JP5240518B2 - Object detection device and medal sorting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an object detection device and a medal sorting device, and more particularly to an object detection device and a medal sorting device that can prevent unauthorized counting of disc-shaped game media in a gaming machine.

  In a gaming machine composed of a rotating body represented by a slot machine (or pachislot machine), a disk-shaped medal is used as a gaming medium.

  The medal sorting device of the gaming machine is provided with an optical sensor, and the number of medals inserted by the optical sensor is counted.

  More specifically, in this optical sensor, two sets of light projecting elements and light receiving elements, each composed of an LED (Light Emission Diode), are provided so as to face each other across a medal passage route. . The light projecting element emits direct current light, and the light receiving element recognizes (detects) that there is no medal on the passage path as long as the direct current light from the light projecting element continues to be received.

  When the medal is inserted into the insertion slot and the medal passes through the passage path by its own weight, the direct current light projected by the light projecting element is shielded by the medal, and the light receiving element cannot receive direct current light for a predetermined time. It becomes. At this time, the optical sensor detects passage of medals. In addition, since the optical sensors having the same structure are connected on the medal path, the movement direction on the medal insertion path is determined by the timing shift and the order in which the passage of the medal is detected by the connected optical sensors. It can be detected (see Patent Document 1).

  By the way, fraudulent acts using fraud jigs using the structure of this optical sensor have been reported.

  This fraudulent jig is made of a flexible squeaky nest that can be inserted into the medal slot, and a light emitting element is provided at the tip thereof.

  The fraud due to this fraudulent jig is, for example, when the tip portion is inserted from the insertion slot of the medal, and the light projecting element of the fraudulent jig is between the light projecting element and the light receiving element in the optical sensor of the gaming machine. It is inserted to a position optically facing the light receiving element. Then, the light projecting element of the fraudulent jig projects direct current light to the light receiving element of the light sensor, so that the light sensor recognizes (detects) that no medal is inserted, It cannot be recognized (detected) even if it is inserted.

  Furthermore, in this state, by repeating the operation of stopping the light projection of the light emitting element of the illegal jig in accordance with the passage time of the medal, even though the medal has not passed, It is possible to erroneously detect that a medal has passed.

  Therefore, in the case where the above-described optical sensor is used, there is a possibility that fraud by such an illegal jig may be made.

  Therefore, in order to prevent the above-described fraud due to the fraudulent jig, modulated light is generated from the light projecting element of the optical sensor, the modulated light is received by the light receiving element, and the presence or absence of the modulated light is detected to pass the medal. A technique for detecting the above has been proposed.

JP 2006-55181 A

  However, when modulated light is generated from the light projecting element of the optical sensor and the passage of the medal is detected based on whether or not the modulated light is detected by the light receiving element, for example, by improving a conventional illegal jig, By further providing a light receiving element at a position optically opposed to the light projecting element of the sensor, the modulated light projected from the light projecting element of the optical sensor is detected and then illegally corrected in synchronization with the detected modulated light. Since the light projecting element of the tool can be projected, there is a risk that the same fraud as the above-described fraudulent jig may be performed.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, and makes it possible to prevent fraud by making it the structure which can detect the fraud by a fraud jig | tool with an optical sensor.

An object detection apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention projects a light receiving unit that detects light, a waveform information acquisition unit that acquires a light reception level detected by the light receiving unit as waveform information, and light that can be detected by the light receiving unit. The rising time, the pulse width, the falling time, or the light receiving level of the waveform of the light receiving level when the light projecting unit that emits light and the light projected by the light projecting unit are detected by the light receiving unit The reference waveform information storage unit that stores information including the parameter to be displayed as reference waveform information, the waveform information acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit, and the reference waveform information stored in the reference waveform information storage unit match A fraud detection unit that detects whether or not fraud is present, a light projecting control unit that generates a control signal for projecting the light projecting unit at a predetermined time interval, the light projecting unit, and the light receiving unit, While blocking the light path of A passage unit for passing the Jo object, if unauthorized by the fraud detection unit does not detect, and the waveform information, the comparison of the control signal, and a passage detection section for detecting passage of the disc-shaped object Prepare.

