JP2017104691A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a game machine which improves stability during rotation of a rotating drum.SOLUTION: A game machine includes rotary drum drive motor control-processing means as one of processing means of the game machine, which is performed periodically. In the rotary drum drive motor control-processing means, a signal for driving the rotary drum drive motor is generated and the generated drive signal is output to a rotary drum drive motor side at fixed time intervals. Specifically, when a plurality of pieces of processing exist within a periodical processing period, the total processing time until the end of all pieces of processing varies, but even in such a case, an output interval Tz becomes fixed by nearly fixing output timing Bb of the drive signal to the rotary drum drive motor, for example, within timer interruption processing. Accordingly, an influence on the drive motor due to variation in total processing time is avoided and stability of rotation during rotation of the rotary drum can be achieved. Thus, since a player can concentrate on a game, an interest of the player in the game is not lost.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 14

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine suitable for being applied to a slot machine or the like that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping the spinning cylinders.

  A slot machine or the like is known as a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping the spinning cylinders (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As is well known, a slot machine game starts when a player bets medals and operates a start lever, and when the start lever is operated by internal processing, whether or not the game is won. Is determined. And after it is determined that the player has won, when the player operates the stop button and the rotation of each cylinder stops, if the winning symbols (pictures) are ready, medals will be paid out or a special game that is advantageous to the player This makes it possible to enjoy a wide variety of games.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-174739

  As described above, the rotating cylinder accelerates in conjunction with the operation of the start lever provided in the slot machine, and then shifts to a constant speed rotation so as to rapidly stop in conjunction with the operation of the stop button provided in the slot machine. Controlled. Therefore, a drive signal (excitation data) supplied to the rotating drum drive motor is generated in a control device that controls the entire gaming machine.

  The drive signal is supplied to a motor driver for the drive motor, but this drive signal is usually generated within a regular gaming machine process. The total processing time within the regular processing period differs depending on the game state. Therefore, it is normal that the total processing time is long in some cases and short or varies in some cases. As a result, when the processing results in the periodic processing are output in a batch, the output interval of the processing results also varies.

  For this reason, the output interval to the motor driver of the drive signal for the rotating drum drive motor, which is listed as one of the periodic processes, also slightly changes depending on the total processing time. The output interval to the motor driver is related to the motor driving time. If the motor drive time fluctuates slightly, the drive motor may step out or cause instability of rotation. Such instability of rotation of the rotating drum can also reduce the interest of the player.

  Therefore, the present invention solves such a conventional problem, and proposes a gaming machine that does not detract from the player's interest by eliminating step-out and rotational instability. .

  According to the present invention, in a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping the spinning cylinders, as one of the processing means of the gaming machine that is performed periodically, a spinning cylinder drive motor A control processing means for generating a signal for driving the rotation driving motor, and outputting the generated driving signal to the rotation driving motor side at a constant time interval; It was made to be done.

  By eliminating the step-out and rotation instability, the player's interest can be kept from diverting.

It is a perspective view in the state where the front door was closed when the gaming machine according to the present invention was applied to a slot machine. It is a perspective view of the slot machine in a state where the front door is opened. It is a circuit block diagram of a slot machine. It is an assembly perspective view of a left turn cylinder. It is an expanded view of the seal wound around the left rotating drum. It is a figure which shows the operation principle of a stepping motor. It is a connection diagram which shows the drive system of a stepping motor. It is a figure which shows the drive characteristic of a stepping motor. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between an excitation signal (excitation data) and an excitation order pointer. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the content of the excitation time table at the time of an acceleration process, and an acceleration counter. It is a figure which shows the relationship at the time of the stop process of a rotating drum. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a timer interruption process and processing time. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a prior | preceding interruption process and another interruption process (the 1). It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a prior | preceding interruption process and another interruption process (the 2). It is a flowchart which shows the example of an NMI interruption process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a timer interruption process routine. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing routine at the time of a power failure. It is a flowchart which shows the example of a main process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a rotation motor control processing routine. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a motor control processing routine.

  First, invention groups that can be extracted from the present embodiment are shown as means n (n = 1, 2, 3,...), And will be described while showing effects and the like as necessary. In the following, for ease of understanding, the corresponding configuration in the present embodiment is appropriately shown in parentheses, but is not limited to the specific configuration shown in parentheses.

(Means 1) “In a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping the spinning cylinders,
As one of the processing means of the gaming machine that is periodically performed, has a rotating drum drive motor control processing means,
In this rotating drum drive motor control processing means, a signal for driving the rotating drum drive motor is generated,
A game machine characterized in that the generated drive signal is output to the rotating drum drive motor side at regular time intervals. "
According to this gaming machine, a drive signal for the rotating drum drive motor is generated within a period of regular processing, and the generated drive signal is output at regular intervals (constant time intervals). When there are a plurality of processes within a regular processing period, the total processing time until all the processes end varies.

  On the other hand, the generation process of the drive signal for the rotating drum drive motor only outputs a corresponding drive signal, that is, excitation data, and therefore the processing time is always substantially constant. Therefore, if the drive signal is output at regular intervals, it is possible to avoid the influence on the drive motor due to fluctuations in the total processing time.

  This is because if the output interval of the drive signal fluctuates each time the processing result is output, the excitation time to the drive motor fluctuates slightly, which causes the drive motor to step out and cause instability of rotation. It is. Such a problem can be avoided if the drive signal can always be output at regular intervals. By ensuring the stability of the rotation, it is possible to increase the concentration in the game and to increase the interest of the player.

(Means 2) “The above-described processing periodically performed in the means 1 is periodic interrupt processing, and the interrupt processing is classified into interrupt processing with a substantially constant processing time and interrupt processing with an indefinite processing time. When divided,
A game machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive signal generation processing for the rotating drum drive motor is executed prior to the interrupt processing in which the processing time is indefinite. "
According to this gaming machine, it is a periodic interrupt process, and in addition to the interrupt process whose processing time is almost constant, the interrupt process whose processing time is indefinite is mixed in this periodic interrupt process. When doing so, the above-described process of the rotary drum driving motor is executed prior to the indefinite interrupt process.

  By doing this, it is a case where periodic processing results are output in a batch, and it is assumed that processing whose processing time varies depending on the state of the game is included in the processing However, the drive signal generation and output processing can be executed without being affected by such processing with an indefinite time.

  (Means 3) “A gaming machine characterized in that in the means 2, the interrupt process with an indefinite processing time is an interrupt process in which the processing time varies depending on the game state.” For example, an interrupt process in a slot machine includes There is a timer subtraction process that subtracts the value of the counter or timer. In such a timer subtraction process, the number of bets and the number of coins (medals) to be paid out differ depending on the content (mode) of the winning, Depending on the contents of the winning, the processing time for calculating the number of payouts varies. In other words, there is an interrupt process whose processing time varies depending on the game state.

(Means 4) “A gaming machine according to means 1, wherein the periodic interrupt process is a timer interrupt process.”
According to this gaming machine, even when the periodic interrupt process is a timer interrupt process, in addition to the interrupt process whose processing time is almost constant, the interrupt process whose processing time is indefinite Are mixed, the above-described process of the rotating drum drive motor is executed prior to the interrupt process with an indefinite process time.

  In this way, all of the processing results obtained during the timer interrupt processing are output at once, and the processing time may vary depending on the game state during the processing. Even if the processing is included, the generation and output processing of the drive signal can be executed without being affected by the processing whose time is indefinite.

(Means 5) “A gaming machine characterized in that, in the means 4, the timer interrupt processing with an indefinite processing time is an interrupt processing whose processing time varies depending on the state of the game.”
For example, timer interrupt processing in slot machines includes timer subtraction processing that subtracts counters and timer values. In such timer subtraction processing, the number of bets, the number of coins paid out, etc. Therefore, the processing time for calculating the number of payouts varies depending on the contents of the prize. In other words, there is a timer interrupt process whose processing time varies depending on the game state.

(Means 6) “A gaming machine characterized in that, in the means 1, the generated drive signal is output immediately after the drive signal generation processing is completed.”
According to this gaming machine, since the drive signal is output when the generation process of the drive signal is completed, the drive signal can be output to the drive motor side at regular intervals (constant time intervals). As a result, even if there is a process whose processing time fluctuates in the regular processing, the drive signal can be output without waiting for the processing result, so that the influence of the process whose processing time fluctuates is affected. Without receiving it, the drive signal can always be output at a constant time interval.

  If the output interval of the drive signal can be made constant, the excitation timing and the excitation interval (output excitation interval) to the drive motor by this drive signal become almost constant, so that the drive motor can be prevented from stepping out.

  This is because if the output excitation interval is shortened during the initial excitation for the drive motor, a sufficient excitation force may not be obtained, so that the step-out is likely to occur. In addition, if the output excitation interval fluctuates even during the acceleration period or constant speed period, rotational instability and step-out are caused. If the output excitation interval is substantially constant, there will be no out-of-step or rotational instability.

(Means 7) “A game machine characterized in that, in the means 6, the output of the driving signal is a writing process to an input / output port.”
According to this gaming machine, the drive signal output process is a write process to an input / output port (output port). Since the write time to the input / output port is negligibly short (several μsec), the drive signal output timing (output excitation interval) can be made constant if the drive signal generation timing is constant.

(Means 8) “A gaming machine characterized in that, in the means 2 or 4, the rotating drum drive motor control process is performed before or after another interrupt process in which the processing time is substantially constant.”
According to this gaming machine, the control process of the rotating drum drive motor is performed before or after the other interrupt process in which the processing time is substantially constant. Since all of these interrupt processes have almost the same processing time, the drive of the rotating drum motor is always driven at regular intervals regardless of whether it is performed before or after the interrupt processing. A drive signal for the motor can be output. Of course, when there are a plurality of interrupt processes, the same effect can be obtained by performing this rotating drum drive motor control process between an arbitrary interrupt process and the next interrupt process. Therefore, even when there are a plurality of other interrupt processes, it is possible to execute the control process of the rotating drum drive motor without depending on the number of processes.

(Means 9) “A gaming machine characterized in that the control processing of the rotating drum drive motor is executed at the stage where all the other interrupt processing whose processing time is substantially constant in the means 8 is completed.”
In this gaming machine, when there are a mixture of interrupt processing whose processing time is almost constant and interrupt processing whose processing time is indefinite, if there are multiple interrupt processings whose processing time is almost constant, all the interrupts At the stage where the processing is completed, control processing for the rotating drum drive motor is executed. Even if control processing for the rotating drum drive motor is waited until all of these interrupt processing is completed, the processing time of these interrupt processing is almost constant, so the drive signal for the rotating drum drive motor is output at regular intervals. Can do.

(Means 10) "In the means 4, the timer interrupt processing in which the processing time is substantially constant includes saving processing for a group of registers provided in the central processing unit, power failure flag state determination processing, watchdog timer processing, and central processing described above. When there is at least one interrupt process among the interrupt end declaration processes for the device, the control process for the rotating drum drive motor is performed at the beginning of the interrupt process, during the interrupt process in the middle, or A gaming machine that is performed at the end of the interrupt process. "
According to this gaming machine, when there are a plurality of interrupt processes whose processing times are almost constant, it is possible to perform the control process for the rotating drum drive motor in advance of the interrupt processes, or during the interrupt process in the middle. Alternatively, it can be performed at the stage when all interrupt processing is completed.

  This is because the processing time of any interrupt processing is almost constant, so even if these interrupt processing is performed prior to the control processing for the rotating drum drive motor, a drive signal for driving the rotating drum drive motor is output. This is because the interval to be performed is always constant.

(Means 11) “In the timer interrupt processing in which the processing time is substantially constant in the means 10, the save processing for the register group provided in the central processing unit, the power failure flag state determination processing, the watchdog timer processing The interrupt end declaration process for the central processing unit is processed as a preceding interrupt process. "
In this gaming machine, these four interrupt processes (register save process, power failure flag state determination process, watchdog timer process and interrupt end declaration process) are preceded by other interrupt processes whose processing time is substantially constant. In other words, the process is prioritized over other interrupt processes, and immediately after that, the control process for the rotating drum drive motor is performed.

  By doing so, it becomes possible to output a drive signal to the rotating drum drive motor at regular time intervals without interfering with the initial processing of the central processing unit (MPU).

(Means 12) “In the means 11, the preceding interrupt processing and the other interrupt processing exist in the timer interrupt processing, and as the other interrupt processing, the interrupt processing whose processing time is substantially constant When interrupt processing with indefinite processing time is mixed,
The interrupt processing in which the processing time is almost constant is executed prior to other interrupt processing with indefinite processing time,
A gaming machine, characterized in that a control process for the rotating drum drive motor is performed before or after the interrupt process in which the processing time is constant. "
According to this gaming machine, when there is a process whose processing time is substantially constant even at processing timing other than the preceding interrupt processing, the other interrupt processing whose processing time is substantially constant is executed in advance. At the same time, if the process of the rotating drum drive motor is performed before or after the process or during these processes, a drive signal for the rotating drum drive motor can be output at regular time intervals for the same reason as described above. It becomes like this.

