JP2012050765A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine configured to prevent wrong operation so that special lamp presentation is not spoiled even in noise environment.SOLUTION: The game machine has a presentation control unit 22 for controlling a plurality of LED lamps disposed at predetermined positions of the game machine and warming up game operation. The LED lamp has a first terminal for receiving lighting data from the presentation control unit 22, and a second terminal for passing driving current when the LED lamp is lit corresponding to the lighting data. A specific light emitter has a second terminal to which driving voltage is supplied through a switch circuit SW. The switch circuit SW is controlled into an ON state by the presentation control unit, when the specific light emitter emits light.

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine having a computer circuit, and more particularly to a gaming machine that can execute powerful lamp effects without malfunction.

  A ball and ball game machine such as a pachinko machine has a symbol start port provided on the game board, a symbol display unit for displaying a series of symbol variation modes such as stopping a plurality of display symbols after varying a predetermined time, and an opening / closing plate It is configured with a grand prize opening that opens and closes. When the detection switch provided at the symbol start port detects the passing of the game ball, the game ball is in a winning state and the symbol display unit changes the display symbol for a predetermined time. After that, when the symbol stops in a predetermined manner such as 7-7-7, a big hit state is established, and the big winning opening is repeatedly opened to generate a profit state advantageous to the player.

  The symbol display unit is usually composed of a liquid crystal display, and executes various symbol effect operations including a reach effect, a notice effect, and a jackpot effect. Reach production is a design production that continues to be a big hit state in one step and excites the player, and the notice production is a sudden appearance of some character in the middle of the movement of the design, It is a design effect that warns of a big hit. The jackpot effect is an effect executed in a big hit state, and a more flashy symbol effect is executed in response to the joy of the player.

  At the time of execution of such a symbol effect, a lamp effect is also executed in synchronism with this, and at the time of a reach effect or a big hit effect, a lamp is flashed in response to the symbol effect on the liquid crystal display. In addition, when a big hit state is entered, a special lamp is lit vividly, or a movable effect corresponding to this is also executed.

  As mentioned above, lamp production is indispensable to achieve powerful performance operations, but if a lamp that should emit light only in special cases is ignited due to noise or other causes, it will make the player white. Not only letting it happen, it can also cause troubles with the game hall. Here, countermeasures for suppressing the generation of noise can be considered, but it is virtually impossible to eliminate the influence of noise in a state where a large number of gaming machines generating electromagnetic noise are arranged in close proximity.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a gaming machine having a configuration that can realize a powerful performance operation and prevent malfunction even in a noise environment so that a special lamp performance is not spoiled. The issue is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a gaming machine that generates a gaming state advantageous to a player based on a winning lottery resulting from a predetermined winning state, and is provided at a predetermined position of the gaming machine. The light emission control unit is configured to control a plurality of light emitters arranged to excite a game operation. Each light emitter has a first terminal that receives lighting data from the light emission control unit, and a light emission corresponding to the lighting data. A second terminal through which a drive current sometimes flows, and for a specific light emitter, a drive voltage is supplied to the second terminal via a switch circuit, and the switch circuit is connected to the specific light emitter. At the time of light emission, the light emission control unit is controlled to be turned on.

  For example, the light emission control unit includes a computer circuit and a driver circuit that receives lighting data from the computer circuit. However, the light emission control unit is not necessarily limited to this configuration. For example, a computer circuit such as the production control unit of the embodiment may be positioned as the light emission control unit, or a drive circuit such as the driver of the embodiment may be positioned in the light emission control unit. In addition, in the case of an Example, although a light-emitting body is an LED lamp, it is not specifically limited also about this.

  In any case, the specific light emitter of the present invention is preferably a plurality of light emitters that are turned on at a special timing (during production) that is highly valuable to the player. As a lighting mode, it is preferable that a plurality of light emitters are lit or blinked all at once, or the light emitters of each group constituting the plurality of light emitters are turned on cyclically.