  A waveform information storage unit that stores waveform information of a plurality of waveforms acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit, and an averaging unit that averages parameters of the waveform information of the plurality of waveforms stored in the waveform information storage unit The fraud detection unit includes waveform information composed of parameters averaged by the averaging unit, and reference waveform information stored in the reference waveform information storage unit. The presence or absence of fraud can be detected based on whether or not each parameter in FIG.

  The fraud detector may be configured to detect the presence or absence of fraud because the waveform acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit and each parameter in the reference waveform information do not match a specified number of times.

A medal sorting device according to the present invention includes the object detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 .

  In the object detection device according to one aspect of the present invention, light is detected, a detected light reception level is acquired as waveform information, light that can be received is projected, and a control signal for projecting light at a predetermined time interval is received. The generated wave information is stored as reference waveform information, the waveform information of the received light level when the disc-shaped object is passed while the light path is generated and the projected light is detected, and the acquired waveform information The presence or absence of fraud is detected based on whether or not the stored reference waveform information matches.

  In the object detection device of one aspect of the present invention, the waveform information acquisition unit that acquires the light reception level detected by the light receiving unit as waveform information is, for example, a parameter acquisition unit, and detects light that can be detected by the light receiving unit. A light projecting unit that projects light, and a reference waveform information storage unit that stores, as reference waveform information, information on a waveform of a light reception level when light projected by the light projecting unit is detected by the light receiving unit, For example, it is a reference waveform parameter storage unit, and the presence or absence of fraud is detected based on whether or not the waveform information acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit matches the reference waveform information stored in the reference waveform information storage unit The fraud detection unit to be used is, for example, a comparison determination unit.

  That is, the modulated light projected from the light projecting unit at a predetermined time interval across the path of the disk-shaped object is received by the light receiving unit. The light receiving unit supplies a light receiving signal indicating the light receiving level of the detected light to the light receiving waveform parameter acquiring unit. The parameter acquisition unit recognizes the received light waveform from the received light signal indicating the received light level, and acquires a received light waveform parameter for specifying the shape of the received light waveform. The comparison determination unit compares the received light waveform parameter acquired by the received light waveform parameter acquisition unit with the reference waveform parameter indicating the stored reference waveform. Recognizing that the light generated by the light unit has not been detected, it is assumed that light from an unauthorized light projecting unit that is not a regular light projecting unit is detected, and fraud is detected.

  As a result, it is possible to distinguish between a light reception waveform by light from a light projecting unit provided in a sensor that should be detected and a waveform of light projected by a light projecting unit other than the sensor. It is possible to suppress the illegal counting act of the game medium by the illegal jig in FIG.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress an illegal counting action of game media in a gaming machine by an illegal jig.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Correspondences between the configuration requirements of the present invention and the embodiments described in the detailed description of the invention are exemplified as follows. This description is to confirm that the embodiments supporting the present invention are described in the detailed description of the invention. Accordingly, although there are embodiments that are described in the detailed description of the invention but are not described here as embodiments corresponding to the constituent elements of the present invention, It does not mean that the embodiment does not correspond to the configuration requirements. Conversely, even if an embodiment is described here as corresponding to a configuration requirement, that means that the embodiment does not correspond to a configuration requirement other than the configuration requirement. It's not something to do.

