JP5009246B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic gaming machine having a built-in computer device, and is particularly preferably applied to a spinning gaming machine that uses medals or gaming balls as gaming media.

  In a spinning machine such as a slot machine, when a player inserts a medal into a medal slot and operates a start lever, the rotation of the rotating reel is started accordingly. When the player presses the stop button to stop the rotating reel, when the symbols on the stop line are aligned, a payout medal corresponding to the symbol is paid out.

  In such a slot machine, the highest game value is the big bonus (BB) symbol, and the regular bonus (RB) symbol is equivalent to this. If this BB symbol or RB symbol can be aligned on the stop line, then a bonus game is started and a game state with a high winning probability is continuously maintained, so that there are much more dividend medals than before. Numbers can be expected.

  However, the success / failure state of each game is determined in advance by a lottery process using the random value RND acquired from the counter circuit when the start lever is operated. FIG. 8A illustrates the relationship between the main control board that generates the random number value RND and the sensor board that senses the operation of the start lever. The sensor substrate is configured to be supplied with the power supply voltage Vcc, and a photo interrupter in which the light emitting unit TR and the light receiving unit RV are combined is arranged. The light emitting unit TR and the light receiving unit RV are normally shielded, but when the start lever is operated, the shielded state is released and the start switch signal SG is output.

  On the other hand, the main control board is provided with an oscillation circuit, a counter circuit, a first latch circuit, and a second latch circuit. For example, in synchronization with the falling edge of the start switch signal SG, the counter value of the counter circuit is held in the first latch circuit and becomes the random value RND. At the falling edge of the start switch signal, the second latch circuit (D-type flip-flop) also operates to hold the H level output value, so that the CPU that has detected the H level output value thereafter performs the first latch circuit. The random number value RND is acquired and the lottery process is executed.

  However, since the winning value Hit that realizes the big hit state by the lottery process can be obtained by obtaining and analyzing the device, the start lever may be operated at the timing when the counter value of the counter circuit matches the winning value Hit. It will be.

  Therefore, there is a concern about illegal acts focusing on such characteristics. In recent examples, illegal acts that generate a start switch signal SG at an arbitrary timing by replacing a sensor substrate with an illegal substrate have been reported ( (Refer FIG.8 (b)). Since the power supply voltage Vcc (= 5V) is supplied from the main control board to the sensor board, even if the sensor board is replaced with an illegal board, the IC mounted on the illegal board can be operated normally. Even clever illegal activities are possible. For example, it may be possible to provide an illegal board with a function of wirelessly receiving a command from a sensory device held by an illegal player.

  Here, it is conceivable to drastically change the circuit configuration of the sensor board, the device configuration related to the start lever, etc., but such measures are too burdensome in terms of time and cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine that can prevent illegal acts without significantly changing the current circuit configuration.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention determines whether or not to generate a game state advantageous to a player by executing a lottery operation when a predetermined sensor is turned on in connection with a game operation. a machine, through the feed line via the connector, along with supplying a DC voltage to the sensor, the sensor detection signal of the sensor, a circuit board which receives via a connection connector, the current value of the power supply line a current detecting element for detecting a current value of the power supply line detected by the current detecting element, it is determined whether more than a predetermined level, when it exceeds the increasing direction, illegal substrate is mounted to the connector And a detection circuit for outputting an abnormal signal indicating the possibility of failure .

  The voltage supply line in which the current detection element is arranged is not particularly limited, but it is effective for crime prevention to be arranged in the 5 V voltage supply line that is the power supply voltage of the general-purpose IC.

  According to the present invention described above, illegal activities can be prevented without significantly changing the current circuit configuration.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on examples. 1 to 4 illustrate a slot machine SL according to an embodiment. In this slot machine SL, a rectangular box-shaped main body case 1 and a front panel 2 fitted with various game members are connected via a hinge 3 so that the front panel 2 can be opened and closed with respect to the main body case 1. (FIG. 2). 1 is a front view of the front panel 2, FIG. 2 is a right side view (a) and a plan view (b) of the slot machine SL, FIG. 3 is a rear view of the front panel 2, and FIG. A front view is shown.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a symbol rotating unit 4 including three rotating reels 4 a to 4 c is disposed in the approximate center of the main body case 1, and a medal payout device 5 is disposed below the symbol rotating unit 4. On each of the rotating reels 4a to 4c, a BB symbol, an RB symbol, various fruit symbols, a replay symbol, and the like are drawn. The medal payout device 5 is provided with a medal hopper 5a for storing medals, a payout motor MO, a medal payout control board 55, a payout relay board 63, a payout sensor SE (FIG. 5), and the like. Here, the medal is derived from the payout opening 5b toward the front of the drawing based on the rotation of the payout motor MO. Note that medals stored exceeding the limit amount are configured to fall into the auxiliary tank 6 through the overflow portion 5c.