  Here, the special effect having a high value for the player corresponds to, for example, a jackpot confirmation notice in which a subsequent big hit state is guaranteed among the notice effects performed during the movement of the symbols. Note that this is a case where the jackpot confirmation notice is executed during the symbol variation operation, and it is guaranteed that the jackpot state is confirmed through any of the symbol effects waiting in the hold state. If such a big hit confirmation notice is mistakenly executed, the notice effect at the corner will be ruined and not only will make the player whiten but also cause trouble with the game hall. Thus, such a malfunction can be prevented in advance.

  The special effects having high value for the player are not limited to those described above. For example, in a gaming machine in which a plurality of jackpot rounds are prepared, it is confirmed that the jackpot rounds are the maximum value. Lamp effects to be performed, and lamp effects to make a preliminary announcement that the transition to the probability variation state after all jackpot rounds are completed are also included. In addition, it is not always necessary to make a notice in a state where the big hit state has been confirmed, and it may be a case where it is guaranteed that the relevant symbol variation will subsequently shift to a reach effect. In addition to the above, the present invention is effective when executing a lamp effect that gives the player a great sense of expectation.

  When the light emission control unit includes a driver circuit, the driver circuit includes N shift registers that perform a shift operation in synchronization with a shift clock, and outputs of the N shift registers in synchronization with a latch pulse. An N-bit latch register that stores data and an N-bit gate circuit that outputs output data of the latch register to an output terminal based on an output control signal of an active level is preferably configured.

  Further, it is preferable that the first terminal of the specific light emitter is connected to the output terminal of the driver circuit and receives lighting data. In this case, it is preferable that the other output terminal of the driver circuit is connected to the control terminal of the switch circuit to perform ON / OFF control of the operation of the switch circuit.

  Furthermore, a plurality of driver circuits are connected in series, and the computer circuit controls whether the lighting state of each light emitter is changed at the timing at which the lighting state of the light emitter is to be controlled. It is preferable to output serial data to the plurality of driver circuits every predetermined time for noise countermeasures.

  In addition, it is easy for the computer circuit to output all or part of the shift clock, the latch pulse, and the output control signal. In addition, the main control unit configured to execute the lottery determination and control the game operation in an integrated manner, and the light emission control unit configured to drive and control the light emitter based on the control command output by the main control unit. The present invention is preferably applied to a ball ball game machine or a revolving game machine.

  According to the above-described present invention, it is possible to realize a gaming machine that can prevent erroneous lighting of a lamp even in an environment where noise is generated.

It is a perspective view of the pachinko machine shown in an example. It is drawing explaining a part of pachinko machine of FIG. It is the front view which illustrated in detail the game board of the pachinko machine of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the pachinko machine of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of an effect control part, an effect interface part, and a liquid-crystal control part. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a lamp connection board | substrate and a light emission board | substrate. The internal structure of a driver and the arrangement position of a driver are illustrated. It is a flowchart explaining the control procedure of a driver.

  Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a pachinko machine GM according to an embodiment. This pachinko machine GM includes a rectangular frame-shaped wooden outer frame 1 that is detachably mounted on an island structure, and a front frame 3 that is pivotably mounted via a hinge 2 fixed to the outer frame 1. It is configured. A game board 5 is detachably attached to the front frame 3 from the front side, not from the back side, and a glass door 6 and a front plate 7 are pivotally attached to the front side so as to be openable and closable.

  On the left and right sides of the glass door 6, there are vertically arranged electrical display portions 4 and 4 in which LEDs, electrical lamps, and driver elements are built. An upper plate 8 for storing game balls for launch is mounted on the front plate 7, and a lower plate 9 for storing game balls overflowing from or extracted from the upper plate 8 and a launch handle 10 are mounted at the bottom of the front frame 3. And are provided. The launch handle 10 is interlocked with the launch motor, and a game ball is launched by a striking rod that operates according to the rotation angle of the launch handle 10.

  A left push button 11 a and an intermediate push button 11 b are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the upper plate 8. The left push button 11a and the middle push button 11b do not function normally, but can be operated when a special game state in which the player can participate in the game progress occurs. The intermediate push button 11b has a substantially spherical operation surface, and inside this operation surface is a movable object MV that rotates vividly when a special notice operation or a big hit state is confirmed. Built in.

