JP2602151B2 - Gaming machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is, pachinko gaming machine, arrange ball game machine relates to arrange ball type pachinko machine (so-called Arepachi) or a game machine, which is represented by a coin game machine or the like and, more particularly, to a micro computer
Provided, relates to a gaming machine that is controlled Ri by the said microcomputer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A game machine of this type operates based on a control program stored in a storage means such as a ROM in a generally known game machine.
Configured to be controlled by a microcomputer
There was something. In this conventional gaming machine, the order is determined according to the gaming state according to the control program.
So that the control operation is executed correctly and the game operation proceeds
Was composed.

[0003]

On the other hand, in this type of gaming machine, there are cases where the gaming machine enters an abnormal state in which an alarm should be issued, and in such a conventional gaming machine, it is assumed that such an abnormal situation occurs. Also, no alarm processing is performed, and the gaming machine may be left in an abnormal state without being repaired.

[0004] Therefore, when the gaming machine is in an abnormal state to be warned,
The game machine has an abnormality determination function to determine whether or not
When an abnormality is determined, an alarm process is performed and
It is conceivable to configure such that inconvenience can be prevented.
However, simply providing an abnormality determination function will not
During the warning process based on the discrimination,
The control operation based on the control program is executed,
The control operation of the gaming machine is still executed in spite of the occurrence of an abnormal condition to be warned, and there is a disadvantage that the game proceeds with the abnormality still occurring.

The present invention has been conceived in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to perform an alarm process to deal with an abnormal state when an abnormal state that requires an alarm processing occurs in a gaming machine. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to prevent the inconvenience that the gaming machine is controlled and the game progresses despite the occurrence of the abnormal state.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine in which a microcomputer is provided, and a gaming operation is controlled by the microcomputer, wherein control data used for controlling the gaming operation is stored. Means for judging abnormality of control data stored in the storage means, wherein part of the storage data stored in the storage means is read and the read storage data is converted to abnormal data. First abnormality determination means for determining whether or not the control data stored in the storage means is initialized when the first abnormality determination means determines an abnormality in the partial storage data. Initialization means to be initialized and a game control operation when the gaming machine is operating normally are divided into a plurality of stages of processing processes, and provided for each of the divided processing processes. Dividing process executing means for executing the dividing process process, alarm processing operating means for executing an alarm processing operation when the gaming machine is in an abnormal state to be alarmed, and processing proceeding by executing the dividing process executing means Indexing means for determining a division process to be executed next based on which stage the process has reached, and operating division process execution means corresponding to the determined division process; and A second abnormality determining means for determining at any time whether or not the state is an abnormal state to be warned; and if the second abnormality determining means has not determined that the state is abnormal, the control state is changed to The indexing operation by the indexing unit is performed as needed, and the division process execution unit corresponding to the indexed division processing process is set to the operating state. When the determination of the abnormal state is made by another means, the operation of the division process executing means is stopped at the time when the determination of the abnormal state is made, and the alarm by the alarm processing operation means is made. A control state switch for switching to an alarm processing state for executing processing, and for returning to a state in which the operation of the division process executing means is continuously performed again when the second abnormality determination means does not determine that an abnormal state has occurred. Means, the first abnormality determination means does not perform any operation other than the abnormality check operation of the read storage data as the abnormality check of the control data stored in the storage means, and the initialization means The operation performed based on the abnormality determination of the first abnormality determination unit is not performed except for the initialization operation of the storage unit.
Gaming machine.

[0007]

According to the present invention, control data used for controlling the game operation is stored in the storage means, and the game operation is controlled based on the stored control data.
Further, by the function of the first abnormality determining means for determining the abnormality of the control data stored in the storage means, a part of the storage data stored in the storage means is read out and the read data becomes abnormal. It is determined whether the data is data. When it is determined that some of the stored data is abnormal, the control data stored in the storage means is initialized by the operation of the initialization means. In this case, the first abnormality determination means does not perform any operation other than the abnormality check operation of the read storage data as the abnormality check of the data stored in the storage means, and the initialization means performs the first abnormality determination means. As an operation performed based on the abnormality determination, no operation other than the initialization operation of the storage means is performed. Further, the game control operation when the gaming machine is operating normally is divided into a plurality of stages of processing processes, and divided process executing means is provided corresponding to each of the divided processing processes. The processing process is executed by the divided process executing means. By the operation of the alarm processing operation means, an alarm processing operation is executed when the gaming machine enters an abnormal state to be alarmed. Also, by the operation of the indexing means, the division processing process to be executed next is determined based on the stage at which the processing process progressed by the execution of the division process execution means has been reached, and the indexed division processing process is performed. Of the division process executing means corresponding to. If the second abnormality judging means does not judge that the state is abnormal, the control state performs the indexing operation by the indexing means at any time and executes the indexed dividing process. The corresponding division process executing means is brought into a state of operation, and when the second abnormality judging means determines that an abnormal state has occurred, the division process execution is performed at the time when the abnormality state is determined. When the operation of the means is stopped, the state is switched to an alarm processing state in which alarm processing is executed by the alarm processing operation means, and when the determination of the abnormal state is no longer performed by the abnormality determination means, the operation of the division process execution means is performed again. Returns to the state in which the operation is continuously performed.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the following description of the embodiments, a pachinko game machine is mainly described as an example, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to a pachinko game machine, but an arrange ball game machine, an arrange ball type pachinko game machine, It targets a wide range of ball and ball game machines, such as coin game machines.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention. On the game board 12 of the pachinko gaming machine 10, a rotating drum display mechanism 14, a digital display device 16, and a variable winning ball device 18, which are electrically controlled, are provided.
Rotary drum display mechanism 14 and digital display device 16
Displays the open / close condition of the rotating winning ball device 18. When a pachinko ball wins one of the start winning holes 20 (see S71 in FIG. 15), the rotating drum of the rotating drum display mechanism 14 is rotated, and the display on the digital display device 16 is changed. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed or in response to pressing of a stop button 24 provided at the lower left of the front panel 22 of the pachinko gaming machine 10, the display of the rotary drum display mechanism 14 and the digital display device 16 is stopped ( (See S73, S75, and S77 in FIG. 15). And
The combination of the display states at the time of stopping is detected, and the opening and closing control of the variable winning ball device 18 is performed (S83 and S83 in FIG. 15).
85).

