JP2008048871A - Token game apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a token game apparatus which has a new game property unlike before, can control a payout rate, can be applied widely by game objects other than medals and can be materialized by a relatively simple mechanism. <P>SOLUTION: When a normal token is fed from a medal feeding port 2, a color token is discharged from a color token discharge port 4 to a play area. The color token rolls on a moving plate and falls down to a slide base 5. Further, it slides down the slide base 5 and enters a checker 6 and the color token is detected by a game object sensor. When determination line attainment by color bar movement displayed on a display 9 and color token detection match, a prize for determining the putout number of tokens is generated, and the normal tokens are discharged from a token discharge port 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention makes it possible to experience an unprecedented game experience and a new sense of game by separating a series of medals inserted from a player and discharged as rewards from a circulation of objects that affect the game including the medals. The present invention relates to a medal game device.

In a conventional medal game device, a medal itself inserted by a player generates an action for a game such as a lottery via a checker mechanism or the like.
In addition, there is a game apparatus that improves the interface by separating a medal insertion slot and a payout slot in a game.

  Thus, the current situation is that the series of circulations in the game machine from the medal insertion to the action in the game machine and the payout are almost fixed due to problems such as the reliability to the player and the payout rate. Adopting such a configuration makes it difficult to find novelty in the medal game, and there is a problem that many game devices have the same mechanism.

Patent Document 1 exists as one proposal for solving the above problem. This is to provide a second medal slot separately from the first medal slot, and to control the auxiliary effect game by newly inserting a predetermined number of medals from the second medal slot. . With this configuration, a chance to establish an auxiliary effect game can be arbitrarily selected from among the medal games performed by inserting the first medal, and a new game is added.
JP 2004-358188 A Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-114529

The above-mentioned medal game machine adds a new playability, but a lottery is performed by rotating the throttle with the inserted medal, for example, when a non-standard medal is inserted, the game Since it is different from the size of medals used in the machine, there is a problem that if it is mixed in the medals for game machines, the circulation mechanism of the medals becomes clogged, causing a failure.
In order to solve this problem, the Applicant performs a game using a game medium different from the inserted medals, and pays out medals from the accommodation hopper that accumulates the inserted medals according to the result of the game. A type game machine has been proposed (Patent Document 2).

In the above proposal, since the inserted medal is not used as it is in the game area in the game machine, it is possible to avoid a failure in the game area in the game machine.
However, it has not led to the addition of new playability, which was a conventional problem.
An object of the present invention is a game apparatus that discharges a game object that is completely different from the inserted medal to the play area according to the inserted medal, performs the play with the game object, and performs the medal payout from the inserted medal transport mechanism that stores the inserted medal. The present invention provides a medal game device that has a new gameability that has not been possible before, can control the payout rate, can be widely applied with game objects other than medals, and can be realized with a relatively simple mechanism. There is.

In order to achieve the object, claim 1 of the present invention provides a display unit for displaying game contents, a medal insertion unit for inserting medals, a inserted medal sensor for detecting the inserted medals, and a medal hopper for storing inserted medals. A medal transport driving system having medal payout driving means for paying out medals from the medal hopper, game object discharging means for discharging game objects to the play area by detecting the inserted medal, and game objects discharged to the play area A play area where the game object is played, a game object hopper that accumulates game objects after the play is finished in the play area, and a game object sending drive that sends game objects of the game object hopper to the game object discharging means A game object circulation drive system having a stage, wherein the play area includes a moving plate that receives the discharged game object and drops the game object downward; and a plurality of courses. A sliding base installed obliquely for guiding the game object dropped from the moving plate to the lower end by sliding or rotating, and a game object provided near the lower end of the sliding base for detecting a game object passing corresponding to a plurality of courses In order to display on the display unit, the game device forms a guideline for each of the plurality of courses and forms a determination line at the end of the guideline. A game that performs image processing that moves the color bar And when a corresponding game object sensor detects a game object when the color bar reaches the determination line, a prize generating means for generating a specific prize, and a number of medals according to the type of the prize. And a mechanism control means for driving the medal payout driving unit so as to pay out from the medal hopper.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the game object is a color medal or a color sphere.
A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the moving plate is installed obliquely and repeatedly moves in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the discharged game object.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second, or third aspect of the present invention, whether or not the prize matches the color of the game object detected by the corresponding game object sensor and the color bar that has reached the determination line. The number of medals to be paid out is calculated and determined by the magnification determined by the above and the length of the color bar that has reached the determination line.