(Means 13) "A gaming machine according to means 1, wherein the drive motor is a two-phase stepping motor adopting a 1-2 phase excitation method."
According to this gaming machine, since the drive motor is a stepping motor, high torque and high stop accuracy can be obtained. In addition, since it is a 1-2 phase excitation method, the excitation order of 8 types (8 steps) is determined by the combination of 2 types of 1 phase excitation and 2 phase excitation, and at the time of rotating cylinder start and rotating cylinder rotation The excitation phase can be easily specified.

(Means 14) "A gaming machine according to means 13, wherein the drive signal for the drive motor is excitation data for phase excitation."
According to this gaming machine, a drive signal is generated for phase excitation of the stepping motor. Therefore, if this drive signal is directly applied to the motor driver, the rotor can be driven by energizing a specific excitation phase as it is.

  (Means 15) “In any one of means 1 to 14, the gaming machine is a pachinko machine.” Here, the pachinko machine has an operation handle as its basic configuration, and a game ball according to the operation of the operation handle. Is started in a predetermined game area, and the display of the variation of the symbols on the display device is started on the condition that the game ball wins an operating port arranged at a predetermined position in the game area. In addition, during the occurrence of a special gaming state, a winning opening arranged at a predetermined position in the gaming area is opened in a predetermined manner, so that a gaming ball can be won, and a valuable value corresponding to the number of winnings is given. It is a gaming machine designed to be played. The valuable value can be returned as a prize sphere, or valuable information corresponding to the valuable value can be written using a card-like recording medium such as a magnetic card.

  There are two types of pachinko machines: a special game state (big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game balls, and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes game balls. There are different types of gaming modes.

  (Means 16) "In any one of means 1 to 14, the gaming machine is a slot machine." Here, as a basic configuration of the slot machine, a plurality of games for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state. A display device is provided which displays a symbol pattern after the symbol string consisting of symbols is variably displayed, and the variation of the symbol is started due to the operation of the start operation means (for example, the operation lever), and the stop operation means. Due to the operation of (for example, the stop button) or after a predetermined time has passed, the change of the symbol is stopped, and it is advantageous to the player on the condition that the fixed symbol at the time of the stop is a specific symbol. A gaming machine provided with special game state generating means for generating a special game state.

  The above-described gaming machines include a special gaming state (a jackpot state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of gaming media, and a normal gaming state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the gaming media. There are two types of game modes. Typical examples of game media used in this type of gaming machine include coins and medals.

(Means 17) “In any one of the means 1 to 14, the gaming machine is a gaming machine in which a pachinko machine and a slot machine are fused.”
Such a gaming machine (multi-function machine) includes a display device that, as its basic configuration, displays a fixed symbol after variably displaying a symbol string composed of a plurality of identification information for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state. Furthermore, the variation of the symbol is started due to the operation of the starting operation means such as the operation lever, and the design is caused by the operation of the stopping operation means such as the stop button or when a predetermined time elapses. Special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player on the condition that the change of the game is stopped and the fixed symbol at the time of stoppage is a specific symbol, and using a game ball as a game medium The game machine is configured to require a predetermined number of game balls at the start of fluctuations in the identification information and to pay out many game balls when a special game state occurs.

  The above-described gaming machines include a special gaming state (a big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of gaming balls, and a normal gaming state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the gaming balls. There are two types of game modes.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping the spinning cylinders, the spinning cylinder drive motor control processing means performs the rotation of the spinning cylinder drive motor. A drive signal is generated, and the generated drive signal is output to the rotating drum drive motor side at a constant time interval.

  According to this, even if the process in which the drive signal for the rotating drum drive motor is periodically performed is a timer interrupt process, for example, the drive signal can be output at a constant period. As a result, the output timing of the drive signal is stabilized, and as a result, the output excitation interval to the drive motor becomes constant. It has the characteristics that can secure the property.

  Thus, since the stability of the spinning cylinder during the game can be ensured, it is possible to concentrate on the rotating symbols without diverting the player's interest. Therefore, the present invention is suitably applied to a gaming machine such as a slot machine having a plurality of cylinders.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described using examples. 1 is a perspective view of a slot machine 10 that is an embodiment of a gaming machine according to the present invention with the front door closed, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the slot machine 10 with the front door opened, and FIG. 3 is a slot machine. It is a block diagram which illustrates ten electrical connections.

  In the slot machine 10 applied as this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the front door 12 is rotatably attached to the main body 11 with the left side as a rotation shaft, and the front door 12 is closed as shown in FIG. The front door 12 is locked by the locking device 20.

  The front door 12 has an upper lamp 13 that lights up or flashes as the game progresses, and a pair of left and right speakers that sound various sound effects as the game progresses and inform the player of the gaming state. 14, 14, an upper plate 15 on which the model name and the like are displayed, a game panel 30 through which each of the left turn cylinder L, the middle turn cylinder M, and the right turn cylinder R can be seen through, and various buttons 51, 53 near the middle stage. -56, 61-63, the operation part 50 provided with the start lever 52 and the medal slot 57, the lower plate 16 on which the model name, the characters related to the game, etc. are displayed, and the medal payout port 17 A medal tray 18 for receiving medals is mounted. Inside the main body of the slot machine 10, a power supply box 85 (see FIG. 3) and a main control board C (see FIG. 3) constituting the control device are mounted.

  The gaming panel 30 is disposed on the left side of the exposure windows 31L, 31M, and 31R, and the exposure window 31L that exposes the outside of the left and right rotation cylinders L, M, and R when the rotation and rotation of the right rotation cylinder L are stopped or rotating. Five bet lamps 32, 33, 33, 34, 34, and three display units (credit number display unit 35, game number display unit 36, and payout number) disposed below the exposure windows 31L, 31M, 31R Display unit 37).

  Each of the exposure windows 31L, 31M, 31R is formed in a size capable of exposing three symbols vertically for each of the stopped left turn cylinder L, middle turn cylinder M, and right turn cylinder R. Therefore, 3 × 3 = 9 symbols are displayed to the player in a state where each of the spinning cylinders L, M, R is stopped. Then, a total of five lines including the upper, middle, and lower horizontal lines and a pair of diagonal lines indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1 are appropriately activated according to the number of medals bet. The exposure windows 31L, 31M, and 31R can be combined into a single exposure window.

  Note that the activated line is an activated line, and a “winning” is obtained when a combination that gives a predetermined prize is aligned with the activated line. If the symbol on the active line is “Cherry” among the three symbols of the left-handed cylinder L that has been stopped, a “winning” is awarded.

  Since the left rotating cylinder L, the middle rotating cylinder M, and the right rotating cylinder R are configured by similar units, the left rotating cylinder L will be described as an example here with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. 4 is an assembly perspective view of the left turn cylinder L, and FIG. 5 is a development view of the seal 47 wound around the left turn cylinder L. FIG. The left-handed drum L is obtained by winding a seal 47 in which 21 symbols (identification elements) are drawn at equal intervals around the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical skeleton member 40 forming a cylindrical cage. 40 boss portions 41 are attached to a drive shaft of a left-turn cylinder stepping motor 71L via a disk-like boss reinforcing plate 42.

  The left turning stepping motor 71L is fixed to a motor plate 43 suspended in the main body 11 (FIG. 2) with screws 43a. The motor plate 43 includes a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. A drum index sensor (rotational position detection sensor) 44 is installed. A pair of these photosensors (not shown) constituting the rotating index sensor 44 are arranged in the sensor casing while maintaining a predetermined interval.

  A base end portion 45b of a sensor cut bun 45 extending in the radial direction is fixed to the boss reinforcing plate 42 integrated with the left rotating drum L with a screw 45c. The tip 45a of the sensor cut bun 45 is bent by approximately 90 ° and is aligned so that it can pass through the gap between both elements of the rotating index photosensor 44. Each time the left cylinder L makes one rotation, the cylinder index photo sensor 44 detects the passage of the tip 45a of the sensor cut bang 45 and outputs a detection signal to the main control board C each time it is detected. C can check and correct the angular position of the left cylinder L every rotation based on this detection signal. In addition, the seal | sticker 47 wound around each spinning cylinder uses what differs in the order and the generation frequency of the pattern drawn on each.

  The stepping motor 71L is set so that the left cylinder L makes one round by a drive signal of 504 pulses (also referred to as an excitation signal or an excitation pulse, the same applies hereinafter), and the rotational position is controlled by this excitation pulse. In other words, since the 21 symbols are sequentially exposed from the exposure window 31L when the left cylinder L makes one round, 24 pulses (= 504 pulses / 21 symbols) are required to switch from one symbol to the next. Then, the control for recognizing which symbol is exposed from the exposure window 31L or exposing any symbol from the exposure window 31L based on the number of pulses from when the detection signal of the rotating index sensor 44 is output. It can be performed.

  FIG. 6 is a connection diagram showing the operation principle of the stepping motor 71L. In this embodiment, a hybrid (HB) type two-phase stepping motor employing a 1-2 phase excitation method is used as the stepping motor 71L. The stepping motor is not limited to a hybrid type or two-phase, and various stepping motors such as a four-phase or five-phase stepping motor can be used.

  As is well known, the hybrid type stepping motor 71L includes a rotor (rotor) 60 disposed in the center and first to fourth poles 601 to 604 disposed around the rotor 60.

  The rotor 60 includes a front rotor 60a magnetized at the N pole and a back rotor 60b magnetized at the S pole, and teeth (small teeth) and teeth provided around the front rotor 60a. In between, it is attached to the rotating shaft in a state of being relatively shifted by ½ pitch so that the teeth provided around the back rotor 60b are positioned. A cylindrical magnet (not shown) is attached between the front rotor 60a and the back rotor 60b.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the exciting coils L0 and L2 are bifilar wound around the first and third poles 601 and 602, and the winding end of the exciting coil L0 and the winding start of the exciting coil L2 are connected. A predetermined DC power source + B (for example, +24 volts) is applied to. Similarly, the excitation coils L1 and L3 are bifilar wound on the second and fourth poles 602 and 604, and the winding end of the excitation coil L1 and the winding start end of the excitation coil L3 are connected to each other. Power supply + B is applied.

  Here, as described above, an excitation signal is applied to the first excitation coil L0 to excite the first pole 601 to the S pole, and the phase exemplified by the third pole 603 to the N pole is the A phase. On the contrary, an excitation signal is applied to the third excitation coil L2 to excite the first pole 601 to the N pole, the phase for exciting the third pole 603 to the S pole is the A-phase, and the second The excitation signal is applied to the excitation coil L1 to excite the second pole 602 to the S pole, the phase for exciting the fourth pole 604 to the N pole is set to the B phase, and the excitation signal is applied to the fourth excitation coil L3. When applied, the second pole 602 is excited to the N pole, and the phase in which the fourth pole 604 is excited to the S pole is referred to as a B-phase.

  In the case of the one-phase excitation drive method, the rotor 60 is rotated in the clockwise direction (or counterclockwise) by sequentially applying excitation signals to the A phase, B phase, A-phase and B-phase. can do.

  That is, for example, when the A phase is first energized, the protrusion of the first pole 601 that is the S pole and the teeth of the front rotor 60a, the protrusion of the third pole 603 that is the N pole, and the teeth of the back rotor 60b are respectively When facing each other by the attractive force and then energizing the B phase, the protrusion of the second pole 602 and the teeth of the front rotor 60a that are the S pole, the protrusion of the fourth pole 604 that is the N pole and the teeth of the back rotor 60b Facing each other by suction force, and then energizing the A-phase, the protrusion of the first pole 601 and the teeth of the back rotor 60b that become the N pole, the protrusion of the third pole 603 that becomes the S pole and the front side When the teeth of the rotor 60a face each other by a suction force and then the B-phase is energized, the protrusion of the second pole 602 that becomes the N pole, the teeth of the back rotor 60b, and the fourth pole 604 that becomes the S pole Protrusion and front rotor 60 And teeth facing the respective suction force. By exciting in this order, the rotor 60 rotates clockwise in FIG. 6 (one-phase excitation drive).

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, 1-2 phase excitation drive that alternately performs 1-phase excitation and 2-phase excitation is employed. In the 1-2 phase excitation drive, excitation is performed according to the following excitation sequences (excitation order) (1) to (8).

That is, since excitation of only one phase is one-phase excitation, and two-phase excitation is an example of two phases simultaneously, as shown in FIG.
(1) Energize Phase A (1-phase excitation)
(2) Energize both A phase and B phase (2 phase excitation), (3) Energize B phase in the same way,
(4) Energize both B and A-phases,
(5) Energize the A-phase,
(6) Energize both A-phase and B-phase,
(7) Energize the B-phase,
(8) The drive system is such that both the B-phase and the A-phase are energized and then returns to (1).

