the game at the time 10:01, the management apparatus 10 At 10:01, the customer ID “A” is stored in the “customer ID” column corresponding to the machine number “002”. At time 12:05, it is determined that the game machine 502 with the machine number “002” has started the game with the customer ID “B”. The customer ID “B” is stored in the “customer ID” field corresponding to “002”.
The operating state information 14 is for explaining how game machines and customer IDs are associated with each other with time, and may be omitted. Hereinafter, in all the embodiments, the operating state information 14 may be omitted.

In the first embodiment, at the timing when the customer detects the use of the gaming machine or the base terminal device, only the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the gaming machine or the base terminal device whose use is detected is operated. In order to read the identification information, it is adjacent to unnecessary processing (such as the operation of the customer identification information reading means of a gaming machine that does not have a customer) and unnecessary noise (a gaming machine that actually has a customer (unit number “002”)). The customer ID “A” read by the customer identification information reading means of the gaming machines (the machine numbers “001” and “003”) can be suppressed.
However, as shown in the example of FIG. 3, it is rare that only one customer starts a game from a state where there is no customer in any gaming machine, and there are actually various cases. Hereinafter, the assumed case and the process for the case will be described in order.

● [When a single unit starts operating while multiple units are operating (Fig. 4)]
Next, a case where each customer who has a customer identification medium having customer IDs “A”, “B”, and “C” starts a game at serial numbers “002” to “004” in order at different times. Assume that the processing in this case will be described. Hereinafter, differences from the “basic determination procedure” described in FIG. 3 will be described.
In the example of FIG. 4, from the state where there is no one, first, the customer ID “A” starts the game with the machine number “002”, and then the customer ID “B” starts the game with the machine number “003”. Then, it is an example when a customer ID “C” starts a game with the machine number “004” (see FIG. 4A). In this case, there are a plurality of customer IDs read by the customer identification information reading means provided in each of the terminal devices 403 and 404, and the simply read customer IDs cannot be associated with the gaming machines on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, in this case, “newly detected customer ID” is associated with “gaming machine where game is started”.

First, the management device 10 assumes that a game is started on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” at time 10:01 from the items “12” to “c” of “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12A. judge. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the base terminal device 402.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 402 receives the customer ID “A” from the customer identification medium of the customer ID “A” by wireless communication, and reads the read customer ID “A” and the machine number “002”. Is sent to the management apparatus 10.
The management device 10 can know from the received customer location information that the customer ID of the customer in the vicinity of the machine number “002” that detected the start of the game at time 10:01 is only “A”. The management device 10 includes the item (12e) “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12A corresponding to the machine number “002” in the received customer location information. The customer ID is stored (in this case, the customer ID “A” is stored). Further, when the number of customer IDs in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) is singular, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” (in this case, the customer ID “ A ”is stored), and it is determined that it is the customer with the customer ID“ A ”that started the game with the gaming machine 502 with the machine number“ 002 ”.

Next, the management device 10 starts a game at the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at time 11:16 from the items “time” to “sales” (12a to 12c) in the device operation history information 12B. It is determined that Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403 receives the customer ID “B” from the customer identification medium with the customer ID “B” by wireless communication, and also receives the customer ID from the customer identification medium with the customer ID “A”. “A” is also received by wireless communication (received from the customer identification medium in the predetermined area A403). Then, the customer location information including the read customer IDs “A” and “B” and the machine number “003” is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.

  From the received customer location information, the management apparatus 10 knows that the customer IDs of customers in the vicinity of the machine number “003” that detected the start of the game at time 11:16 are “A” and “B”. Can do. The management apparatus 10 includes the item (12e) “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 11:16 in the device operation history information 12B corresponding to the machine number “003” in the received customer location information. The customer ID is stored (in this case, customer IDs “A” and “B” are stored). In addition, when there are a plurality of customer IDs in the item “detected customer ID” (12e), the management apparatus 10 searches other device operation history information, and which customer IDs of the customer IDs “A” and “B” are new. It is determined whether or not the customer ID is detected. In this case, it is determined from the device operation history information 12A corresponding to the machine number “002” that the customer ID “A” is already playing the game with the machine number “002” (“confirmed customer ID” Since “A” is stored in the item (12f), the management apparatus 10 determines that the “newly detected customer ID” that started the game with the machine number “003” is “B”. be able to. Then, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “B”, which is “newly detected customer ID” and determined to be singular, in the item “12f” of “confirmed customer ID” in the device operation history information 12B.

Next, the management apparatus 10 starts a game with the gaming machine 504 having the machine number “004” at time 12:51 from the items “time” to “sales” (12a to 12c) in the device operation history information 12C. It is determined that Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the base terminal device 404.
Hereinafter, the processing is the same as that in the case of the machine number “003” at time 11:06, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

Next, FIG. 4C illustrates an example of the operation state information 14 in which the management apparatus 10 associates the machine number and the customer ID based on the device operation history information 12A to 12C.
When the operation state information 14 is obtained from the device operation history information 12A to 12C shown in FIG. 4 (B), as shown in FIG. 4 (C), first, in the initial state (when the store is opened, etc.) Is not yet associated with any customer (customer ID). As can be seen from the device operation history information 12A, at the time 10:01, the game machine 502 with the machine number “002” determines that the customer ID “A” has started playing (the “confirmed customer ID” In the item (12f), the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the “customer ID” column corresponding to the machine number “002” at time 10:01. At time 11:16, it is determined that the customer ID “B” has started the game on the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” (the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID”). The apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “B” in the “customer ID” column corresponding to the machine number “003” at time 11:16. At time 12:51, it is determined that the customer ID “C” has started the game with the gaming machine 504 having the machine number “004” (the item “12f” for the “confirmed customer ID”). At time 12:51, the apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “C” in the “customer ID” column corresponding to the machine number “004”.

● [When nobody is in operation and multiple units start operating simultaneously (Figure 5)]
Next, it is assumed that each customer with customer IDs “A” and “B” starts a game with machine numbers “002” and “003” which are adjacent gaming machines at the same time. Will be explained. Hereinafter, differences from the “basic determination procedure” described in FIG. 3 will be described.
In the example of FIG. 5, the game is started when the customer IDs “A” and “B” start the game with the machine numbers “002” and “003” at almost the same time from the state where no one is present. In this case, there are a plurality of customer IDs read by the customer identification information reading means provided in each of the terminal devices 402 and 403, and the simply read customer IDs cannot be associated with the gaming machines on a one-to-one basis. Also, in this case, there are a plurality of “newly detected customer IDs”, and it is almost impossible to associate a customer ID and a gaming machine in a one-to-one relationship when “when a game is started”. Therefore, the customer ID left when “the game is finished” is detected, and the customer ID “when the game is started” is corrected later.

First, the management device 10 determines that a game is started on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” at time 10:01, from the items “time” to “sales” (12a to 12c) in the device operation history information 12D. judge. Further, based on the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12E, it is determined that the game is started on the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at 10:01 of the same time. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 402 and 403.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 402 receives the customer IDs “A” and “B” from the customer identification media of the customer IDs “A” and “B” by wireless communication, and reads the read customer IDs. The customer location information including “A” and “B” and the machine number “002” is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.
Similarly, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403 receives and reads the customer IDs “A” and “B” by wireless communication from the customer identification media of the customer IDs “A” and “B”. The customer location information including the customer IDs “A” and “B” and the machine number “003” is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.