The digital display device 16 may be controlled to display other information instead of setting the open / close control conditions of the variable winning ball device 18 as described above. in this case,
The opening and closing conditions of the variable winning ball device 18 are determined based only on the display of the rotating drum display mechanism 14. The two lamps arranged on each of the left and right sides of the digital display device 16 are LE lamps.
D is a winning storage display 40. The winning storage indicator 40 is turned on in response to a winning ball when a pachinko ball wins further in the starting winning hole 20 while the rotating drum display mechanism 14 is rotating. Then, after the display control of the rotary drum display mechanism 14 is once terminated, if the winning storage display 40 is lit, the lighting of the winning storage display 40 is turned off by one, and the display of the rotary drum display mechanism 14 changes again. Is what is done.

The pachinko gaming machine 10 is further provided with various lamps, speakers, and the like, which are electrically controlled to enhance the atmosphere of the game. The fever lamps 26 and 28 are lamps that are turned on or off when the variable winning ball device 18 is in a so-called “fever” state (also called a big hit state) in which the variable winning ball device 18 is opened to the maximum. The lighting of the V winning lamp 30 provided in the variable winning ball device 18 is controlled when a V winning described later occurs. The tulip lamp 32 is provided in a movable piece of an accessory 34 called a tulip. The movable piece is made of a translucent member, so that blinking of the tulip lamp 32 can be recognized from the outside. The tulip lamp 32 is controlled to be turned on or off during fever. A speaker 38 is buried diagonally below the left end of the hit ball supply tray 36 attached to the front plate as viewed in FIG. The speaker 38 emits sound effects when the display of the rotating drum display mechanism 14 is changing or when the variable winning ball device 18 is in a predetermined state such as opening.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the pachinko gaming machine 10. Referring to FIG. 2, a sensor 42 for detecting information necessary for control, such as winning ball information, is provided on the back surface of game board 12. The ball that won the starting prize hole 20 is on path 4
4 and is given to a start winning ball detection switch (sensor) 42. The output of the start winning ball detection switch 42 is provided to a control circuit described later via a wiring (not shown).

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the variable winning ball device 18. As shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, variable winning ball device 18
Includes a horizontally long base plate 46. In the upper central part of the base plate 46, a horizontally long substantially rectangular opening 48 is formed. On both left and right sides of the opening 48, holes 50 forming a winning hole are provided.
Is provided. On both outer sides of the hole 50, the lamps 30 are mounted from the back side of the base plate 46, respectively.
A front decorative plate 54 is attached to the front side of the base plate 46 via a cover member 50. The cover member 52 has a symmetrical shape, and is formed of, for example, a translucent synthetic resin colored red. The thickness is selected to be slightly larger than the diameter of the pachinko ball. The front decorative plate 54 is a plate having a decorative pattern drawn on a surface thereof, which is of interest to a player (not shown). The upper part of the center of the decorative plate 54 is notched so that the open / close state of the open / close plate 60 can be seen at a glance, and the open / close plate 60 is not obstructed. Furthermore, the front decorative plate 5
Window holes 56 are formed at both left and right end portions of 4. Through these window holes 56 and cover member 52, the lamp 3
The blinking of 0 is visually recognized. As described above, the decorative effect of the front decorative plate 54 is enhanced not only by the decorative pattern drawn on the surface thereof but also by blinking in the window hole 56.

An opening / closing plate mounting member 58 is mounted on the back side of the base plate 46. Opening / closing plate mounting member 58
Is not shown in the figure, but has an arch shape.
0 is openably and closably held from both sides.

A large number of triangular small projections 62 are arranged on the back side of the opening / closing plate 60 in parallel and perpendicular to the length direction of the opening / closing plate 60. These small projections 62 serve to guide the pachinko balls in a predetermined direction. In addition, the opening and closing plate 60
In the figure, an engagement protrusion 64 extending rearward is formed on the right end edge. The engagement protrusion 64 is connected to a plunger 72 of a solenoid 70 via an operation link 66 and a connection member 68. When the solenoid 70 is electrically turned on, the plunger 72 is pulled upward. When the solenoid 70 is turned off, the plunger 72 is lowered by the spring force of the return spring 74. Therefore, the solenoid 70
The plunger 72 is moved up and down by turning on / off the lever, and this up and down movement causes the engaging projection 64 to move back and forth via the connecting member 68 and the operating link 66. Therefore, the opening and closing plate 60 opens and closes.

A V pocket device 76 is provided at the center of the opening 48 behind the base plate 46. The V pocket device 76 includes a detection board 78 disposed horizontally and a detection board 7.
8 includes a pair of V-prize collecting gutters 80 protruding downward, and a V-prize detecting plate 82 attached to the center of the V-prize collecting gutters 80. The V prize collecting gutter 80 is bent into an L-shaped side surface,
At the same time, both members are inclined slightly inward, and as the name suggests, serve to gather pachinko balls in the center. V winning detection plate 82
Is swingably attached to the detection board 78.
When the V winning detection plate 82 is swung backward, the detection substrate 7
8 detects and outputs a V winning ball.

A winning ball collecting member 84 is attached to the lower side of the back surface of the base plate 46. The winning ball collecting member 84 includes a back cover plate 86 and a ball draw gutter 88. Back cover plate 8
6 is mounted parallel to the base plate 46, and has a notch 9 for fitting with a V pocket device 76 at the upper center.
0 is formed. The ball gutter 88 is a back cover plate 86
And has a gentle downward slope toward the center. Therefore, the pachinko ball that has won from the opening 48 passes through the V pocket device 76 provided at the center of the opening 42 or falls without passing through the V pocket device 76, and is guided to the center by the ball pulling gutter 88.

