JP2726237B2 - Relay board for spinning-type gaming machines - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relay board for a spinning-type gaming machine connected between a token-lending device for performing a token-lending operation by a prepaid card and a spinning-type gaming machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional medal lending device using a prepaid card is provided with a lending medal discharging device. Recently, however, a device using a medal discharging device provided in a gaming machine has emerged as the discharging device. I have. Since such a medal lending device is provided between gaming machines, it is called a stand-to-stand medal lending device. When a gaming machine lending device is provided between the gaming machines, a cable for transmitting and receiving information about the lending medal is connected between the gaming machine and the gaming machine lending device. In addition, both devices are provided with an interface circuit for transmitting and receiving information between the respective control means.

[0003]

When a player requests medal lending during a game, the medal lending device holds the request without performing a medal lending operation during the game. It is necessary to execute the requested medal lending operation when the game is over. Conversely, if the player performs an operation to start the gaming machine during the medal lending operation, the operation of the gaming machine is suspended until the medal lending operation is completed, and the medal lending operation is terminated. At this point, it is necessary to start the operation of the gaming machine according to the player's request. In such a case, in a conventional gaming machine, a CPU inside the gaming machine performs control to limit the start of the game during the medal lending operation or to limit the medal lending operation of the gaming machine during the game. .

However, while the gaming machine is performing a gaming operation, the CPU in the gaming machine is required to perform a control job in response to a medal lending request in parallel, or when performing a medal lending operation. If the control of suspending the start of the game operation is performed at the same time, the load on the CPU inside the game machine becomes large, and an adverse effect such as a delay in the operation to be performed originally occurs.

[0005] The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and when a medal lending request is made during the original operation of the gaming machine, or when the medal lending operation is being performed, the starting operation of the gaming machine is performed. Is executed, the CPU inside the gaming machine
It is an object of the present invention to provide a relay board for a spinning-type gaming machine that performs these processes without increasing the load of the game machine.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a relay board for a torso-type gaming machine for connecting a signal line between the relay board and a medal lending apparatus having card reading means. First connecting means, a second connecting means for connecting a signal line between the spinning-type gaming machine, and control means, the control means, the medal lending device and the spinning type Mediation of transmission and reception of signals to and from a gaming machine, prohibition of medal lending operation in the medal lending device during a game in the spinning type gaming machine, and the spinning type gaming machine in a medal lending operation in the medal rental device Is controlled to prohibit the start of a new game.

According to a second aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, in the first aspect of the present invention, a signal transmitted and received between the medal lending device and the turn-type gaming machine is:
It is characterized by including a signal for controlling the payout amount of medals.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the control means of the relay board for the spinning-type gaming machine has the above-mentioned structure, and the control means for connecting the medal lending device and the spinning-type gaming machine via the first and second connecting means. Mediates the exchange of signals. The control means controls prohibition of a medal lending operation in the medal lending apparatus during a game in the spinning-type gaming machine via a first connection means, and a medal in the medal lending apparatus via a second connection means. A prohibition of starting a new game in the spinning-type gaming machine during the lending operation is controlled. In addition, since it has the first and second connection means, the relay board for the spinning-type gaming machine of the present invention is independent of the control section of the gaming machine and the control section of the medal lending device, for example, inside the gaming machine. Can be installed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a rotary game machine (hereinafter, referred to as a "game machine") using a relay board for a rotary game machine (hereinafter, referred to as a "relay board") according to an embodiment of the present invention. . In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a machine frame of a gaming machine,
A front frame 2 is mounted on the front of the machine frame 1 so as to be openable and closable. A front plate 3 is mounted on the front surface of the front frame 2, and the number of stored medals 15 and the number of paid medals 1 provided with a 7-segment display element and an LED on the front of the front plate 3.
6, stop lamps 17 to 19, a display window 20x of the rotating body rotating device, and the like are provided. A medal payout port 6 and a medal tray 4 are provided below the front plate 3.