Based on the received customer location information, the management device 10 has customer IDs “A” and “B” for customers in the vicinity of the machine number “002” that detected the start of the game at time 10:01. : 01, it is possible to know that the customer IDs of customers in the vicinity of the machine number “003” that detected the start of the game are also “A” and “B”.
The management apparatus 10 includes the item (12e) “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12D corresponding to the machine number “002” in the received customer location information. The customer ID is stored (in this case, customer IDs “A” and “B” are stored). Also, the customer ID included in the received customer location information is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12E corresponding to the machine number “003”. (In this case, customer IDs “A” and “B” are stored).
Further, when there are a plurality of customer IDs in the item “detected customer ID” (12e), the management apparatus 10 searches other device operation history information, and which customer IDs “A” and “B” are newly added. It is determined whether the customer ID is detected. In this case, since both customer IDs “A” and “B” are determined to be “newly detected customer IDs”, at time 10:01, “ Since the confirmed customer ID cannot be stored in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID”, it is left blank.

Next, the management device 10 determines that the game has ended for the gaming machine 503 with the machine number “003” at time 12:26, from the items “time” to “number of outs” in the device operation history information 12E. To do. For example, when the “out number” stored in the device operation history information 12E is “0” for m times (m is a natural number), it is determined that the game on the gaming machine has ended (detection of this state) Corresponds to the detection of “information about end of use”). Then, the management device 10 stores that the game end has been detected in the “detection timing” item (12g) of the “game end” item in the device operation history information 12E (in this case, the “detection timing” item (12g ) Is stored at the position corresponding to).
Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403 receives the customer ID “A” from the customer identification medium of the customer ID “A” by wireless communication (the customer ID “B” has already finished the game and left. Is assumed). Then, the customer end information including the read customer ID “A” and the machine number “003” is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.

The management device 10 can know from the received customer end information that the customer ID of the customer in the vicinity of the machine number “003” that detected the end of the game at time 12:26 is only “A”. Then, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID included in the received customer end information in the item (12h) of “detected customer ID” in the device operation history information 12E corresponding to the machine number “003” (this The customer ID “A” is stored).
Then, the management device 10 detects the customer detected at the time of starting the game from the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 of the device operation history information 12E corresponding to the machine number “003”. Know that the IDs are “A” and “B”. Further, the management device 10 determines that the customer ID detected even though the game has ended from the “detected customer ID” item (12h) in the row of time 12:26 of the same device operation history information 12E is “ A ”is known.
Then, the management apparatus 10 extracts the customer ID that has been detected until the customer end information is received and is no longer detected by the customer end information (in this case, the customer ID “B” is extracted). Then, it is stored in the item “12i” of “determined customer ID” (in this case, customer ID “B” is stored).

When the management device 10 determines that the “confirmed customer ID” of the “game end” item at the time 12:26 of the device operation history information 12E corresponding to the machine number “003” is “B”, the device The “confirmed customer ID” of the “game start” item at the time 10:01 of the operation history information 12E is determined to be “B”, and “B” is stored. Furthermore, the management apparatus 10 determines that the “confirmed customer ID” of the “game start” item at the time 10:01 of the device operation history information 12D corresponding to the machine number “002” is “A” and determines “A”. Remember.
The determination state by the management apparatus 10 will be described using the operation state information 14 shown in FIG.
When the operation state information 14 is obtained from the device operation history information 12D and 12E shown in FIG. 5B, as shown in FIG. 5C, first, in the initial state (when the store is opened, etc.) Is not yet associated with any customer (customer ID).
At time 10:01, it is detected that customer IDs “A” and “B” are in the vicinity when a game is started on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002”. Therefore, the management apparatus 10 stores “A” and “B” in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “002” in the operating state information 14 at time 10:01 (at time 10:01, “ (The confirmed customer ID is not yet stored in the “confirmed customer ID” column (12f)). Similarly, at time 10:01, the management apparatus 10 detects that the customer IDs “A” and “B” are in the vicinity when the game is started on the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003”. ing. Therefore, the management apparatus 10 also stores “A” and “B” in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “003” in the operating state information 14 at time 10:01.

  At time 12:26, it is detected that the customer ID of the customer who has finished the game with the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” is “B” (in the “Confirmed customer ID” column (12i)). “B” is stored), and the confirmed customer ID to be stored is stored in the “confirmed customer ID” column (12g) at the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12D and 12E. Accordingly, at time 12:26, the management apparatus 10 continues the game with the customer ID “A” at the machine number “002” and the customer ID “B” finishes the game at the machine number “003”. And recognize that he has left. Then, the management apparatus 10 corrects the customer ID corresponding to the machine number “002” of the operation state information 14 from “A, B” to “A” at time 12:26, and corresponds to the machine number “003”. The customer ID is corrected from “A, B” to “-(none)”.

● [When multiple units are operating, multiple units start operating simultaneously and there are passers-by (Fig. 6)]
Assuming the next case, the customer ID “A” has started the game in the gaming machine with the machine number “001”, and the customer ID “B” has started the game in the gaming machine with the machine number “004”. . In this state, the customer ID “C” further selects the gaming machine with the machine number “002” and the customer ID (D) selects the gaming machine with the machine number “003”. Although the game has not started, the customer ID “E” (in this case, a passerby) approaches the gaming machines 502 and 503, confirms the state of the nail, etc., and leaves immediately after confirmation. Assume that the processing in this case will be described. Hereinafter, differences from the “basic determination procedure” described in FIG. 3 will be described.

  In the example of FIG. 6, when the customer IDs “A” and “B” are playing with the machine numbers “001” and “004”, the customer ID “C” is the machine number “002” and the customer ID In this example, “D” starts the game with the machine number “003”, and the customer ID “E” is also in the vicinity of the machine numbers “002” and “003” at the time of starting the game. In this case, there are a plurality of customer IDs read by the customer identification information reading means provided in each of the terminal devices 401 to 404, and the simply read customer IDs cannot be associated with the gaming machines on a one-to-one basis. Further, the customer ID “E” in this case is a passing customer or the like, and if it is detected by chance at the start of the game, there is a high possibility that it will not be detected at the end of the game. In this case, it becomes difficult to determine the customer ID that ended the game. Therefore, after detecting the customer ID “when the game is started”, the customer ID is detected again after the first predetermined time (several seconds to several tens of seconds). Then, it is determined that the customer has passed accidentally, and correction is performed to exclude the customer ID from the detection result. That is, it is determined that the customer ID included in both detection results is the customer who is playing the game machine.

First, the management device 10 determines that a game is started on the gaming machine 501 of the machine number “001” at time 10:01 from the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12F, and similarly. From the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12I, it is determined that the game is started on the gaming machine 504 having the machine number “004” at time 10:01. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 and 404.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the base terminal device 401 receives the customer ID “A” from the customer identification medium of the customer ID “A” by wireless communication, and reads the read customer ID “A” and the base number “001”. Is sent to the management apparatus 10.
Similarly, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 404 receives the customer ID “B” from the customer identification medium of the customer ID “B” by wireless communication, and reads the customer ID “B” and the machine number “ Customer location information including “004” is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.

Based on the received customer location information, the management apparatus 10 detects that the start of the game at time 10:01, the customer ID of the customer near the machine number “001” is “A”, and the game at time 10:01 It can be known that the customer ID of the customer in the vicinity of the machine number “004” that detected the start of “B” is “B”.
The management apparatus 10 includes the item (12e) “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12F corresponding to the machine number “001” included in the received customer location information. The customer ID is stored (in this case, the customer ID “A” is stored). Also, the customer ID included in the received customer location information is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12I corresponding to the machine number “004”. (In this case, the customer ID “B” is stored). Further, when the number of customer IDs in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) is singular, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID in the item (12f) of “determined customer ID” (in this case, device operation history information). The customer ID “A” is stored in 12F, and the customer ID “B” is stored in the device operation history information 12I).

