JP4712650B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine that includes a computer circuit, and more particularly to a gaming machine that can effectively eliminate fraudulent games.

  A ball game machine such as a pachinko machine has a symbol start opening provided on the game board, a symbol display section for displaying a series of symbol variation patterns by a plurality of display symbols, and a big winning opening for opening and closing the opening and closing plate. Configured. When the detection switch provided at the symbol start port detects the passage of the game ball, the winning state is entered, and after the game ball is paid out as a prize ball, the display symbol is changed for a predetermined time in the symbol display section. Thereafter, when the symbol is stopped in a predetermined manner such as 7-7-7, a big hit state is established, and the big winning opening is repeatedly opened to generate a profit state advantageous to the player.

  However, in actuality, whether or not the big hit state is determined in advance by the big hit lottery process executed at the time of winning the game ball, and the symbol display unit performs a symbol variation operation exclusively to enliven the player Yes. In the big win lottery process, the counter variable CT updated every predetermined time is used, and the value of the counter variable CT (random value RND) acquired at the time of winning the game ball is compared with the winning value Hit to determine whether or not the big win state. Is decided. The counter variable CT is initialized to zero when the entire area of the RAM is zero-cleared (RAM clear processing) after the power is turned on, and thereafter, the counter variable CT is set to a predetermined numerical range (0 to MAX) by an increment operation executed every predetermined time. ).

  By the way, the above update rules for the winning value Hit and the counter variable CT can be found by obtaining a ball game machine and analyzing the control program. Therefore, it is relatively easy to intentionally generate a winning state by using an improper instrument if it is immediately after turning on the power and is the first cycle of a circulating operation within a predetermined numerical range. For this reason, there is a concern about illegal acts that cause the big hit state repeatedly by shutting off the power supply appropriately.

Therefore, in order to easily detect such illegal acts, in conventional gaming machines, when the RAM is cleared to zero, this is reported on a liquid crystal display or the like (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP 2003-033532 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-205161

  However, in general, a backup power source is provided in the main control unit responsible for the game control operation including the big win lottery process, but there is no backup power source in the sub control unit that executes the rendering operation depending on the main control unit. Therefore, there is a possibility that a criminal act cannot be prevented with a gaming machine having a conventional configuration.

  For example, by using an unauthorized device, it is assumed that an illegal act of intentionally executing the RAM clear process by turning off and turning on the power again, and then turning off and turning on the power again. In addition, an illegal act of intentionally generating a program runaway state, starting the watchdog timer, resetting the CPU, executing the RAM clearing process, and immediately shutting off and turning on the power is also assumed. .

  In such a case, even if the main control board finishes executing the RAM clear process and transmits a control command to that effect to the sub-control unit, if the power is shut off again until the control command is activated, After the power is restored, the notification operation is not executed on the sub control board. In other words, after the power supply is restored, the main control unit having the backup power supply resumes the process after transmitting the control command. On the other hand, the control command received earlier is lost on the sub-control board not having the backup power supply. It simply has to start the initial state of operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a gaming machine in which a notification operation indicating this is always executed when a RAM clear process is executed. With the goal.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention provides a gaming machine having a main control unit that plays a central role in game control operations, and a sub-control unit that executes an effect operation based on a control command received from the main control unit. The main control unit is provided with backup means for maintaining the stored contents of the RAM even after the power supply voltage is cut off, and the sub control unit is provided with a power-on command transmitted from the main control unit. An informing means for executing an informing operation is provided, and the operation of the main control unit is realized by including a system reset process activated when a power supply voltage is turned on and a timer interrupt process activated every predetermined time is, the system reset process, based on the contents of RAM that is maintained by the backup unit, a first determination process of determining whether it is possible to resume operation before power-off, The first determination process, the function when it is determined that it is not able to resume operation before power-off, together cancel contents stored in RAM, on the monitoring timer has been initialized, a first power supply to the sub-control unit The first transmission process for transmitting the input command and the first determination process function when it is determined that the operation before power-off can be resumed, and the first determination process determines whether or not the monitoring timer has reached the limit value. The second determination process and the second determination process function in the case where it is determined that the monitoring timer has not reached the limit value, and the second indicating that the power is shut off before the monitoring timer reaches the limit value A second transmission process for transmitting a power-on command, and the timer interrupt process includes an update process for updating the monitoring timer initialized in the first transmission process every predetermined time until a limit value is reached. And said The blanking control unit, depending on whether received either power-on command, characterized in that it is configured to perform different notification operation.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the operation of the main control unit is configured to include a power shut-off process that is activated prior to shutting off the power supply voltage. Here, the power-off process is not limited to the non-maskable highest priority interrupt process as in the embodiment, and may be a maskable interrupt process. Also, it is not always necessary to perform interrupt processing. For example, at each timer interrupt in the embodiment, the power supply voltage level is checked (flag sensing method), and when this level abnormality is detected, power interruption processing is started. There may be.

