JP2005211449A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the state that an image is disturbed or frozen as far as possible by constructing a mechanism in which a performance managing device monitors an image reproducing device at all times and reactivating the image reproducing device at the time of detecting abnormality. <P>SOLUTION: An abnormality detection means (game managing CPU 21) in the performance managing device monitors display control signals generated and transmitted for each frame display from the image reproducing device (image reproducing CPU 31) and detects the abnormality of the image reproducing device when the display control signal is not detected within prescribed time. Also, a reset control means (game managing CPU 21) in the performance managing device outputs reset signals to the image reproducing device and restores game performance display by a display monitor after the abnormality is detected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an amusement machine suitable for use in, for example, a slot machine, which detects an abnormality of an image playback device used for production.

  As a gaming machine, for example, a slot machine disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. As shown in FIG. 1 of the document 1, the slot machine incorporates a reel mechanism having three rows of reels 19a, 19b, 19c on the front surface of the main body, and the side of these reels 19a, 19b, 19c. A display panel (EL lamp) 3 as a display device for performing so-called effect display is provided on the (right wall surface).

In such a configuration, when the rotation start knob is pressed by the player, the game starts, the reels 19a, 19b, 19c are rotated at a predetermined speed, and then the reels 19a, 19b, 19c are turned on when the stop button is pressed. Stop sequentially. When a specific pattern (for example, numeral 7) drawn on the three stopped reels 19a, 19b, and 19c is aligned on the winning line, it becomes a “hit”, and the display panel 3 displays FIG. By giving the display shown in the above, it is notified that a big hit has been made, and the player is given a pleasant feeling.
Similarly, in the case of a pachinko machine, a game ball is launched by rotating the handle, and when a winning opening is entered, a predetermined number of game balls are paid out and a jackpot determination is performed. If the result of the decision is a big hit, the symbols of the specific combination will stop, and you will be informed that the big hit has come out by displaying on the liquid crystal screen provided in the center of the game board and the lamps provided in the vicinity Like the slot machine, it gives the player a pleasant feeling.

JP 2001-170250 A

By the way, in the slot machine described above, control is complicated such as rotation control of the reels 19a, 19b, and 19c, instruction acquisition by pressing a rotation start knob, a stop button, lottery lottery, production by light and sound, and image reproduction display. For this reason, a CPU is assigned to each of the main control device that determines the winning mode of the game by lottery, the effect management device that controls the game effect according to the lottery result, and the image playback device that displays the game effect on the display monitor, Load balancing is performed. This often has a negative effect on the display due to program runaway, communication errors, and the like.
Since the production management device cannot grasp whether or not the image reproduction device is operating normally, as described above, even if the image reproduction device does not operate normally due to a failure or a bug, or runs out of control. Although it is recognized that the image is displayed, the display command is continuously sent, but it is not actually displayed, and the screen is disturbed. In particular, when the screen is frozen, the game cannot be progressed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, constructing a mechanism in which the production management device constantly monitors the image reproduction device, and restarting the image reproduction device when an abnormality is detected, the screen is disturbed, Alternatively, it is an object to provide a gaming machine that can prevent a frozen state as much as possible.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a main control device that determines a winning mode of a game by lottery, an effect management device that controls a game effect according to the lottery result, and displays the game effect on a display monitor. A display control signal generated and transmitted for each frame display from the image playback device, and when the display control signal is not detected within a predetermined time. An abnormality detection means in the effect management device for detecting an abnormality of the image reproduction device is provided.

  In the present invention, the abnormality detecting means generates a signal for polling at regular time intervals and takes in a response by the display control signal from the image reproduction device to detect the abnormality.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a reset control means in the effect management device for outputting a reset signal to the image reproducing device and returning the game effect display by the display monitor after the abnormality is detected. To do.

  In the present invention, each of the display control signal, the polling signal, and the reset signal is transmitted using a 1-bit data line that connects the presentation management device and the image playback device. To do.

  In the present invention, the effect management device including the abnormality detection unit and the reset control unit is mounted on a sub control board different from the board on which the main control device is mounted.