That is, the object detection device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a light receiving unit (for example, the light receiving unit 114 in FIG. 7) that detects light, and a waveform information acquisition unit that acquires a light reception level detected by the light receiving unit as waveform information. (For example, the light receiving waveform parameter acquisition unit 123 in FIG. 7), a light projecting unit that projects light that can be detected by the light receiving unit (for example, the light projecting unit 111 in FIG. 7), and the light projecting unit. For storing, as reference waveform information, information including a waveform rising time, a pulse width, a falling time, or a parameter indicating a light receiving level of a light receiving level waveform when the received light is detected by the light receiving unit The waveform information storage unit (for example, the reference waveform parameter storage unit 122 in FIG. 7), the waveform information acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit, and the reference waveform information stored in the reference waveform information storage unit match. Fraud detection unit that detects the presence or absence of fraud by whether (e.g., the comparison determination unit 125 of FIG. 7), a light projecting portion for projecting the possible received light by the light receiving portion, the projection at a predetermined time interval A light projecting control unit (for example, the light projecting control unit 112 in FIG. 7) that generates a control signal for projecting the light unit, and a disc-like shape while shielding the optical path between the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit. When a fraud is not detected by the passage part (for example, the passage 26 in FIG. 7) that passes the object and the fraud detection part, the passage of the disk-shaped object is determined by comparing the waveform information with the control signal. A passage detection unit to detect (for example, a passage determination unit 127 in FIG. 7) is provided.

  Waveform information storage means for storing waveform information of a plurality of waveforms acquired by the waveform information acquisition section (for example, the storage section 123a in FIG. 7), and waveform information of a plurality of waveforms stored in the waveform information storage means An averager (for example, received light waveform parameter averager 124 in FIG. 7) that averages each reference waveform parameter can be further included, and the fraud detector (for example, the comparison determination in FIG. 7). The unit 125) determines whether the waveform information composed of the reference waveform parameters averaged by the averaging unit matches each reference waveform parameter in the reference waveform information stored in the reference waveform information storage unit. It is possible to detect the presence or absence of fraud.

[Example configuration of gaming machine]
1 and 2 are diagrams showing a configuration example of an embodiment of a gaming machine according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the gaming machine 1, and FIG. 2 shows an internal schematic diagram of the gaming machine 1 with the front door 5 opened.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the gaming machine 1 can play a game by inserting a medal M, which is a game medium, from a medal M slot 2 provided on the right side of the game operation surface. More specifically, when one to three medals M are inserted, the start lever provided on the left side in the figure can be operated. When the start lever is operated, the three rotating bodies rotate, and the rotation is stopped by operating the stop buttons provided corresponding to the rotating members. At this time, when the symbols of the stopped rotating bodies are aligned horizontally or diagonally, the gaming machine 1 discharges the medal M corresponding to the aligned symbols from the return port 3.

  The insertion slot 2 is provided at the right center portion of the game operation surface, accepts medals M one by one, and supplies them to the medal selector 10 (FIGS. 2 to 5). The medal selector (medal selection device) 10 takes only medals of a regular size out of the medals M inserted from the insertion slot 2 and returns medals of a nonconforming size to the external return slot 3. Has a sorting function.

  A return button 4 is provided at the bottom of the insertion slot 2. The return button 4 is pressed when the player wants to stop the game, and when pressed and operated, the medal M is returned from the return port 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the front portion 1a of the gaming machine 1 with the front door 5 open is provided with a rotating body (reel) 6 at the top, and a hopper for taking in or paying out medals at the bottom. 7, a medal return passage (not shown) and a power supply device 8 are provided.

  On the other hand, on the inner surface of the front door 5 on the return port 3 side, a cover 9, a medal selector (medal sorting device) 10, and a return port 3 are arranged in the same order from the top. With the configuration as described above, when the player inserts the medal M from the insertion slot 2, the gaming machine 1 realizes the game by rotating or stopping the rotating body 6.

[Configuration example of medal selector]
Next, a configuration example of the medal selector (medal sorting device) 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of the medal selector 10 from the front side of the board, FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the back side of the medal selector 10, and FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view of the medal selector 10 comprised combining a pair with.

  The medal selector (medal sorting device) 10 includes a U-shaped substrate 21 in plan view and an opening / closing plate 22, and pivotally supports a support shaft 23 on the opening / closing plate 22 side on a bearing portion 24 on the substrate 21 side. The opening / closing plate 22 is always urged toward the substrate 21 by the spring 25, and the passage 26 for the medal M to pass through is formed by both the substrate 21 and the opening / closing plate 22.

