JP3462206B2 - Management device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates, in a game field having a plurality of gaming devices
In particular, the present invention relates to a management device for security.

[0002]

BACKGROUND ART In a game hall having a plurality of gaming devices,
For example, a device for detecting fraudulent activity by a player is often introduced to prevent fraudulent activity.

For example, in a pachinko game machine that uses a pachinko ball made of a metal body, it is necessary to detect a fraudulent act of guiding the pachinko ball with a magnet or the like. There is a method of detecting fraudulent activity by determining whether the trajectory is abnormal.

Conventionally, as a metal body detecting device for such a purpose, there are those described in JP-A-2-279186 and JP-A-4-122375.
These publications disclose pachinko ball detection devices.

In the above-mentioned conventional technique, it is possible to detect fraudulent acts, but no consideration is given to what kind of processing is to be performed when fraudulent acts are detected.

[0006] Further, even if the illegally-behaved game device can be detected, it is difficult to identify the player if the illegally-executed player leaves the game device at which the illegally-behavior has been performed.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a management device capable of making a notification to the outside when an illegal act is detected. Another object is to provide a management device that can identify a player who has committed an illegal act.

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, a gate
To detect fraudulent activity in
Multiple gaming devices that send out that effect and image information
A management device in a game hall, comprising:
Notification that the cheating sent from each of the
The receiving unit that receives the signal and the receiver that is received by the receiving unit.
An output unit that outputs a notification that a correct action has been detected;
An image for receiving the image information sent from each of the technical devices.
Outputs the image receiving unit and the image information received by the image receiving unit.
And an image output unit that applies a force.

[0009]

The operation of the present invention will be described below.

In each of the gaming machines, the game executing section executes the game, and the detecting section detects an illegal act in the game. The sending unit sends a message to the management device when the detecting unit detects an illegal act.

[0012] In the management device, the receiving unit receives the notification that the fraudulent activity transmitted from each of the transmitting units is detected .

[0013]

[0014]

Further, the game device further comprises an image input unit for inputting image information and an image sending unit for sending the image information input by the image input unit, and the management device sends out from each of the image sending units. In the case where the image receiving unit for receiving the generated image information is further provided, the appearance of the player can be input as the image information by the image input unit such as a camera. As a result, the communication unit, at the time of the notification,
The image information received by the image receiving unit is further transmitted, and when the display unit receives the notification indicating that the illegal activity has been detected by the receiving unit, the gaming device in which the illegal activity has been performed is displayed. It is possible to display and output the identification information and the image information sent from the sending unit of the game device together with the information, and it is possible to identify the player who has committed the illegal act.

Further, the management device accumulates the image information transmitted from the image transmission part of the gaming device which has detected the illegal act and received by the image reception part, and the image information accumulated in the accumulation part. When a display unit for displaying is displayed, the information stored in this storage unit can be edited and analyzed. As a result, a list of fraudsters can be displayed. Further, for example, the storage unit further stores predetermined identification information of the gaming device in which the illegal act has occurred, in association with the image information . The management device is
The display unit further includes a counting unit that counts the frequency of occurrence of fraudulent activity for each date and time accumulated in the accumulation unit.
The frequency counted by the counting unit may be displayed for each date. In this way, it is possible to display the frequency of fraudulent activity for each date, each gaming device, and each gaming model.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention can be applied to a game device for controlling image display, and examples of the game device include a slot machine, a pachinko game machine, a video game machine, and the like. In this embodiment, a slot machine will be described.
In the present embodiment, an image input unit for inputting an image is arranged in the main body of the slot machine, a player's appearance is photographed and taken in, and image information of the photographed appearance after image processing is displayed instead of the specific pattern. The image information input to the game hall management device is transmitted.

FIG. 1 shows an external view of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the display surface 110 can be arranged on the game surface 101. The display unit 110 is a display unit such as a display or a liquid crystal, and displays a plurality of slots in which various patterns in the slot machine are shown in one or two or more rows, and a background is displayed outside each slot. it can. On the display unit 110, a plurality of rows of patterns are displayed in the same manner as in the case of the conventional rotating drum, and the patterns are moved and displayed by changing the patterns by rotating the patterns one after another. be able to. Display unit 110
May have a display means for each column. In addition, it is possible to display the line of the winning combination at the time of the game, or to display such that when the pattern combination is aligned with the predetermined pattern, it is shown. Further, on the game surface 101, a CCD of an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject is provided.
(Charge Coupled Devicd) A camera unit 121 and a lighting unit 120 such as a flash are arranged, and a player's appearance or the like can be photographed and input. In addition to the display unit 110 displaying the image information, the second display unit 110 displaying the image information of the subject imaged by the camera unit 121.
You may make it provide A and the display control part displayed on a 2nd display part.

The input / output unit 102 is an input / output unit 102b for inputting medals, balls, banknotes and coins used in a normal slot machine, or an amount and the number of medals.
An IC card that stores image information to be described later, F
D, may be provided with input and output portion 102 a to output a game storage medium for a game, such as a CD-ROM. The number-of-winning-medium display unit 103 indicates the number of game agents to be paid out as a prize when the symbols of the slot machine are lined up in a predetermined pattern (hereinafter referred to as the number of awarding media) or the number of prizes to be paid out such as the amount. It is a display means for displaying. The game take-in medium number display unit 104 is the input / output unit 1.
This is a display means for displaying the number or amount of the game medium input from 02b. The game taking-in medium selection SW 105 is an instruction switch for instructing the number or the amount of money to be multiplied by the game medium at the time of the game. For example, when there are a plurality of betting lines indicating a combination of a plurality of patterns, the number of medals is set. You can instruct to set this betting line according to. The internal possession medium number display unit 106 is a display unit that displays the number or amount of the game medium held inside the slot machine when the number of winning media is not output. The settlement SW 107 is an instruction switch for instructing the settlement of the number of game mediums held therein at the end of the game. For example, when the settlement SW 107 is pressed, the game medium is output as many as the number held inside, and in the case of a card having a storage means, the number held inside is stored in the card and paid out. Can be issued. The starting lever 108 is an instruction unit for receiving an instruction to start rotation display of a design of the slot machine. Game stop SW1
Reference numeral 09 is an instruction unit provided corresponding to each column and for receiving an instruction to stop the game. Game stop SW
When the instruction to stop the game is received at 109, the change of each pattern is stopped at a predetermined stop timing. Alternatively, the game stop SW 109 may not be provided, and the game may be naturally stopped after a lapse of a predetermined time after the rotation display is started. further,
Without providing the game stop SW 109 for each row,
Only one game stop SW 109 may be provided, and when the game stop SW 109 receives a stop instruction, the change of the patterns may be stopped in a predetermined order.

Next, the detailed internal structure of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the configuration of the display type slot machine.

In FIG. 4, the slot machine has a game control unit 403 for controlling the progress of the game and a display control unit 401 for simulating the appearance of slot rotation.
And an interface board unit 404 connected to various input / output devices, and an image input device for inputting an image, which is a CCD (Charg
e Coupled Devicd) Image processing unit 42 for performing image processing on the image input by the camera unit 121 and the CCD camera unit 121 and outputting image information to the display control unit 401.
0 and a display unit 110 that displays a picture and a background. In FIG. 4, the game control unit 403 and the display control unit 401 are independent units each having a CPU. Further, a printing unit 421 such as a printer which is connected to the image processing unit 420 and prints out the input image information may be further provided. In addition, the game control unit 403 includes a card reader that reads / writes a card of a storage medium that stores image information.
The / writer 310 may be provided. Image information input by another image input device may be stored in this card, and the card reader / writer 310 may be mounted at the time of the game to read the image information. Further, information such as the number of game media may be written in the card.

The interface board unit 404 is connected to the input / output unit 102, various instruction switches, display means, etc., and is controlled by the game control unit 403. The instruction switch includes a start lever 108 of start instruction means for accepting a start instruction for instructing the start of the game and instructing the display control unit 401 to start so as to change the display of the pattern for each column, Stop instruction means 10 for accepting a stop instruction for instructing to stop the change of the picture for each column and giving a stop instruction to the display control unit 401.
9 and at least. Further, the slot machine may be provided with a speaker 405 for outputting a sound when the patterns are aligned.

As the image pickup means, the CCD camera section 121
Besides, an electronic still camera, a television camera, or the like may be used, and a color-compatible camera may be used. Further, the image may be read by a scanner or the like as the image input unit. Further, image information may be transferred and input via a communication line. Alternatively, a storage medium that stores image information may be inserted into the input / output unit 102a and the image information may be input by reading the image information from the storage medium. The CCD camera unit 121 inputs an image at a specific time and sends the input image to the image processing unit 420. As shown in FIG. 1, the CCD camera unit 121 is arranged on the game surface of the slot machine and can be focused in advance at a position existing when the player plays a game. For example, when a chair or the like is prepared in front of the slot machine, it is possible to focus on the distance when the player sits on the chair. Further, the CCD camera unit 121 may be provided with an automatic focusing function. In addition, the CCD camera unit 121
It may further include an illumination means 120 such as a flash connected to the light source for illuminating the subject. The timing of capturing an image in the CCD camera unit 121 will be described later. In the image processing unit 420, the CCD camera unit 12
The image information input in 1 is image-processed and the image-processed image information is output to the display control unit 401. The image processing unit 420 image-processes the input image information into a predetermined amount of information and sends it out. Also CCD
When the amount of information input by the camera unit 121 is a fixed amount,
You may make it output to the display control unit 401 as it is.