  FIG. 2 is a drawing schematically showing the inside of the intermediate push button 11b. The movable body MV is fixed to the light collecting plate 52 through the light emitting substrate 51, the light emitting substrate 51 on which the LED lamp is mounted, the translucent light collecting plate 52 that covers the upper portion of the light emitting substrate 51 and exhibits the lens effect. The rotating shaft 53, the reflecting tower 54 that rotates integrally with the light collector 52 in accordance with the rotation of the rotating shaft 53, the driven gear 55 that rotates integrally with the rotating shaft 53, and the drive gear that meshes with the driven gear 55. 56 and a motor 57 that rotationally drives the drive gear 56. Here, the rotating shaft 53 is disposed with an inclination angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane, and the motor 57 is configured to be rotatable in both directions (see FIG. 2D).

  The reflection tower 54 has a shape that bisects an egg shell in the major axis direction, and its inner surface is formed in a mirror shape to appropriately reflect light emitted from the LED lamp. In this embodiment, the LED lamp is turned on only when the reflecting tower 54 is rotated, and the LED lamp is kept off at other timings.

  In this embodiment, twelve LED lamps are mounted on the light-emitting substrate 51. All the LED lamps are lit at the same time only in special cases such as during a special notice operation or when a big hit is confirmed. The emitted light is reflected by the reflecting tower 54 and strongly appealed to the player. In addition, since the movable body MV (reflecting tower 63) is rotating at the timing when the LED lamp of the light emitting substrate 51 emits light, the reflection state with respect to the player changes corresponding to the rotation of the reflecting tower 63.

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the lighting of the LED lamp of the light emitting substrate 51 has a special meaning, it is configured not to malfunction in any case. That is, the player is whitened if the LED lamp of the light emitting board 51 is erroneously lit due to the influence of noise or the like, and thus a configuration in which such erroneous lighting does not occur (specifically described later) is adopted.

  Now, returning to FIG. 1, the description will be continued. On the right side of the upper plate 8, an operation panel 12 for ball lending operation for a card-type ball lending machine is provided, and the frequency at which the remaining amount of the card is displayed as a three-digit number. A display unit, a ball lending switch for instructing lending of game balls for a predetermined amount, and a return switch for instructing to return the card at the end of the game are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the game board 5 is provided with a guide rail 13 formed of a metal outer rail and an inner rail in an annular shape, and a display device, which is a display device, is provided at the approximate center of the game area 5 a inside thereof. A device DISP is arranged. In addition, at a suitable place in the game area 5a, a symbol starting port 15, a big winning port 16, a plurality of normal winning ports 17 (four on the right and left sides of the big winning port 16), and a gate 18 serving as two passing ports are arranged. Has been. Each of these winning openings 15 to 18 has a detection switch inside, and can detect the passage of a game ball.

  The liquid crystal display DISP is a device that variably displays a specific symbol related to a big hit state and displays a background image and various characters in an animated manner. This liquid crystal display DISP has special symbol display portions Da to Dc in the center portion and a normal symbol display portion 19 in the upper right portion. And, in the special symbol display parts Da to Dc, a reach effect is executed that expects a big hit state to be invited, or in the special symbol display parts Da to Dc and the surroundings, a notice effect that informs the result of the success / failure is executed. Is done.

  The normal symbol display unit 19 displays a normal symbol. When a game ball that has passed through the gate 18 is detected, the normal symbol fluctuates for a predetermined time, and the lottery extracted at the time when the game ball passes through the gate 18 is extracted. The stop symbol determined by the random number for use is displayed and stopped.

  For example, the symbol start opening 15 is configured to be opened and closed by an electric tulip having a pair of left and right opening and closing claws 15a, and when the stop symbol after fluctuation of the normal symbol display unit 19 is a winning symbol, the opening and closing claws are displayed. 15a is released only for a predetermined time or until a predetermined number of game balls are detected.

  When a game ball wins the symbol start port 15, the display symbols of the special symbol display portions Da to Dc change for a predetermined time and are determined based on the lottery result corresponding to the winning timing of the game ball to the symbol start port 15. Stop at the stop symbol. In addition, in special symbol display parts Da-Dc and its circumference, a notice effect may be performed between a series of symbol effects.

