JP2005312806A - Token sorting device of slot machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a new illegal action using an implement having a plurality of LEDs secured on the distal end portion of a transparent celluloid plate in a token sorting device arranged in a slot machine. <P>SOLUTION: In the token sorting device having two sensors for detecting the passing of tokens or others disposed along the moving direction of the tokens in the token path following to a token introducing port and selecting the tokens so as to accept only legitimate tokens among the matters introduced from the introducing port based on the information from the tow sensor, one of the two sensors is a light transmitting type sensor whose light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are individually arranged at both sides of the token path sandwiching the same and which detects the matter when the light receiving portion does not receive light with the matter blocking the light from the light emitting portion, and the other one is a light reflecting type sensor whose light emitting portion and the light receiving portion are arranged in one side of the token path and which detects the matter when the light receiving portion receives light with the matter reflecting the light from the light emitting portion. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a medal sorting device that is provided in a gaming machine such as a slot machine or a vending machine and sorts so that only regular medals are accepted among objects thrown into a medal slot.

A slot machine that plays a game using medals is provided with a medal sorting device for accepting only regular medals inserted by an appropriate method. In a typical medal sorting device, two optical sensors for detecting the passage of medals are provided in the medal passage following the medal insertion slot along the movement direction of the medals. When detection is made in order at appropriate time intervals, medals are accepted and medal credits are added. As an optical sensor, a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit are individually arranged on both sides of the medal passage, and the object is detected when an object such as a medal blocks the light from the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit does not receive light. A light-passing sensor, and a light-reflecting sensor in which both the light-emitting part and the light-receiving part are arranged on one side of the medal path, and the object is reflected when the object reflects light from the light-emitting part and the light-receiving part receives the light. One sensor has been used in the conventional medal sorting device.
JP 2001-17611 A

  In slot machines equipped with the above-mentioned medal sorting device, it has hitherto been known that a fraudulent act of playing a game without using a medal by inserting a celluloid plate or the like through the slot and causing the optical sensor to malfunction. ing. Although countermeasures against this conventional fraud have been advanced, recently, new fraud using a device (see FIG. 4) in which a plurality of LEDs are attached to the tip of a transparent celluloid plate has become a problem. Yes.

  The specific method of new fraud is shown below. That is, the instrument 23 is inserted into the insertion port from the distal end side so that the LEDs 21 and 22 are positioned so as to correspond to the optical sensors 10 and 11, and in this state, the operation unit at hand is operated to set the LEDs 21 and 22 at a predetermined timing. By causing the light sensor to blink, the optical sensors 10 and 11 are caused to malfunction. For example, for a medal sorting device using a light transmission type sensor, an instrument is inserted from the insertion slot with the LEDs 21 and 22 turned on, and the LEDs 21 and 22 are turned off at the positions of the optical sensors 10 and 11. Creates a state where light from the light emitting part is blocked. In addition, for a medal sorting device using a light reflection type sensor, an instrument is inserted from the insertion slot with the LEDs 21 and 22 turned off, and the LEDs 21 and 22 are turned on at the positions of the optical sensors 10 and 22. Then, the medal reflects the light from the light emitting unit to create a state where the light receiving unit receives the light.

  Thus, by causing the optical sensor to malfunction by blinking the LED, it is possible to create the same state as a large number of medals inserted in a short time. Since the support body 20 of the LEDs 21 and 22 is a transparent celluloid plate, even if this instrument 23 is inserted from the insertion port for a long time, an abnormality cannot be detected by the optical sensor, and this kind of fraud is prevented. I could not. In recent years, there have been some attempts to realistically reproduce the passage of medals using liquid crystal as a light emitting means, and more sophisticated cheating has been carried out.

  The present invention has been made for the purpose of preventing a new fraud that is difficult to detect abnormalities with the conventional medal sorting device as described above. The issue is to provide at low cost.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in the medal sorting device of the slot machine according to the present invention, two sensors for detecting the passage of an object such as a medal are provided in the medal passage following the medal slot, and these two In the medal sorting device that sorts out only the regular medals among the objects thrown in from the slot based on the information from the sensors, one of the two sensors has a light emitting part and a light receiving part. A light-passing sensor that is individually disposed on both sides across the passage and detects the object when the light from the light-emitting unit is blocked by the object and is not received by the light-receiving unit, and the other is both a light-emitting unit and a light-receiving unit Is arranged on one side of the medal path, and is characterized in that it is a light reflection type sensor that detects the object when the object reflects the light from the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit receives the light.

  When the light transmission type sensor is located near the insertion port and the light reflection type sensor is located far away, when the instrument is inserted with the LED lit, the one farther away than the light transmission type sensor closer to the insertion port Since the light reflection type sensor detects an object, an abnormality is detected. When an instrument with the LED being turned off is inserted with the same sensor arrangement, the light transmission type sensor detects the object first, but the state continues for a certain period of time or more, so an abnormality is detected. If the LED corresponding to both sensors can be blinked at an appropriate timing while moving the appliance at an appropriate speed, it is theoretically possible to succeed in cheating, but humans will perform such precise operations. Since it is impossible, it can be said that in practice it is possible to almost completely prevent fraud. When the light reflection type sensor is used near the insertion port and the light transmission sensor is used as the distance, the same effect as described above can be obtained because both sensors exhibit the opposite behavior.

  In the medal sorting device for a slot machine according to the present invention, one of the two optical sensors provided in the medal passage is a light transmission type sensor and the other is a light reflection type sensor. It has become possible to almost completely prevent cheating using a device with an LED attached. In addition, this medal sorting device can be handled by simply replacing one light transmission type sensor of the existing medal sorting device with a light reflection type sensor or replacing one light reflection type sensor with a light transmission type sensor. It can be provided at low cost without increasing the number of parts or changing the configuration significantly.