Regarding the overall movement of the system, the game control unit 403 mainly controls the progress of the game in accordance with the program stored in the ROM, and the slot rotation and stop of the display control unit 401 are controlled. The game progresses by communicating and transmitting the instruction through the parallel communication interface 402. When stopped, the game control unit 403 determines that the combination of the patterns displayed at the predetermined position on the display unit matches the combination of the predetermined patterns. The display control unit 401 is
In order to display various patterns as if they are rotating, R
Various pattern patterns are stored in the OM, and VRAM (Video
Random Access Memory) stores the background image,
The display state of the design of each slot is changed. The display operation state of each slot can be set to a plurality of states such as a stop mode, an acceleration mode, a constant speed rotation mode, and a deceleration mode, and each pattern data is transmitted to the display unit 110 in frame span units. To do. The ROM may be configured to be removable. Or ROM
Is a rewritable UV erasable PROM (EPRO
M) or an electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) may be used. Further, the display control unit 401 stores the image information output from the image processing unit 420 in the RAM, and switches the reading of the picture pattern stored in the ROM and the image information stored in the RAM at a specific time. It For example, instead of reading a specific pattern from the ROM, the image information stored in the RAM is read. As a result, the image information input by the CCD camera unit 121 can be displayed instead of displaying the specific pattern.
The switching timing and switching method will be described later. The display unit 110 displays the background image stored in the VRAM and the picture pattern in each display state in an overlapping manner. Further, the display control unit 401 may directly display the image information stored in the RAM on the display unit 110 or the second display unit 110A. For example, when an image is input, the display unit 1 is provided to allow the player to confirm the input image.
You may make it display on 10. Also, enter and RA
The image information stored in M may be erased when the settlement switch 107 is pressed. Further, the gaming machine may be further provided with a writing unit for writing the image information in the storage medium and an issuing unit for issuing the storage medium in which the image information is written. In this case, when the settlement switch 107 is pressed, the image information input and stored in the RAM may be written in the storage medium, and after the writing, the storage medium may be issued and output.

Next, the timing of image input and the image input method will be described.

The timing of image input is when a specific condition is satisfied, and the specific condition is defined in advance in the game control unit 403 or the image processing unit 420. In this embodiment, a case where a player inputs an image when a player plays a game on a slot machine for a certain period of time will be described. By doing so, since the player often changes the base of the gaming machine in a short time, it is possible to input an image of the player who has played the game for a certain time, and the game machine No image input can be performed for a player who changes the table.

Since the game control unit 403 can detect whether or not the game is being played, the state where the game is not being played is changed to the state where the game is being played, and the game is being played continuously for a specific time. Detect that. For example, the game control unit 403 can detect this state by monitoring the game medium used in the game. In this case, the game control unit 403 inputs an image to the CCD camera unit 121 via the image processing unit 420 when the game is continuously played for 1 minute with the specific time being 1 minute, for example. Give instructions. In addition, by counting the game media used in the game or the number of times of the game, when the value counted during a specific time from a state where the game is not being played reaches a predetermined value, image input is performed. You may instruct. In this case, if the predetermined value is not reached during the specific time, no input is made.

After that, the game control unit 403
Instructs the image processing unit 420 to leave the game in a non-playing state and to erase the input image after a specific time has elapsed since the game ended.

When the CCD camera section 121 is instructed to input an image, it starts photographing. The CCD camera unit 121 sends the image information to the image processing unit 420 after photographing. As image information, in the case of color,
The R, G, B signals, the luminance signal, and the synchronizing signal are transmitted for one frame. In case of TV camera, NTSC signal (Natio
nal Television System Committee).

Before shooting, the game control unit 4
03 may notify the player that shooting is to be performed. As a notification method, voice output of a predetermined message may be performed via the speaker 405, or a message to that effect may be displayed on the display unit 110. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a cancel button 123 is provided as a non-permission instruction means for accepting a non-permission instruction indicating that image input is not permitted during the specific time after notification, and the cancel button 123 is provided during the specific time after notification. When is not pressed, the image is input and the cancel button 1
When 23 is pressed, it is possible to prevent the image input.

Further, other specific conditions for the image input timing may be defined as follows. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, an image input instruction button 122 of instruction means for permitting the input of image information is provided on the front surface of the game device, and an image is input when the image input instruction button 122 is pressed. You may In this case, the player may press the image input instruction button 122 only when he / she wants to display his / her own face instead of the specific pattern. The image input instruction button 122 is connected to the interface board unit 404 shown in FIG. 4, and a signal is sent to the game control unit 403 when the button is pressed.
In the game control unit 403, the image input instruction button 1
When a signal is received from 22, the CCD camera unit 121 is instructed to input an image via the image processing unit 420.

Further, as another specific condition of the image input timing, it may be defined that the image input is performed when the player faces the game device for a certain period of time. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, a radiation unit 2122 that radiates a signal such as laser or infrared rays in a specific direction on the front surface of the game device.
And a light receiving portion 2123 such as a photodetector that receives reflection of a signal from a specific direction, and as a specific condition,
The light receiving unit 2123 may be configured to receive infrared rays for a specific time. In this case, the radiating section 2122 is
A signal which is provided with a laser diode or an infrared light emitting diode, always emits infrared rays toward a position where the player will be present when playing a game, and is reflected by the player present at the position where the game is played on the game device. The light receiving unit 21
It is possible to detect the presence of the player when the infrared ray is received at 23 for a specific time. The radiating section 2122 and the light receiving section 2123 are provided at positions opposite to the front surface of the game apparatus, for example, when a seat or the like is arranged in front of the game apparatus, the radiating section 2122 is provided on the seat and face each other. Alternatively, the light receiving unit 2123 may be provided. In this case, since light is received when there is no player and light is not received when there is a player, it can be determined that a player exists when light is not received for a certain period of time. Also,
The radiator 2122 and the light receiver 2123 are connected to the interface board unit 404 shown in FIG. 4, and the radiator 2122 and the light receiver 212 in the game control unit 403.
3 can be controlled.

As described above, image information can be input at a specific time.

Next, image processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the image processing unit.

In FIG. 3, the image processing unit 420 includes a processor 4230 for image processing and a ROM of an auxiliary storage device for storing a program for image processing.
A (ReadOnly Memory) 4200, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 4210 for accumulating image information, and a CPU 4220 of the control unit are provided. As the processor 4230 for image processing, a digital signal processor (D
SP) can be used.

When the image information is output from the CCD camera unit 121, the CPU 4220 issues an address and a write instruction to the RAM 4210 to store the image information.
As the image information, for example, a player's face or the like can be input. Next, the image processor 4230 is activated to perform image processing. The image processing processor 4230 uses the CCD camera unit 121 as image processing.
In order for the display control unit 401 to display the image information sent from the display unit 110, the image information is enlarged, reduced, or compressed so that the image information can be contained in one frame in the display control unit 401. Further, the image information sent from the CCD camera unit 121 may be trimmed. That is, as image processing, enlargement processing for enlarging the captured image information to a specific amount, reduction processing for reducing the captured image information to a specific amount, compression processing for compressing the captured image information to a specific amount, and capturing At least one of the trimming process of trimming the image information to a specific amount can be performed . In this embodiment,
Since the image information input from the CCD camera unit 121 is displayed instead of the specific pattern, the size is reduced to be equal to the information amount of the pattern information stored in the ROM included in the display control unit 401. In addition, the entire display area has a CCD
When the image information input from the camera unit 121 is displayed, the image information is compressed so that the image information for one frame on the display unit 110 is obtained. Further, the image processor 4230
Smoothing and noise removal, it is also possible to perform image processing, such as deletion of the background of the non-appearance. The image processor 4230 stores the processed image information in the RAM 4210. Or, the image information captured may be stored in the left RAM4210 image information before <br/> performing image processing. After the image processing is completed, the CPU 4220 sends the processed image information to the display control unit 401. CC
When the image information input from the D camera unit 121 is equal to the amount of image information that can be handled by the display control unit 401, the image processing may not be performed. By processing as described above, the image information input by the CCD camera unit 121 can be sent to the display control unit 401.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, when the printing unit 421 is connected to the image processing unit 420, the image information is fetched and after the image processing, the image information fetched from the printing unit 421 is printed out. You may do it. In this case, the image processing unit 420 makes a hard copy to the printing unit 421. In addition, the captured image information may be displayed and output on the display unit 110 or the second display unit 110A for the player to confirm.