Next, the management apparatus 10 determines that the game is started on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” at time 10:44 from the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12G. From the items of “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12H, it is determined that the game is started on the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at time 10:44. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to each customer identification information reading unit of the terminal devices 402 and 403.
In this case, the customer identification information reading means of the base terminal device 402 has a customer location including the read customer IDs “A”, “C”, “D”, “E” (in the area A 402) and the base number “002”. Information is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.
Further, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403 includes customer location information including the read customer IDs “B”, “C”, “D”, “E” (in the area A403) and the device number “003”. Is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.
In this case, the management device 10 estimates that there are a plurality of customers who have started using one gaming machine or one terminal device.

Furthermore, when it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers who have started using one gaming machine or one terminal device, the management device 10 detects the terminal devices 402 and 403 from which the start of the game is detected. A customer ID reading instruction is again output to each of the customer identification information reading means after a first predetermined time has elapsed (several seconds to several tens of seconds).
In this case, the customer identification information reading unit of the base terminal device 402 transmits customer reconfirmation information including the read customer IDs “A”, “C”, “D” and the base number “002” to the management device 10. (Customer ID “E” is not detected because it is assumed that it has already left).
Further, the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403 transmits customer reconfirmation information including the read customer IDs “B”, “C”, “D” and the device number “003” to the management device 10 ( Customer ID “E” is not detected because it is assumed that it has already left.)

The management device 10 is included in the customer location information received earlier, but the customer ID “E” not included in the customer reconfirmation information received this time is a customer who has passed by the vicinity by chance. Exclude (do correction to exclude). As a result, customer IDs “A”, “C”, and “D” are stored in the “detected customer ID” item of “game start” at time 10:44 of the device operation history information 12G, and the device operation history information 12H. Customer IDs “B”, “C”, and “D” are stored in the “detected customer ID” item of “game start” at time 10:44 (note that (E) is described as , “E” once detected but not stored). At this time, it is determined that the customer ID “A” is playing with the machine number “001” (from the device operation history information 12F), and the customer ID “B” is played with the machine number “004”. Is determined to be confirmed (from the device operation history information 12I). However, since the customer IDs “C” and “D” cannot determine whether the machine number “002” or “003” is playing, at this time (time 10:44) The “determined customer ID” field is left blank.
When excluding the customer ID, the customer ID that is included in the customer location information but not included in the customer reconfirmation information is excluded, and the customer ID is not included in the customer location information. Excludes the included customer ID.

  Next, the management apparatus 10 determines that the game has ended at the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at time 12:26, from the items “time” to “number of outs” in the device operation history information 12H. To do. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 403. Hereinafter, since it is the same as the contents already described, a description thereof will be omitted, but the result is that the “confirmed customer ID” of “game start” at the time 10:44 of the device operation history information 12G is the customer ID “C”. Determined and stored. Similarly, it is determined and stored that the “confirmed customer ID” of “game start” at time 10:44 of the device operation history information 12H is the customer ID “D”.

The determination state by the management apparatus 10 will be described using the operation state information 14 shown in FIG.
When the operation state information 14 is obtained from the device operation history information 12F to 12I shown in FIG. 6B, as shown in FIG. 6C, first, in the initial state (when the store is opened, etc.) Is not yet associated with any customer (customer ID).
At time 10:01, when the game is started with the gaming machine 501 with the machine number “001”, it is detected that the customer ID “A” is in the vicinity, and the gaming machine 504 with the machine number “004” plays a game. It is detected that the customer ID “B” is in the vicinity when the process is started. Therefore, the management apparatus 10 stores “A” in the customer ID field corresponding to the machine number “001” in the operating state information 14 at time 10:01, and stores it in the customer ID field corresponding to the machine number “004”. Store “B”.

Then, the management apparatus 10 stores “C, D, E” in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “002” based on the customer location information at time 10:44 (“A” is already the machine number. “C”, “D”, “E” are stored in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “003” (“B” is already confirmed with the machine number “004”). Further, the management apparatus 10 stores “C, D” in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “002” based on the customer reconfirmation information received after the first predetermined time has elapsed, and sets the machine number “003”. “C, D” is stored (corrected and stored) in the corresponding customer ID column.
Further, at time 12:26, the management apparatus 10 stores “C” in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “002” and corresponds to the machine number “003” based on the received customer end information. In the customer ID column, “-(none)” is stored (corrected and stored).

● [When customer identification information reading means is not provided for each gaming machine]
In the first embodiment described above, each gaming machine is provided with customer identification information reading means, and the read customer ID and serial number are included in the customer location information, customer end information, and customer reconfirmation information. However, the customer identification information reading means may not be provided for each gaming machine. For example, in a game hall, there is one customer identification information reading means with an area that can be transmitted and received by several tens of meters, or several customer identification information reading means that have an area that can be transmitted and received for each island of the gaming machine from several meters to several tens of meters. You may make it provide. In this case, the device operation history information 12 can be created for each machine number, and the start or end of the game can be detected for each machine number, but the read customer ID cannot be associated with the machine number. (The customer location information, customer end information, and customer reconfirmation information can include the read customer ID, but cannot include the machine number.)
Therefore, in this case, it is considered that the customer ID newly detected at the start timing of the game is much larger than the example described above. Similarly, it is considered that the number of customer IDs that are determined to have ended after leaving the game based on the customer ID read out at the timing of the end of the game is very large. Further, it is considered that the customer IDs that are read by passing by the neighborhood by chance are greatly increased by the customer reconfirmation information.
However, as a game hall, it is not desirable to associate a machine number and a customer ID on a one-to-one basis with 100% perfection. Compared to the conventional customer management system in which the customer card is not actively used and the gaming state for each customer can hardly be collected, more gaming state for each customer (the error when it cannot be specified one-to-one) Can be collected).

[Second Embodiment (FIGS. 7 to 11)]
In the second embodiment, each terminal device 40 (game medium lending device) is provided with customer identification information reading means, but the customer identification information reading means is previously classified into a plurality of groups (island groups, etc.). The customer ID is read from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the group including the “gaming machine 50 or stand terminal device 40” at the timing when the start of use of the “gaming machine 50 or stand terminal device 40” is detected. It is an example of the customer management system 1 of a game arcade that reads out by wireless communication.
That is, when the start of use is detected in a certain gaming machine, a plurality of customer identification information reading means of the group including the gaming machine read customer IDs all at once (see FIG. 7A). Hereinafter, the “basic determination procedure” will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B, but differences from the first embodiment will be described.

● [Basic judgment procedure (Fig. 7)]
First, a case where a customer with a customer ID “A” starts a game on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” from a state where no one is present will be described. In the example of the following description, “group” refers to “island group 0” composed of machine numbers “001” to “008”.
The management apparatus 10 starts a game at the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” at time 10:01 from the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12K corresponding to the machine number “002”. It is determined that Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to each customer identification information reading means provided in the base terminal devices 401 to 408 belonging to the island group 0 including the gaming machine 502 having the base number “002”. To do.
Then, each customer identification information reading means of the base terminal devices 401 to 408 receives the customer ID by wireless communication. In addition, the predetermined area in which transmission / reception can be performed is adjusted to an area up to adjacent gaming machines as illustrated in FIG. In this case, the customer identification information reading unit that receives the customer ID “A” is the customer identification information reading unit provided in the terminal devices 401 to 403.