According to the present invention, the abnormality detection means in the effect management device monitors the display control signal generated and transmitted for each frame display from the image reproduction device, and when the display control signal is not detected within a predetermined time. By detecting an abnormality in the image reproduction device, a mechanism for constantly monitoring the operation state of the image reproduction device can be constructed, and the production management device can grasp the operation state of the image reproduction device and take measures. .
In addition, by generating a signal for polling at regular time intervals and taking in a response by a display control signal from the image reproduction device to detect an abnormality, for example, the operation state of the image reproduction device is grasped at intervals of 2 milliseconds. Is possible.

Further, according to the present invention, the reset control means in the effect management device outputs a reset signal to the image reproducing device after detecting an abnormality and restores the game effect display on the display monitor, thereby disturbing or freezing the screen. A state can be prevented as much as possible.
In addition, the display control signal, the polling signal, and the reset signal are transmitted using a 1-bit data line that connects the effect management device and the image reproduction device, so that anomaly detection and re-transmission can be performed with less resources. Startup is possible. Further, the effect management device including the abnormality detection unit and the reset control unit is mounted on a sub-control board different from the board on which the main control device is mounted, so that the image reproducing device is independent of the main control device. Abnormality detection and restart are realized, and this makes it possible to reduce the load on the main control device and to achieve compact mounting.

In the following, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a spinning machine (hereinafter referred to as “slot machine”) installed in an amusement hall or the like will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing the external structure of the slot machine 100, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the slot machine 100, and FIG. 3 is a control system provided in the slot machine 100. It is the block diagram which showed the internal structure.

In FIG. 1, the slot machine 100 includes a front door 101 facing a player, and a box-shaped housing 102 to which the front door 101 is attached so as to be openable and closable.
The front door 101 basically has a mechanically strong structure in which a front panel molded of hard plastic or the like is attached to a metal frame (not shown), and the upper panel portion 103 is formed by the front panel. A middle panel portion 104 and a lower panel portion 105 are configured.

  On the upper panel 103, there is provided a central display board 103d on which an effect lamp 103a, sound emitting parts 103b and 103c to which speakers are attached, LEDs for displaying the number of credits, and lamps for displaying a jackpot are mounted. It is attached.

Further, the middle panel unit 104 is provided with a spinning reel device 200 including a plurality (three in this embodiment) of spinning reels R1, R2, and R3 at a substantially central position. In addition, a front surface of the reel reel device 200 is mounted with a substantially rectangular reel display window (here, transparent liquid crystal). The liquid crystal display panel 106 protects the spinning reel device 200 from the outside by a reel display window, and allows the player to view the spinning reels R1, R2, and R3 through the reel display window.
The liquid crystal display panel (transparent liquid crystal) 106 is formed by sealing liquid crystal between a transparent substrate such as a glass plate on which a thin film transistor layer is formed and a transparent substrate facing the transparent substrate. The liquid crystal display panel 106 has a structure in which light is transmitted to the display surface side and the transmitted light is visually recognized from the outside. By adopting this structure, the spinning reels R1, R2, and R3 can be visually recognized through the reel display window even when the liquid crystal is not driven.

At the lower end of the middle panel portion 104, an operation portion 104a for operation by a player is provided, and a medal insertion portion MD for inserting game medals is provided. In addition, bet buttons BET (B1, B2, B3) for presenting the number of medals per game are provided on the operation surface of the operation unit 104a, and further, on the front thereof, an instruction to start one game is given. Buttons provided on the operation unit 104 are provided with a start lever ST and three stop buttons SP1, SP2 and SP3 for individually stopping the rotating reels R1, R2 and R3. Is indicated by reference numeral 300 in FIG.
Further, the lower panel unit 105 is drawn with an image or the like (not shown) related to the game contents of the slot machine 100, a discharge port 105a and a tray 105b for paying out a medal acquired by the player, A sound emitting unit 105c provided with a speaker is provided.

Next, the back surface structure of the front door 101 and the internal structure of the housing 102 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows a state where the front door 101 is unlocked and opened from the housing 102.
In the figure, speakers SR and SL constituting sound emitting portions 103b and 103c are provided on the upper surface of the rear surface of the front door 101.
Further, at the lower part of the spinning reel device 200, a distribution mechanism G0 for distributing the input inserted from the medal insertion unit MD according to whether it is a regular game medal or a foreign object, and a game medal distributed by the distribution mechanism G0 are arranged. A guide member G1 that guides the hopper device HP provided on the housing 102 side, a guide member G2 that guides and discharges the foreign matter distributed by the distribution mechanism G0 to the discharge port 105a, and is output from the hopper device HP. A guide member G3 for guiding and outputting the payout medal to the discharge port 105a is provided, and a speaker SW is attached in the vicinity of the discharge port 105a so as to correspond to the sound emitting unit 105c.

