JP2006139787A - Member lot management system for game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a member lot management system that enables various kinds of low cost, quick and reliable member lot management work for game machines. <P>SOLUTION: Each member manufactured in member makers 300 is provided with a management label carrying two-dimensionally coded member lot information issued from a label issuing machine. In a game machine maker 400, in the acceptance and assembly processes of each member, the lot information on the member is electronically read with a scanner 400a and the information is stored and managed in a server 400s. In the assembly process, the lot information on each member is linked in storage and management, and at shipment, guarantee number information is also linked in storage and management. When the member lot information is read from the management label on a defective member with a scanner 500a in a game parlor 500 and entered into the server 400s, the total number and delivery places of game machines related to the defective member are retrieved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a member lot management system for gaming machines represented by pachinko machines, for example.

  In general, a gaming machine includes a plurality of gaming machine components (hereinafter referred to as “members”), and each of these members is manufactured by a member manufacturer. For example, in the case of a pachinko machine, a plurality of members such as a corner decoration, an inner frame, and a main board are manufactured by corresponding member manufacturers. And each said member is delivered to the pachinko machine maker from the member maker, and the finished product form (for example, two product forms of the game board main body and the game machine main body, or one product called the pachinko machine in which both are combined) After being assembled into a mode), the product is shipped to a user such as a game arcade in a shipping mode through a predetermined processing procedure (such as attaching a guarantee number seal).

  By the way, in a pachinko machine in which a plurality of members are assembled, some of the members may be defective during the pre-shipment inspection at the pachinko machine maker or at the stage of installation at each shipped game hall. In some cases, it may be necessary to replace the parts for all pachinko machines of the same model. For this reason, pachinko machine manufacturers have conventionally urged each component manufacturer to attach a management sticker with a lot number for each manufacturing date (and each manufacturing plant) on a member related to the manufacture of the manufacturer. It is designed to facilitate the exchange work. In addition, pachinko machine manufacturers perform part lot management by visually checking the lot number on the management sticker at the time of delivery, transferring it to a special lot entry form, and then entering the transferred content into the host computer. It was.

However, the above-described conventional member lot management system has the following problems.
In other words, in the pachinko machine maker, all lots are checked at the time of delivery, so there is a possibility that they will be overlooked or mistaken. There was something to do. Furthermore, input errors may occur due to skipping or misreading during input to the host computer. Also, if there are multiple lots with different production dates in the group of parts that have been brought into the production line (assembly line), consider the correspondence with the warranty number seal attached to the subsequent pre-shipment processing line. Thus, labor for sorting each lot before assembly work was also required.

  Furthermore, from the viewpoint of recent waste problems and recycling, it is advocated that in the future we will not dispose of defective parts as much as possible as mentioned above, but will collect and repair them for reuse. Has been. Therefore, each member to be collected / repaired needs to be managed up to the recovery marking / repair marking.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such problems existing in the prior art, and its purpose is to be able to quickly and reliably perform a wide variety of member lot management work in a gaming machine at low cost. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is a member lot management system for a gaming machine in which a plurality of kinds of members are assembled into a finished product in a shipping mode. The member lot information providing means for giving the predetermined member lot information in an electronically readable form, the member lot information related to the predetermined reference member, and the member lot information of other members assembled together with the reference member Electronic information management means for managing electronically by linking with each other and electronically managing the lot information related to the reference member and the guarantee number information corresponding to each finished product, and the member It is necessary to have electronic information reading means for electronically reading lot information and information management control means for controlling information processing in the electronic information management means. To.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the member management system for a gaming machine according to the first aspect, the member lot information giving means is predetermined on a predetermined marker portion of the member or a marker member attached to the member. It is summarized that the lot information is provided in an electronically encoded form.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the member management system for a gaming machine according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, the member lot information in each member includes electronically change history information related to the handling process of the member. The gist is that it can be added.