  By adopting this 1-2 phase excitation drive, the angle change per step is about 0.714 ° per step of 1 phase excitation drive.

  Drive signals (drive signal data) for the stepping motors 71L, 71M, 71R are given to the motor driver 712 as excitation data (see FIG. 9). This excitation data is stored in the RAM 76 shown in FIG. 3, and an appropriate input / output processing circuit (input / output port) 80 is supplied to the input / output processing circuit (input / output port) 80 based on a command from the MPU 72 by a timer interruption process in a later-described spinning cylinder control processing routine. Excitation data will be output. The excitation data determines the excitation phase for the stepping motors 71L, 71M, 71R, and an excitation signal (current) is supplied to the excitation phase.

  At the start of rotation, that is, at the time of initial excitation, if the above-mentioned excitation order is incorrect, the excitation interval is short, or the excitation intervals are extremely uneven, the step-out may occur or the rotation may become unstable as described later. Or Here, the excitation interval is a data writing interval to the output port in the input / output port 80 described later, and this means an output interval of excitation data from the output port in the input / output port 80.

  This will be further described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the single bet lamp 32 is disposed on the left side of the middle horizontal line, and the two bet lamps 33 and 33 are disposed on the left side of the upper horizontal line and the lower horizontal line. The lamps 34 are arranged on the left side of the pair of diagonal lines.

  The credit number display unit 35 displays the number stored in the slot machine when the credit function described later is valid. The game number display unit 36, for example, how many times JAC (jack) at the time of a big bonus. It displays the number of times that the JAC symbol can be established and how many times the JAC symbol has been established during the JAC game. The payout number display unit 37 displays the number of payouts when the same symbols are aligned on the active line and a winning is made.

  As described above, the operation unit 50 includes the credit button 51, the start lever 52, the left turning cylinder stop button 53, the middle turning cylinder stop button 54, the right turning cylinder stop button 55, and the return button 56 provided on the front surface. And a medal slot 57, a one-bed bet button 61, a two-bed bet button 62, and a max bet button 63 provided in the horizontal step portion.

  The credit button 51 is configured to be a toggle type that is turned on when pressed once, turned off when pressed once, and switched on / off every time the push button is operated.

  When the credit button 51 is in the off state, the credit number display section 35 disappears, and medals inserted from the medal insertion slot 57 and medals paid out when winning are paid out from the medal payout opening 17 to the medal tray 18.

  When the credit button 51 is turned on, a number (“0” when turned off from on) is displayed on the credit number display portion 35, and the credit function is enabled.

  Here, the credit function is a function of storing the number of coins inserted from the medal slot 57 in the slot machine when the number of max bets exceeds three (here, three). Is displayed on the credit number display section 35 described above. When one or more credits are displayed on the credit number display unit 35 and the credit button 51 is pressed to turn it off, the displayed number of medals are paid out from the medal payout opening 17 to the medal tray 18 and the medals are paid out. Each time the credit number display unit 35 is decremented, the value is decremented by one and the display disappears after the value becomes zero.

  The start lever 52 is a lever that is pushed by the hand when the player starts the game, and automatically returns to the original position after the hand is released. When the start lever 52 is operated while a medal is bet, the start switch 52a (see FIG. 3) is turned on and a start command is generated, and the spinning cylinders L, M, and R are simultaneously moved by the start command. Start spinning.

  The stop button 53 for the left turning cylinder, the stop button 54 for the middle turning cylinder, and the stop button 55 for the right turning case are used to stop the rotating left turning cylinder L, middle turning cylinder M, and right turning cylinder R, respectively. Is a button for pressing with a finger, and when each of the buttons 53, 54, 55 is pressed, a stop switch 53a for the left turning cylinder, a stop switch 54a for the middle rotation cylinder, and a stop switch 55a for the right rotation cylinder (FIG. 3) is turned on and a stop command is generated. The stop buttons 53, 54, and 55 are lit and displayed by lamps (not shown) while the cylinders L, M, and R are rotating at a constant speed, and are turned off when the rotation is stopped.

  The return button 56 is a button that is pressed when a medal inserted into the medal slot 57 is jammed. When this button is pressed, the jammed medal is returned from the medal payout opening 17.

  The medal insertion port 57 is an entrance for inserting medals, and the inserted medals enter either the storage passage 91 leading to the hopper 86 provided inside or the payout passage 92 leading to the medal payout outlet 17. Led. Switching between the storage passage 91 and the payout passage 92 is performed by a medal passage switching solenoid 66.

  Each bet button 61, 62, 63 is a button for determining the number of medals to bet in the game before the game is started. Here, a procedure for betting medals will be described. When the credit button 51 is in the off state (when the credit number display unit 35 is turned off), or when the credit button 51 is in the on state and the stored number and the bet number are zero (“0” is displayed in the credit number display unit 35) When a medal is inserted from the medal insertion slot 57 when it is displayed, a bet is placed.

  That is, when the first medal is inserted into the medal insertion slot 57, the one bet lamp 32 is turned on, and the middle horizontal line corresponding thereto becomes the effective line, and the second medal is the medal insertion slot. Then, the two-bed bet lamps 33 and 33 are turned on, and a total of three lines including the upper horizontal line and the lower horizontal line corresponding thereto become effective lines, respectively. When inserted into the medal insertion slot 57, the three-bet lamps 34 and 34 are turned on, and each of a total of five lines including a pair of diagonal lines corresponding thereto becomes an effective line.

  When four or more medals are inserted into the medal slot 57, when the credit button 51 is off, that is, when the credit function is not effective, the medals are returned from the medal payout opening 17 to the medal tray 18, When the button 51 is turned on, that is, when the credit function is valid, the number of medals inserted is stored in the slot machine with the valid line as it is, and the stored number is displayed on the credit number display unit 35. The upper limit of the number of credits is determined (for example, 50), and when more medals are inserted, the medal payout port 17 returns the medal to the medal tray 18.

  When three or more medals are stored, when the one bet button 61 is pressed, the numerical value displayed on the credit number display section 35 is decremented by one and the one bet lamp 32 is turned on. When the middle horizontal line becomes an active line and the two-bet button 62 is pressed, the numerical value displayed in the credit amount display section 35 is decremented by two, and the one-bet lamp 32 and the two-bet lamp 33, 33 lights up, a total of three lines are activated, and when the maximum bet button 63 is pressed, the numerical value displayed in the credit amount display section 35 is decremented by three and all bet lamps 32, 33, 33, 34, and 34 are lit and a total of five active lines are activated.

  On the other hand, when two medals are stored, if the one-bet button 61 or the two-bet button 62 is pressed, the operation is the same as before, but if the maximum bet button 63 is pressed, the two-bet button 62 is When the single bet button 61 is pressed when only one medal is stored, the same operation is performed as before, but the two bet button 62 and the maximum bet button 63 are operated. When is pressed, the operation is the same as when the single bet button 61 is pressed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the power box 85 includes a power switch 81, a reset switch 82, a setting key insertion hole 83, and the like. When the power switch 81 is turned on, it supplies power to each unit including the MPU 72. The reset switch 82 resets the contents of the RAM 76 when the power switch 81 is turned on at the same time while pressing it, and the error state is reset when the reset switch 82 is pressed while the power switch 81 is turned on.

  In the setting key insertion hole 83, when a setting key (not shown) (held by a hall manager or the like) is inserted, the setting key switch 83a (see FIG. 3) is turned on, and the setting state of the slot machine 10 (winning probability) Setting process) can be changed from “Setting 1” to “Setting 6”.

  The hopper 86 includes an auxiliary tank 87 that stores medals, and a payout device 88 that pays out medals in the auxiliary tank 87 to the medal payout outlet 17 through an opening 93 that leads to a payout passage 92. The payout device 88 sends out medals to the opening 93 while rotating a medal sending rotary plate (not shown) by a hopper drive motor 65 (see FIG. 3).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the main control board C is configured as a microcomputer centering on the MPU 72 that is an arithmetic processing means, and besides the power supply box 85 described above, a clock circuit that outputs a rectangular wave of a predetermined frequency. 78, a ROM 74 for storing processing programs, a working RAM 76 for temporarily storing data, an input / output port (input / output port) 80, and the like are connected to the MPU 72 via an internal bus 79.

  The main control board C has a detection signal from the drum index photosensor 44, a reset signal from the reset switch 82, an on / off signal from the setting key switch 83a, and each bet switch 61a, 62a, 63a bet signal, on / off signal from the credit switch 51a linked to the credit button 51, start command signal from the start switch 52a linked to the start lever 52, left, middle, right turn stop buttons 53, 54 55, 55, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a, 55a. Stepping motor 7 for the left, middle and right turn cylinders that drives the cylinder M and the right turn cylinder R L, 71M, such as the position detection signal from the 71R is input through the input port 80.

  From the main control board C, lighting signals to the upper lamp 13 and the 1 to 3 bet lamps 32, 33, 34, display signals to the credit number display unit 35, the game number display unit 36 and the payout number display unit 37, Driving signal to the hopper drive motor 65 that causes the dispensing device 88 to perform the dispensing operation, left turning cylinder L, middle turning cylinder M, left turning cylinder stepping motors 71L, 71M, 71R for driving the right turning cylinder R Drive signal (drive data), a drive signal to the medal passage switching solenoid 66 for controlling whether the medal inserted into the medal insertion port 57 is guided to the hopper 86 or the medal payout port 17, and an effect generated from the speaker 14 A command signal to a sound control device (sound control board) 84 for controlling sound and the like, and a frame to a display control device (display control board) 94 for controlling display contents of the liquid crystal display 15 Such as de signal is outputted through the output port 80.

  The functions of the audio control board 84 and the display control board 94 can be included in the sub-control board S. The main control board C includes various counters such as a credit counter that counts the number of credits.

  The above-described MPU 72 includes a ROM 74 that stores various control programs and fixed value data executed by the MPU 72, and a work area that temporarily stores various data when executing the control program stored in the ROM 74. In addition to the RAM 76 for securing the memory, various processing circuits necessary for the slot machine 10 such as an interrupt circuit, a timer circuit, a data transmission / reception circuit, etc. are built in, as is well known, although not shown. The ROM 52 and the RAM 76 constitute a main memory, and a program for executing the processes shown in various flowcharts shown in FIG. 15 and subsequent figures is stored in the ROM 74 described above as a part of the control program.

  In the RAM 76, a plurality of work areas (memory areas) are secured functionally. As is well known, in addition to a stack memory (stack memory area) (not shown) for storing the value of the program counter provided in the MPU 72, in this example, a memory 76a for storing a power failure flag, a stack pointer A stack pointer storage memory 76b for storing data, a checksum correction value memory 76c for storing a correction value related to a checksum of data stored in the RAM 76, a power recovery command buffer 76d used for power recovery, A memory area such as the power recovery command counter 76e is secured.

  As will be described later, a backup voltage is supplied to the RAM 76 from a power supply board 850 provided in the power supply box 85 so that data is not lost even after the power of the slot machine 10 is cut off.

  The stack pointer storage memory 76b set in the RAM 76 is a memory for saving and storing the value of the stack pointer in the MPU 72 when the slot machine 10 is powered off. The value of the stack pointer is saved in the stack pointer storage memory 76b in the initial stage of the power failure process (see step S33 in FIG. 17). At the beginning of the power recovery process, the return process for the stack pointer is performed, and the value stored in the stack pointer storage memory 76b is taken into the stack pointer in the MPU 72. The contents of the stack pointer are saved and saved in a stack memory provided in the backed up RAM 76.

  The checksum correction value memory 76c in the RAM 76 is a memory for storing a correction value for setting the checksum calculated from the data in the RAM 76 during power failure processing to “0 (zero)”.

  The power recovery command buffer 76d temporarily stores a power recovery processing command (power recovery command) transmitted from the main control board C to the sub control board S when the power is restored (when power failure is restored or power is turned on again). A buffer to store. The power recovery command is used as a command for notifying the sub-control board S of the execution of the power recovery processing shown in FIG. The power recovery command is transmitted to the sub-control board S in preference to the general command stored in the RAM 76.

  The power recovery command counter 76e is a counter that stores the number of bytes of the power recovery command stored in the power recovery command buffer 76d. The power recovery command has a 2-byte configuration, and is transmitted to the sub-control board S in units of bytes in the same way as other commands (speaker driving commands and the like).

  In addition to the I / O device such as the sub control board S, the input / output port 80 includes an external centralized terminal board 89 capable of transmitting information to a hall management device (not shown) and the like, and a power failure provided on the power supply board 850. A monitoring circuit 850b and the like are connected.

  The power supply board 850 is equipped with a power supply unit 850a for supplying driving power to the electronic devices of the slot machine 10 including the main control board C, the power failure monitoring circuit 850b described above, and the like.