  The passage 26 is formed in an L shape having an upper (insertion port) inlet 27 and a lower outlet 28, and has a vertical side R 1 extending downward from the inlet 27 connected to the insertion port 2, and obliquely downward. A lateral side portion R2 extending to the outlet 28 and a curved portion R3 that connects both the side portions R1 and R2 in a curved shape are provided.

  In addition, a movable guide plate 30 is provided that can swing around a support shaft 29 on the back side of the substrate 21. The movable guide plate 30 is configured such that a horizontally long guide portion 31 is provided along the upper portion of the passage 26 from the opening portion 32 of the substrate 21, and the upper end side of the medal M is guided in the transport direction by the guide portion 31. Yes.

  Further, a blocker 33 serving as a discharge member located on the back surface side of the substrate 21 is integrally bent on the movable guide plate 30, and a lower end block portion 33 a of the blocker 33 is formed at an opening portion 26 a on the downstream side of the passage 26. It is constituted so that it can appear and disappear in the passage 26.

  A movable plate 35 driven by a solenoid 34 is provided on the back side of the substrate 21 described above. A free end 35a of the movable plate 35 is provided opposite to an upper end 30a of the movable guide plate 30, and the solenoid When the upper end 30a of the movable plate 35 is pressed by the free end 35a of the movable plate 35, the guide portion 31 of the movable guide plate 30 guides the conveyance of the medal M on the upper end side and the blocker 33 The lower end block portion 33 a of the second passage is retracted from the opening portion 26 a of the passage 26 to the back side of the substrate 21. As a result, the regular medals M selected as valid are conveyed to the outlet 28, and coins of a nonconforming size selected as invalid are discharged from the discharge port 22a of the opening / closing plate 22 and externally (in the gaming machine). It is configured to be returned to the return port.

  When the solenoid 34 is OFF, the movable guide plate 30 releases the conveyance guide on the upper end side of the medal M, and the lower end block portion 33a of the blocker 33 protrudes toward the passage 26, whereby the acceptance of the medal M is stopped. The

  The horizontal side portion R2 of the passage 26 has a diameter that is parallel to the vertical parallel distance between the guide portion 31 of the movable guide plate 30 that is provided above and below the horizontal side portion R2 and the guide plate 26b that forms the lower surface of the passage 26. The outer shape selection is performed to exclude small medals M out of the passage, and only regular medals M are passed and counted.

  Therefore, from the outlet 28, only a properly sized medal M having a disk shape of a certain size is taken into the hopper 7. A sensor 71 comprising two sensors for detecting and counting the medal M passing through the lateral side portion R2 of the passage 26 is provided on the passage wall of the substrate 21 forming the passage 26 immediately before the outlet 28. They are installed in the direction of the passage.

  These sensors 71 are composed of two sensors consisting of a first sensor and a second sensor, and function as an optical detection sensor that detects the passage of the medal M by projecting and receiving light at each sensor. Moves to the downstream side along the passage 26, and this medal M blocks the respective optical paths of the first sensor and the second sensor in this order, thereby detecting the passage of the medal M. For this reason, the first sensor and the second sensor are arranged at intervals smaller than the diameter of the appropriate medal M.

[Example of sensor configuration]
Next, a detailed configuration example of the sensor 71 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The first sensor in the sensor 71 detects whether or not there is a medal M that is projected from the light projection port 101-2 and crosses the optical path received by the light receiving port 102-2, and the second sensor is the light projection port 101-1. , And the passage of the medal M across the optical path received by the light receiving port 102-1 is detected.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the light emitting port 101-1 receives the modulated light projected from the light projecting unit 111 including an LED (Light Emission Diode) provided therein as an optical path L1. -1 is projected, reflected by the reflecting plate 113, and received by the light receiving unit 114 from the optical path L2-1 through the light receiving port 102-1. The light receiving unit 114 converts the received light into an electrical signal by photoelectric conversion and supplies the light to the passage detection unit 115 as a light reception signal.