  The big winning opening 16 is controlled to open and close by, for example, an opening / closing plate 16a that can be opened forward, but when the stop symbol after the symbol change of the special symbol display portions Da to Dc is a big hit symbol such as “777”, the “big hit game” Is started, and the opening / closing plate 16a is opened.

  After the opening / closing plate 16a of the big prize opening 16 is opened, the opening / closing plate 16a is closed when a predetermined time elapses or when a predetermined number (for example, 10) of game balls wins. In such an operation, the special game is continued up to 15 times, for example, and is controlled in a state advantageous to the player. In addition, when the stop symbol after the change of the special symbol display parts Da to Dc is a specific symbol among the special symbols, there is a privilege that the game after the end of the special game becomes a high probability state (probability variation state). Is granted.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an overall circuit configuration of the pachinko machine GM. A one-dot broken line arrow in the figure mainly indicates a DC voltage line.

  As shown in the figure, this pachinko machine GM includes a power supply board 20 that receives AC 24V and outputs various DC voltages, a system reset signal SYS, etc., a main control board 21 that plays a central role in game control operations, and a main control board. An effect control board 22 that executes a lamp effect and a sound effect based on the control command CMD received from the control board 21; a liquid crystal control board 23 that drives the liquid crystal display DISP based on the control command CMD ′ received from the effect control board 22; Based on a control command CMD "received from the main control board 21, a payout control board 24 for controlling the payout motor M to pay out the game ball, and a launch control board 25 for firing the game ball in response to the player's operation, , It is structured around.

  However, in this embodiment, the control command CMD output from the main control board 21 is transmitted to the effect control board 22 via the command relay board 26 and the effect interface board 27. Further, the control command CMD ′ output from the effect control board 22 is transmitted to the liquid crystal control board 23 via the effect interface board 27, and the control command CMD ″ output from the main control board 21 is set to the main board relay board 28. Is transmitted to the payout control board 24. The effect interface board 27 and the effect control board 22 are directly connected by a connector without using a cable.

  The main control board 21, the effect control board 22, the liquid crystal control board 23, and the payout control board 24 are each equipped with a computer circuit including a one-chip microcomputer. Accordingly, the circuits mounted on the control boards 21 to 24 and the operations realized by the circuits are collectively referred to as a function. In this specification, the main control unit 21, the effect control unit 22, and the liquid crystal control unit 23 are used. , And the payout control unit 24. All or part of the effect control unit 22, the liquid crystal control unit 23, and the payout control unit 24 is a sub-control unit.

  By the way, this pachinko machine GM is roughly divided into a frame side member GM1 surrounded by a broken line in FIG. 5 and a board side member GM2 fixed to the back of the game board 5. The frame side member GM1 includes a front frame 3 on which a glass door 6 and a front plate 7 are pivotally attached, and a wooden outer frame 1 on the outside thereof. Is fixedly installed. On the other hand, the board side member GM2 is replaced in response to the model change, and a new board side member GM2 is attached to the frame side member GM1 instead of the original board side member. All except the frame side member GM1 is the panel side member GM2.

  4, the frame-side member GM1 includes a power supply board 20, a payout control board 24, a launch control board 25, a frame relay board 32, an external terminal board OT, and a ball lending machine UT. Interface board IF, and these circuit boards are respectively fixed at appropriate positions of the front frame 3. On the other hand, on the back of the game board 5, a main control board 21, an effect control board 22, and a liquid crystal control board 23 are fixed together with a liquid crystal display DISP and other circuit boards. And the frame side member GM1 and the board | substrate side member GM2 are electrically connected by the connection connectors CN1-CN4 concentratedly arranged in one place.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the power supply board 20 is connected to the main board relay board 28 through the connection connector CN2, and is connected to the power supply relay board 30 through the connection connector CN3. The main board relay board 28 outputs the system reset signal SYS, the RAM clear signal, the voltage drop signal, the backup power supply, DC12V, and DC32V received from the power board 20 to the main controller 21 as they are. Similarly, the power supply relay board 30 also outputs the system reset signal SYS received from the power supply board 20 and the AC and DC power supply voltages to the effect interface board 27 as they are. The production interface board 27 outputs the received system reset signal SYS to the production control unit 22 and the liquid crystal control unit 23 as they are.