  A power supply board 62 is arranged adjacent to the medal payout device 5, a main control board 50 is arranged above the symbol rotation unit 4, and a rotating drum setting board 54 is arranged adjacent to the main control board 50. ing. In addition, inside the symbol rotating unit 4, a rotating LED relay substrate 58 and a rotating relay substrate 57 are provided, and an external concentrated terminal plate 56 is disposed adjacent to the symbol rotating unit 4.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display unit 7 is disposed on the upper portion of the front panel 2, and three display windows 8a to 8c corresponding to the rotating reels 4a to 4c are disposed on the lower portion thereof. Through the display windows 8a to 8c, about 3 symbols can be seen in the rotational direction of each of the rotating reels 4a to 4c, and a total of 9 symbols in the horizontal direction and 2 in the diagonal direction. Becomes a virtual stop line. On the left side of the display window 8a, an LED group 9 indicating a gaming state is provided. Below that, a payout display unit 10 for displaying the number of medals to be paid out as a gaming result, and the number of medals in a credit state are displayed. The storage number display part 11 to display is provided.

  In the center of the front panel 2 in the vertical direction, a medal insertion slot 12 for inserting medals is provided, and adjacent thereto, a return button 13 for returning medals filled in the medal insertion slot 12 is provided. Also, a credit check button 14 for paying out a credit medal, an insertion button 15 for artificially inserting one credit medal in place of inserting a medal into the medal slot 12, and a credit medal in a pseudo manner A maximum loading button 16 for loading three sheets is provided.

  Below these game members, a start lever 17 for starting the rotation of the rotating reels 4a to 4c and stop buttons 18a to 18c for stopping the rotating reels 4a to 4c are provided. In addition, below the front panel 2, a horizontally long tray 19 for storing medals and a medal outlet 20 communicating with the payout port 5b of the payout device 5 are provided. Speakers SP are arranged on the left and right sides of the medal outlet 20.

  As shown in FIG. 3, on the back side of the front panel 3, a medal sorting device 21 that sorts medals inserted into the medal slot 12, and medals that are determined to be inappropriate by the medal sorting device 21 A return passage 22 that guides the vehicle 20 is provided. A substrate case 23 that houses the effect control board 51, the effect interface board 52, the liquid crystal control board 61, and the like is disposed on the upper back side of the front panel 3. A game relay board 53 that relays signals between the various game members shown in FIG. 1 and the main control board 50 is provided on the medal sorting device 21.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the slot machine SL according to the embodiment. As shown in the figure, this slot machine SL realizes an effect operation based on a main control board 50 that controls the operation of various game members including the rotating reels 4a to 4c and a control command received from the main control board 50. The control board 51 and a power supply board 62 that converts an alternating voltage (24V) into a direct voltage (5V, 12V, 24V) and supplies them to each part of the apparatus are mainly configured.

  The main control board 50 outputs, to the effect control board 51, control commands for realizing the sound effect by the speaker SP, the lamp effect by the LED lamp or the cold cathode ray tube discharge tube, and the symbol effect by the liquid crystal display unit 7. doing. The effect control board 51 is connected to the liquid crystal control board 61 through the effect interface board 52, and the liquid crystal control board 61 realizes a design effect in the liquid crystal display (LCD) unit 7.

  The effect control board 51 realizes lamp effects in various LEDs and cold cathode ray tube discharge tubes via the LED board 59, the inverter board 60, and the rotary LED drive board 58 together with the effect interface board 52. In addition, the effect control board 51 drives the speaker SP through the effect interface board 52 to realize an audio effect.

  The main control board 50 is connected to various game members of the slot machine through the game relay board 53. Specifically, the start switch SW of the start lever 17, the stop switch of the stop buttons 18a to 18c, the input switch of the input buttons 15 and 16, the liquidation switch of the checkout button 14, and the photointerrupter PH1 constituting the input number determination unit 21d It is connected to PH2, the blocker solenoid 31 constituting the inserted medal return unit 21c, and various LED elements 9-11.

  Further, the main control board 50 is connected to the three stepping motors for rotating the rotating reels 4a to 4c and the index sensor for detecting the reference position of the rotating reels 4a to 4c via the rotating relay board 57. Has been. Then, by rotating or stopping the stepping motor, the rotating operation of the rotating reels 4a to 4c and the stopping operation at the target position are realized.

  The main control board 50 is also connected to the medal payout device 5 through the payout relay board 63. The medal payout device 5 is provided with a medal payout control board 55, a medal payout sensor SE, and a payout motor MO. The medal payout control board 55 is based on a medal payout signal PAY from the main control board 50. The payout motor MO is rotated to pay out a predetermined amount of medals. The payout motor MO is a DC motor such as a brush motor, and continues to rotate as long as it receives DC 24V.