  The power failure monitoring circuit 850b monitors the power-off state, and generates a power failure signal 851 not only at the time of a power failure but also at the time of power-off by the power switch 81. Therefore, the power failure monitoring circuit 850b monitors the stabilized drive voltage of 24 VDC in this example output from the power supply unit 850a, and determines that the power supply is cut off when the drive voltage drops to, for example, less than 22 volts. The power failure signal 851 is output. The power failure signal 851 is supplied to each of the MPU 72 and the input / output port 80, and the MPU 72 recognizes this power failure signal 851 to execute a power failure process described later.

  The power supply unit 850a is configured to output a stabilized voltage of 5 volts used as a drive voltage in a control system such as the main control board C even when the output voltage is reduced to less than 22 volts. As a time during which the stabilization voltage is output, a sufficient time is secured to execute the power failure processing by the main control board C.

  Now, when the stepping motor 71 (71L, 71M, 71R) described above is used as the rotary drive motor of the slot machine 10, the drive characteristics shown in FIG. 8 are required.

  This drive characteristic includes an acceleration period Ta from when the start button 52 (which may be a start operation lever) is operated until the stepping motor 71 starts rotating and reaches a constant constant speed rotation, a constant speed rotation period Tb, In relation to the operation of the stop buttons 53 to 55, the operation is divided into a stop period Tc including a predetermined slip (slip used for symbol adjustment).

  While there is no restriction on how much the acceleration period Ta must be, when the stop buttons 53 to 55 are not operated, the time obtained by adding the constant speed period Tb to the acceleration period Ta must be 30 seconds or more. There is a regulation that must be done. During the stop period Tc, it is required to fix the excitation phase for the drive motor within about 190 msec at the maximum after the stop buttons 53 to 55 are operated.

  In the acceleration period Ta, it is necessary to shift to the constant speed rotation state as soon as possible. For this purpose, an interruption to the excitation phase for the stepping motor 71 (switching from the excitation phase of 1-phase excitation to 2-phase excitation and 2) It is sufficient to speed up the switching from phase excitation to one-phase excitation). However, as described above, step-out and instability of rotation may be promoted. Therefore, it is necessary to perform the optimum interrupt processing that realizes the shortest acceleration processing without causing step-out or rotation instability.

  When an excitation signal is applied to the excitation coil by interrupt processing, it is necessary to set an appropriate interrupt timing for the excitation phase. For this purpose, especially during the acceleration of the motor, at least until the rotational fluctuation of the rotor 60 is suppressed, the excitation is performed. Holds the excitation state for the initial excitation phase to which the signal is applied.

  Basically, it is considered that step-out and rotational instability are difficult to resolve unless the state of initial excitation (excitation at zero initial speed) is maintained to some extent. This is due to the convergence of the rotational swing (micro vibration accompanied by reciprocation) generated when the teeth of the rotor 60 are attracted to the teeth of the poles 601 to 604 by the attractive force generated by the initial excitation. I will be involved. Although it differs depending on the inertia of the rotating cylinders L, M, R, etc., according to the experiment, the rotor 60 stopped after repeating the reciprocation (cycle) in 30 msec for 5 to 6 reciprocations. However, in order to perform the acceleration process, it has been found that at least a time of 150 to 180 msec after the initial excitation is required as a time for fixing (holding) by the same excitation phase.

  Here, when the minimum timer interruption time for the MPU 72 described above is set to 1.49 msec and the time required for the rotation shake to stop is about 180 msec, the minimum stabilization time exceeding this time is set. It is set as the time for fixing the initial excitation phase. In this embodiment, 1.49 msec × 130 interrupts = 193.7 msec is set as the minimum stable time, that is, the initial excitation holding time. It is also possible to select a time shorter than this, that is, a time substantially equal to the time required for the rotation fluctuation to stop, as 1.49 msec × 121 interrupt = 180.29 msec as the initial excitation holding time.

  Excitation data for the excitation signal shown in FIG. 9 (excitation data 09H shown in the excitation order 2 in this example) is input from the input / output port 80 so that excitation is continued during the 130 interrupt period (H is a hexadecimal display). Is output to the motor driver 712.

  Assuming that the acceleration period in which the initial excitation is performed in the acceleration period Ta is the first acceleration period and the acceleration period until the constant speed rotation is the second acceleration period, as shown in FIG. The rotor 60 is accelerated rapidly over a period of time. In this example, the second acceleration period is set shorter than the first acceleration period.

  When the acceleration period Ta is set to about 317.37 msec, 123.67 msec corresponding to 83 interrupts is selected as the second acceleration period, and the excitation phase is set so that the predetermined number of revolutions is achieved in the second acceleration period. Interrupt processing is executed. Therefore, during the second acceleration period, an interruption process for the excitation phase of the excitation signal is frequently performed.

  In addition, there is a problem whether the excitation phase of initial excitation is one-phase excitation or two-phase excitation. In the initial excitation in which the rotation of the rotor 60, that is, the rotating cylinders L, M, and R is zero, it is necessary to rotate the rotor 60 with a high torque. The two-phase excitation is more preferable. This is because of the following reasons.

  First, in a hybrid (HB) type two-phase stepping motor adopting a 1-2 phase excitation method as a stepping motor, two-phase excitation can be considered in addition to one-phase excitation as an initial excitation phase during acceleration. One-phase excitation drives only a specific excitation phase, and the rotational torque at the initial speed is obtained by this one-phase excitation. On the other hand, the two-phase excitation drives two specific excitation phases simultaneously, and the rotational torque at the initial speed is obtained by the two-phase excitation.

  Although it differs depending on the size of the rotor and the inertia, in the case of a normal slot machine, it is possible to accelerate the rotor from the initial speed zero even with one-phase excitation. However, in the case of one-phase excitation, the generated rotational torque is small, so that a sufficient initial speed may not be obtained and smooth rotation may not be expected. When a sufficient initial speed cannot be obtained, it becomes easy to step out. From the viewpoint of the player, it is preferable that the acceleration time Ta is as short as possible in order not to detract from the player's interest.

  From when the brakes are applied to the rotating cylinders L, M, and R, until the rotating cylinder actually stops, it slides and stops by a predetermined step angle. When rotating the rotating drum including this deviation, it is necessary to perform acceleration processing while absorbing this angular deviation, so it is preferable that the electromagnetic attraction force in the initial excitation is as large as possible.

  In the case of two-phase excitation, since the attractive force is larger than that of one-phase excitation, the generated rotational torque is also increased by that amount. As a result, the acceleration time from acceleration to constant speed rotation is one-phase excitation. It can be shortened than the case of. Further, even if slipping occurs when the rotating drum is stopped, the generated suction force is large, so that it is possible to quickly absorb the rotational sway associated with this rotational angle deviation. Therefore, considering these matters comprehensively, the initial excitation is preferably the two-phase excitation rather than the one-phase excitation.

  A timing example as shown in FIG. 10 is suitable as an interrupt timing for causing the initial excitation to be set to two-phase excitation and to reach a predetermined rotational speed in a short time within the second acceleration period.

  In FIG. 10, the first acceleration period is an initial excitation period, and in this embodiment, two-phase excitation is performed as described above. For the two-phase excitation, for example, the earliest excitation order 2 can be selected from the excitation orders shown in FIG. Of course, different excitation orders (excitation order 4, excitation order 6 or excitation order 8) may occur depending on the excitation phase when rotation is stopped.

  The excitation state is maintained for 130 interrupts (193.7 msec) after the excitation signal is applied in synchronization with the interrupt timing every 1.49 msec.

  In the second acceleration period, the 1-2 phase excitation is alternately repeated. However, as an interrupt timing to the excitation phase, in other words, a phase excitation holding period, as shown in FIG. The excitation holding period of excitation is finely controlled. In this embodiment, when the second acceleration period is entered, one-phase excitation (excitation order 3 in FIG. 9) following two-phase excitation is performed for eight interrupts, and therefore, phase excitation holding for eight interrupts is performed, and then In order to reduce the excitation time by setting the interrupts to be gradually shorter so that the two-phase excitation is performed for 7 interrupts (excitation order 4), the excitation phase is switched sequentially at the minimum interrupt interval. The interrupt is set so that it can transit to 1-2 phase excitation.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, when the last excitation phase in the second acceleration period is two-phase excitation and this is one interrupt, the first excitation phase in the next constant speed rotation period is one-phase excitation. Moreover, one interrupt is the minimum interrupt interval. In this way, the interrupt processing timing in the second acceleration period is shortened sequentially as it approaches constant speed rotation, so that high-speed acceleration processing can be realized in a short time and smooth transition to constant speed rotation is possible. Is possible.

  The second acceleration period shown in FIG. 10 is an example when the entire acceleration period Ta is set to approximately 317.37 msec. Therefore, when the entire acceleration period Ta is set to a value different from this. Needless to say, the second acceleration period is selected according to the value, and interrupt processing different from the interrupt processing shown in FIG. 10 is performed accordingly.

  The brake processing of the rotating cylinders L, M, and R is as follows. After the stop button is operated, the rotating cylinders L, M, and R must be stopped within the predetermined time ts (= 190 msec) shown in FIG. 11 including the slip process (rotation process for 1 to 4 symbols). .

  When the brake process is performed after the slip process, the 1-2 phase excitation is switched to the 4-phase excitation. The rotating cylinders L, M, and R can be smoothly stopped without rotating the rotation by the four-phase excitation.

  The timing (interrupt timing) for switching from 1-2 phase excitation to 4 phase excitation is immediately after the two phase excitation. This is because stepping motors 71L, 71M, and 71R are easier to specify the rotational position when the two-phase excitation is performed than the one-phase excitation, so that the stop position accuracy is improved by performing the stop process immediately after the two-phase excitation. Because you can.

  The generation process of the drive signal for driving the stepping motor 71 which is the above-described rotating drum drive motor may be performed in a timer interrupt processing routine periodically issued to the MPU 72 shown in FIG. Excitation data (see FIG. 9) according to the excitation order stored in the RAM 76 is used as the drive signal, and the corresponding excitation data is supplied to the motor driver 712 according to this excitation order.

  Therefore, the excitation data stored in the RAM 76 is read from the RAM 76 and written to the output port of the input / output port 80 every time a timer interrupt occurs. The excitation data written in the input / output port 80 is immediately supplied to the motor driver 712, thereby energizing the corresponding excitation coils L0 to L3.

  What is processed in the timer interrupt process is not only the drive signal generation process for the stepping motor 71 described above, but also a number of other interrupt processes. Accordingly, even in the case of periodic interrupt processing by the timer, depending on the control state (event) of the slot machine 10 at that time, the total processing time processed in one interrupt processing always occurs.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12A, when a periodic interrupt processing interval by a timer is T and all processing times processed within the interrupt processing interval T are Tx, according to various experiments, a slot machine at the time of interrupt It was confirmed that depending on the ten operating states, the processing time Tx required for all interrupt processing may be long or short, and the processing time Tx may vary greatly (see FIGS. 12A and 12B).

  In such timer interrupt processing, when all interrupt processing is completed, a plurality of output data obtained as a result of the processing are collectively written in the input / output port 80 (see FIG. 12C). Since the writing time is almost constant (approximately several μsec), the length of the processing time Tx appears as a variation in the timing of writing data to the input / output port 80.

  As a result, assuming that the interval from when the next interrupt processing occurs until the output data is written to the input / output port 80 is the output interval Ty, the output interval Ty greatly depends on the interrupt processing time Tx as shown in FIG. 12C. I understand that.

  When several experimental models are combined, the minimum time of the processing time Tx processed in one timer interrupt processing is 716.5 μsec, and the maximum time is 1049.0 μsec. Therefore, due to the occurrence of the processing time Tx, the minimum value Tymin of the output interval Ty is 1157.5 μsec as shown in FIG. 12C, and the maximum value Tymax is 1822.5 μsec.

  When the output interval Ty varies as described above, the excitation time for the stepping motor 71 also differs. When the minimum excitation interval and the maximum excitation interval occur discontinuously as the output interval Ty, there is a possibility that the rotation at the time of motor acceleration or constant speed rotation of the motor becomes unstable or stepped out. If step-out or rotation instability occurs, the player may not be able to concentrate on the game.

  Here, in addition to the case where the spinning drum drive motor control process, which is one of the gaming machine processes performed periodically, is performed within the timer interrupt process as described above, the main process (step S61 in FIG. 18) Among them, time information (timer information) output at regular intervals is monitored at any time (polling process), and when a predetermined time is reached, a control process for the stepping motor 71 is executed (call) as one of a series of processes. Even when the generated drive signal is configured to be output to the input / output port, the output intervals to the stepping motor 71 may be uneven as described above. In that case, the same problem as described above is caused.

  Even in this case, the output interval of the generated drive signal can always be made constant by executing the rotating drum drive motor control process prior to the processing group with an indefinite processing time.

  Therefore, in the present invention, a signal for driving the rotating drum drive motor is generated by the rotating drum drive motor control processing means, and the generated drive signal is output to the rotating drum drive motor side at regular time intervals. Configure as follows. As a method for outputting the drive signal at regular intervals, at least the following methods can be considered.