Next, the structure of the display control unit 401 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of display control. The display control unit 401 has a VRAM for storing a background image and a display data RO for storing display data of a pattern portion of the slot machine in order to switch the screen at high speed.
M section 1010, image data RAM 1150 for storing image information output from the image processing unit 420, display data ROM section 1010 and image data RAM 11
Display data ROM unit 1010 of the symbol to be displayed in one frame in order to read the symbol or image from 50
And an address generation unit that sequentially outputs the address of each frame.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The configuration of display control for one slot in the display control unit 401 is shown, and when display control is performed for three slots, the display control for each slot can be controlled by time-division switching. The display on the display unit 110 is displayed for each row of each slot, and the display area of each row is a predetermined area.
It is assumed that there is an area where about four symbols can be displayed at the same time. The display unit 110 displays 1/60 seconds or 1/3
The display is updated at frame spans (V-syc cycle) at regular intervals of 0 seconds, and line scanning is performed for each frame. The display control unit 401 reads out the symbol to be displayed in the display area of each column for each frame, and displays the same symbol in the stop mode. During the rotating operation, the display position of the symbols displayed in the display area of each column is moved. That is, the display control unit 401
When reading symbols from the ROM, the start position of reading is shifted for each frame by the amount of movement and the symbols displayed within the range of the display area are read out. Also, the symbols are sequentially read out in a predetermined order, thereby rotating operation. Display as if you are doing. Further, in this embodiment, the movement amount is changed between the acceleration mode, the constant speed mode and the deceleration mode. Also,
In the acceleration mode, the reading of the still image pattern is switched to the reading of the flow state pattern.

Further, the address generating section includes an address counter section 1020, a display start position address buffer 1030, a data counter 1040, a display data number buffer 1050 address, and a data number generating section 1 shown below.
100 and a changeover switch 1160. The display data ROM unit 1010 stores all the symbol data to be displayed. In this case, display data ROM
The unit 1010 stores a pattern of symbol data to be displayed in each slot for each slot, or one display data ROM for all slots.
The part 1010 may be provided. For example, in the display data ROM unit 1010, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of types of data patterns are stored. Further, in the image data RAM 1150, the image information sent from the image processing unit 420 is stored in an area of a predetermined address as shown in FIG. When displaying the image information sent from the image processing unit 420 instead of a specific symbol, the display data ROM unit 101
The image information is stored in the area of the image data RAM 1150 having the same address as the address of the specific symbol pattern stored in 0. The image data RAM 1150 is provided with only an area (corresponding to the data capacity of one symbol pattern) for storing the image information sent from the image processing unit 420. The address counter unit 1020 has a display data ROM 1
A counter for reading the contents of 010 loads the read start address and sequentially counts up (or downs) by the character read clock. The display start position address buffer 1030 is a buffer for stocking the read start address of the symbol to be displayed next,
When the display of the previous symbol is finished, the data is loaded into the address counter section. The read start address is generated in the address and data number generation unit 1100, which will be described later, and sent out via the system data bus. The data counter 1040 is a counter that monitors how many bytes (or words) of the display symbol are displayed, loads the data number in the display data number buffer, and is down-counted by the character read clock. Outputs carry signal and outputs one-shot circuit 1060
A load signal is output from and new data is loaded. The display data number buffer 1050 is a buffer that stores data defining the number of bytes (or the number of words) of the symbol to be displayed next, and is read into the data counter when the data counter becomes zero. The address and data number generation unit 1100 generates a read start address and the number of bytes of the symbol to be displayed. Therefore, at least the read start position of the symbol displayed in the uppermost stage of the display unit in one frame, the amount of read data, and a flag indicating whether or not to display a new symbol pattern are stored. Template 11
Equipped with 10. The changeover switch 1160 is used for the display data ROM unit 1.
010 or information from the image data RAM 115
The switch is a switch for switching whether to read information from 0. The switching instruction is given from the game control unit 403 as described later. The address of the specific symbol instructed from the address counter 1020 is switched by the changeover switch 1160 according to the change instruction.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a template. The template 1110, as shown in FIG.
For example, a stop mode indicating that the display state is stopped, an acceleration mode indicating a display state that accelerates and rotates, a constant speed rotation operation mode indicating a display state that the display state is rotating at a constant speed, and It is possible to provide each mode of the mode during deceleration that indicates a display state in which the vehicle is decelerated and rotated. In the stop mode, the same symbol is updated every frame without moving the symbol. As will be described later, when an operation start signal is received from the microprocessor 408, each slot shifts to the acceleration mode and accelerates the speed until it reaches a predetermined symbol movement speed. When the predetermined symbol movement speed is reached (or a certain period of time elapses), a constant speed mode is set, and the microprocessor 408
When the operation stop signal is received from, the speed is decelerated at a predetermined deceleration speed, and when the predetermined symbol movement speed is reached (or a certain period of time elapses), the stop mode is set.

An example of the data structure of the template table is shown in FIG. 6 (iv). In (iv) of FIG.
(A) shows the read start position of the symbol displayed on the uppermost stage of the display section of the display data ROM section 1010 of the symbol to be displayed.
The read head position (a) indicates a bias value, and when the start position for each symbol pattern stored in the display data ROM unit 1010 is 0, the number of rasters from the start position to the read start position (the number of rasters) = Total number of bytes of one symbol ÷ 16). As a result, it is possible to determine from which position of the symbol the display should start. Also, (b) is
Indicates the number of display data read in one frame.

Thus, the template stores the read start position and the number of data for each frame. By rotating the read start position little by little for each template, it can be made to rotate. This shift amount corresponds to the movement amount of the symbol display position for each frame. Further, by preparing the template for each display unit, the rotation speed can be made different for each display unit.

Further, the address and data number generator 110
At 0, as shown in FIG. 7, a symbol register 1210 that stores a start address for each symbol pattern, and a symbol pointer 1 that acts as a pointer of the symbol register 1210.
And 200. The symbol pointer 1200 indicates the uppermost symbol in each slot and is incremented according to the content of the template. That is, when the flag indicates that a new symbol pattern is to be displayed, the symbol pointer 1200 is updated to point to the next symbol. In the symbol register 1210,
The start address of the symbol pattern is held for each display order. For example, if the display order is specified to be displayed in the symbol arrangement as shown in FIG. 9, the display data ROM section 1010
The address for each symbol to be stored in the symbol register 1210 is stored in association with the order of the symbol arrangement.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in the address and data number generation unit 1100, the start address of the symbol pattern stored in the symbol register 1210 pointed to by the symbol pointer 1200 is read for each frame, and the symbol template 1110 is referred to. Then, the read start address is generated by adding the read start position and the start address of the symbol pattern. The number of bytes of the symbol to be displayed is the read data amount of the symbol template 1110.

Next, the processing procedure of the template will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, a move pointer is provided to indicate the position of the template table.
The move pointer can be configured by a counter that indicates the read position of the display template. The move pointer is sequentially counted up using the display timing as a clock, and returns to 0 when the count reaches the last template. The data read from the template table is temporarily stored in a temporary work space. (1) The display control unit 401 repeatedly reads SSDT0 (stop mode) of the template after powering on the pachinko game machine or when instructed by the microprocessor. (2) When the operation start signal is received from the microprocessor, the template is SSDT1, the data of the template SSDT1 is expanded, and the expanded data for the next frame is temporarily written. (3) Each time the frame is updated (that is, every time the display timing comes), the template is set to SSDT2, 3, ... (4) When the acceleration template is completed, the process proceeds to the constant speed template process, and this process is repeated. The process of the constant speed template repeats a loop from CNDT14 to CNDT0.

Next, the display operation in FIG. 5 will be described. 1. In the address and data number generation unit 1100, the <read start address> and the <display data number> of the symbol to be displayed are generated as a table for one frame by referring to the template as described above, and the read start address is set. The display start position address buffer 1030 stores the display data number in the display data number buffer. 2. The read start address and the number of display data are loaded into the address counter and the data counter at the display timing. 3. In the current frame, the address and data number generation unit creates a table of data to be displayed in the next frame. 4. Data counter 1040 and address counter 1
020 operates according to a clock, and data is read from the storage device according to the address designated by the address counter 1020. 5. The changeover switch 1160 normally reads data from the display data ROM unit 1010, and reads data from the image data RAM 1150 when displaying image information sent from the image processing unit 420 instead of a specific symbol. To switch.

As described above, it is possible to generate an address by the address generator, read the symbol data from the display data ROM 1010, and read the image information from the image data RAM 1150 instead of the specific symbol.