  In the following description, the light emitting ports 101-1 and 101-2, the light receiving ports 102-1 and 102-2, and the optical paths L1-1, L1-2, L2-1, and L2-2 are particularly distinguished. If there is no need to do this, they are simply referred to as the light projecting port 101, the light receiving port 102, and the optical paths L1 and L2, and the other configurations are also referred to in the same manner. In FIG. 7, only the light projecting port 101-1 and the light receiving port 102-1 are displayed as the light projecting port 101 and the light receiving port 102, but the light projecting port 101-2 and the light receiving port 102-2 are displayed. Since only the arrangement of the light projecting unit 111 and the light receiving unit 114 is physically switched, and the relationship with other components is the same, the description thereof will be omitted.

  The light projecting control unit 112 supplies a control signal for controlling the light projecting of the light projecting unit 111, and causes the light projecting unit 111 to project at a predetermined timing to generate modulated light. At this time, the light projection control unit 112 also supplies a control signal indicating the timing of light projection in the light projection unit 111 to the passage detection unit 115.

  The passage detection unit 115 includes a threshold determination unit 121, a reference waveform parameter storage unit 122, a received light waveform parameter acquisition unit 123, a received light waveform parameter averaging unit 124, a comparison determination unit 125, an A / D conversion unit 126, and a passage determination unit 127. It is made up of. The passage detection unit 115 compares the light reception signal supplied from the light reception unit 114 with the control signal supplied from the light projection control unit 112, and whether the medal M has passed through the passage 26 depending on whether or not they match. When the passage of the medal is detected from the detection timing of the passage of the first sensor and the second sensor or the like, a passage signal notifying the passage of the passage is supplied to the counter 131. Further, the passage detection unit 115 detects the presence / absence of fraud from the waveform of the received light signal, and when the fraud is detected, notifies the fraud report unit 132 of the fact. By this notification, the fraud detection unit 132 reports that fraud has been detected.

  The threshold value determination unit 121 of the passage detection unit 115 compares the light reception level of the light reception signal composed of the analog signal supplied from the light reception unit 114 with a predetermined threshold value. The reference waveform parameter storage unit 122 specifies a waveform when the received light signal generated when the modulated light projected by the light projecting unit 111 is reflected by the reflecting unit 113 and received by the light receiving unit 114 is converted into a waveform. A reference waveform parameter is stored as a parameter for performing the operation. More specifically, the reference waveform parameters are a rise time, a pulse width, a fall time, and a light reception level in a pulse waveform that becomes a light reception waveform, and the reference waveform parameter storage unit 122 stores these reference waveform parameters in advance. doing. Since the reference waveform parameter stored in the reference waveform parameter storage unit 122 is information corresponding to the light projecting unit 111, for example, when the light projecting unit 111 is set, the light projecting unit 111 is set by calibration. You may make it measure what projected the modulated light and memorize | store a measurement result.

  The received light waveform parameter acquisition unit 123 acquires the received light waveform parameter based on the waveform formed from the received light signal, and stores it in the storage unit 123a included in a predetermined number.

  The received light waveform parameter averaging unit 124 averages a predetermined number of received light waveform parameters stored in the storage unit 123a of the received light waveform parameter acquisition unit 123 for each received light waveform parameter.

  The comparison determination unit 125 compares the averaged received light waveform parameter with the reference waveform parameter, and determines whether or not the received light waveform and the reference waveform match. Then, the comparison / determination unit 125 regards that the fraud has occurred when they do not match, and detects fraud.

  The A / D (analog / digital) converter 126 converts the received light waveform of the analog waveform into a digital waveform.