  According to the present invention, when a RAM clear process is executed, a notification operation indicating this is always executed, so that illegal games can be effectively eliminated.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on a ball game machine according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a pachinko machine GM of the present embodiment. This pachinko machine GM includes a rectangular frame-shaped wooden outer frame 1 that is detachably mounted on an island structure, and a front frame 3 that is pivotably mounted via a hinge 2 fixed to the outer frame 1. It is configured. A game board 5 is detachably attached to the front frame 3 from the back side, and a glass door 6 and a front plate 7 are pivotally attached to the front side so as to be freely opened and closed.

  On the outer periphery of the glass door 6, an electric lamp such as an LED lamp is arranged in a substantially C shape. An upper plate 8 for storing game balls for launch is mounted on the front plate 7, and a lower plate 9 for storing game balls overflowing from or extracted from the upper plate 8 and a launch handle 10 are mounted at the bottom of the front frame 3. And are provided. The launch handle 10 is interlocked with the launch motor, and a game ball is launched by a striking rod that operates according to the rotation angle of the launch handle 10.

  A chance button 11 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the upper plate 8. The chance button 11 is provided at a position where it can be operated with the left hand of the player, and the player can operate the chance button 11 without releasing the right hand from the firing handle 10. The chance button 11 does not function normally, but when the game state becomes the button chance state, the built-in lamp is turned on and can be operated. The button chance state is a game state provided as necessary.

  On the right side of the upper plate 8, an operation panel 12 for ball lending operation with respect to the card-type ball lending machine is provided, a frequency display unit for displaying the remaining amount of the card with a three-digit number, and a ball of game balls for a predetermined amount A ball lending switch for instructing lending and a return switch for instructing to return the card at the end of the game are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the game board 5 is provided with a guide rail 13 formed of a metal outer rail and an inner rail in an annular shape, and a liquid crystal color display DISP is provided at the approximate center of the game area 5a inside. Has been placed. In addition, at a suitable place in the game area 5a, a symbol starting port 15, a big winning port 16, a plurality of normal winning ports 17 (four on the right and left sides of the big winning port 16), and a gate 18 serving as two passing ports are arranged. Has been. Each of these winning openings 15 to 18 has a detection switch inside, and can detect the passage of a game ball.

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

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

  The symbol start port 15 is configured to be opened and closed by an electric tulip having a pair of left and right opening and closing claws 15a, for example, and when the stop symbol after fluctuation of the normal symbol display unit 19 displays a winning symbol, the symbol is opened The claw 15a is opened for a predetermined time.

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

  The big winning opening 16 is controlled to open and close by, for example, an opening / closing plate 16a that can be opened forward. When the stop symbol after the symbol change in the special symbol display portions Da to Dc is a big hit symbol such as “777”, Is started, and the opening / closing plate 16a is opened. There is a specific area 36b inside the big winning opening 36, and when the winning ball passes through the specific area 36b, a special game advantageous to the player is continued.