According to the above configuration, compared to the conventional medal game, since the medal circulation mechanism to be inserted and the play area of the game object affecting the game are separated, it is possible to realize a game with unprecedented gaming properties, and The payout rate and the like can be controlled as in the conventional medal game device. Since game objects that circulate inside can be applied to other than medals, they can be widely applied.
The game object is exemplified by a color medal and a color sphere (color ball). However, the game object may be an asymmetric shape such as a figure whose shape does not hinder transportation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1A and 1B are views showing the appearance of a medal game device according to the present invention, where FIG. 1A is a front view and FIG. 1B is a side view.
A display (display unit) 9 is disposed in the center of the front surface of the medal game device 1, and speakers 10 are attached to the upper left and right of the display. A play area 7 is set on the front surface of the display 9, and a slide 5, a moving plate 8, a color medal outlet 4 and a checker 6 are arranged. The play area is separated from the outside by a transparent plate such as acrylic.
A medal slot 2 is arranged in front of the play area 7, and a medal tray 11 is provided to accommodate the medal slot. A medal discharge port 3 for discharging medals is set at the right end of the medal tray 11, and medals are accumulated on the medal tray 11 when the medals are discharged.

In a state in which no play is made, the medal game device 1 plays standby music or the like from the left and right speakers 10, and a demonstration screen or the like moving a color bar as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display 9. Has been.
When the player acquires a normal medal and inserts it into the medal slot 2, the medal game is started. When the medal is inserted, the color medal as a game object is discharged from the color medal discharge port 4, and slides down the moving plate 8 and the slide 5 and enters the checker 6. The checker 6 is provided with a color medal sensor that detects a color medal that passes through each course corresponding to each course of the slide 5, and the color medal that slides down the slide 5 is detected by the color medal sensor of any course.

  On the other hand, the display 9 displays an image in which the color bar screen moves (drops) from the top to the bottom as shown in FIG. When the corresponding color medal sensor detects a color medal at the timing when the color bar reaches the determination line, a prize is generated, and the number of normal medals according to the type of prize is discharged to the medal discharge port 3. The award (the number of medals to be paid out) varies depending on the wing that the color medal has passed through the checker and the color of the color medal.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the medal game apparatus for explaining the normal medal transport driving system and the color medal circulation driving system, and FIG. 4 is a front view thereof. The normal medal transport driving system is the medal insertion slot 2 and the medal drop passage 23. The medal side hopper 17, the medal payout driving unit 27, the medal supply passage 26, and the medal tray 11 are configured. The normal medal inserted into the medal slot 2 is detected by the normal medal sensor 15 provided near the upper turn-up portion of the medal drop passage 23, slides down the medal drop passage 23 and falls to the normal medal side hopper 17. Accumulate. The medal payout driving unit 27 is a mechanism that pushes out a specified number of medals based on a drive command from the control device 20 from the normal medal side hopper 17 to the tubular medal supply passage 26. The medals accumulated in 26 are pushed up from below. The medal positioned at the top of the pushed-up medal is discharged from the medal discharge port 3 and paid out to the medal tray 11.

On the other hand, the color medal circulation drive system includes a color medal discharge port 4, a moving plate 8, a play area including a slide 5, a color medal drop passage 28, a color medal side hopper 18, a color medal supply drive unit 29, and a color medal supply passage 30. It is configured. When the normal medal is detected by the normal medal sensor 15, the color medal supply drive unit 29 is driven based on the drive command from the control device 34, and the color medal is pushed out from the color medal side hopper 18 to the tubular color medal supply passage 30. It is. The pushed out color medal pushes up the color medal accumulated in the color medal supply passage 30 from below, and the color medal positioned at the top of the pushed up color medal is discharged from the color medal discharge port 4 to the moving plate 8. The
FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 show the flow of normal medals and color medals in the normal medal transport drive system and the color medal circulation drive system.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the details of the play area, and FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the moving guide.
The moving guide 8 is a transparent plate such as acrylic, and is installed to be inclined so that the player side is lowered. Triangular pyramid-shaped protrusions 8 a and 8 b are provided at the end of the moving guide 8. The moving guide 8 is reciprocated in the direction indicated by the arrow 12. When the player inserts a normal medal 21 from the medal slot 2, a color medal 22 having an RFID circuit (IC tag) built in is placed on the moving guide 8 in the play area while rotating. The color medal discharge port 4 is installed at a position that is in line with the medal insertion port 2 and detects the insertion of the normal medal 21 and discharges the color medal 22, so that the player seems to have inserted the color medal in a series of flows. appear.