As another configuration, without providing the changeover switch 1160, the symbol register 121 shown in FIG.
The start address stored in 0 may be rewritten. In this case, different addresses are assigned to the display data ROM 1010 and the image data RAM 1150 so that the addresses do not overlap. For example, the symbol register 1210
The start address “A1” stored in the table is provided and held by another register, and instead, the pattern register 1210.
Hold the start address of the image data RAM 1150. When it is desired to return to the original specific symbol, the held start address “A1” may be returned to the symbol register 1210. In this case, the address counter 1020
From here, the address line is connected to both the image data RAM 1150 and the display data ROM 1010. Even in this way, the input image information can be displayed instead of the specific symbol.

Next, the switching timing when displaying the image information sent from the image processing unit 420 instead of the specific symbol will be described. This switching timing is the switching timing instructing the changeover switch 1160 described above, and in this embodiment, it is instructed by the game control unit 403, but it may be performed by providing another control unit.

The switching timing is provided with switching detection means for detecting that a specific condition is satisfied, and when the switching detection means detects, the image processing unit 420 sends out instead of a specific symbol. Switch to display the image information.

As the specific condition, the following conditions can be defined.

As the first specific condition, the display data RAM after the image processing in the image processing unit 420 described above is performed.
It is defined that the specific condition is satisfied when the data is stored in 1150. In this case, the switching detection means
It is detected that the data is stored in the display data RAM 1150, and after the detection, a switching instruction is given to display the image information sent from the image processing unit 420 instead of the specific symbol. With the changeover switch 1160,
When there is a switching instruction, a specific symbol, for example, instead of the symbol “7” having the address A1 as the start address shown in FIG. 10, when the instruction of the address corresponding to the symbol “7” is given, from the image data RAM 1150 Instruct to read. By defining the conditions in this way,
After inputting an image, a specific pattern can be immediately converted to image information after image processing.

As a second specific condition, an image switching instruction button 124 of an instruction means for instructing permission of replacement of the image information is further provided, and the switching detection means determines when a permission instruction is given from the instruction means. To detect. For example, as described above, after the image input, the input image information is output from the printing unit 421, and after the player confirms the image information and then presses the image switching instruction button 124, the image processing is performed instead of the specific symbol. The display is switched to display the image information sent from the unit 420. By doing so, the input image information can be displayed when the player intends, the player can have a greater sense of participation, and can enjoy the game.

As a third specific condition, a plurality of types of symbols are controlled to be displayed at a plurality of positions as image information, and the game control unit 403 causes a combination of symbols displayed at the plurality of positions to be a predetermined symbol combination. Is provided with a determination means for determining whether or not
It is assumed that the specific condition is when the determination unit determines that the symbol combination displayed at the plurality of positions is a predetermined symbol combination. For example, when the predetermined symbol combination has three slots, and when the symbol displayed in the center of each slot is the same type of symbol, it can be switched to read from the image data RAM 1150. . Also, when there are three slots, when two displays are in a stopped state and only one is in an operating state, a predetermined symbol combination is displayed in the center of each stopped slot. The above-mentioned switching may be performed when the symbols of the same type are displayed.
By doing this, it is possible to switch to the image information input when the symbols are in a specific combination,
The player can enjoy playing the game more.

By thus defining the switching condition, the switching can be performed when the specified condition is satisfied.

In the above embodiment, the input image information is displayed instead of the specific symbol, but the input image information may be displayed instead of other display information.
For example, as shown in FIG. 11, instead of the slot and symbol display, the input image information may be displayed on the entire display unit 110. The front view shown in FIG. 11 is obtained by extracting a display portion of a pachinko game machine or the like and a peripheral portion thereof.

Further, in the game control unit 403, a plurality of game target lines (betting lines) which are combinations of symbols at a plurality of positions are defined, and at least one or more game target lines are selected from the plurality of game target lines. When selecting and notifying the display control unit 401 to indicate that the game target line has been selected, the display control unit 401 controls to display the symbols at a plurality of positions, and the game target line May be indicated by the input image information to indicate that was selected. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the game target lines are set to 35a, 35b, 35c, 35d, 35e.
It is prescribed as follows. When the player selects a game target line or selects a game target line according to the number of game media inserted, an area 600 is displayed on the display unit 110 for each game target line in order to indicate the selection. The input image information may be provided in the area 600 corresponding to the selected game target line. When selected, the image information input in the area 600 can be displayed as shown in FIG.

Next, the hardware configuration for displaying the input image information as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 shows a hardware configuration diagram when an input image is displayed as a background.

V-RAM 1420 or V-RAM 1420 of the background storage means shown in FIG. 14 is used as the background image except for the symbol display of the slot portion such as the game target line as shown in FIG.
-It is stored in the RAM 1400. V of background storage means
-The RAM may further include one or two or more. In this embodiment, there are a plurality of different backgrounds. In this case, the V-RAM may be provided for each background, or one V-RAM may be divided into areas and used. In FIG. 14, the V-RAM 14 for the betting line indicating the selected game target line.
20 are prepared. V-RAM1420 is prize out combination storage means for Bette queuing lines and per view, shown on the display screen, and previously stores each Bette queuing lines and per display corresponding to multiplying factor <br/> There is. The V-RAM 1400 stores background data other than the betting line and the hit display, and the input image information may be stored therein to indicate that the game target line has been selected. V-RAM14
Reference numeral 10 is a symbol storage means, in which symbols of slots are stored, and may be constituted by a ROM as described above. The output of the symbol storage means, the background storage means, and the winning combination storage means is controlled by the display control means.

Instead of the slot and symbol display as shown in FIG. 11 described above, when the input image information is displayed on the entire display section 110, or as shown in FIG. 12, the game target line and the game target line are displayed. , The image processing unit 420 shown in FIG.
The image information transmitted from the V-RAM 1400 is stored in a predetermined area of the V-RAM 1400. The data stored in the V-RAM 1420 has all the frame data shown on the display screen, the betting line and the hit display are high data, and the others are stored as low data. The raw data portion is the gate circuit 1460.
Gives priority to the output from the other V-RAM. As a result, the video signal output from each V-RAM can be switched by the data itself stored in the V-RAM 1420. In the circuit shown in FIG. 14, the data stored in the V-RAM 1420 is displayed with the highest priority. Further, the V-RAM 1400 stores background data, and the V-RAM 1400 and the V-RAM 14 are stored.
10 is read by the slot display timing circuit 14
Controlled by 30.

In FIG. 14, in response to an instruction from the slot display timing circuit 1430 of the display control means, VR
The pattern data shown in AM1410 is V-RAM14.
00 is read out prior to the background data of 00. V-RA
The reading of M1410 is performed by an address being instructed from the display control unit. When an instruction is given by this, the M1410 is read out prior to the V-RAM 1400, and when there is no instruction, the data in the V-RAM 1400 is read out. It The reading of the V-RAM 1400 is instructed and output at any time by a sequential counter (not shown). Further, corresponding to the betting line and the identification number of the hit display, which are stored in the V-RAM 1420, the respective leading addresses are stored in advance in a betting line table separately provided. In reading the V-RAM 1420, the betting line table is instructed from the game control unit based on the betting line or the identification number of the betting line so as to indicate the hit display, and the corresponding leading address is read out. A predetermined area of the V-RAM 1420 is read from the start address and the corresponding betting line or hit display is displayed. Similarly, the input image information is also read from the V-RAM 1400 according to the selected game target line.
As a result, when the game target line is selected, the image information input in the area 600 can be displayed as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, when the input image information is displayed on the entire display unit 110 instead of displaying the slot and the symbol, the image processing unit 420 is used.
The image information for one frame can be stored in a predetermined area of the V-RAM 1400, the image information can be read out at a specific time, and the input image information can be displayed on the entire display unit 110. .

In a specific area of the background other than the pattern display,
The input image information may be displayed.

Further, the player may specify the image information to be changed. For example, the background is divided into regions, a designation means for designating each region is provided, and the image information input is displayed in the designated region by the player designating the region in which the input image information is desired to be displayed. You may do it. The player may also be allowed to specify a specific symbol. In this case, for example, a plurality of types of symbols can be displayed, and designation of any one of the symbols can be accepted. A symbol designating unit 610 as shown in FIG. The input image information may be displayed instead of the design specified by. As a result, the player can select a design he / she wants to change, and thus can enjoy the game more.

Also, a plurality of pieces of image information to be replaced may be defined. For example, a plurality of different image information is input from the camera unit 121, and a second display unit for displaying nine image information having an appearance as shown in FIG. 13 is provided, and the second display unit is selected. You may make it display the said multiple types of image information which permits. Further, an input image selection unit is provided on the second display unit so that an instruction to select which image information of a plurality of types of image information is read is received from the outside. This allows the player to select the image information he / she likes, so that the player can enjoy the game more.

Furthermore, the image processing unit may convert the image information received by the image input section into a plurality of different specific amounts of image information. Further, a plurality of specific conditions for image switching are defined, and one of the plurality of specific amounts of image information is defined as image information to be read for each specified specific condition.

[0069] Thus, by previously defining the specific conditions of the pre-filled, it is possible to display a specific condition is satisfied, the image information inputted in place of the specific image information.