  The following method is an example when the rotating drum drive motor control process is performed in the timer interrupt process. When there are a plurality of processes within the timer interruption period, it is common that a process with a substantially constant processing time and a process with an indefinite processing time are mixed so that the processing time varies with each interruption. In such a case, generation processing and output processing for the above-described stepping motor (rotating drum driving motor) 71 is executed before executing processing with at least an indefinite processing time.

  The drive signal generation and output processing for the stepping motor 71 belongs to the category of processing in which the processing time is substantially constant because the processing time is substantially constant. An example of an interrupt process in which the processing time is almost constant includes a process of saving a register built in the MPU 72. Such an almost constant interrupt process for the MPU 72 will be referred to as a predecessor interrupt process (priority interrupt process) for convenience in order to distinguish it from other interrupt processes.

  Now, as a first method for outputting the drive signal at regular intervals, this drive signal is output immediately after the drive signal is generated. In this case as well, when an interrupt process occurs, the preceding interrupt process is first executed and the drive signal generation process is performed later, or prior to the preceding interrupt process or in the middle of the preceding interrupt process. Conceivable. In any case, since the processing time is substantially constant, the output interval of the drive signal is substantially constant.

  As described above, the drive signal generation process and the output process thereof can be executed without being affected by the process in which the interrupt process time fluctuates by executing the drive signal generation process before performing the process with an indefinite processing time. Since the generation process of the drive signal may be performed before the interrupt process with an indefinite interrupt processing time, when there are a plurality of interrupt processes with a substantially constant processing time, at which processing timing the generation process of the drive signal is performed. Is optional.

  As a second technique, the output timing for outputting the interrupt processing result is fixed.

  Since the timing for outputting the interrupt processing result is fixed, the drive signal is output after waiting for the output timing of the processing result even when all interrupt processing processed within the interrupt period is completed. By doing so, the output timing of the drive signal is always constant even if there is a process that may change the processing time.

  Since the output timing of the processing result is the data write timing to the input / output port, the output timing of the drive signal can be made constant by fixing the data write timing to the input / output port.

  In the following description, timer interrupt processing is exemplified as periodic interrupt processing, and a case where the first method described above is applied for the sake of explanation is described. Therefore, an interrupt process (control process) for the rotating drum drive motor is executed in the timer interrupt process, and a drive signal generation process is performed and generated prior to a process that may change the processing time. By immediately outputting (writing) the drive signal (excitation data) to the input / output port 80 side, the data output interval Ty is made uniform.

  In this way, even if there is an interrupt process that may change the processing time in the timer interrupt process, the excitation signal data is always sent to the motor driver 712 at a constant interval without being affected by these. Can be output to the side.

  Further description will be given with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.

  Based on the above-described definition, the processing to be performed by the timer interrupt includes the preceding interrupt processing Ba that can be processed prior to other processing such as initial setting for the MPU 72 as shown in FIG. 13, and other interrupts. It is divided into processing (other interrupt processing) (Bb + Bc).

  Since the processing time in the preceding interrupt processing Ba for the MPU 72 is substantially constant, the total processing time of other interrupt processing (Bb + Bc) usually differs depending on the gaming state of the slot machine 10.

  In this embodiment, among the processing contents processed in the timer interrupt processing, the preceding interrupt processing Ba is first executed as shown in FIG. 14B, and the first interrupt processing is completed and the other interrupt processing (Bb + Bc) is performed. As the interrupt process, the above-described rotating drum drive motor control process Bb is applied.

  Further, the excitation data, which is the excitation signal generated by the rotating drum drive motor control process Bb, is immediately output (written) to the input / output port 80 without waiting for the result of another interrupt process (see FIG. 14C).

  By doing so, as shown in FIG. 14C, the time Tα from when the timer interrupt occurs (ta, tb,...) Until output to the excitation data input / output port 80 is always constant. The output interval Tz is always constant.

  The output interval Tz matches the timer interrupt cycle. As a result, the excitation time after the timer interruption to the stepping motor 71 is always constant, the initial excitation is stable, and there is no possibility of causing a step-out. Of course, stable rotation can be imparted even during acceleration and constant speed rotation.

  Since the total time of other interrupt processing Bc other than the excitation data generation processing Bb varies depending on the gaming state of the slot machine 10 as shown in FIG. 14B, when all interrupts are output to the input / output port 80 at the stage of completion. .., And output timings ta2, tb2,... To the input / output port 80 of these interrupt processing results also vary as shown in FIG. 14D, and as a result, the output interval Ty also varies.

  Note that the above-described spinning cylinder drive motor control process cannot be executed unless the preceding interrupt process is completed. Even at the beginning of the preceding interrupt processing, it can be processed in the middle.

  This is because the preceding interrupt processing is processing for the MPU 72 which is almost constant, so that the output interval of the drive signal can be obtained even if this rotation driving motor control processing is interposed at the beginning of the preceding interrupt processing or in the middle of the preceding interrupt processing. This is because there is no change in keeping the value constant.

  Alternatively, if there is an interrupt process whose processing time is substantially constant among the processes other than the preceding interrupt process, the above-described rotating drum drive motor is immediately after the interrupt process whose processing time is substantially constant is completed. Control processing may be executed. That is, the rotating drum drive motor control process may be executed at the stage when all the timer interrupt processes in which the processing time is substantially constant have been completed.

  Next, processing contents of a typical processing program installed in the MPU 72 described above will be described.

[Power failure flag generation processing]
The power failure flag is generated when a power failure occurs (including power-off when the power switch 81 is turned off). When a power failure occurs, a power failure signal 851 is output from the power failure monitoring circuit 850b to the NMI (Non Maskable Interrupt) terminal of the MPU 72. When the power failure signal 851 is received, the MPU 72 sets a power failure flag and executes interruption processing at the time of power failure (see FIG. 15). When the power failure flag is set, the power failure processing is executed in the timer interruption processing (see FIG. 16), and if the game is in progress, the game control interruption processing is executed. The power failure flag is reset by a power recovery process (see FIG. 18) by turning on the power again.

  In the power failure process shown in FIG. 17, the control is terminated with the checksum calculated from the data in the RAM 76 including the correction value set to “0”. Whether the data in the RAM 76 is normally backed up by checking the checksum of the RAM 76 as a process at the time of power-on including the restoration of the power failure and checking whether the value considering the correction value is “0”. Judging. Therefore, the checksum of the RAM 76 is calculated in a state where the value of the checksum correction value memory 76c is once reset (cleared) to “0” during power failure processing. The 2's complement of the calculated checksum is stored in the checksum correction value memory 76c as a checksum correction value. By including this correction value, the checksum of the RAM 76 becomes “0”.

"NMI interrupt handling"
FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of NMI interrupt processing. A power failure signal 851 is generated in the power failure monitoring circuit 850b due to the occurrence of a power failure. When the main control board C receives the power failure signal 851 via the NMI terminal, the main control board C executes NMI interrupt processing.

  In the NMI interrupt processing, first, the data in the A register (accumulator) and F register (flag register) provided in the MPU 72 are saved in the stack area provided in the RAM 76 (step S1). Next, after the power failure flag is set (step S2), the data saved in the stack area is returned to the A register and the F register again (step S3). With this return processing, the NMI interrupt processing ends.

  If the power failure flag can be set without destroying the contents of both the A register and the F register, the save and return processing (steps S1 and S3) to the stack area can be omitted.

"Timer interrupt processing"
FIG. 16 is a flowchart of timer interrupt processing periodically executed by the main control board C. In this example, a timer interrupt occurs every 1.49 msec. The timer interrupt process is divided into a preceding interrupt process for the MPU 72 and other processes (other interrupt processes). The other interrupt processes are executed after the preceding interrupt process is completed.

  In the case of the processing group of FIG. 16 as the preceding interrupt process, the register saving process (step S11), the power failure flag state determination process (step S12), the watchdog timer process (step S14), and the interrupt end declaration process (step S15) are performed. Here are four interrupt processes.

  Therefore, in the timer interrupt processing shown in FIG. 16, all registers in the MPU 72 used in the main processing (step S61 in FIG. 18) (AF, BC, DE, HL, IX, and IY registers in this example) Is saved in the stack area of the RAM 76 (step S11).

  Thereafter, it is confirmed whether or not the power failure flag is set (step S12). When the power failure flag is set, the power failure process shown in FIG. 17 is executed (step S13), and when it is not set, the processing is skipped.

  After the power failure process or the power failure process is skipped, the following processes (other interrupt processes (Bb + Bc)) are sequentially executed. The following (Process 1) and (Process 2) belong to the preceding interrupt process Ba.

  (Processing 1) A watchdog timer clearing process for initializing (clearing) the value of the watchdog timer for monitoring the occurrence of malfunction (step S14). The watchdog timer clearing time is substantially constant.

  (Process 2) An interrupt end declaration process for giving an interrupt permission to the MPU 72 itself (Step S15). This interrupt end declaration process also takes almost constant processing time.

When the preceding interrupt processing Ba as described above is completed, other interrupt processing (Bb + Bc) is executed. In the other interrupt processing (Bb + Bc), the excitation data generation processing (rotating motor control processing Bb) for the stepping motor 71, which is a rotation driving motor, is executed in advance for the reason described above. That means
(Process 3) Stepping motor control process Bb (step S16) for driving stepping motors 71L to 71R, which are the respective rotation drive motors, for rotating the left, middle, and right rotation cylinders L, M, and R. Since this motor control process Bb is nothing but a process of outputting the corresponding drive signal (excitation data), the processing time (drive signal generation process and output process) is substantially constant.

  Specific examples of other interrupt processing Bc other than the rotating drum drive motor generation control processing are shown below.

  (Process 4) Switch status reading process for reading the status of various switches (82, 83a, etc.) connected to the input / output port 80 (step S17). This switch state reading process does not change much depending on the state of the game, so the processing time is almost constant.

  (Process 5) A sensor monitoring process (step S18) for monitoring the state of various sensors (64 and the like) connected to the input / output port 80. Since the type of sensor to be sensed is fixed, the processing time of this sensor monitoring process is almost constant.

  (Process 6) Timer subtraction process for subtracting the value of each counter or timer (step S19). Since the subtraction processing time differs depending on the counter value and the timer value, it can be said that this processing time is not constant but indefinite.

  (Process 7) A counter process for counting the number of bets when one bet, two bets or three bets and the number of payouts at that time (step S20). Since the betting mode and the number of payouts differ depending on the winning mode, the processing time is naturally different.

  (Process 8) Command output process for transmitting a command or the like to the sub-control board S (Step S21). Since various commands for voice output and display differ depending on game modes, this command processing is not constant.

  (Process 9) A segment data setting process for setting segment data to be displayed on each of the credit number display unit 35, the game number display unit 36, and the payout number display unit 37 (step 22). Since the display of the number of credits, the number of games, and the display of the number of payouts all differ depending on the game mode or the winning state, it can be said that the processing time is also indefinite.

  (Process 10) A segment data display process for supplying the segment data set in the segment data setting process to the display units 35 to 37 and displaying the corresponding numbers, symbols, etc. (Step 23). Since the generation and output of segment data differ depending on what numbers and symbols are displayed, the processing time in this case is indefinite.

  (Process 11) Port output process for outputting output data from the input / output port 80 to the corresponding I / O device (step 24). Since port output processing also differs depending on the number of target I / O devices and the like, the processing time is not strictly constant.

  After executing the processes from (Process 1) to (Process 11), the values of the registers (AF, BC, DE, HL, IX, and IY registers) saved in the stack area correspond to the corresponding values in the MPU 72. Return to the register (step S25). Thereafter, an interrupt permission process (step S26) for permitting the next timer interrupt is performed, and this series of timer interrupt processes is terminated.

  Of the above-described interrupt processing, the preceding interrupt processing is first executed as the initial processing of the MPU 72 which is the central processing unit, and if the control processing for the rotating drum drive motor is performed immediately after the preceding interrupt processing, the initial processing of the MPU 72 is performed. Without hindering, it is possible to output a drive signal to the drum drive motor at regular time intervals.

  In FIG. 16, as the preceding interrupt process, there are four interrupts: a register saving process (step S11), a power failure flag state determination process (step 12), a watchdog timer process (step S14), and an interrupt end declaration process (step S15). Listed treatments, but don't worry about the number. If at least one or more interrupt processes among these processes for the MPU 72 are included, the process can be handled as a preceding interrupt process.

  Further, the above-described drive signal generation and output process (process 3) for the rotating drum drive motor is performed in the middle of each preceding interrupt process (for example, after step S11, even after the preceding interrupt process (before step S11). 14 or before).

  This is because the preceding interrupt process is an initial process for the MPU 72 which is almost constant, so that the cylinder drive motor control process (process 3) precedes the first preceding interrupt process or during each preceding interrupt process. This is because there is no change in making the output interval of the drive signal constant even if the intervening signal is interposed.