When the color medal 22 discharged to the moving guide 8 reaches the upper part of the moving guide 8, the direction is reversed and the moving guide 8 is rotated or slipped and dropped. At this time, if the projections 8a and 8b having a triangular pyramid shape are contacted, the trajectory of the dropping position is changed.
The slide 5 is installed so as to be inclined so that the player side becomes higher, a checker is arranged near the tip, and a color medal sensor 16 is arranged in the checker. In this example, four courses are set on the slide 5, and a total of four color medal sensors 16 are attached to each course, and it is possible to detect which color medal passes through which course. . The color medal 22 dropped from the moving guide 8 to the slide 5 passes through the checker hole corresponding to any course by sliding on the slide 5.

In this series of medal movements, the normal medal 21 inserted from the medal insertion slot 2 flows to the play area as it is, and it appears to be “colored” on the way.
When the color medal 22 passes through the color medal sensor 16, the game is affected and various results such as winning are generated. In other words, various prizes may be generated depending on which course color medals pass through which course, and whether the passing timing matches the timing when the corresponding color bar displayed on the display reaches the judgment line. It may not occur.
There are several types of color medals discharged from the color medal discharge port 4 (RGB, etc.), and prizes generated by combinations of color medals and color bars (the number of medals to be paid out differ depending on the type of award) are different. And since the kind of color medal 22 discharged | emitted to a play area is random, the element of gambling property is also included.
When winning a prize, the medal payout driving unit 27 is driven so as to pay out the number of medals corresponding to the type of the award, and the medals are pushed out from the normal medal side hopper 17 and are paid out to the medal tray 11.

Next, an example of an image by game processing up to the generation of a prize will be described.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of movement of a number of color bars displayed on the display.
In this example, guidelines 35a to 35d corresponding to four courses (four color medal sensors) are provided, and red, blue, green, and other color bars 31a to 31g (various lengths) are provided on each line. ) Moves (drops) from the beginning to the end of the line.
50 indicates the ratio of red, blue, and green color medals discharged. The larger the number, the more color medals with that color are discharged. In other words, it is a numerical value that indicates that the probability that a color medal of that color will appear is low.

Reference numeral 33 denotes a display relating to a special medal (higher magnification), and the numerical value “70” indicates how many color medals have been discharged since the previous special medal was discharged.
Reference numeral 34 denotes an SP gauge that shifts to a special game state such as a jackpot game, and the level until the transition is displayed on the SP gauge.
Focusing on the leftmost guide line 35a, the state where the color bar 31b reaches the determination line 36 is shown. At this time, if the color medal sensor corresponding to the guide line 35a detects the color medal, a prize is generated.
The color bar 31b that moves the rightmost guide line 35d has a display “Speed Down”, which indicates that the moving speed (scroll speed) of the color bar 31b has dropped.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the timing of color medal detection with respect to the movement of one color bar on the display.
(A) shows a state in which the color bar 31c moves downward. (B) shows a state in which the tip of the color bar 31c reaches the determination line 36.
(C) is a state in which the color bar 31c is on the determination line 36. At this time, when the cara medal reaches the color medal sensor and is detected, a display 36b indicating a hit appears.
Then, “HIT !! 1 piece” that has won one medal is displayed. (D) is a display example in which six medals have been acquired.