  On the other hand, the payout control board 24 is directly connected to the power supply board 20 without going through the relay board, and receives the same system reset signal SYS, RAM clear signal, voltage drop signal, backup power supply as the main control unit 21 receives. Directly with other power supply voltages.

  Here, the system reset signal SYS output from the power supply board 20 is a signal indicating that the AC power supply 24V is supplied to the power supply board 20, and the one-chip microcomputer or other IC element of each of the control units 21 to 24 by this signal. The power is reset. The RAM clear signal received from the power supply board 20 by the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 24 is a signal that determines whether or not to initialize all areas of the built-in RAM of the one-chip microcomputer of each control unit 21 and 24. Thus, it has a value corresponding to the ON / OFF state of the initialization switch operated by the staff.

  The voltage drop signal received from the power supply board 20 by the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 24 is a signal indicating that the AC power supply 24V has started to drop. By receiving this voltage drop signal, each control unit 21, In 24, a necessary termination process is started prior to a power failure or business termination. The backup power source is a DC 5V DC power source that retains data in the built-in RAM of the one-chip microcomputer of the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 24 even after the AC power source 24V is shut off due to business termination or power failure. Therefore, the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 24 can resume the game operation before power-off after power-on (power backup function). This pachinko machine is designed to retain the stored contents of the RAM of each one-chip microcomputer for at least several days.

  On the other hand, the effect control unit 22 and the liquid crystal control unit 23 are not provided with the power supply backup function described above. However, the system reset signal SYS is commonly supplied to the effect control unit 22 and the liquid crystal control unit 23, and the power reset operation is realized at a timing substantially synchronized with the other control units 21 and 24.

  4 and 5, the effect interface board 27 includes a command relay board 26, a power supply relay board 30, a frame relay board 31, an effect control board 22, a lamp connection board 34, and a liquid crystal control board 23. Are connected to the inverter board 33.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the effect control unit 22 includes a one-chip microcomputer 40 that executes processing such as sound effects, lamp effects, and data transfer, an EPROM 41 that stores a control program for the one-chip microcomputer 40, and the one-chip microcomputer. 40, an audio reproduction LSI 42 that generates an audio signal based on an instruction from 40, an audio memory (phrase ROM) 43 that stores compressed audio data that is the original data of the generated audio signal, and a watchdog timer WDT. Configured.

  The one-chip microcomputer 40 includes a serial communication circuit SIO and a parallel port PIO. In this embodiment, serial data DATA and shift clock CLOCK are output from serial communication circuit SIO, and latch signal LATCH and operation control signal ENABLE are output from parallel port PIO. Further, a control command CMD ′ and a strobe signal STB ′ are also output from the parallel port PIO.

  The watchdog timer WDT is reset by a clear pulse periodically supplied from the one-chip microcomputer 40. When the clear pulse is interrupted due to a program runaway or the like, a reset signal RESET is output. As a result, the one-chip microcomputer 40 is forcibly reset to the initial state, and the program runaway state is solved.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the control command CMD and the strobe signal (interrupt signal) STB output from the main control board 21 are sent to the one-chip microcomputer 40 of the effect control board 22 via the buffer 48 of the effect interface board 27. Have been supplied. Then, the effect control unit 22 acquires the control command CMD by the reception interrupt process activated by the strobe signal STB. In addition to (a) error notification and other notification control commands, the control command CMD acquired by the effect control unit 22 includes (b) control for specifying an outline of various effect operations resulting from winning at the symbol start opening. Commands (variation pattern commands) are included. Here, the outline of the production operation specified by the variation pattern command includes the production total time from the production start to the production end, and the result of winning or failing in the big hit lottery. In addition to these, the change pattern command including the presence or absence of the reach effect or the notice effect may be specified, but even in this case, the specific content of the effect content is not specified.

  Therefore, when the effect control unit 22 acquires the variation pattern command CMD, the effect lottery is subsequently performed, and the effect outline specified by the acquired variation pattern command is further specified. For example, the specific contents of the reach effect and the notice effect are determined. Then, in accordance with the determined specific game content, a lamp effect by blinking LED lamps or the like and a sound effect preparation operation by a speaker are performed, and an effect operation by a lamp or speaker is performed on the liquid crystal control unit 23. A control command CMD ′ relating to the synchronized symbol effect is output.