  Therefore, if there is an interrupt process other than the preceding interrupt process, and any one of the process times is almost constant, a part of the interrupt process whose process time is almost constant or all of those processes Immediately after the process is completed, the rotating drum drive motor control process may be executed.

  For example, the above-described switch state reading process (process 4) and sensor monitoring process (process 5) described as other interrupt process categories have almost the same processing time. The rotating drum drive motor control process can be performed before or after the processes of {(Process 4) and (Process 5)} and after all of (Process 4) and (Process 5) are completed.

[Processing during power failure]
FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a power failure process executed by the main control board C. The power failure process is executed in the timer interrupt process as described above.

  This power failure process is performed immediately after the register saving process among the timer interrupt processes described above, and therefore can be executed without interrupting other interrupt processes. Therefore, during the process of sending a power recovery command or the like, during the reading of the switch status (on / off), the contents of the counter are being updated, and this power failure process is not executed by interrupting each process. Therefore, in other words, the power failure processing is not executed at irregular timing, so that it is not necessary to create a power failure processing program considering that it is executed at irregular timing. This simplifies the processing program for power failure processing and reduces the program capacity. The same applies to the power recovery process.

  Further, as shown in steps S32 and S42 described later, the process may be returned (returned) to the timer interrupt process after the power failure process is executed, but the power failure process is executed immediately after the register saving process (see FIG. 16). Therefore, it is not necessary to perform the above-described register saving process and its restoration process during the power failure process. Accordingly, the processing program for power failure processing is simplified and the program capacity can be reduced.

  Returning to FIG. 17, the power failure process will be described. In the power failure process, it is confirmed whether or not the value of a command counter (not shown) that handles a normal command is an odd number, that is, whether or not the command transmission is finished (step S31). If it is in the middle of transmission, a return command is executed to stop the power failure process (step S32).

  Since command data is transmitted in units of 1 byte, one command transmission is completed with two timer interrupts. If the value of the command counter used when buffering the command as in step S31 is an odd number, it means that the transmission of the command data of the second byte of the command data has not been completed. Is issued a return instruction to the timer interrupt processing, and the power failure processing is not executed (step S32).

  The command data of the second byte that has not been transmitted is transmitted in the command output process that occurs during the next timer interrupt process executed after the return instruction (step S21 in FIG. 16). At the next timer interrupt processing timing, this command transmission processing is completed.

  In this way, at the beginning of the power failure process, it is determined whether or not the command transmission has been completed. When the transmission is incomplete, the transmission process is given priority. After the unit command transmission process is completed, the power failure process is performed. If executed, there is no need to construct a power failure processing program or a power recovery processing program that takes into account that the power failure processing is executed in the middle of command transmission. As a result, the power failure processing program can be simplified and the capacity of the program memory (ROM 74) can be reduced.

  Since the timer interrupt process needs to be executed twice to complete the transmission of the unit command, the timer interrupt process can be executed at least three times or more, and is sufficient to execute the process of FIG. 17 (steps S31 to S38) described later. It is assumed that the power supply unit 850a provided on the power supply board 850 is configured so that the output of the stabilization voltage (5 volts) used as the drive voltage of the control system is held for a long time.

  As a result, even if a power failure occurs in the middle of command transmission, the main control board C can normally execute the power failure process. Incidentally, in this embodiment, since the timer interruption period is 1.49 msec, the drive voltage is output for more than + α, for example, 30 msec after a power failure occurs (1.49 msec × 3 times = 4.47 msec). To continue.

  Now, as shown in step S31 of FIG. 18, if the transmission of the command is completed, the interruption process after step S33 is executed. First, the stack pointer value of the MPU 72 is saved in the stack pointer storage memory 76b in the RAM 76, the value of the checksum correction value memory 76c is cleared (= 0), and the output port of the input / output port 80 is set. The output state is cleared, and all actuators (not shown in FIG. 3) are turned off (steps S33, S34, S35).

  Thereafter, all the values in the RAM 76 are added to calculate a checksum (step S36). A two's complement is obtained from the calculated checksum, and this is newly written in the checksum correction value memory 76c as a checksum correction value (step S37). By using the correction value obtained by this calculation process, the checksum of the RAM 76 becomes zero. By setting the checksum of the RAM 76 to zero, subsequent writing to the RAM 76 is prohibited (step S38).

  Thereafter, the power failure signal 851 is read from the input / output port 80, and the state of the power failure signal 851 (ON or OFF) is confirmed (step S39). This state confirmation is repeated until the drive voltage of the control system becomes equal to or lower than the stabilization voltage (5 volts), and during that time, infinite loop processing is performed (step S39).

  As a result of checking the state of the power failure signal 851, if the power failure signal 851 is not output (turned on), that is, if the power failure signal 851 is turned off, the power failure state has been recovered (step S39). ), Writing to the RAM 76 is permitted, and after resetting the power failure flag, a return instruction is executed to return to the timer interrupt processing shown in FIG. 16 (steps S40, S41, S42).

  In this power failure process, firstly, saving processing from a plurality of registers provided in the MPU 72 is not performed, so that return processing to these registers is not required even when a return instruction is executed. As a result, the capacity of the power failure processing program can be reduced as described above.

  Second, since the power failure process is a subroutine configuration and is executed by a call instruction, the return to the timer interrupt process only needs to execute a return instruction, and the return process is simplified.

  Third, transition to timer interrupt processing is performed by execution of the return instruction, and when this timer interrupt processing is executed, the state after execution is re-output to the output port of the input / output port 80. As described above, even if all output ports are cleared by the power failure process, the output state of the cleared output port can be restored to the original state only by executing the return command.

  Fourth, since the power failure signal 851 is checked not only during the process during power failure, but also after the power failure signal 851 is not output, the power failure flag is erroneously caused by noise, for example. Even if it has been set, control can be returned to normal without entering an infinite loop.

  The reconfirmation process of the power failure signal 851 shown in step S39 may be performed at any timing after the checksum of the RAM 76 is calculated. This is because the checksum calculation process of the RAM 76 requires a relatively long processing time, and therefore, after the checksum calculation process, the reconfirmation process of the power failure signal 851 can be performed at any time. Therefore, the reconfirmation process of the power failure signal 851 may be performed before or after the process of step S37. When the power failure signal 851 is reconfirmed before and after step S37, this reconfirmation processing is executed only once. After the write prohibition processing to the RAM 76 (step S38), the determination processing is performed. An infinite loop configuration is not performed.

[Main processing]
FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a main process in the main control board C executed after the power is turned on.

  When the power switch is turned on or the power is turned on again due to a power failure recovery, this main process is executed. First, the value of the stack pointer is set in the MPU 72, and an interrupt mode that permits interrupt processing is set (steps S51 and S52). Next, initialization processing such as various settings for the register group in the MPU 72, the I / O device, and the like is performed (step S53).

  When these initialization processes are completed, the power failure flag is set, the reset state, and the on / off state of the reset switch 82 are respectively confirmed (steps S54 and S55). Here, when the power failure flag is set, it means that the power failure process has been executed when the power is turned off, in other words, the data is backed up in the RAM 76. When the reset switch 82 is in the ON state, it indicates that all the data written to the RAM 76 or the backed up data is cleared (= 0) by the operation of the operator (such as the hall manager).

  Therefore, when the power failure flag is set as in steps S54 and S55 and the reset switch 82 is turned off, the data clear process of the RAM 76 is no longer necessary. In this case, the RAM clear process is skipped. Then, the process proceeds to step S57 and subsequent steps.

  On the other hand, when the power failure flag is reset as in steps S54 and S55, or when the reset switch 82 is in the ON state, a clear process for the RAM 76 is executed and all data written in the RAM 76 is cleared. (Step S56).

  In step S57, the ON / OFF state of the setting key switch 83a is confirmed. If the setting key switch 83a is in the ON state, the RAM 76 is cleared and a six-stage probability setting process corresponding to the operation position of the setting key switch 83a is executed (steps S58, S59). ). By the probability setting process, the winning probability of the game is switched to six stages. When the setting key switch 83a is in the off state, the process directly proceeds to the processing after step S60.

  In step S60, the on / off state of the power failure flag is confirmed again. As a result of executing the clear process on the RAM 76 in step S56 or step S58, when the backup data in the RAM 76 is cleared, the power failure flag is reset. Therefore, when the reset state of the power failure flag is confirmed, the normal game Each process (main process) is executed (steps S60 and S61).

  Thus, the game mode of the slot machine 10 is repeatedly executed as the main process.

  In step S60, when the power failure flag is set, the process proceeds to power recovery processing. The fact that the power failure flag is set means that the processing route such as steps S54-S55-S57-S60 has passed through, as is apparent from the processing of FIG. This means that step S60 has been reached without executing any subroutine processing such as S56, S58 or S59. Therefore, since the data in the RAM 76 is not rewritten at all, the power recovery process needs to check whether the data in the RAM 76 is normal.

  For this purpose, first, the checksum value of the RAM 76 is checked (step S62). If the value is normal, that is, if the checksum value including the checksum correction value is zero, the backup process for the RAM 76 is considered normal and is restored. Electric processing (steps S63 to S67) is executed. This is because the correction value is set so that the checksum value of the RAM 76 becomes zero when the backup data is written to the RAM 76 in the power failure process as described above.

  In step S62, if the checksum value is abnormal, that is, if the checksum value is not zero, there is a high possibility that the data has been destroyed during the backup process of the RAM 76. Therefore, in such a case, interrupt processing is prohibited (step S68), and all the output ports in the input / output port 80 are cleared to control all the actuators connected to the input / output port 80 to the OFF state. At the same time, an error is displayed to notify the hole manager or the like that a backup error has occurred (steps S69 and S70).

  Next, the power recovery process will be described.

  In this power recovery process, first, the value of the stack pointer storage memory 76b is written to the stack pointer of the MPU 72, and the state of the stack is restored to the state before the power is turned off (step S63). Next, a command (recovery command) used in the power recovery process is written to the recovery command buffer 76d prepared in the RAM 76, and the number of data of the written command is written to the power recovery command counter 76e in units of bytes (step S64). ).

  When writing the power recovery command to the power recovery command buffer 76d, one byte of the power recovery command to be transmitted first among the power recovery commands is written to the lower address (first address + 1), and the upper address (first address) The power recovery command for the remaining 1 byte to be transmitted later is written in (address). This is because the transmission order (in bytes) of the power recovery command is determined based on the value of the power recovery command counter 76e. By transmitting the power recovery command to the sub control board S, it is possible to notify the sub control board S of the execution of the power recovery process.

  After the power recovery process, as shown in FIG. 18, the game state is stopped and the automatic settlement setting storage process is performed, and then the switch state initialization process is performed (steps S65 and S66). Thereafter, the power failure flag is reset and the return instruction RET is executed, thereby completing the power recovery process (step S67).

  As a result of execution of the return instruction, the value of the program counter of the MPU 72 becomes a value obtained by incrementing the value of the program counter stored in the stack area (step S13 for performing power failure processing) by one, as shown in FIG. This time, the watchdog timer process (step S14), which is the next process after the power failure, is executed.

[Rotating drum motor control process]
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20.

  When the preceding interrupt process Ba for the MPU 72 as shown in steps S11, S14, and S15 is completed in the timer interrupt process shown in FIG. 16, the process then shifts to the control process (other interrupt process Bb) for the rotating drum drive motor.

  This rotating drum drive motor control process is also a subroutine, and when the initialization process is completed as shown in FIG. 19 (step S81), in the original motor control process routine (step S100), a stepping motor that is mainly a drive motor. A generation process of a drive signal for rotation control for 71 (specifically, excitation data to be described later, hereinafter referred to as excitation data) is performed, and the generated excitation data is temporarily stored in the RAM 76. The generation processing time is substantially constant, and in the motor control processing routine, in addition to excitation data generation processing, symbol offset processing and symbol number update processing are performed.

  Excitation data generation processing for rotation control (excitation data acquisition processing from the RAM 76) and the like are sequentially executed for the respective spinning cylinders L, M, and R. Excitation data generation processing for one rotating cylinder, for example, the rotating cylinder L, is performed using rotation control data (described later) for the rotating cylinder L provided in the work area of the RAM 76, and the generation processing is completed. Then, in order to shift to the next spinning cylinder, for example, excitation data generation processing for the spinning cylinder M, the transition process (address changing process) to the working area for the spinning cylinder M is performed after software. Is returned to the motor control processing routine (steps S82, S83, S100).

  When the rotation control processing for all the three spinning cylinders L, M, and R, that is, the excitation data generation processing, is completed (step S83), the excitation for each of the spinning cylinders L, M, and R among the data stored in the RAM 76. Data is output to the input / output port 80 (step S84).

  Since the output to the input / output port 80 is a data writing process to the corresponding output port of the input / output port 80, the motor driver 712 is supplied simultaneously with the writing of excitation data to the input / output port 80. . As a result, the stepping motor 71 is immediately energized to the excitation phase designated by the excitation data, and the rotor 60 is excited.