A winning ball detection / counter 92 is arranged below the ball pulling gutter 88. The winning ball detection / counter 92
A through-hole 90 through which a pachinko ball passes is constituted by a coil (not shown) and an electronic circuit which are wrapped around the hole. The pachinko balls are detected based on a change in magnetic flux generated by the pachinko balls passing through the through hole 94, and the number of pachinko balls is counted.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electric control circuit of this embodiment. In FIG. 4, the same numbers are assigned to the blocks representing those described in FIGS. 1 and 3 as control targets.

Referring to FIG. 4, the control circuit includes a microcomputer 96 that performs arithmetic processing based on various input signals and provides a control signal to each control target. The microcomputer 96 includes a read only memory (ROM) 98 in which a control program is stored, and a random access memory (RAM) 100 that can be read and written.
And The RAM 100 has an 8-bit storage area for each address, as shown in the memory map of FIG.
Various types of data are stored using a single address or a plurality of addresses.

The feature of this embodiment is that, for example, the initial setting flag 1 set at the RAM address 80H is "01010101" (55H pattern) as shown in FIG. 2
Is "10101010" (AAH pattern). Also, the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 are checked, and when the value of any one of the flags 1 or 2 changes, it is determined that various data set in other RAM addresses have an abnormality. By analogy,
That is, the initial setting of data is redone. At this time, the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 are set to the 55H pattern and the AAH pattern as described above for the following reason. That is, RAM
, Various data are set according to a combination of “0” or “1”, but the set data changes due to noise or the like, and a program runaway occurs. that time,
There are two types of data changes due to noise or the like, that is, “0” changes to “1” and “1” changes to “0”.
Further, when data changes due to noise, the data area of the RAM often changes for each BIT column, for example, the BIT0 column is changed collectively, or the BIT4 column is changed collectively. . Therefore, the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 of the above-described pattern are set as noise prevention flags, and by detecting a change in each flag, writing of erroneous data due to noise is checked, and program runaway occurs. Can be prevented.

Returning to FIG. 4, the microcomputer 96
Is given the following signal: V detector and V
A V detection signal is provided from a V pocket device 76 including a winning detection circuit. A winning signal is given from the starting winning circuit 102 based on the output of the starting winning ball detection switch 42. When the stop button 24 (see FIG. 1) is pressed, a stop signal is given from the stop circuit 104. The winning ball detection / counter 92 that detects and counts the winning balls to the variable winning ball device includes a 10-count detection circuit that detects that the counted value of the pachinko balls has reached ten. Then, the pachinko balls counted by the winning ball detection / counter 92 (the pachinko balls that have won the variable winning ball device 18).
When the number of items becomes 10, a 10 count signal is given. When the disconnection or short-circuit of the 10-count detector 92 'for detecting a winning ball connected to the winning-ball detecting / counting device 92 in FIG. 4 or when a jam in the detecting section of the 10-count detector 92' occurs. Is set to YE in step S59 of FIG.
The determination of S is made. If the pachinko ball detected by the V detector is configured to be detected by the 10-count detector 92 'thereafter, the 10-count detector 92 may be detected despite the detection by the V-detector. ', An alarm flag is set in the same manner as described above.

The rotary drum display mechanism 14 is provided with a sensor 106 including a phototransistor and a light receiver for determining the stop position of the rotary drum. And
Based on the signal from the sensor 106, a picture judgment signal is given from the picture judgment circuit 108. Interrupt clock circuit 1
From 10, an interrupt clock signal is applied every 4 ms, for example. The microcomputer 96 executes the operation of the interrupt control routine in accordance with the interrupt clock signal, as described later.

An address decode signal is applied from address decode circuit 112. Runaway prevention circuit 114 provides a runaway prevention signal. Runaway prevention circuit 114
This is a circuit for preventing runaway control of the microcomputer 96 from a hardware aspect. The power-on reset circuit 116 supplies a power-on reset signal at power-on. Runaway reset circuit 118 provides a runaway reset signal.

Next, the microcomputer 96 gives control signals to the following circuits and devices. The winning prize storage display circuit 120 is provided with a prize storage display signal. The start winning storage display circuit 120 can store up to four of the signals. Then, when one signal is stored, as described above, the corresponding prize storage display lamps 40 constituted by LEDs, for example, are turned on one by one.

The sound signal is provided to the sound circuit 122. Thereby, the speaker 38 sounds.

The digital display signal is applied to a digital display circuit 124 for controlling the display of the digital display 16.

The drum rotation control signal is supplied to a drum rotation control circuit 126. Based on this, the drum rotation control circuit 126 controls the rotating drum display mechanism 14.
That is, the drum motor included in the rotating drum display mechanism 14 is rotated to control the drum solenoids A, B, and C to change the drum display.

The opening control signal is supplied to the opening control circuit 128. The opening control circuit 128 controls the solenoid 70 (see FIG. 3) of the variable winning ball device 18 so that the lamp signal for controlling the opening of the variable winning ball device is supplied to the lamp circuit 130.
To turn on / off the fever lamps 26 and 28, the V winning lamp 30, the tulip lamp 32, and the like.

Each of the above-described circuit blocks includes a power supply circuit 1
32, a predetermined DC voltage is supplied as a similar power supply.

FIGS. 7 to 15 are flowcharts showing the control operation of the microcomputer 96.

Next, the control operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 15 in accordance with a flowchart.

When the control circuit of the pachinko gaming machine 10 is powered on, the microcomputer 96
The operation is started based on the control program written in the OM 98 (step S1).

Then, the stack pointer is initialized (step S2), and the initial waiting time is cleared (step S3). Then, it is checked whether or not the maximum time of the timer has exceeded 30 seconds (step S4).
This timer is a soft timer configured by the RAM 100. The reason why the maximum time of the timer is checked is to confirm the safety of the control.