  In this case, the effect control unit 22 outputs a control command CMD ′ to the effect interface board 27 together with the strobe signal (interrupt signal) STB ′ for the liquid crystal control unit 23. In addition, when receiving the notification control command or other control command related to the liquid crystal display, the effect control unit 22 outputs the control command as it is to the effect interface board 27 together with the interrupt signal STB ′.

  Corresponding to the configuration of the effect control board 22, the effect interface board 27 is configured to receive an 8-bit control command CMD ′ and a 1-bit interrupt signal STB ′. These data CMD ′ and STB ′ are output to the liquid crystal control board 23 as they are via the buffer circuit 45.

  In addition, the effect interface board 27 receives the lamp driving control signals (DATA, CLOCK, ENABLE, LATCH) output from the effect control unit 22 and outputs them via the buffer circuit 46. The lamp drive control signal output from the effect interface board 27 is supplied to the LED lamp such as the light emitting board 51 via the lamp connection board 34, and as a result, the lamp corresponding to the control command CMD output by the main control unit 21. Production is realized.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of the lamp connection substrate 34, and also shows a light emitting substrate 51 having a characteristic configuration. As shown in the figure, the lamp connection board 34 is constituted by a plurality of drivers Dr1, Dr2,. Each driver Dri operates by receiving a serial signal DATA, a latch signal LATCH, a shift clock CLOCK, and an operation control signal ENABLE from the one-chip microcomputer 40 of the effect control unit 22. Although not limited in any way, in this embodiment, BD7851FP (see FIG. 7), which is a 16-bit constant current LED driver manufactured by ROHM, is used as the driver Dri.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the serial signal DATA received from the one-chip microcomputer 40 of the effect control unit 22 is supplied to the 16-bit length shift register SFR via the S_IN terminal, and the shift clock CLOCK Shifted in synchronization with the rising edge. And the serial signal which passed through the shift register is output from the S_OUT terminal.

  The serial signal DATA input to the shift register is acquired by the 16-bit latch register LTR in synchronization with the rising of the latch signal LATCH. When the latch signal LATCH returns to the L level, the acquired value of the latch register LTR is held. Is done. The acquired value of the latch register LTR is output as it is from the output terminals OUT1 to OUT16 if the operation control signal ENABLE is L level, but if the operation control signal ENABLE is H level, an open collector type output gate train is All are released (HiZ).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the output terminals OUT1 to OUT16 of the N drivers Dri mounted on the lamp connection board 34 are connected to the cathode side terminals of the LED lamps in principle via corresponding connectors. Yes. In order to simplify the explanation, the N−1 drivers Dri from the most upstream side to the N−1 series drive 16 × 2 LED lamps respectively, and the most downstream Nth series driver Drn. Suppose that (12 × 2) + (3 × 4) LED lamps are driven and controlled.

  In a normal configuration from the first series to the N-1th series, a plurality (two) of LED lamps are connected in series, and the cathode terminal of the most advanced LED lamp receives lighting data from the output terminal OUTj of the driver Dri. is recieving. On the other hand, one of the current limiting resistors R is connected to the anode side terminal of the LED lamp, and the other of the current limiting resistors R is supplied with a power supply voltage (DC 12 V) in common from the lamp connection board 34.

  Therefore, the two LED lamps that have received the L level lighting data OUTj from the driver Dri are turned on, and the two LED lamps that have received the H level lighting state are turned off. As described above, when the operation control signal ENABLE is at the H level, the output terminals OUT1 to OUT16 are opened, and all the LED lamps are turned off.

  By the way, in this embodiment, since 16 × N-bit data is transferred via the shift register SFR of the driver Dri, the transfer data may be garbled due to the influence of noise or the like. In this case, the LED to be turned off is turned on. In particular, if the LED lamp of the light emitting board 51 that should be turned on only in a special case is turned on erroneously, the player will be whitened.