  That is, the control process (step S16) for the stepping motor (rotating motor) 71 in the timer interrupt process shown in FIG. Therefore, the excitation data can always be output at a substantially constant cycle (timer interrupt cycle) even during constant speed rotation, including during motor acceleration, or during stoppage.

  By performing such an interrupt process, a stable excitation process for the stepping motor 71 is realized, so that step-out and instability of rotation can be eliminated. This is because if the excitation period is short at the beginning of motor acceleration or the length of the excitation period is uneven, step-out is likely to occur, and if the length of the excitation period is frequent even during constant speed rotation, unstable rotation occurs. It is easy.

  FIG. 20 shows a specific processing example of the motor control processing routine S100 described above. In this motor control process, at least a wait timer, an acceleration counter, and an excitation order pointer (all of which are software processes using the RAM 76) are used.

  Here, when one timer interruption period is a unit excitation time T, an excitation time (number of timer interruptions) in the same excitation mode is set by the wait timer. An example is shown in FIG. In the first acceleration period, the two-phase excitation mode (acceleration order 1) is continuously executed for 130 units, that is, 130 interrupts. The total excitation time at that time is 130 × 1.49 msec. This is because the timer interruption is performed every 1.49 msec.

  Therefore, for example, in the second acceleration period, in the acceleration order 2, the one-phase excitation mode is continuously executed over 8 units (= 8 interrupts = 8 excitation times).

  The acceleration counter is for designating the acceleration order in FIG. In the case of FIG. 10, the acceleration process is composed of 25-step excitation patterns (acceleration order 1 to 25). In order to designate a specific acceleration position, a counter value from “0” to “24” may be designated as shown in FIG. 10, so that the initial value of the acceleration counter is originally “24” or “0”. As will be described later, in the software configuration in this embodiment, the initial value set in the acceleration counter is “25”.

  Since each data in FIG. 10 is tabulated and stored in the ROM 74, FIG. 10 may be called an excitation time and acceleration counter table.

  The excitation order pointer is a pointer used when determining the excitation phase for the stepping motor 71 shown in FIG. When the stepping motor 71 of 1-2 phase excitation is used, 1-phase excitation and 2-phase excitation are performed alternately, and the phase excitation pattern at that time is 8 patterns as shown in FIG. Which excitation data is acquired as output excitation data at which phase excitation and which is temporarily stored in the RAM 76 is designated by the value (0 to 7) of this excitation order pointer.

  The value of the excitation order pointer at the start of rotation differs depending on which pattern the excitation phase used when the motor was stopped immediately before, as will be described later. During rotation, it is used while sequentially updating the excitation order pointer value.

  Subsequently, the motor control process will be described in relation to the operation of the start button 52 and the stop buttons 53 to 55. The following description is only an example of processing for the stepping motor 71 for controlling one cylinder.

[No. Processing before operation of start button 52]
The initial value of the wait timer before operating the start button 52 is zero, and the value of the acceleration counter is also zero. Therefore, when the motor control process is called, since the value of the wait timer is first zero (step S101), the process proceeds to step S111 to check the value of the acceleration counter. Since the value of the acceleration counter is also zero, in this case, the output excitation data is set to zero and stored in step S112. Thereafter, the process returns to the timer interrupt processing routine of FIG. Since the output excitation data is zero, the stepping motor 71 is in a rotation stopped state in the mode before the start button 52 is operated.

[No.2. Processing when start button 52 is operated]
The operation of the start button 52 is detected in each process of the normal game in the process step S61 shown in FIG. When it is detected that the start button 52 has been operated, the value of the acceleration counter is set to “25” in this processing step S61.

  Even if the start button 52 is operated, the value of the wait timer is still zero, so in this case as well, the process proceeds to step S111 through step S101 to determine the value of the acceleration counter. Since the value of the acceleration counter is set to “25”, in this case, a subtraction process is executed in step S121. As a result, since the value of the acceleration counter is not zero (step S122), an excitation time value (see FIG. 10) corresponding to the value of the acceleration counter after subtraction is acquired in step S131, and the acquired excitation time value is Set to the wait timer.

  Since the subtraction process in step S121 is a process of decrementing by 1, the value of the acceleration counter after the subtraction is “24”. In this case, as apparent from the table of FIG. The value (= 130) of the excitation time (130 interrupt) corresponding to “24” is set in the wait timer. Thus, the continuous phase excitation time (= 130 × 1.49 msec) corresponding to the first acceleration period is set.

  When the process for setting the wait timer is completed, an update process for incrementing the excitation order pointer by “1” is executed (step S132). Then, the excitation data corresponding to the updated excitation order pointer value (in this example, “5”) is obtained from the table shown in FIG. 9, and the excitation data (06H) is output excitation data for the rotor L. Is stored in the RAM 76 (step S134). The stored excitation data is simultaneously output to the input / output port 80 as shown in FIG. 19 after obtaining the excitation data for the other stepping motors for the cylinder drive.

  Thereafter, the value of the symbol offset is updated, and at the same time, a process for detecting one rotation of the spinning cylinder by the spinning cylinder index sensor 44 (see FIG. 4) shown in step S135 and subsequent steps is performed. Of these steps, steps S144 and S145 are the rotating cylinder abnormality process, which is a process when the rotating cylinder does not rotate normally despite the excitation data being applied, and steps S151 to S154 are the stepping motor 71. Is a rotation stop process (brake process).

  As will be described later, if the motor acceleration process is normal, the above steps S144 to S154 are skipped and the process returns to the timer interrupt routine shown in FIG.

  Accordingly, the counter value “25” is set in the acceleration counter, and excitation data for starting the motor is supplied to the stepping motors 71L, 71M, and 71R for the three cylinders L, M, and R, respectively. The rotor starts. When the next timer interruption time comes, the motor control processing routine S100 is called again. The processing at this time will be described next.

  In this case, the value of the wait timer is “130” (step S101). At this time, a subtraction process for subtracting 1 from the value of the wait timer is executed, and the process returns to the timer interrupt routine (step S102). As a result, the values of the acceleration counter and the excitation order pointer hold the same values as at the previous timer interruption. That is, the motor acceleration process by the same excitation phase (in this example, two-phase excitation) is continued.

  The motor acceleration process using the same excitation phase is continuously performed for a total of 130 interrupts, and the wait timer is subtracted each time a timer interrupt occurs. As a result, when 130 interrupt is performed, the value of the wait timer becomes zero (step S101).

  On the other hand, since the value of the acceleration counter does not change at all during the first acceleration period, when the value of the wait timer becomes zero, the process proceeds to step S121 via step S111, and the acceleration counter is subtracted for the first time. The The excitation time (8 interrupts) corresponding to the acceleration counter value “23” subtracted by 1 is acquired from the table of FIG. 10, and the acquired value (= 8) of this excitation time is set in the wait timer (step S122, S131).

  At the same time, the value of the excitation order pointer is incremented to “6”, and excitation data “02H” (one-phase excitation) corresponding to the value “6” of this excitation order pointer is stored in the RAM 76 as output excitation data (step). S132, S134). Thereafter, similar output excitation data acquisition processing is performed for the other spinning cylinders M and R, and when the acquisition processing of output excitation data is completed for all the spinning cylinders L, M, and R, these output excitation data are obtained. Are output to the input / output port 80, respectively, and the second acceleration period process is started. Accordingly, at the beginning of the second acceleration period, one-phase excitation is continuously performed for 8 interrupts.

  The first processing in the second acceleration period is processing corresponding to the acceleration order 2 (see FIG. 10). In the acceleration process in the acceleration order 2, when the timer interruption is completed for eight interruptions (steps S101 and S102), the value of the acceleration counter is further subtracted (step S121), so that the value of the excitation order pointer is “7”. Since the excitation data “03H” is read from the table of FIG. 9, continuous acceleration processing for 7 interrupts is performed by two-phase excitation.

  In this way, while the acceleration counter is sequentially subtracted, the excitation data designated by the excitation order pointer is sequentially read out and the acceleration process is executed during the second acceleration period, so the value of the acceleration counter in step S121 is finally reached. Becomes “0”. When the value of the acceleration counter becomes “0”, this value is checked in step S122. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S123, and processing for setting the value of the acceleration counter to “1” is executed.

  Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S131, and a value (= 1) corresponding to the excitation time (one interrupt) corresponding to the acceleration counter value “0” when subtracted in step S121 is set in the wait timer. Thereafter, the excitation order pointer is updated, and in this example, excitation data “01H” corresponding to the pointer “0” is read from the table of FIG. 9 and set as output excitation data (steps S132 and S134). . Therefore, when the value of the acceleration counter in step S121 becomes “0”, excitation is performed for one timer interrupt.

  Even if the value of the acceleration counter is set to “0” in step S121, “1” is added in the process of step S123. Therefore, in the next timer interruption process, as the next processing step of the acceleration order 25 (FIG. 10) which is the excitation order, the process proceeds to step S121 via step S111 and the acceleration counter is subtracted again. As a result, the value of the acceleration counter becomes “0” again. In step S131, the excitation time (= 1) corresponding to the acceleration order 25 in FIG. 10 is set in the wait timer. Further, the excitation order pointer is updated to “2” in the process of step S132. As a result, the excitation phase is changed to the two-phase excitation and the excitation process is performed for one interrupt.

  That is, after the acceleration order 25, the acceleration counter “0” and “1” addition / subtraction processing is alternately repeated in steps S121 and S123, and excitation is always performed by one interrupt. Is a rotation mode in which one-phase excitation and two-phase excitation are alternately repeated. This is nothing but the constant speed process. In other words, when the excitation process proceeds to the acceleration order 25, the mode changes to the constant speed rotation mode thereafter.

[3. Processing when the stop button is pressed]
Now, when the user presses any stop button 53-55 in this constant speed rotation mode and performs an operation to stop the rotation, the rotation of the rotation is stopped by the following process.

  Prior to the rotation stop process, the symbol offset and symbol number will be described. As shown in FIG. 20, when the excitation order pointer is updated in the processing system of the acceleration counter, the symbol offset value is updated at the same time, and the rotating cylinder L by the rotating index sensor 44 (see FIG. 4) is updated. Is detected (steps S136 and S137). When the rotating index sensor 44 detects one rotation (one rotation) of the rotating cylinder L, both the symbol offset counter and the symbol number counter are reset to zero (step S137).

  The symbol number is a serial number of the symbol shown in FIG. 5, and since a total of 21 symbols are prepared, the symbol number takes a value of “0” to “20”. Since the symbol offset is a value obtained by dividing one symbol into 24 equal parts in the rotation direction of the rotating drum L, it takes a value of “0” to “23”. When the symbol offset value becomes “24”, the symbol number is updated and the symbol offset value is reset to 0 (steps S141 and S142).

  Even if the brake is applied, the rotor 60 slides and stops for 3 to 4 phases. As described above, the excitation phase at the time of starting the motor is preferably two-phase excitation, and the operation of the stop buttons 53 to 55 is performed so that the brake is started immediately after the two-phase excitation, that is, at the timing of the one-phase excitation. Regardless of the timing, it is necessary to know the motor stop timing (rotating cylinder stop timing).

  Therefore, as a process after the symbol number update process or the symbol offset is reset in step S142, a process step for determining the turning stop time as in step S151 is set. In step S151, it is determined whether the excitation phase currently being output is two-phase excitation and the design offset value is within a range that does not exceed the predetermined offset value.

  Here, whether the current excitation phase is two-phase excitation may be referred to the value of the excitation order pointer, and whether the predetermined offset value is exceeded may be referred to the symbol offset value. Considering the symbol offset value means that the greater the symbol offset value, the greater the relative displacement of the symbol position when the adjacent rotating cylinder stops. This is because when the human discriminating power is taken into account, when the offset is 4 offset or more, it is possible to clearly recognize the shift of the design. Therefore, it is necessary to execute the rotation stopping process when the design offset value is 4 or less.

  Therefore, when this condition is not satisfied, the process returns to the timer interrupt processing routine of FIG. 16, but when the rotating cylinder stop condition of step S151 is satisfied and any one of the stop buttons 53 to 55 is pressed, the stop pattern is stopped. Is set, and the set stop symbol (symbol number) is compared with the current symbol number (step S152). And when both symbols correspond, when the conditions of step S151 are satisfied, the process shifts to a brake process (step S153). The stop symbol refers to a symbol corresponding to the winning combination that is selected when the start button 52 is operated.

  In this brake processing, brake excitation data setting processing is performed. In this example, the four phases are set to be excited simultaneously. Furthermore, the brake time is set in the wait timer. In this example, since 159 interrupts (= 236.91 msec) are selected as the brake time, “159” is set in the wait timer. In addition, the acceleration counter is reset (= 0). When the wait timer is set to the above-described value (= 159), the processes of steps S101 and S102 are performed for 159 interrupts, and during that time, the excitation data for braking is continuously output and the rotor 60 is completely stopped.