In the above embodiment, the case of using the slot machine has been described, but as shown in FIG. 2, it may be used for a pachinko game machine. FIG. 2 shows an external view of a pachinko game machine. In FIG. 2, a game surface 101 is a display unit 110 such as a display or a liquid crystal,
A CCD (Charge Coupled Decoder) of an image pickup means for picking up an object
The vicd) camera unit 121 and the CCD camera unit 121 can be provided with an illumination means 120 such as a flash for illuminating an object. The hardware configuration may be the same as that of the slot machine described above, and the control of the game progress in the game control unit 403 may be performed in accordance with the pachinko game.

Next, an embodiment in which the image input device is not provided integrally with the game device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 shows a block diagram of the image input system. In the present embodiment, an image input by the CCD camera unit 121 is subjected to image processing and stored in a storage medium, the storage medium is attached to the game device, and the image information is read out. Instead, the image information stored in the storage medium is displayed. In this case, an image input system can be provided at a doorway of a game hall or the like, and can be used only when a player wants to use this system. Further, it is not necessary to provide an image input device in each gaming machine.

In FIG. 15, the image input system includes a CCD (Charge Coupled Devicd) camera section 12 of the image pickup means.
1, an image processing unit 420 that performs image processing on an image input by the CCD camera unit 121 and outputs image information to the display control unit 401, an image writing unit 1500 that stores the input image information in a storage medium, A display unit 1510 for monitoring the input image information, and an input unit 1 for receiving an instruction such as an instruction to capture the image information.
And 530. Further, a printing unit 421 such as a printer which is connected to the image processing unit 420 and prints out the input image information may be further provided. Further, the CCD camera unit 121 may be provided with an autofocus function. Further, an illumination unit 120 such as a flash for illuminating a subject may be provided, which is connected to the CCD camera unit 121. The image input system may be provided in a card issuing device that issues a card.

The image writing unit 1500 includes a card mounting unit 1520 for mounting a storage medium such as an IC card,
The image information sent from the image processing unit 420 is written in a predetermined area. Further, the image writing unit 1500 may include a reading unit that reads the information of the card.

The display unit 1510 is a display device such as a display or liquid crystal, and displays the input image information for confirmation.

The input unit 1530 is used to input an image capture instruction,
Instructions such as the writing area of the storage medium and the image size are received and sent to the image processing unit 420. Regarding the writing area and the image size of the storage medium, a specific region and image information of a specific capacity may be defined in the image processing unit 420 in advance. Also, the input unit 1530
In addition, a cancel button 123 or the like provided on the front surface of the slot machine described above may be provided.

Furthermore, the input image information on the card
You may make it provide the display part displayed as visible information. In the display unit, for example, a photograph of a face is displayed on the card. In addition, this card can also be used as a card that stores credits such as the number of game media that have been used in the past, and a membership card (card that stores information about the owner of the card) of a game hall. Good. If you also use it as a membership card, once you enter the image information and write the image information on the membership card, you can use that membership card when you come to the game hall again .

The CCD camera section 121 and the image processing unit 420 have the same functions as described above.

In this case, the game device is provided with an image information reading section for reading cards. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, a card reader / writer 311 as shown in FIG. 4 in which an input / output unit 102a is provided and a card is inserted into the input / output unit 102 to read / write card information.
Be prepared.

In FIG. 15, when the input unit 1530 receives an instruction to capture an image, the CCD camera unit 121 starts photographing. The CCD camera unit 121 sends the image information to the image processing unit 420 after photographing. Before shooting, the image processing unit 420 may notify the player that shooting will be performed. As a notification method, a speaker is provided and a predetermined message is output as voice from the speaker, or the display unit 1510 is used.
It can be displayed to that effect.

After photographing, the input image information is displayed on the display unit 1510. After confirming the image information on the display unit 1510, the input image information is processed by the image processing unit 420.
In the above, the same image processing as described above is performed, and after image processing R
Image information is stored in AM. Image processing unit 42
At 0, for example, image processing is performed so as to output image information reduced so as to display in place of the specific pattern and image information so as to be displayed on the entire display unit 110 of the game device.

After that, after the input section 1530 receives an instruction to write information in the storage medium or after the image processing is completed, the image processing unit 420 causes the image writing section 1 to move.
The image information is transferred to 500, and the image writing unit 1500 writes the image information to the card and outputs the card.

At the time of the game, the player can attach the card to the card reader / writer 311 of the game device and read the image information. The image information read from the card is written in the image data RAM 1150 of the display control unit 401 or a specific area of the V-RAM 1400, and the display control unit 401 performs the same control as described above. In addition, the gaming device,
In order to take out the card at the end of the game, a take-out button of instruction means for receiving a take-out instruction of the card inserted in the insertion section may be provided, and the card may be outputted when the instruction is received.

By operating as described above, it is possible to input image information and display the input image information instead of the image information regarding the game. Also, once
If a card storing image information is issued, the card can be used to display the image information stored in the card instead of the pattern without inputting the image information. Further, when it is desired to change the image information stored in the card, the image information stored in the card may be rewritten.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By inputting image information, the input image information can be displayed instead of the image information regarding the game. This allows the player to have a feeling of participation and enjoy the game. Therefore, it is possible to expect an increase in the number of players even for the hall where the game machine of the present invention is installed.

Next, another embodiment will be described. FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a gaming machine according to another embodiment. In this embodiment, an embodiment in which the input image information is displayed on the card as visible information will be described.

As shown in FIG. 16, the gaming machine 10 changes and displays the pattern in synchronization with the game, and advances the game. A game is a picture-matching game that is performed using a display screen of a slot machine, a pachislot machine (a pachinko game machine that has the same pattern display function as a slot machine), or a role-playing game that uses character characters in a computer game. That is.

The game machine for changing the pattern and displaying the game to proceed with the game is a video camera 24 for inputting the image data 22, and a face position designating direction for the video camera 24 to photograph the player. A lamp display unit 33, a pattern changing unit 20 for generating a pattern data 21 to be used for a game and replacing the pattern on the basis of the pattern data 21, and a built-in game program for sequentially reading out to control the progress of the game. It is possible to read and write data, and a game control means 38 which outputs a game control signal 40 to the pattern changing means 20, a composite screen display section 35 which receives the pattern data 21 from the pattern changing means 20 and displays a pattern to be used in the game. , A reusable recycle card 26 and the recycle card 2
And a card control unit 39 for reading and writing data of No. 6 of FIG.

The video camera 24 and the face position designation lamp display section 33 for designating the shooting direction of the player are provided near the gaming machine.

As the video camera 24, a CCD or an image pickup tube (Carnicon, vidicon, etc.) can be used. The video signal can be either digital or analog. The device cost can be reduced by using the analog video camera 24. Further, by using the digital video camera 24, the camera itself can be compactly integrated, high-speed data transmission can be realized, and further, the brightness control and the white balance adjustment are easy, and maintenance of the gaming machine is possible. The property is improved.

Further, in order to improve the processing efficiency of image processing such as contour detection processing and line break correction processing, when a digital signal processor (DSP) is used, it is better to use a digital signal as the output of the video camera. Efficiency is improved. In this embodiment, as a result of using a CCD type digital video camera, good image characteristics were obtained.

The pattern changing means 20 generates pattern data 21 to be used in the game and replaces the pattern based on the pattern data 21. Data for the image data 22 input from the video camera 24 is changed. A line drawing creation unit 30 for creating a line drawing as a reduced image 23 with a reduced capacity, and a screen configuration unit 34 for creating the pattern data 21 based on the line drawing and outputting it to the composite screen display unit 35.

In this embodiment, the pattern changing means 20 is realized by an electronic circuit using a microprocessor. Using a digital signal processor (DSP) or a flash memory is an effective means for improving the processing efficiency of image processing such as contour detection processing and line break correction processing.

As a result, for example, the facial expression of the player input from the video camera 24 can be used as the facial expression of the design or the character appearing in the character, and the player can enjoy playing the game.

The line drawing creating section 30 creates a line drawing as the reduced image 23, and uses a line break correction unit 31 for adjusting the image density and a contour line using the line break corrected image data. And a contour detection unit 32 for generating an emphasized line drawing (reduced image 23).

The screen construction unit 34 receives the game control signal 40 from the game control unit 38 and the reduced image 23 from the line drawing creation unit 30, generates the pattern data 21, and outputs it to the composite screen display unit 35. To be done.

The game control means 38 reads the game software section 37 in which a program for controlling game command input, screen display, voice output, etc. is recorded, and a game signal for proceeding with the game. Generator 36
With.

In this embodiment, the functions of the line break correction unit 31 and the contour detection unit 32 are realized by the microprocessor and the RAM. Image processing such as line break correction and contour detection is executed by software.

The recycle card 26 is wholly or partly colored with a color that prosperses against white, and the colored surface is
A rewritable recycle display layer made of an organic compound in which the crystals aggregate and become cloudy when heated at one specific temperature, and the crystals diffuse and become transparent when heated at another predetermined temperature is provided.