Next, it is checked whether or not initial values are set in the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 (steps S5 and S6). When the power is turned on, since nothing has been written yet, the microcomputer 9
Reference numeral 6 denotes a procedure of steps S7 to S18, in which the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 are set to 55H "01010101" and AAH "10101", respectively, as described above.
010 ”(step S7)
~ S14). Then, the data of the digital display is set to 0, and the sound pattern data is initialized (step S).
15, S16), NMI "Nonmaskable I
Initialize the "interrupt" pulse counter and set the NMI
A pulse is created (step S17). This is so that an NMI is applied when the program runs away. S7 to S14 constitute initialization means for initializing the control data stored in the storage means constituted by the RAM 100 or the like when the first abnormality determination means described later determines that there is an abnormality. I have.

Next, steps S19 to S2
According to the procedure of 8, the initial value of the initial waiting time counter is set (Step S22), and the initial setting of the time work is performed (Step S23). By the initial setting of the time work, the input / output of the port is initialized every 15 seconds in a main routine to be described later. Further, the flickering time of the fever lamp (step S24), the delay time of the sound (step S25), and the control boat (step S24)
26), a winning lamp (step S27) is set, and the interrupt flag is cleared (step S28).

After the initial data is set in the various data areas (see FIG. 5) of the RAM 100 as described above,
The microcomputer 100 executes the processing of the main routine of FIGS. 10 and 11.

In the main routine, a random number is created (step S29), output data is set to output (step S31), and sound input / output is set (step S3).
2 to S37), it is determined whether or not the data of the general-purpose register is 0 (step S38). When the power is turned on, the content of the general-purpose register is 0, so that steps S39 to S44.
Execute the processing of That is, the time work 15 seconds is set (step S39), and the input / output of the port is initialized (step S41). Then, the operation from step S29, which is the head of the main routine, is repeated again. Thus, when the general-purpose register is not 0, the microcomputer 96 is executing the processing of the main routine.

The interrupt clock circuits 110 to 4 in FIG.
When an interrupt clock signal is input every msec, the microcomputer 96 performs the processing of the interrupt routine shown in FIGS.

In the interrupt processing routine, first, the general-purpose register is decremented by 1 (step S45). That is, the general-purpose register is decremented by one every time the interrupt routine starts, that is, every 4 msec.
A time of 5 seconds is created.

Next, a subroutine for outputting an NMI pulse to a port is entered (step S46).
Perform AM data check.

The data check of the RAM is performed in step S4.
This is performed based on the procedures from 7 to S55. First, the RAM of the stack pointer is checked (step S47). If there is any abnormality at this point, the process jumps to the initialization routine as an error. If there is no abnormality, it is next checked whether or not the port and the port image match (steps S50 and S51). If not, the process jumps to the initialization routine as an error.
If there is no abnormality, a pattern check of the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 is performed. As described above, the initial setting flag 1 is a 55H “01010101” pattern, and the initial setting flag 2 is an AAH “10101010”.
It is a pattern. If any one of these patterns is different, it is estimated that there is an error in the data area of the RAM due to noise or the like, and the processing of the microcomputer 96 jumps to the initialization routine. Initial setting flag 1
The initial setting flag 2 constitutes a part of the storage data stored in the storage means. Step S
47 to S55 are means for judging abnormality of the control data stored in the storage means, wherein a part of the storage data stored in the storage means is read, and the read storage data is converted to an abnormal data A first abnormality determining means for determining whether or not the abnormality has occurred is configured.

If there is no abnormality, step S56 follows.
The routines of various control of the pachinko game from S85 are digested to perform the process control. Briefly describing this process control, it is determined in step S59 whether or not the alarm flag is set. If the gaming machine is in a normal state in which the alarm flag is not set, the process proceeds to step S61, and the subsequent steps are performed. The control operation in the normal state is executed. This control operation is performed in steps S66, S70, S72, S74, S76, S78, S
As shown at 80, S82 and S84, according to the respective process status values, normal processing, winning processing, left drum stop processing, middle drum stop processing, right drum stop processing, V ramp processing, before opening Processing, opening processing, and post-opening processing are performed. This process status is for controlling the control of the gaming machine in order according to a predetermined procedure, and its value is added and updated according to the progress of the control operation of the gaming machine, and the processing program corresponding to the current value Is a technique used in the field of computer control to execute Steps S67, S71, S7
3, S75, S77, S79, S81, S83, S85
The game control action when the gaming machine is operating normally
Work is divided into multi-stage processing processes,
Provided for each of the processing processes,
Means for executing the split process
ing. That is stored in the storage means each processing program corresponding to the respective divided process executing means comprises said ROM 98. Steps S66, S70, S72, S74,
In steps S76, S78, S80, S82, and S84, the next process should be executed based on which stage the processing process that has proceeded by execution of the division process execution unit has reached.
The division processing process is indexed, and the divided processing
For operating the division process execution means corresponding to the process
Means are configured.

On the other hand, if the gaming machine is in an abnormal state in which an alarm should be issued, a YES determination is made in S59, the flow advances to S60, an alarm process is performed, and the interrupt program ends. As a result, while the alarm process is being performed, the above-described steps S66 to S85 are performed.
Is not performed, and as a result, the control operation of the gaming machine is stopped, so that the process status value is not updated. Then, when the setting of the alarm flag is released, the processing of S66 to S85 is restarted again, and the processing program corresponding to the value of the process status at the time when the alarm processing is started is executed. As a result, if the abnormal state requiring the alarm processing is released after the abnormal state is released, the game state at the time when the alarm processing is started is automatically restored, and the control operation proceeds again from the game state. As a result, there is an advantage that disadvantages of the player due to occurrence of an alarm or the like can be prevented. Step S59 constitutes second abnormality determining means for determining at any time whether or not the gaming machine is in an abnormal state to be warned.

As described above, based on the interrupt clock signal given every 4 msec, step S
In S57 and S55, it is determined whether or not the data set in the RAM 100 is normal. Then, when an abnormality is found, the process jumps to an initialization routine for rewriting all data set in the RAM 100. In other words, the data abnormality is determined in the interrupt routine every 4 msec.