The customer identification information reading means provided in the terminal devices 401 to 403 includes the customer location including the received customer ID (in this case, “A”) and the machine number (any one of “001” to “003”). Information is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.
Since the customer identification information reading means provided in the terminal devices 404 to 408 does not receive the customer ID, the customer location information including the machine number (any one of “004” to “008”) is transmitted. Alternatively, the customer location information may not be transmitted.
The management device 10 may determine that the customer identification information reading unit corresponding to the serial number has not received the customer ID when the received customer location information does not include the customer ID, and instructs the reading. If the customer location information is not transmitted within a predetermined time, the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number that has not been transmitted may be determined not to receive the customer ID.

In the following description, an example in which the customer identification information reading unit that has received the customer ID transmits the customer location information will be described.
Based on the customer location information (including the customer ID “A” and the machine number “001”) received from the customer identification information reading means of the terminal device 401, the management apparatus 10 uses the time 10 in the device operation history information 12J: The customer ID “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to 01. Similarly, the customer ID “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12K, and “10” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12L. The customer ID “A” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID”.

And the management apparatus 10 starts a game with the gaming machine 502 based on the received customer location information and the arrangement information of the gaming machines 501 to 508 and the terminal devices 401 to 408 (including customer identification information reading means). Estimated customer ID.
In this case, the customer ID included in the received customer location information is only “A”, and the gaming machine in which the game is started is only the gaming machine 502. Therefore, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12K corresponding to the machine number “002”.
Further, when the same customer ID “A” is detected by the three adjacent customer identification information reading means, it is estimated that the customer ID “A” exists in the three central gaming machines 502. You can also
In addition, when the customer ID of the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” is singular, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” and stores the serial number “ It is determined that it is the customer with the customer ID “A” that started the game with the gaming machine 502 of “002”. Note that “-” is stored in the item of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 of the device operation history information 12J and 12L (the game start is not detected, so it is determined that there is no corresponding customer. To do).
Here, each item (12g-12i) of “game end” in the device operation history information 12J-12M will be described later.

In the second embodiment, based on the customer identification information reading unit whose detection area is adjusted in advance and the arrangement position information, “the detected customer ID” and “the position of the customer identification information reading unit that detected the customer ID” From the above, it is estimated with which gaming machine the detected customer ID has started the game.
In the present embodiment, “group” is “island group 0”, but all customer identification information reading means may be operated without being divided into groups.
Hereinafter, as in the first embodiment, assumed cases and processing for the cases will be described in order.

● [When a single unit starts operating while multiple units are operating (Fig. 8)]
Next, in the case where each customer having customer identification media of customer IDs “A”, “B”, “C” starts a game at serial numbers “002” to “004” in order at different times ( Assume the case of FIG. 4A), and the processing in this case will be described. Hereinafter, differences from the “basic determination procedure” described in FIG. 7 will be described.
In this case, since the same customer ID is read by a plurality of customer identification information reading means, the simply read customer ID cannot be associated with the gaming machine on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, in this case, the gaming machine to which the detected customer ID corresponds is estimated from “the detected customer ID” and “the position of the customer identification information reading unit that detected the customer ID”.

The management device 10 determines that a game is started on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” at time 10:01, from the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12P. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the island group 0 including the base terminal device 402.
Then, the customer identification information reading unit of the island group 0 receives the customer ID almost simultaneously. In this case, the customer ID is received by the customer identification information reading unit of the terminal devices 401 to 403. Accordingly, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 to 403 includes the customer ID (in this case, “A”) in the customer location information.
Based on the received customer identification information, the management device 10 sets the item (12e) “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12N and the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12P. The customer ID “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the item 10 and the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12Q. The management apparatus 10 detects the same customer ID from the three adjacent customer identification information reading means (based on the arrangement position information), and detects the central unit number “002” of the three units. It is estimated that there is a customer ID “A”, and since this customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer who is playing with the machine number “002”. Then, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the item “12f” of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12P.

The same process is performed at time 11:16 when the start of the game is detected with the machine number “003”. In this case, the management apparatus 10 stores “A” in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 11:16 of the device operation history information 12N, and the time 11:16 of the device operation history information 12P. “A” and “B” are stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the item “12”, and the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 11:16 of the device operation history information 12Q. Stores “A” and “B”, and stores “B” in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 11:16 of the device operation history information 12R.
In this case, since the customer ID “B” is detected by the three customer identification information reading means corresponding to the unit numbers “002” to “004”, the customer ID “B” is the central unit of the three units. It is presumed that the customer is at the number “003”, and since this customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer playing with the machine number “003”. And the management apparatus 10 memorize | stores customer ID "B" in the item (12f) of "confirmed customer ID" corresponding to the time 11:16 in the apparatus operation history information 12Q.
In addition, in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 11:16 in the device operation history information 12P, the customer ID “A” is confirmed and stored.
The same processing is performed at time 12:51 when the start of the game is detected with the machine number “004”, but the description is omitted because it is the same.

● [When nobody is in operation and multiple units start operating simultaneously (Fig. 9)]
Next, it is assumed that each customer with customer IDs “A” and “B” starts a game with machine numbers “002” and “003” which are adjacent gaming machines at the same time. Will be explained. This case is shown in FIG. Hereinafter, differences from the “basic determination procedure” described in FIG. 7 will be described.
The management apparatus 10 determines that a game is started on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” at time 10:01, from the items “time” to “sales” (12a to 12c) in the device operation history information 12U. . Further, it is determined from the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12V that the game is started at the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at 10:01 at the same time.

Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the island group 0 including the terminal devices 402 and 403.
Then, the customer identification information reading unit of the island group 0 receives the customer ID almost simultaneously. In this case, the customer ID is received by the customer identification information reading unit of the terminal devices 401 to 404. Accordingly, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 to 404 includes the customer ID (in this case, “A” or “B”) in the customer location information.
Based on the received customer location information, the management apparatus 10 stores “A” in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12T, and the device operation history. “A” and “B” are stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 10:01 in the information 12U, and “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12V. “A” and “B” are stored in the item (12e), and “B” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12W.

  Then, the management apparatus 10 detects that the customer ID “A” is the same as the customer numbers “001” to “003” because the three adjacent customer identification information reading means (based on the arrangement position information) detect the same customer ID. The game starts with the unit number “002”, which is the center of the three units, and the customer ID “B” starts the game with the unit number “003”, which is the center of the three units “002” to “004”. It is estimated that Further, since the estimated customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer who is playing with each of the unit numbers “002” or “003”. Then, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the item “12f” of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12U, and the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12V. The customer ID “B” is stored in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to

Next, the management device 10 determines that the game has ended for the gaming machine 503 with the machine number “003” at time 12:26, from the items “time” to “number of outs” in the device operation history information 12V. To do.
Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the island group 0 including the base terminal device 403.
Then, the customer identification information reading unit of the island group 0 receives the customer ID almost simultaneously. In this case, the customer ID is received by the customer identification information reading unit of the terminal devices 401 to 403. Therefore, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 to 403 includes the customer ID (in this case, “A” or “B”) in the customer location information.
Based on the received customer identification information, the management device 10 sets the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12T, and the time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12U. “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to, and the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12V.

  And the management apparatus 10 extracts customer ID which was not detected this time by customer ID memorize | stored in the item (12f) of "confirmed customer ID". In this case, the customer ID “B” is extracted from the device operation history information 12V. Then, since the extracted customer ID is singular, the management apparatus 10 determines that the customer ID is the customer who has left the game after leaving the game with the unit number “003”. Then, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “B” in the item “12i” of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12V.