  The present invention is applied to a medal sorting device of a slot machine to prevent an illegal act using an instrument having a plurality of LEDs attached to the tip of a transparent celluloid plate.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of a medal sorting device to which the present invention is applied, with a part thereof omitted, FIG. In the medal sorting device 1, a medal passage 5 is formed between the main plate 2 and a sub plate 3 provided at an appropriate interval on the front side thereof, following the medal slot 4. The medal guide rail at the bottom of the medal passage 5 includes a first rail 6 in the front half and a second rail 7 in the rear half, and the first rail 6 is provided integrally with the main plate 2, and the second rail. 7 is provided to be movable in the front-rear direction by an operating coil (not shown).

  In normal times, the second rail 7 is on the extension of the first rail 6, and the medal M is guided by the rails 6, 7 and moves in the medal passage 5. Further, during the game, during the game settlement, at the time of stopping, etc., the second rail 7 moves backward by energizing and outputting the operating coil, and the medal M inserted from the medal insertion slot 4 comes off from the second rail 7. Fall and return to the medal tray.

  Above the first rail 6, a guide spacer 8 that restricts passage of medals larger than the regular medals M is provided. When the medal M is jammed between the first rail 6 and the guide spacer 8, the medal M jammed in the cancel plate 9 is pushed out by operating the manual return button, and the medal is detached from the first rail 6. It comes to fall. In addition, a medal smaller than a regular medal falls backward due to its own weight and falls off the first rail 6. The medals that fall off the first rail 6 are returned to the medal tray.

  Above the second rail 7, two optical sensors 10 and 11 for detecting the passage of the medal M are provided side by side along the moving direction of the medal. The upstream side optical sensor 10 near the insertion port 4 is a light transmission type sensor, and the light emitting unit 10a and the light receiving unit 10b are individually arranged on both sides of the medal passage 5, and the light from the light emitting unit 10a is transmitted. When an object such as a medal M is blocked and the light receiving unit 10b does not receive light, the object is detected. The light sensor 11 on the downstream side is a light reflection type sensor, and both the light emitting part 11a and the light receiving part 11b are arranged on one side of the medal path 5, and an object reflects the light from the light emitting part 11a so that the light receiving part 11b The object is detected when receiving light.

  The detection signals of these optical sensors 10 and 11 are transmitted to the control unit 12 of the slot machine body. The control unit 12 determines whether or not the medal M is moving normally through the medal path 5 from the order in which the sensors 10 and 11 detect the object and the time difference between the detections. If it is determined to be normal, the medal is accepted and medal credit is added. If it is determined to be abnormal, it is output to the error notification unit 13 to notify that it is abnormal.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a case where an illegal act is performed using an instrument 23 in which two LEDs 21 and 22 are attached to the distal end portion of the transparent celluloid plate 20 will be described. If the instrument 23 is inserted with the LEDs 21 and 22 lit, the light reflection sensor 11 farther than the light transmission sensor 10 closer to the insertion port detects the object, so it is determined to be abnormal. The Further, when the instrument 23 with the LEDs 21 and 22 turned off is inserted, the light transmission sensor 11 detects the object first, but since the state continues for a certain time or more, it is determined to be abnormal. If the LEDs 21 and 22 corresponding to both the sensors 10 and 11 can be blinked at an appropriate timing while moving the instrument 23 at an appropriate speed, it is theoretically possible to succeed in an illegal act. Since it is impossible for humans to perform such operations, it can be said that in practice it is possible to almost completely prevent fraud.

  The upstream optical sensor 10 near the insertion port 4 in FIG. 1 is a light reflection sensor, and the downstream optical sensor 11 is a light transmission sensor. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the drawings and description of each part are omitted.

  In the case where an illegal act is performed with respect to this medal sorting device using the instrument 23, it is as follows, contrary to the first embodiment. When the instrument 23 is inserted with the LEDs 21 and 22 lit, the light reflection sensor 11 closer to the insertion port detects the object first, but the state is continued for a certain time or more, so it is determined to be abnormal Is done. Further, when the instrument 23 with the LEDs 21 and 22 turned off is inserted, the light transmission sensor 11 farther than the light reflection sensor 10 closer to the insertion port detects the object, so that it is determined to be abnormal. Is done. Similar to the first embodiment, it can be said that in practice, fraud can be almost completely prevented.

  The slot machine medal sorting device according to the present invention can be used not only for the above-described LED that causes the optical sensor to malfunction, but also for liquid crystal displays. In addition to the slot machine, medals, coins, and the like are used. It can also be applied to other gaming machines and vending machines.

It is the front view which abbreviate | omitted and displayed some medal sorting apparatuses. It is AA sectional drawing in FIG. It is BB sectional drawing in FIG. It is a figure which shows the cheating using the instrument.

Explanation of symbols

M medal 1 medal sorting device 4 medal insertion slot 5 medal passage 10, 11 light sensor 10a, 11a light emitting part 10b, 11b light receiving part

Claims (1)

Two sensors for detecting the passage of an object such as a medal are provided in the medal passage following the medal slot, and are inserted from the slot based on information from these two sensors. In the medal sorting device for sorting so as to accept only regular medals among objects, one of the two sensors has a light emitting part and a light receiving part arranged separately on both sides of the medal path, and the light emitting part A light-passing sensor that detects the object when the light is not received by the light receiving unit, and the other is that both the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are arranged on one side of the medal path, and the light from the light emitting unit A medal sorting device for a slot machine, characterized in that a light-reflective sensor that detects an object when the object is reflected and the light receiving unit receives light.

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