In performing this type of abnormality determination, in this embodiment, the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 are provided as flags for detecting an abnormality, and the pattern of the flag is changed to cause an abnormality in other data. It is assumed that an error has occurred and a method of detecting abnormality is employed. Therefore, in order to detect an abnormality, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-2006
As in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 74-74, an abnormality in data can be determined without increasing the contents of the memory, such as by providing a backup memory storing the same data as the main memory. As described above, the alarm process is performed in step S60 when the error is sufficiently recoverable by the alarm process, and initialization is performed when the error is irrecoverable such as program runaway. In steps S59, S60, S66, and S70-S85, if the second abnormality determination unit has not determined that an abnormal state has occurred, the control state is changed to the indexing operation by the indexing unit. When necessary, the divided process executing means corresponding to the divided processing process is operated, and when the second abnormality determining means determines that the state is abnormal,
The operation of the division process executing means is stopped at the time when it is determined that the state is abnormal, and the state is switched to an alarm processing state in which alarm processing is executed by the alarm processing operation means. Control state switching means is provided for returning to a state in which the operation of the division process execution means is continued again when the determination of the abnormal state by the means is no longer performed.

In the above description of the embodiment, the case where the initial setting flag 1 and the initial setting flag 2 are provided as representative of all data has been described. May be provided for each data group, and the abnormality determination of data for each related data group may be performed by checking each initialization flag.

FIGS. 16 and 17 are schematic views of a pachinko machine according to another embodiment of the present invention. In particular, FIG. 16 is a rear view of the pachinko machine, and FIG. 17 is a longitudinal section taken along line BB of FIG. The figure is shown.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the pachinko machine viewed from the back with the mechanism plate opened.

Next, the configuration of the pachinko machine will be described.
The pachinko machine 210 has a front frame 21 on the front of the side frame 211.
2 is attached to the opening and closing plate. On the front of the front frame 212,
A glass frame 213 is mounted on the opening / closing plate. Below the front frame 212, an upper bowl 214a and a lower bowl 214b are formed. The mounting frame 2 is provided on the back of the front frame 212.
15 is fixed. A game board 216 is mounted on the mounting frame 215.
Are detachably mounted. That is, the mounting frame 215
Is formed in a frame shape having an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer dimensions of the game board 216, a part of which is fitted with the peripheral portion of the game board 216, and the mounting bracket 21 is attached to the back surface surrounding the game board 216.
5a is attached. Then, the game board 216 is made detachable by rotating the mounting bracket 215 a, and is fixedly held on the mounting frame 215.

On the rear surface of the mounting frame 215, a mechanism plate 220 is provided.
Are rotatably mounted. The mechanism plate 220 is made of a synthetic resin material such as plastic. More specifically,
The mechanism plate 220 has a winning ball collecting path 222 formed on the front surface of the plate portion 221 (that is, the surface facing the back surface of the game board 216). A prize ball storage tank 223 is fixed to an upper portion of the rear surface of the plate portion 221. Prize ball storage tank 223
A path 225 for aligning the prize balls and guiding the prize balls to the prize ball discharge mechanism 224 is formed below the. Prize ball release mechanism 2
Below the prize ball discharge mechanism 224, the prize ball discharged from the prize ball discharge mechanism 224 is placed on the upper tray plate 214a and the lower tray plate 214b.
The prize ball discharge gutter 225 for guiding the prize ball is formed. At the portion of the plate-shaped portion 221 except for the prize ball discharge gutter 225, a mounting member 2 included in a substrate box mounting structure 230 described later is provided.
An opening 226 for exposing the substrate 31 and the substrate box 235 is formed. The opening 226 is provided in the mounting member 2.
The hole is selected to be slightly larger than the plane shape of the 31. The game board 216 corresponding to the opening 226 has a mounting member 2 attached thereto.
31 is attached. A board box 235 is detachably attached to the attachment member 231.

FIGS. 19 to 21 are illustrative views of the mounting member 231 and the substrate box 235 for explaining the mounting structure of the substrate box.

Next, a specific structure of the mounting structure of the board box of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The mounting member 231 includes a support 311.
The support base 311 has a horizontal length substantially equal to the horizontal length of the substrate box 235 and a vertical length
5 is chosen to be longer or approximately equal to the longitudinal length. The support base 311 is formed in a box shape by bending a metal plate so that its thickness is relatively thin. Support table 31
A mounting piece 312 is formed on the upper side of the back surface of 1 (the surface facing the game board 216). Attachment holes 313 are formed at appropriate places in the attachment piece 312. In addition, support table 3
An attachment piece 314 is formed on the lower side of the back surface of the rear surface 11. A mounting hole 315 is formed in the mounting piece 314. An engagement portion 232 as an example of a first support member is formed on the lower side of the front surface of the support base 311 as viewed from FIG. This engaging portion 232
Are formed in an L-shape when viewed from the side, and are selected such that one side thereof faces upward. The engaging portion 232 has a function of positioning the lower side of the substrate box 235 and supporting the substrate box 235 from below when the substrate box 235 described later is mounted on the support base 311. First, holes 316 are formed in the upper side of the support 311 at predetermined intervals in the horizontal direction. A projection 317 having a screw hole is fixed to the back surface of the support base 311 in which the hole 316 is formed. Projection 317
, A spring member 233a as an example of a second support member is screwed with a screw. The spring member 233a is formed by bending a wire having elasticity as shown in the figure, and a portion thereof protrudes downward to elastically apply a pressing force to the surface of the support base 311.

The board box 235 is mounted on the pachinko machine 210.
The above-mentioned control circuit board for controlling the operation described above is housed in a box shape. On the surface of the substrate box 235, which is the back surface as viewed from FIG. 19, protruding pieces 351 for forming an appropriate interval are formed. Substrate box 2
An engagement hole 352 is formed at a position corresponding to the engagement portion 232 on the bottom surface of the 35. A crank-shaped protruding piece 353 viewed from the side is fixed to an upper portion of the back surface of the substrate box 235.