When the operation state information 14 is obtained using the device operation history information 12T to 12W shown in FIG. 9A, first, as shown in FIG. 9B, in the initial state (when the store is opened, etc.) No gaming machine (customer ID) is yet associated with the gaming machine.
At time 10:01, it is determined that it is the customer ID “A” that started the game with the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” (the “confirmed customer ID” item of the device operation history information 12U). (From (12f)), it is determined to be the customer ID “B” that the game is started with the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at the same time (“confirmed customer ID” in the device operation history information 12V). (From item (12f)). Therefore, the management apparatus 10 stores “A” in the customer ID field corresponding to the machine number “002” in the operating state information 14 at time 10:01, and “B” in the customer ID field corresponding to the machine number “003”. Is memorized.

At time 12:26, it is determined that the customer ID of the customer who has finished the game with the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” is “B” (“Confirmed customer ID” field (12i) "B" is stored), the customer ID "B" recognizes that the customer ID "B" has finished playing and has left. Then, the management device 10 changes the customer ID corresponding to the machine number “003” of the operating state information 14 from “B” to “− (none)” at time 12:26.
In the first embodiment, at 10:01, it was not possible to determine whether the customer ID “A” or “B” started the game with the machine numbers “002” and “003”. In the second embodiment, at 10:01, the customer ID “A” is determined for the machine number “002” and the customer ID “B” is assigned to the machine number “003” to correspond to each other. Can do.

● [When multiple units are operating, multiple units start operating and there are passers-by (Figs. 10 and 11)]
Assuming the next case, the customer ID “A” has started the game in the gaming machine with the machine number “001”, and the customer ID “B” has started the game in the gaming machine with the machine number “004”. . In this state, the customer ID “C” further selects the gaming machine with the machine number “002” and the customer ID “D” selects the gaming machine with the machine number “003”. Although the game is not started, the customer ID “E” (in this case, a passerby) approaches the gaming machines 502 and 503, confirms the state of the nail, etc., and leaves immediately after the confirmation. Assume that the process in this case (the case shown in FIG. 6A) will be described. Hereinafter, differences from the “basic determination procedure” described in FIG. 7 will be described.

The management device 10 determines that the game is started on the gaming machine 501 of the machine number “001” at time 10:01 from the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12X, and the device operation is performed similarly. From the items of “time” to “sales” in the history information 12α, it is determined that the game is started on the gaming machine 504 having the machine number “004” at time 10:01. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the island group 0 including the base terminal devices 401 and 404.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the island group 0 receives the customer ID almost simultaneously. In this case, the customer ID information reading means of the platform terminal devices 401 to 405 receives the customer ID. Accordingly, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 to 405 includes the customer ID (in this case, at least one of “A” to “E”). is there.

  Based on the received customer identification information, the management device 10 stores “A” in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12X, and the device operation history. “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the information 12Y, and the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12Z. ), “B” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12α, and time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12β. “B” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to.

  Then, the management apparatus 10 detects the same customer ID “A” by two customer identification information reading means (base numbers “001” and “002”) adjacent to the island edge (based on the arrangement position information). Therefore, it is estimated that the customer ID “A” has started the game with the machine number “001”. Further, the management apparatus 10 detects that the customer ID “B” is detected by the three adjacent customer identification information reading means (based on the arrangement position information), so that the customer ID “B” is the machine number “003”. It is presumed that the game has been started at the machine number “004” which is the center of the three machines “˜005”. Further, since the estimated customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer who is playing with each of the machine numbers “001” or “004”. Then, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the item “12f” of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12X, and the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12α. The customer ID “B” is stored in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to

Next, the management device 10 determines that the game is started on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” at time 10:44 from the items “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12Y. From the items of “time” to “sales” in the device operation history information 12Z, it is determined that the game is started on the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at time 10:44. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to each customer identification information reading means of the island group 0 including the terminal devices 402 and 403.
Then, the customer identification information reading means of the island group 0 receives the customer ID almost simultaneously.

  Based on the received customer identification information, the management device 10 sets “A”, “C”, and “E” to the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12X. Store “A”, “C”, “D” and “E” in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12Y, and the time in the device operation history information 12Z. “B”, “C”, “D”, and “E” are stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to 10:44, and the “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12α is stored. "B", "D", and "E" are stored in the item (12e), and "B" is stored in the item (12e) of "detected customer ID" corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12β. .

Then, the management apparatus 10 detects the same customer ID “A” by two customer identification information reading means (base numbers “001” and “002”) adjacent to the island edge (based on the arrangement position information). As a result, it is estimated that the customer ID “A” is at the machine number “001”, and since the estimated customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer playing at each machine number “001”. judge. Similarly, it is estimated and confirmed that the customer ID “B” is at the machine number “004”.
Further, the management apparatus 10 estimates that the game is started with the customer ID “C” having the machine number “002” and the game is started with the customer ID “D” having the machine number “003”.
However, the customer ID “E” is detected by four adjacent customer identification information reading means, and the customer ID “C” or “D” is used regardless of the machine number “002” or “003”. ”And there are a plurality of customers in either the machine number“ 002 ”or“ 003 ”. Therefore, when it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers who have started using one gaming machine or one terminal device, the management device 10 is after a first predetermined time (several seconds to several tens of seconds). ) Again outputs a customer ID reading instruction.
Then, the customer identification information reading unit transmits customer reconfirmation information including the customer ID and the machine number to the management apparatus 10.

When it is assumed that the customer ID “E” has already left, the management apparatus 10 sets the item “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12X based on the received customer identification information ( 12e) is corrected to “A” and “C”, the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12Y is corrected to “A”, “C”, and “D”, The item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12Z is corrected to “B”, “C”, and “D”, and corresponds to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12α. The item (12e) of “detected customer ID” is corrected to “B” and “D”, and the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12β is the same as “B” ” Do not change.
As described above, the management device 10 is included in the customer location information received earlier, but the customer ID “E” that is not included in the customer reconfirmation information received this time is a customer who has passed by the neighborhood by chance. Exclude it because it exists (make correction to exclude).
When excluding the customer ID, the customer ID that is included in the customer location information but not included in the customer reconfirmation information is excluded, and the customer ID is not included in the customer location information. Excludes the included customer ID.

  Next, the management apparatus 10 determines that the game has ended at the gaming machine 503 having the machine number “003” at time 12:26, based on the items “time” to “number of outs” in the device operation history information 12Z. To do. Then, the management device 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to the customer identification information reading means of the island group 0 including the base terminal device 403. Hereinafter, since it is the same as the contents already described, a description thereof will be omitted, but the result is that the “confirmed customer ID” of “game end” at the time 12:26 of the device operation history information 12Z is the customer ID “D”. Determined and stored.

When the operation state information 14 is obtained from the device operation history information 12X to 12β shown in FIG. 10, as shown in FIG. 11, first, in the initial state (at the time of opening of the store, etc.) (Customer ID) is also not associated.
At time 10:01, it is determined that it is the customer ID “A” that started the game with the gaming machine 501 with the machine number “001” (the “confirmed customer ID” item of the device operation history information 12X). (From (12f)), it is determined that it is the customer ID “B” that started the game with the gaming machine 504 having the machine number “004” at the same time (“confirmed customer ID” in the device operation history information 12α). (From item (12f)). Therefore, the management apparatus 10 stores “A” in the customer ID field corresponding to the machine number “001” in the operating state information 14 at time 10:01, and “B” in the customer ID field corresponding to the machine number “004”. Is memorized.

Then, the management device 10 stores “C, E” in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “002” based on the customer location information at time 10:44, and the customer ID corresponding to the machine number “003”. In the column, “D, E” is stored. Furthermore, the management device 10 corrects the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “002” to “C” based on the customer reconfirmation information received after the first predetermined time has elapsed, and the customer corresponding to the machine number “003”. The ID column is corrected to “D”.
Furthermore, at time 12:26, the management apparatus 10 stores “-(none)” in the customer ID column corresponding to the machine number “003” based on the received customer end information.