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

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an overall circuit configuration of the pachinko machine GM that realizes the above-described operations. Broken lines in the figure mainly indicate DC voltage lines.

  As shown in the figure, the pachinko machine GM includes a power supply board 20 that receives 24V AC and outputs various DC voltages and a system reset signal SYS, a main control board 21 that is centrally responsible for game control operations, and a main control board 21. The effect control board 22 for executing the lamp effect and the sound effect based on the control command CMD received from the effect interface board 23 for transmitting the signal received from the effect control board 22 to each part, and the effect interface board 23 The liquid crystal control board 24 that drives the liquid crystal display DISP based on the control command CMD ′ and the payout control board 25 that controls the payout motor M based on the control command CMD ″ received from the main control board 21 to pay out the game ball. And a launch control board 26 that launches a game ball in response to a player's operation.

  Here, the main control board 21, the effect control board 22, the liquid crystal control board 24, and the payout control board 25 are each mounted with a computer circuit including a one-chip microcomputer. Therefore, in this specification, the main control board 21, the production control board 22, the liquid crystal control board 24, the circuits mounted on the payout control board 25, and the operations realized by the circuits are collectively referred to as functions. The control unit 21, the production control unit 22, the liquid crystal control unit 24, and the payout control unit 25 may be referred to. All or part of the effect control unit 22, the liquid crystal control unit 24, and the payout control unit 25 are sub-control units.

  As shown in the figure, the main control unit 21 is connected to the command relay board 29 and is connected to each game component of the game board 5 via the game board relay board 27. And while receiving the switch signal of the detection switch built in each winning opening 16-18 on a game board, solenoids, such as an electric tulip, are driven. Note that the switch signal from the symbol start port 15 is received directly by the main control unit 21 without going through the game board relay board 27.

  The main control unit 21 transmits a control command CMD ″ to the payout control unit 25 in one direction, while the payout control unit 25 receives a prize ball count signal indicating a game ball payout operation and a payout operation. The status signal CON related to the abnormality is received, and the status signal CON includes, for example, a replenishment out signal, a payout shortage error signal, and a lower plate full signal.

  By the way, a backup power supply BU of DC 5V is supplied from the power supply board 20 to the one-chip microcomputer of the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25. Therefore, the RAM data in the one-chip microcomputer is retained even after the AC power supply 24V is shut off due to the end of business or a power failure. In this embodiment, the storage contents of the RAM are designed to be retained for at least several days.

  Further, the power supply board 20 is configured to output a voltage drop signal ABN to the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25 when the AC power supply 24V is shut off. The voltage drop signal ABN is supplied to an NMI (Non Maskable Interrupt) terminal of each one-chip microcomputer. In the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25, necessary data is saved in the RAM by interrupt processing. Therefore, coupled with the operation of the backup power supply BU described above, the main control unit 21 and the payout control unit 25 can resume the operation before the power shutoff at the start of business or at the time of recovery from a power failure. However, since the backup power supply BU is not supplied to the other control boards, the operation in the initial state is started regardless of the operation before the power is shut off at the time of starting business or recovering from the power failure.

  In the pachinko machine GM of the embodiment having the above configuration, after the power is turned on, when a RAM clear process is executed in which the entire RAM area of the main control unit 21 is cleared to zero, the liquid crystal control unit 24 is A control command (power-on command A) is transmitted. The liquid crystal control unit 24 that has received the power-on command A draws a display such as “the memory has been cleared to the initial state” on the liquid crystal display DISP, and executes a RAM clear notification process.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the power-on command A, a power-on command B and a power-on command C are prepared as the same kind of control commands, and the liquid crystal control unit 24 receives the power-on command B. Even in this case, the RAM clear notification process is executed. However, when the power-on command C is received, the RAM clear notification process is not executed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the power-on command CMD output by the main control unit 21 is transmitted to the effect control board 22 via the command relay board 29, and then the power-on command CMD ′ is sent to the effect interface board 23. Then, it is transferred to the liquid crystal control board 24. Therefore, although there is a slight delay between the RAM clear process and the display on the liquid crystal display DISP, in this embodiment, the display operation of the liquid crystal display DISP is started several seconds after the command transmission by the main control unit 21. Has been.