Then, the board box 235 is inserted into the game board 21.
In the case of detachably mounting on the back surface of No. 6, it is mounted as follows. First, the attachment member 231 is fixedly attached to the back surface of the game board 216 with screws or the like. Thereafter, the substrate box 235 is positioned so that the engagement hole 352 and the engagement portion 232 are engaged. And the spring member 233
a is pushed upward to bring the protruding piece 353 into contact with the front surface of the support 311, and then the spring member 233 a
Is restored. As a result, the protruding piece 353 is pressed by the elastic force of the spring member 233a. This state is shown in FIG. Thus, the substrate box 235 is detachably supported on the mounting member 231. The mechanism plate 2
20 is closed so as to face the game board 216, the mounting member 231 and the board box 235 are
1 through the opening 226 to be exposed to the back of the game board.

According to this embodiment, the substrate box 235 is located at a position not corresponding to the prize ball discharge gutter 225 through which the prize ball flows, and is detachably mounted on the back surface of the game board 216. There is an advantage that the circuit board stored in the substrate box 235 can be effectively protected from static electricity, for example, the static electricity generated when flowing down the prize ball discharge gutter 225 is transmitted to the substrate box 235.
Also, since the board box 235 is configured to be detachable from the mounting member 231, when the circuit board breaks down, the board box 235 can be replaced with another one, and the board box can be replaced quickly and easily. There is an advantage that it is possible to prevent the player from waiting.

The second support member is preferably configured to be mounted on the common mounting member 231 even when the substrate box 235 has a different longitudinal length. For example, screw holes 318 and 319 are formed on the surface of the support 311 at different positions in the vertical direction. Then, the spring member 233b forms screw insertion holes at both ends in the lateral direction as shown in the figure, and the central portion thereof is bent so as to apply elastic force to the surface of the support base 311. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 21, by changing the mounting position of the spring member 233b to the screw hole 318 or 319, the common mounting member can be used even when the substrate box 235 has a different vertical length. At 231 the board box 235 can be mounted.

FIGS. 22 and 23 are illustrations of a mounting structure of a substrate box according to another embodiment. In particular, FIG. 22 shows a state in which the mounting member 241 is closed, and FIG. 23 shows a state in which the mounting member 241 is opened. Is shown. The mounting member 241 of this embodiment has a horizontal length substantially equal to the horizontal length of the board box 235 and a vertical length of the board box 235.
The bent portions 412 and 413 are formed by bending the upper end of the metal plate 411 longer than the vertical length of the metal plate 411 into an L-shape when viewed from the side. The length of the bent portion 412 in the direction orthogonal to the game board 216 is selected to be slightly longer than the length of the member 216 a projecting from the back surface of the game board 216. A spring member 244 having the same shape as the spring member 233b shown in FIG. 19 is mounted on the game board 216 at a position corresponding to the bent piece 413. Metal plate 411
A piece of the hinge 245 is fixed to one of the vertical sides (left side in the figure) of the hinge. The other of the hinges 245 is fixed to an L-shaped mounting bracket 242. 243 is a spring member similar to 233b.

The metal plate 411 of the substrate box 235
Since the structure for mounting on the device is the same as that shown in FIG. 19, the description thereof is omitted.

With the configuration as in this embodiment, the game board 2
Even if there is a protruding member 216a on the back surface of the substrate 16, the substrate box 235 can be detachably mounted. Further, the projecting member 21
At the time of failure of 6a, there is an advantage that it can be easily recovered by rotating the support plate 411.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the board box 235 is mounted on the back of the game board 216 has been described. However, the technique of the present invention is not limited to this, and the board box can be detachably attached to other members. Can be installed.

FIG. 24 is a rear view of another ball and ball game machine.
FIG. 25 is a vertical sectional view of the ball game machine taken along line XV-XV in FIG. Next, the structure of the ball game machine will be described with reference to FIGS. Ball game machine 510
The front frame 521 is attached to the front of the side frame 511 so as to be openable and closable, the game board 522 is mounted on the front frame 521, and the game board 5
A component such as a variable display (not shown) or a variable winning prize device is mounted on the component 22. The game board 522 is a frame 5
Fixed at 23. And on the back of the game board 522,
A mechanism plate 512 as an example of a mounting plate member is rotatably mounted. Above the mechanism plate 512, a storage tank 513 for storing prize balls is formed. Below the storage tank 513, there is provided an alignment path 514 for aligning the prize balls stored in the storage tank 513. At the end of the alignment path 514, a prize ball discharging mechanism 515 is provided. The mechanism plate 512 below the alignment path 514 has holes (or depressions) for allowing the rotary drum mechanism 516, which is an example of a variable display mounted on the game board, to protrude from the mechanism plate 512 to the back.
Is formed. Then, when the mechanism plate 512 is closed, the rotary drum mechanism 516 is projected from the hole to the back surface of the mechanism plate 512 or enters the recessed portion and is covered with the recessed portion. Mechanism plate 512 located below rotating drum mechanism 516
Is mounted with a circuit board storage box (hereinafter referred to as a box) 531 for storing a circuit board (not shown).
As described above, the circuit board stored in the box 531 drives and controls the prize ball discharging mechanism 515 and also controls various components mounted on the game board 522, such as a variable winning ball device and a variable display device. Including electronic circuits. The box 531 and the rotating drum mechanism 516 are electrically connected by a cable (not shown). A cover 517 is attached to a portion of the box 531 into which the cable is inserted. The cover 517 is formed so that a cable can be inserted.

FIGS. 26 and 27 show a gaming machine with a variable display according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 27 is a front view showing a state in which a glass plate attachment frame and a front plate are opened, and FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing a state seen from the back side of the casing.

Referring to FIGS. 26 and 27, gaming machine 600 with a variable display includes a main frame member 610. The main frame member 610 is provided with a glass plate mounting frame 611 for holding a glass plate on its front surface so as to be openable and closable, and a front plate 612 so as to be openable and closable. A surplus ball discharge port 615 is formed in the upper part of the bowl 614. On this front plate 612,
A prize ball discharge port 722 is formed. On the back side of the front plate 612, a hit ball supply device 723 for taking in a predetermined number of pachinko balls required for one game and sequentially supplying one to a firing point rail 841 described later is provided. The hit ball supply device 723 has a built-in path (not shown) for sequentially aligning one pachinko ball, forming a ball outlet 724 at the end of the path, and forming an operating pin insertion port 725 in the middle of the path. Be composed.