The number of medals (prize) is determined as follows.
The number of medals earned varies depending on the combination of the color bar color and the color medal at the time of the hit. That is, the length of the color bar × the magnification = the number of acquired medals. For example, regarding red medals, the number of medals acquired is 2 for red bars, 1 for green bars, and 0.5 for blue bars. Similarly, the above-mentioned magnification is set for the green medal and the blue medal as well, and the magnification of the three-row structure is obtained.
Therefore, for example, when a red bar having a length of 3 reaches the determination line, if the corresponding color medal sensor detects a red medal, 3 × 2 = 6 medals can be obtained.
Thus, the longer the color bar and the same color medal, the more medals can be obtained.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the circuit of the medal game device according to the present invention.
This circuit example shows only the part directly related to the present invention.
The control device 20 includes a CPU 37, a memory unit 39, and an I / O control system 38, and a ROM 44 storing game device control programs and game data is connected to the CPU 37. The CPU 37 receives normal medal and color medal detection signals from the normal medal sensor 15 and the color medal sensor 16 via the I / O control system 38.
The normal medal sensor 15 is a photocoupler including a pair of LEDs and a light receiving unit, and detects the passage of a medal when the normal medal blocks light.
Further, as described above, the color medal 22 incorporates an RFID circuit, and color data indicating the color of the medal is stored in a memory unit in the circuit. On the other hand, the color medal sensor 16 is composed of an RF reader, and a minute radio wave is emitted from the RF reader. When the color medal 22 passes, an electromotive force is generated between the antenna of the RFID circuit and power is supplied to the RFID circuit. As a result, the color data in the memory unit is read by the RF reader, and the color of the color medal is recognized by the CPU 37.

Further, the CPU 37 controls the medal payout drive unit 27 and the medal supply drive unit 29 via the I / O control system 38. The medal payout drive unit 27 pushes out the medal from the normal medal side hopper 17 to the medal supply passage 26, and the medal The supply driving unit 29 pushes the color medal from the color medal side hopper 18 into the color medal supply passage 30. The moving guide 8 is driven and controlled to reciprocate left and right. The CPU 37 sends image data to the display 9 which is a video output device through the video output interface 40, and displays a game image or the like on the display 9. In addition, a sound signal is sent to the speaker 10 through the sound output interface 42, and a sound related to the game is output from the speaker 10.
The memory unit 39 is a work area used when the CPU 37 performs calculations, and is used for temporary data storage.

The CPU 37 can perform each process of the medal game by reading the control program for the game device from the ROM 44. In addition to the game control unit 37a for controlling the entire game device, the award generating unit 37b and the mechanism control unit 37c. It has each functional part. The game control unit 37a forms a guideline for signal input / output processing, standby screen display processing, and multiple courses corresponding to each game, and forms a determination line at the end of the guideline. Game image display processing such as moving a color bar is performed.
When the color bar reaches the determination line and the corresponding color medal sensor detects a game object when the color bar reaches the determination line, the award generation unit 37b calculates the number of acquired medals according to the arithmetic expression as described above to generate a prize. The award generation is displayed on the display 9.
The mechanism control unit 37c sends a drive signal to the medal payout driving unit so as to pay out the number of medals according to the type of prize from the medal hopper.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the flow from medal insertion to medal payout.
In the standby state, the game control unit 37 a displays a standby screen on the display 9 and outputs a standby sound from the speaker 10.
When the player inserts a normal medal from the medal slot 2 (step (hereinafter referred to as “S”) 001), the normal medal sensor 15 sends a medal detection signal to the game control unit 37a via the I / O control system 38. To do. The game control unit 37a receives this information and sends a drive signal to the medal supply drive unit 29 (S002). The medal supply driving unit 29 pushes one of the color medals in the color medal side hopper into the color medal supply passage 30 (S003), and discharges the color medals from the color medal discharge port 4 (S004). The number of color medals discharged is the same as the number of inserted normal medals.

The color medal is discharged to the moving plate 8 in the play area, falls in the direction opposite to the discharge direction, and slides on the slide 15. When the color medal passes, the color medal sensor 16 reads the color data stored in the color medal and sends the data to the game control unit 37a (S005, S006).
The game control unit 37a displays an image of the color bar movement on the display 9, and monitors whether the color medal is detected by the color medal sensor when the color bar reaches the determination line for each course. (S007, S008). If a color medal is detected when the color bar has not reached the determination line, the process returns to S001 to wait for the next normal medal insertion.