At the center of the front frame 2, a medal slot 10,
The start switch 5 of the rotating body rotating device, the stop buttons 7 to 9 of the rotating body rotating device, the stored medal insertion button 11a, the stored medal clearing button 11b, the selection button 12 for selecting which of the stored medal and the inserted medal to use, and the like. Is provided. Further, in the center of the front frame 2, a medal lending switch 14a and a card return switch 14b, which are operation switches for operating a between-chamber medal lending device 30, which will be described later, and 7
A display unit 13 including a segment display element and an LED for displaying a medal lending permission display, a card balance display, and the like is provided. Reference numeral 31 denotes a card reading unit provided in a part of the medal lending device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a gaming machine according to one embodiment of the present invention, with a front plate opened. A medal replenishing hole 21 for supplying medals from an external device, a hopper bucket 22 for storing the supplied medals, and a predetermined number of medals are discharged when a prize is won in the machine frame 1 behind the front plate 3. A medal discharge device 23 is provided. The medal discharging device 23 is for discharging the lent medals based on the card information and the like, and for discharging a predetermined medal when a prize is won. In addition to the above-mentioned components, a power supply unit 25, a main CPU board 26 for controlling a gaming machine, and a relay board for a gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, which will be described later (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "relay board"). 40 and the like are provided. In addition, 20a-20c is the turning drum of the turning drum rotation device 20,
28 is a speaker, and 29 is a lamp for displaying a game state.

In the game in the gaming machine, first, a medal is directly inserted into the medal insertion slot 10 or a medal stored in a storage device (software for managing the number of stored medals) is stored in a medal insertion button. The user presses the button 11 to select one of them and presses the button 11 to select it. Then, for example, after inserting a predetermined number of medals, the starter switch 5 of the rotating body rotating device 20 is operated to rotate the rotating body, and then, the stop buttons 7 to 9 are sequentially pressed to stop the rotating body. . When the torso stops, the torso rotating device 20
When a predetermined pattern is aligned on one of the display windows 20x, on the middle line, on the lower line, and on the diagonal line, a prize is won. Medal tray 4 from mouth 6
Will be paid out. If there is no winning, no medals will be paid out. The paid-out medals are stored in the storage device until the number of stored medals reaches 50 in the case of the storage game, and the medal payout port 6 is used for the stored medals exceeding 50.
Will be paid out.

The medal discharging device 23 of the gaming machine discharges medals based on information from the inter-chamber lending device 30. When the storage device is usable, the medals to be ejected are stored in the storage device until the number of stored medals becomes 50, and the medal payout port 6 is used when the number of stored medals exceeds 50.
When the storage device is not used, the coins are directly paid out from the medal payout opening 6 to the medal tray 4.

FIG. 3 shows the relay board 40 and the main CPU of the gaming machine.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing signals transmitted and received between the board 26 and the relay board 40 and the medal lending device 31. The relay board 40 includes photocouplers 46a and 46b that transmit and receive signals while maintaining electrical insulation between the sub CPU 44 as a control unit, the gaming machine and the medal lending device 31.
Input / output circuit 4 for inputting and outputting signals to and from sub CPU 44
8, and a power supply circuit 50 for supplying power to each unit. As the sub CPU 44, for example, a LE6080A CPU manufactured by Le-Tec can be used. This CPU
Has a built-in ROM, RAM, and the like, into which a program for a series of operations described later can be written. The power supply circuit 50 includes a power supply unit 51 of the gaming machine.
From the power supply.

Here, the control signals transmitted and received via the relay board 40 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the names of signals exchanged via the signal lines are also described near each signal line. A rental prohibition signal, a reception response signal, rental data, a transmission request signal, a game prohibition signal, and a reception confirmation data signal are exchanged between the main CPU board 26 and the relay board 40 of the gaming machine. The signal lines for transmitting and receiving these signals are connected to the relay board 40 shown in FIG.
Is connected between the gaming machine and the relay board via a connector CN1 provided in the PC. This connector CN1 serves as the second connection means of the present invention.

The game prohibition signal indicates that when the medal lending device 31 is in a lendable state, the medal lending request switch is pressed to enter the medal lending processing state, and the relay board 4
This signal is sent from 0 to the gaming machine to prohibit the gaming machine from starting a new game. This signal is set to L over the period from the start of lending to the end of lending.

The lending prohibition signal is output when the gaming machine is in an abnormal state, when the stored medals are overflown by the next lending, and when the gaming machine is in a game state, the gaming machine is prohibited from receiving the lending medal. Is a signal transmitted to the relay board 40. This signal is set to H when the gaming machine is normal and lending is possible, and is set to L when lending is prohibited.

The transmission request signal is transmitted from the relay board 40 to the gaming machine when the lending process is completed between the medal lending device 31 and the relay board 40 and the lending data can be transmitted from the relay board to the gaming machine. This is a signal that is transmitted and is a signal that requests that the relay board 40 transmit rental data to the gaming machine. This signal is set to L at the time of transmission request.