The game board 620 is provided with a combination display 621, which is an example of a variable display, substantially at the center of the game board. The combination indicator 629 is used for a ball receiving port 63 described later.
5, a display plate on which identification information (for example, a number) corresponding to the ball receiving port 635 is provided on the front surface thereof, and a display lamp (for example, a light emitting diode) is provided on the back side thereof. You. Preferably, a display lamp built in the back side of each display unit is provided with a mechanism plate 6 described later.
40. Also, on the front side of the game board 620,
A guide rail 622 for regulating an area where the pachinko ball can pass is formed in an arc shape, and an inner rail 622 ′ for guiding the hit pachinko ball to the game board is formed from a lower left portion of the guide rail (that is, the outer rail) 622. Formed along the top. The portion sandwiched between the guide rail 622 and the inner rail 622 'functions as a shooting ball guide path 623. In addition, below the game board 620, a ball receiving port 6 as an example of a passage area formed in a casing 630 described later.
35 is inserted. Further, a window 62 for seeing through a score indicator 645 attached to a mechanism plate 640 described later is provided on the upper outside of the guide rail 622 in the game board 620.
5 and a display 6 for notifying the player of a stop or one game
A window 626 for seeing through 46 is drilled.

In addition, if necessary, a beak-shaped portion is opened inside the game board 620 surrounded by the guide rails 622 in response to the fall of the pachinko balls to make it easy to win a prize, and in response to the fallen pachinko balls. A plurality of (three in the figure) prize ball devices 627 (three in the drawing) for paying out a predetermined number of prize balls are provided, and a condition for paying out prize balls by winning a pachinko ball is defined and a winning pachinko machine. A safe hole for guiding the ball to the back side may be formed.

The casing 630 is formed slightly deeper than the thickness of the game board 620, and the guide rail 6 of the game board 620 is formed.
An opening slightly larger than the portion corresponding to the portion surrounded by 22 is formed. On the left and right side walls of the casing 630, the game board 620 is mounted and held in a state where the game board 620 is fitted into the recessed portion, and the game board 6
In order to make only 20 freely replaceable, holding brackets 833 to 834 (in FIG.
(Only 31 and 832 are visible). The support plate 63 is provided on the front side of the casing 630.
4 is attached. On the front surface of the support plate 634, a firing point rail 841 for hitting a pachinko ball with a hitting punch is attached, and among the balls fired from the firing point rail 841, the hitting force is weak and a firing ball guiding path. A merging gutter 842 for guiding the ball returning from 623 is attached, and an operating pin 843 is attached to a lower position of the firing point reel 841. Below the opening 632, a plurality of ball receiving ports 635 are provided so as to protrude forward from the surface of the recessed portion of the casing 630, and serve to receive pachinko balls falling along the board surface of the game board 620. In connection with the ball receiving holes 635, a detection switch (not shown) for detecting passing balls passing through the respective ball receiving holes is provided on the back surface side. This ball socket 6
Since it is necessary to attach identification information for specifying each ball socket to the front surface of the glass plate mounting frame 61, the decorative plate 712 on which the identification information is drawn is positioned at a position corresponding to each ball socket.
1 is detachably attached to the lower part of FIG. Also, the casing 6
On the back surface of the engagement member 861, an engagement member 861 having an engagement hole is formed.
864 is attached. Further, support brackets 871 and 872 for rotatably mounting the mechanism plate 640 are fixed to the upper right and lower right portions of the back surface of the casing 630. The casing 630 thus configured is used for the game board 620.
Is mounted on the rear surface side of the main frame member 610 by screwing or the like. As another method of mounting the casing 630 to the main frame member 610, a hinge or the like may be provided on the right side when viewed from the back side, and a lock mechanism may be provided on the left side, and the casing 630 may be rotatably mounted.

The mechanism plate 640 is connected to the support frame 87.
Metal fittings 911 and 9 for rotatably mounting to the first and second 872
Numeral 12 is fixed to one of upper and lower ends (left side when viewed from the front side in the figure). On the front side of the mechanism plate 640, a plurality of display lamps 642 are mounted on portions corresponding to respective display portions of the combination display 621 formed on the game board, and a plurality of ball receiving holes 635 fixed to the casing 630. Is formed at a position corresponding to the bottom of the ball. The balls collected in the ball moving path 931 are collected from the downflow port 932 via the path 933. On the other hand, if a ball hit by a player wins a prize hole or a prize ball device 627 disposed on the game board 620 before reaching the ball receiving port 635, the ball is collected on the ball shift path 934 and distributed to the mechanism plate 640. After operating the installed prize ball processing device (enclosed in the portion 936 shown in the figure), the prize ball is collected via the path 937.

The prize ball discharge port 722 of the mechanism plate 640
A prize ball discharge port 644 is formed in a portion corresponding to. Further, the window 62 is provided on the upper front surface of the mechanism plate 640.
5, 626 corresponding to the score indicator 645 and the indicator 64.
6 are provided on the left and right. On the other hand, a storage tank 647 for storing prize balls is formed on the upper rear surface of the mechanism plate 640. Below the storage tank 647, the storage tank 6
An alignment path (not shown) for arranging the prize balls stored at 47 is provided, and a prize ball discharge mechanism (not shown) is provided at the end of the alignment path.