  Therefore, the light emitting substrate 51 on which the Nth series LED lamp is mounted has a unique configuration different from other substrates. That is, as shown in the right side of the center part of FIG. 6, the 3-bit lighting signals output from the output terminals OUT13 to OUT15 of the driver Drn are connected to the cathode side terminals of a set of four LED lamps and connected in series. The current limiting resistor r is connected to the anode side terminals of the four LED lamps.

  The lighting signal output from the output terminal OUT16 of the driver Drn is supplied to the switch circuit SW. As shown in the figure, the switch circuit SW is composed of a base resistor R1, an emitter resistor R2, and a PNP type switching transistor Tr, and 12V DC is supplied to the emitter terminal, and the collector terminal is connected via the connector CN. Each current limiting resistor r... R is connected.

  Further, the output of the output terminal OUT16 of the driver Drn is supplied to the base terminal of the transistor Tr through the base resistor R1. Therefore, if the output of the output terminal OUT16 is L level, the transistor Tr is turned on, and DC 12V is supplied to 12 LED lamps. On the other hand, if the output of the output terminal OUT16 is at the H level, the transistor Tr is turned off, and the 12 LED lamps are turned off regardless of the output levels of the output terminals 13-15.

  In this embodiment, when the movable body MV is rotated, the output levels of the most significant 4 bits (OUT16 to OUT13) of the driver Drn are all set to the L level so that the light emitting substrate 51 emits light vividly. At this timing, the H level is always set to prevent erroneous lighting. Therefore, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, erroneous lighting does not occur unless the most significant bit OUT16 and the other bits OUT13 to OUT15 are changed to the L level.

  All the drivers Dr1 to Drn including the driver Drn for driving the LED lamp of the light emitting substrate 51 are controlled by the one-chip microcomputer 40 of the effect control unit 22. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the control process of the one-chip microcomputer 40. In this embodiment, the N drivers Dr1 to Drn are controlled by a timer interrupt that is activated every predetermined time (for example, 16 ms). Note that the N * 16-bit lighting data supplied to Dr1 to Drn is prepared in the lighting data storage area BUF when the lighting data is updated.

  Based on the above description, based on FIG. 8, when a timer interruption occurs, the start timing of the lamp effect or whether the lamp effect is in progress is determined by the control flag, the lamp effect is unnecessary, and the lighting before that If the state should be maintained, the interrupt process is finished as it is (ST30).

  On the other hand, if the timing is necessary for the lamp effect, first, the lighting data storage area BUF is initially set to the H level (ST31). This is because, among LED lamps of the 1st to Nth series, even if there are LED lamps that are set to the off state or LED lamps that do not require lamp effects, the corresponding driver is repeatedly turned off level (H level). ) Is output to prevent erroneous lighting due to noise.

  In the circuit configuration in which N drivers Dr1 to Drn are connected in series as in the present embodiment, there is a possibility that the lighting data of all 16 × N bits will be in a frustrating level with only one noise (shift clock). Therefore, the existence significance of step ST31 is great.

  If the process of step ST31 is completed, it is determined whether or not the first sequence is in an operating state in which a lamp effect is to be executed (ST32). If the operation state is to execute the lamp effect, lighting data (16 bits) for the first series driver Dr1 is created and written in the storage area BUF in accordance with the scenario managed in the process of step ST43. (ST33).

  The same applies to the lighting data of the second series to the Nth series, and if it is an operation state in which the lamp effect is to be executed, the corresponding driver Dr2 corresponding to the scenario advanced in the processing of step ST45 or step ST47. Lighting data to be supplied to Drn is created and written in the storage area BUF (ST35, ST37).

  As a result of the above processing, since the latest lighting data corresponding to the scenario progress is prepared in the storage area BUF, these lighting data are reversed in the order from the most downstream driver Drn to the most upstream driver Dr1. Transfer (ST38). Specifically, lighting data is output for each bit from the serial communication circuit SIO, and a shift clock CLOCK is output. When such an operation is repeated N * 16 times, a total of N * 16 bits of lighting data is transferred to each of the drivers Dr1 to Drn.