The card control unit 39 visibly writes the reduced image 23 used for the game on the surface of the recycling card 26 at the time of the player's request or the game settlement by the command from the game control means 38. And, it is used in a state of being connected to the game control means 38. The recycle card 26 is used by inserting it into a card slot (not shown) provided in the card controller 39.

A back coating layer is laminated on the surface of a plastic card base forming the recycle card 26. The back coating layer may be formed of a colored film, an aluminum film, or the like in addition to various pigments. Predetermined items are written on the surface of the recycle card 26 with the thermochromic ink.

The thermochromic ink is widely used for thermosensitive copying paper and the like, and is usually colorless and transparent, but is composed of a compound that develops a constant color when heated. Has been done.

On the surface side of the back coating layer, a recycle display layer made of an organic compound in which crystals are aggregated and opaque when heated at one specific temperature, while the crystals are diffused and made transparent when heated at another predetermined temperature. Are stacked.
This recycling indicator layer is, for example, one in which an organic compound such as behenic acid, lauric acid, higher fatty acid such as stearic acid is dispersed in a polymer matrix material such as vinylidene chloride, and a small amount of a surfactant and the like. Has been added.

When the recycled display layer is heated at one specific temperature (100 ° C. or higher), that is, the writing temperature, the particles of the organic compound change into polycrystals and diffuse reflection occurs, so that the recycled display layer becomes turbid and visible. On the other hand, another specific temperature (7 degrees Celsius
(0 to 95 ° C.), that is, when it is heated at the erasing temperature, the crystal becomes a single crystal and diffuses, so that it becomes transparent.

Usually, the recycled display layer is used after the entire surface is heated at the erasing temperature, that is, the recycled display layer is entirely transparent. A writing area for writing or erasing the pattern data 35 is provided at a specific portion of such a recycling display layer.

The thermal head for writing or erasing the pattern data 35 on the recycle card 26, which is installed in the card controller 39, is of a high temperature durability type capable of controlling the heating temperature in two steps.

The thermal head is heated to the writing temperature to write the pattern data 35 in the writing area, while it is heated to the erasing temperature when erasing the pattern data 35 in the writing area. It is controlled and arranged so as to locally trace only the picture data 35 to be erased.

The card control unit 39 visually writes the reduced image 23 used in the game on the surface of the recycle card 26 at the time of the player's request or the game settlement, in accordance with a command from the game control unit 38. .

In the present embodiment, pattern data 21 is generated for a pattern on a drum made of a liquid crystal display unit such as a slot machine, and the pattern is replaced based on the pattern data 21. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the facial expressions of the characters such as the protagonist appearing in the role-playing game of the computer game machine or the shooting game that advances the game using the pattern, etc. It can be widely applied to a device for exchanging.

Next, the operation will be described.

The pattern data 21 is a pattern displayed on a display screen of a slot machine, a pachi-slot, or the like, or a facial expression of a character appearing in a game of a computer game machine.

The image data 22 is input from the video camera 24 and output to the pattern changing means 20. As the image data 22, the image data 22 previously stored in the image database 25 may be read and output to the image forming unit 34 for use.

The face position designation lamp display section 33 indicates the direction in which the video camera 24 shoots the player. According to the instruction of the face position designation lamp display unit 33, the player shows the facial expression of the player toward the video camera 24 provided in the gaming machine 10 only from the front or from the front and the left and right. You can shoot.

Face position designation lamp display portion 33 of the present embodiment
The instructions in (3) use three lamps arranged in a row. By turning the face in the direction in which the lamp is turned on, the facial expression can be captured as the image data 22.

The screen construction unit 34 receives the game control signal 40 from the game control means 38 and the reduced image 23 from the line drawing creation unit 30, generates the pattern data 21, and outputs it to the composite screen display unit 35.

In this embodiment, a liquid crystal display unit is used as the composite screen display section 35. The liquid crystal display unit displays the game signal generated by the game signal generator 36 and the pattern data 21 for advancing the game in a combined state. Thereby, the playability can be improved.

The image database 25 may be provided in the game software section 37, for example. In this embodiment, the accumulated image data 22 or the like can be used as the facial expression of the design or the character character.
As a result, the data 21 of the design can be used as a design displayed on the display screen of a slot machine, a pachi-slot, or the like, or as a facial expression of a character appearing in a game of a computer game machine, thereby improving playability. You can

The image data 22 read from the image database 25 is output to the game signal generating section 36, subjected to predetermined data processing, and then output to the image forming section 34 as a game control signal 40. The reduced image processing may be executed as the predetermined data processing for the read image data 22, and the reduced image may be output to the image forming unit 34 as a game control signal 40.

In the picture pattern changing means 20 of this embodiment, the line drawing process is performed on the image data 22 as the reduced image process for reducing the amount of the image data 22. The line drawing process can be realized by combining the line break correction process and the contour detection process. The line drawing processing is performed by the line break correction unit 3
1 and the contour detection unit 32. A line drawing is used as the reduced image 23.

As the line break correction processing, the image data 22
The density conversion processing for the optical density of is used. The density conversion process is mainly performed to emphasize the contrast. For example, for the input image information, the horizontal axis represents the density,
There is a method of converting the density so that the density histogram with the number of pixels having the density on the vertical axis is flattened. This enhances the contrast. Further, differential emphasis processing and edge detection processing are used as the contour detection processing. By these processes, a binarized image is generated from the image data 22, and the binarized image is reduced by the reduced image 23.
Used as. For example, a two-dimensional structure extraction encoding method that encodes by extracting edge information of an image can be used. The contour can be extracted from the image information by the edge information, and the contour and the other smooth components can be divided and encoded. As the coding based on the contour, the coding algorithm of Sketch Based Coding by Carlsson can be used. In this example,
The reduction processing refers to conversion into an image that can be sufficiently perceived by the object while reducing the data volume.

In the picture pattern changing means 20, the image data 2
When the line drawing processing by the contour line enhancement is executed for 2, the image data 22 is, for example, binarized 1-bit encoded by the threshold value of the predetermined image density. It is possible to reduce the data amount of analog image data such as a video signal or digital image data that has been subjected to, for example, 16-bit encoding processing.

As a result, since line drawing processing is performed on the image data 22 as a reduced image processing for reducing the data amount of the image data 22, a small capacity image memory of about several 10 kB or a small capacity of about several 10 kB. A video memory is sufficient, and the memory can be downsized.

The image data for one sheet has a data amount of about several tens of kilobytes, and a transfer time of about several ms is sufficient when the data for one picture is transferred from the image memory to the video memory. Even when a game is played using a moving image such as a slot machine or a computer game machine using a liquid crystal display unit, the transfer time is not limited to the display speed of the moving image, and the data transfer time can be shortened.

Furthermore, since the transfer time is synchronized with the display speed of the moving image, high-speed image processing and high-speed data transmission technology are not required, and the device cost can be reduced.

The recycle card 26 allows repeated recording and erasing of necessary items in a visible manner, and is reused. Further, it is used by inserting it into a card slot (not shown) provided in the card controller 39.

The card control unit 39 is a recycle display layer provided on the surface of the recycle card 26 with the reduced image 23 used in the game at the request of the player or at the time of game settlement by a command from the game control means 38. Write it in a visible manner. As a result, the player can record the facial expression of the player used for the game, the facial expression of the character appearing on the surface of the recycling card 26,
The playability can be improved. The recycle card 26 is used by inserting it into a card slot (not shown) provided in the card controller 39. In order to write the pattern data 35 on the recycling display layer of the recycling card 26, first, the thermal head installed in the card controller 39 is adjusted to the writing temperature (100 ° C. or higher), and the writing is performed by the thermal head. Heat to numbers and shapes in the area. Then, the writing area becomes cloudy only in the heated handwriting portion, and the pattern data 35 is written.

On the other hand, when erasing the pattern data 35,
The thermal head is adjusted to an erasing temperature (70 to 95 ° C.), and the thermal head heats so as to locally trace only the pattern data 35 which is clear to the game user side who is a regular user. The pattern data 35 heated at the erasing temperature becomes transparent and invisible, and can be reused.

According to the gaming machine of the present embodiment, since the line drawing processing is performed as the reduced image processing for reducing the amount of the image data 22 with respect to the image data 22, the data capacity can be further reduced. , Can be processed by a small-capacity image memory of about several tens of kB and a small-capacity video memory of about several tens of kB, and even a gaming machine having the same storage capacity can store and display more pattern data.

Further, the image data for one image can be reduced to a data amount of about several tens of kB, and when the data for one image is transferred from the image memory to the video memory, it takes several ms.
Even if the transfer time is sufficient, and the game is played using a moving image such as a slot machine or a computer game machine using a liquid crystal display unit, the transfer time does not limit the display speed of the moving image and the operation speed of the game Is not impaired,
The playability can be improved.