  4 to 6 are flowcharts showing a control program of the main control unit 21 including the RAM clear process described above. The control program of the main control unit 21 includes a system reset process (FIG. 4) activated based on the supply voltage and a maskable timer interrupt process (TIMER INT in FIG. 5) activated every predetermined time (2 mS). ) And a non-maskable highest priority interrupt process (NMI interrupt in FIG. 6) activated by a voltage drop signal ABN from the power supply board 20. A one-chip microcomputer that realizes these processes incorporates a Z80 CPU (Zilog) equivalent product. If the program goes into a runaway state, the watchdog timer IC is activated to reset the CPU.

  Hereinafter, the system reset processing program (main routine) will be described with reference to FIG. The main routine starts when the initialization switch (not shown) is turned off and the power is turned on, such as when recovering from a power outage, and when the pachinko hall is opened. May be turned on to turn on the power. Note that the main routine of FIG. 4 is also started after the illegal person temporarily shuts off the power supply of the gaming machine.

  In any case, the Z80 CPU first sets itself to the interrupt disabled state, and initializes each part of the one-chip microcomputer including the Z80 CPU core (ST1). The CPU sets itself to interrupt mode 2 (ST2), and then determines the value of the RAM clear signal (ST3). The RAM clear signal is a signal indicating whether or not the entire area of the built-in RAM is initially set, and has a value corresponding to the ON / OFF state of the initialization switch operated by the attendant. However, there is a possibility that an on-state RAM clear signal is intentionally generated by an unauthorized device by an unauthorized person.

  In any case, assuming that the RAM clear signal is in the ON state, the entire area of the built-in RAM is cleared to zero following the determination in step ST3 (ST5). As a result of this RAM clear process, variables CT, RG, Te, and BFL, which will be described later, are all zero in the initial state together with other variables.

  Therefore, next, after initializing the monitoring timer Te (ST6), the main control unit outputs a power-on command A for notifying that the RAM area has been cleared to zero (ST7). The output power-on command A is received by the liquid crystal control unit 24, and the RAM clear notification process is executed under the control of the liquid crystal control unit 24 several seconds after the command output, as described above.

  In this embodiment, the monitoring timer Te is initially set to 15000 (= 30 seconds / 2 milliseconds) corresponding to 30 seconds in the initial setting process in step ST6. This is because the display operation on the liquid crystal display DISP is started several seconds after the main control unit 21 outputs the power-on command A, and therefore the fact that the power is turned on after 30 seconds has passed. This is because it is considered that it can be surely grasped around.

  When the process of step ST7 is completed, the CPU is set to an interrupt enabled state by executing the EI instruction (ST8). After that, counter update processing is performed in an infinite loop (ST9). The counter to be updated includes an out symbol counter. This out symbol counter can be used when the big symbol determination process in the special symbol processing (ST44) in FIG. It is a counter for deciding whether to produce the off-game of such a mode.

  By the way, returning to the determination process in step ST3, if the initialization switch (RAM clear signal) is in the OFF state as in the case of recovery from the power failure state, the backup is performed following the determination in step ST3. The contents of flag BFL are determined (ST4). The backup flag BFL is data indicating whether or not the backup data saved in the NMI interrupt processing of FIG. 6 has been restored to the original state. In this embodiment, the backup flag BFL is set in the NMI interrupt processing. It is set to 5AH (ST54), and is cleared to zero in the process of step ST16 in FIG.

  If it is now time to recover from the power failure state, the content of the backup flag BFL is 5AH in the determination of step ST4 in FIG. Further, there is a possibility that the unauthorized person shuts down the power supply again and restores the power supply without turning on the RAM clear signal (while remaining in the OFF state). In this case, the content of the backup flag BFL is 5AH. It is.