  After step S153, an adjustment process is performed on the excitation order pointer used at the next rotation (step 154). The excitation order pointer adjustment process takes into account the slip of the rotor 60. As described above, at the time of the braking process, the rotor 60 almost stops after slipping for about 3 to 4 phases. Therefore, when the brake is applied with the excitation order pointer “0” shown in FIG. It is estimated that the rotor 60 is stopped at the position “4”, and in this example, the adjustment of the excitation phase is advanced by “4 excitation phases”. As a result, the value of the excitation order pointer after the update in step S132 is “5”.

[Re-acceleration processing and abnormal processing]
As already described, during the motor acceleration period, the value of the symbol offset is updated in accordance with the addition / subtraction of the acceleration counter, and the symbol offset is updated each time a timer interrupt occurs during constant speed rotation (step S135). When the updated value is “24”, the symbol number is updated and the symbol offset value is reset (steps S141 and S142). Further, after the symbol number is updated, the processing steps of steps S141-S143-S151 are not performed until the value does not exceed the maximum value “21” and the symbol offset exceeds the maximum value “24”. The design number update and the design offset update and reset process continue. Further, the symbol number and the symbol offset are reset each time the rotating drum L makes one rotation (steps S136 and S137).

  By performing this process, it is possible to determine which symbol passes through the exposure window based on the symbol number, and to determine which position of the symbol is located in the exposure window 31L based on the value of the symbol offset. Can do.

  The stepping motor 71 is normally accelerated by the start button 52, and the above-described situation is reproduced in the case of normal rotation that reaches constant speed rotation. However, if normal rotation is not achieved without normal acceleration, or if the rotation is stopped by deliberately holding the rotating drum, the following abnormal rotation processing is performed.

  First, since the acceleration process is completed by one rotation of the rotating cylinder, in the normal case, when the acceleration process is performed, the first rotation of the rotating cylinder should be detected by the rotating cylinder index sensor 44. . However, if the acceleration process is abnormal, the symbol number update process proceeds even if the first rotation of the rotating drum is not detected in step S136 (steps S141 and 142).

  As is clear from FIG. 5, the symbol numbers are from “0” to “20”. However, when such an abnormal state occurs, the symbol number is further updated and the value reaches the maximum value “21”. (Steps S141 and S142) When the next excitation phase switching timing is reached, a counter addition / subtraction process is performed in step S121. Then, the symbol offset value is updated as before (steps S122 and S135).

  In that case, the value of the symbol number is checked in step S143 through step S141. Since the symbol numbers are from “0” to “20”, when the update maximum value “21” is exceeded, it can be regarded as an abnormal rotation state. Even in this case, in consideration of the variation in the operation of the stepping motor 71, in this example, when the symbol offset advances by 4 offsets or more (step S144), it is determined that the rotation state is abnormal for the first time, and the abnormality process is performed (step S145). . In this case, the reacceleration setting process is performed, the initial value “25” is set in the acceleration counter, and the process returns to step S111 again from the next timer interruption period to perform the reacceleration process.

  The stepping motor 71 has variations in operation, and ideally one rotation = 504 pulses. However, in some cases, it is possible to make one rotation with 503 pulses or 505 pulses. Minute is set as the abnormality detection value.

  Further, when the rotating cylinder does not rotate for some reason, for example, when the rotating of the rotating cylinder is intentionally suppressed, the rotating cylinder index sensor 44 detects the rotation of the rotating cylinder in step S136 as described above. Only one symbol number is continuously updated without detecting one rotation. As a result, when the addition / subtraction processing is performed by the acceleration counter by the next interruption when the update value of the symbol number reaches the maximum value “21”, the symbol offset is updated (steps S121 and S135), and the symbol offset value is maximized. When the value is equal to or less than “24” (step S141), the process proceeds to step S143. Since it is checked in step 143 that the symbol number has been updated to the maximum value “21”, when the symbol number has the maximum value “21”, it is regarded as an abnormal state and the updated symbol is rotated. When the symbol offset is shifted by 4 offsets or more (step S144), the process proceeds to step 145 and the same abnormality process as described above is executed. This abnormality process is repeated until the reset switch 82 is operated.

  When the number of abnormal processes in step S145 exceeds a prescribed number (for example, three times), a process for notifying this abnormal state (flashing process for an abnormal lamp provided in the hall, buzzer notification process for a hall manager, etc.) ) Can also be taken.

  In the above-described embodiment, a two-phase stepping motor adopting the 1-2 phase excitation method is used as the drive motor. However, a 4-phase stepping motor adopting a 3-4 phase excitation method or 4- A five-phase stepping motor that employs a five-phase excitation method can also be used.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping the spinning cylinders, an interrupt process for generating a signal for driving the spinning cylinder driving motor at regular intervals. In addition to being generated within the period, the drive signal generated within the interrupt processing period is output at regular intervals.

  According to this, a drive signal for the rotating drum drive motor is generated within the interrupt cycle, and the generated drive signal is output at regular intervals. Even if an interrupt cycle occurs every fixed period, if there are multiple processes to be processed within this interrupt cycle, the processing time until all interrupt processing ends may vary depending on the state of the game. By outputting the drive signal at regular intervals, the influence of this variation can be avoided.

  When the output timing of the drive signal fluctuates for each output, the excitation time to the drive motor also fluctuates, thereby causing the step-out of the drive motor and the instability of rotation. In this invention, the drive signal is always output at regular intervals. By doing so, such a problem can be avoided. By ensuring the stability of the rotation, it is possible to increase the concentration in the game and to increase the interest of the player.

  As a periodic process, there is a periodic interrupt process. Among these periodic interrupt processes, a timer interrupt process exists. When any of these interrupt processes is classified into an interrupt process in which the processing time is almost constant and an interrupt process in which the processing time varies slightly, the processing time is indefinite. Prior to the interrupt process, the control process for the rotating drum drive motor is executed.

  Accordingly, at least two of the timer interrupt processes are the process time of the register process provided in the MPU, the power failure flag state determination process, the watchdog timer process, and the interrupt end declaration process for the MPU, in which the processing time is substantially constant. When the above preceding interrupt processing exists, the control processing for the rotating drum drive motor is performed at the beginning of the first preceding interrupt processing, during the preceding preceding interrupt processing, or after the last preceding interrupt processing. It doesn't matter.

  This is because the processing time of any preceding interrupt processing is almost constant, so that even if these interrupt processing is performed prior to the control processing for the rotating drum drive motor, the drive signal for driving the rotating drum drive motor is generated. This is because the output interval can always be constant.

  Interrupt processing such as power failure flag state determination processing, watchdog timer processing, and interrupt termination declaration processing for the MPU is processed prior to other interrupt processing, including saving processing for a register group provided in the MPU.

  In this way, it is possible to perform control processing for the rotating drum drive motor immediately after the preceding interrupt processing, and it is possible to output a driving signal for the rotating drum drive motor at regular time intervals without interfering with the processing of the central processing unit. .

  Of course, even in the interrupt processing other than the preceding interrupt processing, when there is an interrupt processing whose processing time is almost constant, this interrupt processing is executed prior to the interrupt processing whose processing time is indefinite and the processing time is fixed. It is also possible to perform control processing for the rotating drum drive motor before or after the interrupt processing. It goes without saying that the control process for the rotating drum drive motor can be performed at the stage when all the interrupt processes with a fixed processing time have been completed.

  If the process of the rotating drum drive motor is performed before or after or during the interruption process in which the processing time becomes substantially constant, a driving signal for the rotating drum drive motor can be output at regular time intervals for the same reason as described above. If the output timing of the drive signal can be made constant, the excitation timing and excitation interval (output excitation interval) to the drive motor by this drive signal become almost constant, so that the drive motor can be prevented from stepping out and unstable rotation.

  By fixing the output timing for outputting the interrupt processing result, the drive motor can be output at regular intervals. By fixing the timing for outputting the interrupt processing result, even if all interrupt processing processed within the interrupt period is completed, if the drive signal is output after the output timing of the processing result, the interrupt processing result This is because the output timing of the drive signal is always constant even if the processing time varies. The processing result can be achieved by making the data write timing to the input / output port constant.

  Since the drive motor is a stepping motor that employs the 1-2 phase excitation method, high torque and high stop accuracy can be obtained. Since the drive signal at this time is excitation data for phase excitation, if this drive signal is directly applied to the motor driver, the rotor can be driven by energizing a specific excitation phase as it is.

  The gaming machine described above is a pachinko machine. The pachinko machine has an operation handle as its basic configuration, and in response to the operation of the operation handle, a game ball is launched into a predetermined game area, and the game ball is awarded to an operation port arranged at a predetermined position in the game area. As a necessary condition, the display of the variation of the symbols on the display device is started, and during the occurrence of the special game state, the winning opening arranged at a predetermined position in the game area has a predetermined mode. It is a gaming machine in which a game ball can be won by being released at, and a valuable value according to the number of winnings is given.

  The valuable value can be returned as a prize sphere, or valuable information corresponding to the valuable value can be written using a card-like recording medium such as a magnetic card. There are two types of pachinko machines: a special game state (big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game balls, and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes game balls. There are different types of gaming modes.

  The gaming machine described above is a slot machine. The slot machine, as its basic configuration, is equipped with a display device that displays a fixed symbol after a symbol string consisting of a plurality of symbols for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state. As a result, the change of the symbol is started, and the change of the symbol is stopped due to the operation of the stop button or after a lapse of a predetermined time. This is a gaming machine provided with special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player as a necessary condition.

  This gaming machine includes a special game state (a big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game media and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the game media. There are different types of gaming modes. Typical examples of game media used in this type of gaming machine include coins and medals.

  The above-described gaming machine is a gaming machine in which a pachinko machine and a slot machine are fused. Such a gaming machine (multi-function machine) includes a display device that, as its basic configuration, displays a fixed symbol after variably displaying a symbol string composed of a plurality of identification information for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state. Furthermore, the variation of the symbol is started due to the operation of the starting operation means such as the operation lever, and the design is caused by the operation of the stopping operation means such as the stop button or when a predetermined time elapses. Special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player on the condition that the change of the game is stopped and the fixed symbol at the time of stoppage is a specific symbol, and using a game ball as a game medium The gaming machine is configured such that a predetermined number of game balls are required at the start of variation of the identification information, and a large number of game balls are paid out when a special game state occurs.

  This gaming machine includes a special game state (a big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game balls, and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the game balls. There are different types of gaming modes.

  The present invention is not limited to the gaming machine of the above-described embodiment, and can of course be implemented in various forms as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  First, in addition to the case where the spinning drum drive motor control process, which is one of the gaming machine processes performed periodically, is performed within the timer interrupt process as described above, in the main process (FIG. 18), Time information (timer information) output at regular intervals is monitored at any time (polling processing), and when a predetermined time is reached, control processing for the stepping motor 71 is executed (called) as one of a series of processing. The present invention can be applied even when the drive signal is configured to be output to the input / output port.

  In this case, the first timer interrupt process in the interrupt process procedure shown in FIG. 16 is “call of interrupt process”, and the processes of steps S15 and S26 peculiar to the timer interrupt process are not required.

  Even when interrupt processing is executed while monitoring the timer information in this way, the output interval of the generated drive signal can be reduced by executing the rotating drum drive motor control processing prior to the processing group with an indefinite processing time. Can always be constant.

  Further, in the above-described embodiments, the number of rotators may be two or more, and the display device including the rotator may be a vertical type or a horizontal type. The rotating directions of the rotating cylinders do not need to be aligned in the same direction, and the present invention can be applied to a gaming machine having rotating cylinders that rotate in reverse directions. The present invention may be applied to any slot machine such as B type, C type, A type and C type composite type, B type and C type composite type, etc. Furthermore, the present invention may be applied to a multi-function machine in which a slot machine and a pachinko machine are combined, and it is obvious that the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained in any case.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Slot machine, 11 ... Main body, 12 ... Front door, 30 ... Game panel, 31L, 31M, 31R ... Exposed window, 40 ... Cylindrical frame member, 41 ... Boss part, 42 ... Boss reinforcement board, 43 ... Motor plate, 44 ... Circle index photo sensor, 45 ... Sensor cut van, 47 ... Seal, 51 ... Credit button, 52 ... Start lever, 76 ... Stop button for left-handed cylinder, 54 ... Stop button for middle-cylinder, 55 ... Right-handed cylinder Stop button, 71L ... Stepping motor for left turning cylinder, 71M ... Stepping motor for middle turning cylinder, 71R ... Stepping motor for right turning cylinder, 72 ... MPU, L ... Left turning cylinder, M ... Middle turning cylinder, R ... Right Cylinder, 76 ... RAM, C ... main control board, S ... sub control board.

Claims (1)

In a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping these spinning cylinders,
As one of the processing means of the gaming machine that is periodically performed, has a rotating drum drive motor control processing means,
In this rotating drum drive motor control processing means, a signal for driving the rotating drum drive motor is generated,
A game machine characterized in that the generated drive signal is output to the rotating drum drive motor side at regular time intervals.

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