In the second embodiment described above, detection of game end and customer end information can be omitted.
However, there may be a case in which the gaming machine and the customer ID cannot be associated with each other even if the detection of the game start and the customer location information and the customer reconfirmation information are used (the passing customer is not less than the first predetermined time, Such as staying in the vicinity of a particular gaming machine). In such a case, it is more preferable that the gaming machine and the customer ID can be associated more appropriately by using the game end detection and the customer end information.

[Third Embodiment (FIGS. 12 to 16)]
The third embodiment is the same as the second embodiment in that each terminal device 40 (game medium lending device) is provided with customer identification information reading means and the point estimated using the arrangement information. However, the second implementation is that the customer IDs are read from all the customer identification information reading means at regular time intervals (second predetermined time intervals), and the detection of “game start and end” is not required. Different from form. Hereinafter, differences from the second embodiment will be described.
● [Basic judgment procedure (Fig. 12)]
First, a case where a customer with a customer ID “A” starts a game on the gaming machine 502 with the machine number “002” from a state where no one is present will be described.
The management apparatus 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to all the customer identification information reading means at regular time intervals (every second predetermined time). For example, a customer ID reading instruction is output every minute which is the same as the time interval in the device operation history information.
Then, all customer identification information reading means receives the customer ID by wireless communication. In addition, the predetermined area in which transmission / reception can be performed is adjusted to an area up to adjacent gaming machines as illustrated in FIG. In this case, the customer identification information reading unit that receives the customer ID “A” is the customer identification information reading unit provided in the terminal devices 401 to 403.

The customer identification information reading means provided in the terminal devices 401 to 403 includes the customer location including the received customer ID (in this case, “A”) and the machine number (any one of “001” to “003”). Information is transmitted to the management apparatus 10.
In the following description, an example in which the customer identification information reading unit that has received the customer ID transmits the customer location information will be described.
The management apparatus 10 uses the customer location information (including the customer ID “A” and the machine number “001”) received from the customer identification information reading unit of the machine terminal device 401, in the device operation history information 12 (A). The customer ID “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01. Similarly, the customer ID “A” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (B), and the time 10 in the device operation history information 12 (C) is stored. : The customer ID “A” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to 01.

Based on the received customer location information, and the arrangement information of the gaming machines 501 to 5 ** and the base terminal devices 401 to 4 ** (including customer identification information reading means), the management device 10 plays the gaming machine 502. Estimate the customer ID of the customer in
When the same customer ID “A” is detected by the three adjacent customer identification information reading means, the management device 10 has the customer ID “A” in the three central gaming machines 502. .
Since the estimated customer ID is singular, the management apparatus 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the item “12f” of “confirmed customer ID” in the device operation history information 12 (B), It is determined that it is the customer with the customer ID “A” that is in the gaming machine 502 of “002”. Note that “-” is stored in the item “12f” of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 of the device operation history information 12 (A) and 12 (C).
Here, each item (12g to 12i) of “game end” in the device operation history information 12 (A) to 12 (D) will be described later.

In the third embodiment, in order to estimate which gaming machine ID corresponds to which gaming machine from the customer IDs and arrangement information read by all customer identification information reading means at regular intervals, the game start or game end Detection of may be omitted.
Hereinafter, similarly to the second embodiment, assumed cases and processing for the cases will be described in order.

● [When multiple units are operating and a single unit is operating (Figure 13)]
Next, in the case where each customer having customer identification media of customer IDs “A”, “B”, “C” starts a game at serial numbers “002” to “004” in order at different times ( Assume the case of FIG. 4A), and the processing in this case will be described.
The management apparatus 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to all the customer identification information reading means at regular time intervals (every second predetermined time).
Then, all the customer identification information reading means receive the customer ID almost simultaneously. In this case, the customer ID is received by the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 to 403. Accordingly, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 to 403 includes the customer ID (in this case, “A”) in the customer location information.

Based on the received customer location information, the management device 10 includes the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (E), the device operation history information 12 (F ) In the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 and the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (G). A "is stored. The management apparatus 10 detects that the same customer ID “A” is detected by the three adjacent customer identification information reading means (based on the arrangement position information), and therefore the central unit number “002” of the three units. It is estimated that there is a detected customer ID “A”, and since this customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer at the machine number “002”. And the management apparatus 10 memorize | stores customer ID "A" in the item (12f) of "confirmed customer ID" corresponding to the time 10:01 in the apparatus operation history information 12 (F).
In the example shown in FIG. 13, the management apparatus 10 repeats the above-described processing every minute and until time 11:15.

Also, since the customer “B” has been attached to the gaming machine having the machine number “003” from time 11:16, it is included in the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine numbers “002” to “004”. “B” is added to the customer ID.
Furthermore, since the customer “C” has been attached to the gaming machine having the machine number “004” from 12:51, it is included in the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine numbers “003” to “005”. “C” is added to the customer ID.
At time 11:16, the management apparatus 10 adds the customer ID to the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 11:16 in the device operation history information 12 (F) based on the received customer location information. “A” and “B” are stored, and customer IDs “A” and “B” are stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 11:16 in the device operation history information 12 (G). Then, the customer ID “B” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 11:16 in the device operation history information 12 (H). The management apparatus 10 detects that the same customer ID “B” is detected by the three adjacent customer identification information reading means (based on the arrangement position information), so that the central unit number “003” of the three units is detected. It is estimated that there is a detected customer ID “B”, and since this customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer at the machine number “003”. And the management apparatus 10 memorize | stores customer ID "B" in the item (12f) of "confirmed customer ID" corresponding to the time 11:16 in the apparatus operation history information 12 (G). The management apparatus 10 repeats the process described above every minute and until time 12:50.

  Further, at the time 12:51, the management apparatus 10 adds the customer ID to the item (12e) “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 12:51 in the device operation history information 12 (G) based on the received customer location information. “A”, “B”, and “C” are stored, and the customer ID “B” and “C” are stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 12:51 in the device operation history information 12 (H). ”And the customer ID“ C ”is stored in the item“ 12e ”of“ detected customer ID ”corresponding to the time 12:51 in the device operation history information 12 (I). And the management apparatus 10 detects the same customer ID "C" by three adjacent customer identification information reading means (based on the arrangement position information), and therefore the central unit number "004" of the three units. It is estimated that there is a detected customer ID “C”, and since this customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is the customer at the machine number “003”. And the management apparatus 10 memorize | stores customer ID "C" in the item (12f) of "confirmed customer ID" corresponding to the time 12:51 in the apparatus operation history information 12 (H).

● [When nobody is in operation and multiple units start operating simultaneously (Fig. 14)]
Next, it is assumed that each customer with customer IDs “A” and “B” starts a game with machine numbers “002” and “003” which are adjacent gaming machines at the same time. Will be explained.
The management apparatus 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to all the customer identification information reading means at regular time intervals (every second predetermined time).
Then, all the customer identification information reading means receive the customer ID almost simultaneously. In this case, it is the customer identification information reading means of the base terminal devices 401 to 404 that receives the customer ID. Accordingly, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means of the terminal devices 401 to 404 includes the customer ID (in this case, at least one of “A” or “B”) in the customer location information. .