  In any case, if the backup flag BFL ≠ 0, the CPU writes the 16-bit data read from the SP storage area of the RAM into the stack pointer SP of the CPU (ST10).

  Next, the timer value of the monitoring timer Te provided in the RAM work area is determined (ST11). As described above, the monitoring timer Te is a timer variable that is initially set (ST6) to an initial value corresponding to 30 seconds after the RAM clear process (ST5). The timer value of the monitoring timer Te is decremented (-1) until it becomes zero in the subsequent timer subtraction process (ST32 in FIG. 5), and stopped at zero. Therefore, if Te> 0 is determined in the process of step ST11, it means that 30 seconds have not elapsed since the power-on command A was transmitted until the power was shut off.

  The reason that the power supply is cut off at the timing when 30 seconds have not passed after the power-on command A is transmitted is because the illegal player may have stopped energizing the gaming machine to prevent the RAM clear notification operation on the liquid crystal display. Is extremely high. Therefore, in this case, the power-on command B is transmitted again (ST12).

  On the other hand, if Te = 0 is determined in the process of step ST11, 30 seconds or more have elapsed from the time when the power-on command A is transmitted until the power is turned off, so at least the RAM clear notification operation is surely completed. ing. In addition, when Te = 0 is determined, it is much more likely that the recovery from a power failure that occurred suddenly during business hours or the start of business without turning on the initialization switch. Therefore, if Te = 0 is determined, another power-on command C is output and transmitted to distinguish it from the power-on command A and power-on command B (ST13).

  As described above, in this embodiment, the following three operations (A) to (C) are performed assuming various possibilities when the power is turned on. That is, (A): After the RAM clear process is performed, a “power-on command A” is transmitted (ST7). (B): If the power is shut off within 30 seconds after the transmission of the “power-on command A”, the “power-on command B” is transmitted (ST12). (C): When the power is cut off after 30 seconds have elapsed after the transmission of the “power-on command A”, the “power-on command C” is transmitted (ST13). Then, due to the operations (A) to (C), the liquid crystal control unit 24 performs a corresponding display operation, which will be described last with reference to FIG.

  When the transmission process of the power-on command B or the power-on command C is completed, the RAM work area data backed up in the NMI process at the time of a power failure is read to create a backup return command (ST14). The return commands to be created include those for a payout control board, a symbol control board, and a lamp control board. The return command creation process for the payout control board means a preparatory operation for rechecking the error signal and outputting a control command according to the current state of the gaming machine to the payout control board 25. For example, if the upper plate is full before the power failure, the error state is saved by the backup data, but the player is likely to collect the game balls due to the power failure. Check the current situation.

  In addition, in the backup recovery command creation process for the symbol control board and lamp control board, the gaming machine before the power failure may be in a big hit state or in a so-called probable state in which the winning probability is increasing. Therefore, in such a case, it is a process for setting the background color of the liquid crystal display DISP in accordance with the operating state and generating sound effects.

  When the processing in step ST14 is completed, the POP instruction is executed to restore the values of the registers (BC, DE, HL) excluding the AF register from the RAM stack area (ST15). As a result of this process, the recovery process from the power failure is completed, so the backup flag BFL is cleared to zero (ST16).

  Next, the value of the interrupt permission flip-flop is returned to the P / V flag of the Z80 CPU by the POP AF instruction (ST17). As will be described later, in the NMI processing, the LDA and I instructions are executed, the value of the interrupt permission flip-flop is set in the P / V flag, and then the PUSH AF instruction is executed. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the interrupt voltage is permitted before the power supply voltage is lowered based on the value of the P / V flag after execution of the POP AF instruction in step ST17.

  Therefore, based on the value of the P / V flag, it is checked whether or not the interrupt is prohibited before the power supply voltage is lowered (ST18). After the AF register is returned from the stack area, the interrupt is disabled. Either the process is completed (ST19), or the process is returned to the interrupt enabled state and the return process is completed (ST20). In addition, by executing the RET instruction in step ST21, the value of the PC (program counter) at the time of the PUSH processing being restored in the stack area is restored, and the processing interrupted due to a power failure or the like is resumed. Become.