Similarly, since the transfer time is synchronized with the moving image display speed, high-speed image processing and high-speed data transmission technology are not required, and the device cost can be reduced.

Next, an embodiment of the input image management system when the input image is used in the security system will be described.

In this embodiment, the image information of the player inputted for each gaming machine is sent to the management device for managing the inside of the game arcade, and in the management device, the image information of the player playing the game for each gaming machine is sent. Manage. Further, an abnormality detection device may be further provided for each gaming machine, and when the abnormality is detected, the management device may be notified of the abnormality. For example, if a player conducts a fraudulent activity such as guiding a metal ball to a winning opening with a magnet during a game, a fraudulent activity can be detected if a magnet detection device is provided as an abnormality detection device. You can

This embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 17 shows an overall configuration diagram of the input image management system in this embodiment. In FIG. 17, in a game arcade equipped with a plurality of gaming machines 10A to 10L, each of the gaming machines 10A to 10L is managed by a management device 200.
Connected to the bus. Each of the gaming machines 10A to 10L is a gaming machine including an image input device such as the camera unit 121 as shown in FIG. 1 or 2 described above, and can input the appearance of the player as image information. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the gaming machines 10A to 10L further includes an image transmission unit 425 that transmits image information obtained by processing an image, and is connected to an image processing unit 420 that processes an input image. Further, as shown in FIG. 17, it is connected to the management apparatus 200 via the bus line 220. The management device 200 is connected to each of the plurality of gaming machines 10A to 10L via the bus line 220, and receives the image information transmitted from each gaming machine.

As shown in the schematic block diagram of FIG. 22, the management device 200 is connected to each of a plurality of gaming machines 10A to 10L via a bus line 220, and a receiving unit 2201 for receiving the transmitted image information. And an image processing unit 22 for image-processing the image information received by the receiving unit 2201.
02, and a display control unit 2203 for displaying and controlling the image information processed by the image processing unit 2202,
A management unit 2204 that manages the image information transmitted from each gaming machine, and a display unit 2206 that is controlled by the display control unit 2203 to display and output the image information.
A print unit 2207 for printing out image information, a memory 2205 for storing image information, and an input unit 2208 such as a keyboard. The management device 200 identifies information (image No.) for each image information transmitted from each gaming machine.
Is added to manage image information for each gaming machine.

The transmitting unit 425 of each gaming machine and the receiving unit 2201 of the management device can receive image information according to a predetermined protocol. For example, by using the polling method, the receiving unit 2201 of the management device 200
From each of the gaming machines, the polling is sent to each gaming machine, and when new image information is input to each gaming machine (for example, as described above, the image input instruction button 1 shown in FIG.
The image information input after 22 is instructed can be the newly input image information), and the image information can be transmitted by responding to the sent polling. In this case, each gaming machine can further include a memory that stores image information. Also, CSMA
/ CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Co
(llison Detection) method or the like may be used.

The image information to be transmitted may be subjected to reduction processing or compression processing in the image processing unit 420 of each gaming machine. In this way, image information is sent from each gaming machine.

In the management apparatus 200, the receiving section 2201 receives the transmitted image information. The received image information is sent to the image processing unit 2202, and if the image information is compressed in the image processing unit 2202, it is expanded. Further, the image processing unit 2202 may perform reduction processing of image information, if necessary. Image processing unit 220
The image information processed in 2 is added with the identification information of the image information by the management unit 2204 and accumulated in the address area of the memory 2205 corresponding to the identification information of the image information. If compression processing has been performed, the management unit 2202 does not perform image processing in the image processing unit 2202.
The image information that has been subjected to the compression processing may be stored in the memory 2205 via 204.

The management unit 2204 of the management apparatus 200 comprises a management table 2210 as shown in FIG.
The management table 2210 may be displayed on the display unit. The management table can be stored in the memory 2205 of the management device 200 shown in FIG. In FIG. 23, a management table 2210 is provided for each gaming machine, and stores identification information (image No.) of image information of a player who is playing a game in each gaming machine. The identification information of the image information of the player can be, for example, a serial number as the identification information in the order of transmission, and can be cleared every day. In addition to the image information, the information sent from each gaming machine is the number of game media (input to the gaming machine) used for the game for each player in each gaming machine (hereinafter, referred to as the number of entered balls). Then, the number of game media from which the game media are paid out as a prize from the gaming machine (hereinafter referred to as the number of payouts), the game start time and the end time for each player may be sent. Figure 4 shows the number of balls entered and the number of balls released.
By counting the detection signals detected by the medium outflow detection sensor for detecting the payout of the game medium, the medium detection sensor for detecting the input of the game medium, and the like, the respective count values can be transmitted. As described above, the game start time and end time are defined as the start time when the image input instruction button 122 shown in FIG. 1 is instructed, and when the settlement switch 107 shown in FIG. 4 is pressed. The time of may be used as the end time. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 8, when the radiation unit 2122 and the light receiving unit 2123 are provided, the radiation unit 2122 and the light receiving unit 2123 allow
By detecting the presence of the player, the start time and end time of the game can be obtained.

Further, each gaming machine may be provided with an injustice detector for detecting an injustice.
As a fraud detector, international publication number WO92 / 09
As described in the No. 344 pamphlet, the game machine is provided with a metal detection matrix sensor, and an illegal act can be detected by detecting an abnormal trajectory of the game medium of the inserted metal body. The fraudulent act includes, for example, an act of intentionally bending the movement direction of the metal body from the outside with a magnet or the like to induce the player to win. When such a fraudulent activity detector is provided and the fraudulent activity is detected, the fact is sent to the management device.
In the management device, when the notification indicating that the fraudulent activity has been detected is made, it is determined that the fraudulent activity has been performed on the identification information of the gaming machine and the image information of the appearance of the player who is playing the game on the gaming machine. It is possible to display or print out together with the information indicating.

Further, the management table 2 as shown in FIG.
710 may be accumulated for a certain period of time such as monthly, and the accumulated information may be statistically processed. In this case, the management table 2710 may further store the input date and, if there are a plurality of gaming devices, the model name thereof. As the statistical processing, for example, as shown in FIG. 28A, the frequency of fraudulent activity is counted and displayed for each gaming device, or the model of the gaming device is registered for each gaming device. In case,
As shown in FIG. 8 (b), it is possible to count and display the frequency of fraudulent acts for each model. Also, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8 (c), the frequency of fraudulent acts can be counted and displayed for each date. Thereby, the frequency of occurrence of abnormality can be analyzed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 28A, FIG.
As shown in, the arrangement of the game devices in the game arcade may be shown, and each game device may be color-coded according to frequency. For example, in a game arcade equipped with gaming machines 10A to 10L, by changing the display color or the like for each frequency, it is possible to grasp the frequency of fraudulent activity due to the arrangement position of the gaming machine.

The management table 2710 shown in FIG.
Image No. registered in. The image information can be stored in association with the above. The stored image information is
For example, by reading out only the image information in which the abnormality flag is set in the management table 2710 and displaying it as a list, it is possible to make an inquiry about the image information of the player who has committed the misconduct.

Next, the display unit 2 in the management device 200
A management method of the gaming machine in the management device 200 will be described with reference to a display screen example 206. Management device 20
18 to 2 show display screen examples of the display unit 2206 in 0.
Shown in 1.

As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the display unit 2206 displays the current usage status of the gaming machine in the gaming hall and the image information of the player using the gaming machine. . For example, as shown in FIG.
At 6:00, the gaming machine 10I is in an unused state, new image information is transmitted from the gaming machine, and the management device 2
When it is received by the receiving unit 2201 of 00, as shown in FIG. 19, the image information of the player of the gaming machine 10I is displayed via the image processing unit 2202, the management unit 2204, and the display control unit 2203. This allows
The player of the gaming machine at each time can be specified.

A touch panel may be provided as the input unit 2208 on the front surface of the display of the display unit 2206. In this case, for example, FIG. 18 and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 9, a next screen switching instruction 230 or the like is provided, and when the next screen switching instruction 230 on the screen is touched, it is possible to switch to a predetermined next screen. In the present embodiment, for example, the gaming machine 10
When the next screen switching instruction 230 is touched after touching the identification information of the gaming machine such as A, it is possible to switch to the screen display showing the usage status of the gaming machine 10A as shown in FIG. In FIG. 20, the gaming machine 10A
As the usage status of that one day, it is possible to display the image information of the player, the playing time, the number of entered balls, the number of delivered balls, an abnormal flag, and the like. As a result, it is possible to specify the player who has played the game together with the usage status of each gaming machine.

Furthermore, in the management unit 2204, when a notification indicating that a fraudulent activity has been detected is made, as shown in FIG. 19, the identification information of the gaming machine in which the fraudulent activity has been performed,
It is possible to change the display color or display "abnormality occurrence" so as to indicate that there has been an illegal act. Also,
As shown in FIG. 22, when a sound output unit 2209 is further provided, a predetermined warning sound may be output.