Then, at time 10:01, the management device 10 sets “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (J) based on the received customer location information. A ”is stored,“ A ”and“ B ”are stored in the item“ 12e ”of“ detected customer ID ”corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (K), and the device operation history information 12 ( “A” and “B” are stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in L), and “detection” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (M) is stored. “B” is stored in the item (12e) of “customer ID”.
Then, the management apparatus 10 detects that the customer ID “A” is the same as the customer numbers “001” to “003” because the three adjacent customer identification information reading means (based on the arrangement position information) detect the same customer ID. The customer ID “B” is estimated to be in the machine number “003”, which is the center of the three machines “002” to “004”. Further, since the estimated customer ID is singular, it is determined that the customer ID is a customer at each of the unit numbers “002” or “003”. Then, the management device 10 stores the customer ID “A” in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (K), and the device operation history information 12 (L ) Stores the customer ID “B” in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” corresponding to time 10:01.

  At time 12:26, the management apparatus 10 sets “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12 (J) based on the received customer location information. “A” is stored, “A” is stored in the item “12e” of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12 (K), and the time in the device operation history information 12 (L). “A” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to 12:26.

● [When multiple units are in operation, multiple units start operating and there are passers-by (Figs. 15 and 16)]
Assuming the next case, the customer ID “A” has started the game in the gaming machine with the machine number “001”, and the customer ID “B” has started the game in the gaming machine with the machine number “004”. . In this state, the customer ID “C” further selects the gaming machine with the machine number “002” and the customer ID (D) selects the gaming machine with the machine number “003”. Although the game has not started, the customer ID “E” (in this case, a passerby) approaches the gaming machines 502 and 503, confirms the state of the nail, etc., and leaves immediately after confirmation. Assume that the processing in this case will be described.

The management apparatus 10 outputs a customer ID reading instruction to all the customer identification information reading means at regular time intervals (every second predetermined time).
In this case, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine numbers “001” and “002” includes the customer ID “A” between time 10:01 and 10:43. ing. The customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine numbers “003” to “005” includes the customer ID “B”.
At time 10:44, customer ID “A, C, E” is included in the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “001”. The customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “002” includes the customer IDs “A, C, D, E”, and the customer corresponding to the machine number “003”. The customer location information transmitted from the identification information reading means includes customer IDs “B, C, D, E”. Further, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “004” includes “B, D, E” in the customer ID, and the customer identification corresponding to the machine number “005”. The customer location information transmitted from the information reading means includes the customer ID “B”.
At time 12:26, customer ID “A, C” is included in the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “001”. The customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “002” includes the customer ID “A, C”, and the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “003”. The customer location information transmitted from the customer ID includes customer IDs “B, C”. Furthermore, the customer location information transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “004” includes “B” in the customer ID, and the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the machine number “005”. The transmitted customer location information includes the customer ID “B”.

  At time 10:01, the management apparatus 10 sets “A” in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (N) based on the received customer location information. Is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (P), and the time 10: in the device operation history information 12 (Q) is stored. “B” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to 01, and “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (R) is “ “B” is stored, and “B” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:01 in the device operation history information 12 (S).

  At time 10:44, based on the received customer location information, the management apparatus 10 adds “A” to the item “12e” of “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12 (N). , C, E ”,“ A, C, D, E ”is stored in the item (12e) of“ detected customer ID ”corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12 (P), “B, C, D, E” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 10:44 in the operation history information 12 (Q), and the time 10 in the device operation history information 12 (R) is stored. : “B, D, E” is stored in the “detected customer ID” item (12e) corresponding to 44, and the “detected customer ID” item corresponding to the time 10:44 in the device operation history information 12 (S) is stored. “B” is stored in (12e).

  Further, at time 12:26, the management apparatus 10 sets “A” in the item “12e” of “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12 (N) based on the received customer location information. , C ”,“ A, C ”is stored in the item (12e) of“ detected customer ID ”corresponding to the time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12 (P), and the device operation history information 12 (Q ), “B, C” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 12:26, and “detected customer ID” corresponding to time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12 (R). “B” is stored in the item (12e) and “B” is stored in the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” corresponding to the time 12:26 in the device operation history information 12 (S).

Here, a treatment for the customer ID “E” detected at time 10:44 will be described. Since this customer ID “E” is included in the customer location information corresponding to the adjacent machine numbers “001” to “004”, the management apparatus 10 assigns the customer ID to the central machine number “002” or “003”. Presume that "E" exists. However, it is estimated that the customer ID “C” is also present in the machine number “002”, and that the customer ID “D” is also present in the machine number “003”, and the management apparatus 10 determines that the machine numbers “002” and “ The customer ID at “003” cannot be specified as one.
Two methods for dealing with this case will be described.
In the first method, as in the second embodiment, the management apparatus 10 receives the customer reconfirmation information after the elapse of the first predetermined time, and the item (12e) of “detected customer ID” at time 10:44 Is corrected to exclude “E” (this state is the device operation history information 12 (N) to 12 (S) shown in FIG. 15).
In the second method, at time 10:44, the management apparatus 10 does not determine the customer ID. In this case, “-” is stored in the item (12f) of “confirmed customer ID” at the time 10:44 of the device operation history information 12 (P) and 12 (Q). Even if the customer ID is not confirmed at time 10:44, if the customer ID “E” is not detected at the next time 10:45, the customer ID “C” is confirmed and determined for the machine number “002”. The customer ID “D” is determined to be “003”. In this case, customer reconfirmation information is not required.

As described above, if the game hall customer management system (game hall customer management method) described in the first to third embodiments is used, the customer ID and the gaming machine are 100% perfectly associated with each other. Although it may not be possible, it can be more appropriately matched than the conventional system that does not allow customer cards to be used and almost does not aggregate the gaming status for each customer, and collects more gaming status for each customer than the conventional system can do.
Thereby, a game state is totaled for every customer, the contribution to a store can be calculated | required, the service according to the contribution, etc. can be provided, and a favorable customer can be preferentially treated more.

The game hall customer management method and the game hall customer management system of the present invention are not limited to the configurations, processing procedures, and the like described in the present embodiment, and various modifications, additions, and the like can be made without changing the gist of the present invention. Can be deleted.
The mobile information system of the present invention can be applied to various uses other than the uses described in the present embodiment.
The device operation history information 12 to 12 (S) and the operation state information 14 are not limited to the items, configurations, and the like described in the present embodiment.
The numerical values and the like used in the description of the present embodiment are examples, and are not limited to these numerical values and the like.
In the description of the present embodiment, the customer identification information reading means is provided in the stand terminal device. However, the customer identification information reading means may be unitized and provided below the gaming machine. In this case, since it is located almost in front of the customer, if the communicable area is adjusted to about several tens of centimeters, it is possible to more appropriately associate the gaming machine with the customer ID without reading the customer ID in the adjacent gaming machine. It becomes possible.
In each of the above embodiments, the determination of associating customer identification information with a gaming machine (determined determination of “confirmed customer ID”) is at the start of the game or at the end of the game (first and second implementations). Form) or every second predetermined time (third embodiment), this determination (confirmation determination of “confirmed customer ID”) is a device operation history storing “detected customer ID”. You may go after the store closes based on the information.
In addition, a pyroelectric sensor, a distance measuring sensor, a seat sensor, and a handle sensor are provided on the basis of a signal from the sensor without detecting the game start from “sales” or “number of outs”. Alternatively, “sales”, “number of outs”, and the above sensors may be combined for more accurate detection.