  Next, a timer interrupt processing program (TIMER INT) started every 2 mS by interrupting the above-described main processing will be described. When a timer interrupt occurs, the contents of each register are saved in the stack area (ST30), and then random number generation processing is performed first (ST31). The random number generation processing includes update processing of the winning counter RG and the big hit counter CT used in the lottery operation in the normal symbol processing ST39 and the special symbol processing ST44.

  When the random number generation process (ST31) ends, a timer subtraction process is performed for the timer that manages the time of each game operation (ST32). The timer to be subtracted here is mainly used for managing the opening time of the electric tulip and the special winning opening and other game effect times. The timer subtraction process (ST32) also includes a decrement process (-1) for the monitoring timer Te. The monitoring timer Te is a timer variable that measures the elapsed time after the power-on command A is transmitted by the main control unit 21 after the RAM clear process (ST5), and is referred to in the determination process in step ST11. The value of the monitoring timer Te is decremented until it reaches zero (ST32), and when it reaches zero, the value is maintained.

  When the timer subtraction process (ST32) is completed, ON / OFF signals of various switches including the winning detection switch of the symbol start opening 15 and the big winning opening 16 are input, and the ON / OFF signal is stored in the work area (ST33). ). If an unreasonable ON signal is detected, an illegal winning command is transmitted (ST34). The illegal winning command is transmitted, for example, when an ON signal is obtained from the detection switch of the special winning opening 16 even though the special game is not being performed.

  Subsequently, an error management process is performed (ST35). The error management process is a determination as to whether or not an abnormality has occurred inside the device, such as whether or not the supply of game balls has stopped or the game balls are clogged. Next, after creating a control command for the payout control board (ST36), the control command generated in each of the above processes is transmitted to the corresponding sub-control board (ST37).

  Next, normal symbol processing is performed on the condition that the current operation mode is not the hit mode (ST39). The normal symbol processing means determination as to whether or not to operate an ordinary electric accessory such as an electric tulip. Specifically, when it is determined that the game ball is passing the gate based on the switch input result in step ST33, the winning counter RG updated in the random number generation process (ST31) is compared with the winning winning value. Done. If the comparison result is a winning state, the operation mode is changed to the winning operation mode. Also, if it is hit, processing for the operation of the ordinary electric accessory such as an electric tulip is performed (ST41).

  Subsequently, necessary control commands are transmitted to the corresponding sub control board (ST42), and special symbol processing is performed on the condition that the current operation mode is not a big hit (ST44). The special symbol process is a determination as to whether or not to operate the first type special electric accessory such as the special winning opening 16. Specifically, when it is determined from the switch input result of step ST33 that the game ball has passed the symbol start port, the big hit counter CT updated in the random number generation process (ST31) is used as the big win winning value Hit. In contrast to. Then, if the comparison result is a winning state, the operation mode is changed to the big hit mode. If it is a big hit, processing for the operation of the first type special electric accessory such as a big prize opening is performed (ST46).

  Thereafter, the control command generated in each of the above processes is transmitted to the corresponding sub control board. For example, when the special symbol process (ST44) is executed, regardless of the lottery result, the symbol variation operation is started in the liquid crystal display DISP when the control command is transmitted. In any case, when the process of step ST47 is finished, the register saved in the process of step ST30 is restored (ST48), and the interrupt process is finished. As a result, normally, the routine returns from the interrupt processing routine to the infinite loop processing of the main routine (ST9 in FIG. 4).

  FIG. 6A is a flowchart showing the contents of an NMI interrupt processing program that occurs when the power supply voltage drops due to a power failure or the like. It should be noted that this NMI interrupt process is also activated when an illegal acter illegally drops the power supply voltage of the gaming machine.