  Inside the housing 102, a main power unit PWU, an auxiliary storage part SHP for storing game medals overflowing from the hopper apparatus HP, and a spinning reel R1, R2 facing the transmission window WD on the front door 101 side. , R3, and a main control unit 400 including an electric circuit board and the like for centrally controlling the entire operation of the slot machine 100.

Here, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 3, the main control unit 400 is formed by a semiconductor memory or the like in which a system program for managing the entire operation of the slot machine 100 and an execution program for the slot machine game are stored in advance. A main control board 400a having a storage unit and a microprocessor (not shown) that executes these programs.
Further, each of the electric circuit boards on which the main control board 400a is mounted is formed of an electric circuit board, and a sub-control board 400b that performs distributed control according to a command from the main control board 400a, and an image reproduction board 400k, A central control board 400i and an external concentrated terminal board 600 are provided. Further, the reel reel control unit 400c, the input port 400d, and the input / output ports 400g and 400h are also provided.

In the above-described configuration, the game is started when the player operates the bet buttons BET (B1, B2, B3) and the start lever ST (300) arranged on the operation unit 104a, and the stop button SP1, By sequentially operating SP2 and SP3 (300), the big hit lottery is started. These operation contents are taken in via the input port 400d, and a big win lottery process including a lottery is executed by the main control board 400a, and the result is supplied to the central display board 103d and displayed.
The central display board 103d performs driving or lighting control of a connected 7-segment LED 500 or a display device such as a lamp under the control of the main control board 400a.

  Further, the distribution mechanism GO and the hopper device HP are connected to and controlled by the main control board 400a via the input / output ports 400g and 400h. Further, the sub control board 400b includes an acoustic control unit 400i, an illumination control unit 400j, and a display device control unit 400k. The acoustic control unit 400i has speakers SL, SR, SW, and the illumination control unit 400j has an effect lamp. 103a, 104a, 104b, and the image reproducing device 400k is connected to a liquid crystal display panel 106 for effects.

Then, according to the contents of the effect control commanded from the main control board 400a according to the progress of the game, etc., the sound control unit 400i controls the sound effect by the speakers SL, SR, SW, and the illumination control unit 400j has the effect lamp 103a, The control of the lighting effect by 104a and 104b and the image reproduction substrate 400k control the effect display by the liquid crystal display panel 106. The control of effect display will be described later.
The spinning reel control unit 400c controls an electric motor (not shown) provided in the spinning reel device 200, and controls rotation, braking, and stopping of the spinning reels R1, R2, and R3.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram cited for explaining the connection configuration of the main control board, the sub control board, and the image reproduction board shown in FIG.
The main control board 400a includes a main CPU 11 that performs a lottery drawing, and a main control unit that controls peripheral devices including various types of buttons 300 including the spinning reel device 200, 7-segment LED 500, BT, ST, and STP shown in FIG. 10 functions.

The sub-control board 400b includes a control E ² PROM 22, a backup RAM 23, a control & character ROM 34, a sound ROM 35, and a sound player 36 as peripheral LSIs with the production management CPU 21 as a core.
The effect management CPU 21 performs processing by distributing the load from the main CPU 11 for effect management. According to the program recorded in the control E ² PROM 22, game effect information is sent to the image reproduction CPU 31 described later using the backup RAM 23 as a work memory. And direct control of lighting and extinguishing of the effect lamps 103a, 104a, 104b.
Of the configurations described above, only the effect management CPU 21, the control E ² PROM 22, and the backup RAM 23 function as the effect management unit 20. The sound player 36 synthesizes speech based on the speech segments recorded in the sound ROM 35 and outputs the synthesized speech through the speakers SL, SR, and SW. The sound player 36 is controlled by an image reproduction CPU 31 described later under the management of the effect management CPU 21.

On the other hand, the image reproduction board 400k is composed of a video display processor (VDP) 32 and a video random access memory (VRAM) 33 with the image reproduction CPU 31 as a core.
The image reproduction CPU 31 generates image information based on the effect information supplied by the effect management CPU 21 and writes it in the VRAM 33. The VDP 32 combines and writes the character obtained from the control & character ROM 34 in the VRAM 33, reads out the data written in the VRAM 33 according to the display timing, and supplies the data to the liquid crystal display panel 106 for display. The control & character ROM 34, the sound ROM 35, the sound player 36, and the image reproduction board 400k of the sub control board 400b function as an image and sound control unit 30.