  According to the present invention, various member lot management operations in a gaming machine can be quickly and reliably performed at low cost.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in a member lot management system in a pachinko machine (hereinafter referred to as “game machine”) will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the overall configuration of the gaming machine 10 that is shipped as a finished product and installed in a game arcade will be described with reference to FIGS. As schematically shown in FIG. 1, a vertical rectangular inner frame 12 used as a reference member in an assembly process is detachably attached to an opening front side of an outer frame 11 that forms an outline of the machine body in the gaming machine 10. ing. Also, on the front side of the middle frame 12, a front frame 14 and an upper ball tray 15 for seeing and protecting the game board 13 inside the machine are assembled and aligned so as to be openable and closable in a laterally open state. On the front side of the periphery of the front frame 14, there is provided an illumination display section 16 that is turned on (flashes) and turned off according to the gaming state of the gaming machine (design variation, reach, jackpot, etc.).

  Further, a lower ball tray 17, a ball hitting device 18 and the like are attached to the lower portion of the middle frame 12. A card unit 19 used for a ball lending system is mounted on one side edge of the outer frame 11. A special symbol display device 20 in which a symbol combination game with a predetermined symbol is performed is arranged in the front center of the game board 13. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 21 denotes a corner ornament. The corner ornament 21 is assembled integrally with the game board 13 serving as a reference member as shown in FIG. 2, thereby constituting a game board main body 22 as a finished product. ing. As shown in FIG. 2, a management label 21 a as a marker member is attached to the lower front surface of the corner decoration 21.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, on the back side of the gaming machine 10, a mechanism set board 23 provided with various ball passages and a processing unit is detachably set. In this mechanism set board 23, the back side of the game board 13 is set. The protective cover 24 is set to be openable and closable at a position corresponding to In the protective cover 24, a power supply board 25 to which a power supply AC (24V) of the game hall is supplied, and various display members disposed in the gaming machine 10, such as an electric decoration display unit and a prize ball LED, are provided. A lamp control board 26 for controlling lighting (flashing) / extinguishing is provided. Around the protective cover 24, a supply path portion 29 through which a stored ball flows down from the ball tank 27 via a rectifying rod 28 extends vertically in the right region of the protective cover 24. . A ball payout device 30 is detachably attached to the mechanism setting board 23 with screws or the like at the downstream end of the supply path portion 29.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the main board 31 for controlling the gaming state in the gaming machine 10 and the ball payout device 30 are driven below the protective cover 24, that is, outside the lower part of the mechanism set board 23. The payout control boards 32 for controlling the payout of the winning balls (rented balls) are supported in a laterally open manner so as to be opened and closed. Incidentally, a management label 32 a is attached to the lower right side of the payout control board 32. Also, below the payout control board 32, a sound control board 33 for controlling sound effects emitted from a speaker (not shown) mounted on the gaming machine 10 is disposed. Further, in FIG. 3, an external connection terminal plate 34 for relaying and outputting the payout state of the winning ball (rented ball) to the outside (game room management system side) is disposed above the right side of the protective cover 24. Yes. A gaming machine main body 35 as a finished product is configured by assembling each member such as the main board 31 to the middle frame 12.

  Here, the management labels 21a and 32a will be described. In the present embodiment, the management labels 21a and 32a are shown as representatives of only the corner decoration 21 and the payout control board 32 among all members such as the main board 31 and the voice control board 33. However, each management label is also attached to each predetermined part in other members (for example, main board 31 etc.). The management labels 21a and 32a are seal bodies with an adhesive on the back surface, and a two-dimensional code as member lot information is written on the top surface. That is, in this two-dimensional code, the member lot information relating to the name of the member that manufactured the corner decoration 21 and the payout control board 32, the name of the manufacturing factory, the date of manufacture, etc. is converted into an electronic code as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. It is written in the form. Accordingly, the two-dimensional code on the management labels 21a and 32a is electronically read by scanners 400a and 500a as electronic information reading means, which will be described later, so that the member lot information of the corner decoration 21 and the dispensing control board 32 can be immediately grasped. it can.