  In the NMI interrupt processing, first, the contents of each register (AF, I, BC, DE, HL) are saved in the stack area of the built-in RAM (ST50). Specifically, the PUSH instructions in FIG. 6B are executed in order. When the interrupt vector register I is loaded into the A register (accumulator) by executing the LDA and I instructions, , P / V (parity / overflow flag) is set to the value of the Z80 CPU interrupt permission flip-flop. Therefore, by executing the PUSH AF instruction for the second time, the I register and the F register (P / V flag) in which the value of the permission flip-flop is copied are stored in the stack area.

  When the execution of a group of PUSH instructions is completed in this way, the value of the stack pointer SP at that time is then stored in the SP storage area of the RAM (ST51).

  Subsequently, since there is a case where a prize ball is currently being paid out, the state of the prize ball counting switch is detected and stored (ST52). Note that waiting for a predetermined time (ST53) takes into account the time during which the prize ball being paid out moves. Thereafter, after storing the flag value 5AH in the backup flag BFL save area (ST54), the RAM access is prohibited and the power supply voltage drops to wait for the CPU to become inoperative (ST55). After that, the CPU is in an inoperative state, but since the backup power BU is supplied to the RAM, the backed up data continues to be stored as it is. That is, the contents of the RAM are maintained as they are even after the power supply voltage is completely cut off.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a part of the operation content of the liquid crystal control unit 24 that has received the control command from the main control unit 21. Since various control commands are transmitted from the main control unit 21, the analysis processing is first executed (ST60). FIG. 7 shows the processing contents when any of the power-on commands A to C is received.

  First, when the power-on command A is received, a RAM clear notification process for displaying characters such as “the memory is cleared to the initial state!” On the liquid crystal display DISP is executed (ST61). Then, after the predetermined time, for example, an initial screen of “7-3-1” is displayed on the liquid crystal display DISP (ST62).

  The power-on command A may be caused by an illegal action executed during business hours as well as when an attendant turns on the power with the initialization switch turned on. Depending on the content of the initial screen, the occurrence of illegal acts will be widely notified around the gaming machine. Therefore, for example, the attendant of the game hall can visually check the occurrence of illegal acts by the RAM clear notification operation and the initial screen of “7-3-1”. The same notification operation is executed at the start of business, but no problem occurs because it is before the player visits the store.

  In addition, when the power-on command B is received, a RAM clear notification process for displaying characters such as “the memory has been cleared to the initial state!” Is executed on the liquid crystal display DISP (ST63). Then, after the predetermined time, for example, an initial screen of “2-4-6” is displayed on the liquid crystal display DISP (ST64).

  Since the power-on command B is a case where the power is cut off within 30 seconds after the transmission of the power-on command A (ST11, ST12), there is a strong possibility that an illegal act has been executed. However, in this case as well, the occurrence of illegal acts is widely notified around the gaming machine depending on the RAM clear notification processing and the contents of the initial screen thereafter, so that the staff of the gaming hall may immediately take appropriate measures. it can.

  On the other hand, when the liquid crystal control unit 24 receives the power-on command C, the liquid crystal display DISP displays, for example, an initial screen of “1-3-1” without executing the RAM clear notification process. The power-on command C is a control command that is transmitted when the attendant turns on the power without operating the initialization switch or when the power is restored from a power failure during business hours (ST13). Therefore, in this case, a predetermined initial screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display DISP without executing the RAM clear notification process.

  Since the pachinko machine of the present embodiment is configured as described above, even if an illegal instrument is used to make an illegal profit, such illegal action is not successful. In order to explain this point, for example, the program is runaway using powerful electromagnetic waves or the like, the watchdog timer is started, the CPU is reset, the RAM clear process is executed, and then the power supply is quickly turned on. Is assumed (see timing α in FIG. 4).