  The main CPU 11 and the effect management CPU 21 are connected via a unidirectional 8-bit sub-control data line and a 1-bit sub-control data strobe signal line. The effect management CPU 21 and the image reproduction CPU 31 are 36 bits. Transmission / reception data lines (TxD, RxD), a 1-bit WDT (Watch Dog Timer) out signal line, and a reset out signal line.

FIG. 5 is an internal configuration block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention that is implemented in each of the image reproduction device and FIG. 6 is an effect management device. Here, only the blocks related to the present invention are extracted and shown. The image playback device is mounted on the image playback board 400k shown in FIG. 4, and the effect management device is mounted on the sub-control board 400b. The image playback CPU 31 and the effect management CPU 21 are the control centers, respectively.
According to the present invention, an abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality of the image reproduction device is mounted in the effect management device, and the abnormality detection means always transmits a display control signal generated and transmitted from the image reproduction device for each frame display. Monitoring is performed, and an abnormality of the image reproducing apparatus is detected when the indicated control signal is not detected within a predetermined time. At this time, the abnormality detection means generates a signal for polling at regular time intervals, and captures a response based on the display control signal from the image reproduction device to detect an abnormality. Then, after the abnormality is detected, a reset signal is output to the image reproduction device to return the game effect display on the display monitor. Details will be described below.

In FIG. 5, the image reproduction apparatus includes a display switching signal generation unit 51, a port rewriting signal generation unit 52, a polling reception unit 53, and a status response transmission unit 54.
The display switching signal generator 51 generates a display control signal at one screen (frame) display, for example, at an interval of 16 ms, and supplies it to the port rewrite signal generator 52. Each time the port rewrite signal generation unit 52 receives a display control signal from the display switching signal generation unit 51, the port rewrite signal generation unit 52 rewrites “High” and “Low” of the connected 1-bit port (WDT out). On the other hand, the polling receiving unit 53 receives a polling signal periodically issued from the effect management device and activates the status response receiving unit 54. The status response receiving unit 54 is set to “High” for a 1-bit port. , “Low” data is transmitted to the requested production management apparatus as a status response to polling.

The effect management device that functions as the above-described abnormality detection means includes a polling issue control unit 61, a status response reception unit 62, a timer & timer monitoring unit 63, and a command generation and issue unit 64.
The polling issuance control unit 61 generates a polling signal at a predetermined time interval counted by the timer & timer monitoring unit 63 and supplies the polling signal to the image reproduction device. Get the data. On the other hand, the command generation / issuance unit 64 is activated when it is detected that the time interval counted by the timer & timer monitoring unit 63, for example, data of a 1-bit port is not switched for more than 3S. A reset signal is supplied to the image reproducing apparatus via the reset outline shown in FIG.

  Each of the display control signal, polling signal, and reset signal described above is transmitted using a 1-bit data line (WDT out, TxD, RxD, reset out) that connects the effect management device and the image playback device. Is done.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, CPU ^#C indicates an image reproduction CPU 31, and CPU ^#B indicates an effect management CPU 21.
In FIG. 7, the image reproduction CPU 31 regenerates the port (WDT out) by generating a display control signal at normal time, here, at 16 ms intervals (S71, S72). Specifically, the port rewrite signal generation unit 52 that has received the display control signal generated by the display rewrite signal generation unit 51 switches between “High” and “Low” of the port.

On the other hand, the effect management CPU 21 periodically issues polling (S73), detects the status response from the image reproduction CPU 31 and acquires port data (S74). That is, based on the signal generated by the timer & timer monitoring unit 63, the polling issue control unit 61 is activated, the polling signal is periodically transmitted to the image reproduction CPU 31, and the port data is acquired via the status response receiving unit 62. Yes.
Here, the timer & timer monitoring unit 63 performs time monitoring (S75). For example, if a status response is not obtained even after 3S, the command generation / issuing unit 64 is activated and a reset command is sent to the image reproduction CPU 31. Issue (S76). As a result, the image reproduction CPU 31 is returned, and as a result, the display is resumed (S77).