Next, the flow from manufacture, assembly, and shipment of the gaming machine 10 in which the members such as the corner decoration 21 and the payout control board 32 are assembled will be described with reference to FIGS.
Now, as shown in FIG. 4, the gaming machine 10 is manufactured as a member such as a corner decoration 21 in each member manufacturer 300, and when each member is delivered to the gaming machine manufacturer 400, the manufacturer 400 assembles it into a finished product. After being played, it is shipped to each game hall 500. Here, each member maker 300 is provided with a label issuing machine (member lot information giving means) 300a for issuing the management labels 21a and 32a in which the two-dimensional code is written and attaching them to each member. The gaming machine manufacturer 400 is provided with a predetermined number of scanners 400a, a label issuing machine (member lot information adding means) 400b, and a guarantee number label issuing machine (not shown), and a server (electronic) that manages and controls the information. Information management means, information management control means) 400s. Further, each amusement park 500 is provided with a scanner 500a.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, in each member manufacturer 300, the member lot information such as the manufacturing date is manufactured at the time of manufacturing the member in charge of the manufacturer 300 in the member manufacturing process 110 (here, the corner decoration 21 will be described as an example). Is issued from the label issuing machine 300a and is attached to the member (corner decoration 21). Then, each member 21 to which the management label 21a is attached is delivered to the gaming machine manufacturer 400.

  Then, the gaming machine manufacturer 400 reads the two-dimensional code on the management label 21a of each member 21 with the scanner 400a in the member receiving step 120, and stores the read information in the server 400s. Then, in the member assembling step 130, the game board main body 22 is assembled by assembling the respective members (corner decorations) 21 to the reference member (here, the game board 13). At this time, the management label (not shown) attached to the game board 13 as a reference member and the management label 21a of the corner decoration 21 are read by the scanner 400a. When the read information is input to the server 400s, the server 400s updates the number of warehousing, and the lot information of the members 13 and 21 is linked to each other and electronically managed and stored.

  Then, in the next pre-shipment processing step 140, a warranty number label is attached to each finished product on the finished product (the gaming board body 22, the gaming machine body 35, and the gaming machine 10) in the shipping mode. At the same time, the guarantee number information written on the guarantee number label for each finished product and the member lot information of the reference member in each finished product are electronically managed and stored in the server 400s in a state of being linked to each other. . Thereafter, each finished product (the gaming machine 10 or the like) is shipped to each amusement hall 500. The management label issuance to each member may be performed by the label issuing machine 400b included in the gaming machine manufacturer 400.

  On the other hand, in the gaming machine 10 that has been delivered to and installed in each game hall 500, a defect may occur in a specific member (here, the payout control board 32 will be described as an example). Therefore, at that time, it is necessary to identify the defective member and collect all the related gaming machines. Therefore, in such a case, member lot management is performed in each processing step as shown in FIG.

  That is, in the defective member identification step 210 shown in FIG. 6, the two-dimensional code on the management label 32a of the defective member (payout control board 32) is electronically read by, for example, the scanner 500a provided in the game hall 500. It is done. Then, the read information is input to the server 400s of the gaming machine manufacturer 400. Then, in the next related product confirmation process 220, the server 400 s determines the total number of gaming machines 10 to which the payout control board 32 to which the same member lot information as the member lot information of the defective member 32 is attached is assembled as members. Is searched based on the link information.

  In the next defective member collecting step 230, the gaming machine manufacturer 400 determines a processing measure for the payout control board 32, which is a defective member, and sets each of the recovered defective members (the payout control board 32) to the content according to the measure. Make repairs. Then, in the next management information maintenance step 240, the change history information indicating that the member is a repaired member is electronically managed as additional information in the member lot information of the member 32 by the server 400s, and is used for subsequent reuse. Convenience to etc.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since there is no conventional handwriting entry work on the lot entry form or manual entry of the contents of the handwriting entry to the computer, there is no information input mistake and the like (21, 32) in the gaming machine 10 Etc.) can be performed quickly and reliably at low cost.