  The passage determination unit 127 compares the received light waveform converted into the digital waveform with the waveform assumed by the control signal, and if the mismatch does not continue for a predetermined time, that is, if it does not match the predetermined pulse, the medal The passage of M is detected.

  The counter 131 counts medals M based on the passage signal that is the detection result from the passage detection unit 115.

[Pass detection operation by sensor]
Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8, the operation of detecting the passage of the medal M by the sensor 71 of FIG. 7 will be described.

  In step S <b> 11, the light projecting control unit 112 generates a control signal that causes the light projecting unit 111 to project light. Then, the light projection control unit 112 supplies the generated control signal to the light projection unit 111 and the passage detection unit 115. The light projecting unit 111 projects light in the direction of the optical path L1 based on the control signal from the light projecting control unit 112. As a result of this processing, if the medal M is not present on the path 26 of the medal M, the modulated light emitted by the light projecting unit 111 is projected from the optical path L1, reflected by the reflecting plate 113, and received from the optical path L2. 114 sequentially receives light. Further, the light receiving unit 114 photoelectrically converts the received light and supplies the light to the passage detection unit 115 as a light reception signal.

  In step S12, the passage detection unit 115 performs a fraud determination operation, which will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S13, the passage detection unit 15 determines whether fraud has been detected by the fraud determination operation in step S12. In step S13, for example, if fraud is not detected by the fraud determination operation, in step S14, the A / D converter 126 converts the received light signal of the analog signal as shown in the upper part of FIG. 9 into the lower part of FIG. To a digital signal as shown in. More specifically, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 9, the A / D conversion unit 126 compares the light reception signal in the analog signal with the threshold T, and if the light reception level is higher than the threshold T, the A / D conversion unit 126 When the received light level is lower than the threshold value T, the detected signal is converted into a digital signal by making it a non-detected signal in which light is not detected. In the upper part of FIG. 9, the lower the light reception level, that is, the lower the light amount, the higher the value, and the lower the light reception level, the lower the value. In the lower part of FIG. 9, the signal from which the light is detected is Low, and the signal that is not detected is Hi.

  In step S15, the passage determination unit 127 compares the light reception signal converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion unit 126 with the control signal supplied from the light projection control unit 112, and receives light in the light reception signal. It is determined whether or not the timing at which the light projecting unit 111 in the control signal projects is the same.

  More specifically, for example, as shown in the uppermost stage of FIG. 10, the light projecting unit 111 of the sensor 71 performs time t2 to t3, t4 to t5, t6 to t7, t8 to t9, t10 to t11, t12 to At t13, t14 to t15..., the light is turned on to project light in the direction of the optical path L1, and time t0 to t2, t3 to t4, t5 to t6, t7 to t8, t9 to t10, t11 to t12, t13 to t14. When the token M moves on the path 26 and crosses the optical paths L1 and L2 at the timing from time t0 to t6, the light receiving unit 114 passes through the optical paths L1 and L2. The modulated light cannot be received. For this reason, as shown by the times t0 to t6 in the second stage from the top in FIG.

  Therefore, in step S15, the passage determination unit 127 performs processing when the control signal indicating the timing at which the modulated light is projected by the light projecting unit 111 does not match the light reception signal indicating the timing at which the light receiving unit 114 receives the light. Advances to step S16. In FIG. 10, the presence / absence of the medal M is determined based on whether or not the pulses coincide with each other, but in actuality, the passage determining unit 127 applies the control signal supplied as a pulse wave to the control signal. On the other hand, it is determined whether or not they match based on the comparison of the last several pulses of the received light signal.

  In step S <b> 16, the passage determination unit 127 notifies the counter 131 of a passage signal indicating that the received light signal does not match the control signal, that is, the medal M is detected. In detail, it is notified as a signal only that the light receiving unit 114 is in a light shielding state. The counter 131 determines whether or not the light reception signal and the control signal do not match, that is, whether or not the state where the medal M is detected continues for a predetermined time or more. That is, when the medal M passes, the state where the light reception signal and the control signal do not match should be limited to the predetermined time required for passing, that is, the time for several tens of pulses. Some kind of fraud may have been done.