FIG. 8 shows a timing chart of the embodiment of the present invention. In order from the top, (a) reset signal of the image reproduction CPU 31, (b) port 7 input / output signal, (c) port 7 data, (d) reset activation monitoring signal (timer), (e) WDT monitoring signal, (f ) Each of the serial communication data is shown.
Here, the image reproduction CPU 31 inverts “High” and “Low” of the port 7 for every display switching (one frame). Then, after the image reproduction CPU 31 is reset, the game management CPU 21 determines that the display preparation of the image processing CPU 31 is completed when the data switching of the port 7 is detected four times. However, if it is not possible to determine that display preparation is complete even after 30 seconds, it is determined that there is an abnormality. Then, after it is determined that the display preparation of the image reproduction CPU 31 is completed, the port 7 is constantly monitored, and when the switching of the 3S abnormality signal cannot be detected, it is determined that the display is abnormal.
When an abnormality is detected, the image reproduction CPU 31 is reset, and an appropriate command is transmitted to the image reproduction CPU 31 in accordance with the subsequent gaming state to return the display.

As described above, according to the present invention, the abnormality detection means in the effect management device monitors the display control signal generated and transmitted for each frame display from the image reproduction device, and the display control signal is not detected within a predetermined time. This is to detect an abnormality in the image playback device, specifically, to generate a signal for polling at regular time intervals, and to detect the abnormality by taking a response from the display control signal from the image playback device. Thus, a mechanism for constantly monitoring the operation state of the image reproduction device can be constructed, and the effect management device can grasp the operation state of the image reproduction device and take measures.
In addition, after the abnormality is detected, the reset control means in the effect management device outputs a reset signal to the image reproduction device to return the game effect display on the display monitor, thereby preventing the screen from being disturbed or frozen as much as possible. The display control signal, polling signal, and reset signal can be transmitted using a 1-bit data line that connects the production management device and the image playback device, so that anomalies can be detected with fewer resources. And allows restarting.

In addition, according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention, only the slot machine is illustrated and described as a gaming machine, but it can also be applied to a pachinko machine or the like, and in this case, the same effect as the slot machine can be obtained. It is done.
Further, the display switching signal generating unit 51, the port rewriting signal generating unit 52, the polling receiving unit 53, the status response transmitting unit 54, and the effect management device shown in FIG. 6 that constitute the image reproducing device shown in FIG. The procedure executed by each of the polling issue control unit 61, status response receiving unit 62, timer & timer monitoring unit 63, and command generation and issue unit 64 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium The game machine of the present invention can also be realized by reading the computer system and executing it. The computer system here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

It is the front view which showed the external appearance structure of the slot machine. It is sectional drawing which showed the internal structure of the slot machine. It is a block diagram of the configuration of a control system built in the slot machine. It is a block diagram which shows the board | substrate mounting structure of the control system shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of this invention embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows operation | movement of this invention embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

21 Production management CPU
32 Image playback CPU
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 51 Display switching signal generating unit 52 Port rewriting signal generating unit 53 Polling receiving unit 54 Status response transmitting unit 61 Polling issue control unit 62 Status response receiving unit 63 Timer & timer monitoring unit 64 Command generation issuing unit 400a Main control board (main control device) )
400b Sub control board (Production management device)
400k image reproduction board (image reproduction device)

Claims (5)

A game machine comprising a main control device that determines a winning mode of a game by lottery, an effect management device that controls a game effect according to the lottery result, and an image playback device that displays the game effect on a display monitor. And
In the effect management device, the display control signal generated and transmitted for each frame display from the image playback device is monitored, and an abnormality of the image playback device is detected when the display control signal is not detected within a predetermined time. Abnormality detection means,
A gaming machine characterized by comprising: The abnormality detection means includes
2. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein a signal for polling is generated at regular time intervals, and a response by the display control signal is taken from the image reproduction device to detect the abnormality. After the abnormality is detected, a reset control means in the effect management device that outputs a reset signal to the image reproduction device to return the game effect display by the display monitor;
The gaming machine according to claim 1, further comprising:   3. The display control signal, the polling signal, and the reset signal are each transmitted using a 1-bit data line that connects the effect management device and the image playback device. The gaming machine described in 1.   The presentation management device including the abnormality detection unit and the reset control unit is mounted on a sub-control board different from the board on which the main control device is mounted. The gaming machine according to the item.

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