  In such a case, the power-on command A output by the main control unit 21 should be immediately received by the liquid crystal control unit 24, but before the RAM clear notification is given to the liquid crystal display by the control of the liquid crystal control unit 24. When the power supply voltage is cut off (that is, before the execution of step ST61 in FIG. 7), the liquid crystal control unit 24 to which backup power is not supplied returns to the initial operation due to the power cut-off, and the RAM is cleared. The notification operation is not executed.

  However, even in such a case, the main control unit 21 of this embodiment transmits the power-on command B again based on the determination in step ST11 (ST12), so the liquid crystal control unit 24 again performs the RAM clear notification operation. (ST63), the prospect of the illegal acter is not successful. Even if the time from power-off to power-on exceeds 30 seconds, no problem occurs because the count-down operation of the monitoring timer Te does not proceed after power-off. That is, as long as the power is shut off within a predetermined time from the transmission of the illegal winning command, the subsequent time progress is irrelevant.

  In addition, after the RAM clear process (ST5), when the power is shut off until the power-on command A is output (β timing in FIG. 4), the power-on command A is output after the power is restored. So in this case too, the prospects of illegal actors are not successful.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described above, the specific description content is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the embodiment, the RAM clear notification process is executed only on the liquid crystal display, but in addition to this, lamp notification for flashing the lamp flashingly or loud sound notification may be executed. In particular, when the process of step ST63 is executed, it is highly possible that an illegal act has been performed. Therefore, it is preferable to notify that “RAM has been cleared” at a high volume with a flashing lamp. .

  Further, it is also preferable to add a notification process to the hall computer at the time of transmitting the power-on command at step ST7 and step ST12. In this case, an attendant can be quickly dispatched to the site where the problem occurs.

It is a perspective view of the pachinko machine shown in an example. It is the front view which illustrated in detail the game board of the pachinko machine of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the pachinko machine of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the system reset process of a main control part. It is a flowchart explaining the timer interruption process of a main control part. It is a flowchart explaining the backup process of a main control part. It is a flowchart explaining the alerting | reporting process of a liquid-crystal control part.

Explanation of symbols

GM Pachinko machine 21 Main control unit 24 Sub control unit ST50 to 55 Backup unit ST7 First output unit ST32 Time measuring unit ST12, 13 Second output unit

Claims (3)

A gaming machine having a main control unit that is centrally responsible for game control operations, and a sub-control unit that executes an effect operation based on a control command received from the main control unit,
The main control unit is provided with backup means for maintaining the stored contents of the RAM even after the power supply voltage is cut off, and the sub control unit performs a notification operation based on a power-on command transmitted from the main control unit Providing a notification means,
The operation of the main control unit is realized by including a system reset process activated based on the supply of power supply voltage and a timer interrupt process activated every predetermined time,
The system reset process
A first determination process for determining whether or not the operation before power-off can be resumed based on the stored contents of the RAM maintained by the backup means;
It functions when it is determined by the first determination process that the operation before power-off cannot be resumed , and the stored contents of the RAM are erased and the monitoring timer is initialized. A first transmission process for transmitting a power-on command;
A second determination process that functions when it is determined by the first determination process that the operation before power-off can be resumed, and determines whether the monitoring timer has reached a limit value ;
The second determination process functions when it is determined that the monitoring timer has not reached the limit value, and transmits a second power-on command indicating that the power has been cut off before the monitoring timer reaches the limit value And a second transmission process to
The timer interrupt process includes an update process for updating the monitoring timer initialized in the first transmission process every predetermined time until reaching a limit value,
The sub-control unit is configured to execute different notification operations depending on which power-on command is received. A third transmission process which functions when the second determination process determines that the monitoring timer has reached a limit value and transmits a third power-on command;
The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the sub-control unit is configured to execute different notification operations depending on which of three types of power-on commands is received. The operation of the main control unit is configured to have a power shut-off process that is started prior to power-supply voltage shut-off,
3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the power-off process sets a backup flag to a predetermined value, and the system reset process executes a first transmission process when the backup flag is not a predetermined value. The gaming machine described in 1.

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