  Therefore, in step S16, if the state where the light reception signal and the control signal do not match is not longer than the predetermined time, in step S17, the counter 131 recognizes the passage of the medal M, and passes the medal M through two sensors. The medal M is counted from the detected timing difference or the like. Then, the process returns to step S11, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

  That is, the counter 131 detects the passage of the medal since the time required for the medal M to pass through the passage 26 is within several pulses at the times t0 to t6 as shown in the lowermost stage of FIG.

  On the other hand, in step S15, regarding the timing after time t7, when the medal M does not exist on the path 26 and the modulated light continues to be projected from the light projecting unit 111 via the optical paths L1 and L2, FIG. As shown in the third stage, the light receiving unit 114 maintains a state in which the modulated light can be received through the optical paths L1 and L2, and the times t6 to t7, t8 to t9, t10 to t11, and t12, respectively. .., T14, t14 to t15..., The control signal and the received light signal coincide with each other. Therefore, the processes in steps S16 and S17 are skipped, and the process returns to step S11.

  If it is determined in step S16 that the time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, it is assumed that fraud has been made, the process in step S17 is skipped, and the process returns to step S11.

  Further, when it is determined in step S13 that fraud has been detected, in step S18, the A / D converter 126 converts the analog light reception waveform into a digital signal including only non-detected signals. As a result, in step S15, it is determined that the light receiving unit 114 is not receiving light at the same timing as the light projecting unit 111 projects light. Furthermore, since the non-detection state continues for a predetermined time or longer, the process of step S17 is continuously skipped, and the medal M is not passed.

  Thus, unless fraud is detected, the control signal and the light reception signal are inconsistent for a predetermined time (when the light is shielded for a predetermined time corresponding to several pulses required for passing the medal M). And the counter 131 can count the medal M based on the detection result. Further, since the passage of the medal M is not detected when fraud is detected, it is possible to suppress the counting of the illegal medal M.

  In the uppermost part of FIG. 10, the light emission timing of the modulated light of the light projecting unit 111, that is, the control signal from the light projecting control unit 112 is substantially shown. 10 shows a signal obtained by converting the light reception signal output from the light receiving unit 114 of the sensor 71 into a digital signal. The third row in FIG. 10 shows a signal indicating the detection result of the passage determination unit 127.

  Next, the fraud determination operation in step S12 in the flowchart of FIG. 8 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S31, the threshold determination unit 121 receives light in the light reception signal of the analog signal at the same timing as the light projection unit 111 projects light based on the control signal supplied from the light projection control unit 112. It is determined whether the level is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. That is, the threshold determination unit 121 determines whether a pulse-like waveform of the analog signal that matches the light projection timing of the light projection unit 111 can be detected based on the control signal.

  In step S31, for example, when the light reception level in the light reception signal of the analog signal is not equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold at the same timing as the light projection unit 111 is projecting, the fraud determination operation cannot be performed, so there is no fraud As a result, the process ends.

  On the other hand, in step S31, it is determined that the light reception level in the light reception signal of the analog signal is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold at the same timing as the light projection unit 111 is projecting, and a pulsed waveform is detected. If so, the process proceeds to step S32.

  In step S32, the received light waveform parameter acquiring unit 123, as shown in FIG. 12, rise time α, pulse width β, and fall time γ of the received light waveform of the received light signal that is an analog signal recognized as a pulse-like waveform. , And the received light level δ are received as received light waveform parameters α, β, γ, δ and stored in the storage unit 123a. That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the received light waveform parameters α, β, γ, and δ are parameters for specifying the shape of the received waveform. Since the number of received light waveform parameters that can be stored in the storage unit 123a is up to a predetermined number, the oldest parameter is overwritten and stored in the newest parameter.