  Here, the first 4 bits of the N * 16 bits relate to the LED lamps of the light emitting board 51, and normally all are at the H level, and all are at the L level only in special cases such as when the big hit state is determined. . When blinking, it goes without saying that H level and L level are repeatedly output in an appropriate number of timer interrupt processes.

  When the transfer of the lighting data is completed as described above, the enable signal ENBLE is then changed to H level (ST39). As a result, since all the LED lamps are extinguished at this moment, the latch signal LATCH is subsequently raised and then returned to the L level (ST40). Then, at the rising timing of the latch signal LATCH, the latest lighting data is written from the shift register SFR of each driver Dri to the latch register LTR. However, at this timing, since the enable signal ENB is at the H level, all the LED lamps remain off.

  Next, the enable signal ENB is changed to L level (ST41). As a result, all the LED lamps are turned on based on the latest lighting data transmitted in the process of step ST39. After that, the processes of steps ST42 to ST47 are executed to advance the lamp effect according to a predetermined scenario. When there is no progress, the same lighting data is output again.

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the lighting data of the register of the driver Dr is updated every time in the timer interrupt process, the influence of noise can be surely eliminated. That is, since it is sufficient that the lamp effect appealing to human vision is changed every few hundreds of milliseconds, the same lighting data is repeatedly transmitted in the timer interruption process of a considerable number (= several hundreds of milliseconds / 16 milliseconds). However, the duplicate transmission is an effective noise countermeasure.

  In addition, for the N-series light-emitting substrate 51, since the DC voltage is supplied to the LED lamp only at the timing when the LED lamp should be turned on, the possibility of erroneous lighting of the LED lamp due to noise can be almost eliminated.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described in detail, the specific description content does not specifically limit this invention. In particular, in the circuit configuration of FIG. 6, twelve LED lamps are collectively controlled by a single switch circuit SW, but there is no limitation. For example, if three switch circuits are provided for each group of four LED lamp groups, each group of LED lamp groups can be controlled independently. In this case, for example, the first group of LED lamps (1 to 4) → the second group of LED lamps (5 to 8) → the third group of LED lamps (9 to 12) The LED lamps can be turned on cyclically.

GM gaming machine SW switch circuit

Claims (9)

A gaming machine that generates a gaming state that is advantageous to a player based on a winning or failing lottery attributed to a predetermined winning state,
A light emission control unit configured to control a plurality of light emitters arranged at predetermined positions of the gaming machine to excite the game operation, each light emitter has a first terminal that receives lighting data from the light emission control unit, A second terminal through which a drive current flows during light emission corresponding to the lighting data,
For the specific light emitter, a drive voltage is supplied to the second terminal via a switch circuit, and the switch circuit is controlled to be in an ON state by the light emission control unit when the specific light emitter emits light. A gaming machine that is configured as described above.   The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the specific light emitters are a plurality of light emitters that are turned on at a special timing having high value for the player.   The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the light emission control unit includes a computer circuit and a driver circuit that receives supply of lighting data from the computer circuit.   The driver circuit includes N shift registers that perform a shift operation in synchronization with a shift clock, an N-bit latch register that stores output data of the N shift registers in synchronization with a latch pulse, and an output of an active level The gaming machine according to claim 1, further comprising: an N-bit gate circuit that outputs output data of the latch register to an output terminal based on a control signal.   The gaming machine according to claim 4, wherein the first terminal of the specific light emitter is connected to the output terminal of the driver circuit and receives lighting data.   The gaming machine according to claim 5, wherein another output terminal of the driver circuit is connected to a control terminal of the switch circuit to perform ON / OFF control of the operation of the switch circuit. The driver circuit is configured by connecting a plurality of the driver circuits in series,
The computer circuit, at the timing to control the lighting state of the light emitter,
4. The gaming machine according to claim 3, wherein serial data is output to the plurality of driver circuits every predetermined time regardless of whether or not the lighting state of each light emitter is changed.   The gaming machine according to claim 4, wherein the computer circuit outputs all or part of a shift clock, a latch pulse, and an output control signal.   A main control unit that controls the gaming operation in an integrated manner by executing the winning / failing lottery, and a light emission control unit that drives and controls the light emitter based on a control command output by the main control unit. Item 9. The gaming machine according to any one of Items 1 to 8.