Further, when an illegal act occurs, as shown in FIG. 21, image information showing the appearance of the player may be displayed on the screen together with the identification information of the gaming machine.
In this case, the management unit 2204 causes the image processing unit 2202 to perform the enlargement process of the image information of the player at the present time in the game machine in which the illegal act has been performed, and causes the display unit 2206 to display the image information through the display control unit 2203. . Alternatively, the display unit 2207 may output a hard copy of this display information.

In this way, when a fraudulent act occurs, the image information of the player at the current time in the gaming machine in which the fraudulent act has been performed is displayed and output. Therefore, the manager of the amusement hall can use this image information as a basis. In addition, it is possible to identify the player who committed the cheating. By centrally managing the input images in this way, it is possible to make use of crime prevention.

Further, when a fraudulent act occurs, a notification to the effect that the fraudulent act has been detected may be sent to a predetermined external contact such as the police. In this case, for example, icons 2110 and 212 as shown in FIG.
It is possible to set 0 and notify the police station or other branches when instructed from the icon. Further, at the time of reporting, the image information sent from the image sending unit of the gaming device that has detected the misconduct may be sent further.

An embodiment in this case will be described with reference to FIGS. 24, 25 and 26. FIG. 24 shows an explanatory view showing the concept of the input image management system, FIG. 25 shows a contact storage unit 2500 that stores contacts, and FIG. 26 shows a contact format storage unit 2600.

FIG. 24 conceptually shows the structure of the input image management system as shown in FIGS. 17 and 22. In FIG. 24, in a game arcade provided with a plurality of gaming machines 10, each gaming machine is connected to the management device 200 in a bus shape. Further, an island may be configured with a plurality of game machines, and a controller 2430 for collectively controlling the plurality of islands may be provided. Controller 24
30 is a management device 200 via the bus line 220 by multiplexing the image information and the abnormality detection signal from each gaming device.
Can be sent to. The management device 200 is connected to a plurality of gaming machines via the bus line 220, and receives the image information and the abnormality detection signal transmitted from each gaming machine.

In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 22, the management device 200 further reads out information stored in a storage medium such as a communication section 2440 or a CD-ROM for communicating with the outside as shown in FIG. Reading device 2420 can be provided. As the communication unit 2440, for example, a communication device such as a modem for transmitting image information and data, a message output unit for outputting a message and a telephone, and a FAX for transmitting image information and data can be provided. Further, as shown in FIG. 24, the display section 240 displays image information 240 sent from each gaming device as shown in FIG.
0 and the image information 2410 of the player sent from the game device when the abnormality as shown in FIG. 21 occurs may be displayed together.

As an external contact, as shown in FIG. 25, the contact is registered in advance in the contact storage unit 2500. The contact storage unit 2500 is the memory 22 shown in FIG.
05, and can be registered by the input unit 2208. As the contact information, it is possible to register a telephone number or a fax number of a police station or a branch of another amusement park. When receiving these notifications at other amusement halls, it is possible to be cautious of fraudulent acts, and if the image information of a player is received, it is possible to be warned when that player visits another amusement hall. .

Further, an icon as shown in FIG. 21 can be provided for each contact stored in the contact storage unit 2500. In this case, the icon is displayed on the display unit 2206.
When a display output indicating that cheating has been detected is
The communication unit 2440 has a function of a reception unit that receives an instruction as to whether or not to notify that an illegal act has been detected, via the communication unit 2440. By the icon, it is possible to prevent the notification from being issued when the instruction to notify that the misconduct has been detected is not issued. Or, when an instruction to notify the fact that a misconduct has been detected is received by the icon,
You may make it report.

Information sent from the communication unit 2440 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the format to be transmitted can be registered in the format storage unit 2600 in advance. For example, when the communication unit 2440 is a message output unit and a telephone, the information to be transmitted is the format No. shown in FIG. As shown in 1 and 2, it can be registered as a message and sent together with necessary information such as the time of occurrence. Further, in the case of a modem or FAX capable of transmitting image information and data, the format number shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, fixed image information to be sent can be registered in advance, and can be sent together with the image information of the player sent from the gaming device and the necessary information when the occurrence time or an abnormality occurs. The format to be transmitted may be selected at the time of notification by an icon or the like.

In this way, when an illegal act occurs, since the image information of the player at the current time in the illegally-performed gaming machine is displayed and output, the manager of the amusement hall uses the image information as a basis. In addition, it is possible to identify the player who committed the cheating. By centrally managing the input image, it can be useful for crime prevention. Further, when a fraudulent activity is detected, it is possible to immediately notify a predetermined contact such as police.

Further, as described above, in the case of referring to the image information of the player who has committed an illegal act, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
When this icon is operated, only the image information in which the abnormality flag is set in the management table 2710 shown in FIG. 27 is read out and displayed as a list as shown in FIG. Good. Further, by providing the inquiry switching instruction icon 3010 for the previous month, it is possible to make an inquiry by going back to the previous month. In this way, in the event of fraud,
By referring to the list of fraudsters that have occurred before that, it is possible to find fraudulent fraudsters. When making a report to the police or the like, it may be instructed to make a decision after deciding whether or not to contact the person.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
By inputting the image information, the input image information can be displayed instead of the image information about the game. This allows the player to have a feeling of participation and enjoy the game. Therefore, it is possible to expect an increase in the number of players even for the hall where the game machine of the present invention is installed.

Further, by managing the image information, it can be applied to the security system. further,
When a fraudulent activity is detected, a quick response can be taken, and when the image information of the player who has committed a fraudulent activity is sent, the player can be identified.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to notify the outside when a fraudulent act is detected in the game hall management system. When a fraudulent activity is detected, it is possible to take a prompt action, and when the image information of the player who has committed the fraudulent activity is transmitted, the player can be identified. In addition, by accumulating the image information of the player who has committed the cheating, it is possible to read the accumulated image information and refer to the cheating person.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a slot machine according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a pachinko game machine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image processing unit in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a slot machine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a display control unit in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a template configuration according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an address generating operation in this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is another front view of the slot machine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a pattern arrangement in this embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing stored contents of a storage device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is another front view of the slot machine according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a display explanatory diagram of a display unit of the slot machine in the present embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a picture designating portion in the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of a display control unit in the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a configuration diagram of an image input system in the present embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of an image input game system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of a game arcade when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen of a management device when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen of a management device when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen of a management device when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen of a management device when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a management table when applied to a security system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of a management system when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram of a contact address storage unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram of a format storage unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of a management table when applied to a security system according to another embodiment.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a monthly report screen when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen example of the number of occurrences when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen example of a cheating person list when applied to a security system in another embodiment.

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Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A management device in a game arcade comprising a plurality of gaming devices for detecting fraudulent activity in a game, and transmitting the fact when the fraudulent activity is detected, wherein the gaming device is operated from an image information source. The image information of
An image input section for inputting the image by the image input section
An image sending unit that sends image information is provided, and the management device receives a notification that the fraudulent activity has been detected, which is sent from each of the gaming devices, and a notification that the fraudulent activity has been detected. External contacts to receive notifications
A storage unit for storing and a notification for notifying the external contact that the fraudulent activity received by the receiving unit is detected.
A signal unit, and an image receiving unit for receiving image information sent from each of the image sending unit, the image information received by the image receiving unit, communication of the external
A management device, comprising: an image output unit for outputting to a destination . 2. The management device according to claim 1 , wherein the image output unit uses, as the image information to be output, image information sent from an image sending unit of the gaming device that has detected the illegal activity. . 3. The display unit according to claim 1, which outputs a display indicating that the fraudulent activity has been detected, when the notification that the fraudulent activity has been detected is received by the receiving unit. When the display output indicating that the fraudulent activity was detected is made, a notification that the fraudulent activity has been detected is sent.
The external contact further includes a reception unit that receives an instruction as to whether or not to perform the external contact, and the reception unit reports the fact that the misconduct has been detected.
If you accept the instruction not to give it to external contacts,
The management device is characterized in that the communication unit does not report that the illegal act has been detected . 4. The management device according to claim 3, wherein the display unit further displays image information received by the image receiving unit. 5. The management device according to claim 4, wherein the display unit displays the image information together with identification information previously attached to the gaming device to which the image information is sent. 6. The display device according to claim 5, wherein, when the display unit receives the notification that the fraudulent activity has been detected by the receiving unit, the identification information of the gaming device in which the fraudulent activity has been performed and the fraudulent activity. A management device characterized by displaying and outputting together with the image information sent from the gaming device which has detected. 7. The display unit according to claim 4, wherein the display unit enlarges the image information transmitted from the gaming device that has detected the fraudulent activity, when the notification that the fraudulent activity has been detected is received by the receiving unit. A management device characterized by displaying. 8. The management device according to claim 1 , further comprising an input unit for inputting the external contact information stored in the storage unit. 9. The management device according to claim 1 , further comprising a printing unit that prints out the image information received by the receiving unit.