  In addition, the main control board 50 is also connected to the external concentration terminal board 56 and the rotary setting board 54. The external concentrated terminal board 56 is connected to, for example, the hall computer HC, and the main control board 50 outputs the number of inserted medals and the number of paid out medals through the external concentrated terminal board 56. Further, the rotating setting board 54 outputs a setting key signal indicating the rank setting value of the probabilistic medal payout number set by the staff.

  FIG. 6A is a circuit diagram showing the relationship between the start switch SW (sensor board) that senses the operation of the start lever 17 and the operation detection circuit (invalid circuit) DET of the main control board 50. In practice, the start switch SW is connected to the main control board 50 via the game relay board 53 (FIG. 5), but the game relay board 53 only transfers each signal, so that the illustration is shown. Omitted.

  The start switch SW is composed of a transmissive photo interrupter in which the light emitting unit TR and the light receiving unit RV are integrated. When the player operates the start lever 17, the light shielding state of the light emitting part TR and the light receiving part RV is canceled, the open collector type output transistor Tr is turned on, and a negative logic start switch signal SG is output. The However, the present invention is not limited to such an operation, and a configuration may be adopted in which the output transistor Tr is turned off in response to the operation of the start lever 17 and the positive logic start switch signal SG is output. Of course. In this case, the NOT gate G2 becomes unnecessary.

  In any case, the main control board 50 supplies the power supply voltage Vcc and the ground signal to the start switch SW (sensor board) and receives the start switch signal SG. However, this embodiment has a great feature in that the power supply voltage Vcc is not supplied directly but the power supply voltage Vcc is supplied via the current detection resistor Rs.

  Based on the above, the operation detection circuit DET of the main control unit 50 will be described. The operation detection circuit DET is mainly configured by a power supply current detection unit 80, a window comparator 81 having threshold values TH1 and TH2, and a detection signal generation unit 82.

  The power supply current detection unit 80 includes a current detection resistor Rs, a current detection unit AP, and a load resistor R1 of the current detection unit AP. Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, INA139 (CURRENT SHUNT MONITOR) manufactured by Texas Instrument is used as the current detection unit AP. This IC has an amplifier and an output transistor, and is configured to output a current proportional to the voltage across the current detection resistor Rs from the output transistor. Therefore, the detection voltage Vo (Vo∝Rs * I) proportional to the power supply current value I supplied to the start switch SW is obtained at both ends of the load resistor R1.

  The window comparator 81 includes voltage dividing resistors R2 to R4 that generate thresholds TH1 and TH2, and two comparators CP1 and CP2. Here, TH1 = Vcc * (R3 + R4) / (R2 + R3 + R4) is the first threshold value, and TH2 = Vcc * R4 / (R2 + R3 + R4) is the second threshold value.

  The (−) input terminal of the first comparator CP1 and the (+) input terminal of the second comparator CP2 are directly connected to receive the detection signal Vo in common. On the other hand, the first threshold value TH1 is supplied to the (+) input terminal of the first comparator CP1, and the second threshold value TH2 is supplied to the (−) input terminal of the second comparator.

  The detection signal generator 82 includes an AND gate G1 that receives the outputs OUT1 and OUT2 of the two comparators CP1 and CP2, a NOT gate G2 that receives the start switch signal SG, and an AND gate G3 that receives the outputs of the NOT gate G2 and the AND gate G1. It consists of and. As shown in the figure, the input terminal of the NOT gate G2 is pulled up.

  FIG. 6B illustrates the relationship between the voltage Rs * I across the current detection resistor Rs and the outputs OUT1 and OUT2 of the window comparator 81. When the voltage Rs * I across the current detection resistor Rs is low, the relationship between the detection voltage Vo and the second threshold value TH2 is Vo <TH2, so that OUT1 = H level and OUT2 = L level.

  When the voltage Rs * I across the current detection resistor Rs increases and the detection voltage Vo exceeds the second threshold value TH2 (TH2 <Vo <TH1), OUT2 changes from L level to H level. However, OUT1 remains at the H level. On the other hand, when the both-end voltage Rs * I further increases and the detection voltage Vo exceeds the first threshold value TH1 (TH1 <Vo), OUT1 changes from the H level to the L level.

  Therefore, the output of the AND gate G1 is at the H level only when the detection voltage Vo exceeds the second threshold value TH2 but does not exceed the first threshold value TH1 (TH2 <Vo <TH1). Become.