When the above-mentioned transmission request signal is transmitted from the relay board 40 to the gaming machine, the reception response signal is transmitted to the relay board 40 indicating that the gaming machine has received the transmission request signal and acknowledged the transmission of the rental data. Response signal. This signal is set to L when receiving a response.

The reception confirmation data signal is a signal which is returned from the gaming machine to the relay board 40 when the gaming machine has completely received the rental data from the relay board 40, and is (0H) when the data has been completely received. Is returned.

The lending data is data of the number of medals to be lent from the inter-chamber lending device 30, for example, 100
Data in the unit of a circle is transmitted from the relay board 40 to the gaming machine. This signal is set to H at the time of transmission.

A BRDY signal, a BRQ signal, a PRDY signal, and an EXS signal are exchanged between the medal lending device 31 and the relay board 40. The signal lines on which these signals are exchanged are
D-Sub25 connector C provided on the relay board 40
Some of the pins of N2 are connected between the medal lending device and the relay board. This connector CN2 is the first connection means of the present invention.

The BRDY signal is a signal indicating the state of the medal lending device 31 and is a signal from when the lending request switch of the gaming machine is pressed until the lending process of the medal lending device is completed.
It is sent from the medal lending device to the relay board. This signal is set to L during the processing of the medal lending apparatus.

The BRQ signal is a signal for instructing medal lending, and is a signal for issuing a medal lending instruction from the medal lending device 31 to the relay board. This signal makes a transition from H to L when, for example, once requesting lending for 100 yen.

The PRDY signal is a signal indicating whether or not the gaming machine is in an operable state. When the gaming machine is in an abnormal state, when the stored medals are overflown by the next lending, and when the gaming machine is in a game state. In this case, the signal is sent from the relay board 40 to the medal lending device 31 at the time. The relay board sends this signal to the medal lending device when it determines that lending is not possible. This signal is set to H when the gaming machine cannot be operated, and set to L when the gaming machine can be operated.

The EXS signal is a signal to the effect that the medal lending instruction has been accepted. When the relay board 40 receives the medal lending instruction from the medal lending device 31, the relay board 4
0 is a signal for returning to the medal lending device that the lending instruction has been accepted. This signal changes from L to H each time the lending instruction is acknowledged once.

Further, between the medal lending device 31 and the display unit and the operation unit of the gaming machine, a TDS signal which is a medal lending request switch signal, a TDL0 signal which turns on an LED to indicate that a medal lending is possible, a card DG1 to DG3, SEGa to SEGg signals, and a RES signal, which is a return switch signal, are exchanged via the relay board 40. In addition, a power line of a medal lending device state display power supply for displaying a state of the medal lending device, such as a balance display and an LED, is connected. The signal line and the power supply line for exchanging these signals are connected by the remaining pins of the connector CN2 on the medal lending device side and by the connector CN3 on the gaming machine side. The gaming machine side connected by the connector CN3 is connected to the medal lending switch 14a and the card return switch 14b of FIG. 1, and to the display unit 13 having a 7-segment display element and an LED for displaying a medal lending permission and a card balance display. ing.

The TDS signal is a medal lending request signal issued when a player operates a switch when a medal is loaned from a medal lending device. The TDL0 signal is an LED lighting signal indicating that medals can be lent when a card is inserted into the medal renting device. DG1-DG3
The signal and the SEGa to SEGg signals are signals for displaying the balance of the card inserted into the medal lending device by the upper three digits. The RES signal is a signal emitted when a player operates a switch when receiving a card from the medal lending device, and is a signal for instructing the return of the card. In addition, signal lines such as VL (DC18V), LG (DC0V), and AC24VFG (frame ground) power lines and ground lines are provided.

Next, with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a control operation when a medal lending request is made during a game will be described. 4 and 5 show a series of flows, which are continuous from the last part of FIG. 4 to the first part of FIG. 4 and 5, the flow on the left is the operation of the CPU provided on the main CPU board 26 of the gaming machine, and the middle flow is the sub CPU 44 on the relay board 40.
Operation, and the flow on the right is the CPU of the medal lending device
(Not shown). It is assumed that arrows indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 3 indicate signals exchanged among the gaming machine, the relay board, and the medal lending device. Further, the sub CPU 44 on the relay board 40 has a function of monitoring the occurrence of an error when transmitting / receiving a signal to / from the medal lending device, but is not a main part of the present invention.
In the following description, a detailed description of such functions will be omitted.