Then, the casing 630 is mounted on the back side of the main frame member 610, and the mechanism plate 6 is mounted on the back side of the casing 630.
By mounting the gaming machine 40, the gaming machine 600 with a variable display of this embodiment is configured. In the gaming machine 600 with a variable display configured as described above, a frame member main body 610 is attached to an island frame member (not shown) in which a plurality of pachinko machines are arranged to form an island.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an abnormal condition that requires an alarm process occurs in a gaming machine, an alarm process is performed to deal with the abnormal condition.
When the abnormal state occurs, the operation of the division process executing means is stopped at the time of occurrence. In addition, if the abnormal state is no longer determined by the second abnormality determining means, for example, when the gaming machine is restored to a normal state, the gaming machine returns to a state in which the execution of the division processing process is continued. When the machine returns to the normal state, the process returns to the state where the execution of the process is continuously performed. That is, since the operation of the division process executing means is stopped at the time of occurrence of the abnormal state and the game control operation of the gaming machine is stopped, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience that the game proceeds while the abnormal state occurs. Further, when the occurred abnormality is caused by an abnormality in the control data stored in the storage means, the first abnormality determination means determines that the control data is abnormal, and Since the control data stored in the means is initialized, the control data is restored to the correct control data, and the control can be returned to the normal control. Thus, an appropriate processing operation according to the type of abnormality of the gaming machine can be performed. In addition, since the operation performed based on the abnormality determination of the first abnormality determination unit is not performed except for the initialization operation of the storage unit, for example, the same data as the control data stored in the storage unit is separately used as backup data. Since an operation such as rewriting the control data of the storage means to the backup data based on the abnormality determination is not performed, a storage area for storing backup data becomes unnecessary, and a small storage area is used. That will be enough. Furthermore, since the abnormality check of the control data of the storage means is not performed except for the abnormality check operation of the partially readout type, for example, only the data of the control data of the storage means which does not greatly hinder the progress of the game control is performed. It is possible to prevent such a problem that the control that the abnormality is immediately determined and the initialization operation of the storage unit is performed is performed too sensitively by the occurrence of a trivial abnormality such as an abnormality. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko gaming machine.

FIG. 2 is a rear view showing a partial internal structure of the pachinko gaming machine.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a variable winning ball device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a memory map showing contents of a RAM in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing data contents set in an initial setting flag 1 and an initial setting flag 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the control circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a rear view of a pachinko machine according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 shows a pachinko machine according to another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the pachinko machine with the mechanism plate opened, as viewed from the back.

FIG. 19 is an illustrative view showing a mounting structure of the board box;

FIG. 20 is an illustrative view showing a mounting structure of the board box;

FIG. 21 is an illustrative view for explaining a mounting structure of the board box;

FIG. 22 is an illustrative view showing a mounting structure of a board box according to another embodiment;

FIG. 23 is an illustrative view of a mounting structure of a board box according to another embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a rear view of another ball and ball game machine.

FIG. 25 is a vertical sectional view taken along line XV-XV in FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 is a front view of a pachinko machine according to still another embodiment of the present invention, with a glass plate mounting frame opened.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the pachinko machine of FIG. 26 as viewed from the back surface of the casing.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 is a pachinko machine, 14 is a rotating drum display mechanism, 1
6 is a digital display, 18 is a variable winning ball device, 20 is a starting winning hole, 96 is a microcomputer, 100 is R
AM and 98 are ROMs.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masaru Morita 329-6 Omori Moritaka Nitta, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture (72) Inventor Hideyuki Tokushima 23-133, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Shohachi Ugawa 1-45-2, Aioi-cho, Kiryu-shi, Gunma Prefecture (72) Inventor Hiroharu Tokushima 530 Ohara, Yabutsuka-Honmachi, Nitta-gun, Gunma Prefecture 4228-7 (72) Inventor Masaaki Okada 2 61, Shindo-cho, Nishi-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture (72) Inventor Kosuke Oka 3-3-10, Narita Higashi, Suginami-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Hiroyoshi Morita Osaka 6, 386-19, Uenoshiba, Sakai City Ryosuke Takahashi 72,583, Takamidai 1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture 7283 Inventor Yoshiko Unagawa 164-8, Aioimachi, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture (72) Inventor Yoshida Tsuneo 6 Kamigirihara, Omamachi, Yamada-gun, Gunma 81 (72) Inventor Shoichi Hayashi 7-21-6 Shibatake, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture (56) References JP-A-59-192383 (JP, A) JP-A-60-114941 (JP, A) JP-A Sho 52-72131 (JP, A) JP-A-58-73382 (JP, A) JP-A-57-57576 (JP, A) JP-A-60-95665 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A gaming machine provided with a microcomputer, wherein a gaming operation is controlled by the microcomputer, and storage means for storing control data used for controlling the gaming operation, and storage in the storage means. Means for judging abnormality of the control data being read out, and reading out a part of the storage data stored in the storage means and judging whether or not the read out storage data is abnormal data. First abnormality determination means; initialization means for initializing control data stored in the storage means when the first abnormality determination means determines abnormality in the partial storage data; The game control operation when the game machine is operating normally is divided into a plurality of stages of processing processes, and the game control operation is provided corresponding to each of the divided processing processes. Division process executing means to be executed, alarm processing operation means for executing an alarm processing operation when the gaming machine is in an abnormal state to be alarmed, and a stage at which a processing process which proceeds by execution of the division process execution means reaches Indexing means for determining the next divisional process to be executed based on whether or not, and operating the divisional process executing means corresponding to the determined divisional process; and Second abnormality determining means for determining at any time whether or not there is an abnormality, and if the second abnormality determining means has not determined that the state is abnormal, the control state is determined by the indexing means. The operation is performed as needed, and the division process executing means corresponding to the divided processing process thus determined is operated. When it is determined that the state is abnormal, the operation of the division process executing means is stopped at the time when the determination is made that the state is abnormal, and an alarm for executing the alarm processing by the alarm processing operation means is performed. Control state switching means for switching to a processing state, and further returning to a state in which the operation of the division process execution means is continuously performed again when the determination of the abnormal state by the second abnormality determination means is not performed, The first abnormality determination unit does not perform any operation other than the abnormality check operation of the read storage data as the abnormality check of the control data stored in the storage unit. A gaming machine characterized in that the operation performed based on the abnormality determination of the abnormality determination means is not performed except for the initialization operation of the storage means.