Therefore, in this embodiment, on the basis of the control unit 50 supply a current value flowing into the sensor substrate SW (reference current value) I _S when the driving switch SW is operated properly turned ON, the detection voltage Vos (reference at that time Corresponding to the detection value Vos = I _S * Rs), the value of ± α% is set as the threshold values TH1 and TH2. That is, TH1 = (100 + α) * Vos / 100, and TH2 = (100−α) * Vos / 100. Note that α varies depending on the accuracy of circuit elements employed in the start switch SW and the operation detection circuit DET, but is typically about 20%.

  In this embodiment, since the operation detection circuit DET shown in FIG. 6A is provided, for example, even if the start switch SW (sensor substrate) is replaced with an illegal circuit, the illegal action is prevented by reacting to the abnormality. can do. That is, the illegal circuit DET usually has an increased number of circuit elements in order to realize an illegal operation, and the power supply current value I increases accordingly, so that the detection voltage Vo exceeds the first threshold value TH1, and the AND gate Becomes an L level. Therefore, no matter how the start switch signal SG is in the ON state, the start switch signal SG in the ON state cannot pass through the AND gate G3, and the illegal action cannot be made successful.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been specifically described above, the specific description is not particularly intended to limit the present invention and can be appropriately changed. For example, although the window comparator 81 is used in the embodiment, the comparator CP2 may be omitted because the power supply current I usually increases when an illegal board is attached.

  On the other hand, when the comparators CP1 and CP2 are provided, the output of the comparator CP2 can be used as a connector disconnection signal. For example, in order to attach an illegal board, it is necessary to remove the connection connector CN, and the voltage across the current detection resistor Rs becomes zero only at that moment. Therefore, if the CPU periodically checks the connector disconnection signal at which the output of the comparator CP2 becomes L level, it is possible to immediately detect an illegal attempt to replace the sensor board SW with an illegal board during the business hall business hours. it can. In this case, it is possible to eliminate further illegal acts by outputting an error notification sound or the like.

  Note that when the power supply is turned off and the board is replaced with an illegal board, it is not possible to make a determination based on the separation signal alone. Therefore, it is effective to supply the output of the AND gate G1 to the CPU as an abnormal signal. When the board is replaced with an illegal board, the abnormal signal becomes L level.

  Although the slot machine has been described in the embodiment, it is also effective to apply the present invention to a ball game machine. FIG. 8 is a circuit example in which the operation detection circuit DET is applied to a ball game machine. The sensor board is provided with a detection switch SW for detecting that a game ball has won at the symbol start opening. When the game ball passes through the detection switch SW, a winning switch signal SG in an ON state is output toward the main control board.

  In this embodiment as well, a current detection resistor is arranged on the power supply line supplied from the main control board to the sensor board. Because it is not supplied, illegal activities cannot be made successful.

It is a front view of the slot machine which concerns on an Example. FIG. 2 is a right side view (a) and a plan view (b) of the slot machine of FIG. 1. It is the figure which illustrated the front panel of the slot machine from the back. It is an internal front view of the main body case of the slot machine. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the slot machine of FIG. 1. It is a circuit diagram which shows the connection relation of a main control board and a sensor board | substrate. It is a circuit block diagram which shows the case where an operation detection circuit is applied to a ball game machine. It is drawing explaining the problem of a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

SW sensor 50 Circuit board Rs Current detection element DET Invalid circuit SL Game machine (slot machine)

Claims (7)

A gaming machine that determines whether or not to generate a gaming state advantageous to a player by executing a lottery operation when a predetermined sensor is turned on in relation to a gaming operation,
A circuit board that supplies a DC voltage to the sensor through a power supply line that passes through the connection connector and receives a sensor detection signal of the sensor via the connection connector .
A current detection element for detecting the current value of the feed line;
It is determined whether or not the current value of the power supply line detected by the current detection element exceeds a predetermined level. If the current value exceeds the predetermined level , an abnormal signal indicating the possibility that the illegal board is attached to the connection connector. And a detection circuit for outputting a game machine. The gaming machine according to claim 1 , wherein when the abnormal signal is output, the lottery operation is automatically avoided by preventing the sensor detection signal from passing therethrough . The detection circuit receives a window comparator that determines whether or not a current value of the power supply line is included in a predetermined range based on a detection value of the current detection element, and AND logic that receives two types of determination signals output by the window comparator The gaming machine according to claim 1 or 2, comprising an element . 4. The gaming machine according to claim 3 , wherein one of the two types of determination signals generates a disconnection signal indicating a possibility that the connection connector has been disconnected, and an output of the AND logic element generates the abnormal signal . The gaming machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein execution of the lottery operation is automatically avoided by providing a logic circuit that receives the abnormal signal and the sensor detection signal and executes an AND logic operation .   The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the DC voltage is 5V. Circuit board for supplying the DC voltage to the sensor includes the execution of the lottery operations, of claims 1 to 6 which is a main control board to perform overall game control operation of the pinball game machine or reel-game machine A gaming machine according to any one of the above.

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