When the power of the gaming machine is turned on in step S101, the power of the relay board 40 is also turned on in step S201. The relay board transmits the game prohibition signal L to the game machine in step S202 to prohibit the game machine from starting the game. Further, in step S203, the PR
Set the DY signal to H and send it to the medal lending device, and then step S
In 301, a medal lending action is prohibited. Thereafter, in step S204, the relay board checks the connection state with the medal lending device. If there is no abnormality in the check result in step S205, step S208
Then, the game prohibition signal is set to H and sent to the gaming machine to enable the game of the gaming machine, and in step S209, the PRDY signal is set to L to enable the medal lending action.
On the other hand, if there is an abnormality as a result of the check in step S205, the abnormality is recovered by a predetermined procedure, and then the check in step S204 is performed again. If the abnormality is not recovered, the operation of the relay board is stopped in step S207.

When the game prohibition signal H is sent from the relay board 40 to the game machine in step S208, the game machine judges this in step S102 and starts the game. In this embodiment, when a medal is required during the game, the player can press the medal lending request switch 14a of the gaming machine at any time. Therefore, during the progress of the game, the gaming machine constantly monitors whether or not the medal lending request switch has been pressed in step S103. If the medal lending request switch is pressed prior to the start of the game, a TDS signal, which is a medal lending request signal, is sent to the medal lending device as L in step S104. If the lending request switch is not pressed, the game proceeds in step S105, and if the medal lending request switch is pressed during the game, the process returns to step S103 to monitor whether the medal lending request switch is pressed.

When the game is started in step S105, the gaming machine sets the lending prohibition signal to L in step S106 and sends the signal to the relay board. Then step S1
At 07, when the first game is over, at step S108, it is determined whether or not the medal lending request switch is pressed, and when there is a request, step S109 is performed.
, The lending prohibition signal is set to H and transmitted to the relay board.
If there is no medal lending request during the game, one game ends and the process returns to step S102 to wait for a new start of the game.

On the other hand, when the relay board receives the lending prohibition signal set to L from the gaming machine in step S210,
Next, the state becomes H and a state of waiting for the lending prohibition state to be released is set.

Upon receiving the medal lending request signal TDS = (L) in step S303, the medal lending device sends out the lending signal BRDY to the relay board in step S304, and starts the medal lending operation. When the relay board receives BRDY = (L) in step S211, it sets the game prohibition signal to L in step S212, sends the signal to the gaming machine, notifies the gaming machine of the medal lending state, and starts the next game. Ban. Subsequently, the medal lending device sets the medal lending instruction signal BRQ to L in step S305 and sends the signal to the relay board. In the relay board,
After receiving the lending signal BRDY (L) in step S213, the lending instruction acknowledgment signal EX in step S214.
S is set to L and sent to the medal lending device.

When the medal lending apparatus receives a signal in which the EXS signal has changed from H to L in step S306,
In order to stop the lending instruction in step S307, BRQ
The signal is changed from L to H and transmitted to the relay board. The relay board sets the BRQ signal from L to H in step S215.
Is counted in step S216 once, and when one medal lending act is completed, step S21 is performed.
At 7, EXS is changed from L to H and sent to the medal lending device. The count of the BRQ signal is performed to confirm whether the number of lent medals has reached the number of medals requested by the player. When the BRQ signal changes from L to H once, for example, Rental of medals for 100 yen is performed.

When the medal lending device receives the EXS signal set to H in step S308, the medal lending device proceeds to step S30.
In step 9, it is checked whether or not there is a balance remaining in the prepaid card. If there is no balance, in step S311, the lending signal is changed from L to H and sent to the relay board.
On the other hand, if we determine that there is balance left on the card,
In step S310, it is determined whether or not BRQ signal transmission has reached 10 times. This is because the medal lending apparatus of the present embodiment limits the number of medals to be lent to one medal lending request from a player to five. If the number of BRQ signals is less than 10 in step S310, the flow returns to step S305 to repeat the same operation. If the number of BRQ signals reaches 10 times,
In step S311, the lending operation ends.

When the lending operation of the medal lending device is completed in step S311, the medal lending device changes the lending signal from L to H and sends the signal to the relay board. The relay board receives this in step S218 and recognizes it in step S219, and then in step S220
Sends a signal to the gaming machine to transmit data on the lending of medals to the gaming machine. Upon receiving the transmission request signal in step S110, the gaming machine sends a reception response signal to the relay board in step S111 to indicate that the game machine is ready to receive the rental data.