  (2) Since the repair history information after collection and the like can be electronically managed by linking to the member lot information of the repair member in the server 400s, real-time processing can be performed and various management patterns can be handled. Become. Furthermore, even when the number of members to be managed increases, it can be easily dealt with by adding scanners 400a and 500a.

  (3) Moreover, when a defective member occurs, the total number of finished products (such as the gaming machine 10) in which the defective member is assembled and the delivery destination can be immediately grasped based on the member lot information of the member. It is possible to accurately grasp the occurrence prediction and the expected number of collection of defect claims thereafter. In addition, since the member lot information of each member is also linked to the warranty number information, the gaming machine 10 to which the defective member is assembled is the game from which unit to which unit on which island in the delivered game room 500. It is possible to search up to detailed information as to whether the machine 10 is in use.

  (4) Further, each time the gaming machine manufacturer 400 assembles one member to the reference member in the member assembling step 130, the member lot information of the one member is electronically read and the read information is input to the server 400s. Therefore, the number of warehousing (the number of stock) of the member of the same member and the same member lot can be quickly and reliably updated.

In addition, you may implement the said embodiment by changing into the following another example.
In the above embodiment, the member lot information written on the management label is converted into a two-dimensional code. However, a normal bar code may be used, and if it is read using an OCR large character reader, etc. Member lot information may be written.

In the above embodiment, the material lot management system of the pachinko machine is embodied, but the material lot management system of another gaming machine such as a slot machine may be embodied.
In the embodiment, the management label in which the two-dimensional code serving as the member lot information is written is attached to each member in the member manufacturer 300. However, the management label may be attached in the gaming machine manufacturer 400. .

  In the embodiment, the middle frame 12 is a reference member for assembling the gaming machine main body 35, and the game board 13 is a reference member for assembling the game board main body 22. However, the reference member is an arbitrary member. Any can be used. In addition, the two-dimensional code may be printed directly on a predetermined labeling portion of each member instead of a management label as a labeling member.

The front view which shows the machine surface side of a pachinko machine. The front view of a game board body. The front view which shows the game machine main body from the machine back side. The figure which showed typically the distribution channel of a game machine and its component. The figure which shows the flow of manufacture and sale of a game machine. The figure which shows the flow of the coping with a defective member.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Game machine (finished product), 12 ... Middle frame (reference member), 13 ... Game board (reference member), 21 ... Corner decoration (member), 21a ... Management label (sign member), 22 ... Game board main body ( Finished product), 32 ... Dispensing control board (member), 32a ... Management label (marking member), 35 ... Game machine main body (finished product), 300 ... Member manufacturer, 300a ... Label issuing machine (member lot information giving means), 400 ... Amusement machine manufacturer, 400a ... Scanner (electronic information reading means), 400b ... Label issuing machine (member lot information giving means), 400s ... Server (electronic information management means, information management control means), 500 ... Amusement hall, 500a ... a scanner (electronic information reading means).

Claims (3)

A member lot management system for a gaming machine in which a plurality of types of members are assembled to be a finished product in a shipping mode,
A member lot information giving means for giving predetermined member lot information in an electronically readable form to each member;
The member lot information related to the predetermined reference member and the member lot information of other members assembled together with the reference member are linked and managed electronically, and the member lot information related to the reference member and each finished product Electronic information management means for electronically managing the warranty number information corresponding to
Electronic information reading means for electronically reading the member lot information;
A gaming machine member lot management system comprising information management control means for controlling information processing in the electronic information management means. 2. The member of the gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the member lot information giving means gives the predetermined lot information in an electronically encoded form on a predetermined labeling part of the member or a labeling member attached to the member. Lot management system. 3. A member lot management system for a gaming machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein change history information related to a handling process for the member can be electronically added to the member lot information for each member.

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