1 is a schematic connection diagram of an embodiment of a game hall customer management system of the present invention. FIG. It is a figure explaining arrangement | positioning of a game machine and a stand terminal device, and a communicable area. It is a figure explaining the "basic determination procedure" in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when a single unit starts operation while a plurality of units are operating" in the first embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when two or more units start operation simultaneously from the state where there is nobody" in a 1st embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when a plurality of units start operation simultaneously and a plurality of units start operation, and there are passers-by" in the first embodiment. It is a figure explaining the "basic determination procedure" in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when one unit starts operation while a plurality of units are operating" in the second embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when two or more units start operation simultaneously from the state where there is nobody" in a 2nd embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when a plurality of units are operating, a plurality of units start operating simultaneously, and there are passers-by" in the second embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when a plurality of units are operating, a plurality of units start operating simultaneously, and there are passers-by" in the second embodiment. It is a figure explaining the "basic determination procedure" in 3rd Embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when one unit starts operation while a plurality of units are operating" in the third embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when two or more units start operation simultaneously from the state where there is nobody" in a 3rd embodiment. It is a figure explaining "when a plurality of units start operation simultaneously and a plurality of units start operation, and there are passers-by" in a third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 customer management system 10 management device (information management means)
20 island units 30 units 40, 401 to 408 terminal devices (game media lending device)
50, 501 to 508 Gaming machines 12 to 12 (S) Equipment operation history information 14 Operating state information A402 to A407 Transmission / reception possible area

Claims (7)

A game hall using a customer identification medium in which customer identification information is recorded, customer identification information reading means capable of reading customer identification information from the customer identification medium, and information management means capable of communicating with the customer identification information reading means Customer management method,
In the information management means, storing device operation history information indicating “operation state information” of each gaming machine in association with device identification information that can identify the gaming machine;
In the information management means, detecting “information about start of use” for each gaming machine based on “information about operating state” included in the equipment operation history information;
Based on the detected “information about the start of use” detected by the customer identification information reading means, the customer identification information is wirelessly received from the customer identification medium existing within a predetermined area from the customer identification information reading means, and received. Sending customer location information including customer identification information to the information management means;
In the information management means, the newly identified customer identification that is included in the received customer location information and corresponds to the “information related to the operation state” corresponding to the “information related to the start of use” in the device operation history information Storing information,
A customer management method for an amusement hall. It is the customer management method of the game hall according to claim 1,
In the information management means, further, a step of detecting “information related to termination of use” for each gaming machine based on “information related to the operating state” included in the device operation history information;
The customer identification information reading means receives the customer identification information wirelessly from the customer identification medium existing in the predetermined area from the customer identification information reading means, based on the detected “information about the end of use”. Sending customer end information including customer identification information to the information management means;
In the customer identification information stored in the device operation history information by the information management means, the customer identification information contained in the customer location information received based on the “information about the start of use” and newly detected Extracting customer identification information that is not included in the customer termination information received based on “information about termination of use” from the customer identification information,
The information management means determines that the extracted customer identification information is customer identification information that should be stored in association with “information related to operation status” corresponding to “information related to start of use” in the device operation history information. And having steps
A customer management method for an amusement hall. It is the customer management method of the amusement hall according to claim 1 or 2,
Further, when it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers who have started using one gaming machine or one game medium lending device, a predetermined area is read from the customer identification information reading unit after the first predetermined time has elapsed. Receiving the customer identification information wirelessly from the customer identification medium existing within, and transmitting the customer reconfirmation information including the received customer identification information to the information management means
In the customer identification information stored in the device operation history information by the information management means, the customer identification information contained in the customer location information received based on the “information about the start of use” and newly detected Extracting the customer identification information included in both the customer identification information and the customer identification information included in the received customer reconfirmation information;
The information management means determines that the extracted customer identification information is customer identification information that should be stored in association with “information related to operation status” corresponding to “information related to start of use” in the device operation history information. And having steps
A customer management method for an amusement hall. Customer identification medium in which customer identification information is recorded, customer identification information reading means provided for each gaming machine capable of reading customer identification information from the customer identification medium, and gaming medium lending provided for each gaming machine A gaming facility customer management system comprising an apparatus and information management means capable of communicating with the customer identification information reading means,
Each customer identification information reading means
It has been classified into several groups in advance,
Each customer corresponding to a group including a gaming machine or a gaming medium renting device from which the start of usage is detected at the timing when "information on the starting of use" of "gaming machine and / or gaming medium lending device" is detected Customer identification information is wirelessly received from a customer identification medium existing within a predetermined area from the identification information reading means, and the received customer identification information and device identification information capable of specifying a gaming machine and / or a gaming medium rental device Send customer location information including
Information management means
Corresponding to the device identification information, device operation history information indicating “operation state information” of “each game machine and / or each game medium lending device” is stored, and the “device operation history information” includes “ Based on the “information on the operating state”, it is possible to detect “information on the start of use” for each “game machine and / or for each game medium lending device”,
In the device operation history information corresponding to the device identification information that matches the device identification information included in the received customer location information, “use machine and / or game medium lending device” corresponding to the device identification information In the “information about the start”, customer identification information included in the received customer location information, and arrangement information of the gaming machines and game medium lending devices of the group corresponding to the device identification information included in the customer location information. Store the customer identification information estimated based on the correspondence,
A customer management system for an amusement hall characterized by that. The game hall customer management system according to claim 4,
Each customer identification information reading means further, when it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers who have started using one gaming machine or one game medium lending device, after the first predetermined time has elapsed, The customer identification information is wirelessly transmitted from the customer identification information reading means corresponding to the group including the gaming machine or the gaming medium renting apparatus estimated to be used by a plurality of customers, from a customer identification medium existing in a predetermined area. And receiving customer reconfirmation information including the received customer identification information and device identification information capable of identifying the gaming machine and / or gaming medium lending device to the information management means,
In the customer identification information stored in the device operation history information, the information management means includes the customer identification information estimated based on the customer location information received based on the “information regarding the start of use” and the received customer reconfirmation information. The customer identification information included in both of the customer identification information and the customer identification information included in is extracted, and the extracted customer identification information corresponds to the “operation start information” in the device operation history information. It is determined that the customer identification information should be stored in correspondence with the “information”.
A customer management system for an amusement hall characterized by that. Customer identification medium in which customer identification information is recorded, customer identification information reading means provided for each gaming machine capable of reading customer identification information from the customer identification medium, and gaming medium lending provided for each gaming machine A gaming facility customer management system comprising an apparatus and information management means capable of communicating with the customer identification information reading means,
Each customer identification information reading means
Every second predetermined time, the customer identification information is wirelessly received from the customer identification information reading means from the customer identification medium existing in the predetermined area, and the received customer identification information, the gaming machine and / or the game medium rental Send customer location information including device identification information that can identify the device to the information management means,
Information management means
Corresponding to the device identification information, the device operation history information indicating “operation state information” of “each game machine and / or each game medium lending device” is stored,
In the device operation history information corresponding to the device identification information that matches the device identification information included in the received customer location information, the “operating state” of the “gaming machine and / or game medium lending device” corresponding to the device identification information Is estimated based on the customer identification information included in the received customer location information and the arrangement information of the gaming machine and game medium lending device corresponding to the device identification information included in the customer location information. Store corresponding customer identification information,
A customer management system for an amusement hall characterized by that. The game hall customer management system according to claim 6,
Each customer identification information reading means, when it is estimated that there are a plurality of customers for one gaming machine or one game medium lending device, after the first predetermined time from each customer identification information reading means, Device identification that allows customer identification information to be received wirelessly from a customer identification medium existing within a predetermined area from the customer identification information reading means, and the received customer identification information and a gaming machine and / or gaming medium lending device to be specified Send customer reconfirmation information including information to the information management means,
In the customer identification information stored in the device operation history information, the information management means is included in the customer identification information estimated based on the customer location information received every second predetermined time and the received customer reconfirmation information Customer identification information included in both the customer identification information and the customer identification information that is to be stored in correspondence with the “information about the operating state” in the device operation history information. To determine,
A customer management system for an amusement hall characterized by that.

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