The relay board confirms in step S221 that the reception response signal L from the gaming machine has been sent,
After setting the rental data in step S222, the 4-bit parallel rental data is transmitted to the gaming machine. The gaming machine receives this data in step S112, and upon completion of data reception in step S113, returns (0H) data to the relay board in step S114. When the relay board receives the return data in step S223, the transmission of the rental data ends. Thereby, the gaming machine performs step S115.
In step S, the rental medal is stored in the credit, and
Returning to 102, a new game can be started.

Sub CPU 4 provided on relay board 40
The main function of the relay board 4 is to control the operation as described above in the relay board. When a program for executing such a control operation is created, the following points are further noted. That is, data of medals equivalent to money is transmitted and received between the gaming machine and the medal lending device. Therefore, special consideration is given to the state of the device, connection monitoring, and data transmission / reception confirmation. Further, the relay board always monitors whether or not the medal lending device is normally connected, and when the connection is not confirmed, sends an alarm to the gaming machine side to reject the medal lending request from the gaming machine. To Furthermore, the rental data transmitted from the relay board to the gaming machine side is transmitted on the gaming machine side after confirming the received data until the data (0H) is returned to the relay board.

When the control program of the relay board does not operate normally due to some circumstances,
Be able to restart. Further, the power supply is monitored by the sub CPU 44. If an abnormality occurs in the power supply, the sub CP 44
It is desirable to retain the contents of the RAM in U44.

As in the above-described embodiment, when a player requests a medal to be lent during a game, the control of suspending the medal renting operation is performed not by the gaming machine but by the relay board. This is performed by the sub CPU provided in. Therefore, the CPU on the main CPU board 26 of the gaming machine
Burden is reduced. Further, the control required for the medal lending operation between the gaming machine and the medal lending device is:
Since all processing is performed by the sub CPU 44 of the relay board in a unified manner, the relay board can be applied to any gaming machine.
Therefore, it is not necessary for the game machine manufacturer to provide an interface circuit for connecting to the medal lending device and a complicated communication program on the main body side, and the manufacture of the game machine and the design of software are facilitated.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made within the scope of the invention. For example, it goes without saying that a sub CPU 44 other than the CPU used in the above embodiment can be used as long as it has a similar function.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a relay board having a sub CPU having a program for uniformly processing communication control between an amusement machine and a medal lending device centering on an interface, By avoiding direct communication between the gaming machine and the medal lending device, the main program of the spinning machine does not need to have complicated communication control. There is no need to provide an interface circuit on the gaming machine side for connecting the device to the gaming machine, and the load on the program for controlling communication is reduced, so that the software and hardware design of the gaming machine can be simplified. A relay board for a torso type gaming machine can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a spinning game machine provided with a spinning game machine relay board according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the spinning-type gaming machine with a front plate opened.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a relay board for a spinning-type gaming machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a sub-CP provided on a relay board for a spinning-type gaming machine.
It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement in U, the control part of a spinning-bore type gaming machine, and the control part of a medal lending apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a sub-CP provided on a relay board for a spinning-type gaming machine.
5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit of the U-type gaming machine and the control unit of the medal lending device, and is a flowchart showing a part following FIG. 4.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 machine frame 4 medal tray 5 start switch 6 medal payout port 7-9 stop button 10 medal slot 11 medal slot button 12 selection button 13 display unit 14a medal lending switch 14b card return switch 15 stored medal number display unit 16 paid medal Number display section 17-19 Stop lamp 20 Twist body rotation device 20a-20b Twist body 20x Display window 22 Hopper basket 23 Medal discharge device 26 Main CPU board 30 Medal lending device between units 31 Card reading unit 40 times Relay for a torso type gaming machine Board 44 Sub CPU 46a, 46b Photocoupler 48 Input / output circuit 50 Power supply circuit CN1, CN2, CN3 Connector

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. First connection means for connecting a signal line to a medal lending device having card reading means,
A second connection means for connecting a signal line between the spinning-type gaming machine, and a control means, by the control means,
Mediation of transmission and reception of signals between the medal lending device and the turning type gaming machine, prohibition of a medal lending operation in the medal lending device during a game in the turning type gaming machine, and medal lending in the medal lending device A relay board for a torsion-type gaming machine, which controls prohibition of starting a new game in the operating torsion-type gaming machine. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the signal exchanged between the medal lending device and the spinning-type gaming machine includes a signal for controlling a payout amount of medals. Relay board for body-type gaming machines.