If a color medal is detected when the color bar reaches the determination line, the process returns to S001, waits for the next normal medal insertion detection, and passes the control to the prize generation unit 37b. The prize generation unit 37b determines a magnification from the color of the recognized color medal and the color of the color bar, and calculates the product of the number of medals corresponding to the length of the car rubber to this magnification (S009). As a result, the number of medals to be paid out is determined, and the hit is displayed on the display by the game control unit 37a. Further, the mechanism control unit 37c sends a driving signal corresponding to the number of medals to be paid out to the medal payout driving unit 27, and the number of normal medals instructed by the normal medal side hopper 17 is paid out from the medal discharge port 3 (S010, S011). .
Note that special medals may be discharged, and more medals are paid out as a jackpot award when the timing when the color bar reaches the determination line coincides with the detection timing of the special medals.

Although the above embodiment has shown an example in which a color medal is used as a game object, a color ball or other object may be used. In addition, as an example of detecting the color of the cara medal, an example has been shown in which an RFID circuit is incorporated in a color medal and color data in the RFID circuit is read and recognized by an RF reader. May be used. For example, it is possible to recognize the color by shining light on the surface of the game object, receiving the reflected light and passing it through a color filter.
Moreover, although the example which reciprocates a moving board to right and left was shown, it can also be moved back and forth instead of this operation | movement or in addition to this operation | movement.

  This is a commercial medal game device installed in a game center or event venue.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the medal game device by this invention, (a) is a front view, (b) is a side view. It is a side view of a medal game device for explaining a normal medal conveyance drive system and a color medal circulation drive system. FIG. 3 is a side view of a medal game device for explaining a flow of a normal medal and a color medal in FIG. 2. It is a front view of a medal game device for explaining a normal medal conveyance drive system and a color medal circulation drive system. FIG. 5 is a front view of a medal game device for explaining a flow of a normal medal and a color medal in FIG. 4. It is a figure for demonstrating the detail of a play area. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of a moving guide. It is a figure for demonstrating the example of a movement of many color bars displayed on a liquid crystal display. It is a figure for demonstrating the timing of the color medal detection with respect to the movement of one color bar on a liquid crystal display. It is a circuit diagram which shows embodiment of the circuit of the medal game device by this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the flow from medal insertion to medal payout.

Explanation of symbols

1 Medal game device
2 medal slot
3 medal outlet
4 Color medal outlet
5 slide
6 Checker 7 Play area 8 Moving plate (moving guide)
9 Display 10 Speaker 11 Medal Place 15 Normal Medal Sensor 16 Color Medal Sensor (Game Object Sensor)
17 Normal medal side hopper 18 Color medal side hopper 20 Control device 21 Normal medal 22 Color medal 37 CPU
39 Memory part

Claims (4)

A display for displaying game content;
A medal insertion unit for inserting medals, an insertion medal sensor for detecting the inserted medals, a medal hopper for accumulating the inserted medals, and a medal transport driving system having a medal payout driving means for paying medals out of the medal hopper;
Game object discharging means for discharging a game object to a play area upon detection of the inserted medal, a play area for playing with the game object discharged to the play area, and a game object after completion of play in the play area A game object hopper and a game object circulation drive system having a game object delivery drive means for delivering a game object of the game object hopper to the game object discharge means,
The play area is
A moving plate that receives the discharged game object and drops the game object downward;
A slide that has a plurality of courses and is installed at an angle to slide or rotate the game object dropped from the moving plate to the lower end thereof;
A game object sensor that is provided near a lower end of the slide and detects a game object that passes through a plurality of courses;
And the game device
Image processing for forming a guideline for each of the plurality of courses and forming a determination line at the end of the guideline and moving a color bar of any length from the start to the end of each guideline for display on the display unit Game control means for performing,
A prize generating means for generating a specific prize when the corresponding game object sensor detects a game object when the color bar reaches the determination line;
Mechanism control means for driving the medal payout drive unit so as to pay out the number of medals according to the type of the award from the medal hopper;
A medal game device comprising:   2. The medal game device according to claim 1, wherein the game object is a color medal or a color sphere.   2. The medal game device according to claim 1, wherein the moving plate is installed obliquely and repeatedly moves in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the discharged game object. The prize is determined by whether or not the color bar that has reached the determination line matches the color of the game object detected by the corresponding game object sensor,
4. The medal game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of medals to be paid out is determined by calculation based on the length of the color bar that has reached the determination line.

Images