  In step S <b> 33, the received light waveform parameter averaging unit 124 determines whether or not a predetermined number of received light waveform parameters stored in the storage unit 123 a of the received light waveform parameter acquiring unit 123 are stored. That is, the received light waveform parameter averaging unit 124 determines whether or not a predetermined number of received light waveform parameters are stored in order to obtain an average value for a predetermined number of received light waveform parameters α, β, γ, and δ. To do.

  In step S33, for example, when it is determined that a predetermined number of received light waveform parameters are not stored, the process ends. That is, until the predetermined number is stored, the fraud determination operation cannot be performed. Therefore, it is determined that there is no fraud, and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S33 that a predetermined number of received light waveform parameters are stored, in step S34, the received light waveform parameter averaging unit 124 averages the received light waveform parameters α, β, γ, and δ. And average received light waveform parameters αav, βav, γav, δav.

  In step S35, the comparison determination unit 125 compares the average received light waveform parameters αav, βav, γav, δav averaged by the received light waveform parameter averaging unit 124 with the reference waveform parameters α0, β0, γ0, δ0, respectively. . More specifically, the comparison / determination unit 125 obtains each difference or ratio, for example, and compares it with a predetermined threshold.

  In step S36, the comparison / determination unit 125 determines whether the average received light waveform parameters αav, βav, γav, δav and the reference waveform parameters α0, β0, γ0, δ0 match each other based on the comparison result, that is, the received light. It is determined whether the received light waveform in the signal matches the reference waveform. In step S36, for example, if it is determined that the received light waveform and the reference waveform match, it is assumed that the modulated light from the light projecting unit 111 is received, and the process of step S37 is skipped, resulting in an illegal The fraud determination operation is terminated as if there is no error.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S36 that the received light waveform and the reference waveform do not match (when modulated light from a light projecting unit other than the light projecting unit 111 is received), the process proceeds to step S36. Proceed to S37.

  In step S <b> 37, the comparison determination unit 125 regards that fraud has been detected, and notifies the fraud report unit 132 to that effect. The fraud report unit 132 reports the occurrence of fraud in response to this notification using an image or sound.

  Through the processing as described above, in the sensor 71 shown in FIG. 7, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, even if the illegal jig 151 is inserted from the insertion port 2, fraud due to malfunction is prevented. be able to.

  Here, the fraudulent jig 151 will be described. The fraudulent jig 151 has a squeezed-like structure so that its leading end sequentially reaches the sensor 71 from the insertion port 2 of the gaming machine 1 through the vertical side portion R1, the curved portion R3, and the horizontal side portion R2 of the passage 26. It is the composition to do. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the fraudulent jig 151 has a fraudulent light projecting unit 161 that emits light that can be received by the light receiving unit 114 from the light receiving port 102, and a rear surface thereof. A fraudulent light receiving unit 162 that receives light from the light projection port 101 is provided at a position corresponding to the light projection port 101. The unauthorized light projecting unit 161 emits light at the timing when the unauthorized light receiving unit 162 receives light, and projects the light indicated by the optical path L11 onto the reflector 113. Therefore, the unauthorized light projecting unit 161 emits light at the same timing as the light projected by the light projecting unit 111 from the light projecting port 101, so that the light receiving unit 114 is as if the medal M is not present in the passage 26. The modulated light is received.

  In addition, the light projecting unit 161 is controlled so that the light emission timing is controlled by a control device (not shown), and is turned off so that the light path L1 is shielded when the medal M passes through the passage 26. However, the process of projecting light in synchronization with the modulated light projected from the light projecting unit 111 received by the light receiving unit 162 is repeated. For this reason, the light receiving unit 114 receives modulated light indicating a state as if the medal M is passing through the passage 26 even though the medal M does not pass through the passage 26.

  By the way, it is known that in the LED used in the light projecting unit 111 and the unauthorized light projecting unit 161, the waveform received by the light receiving unit 114 is different due to individual differences. However, in the A / D conversion process in the conventional sensor that does not execute the above-described fraud detection process, a process is performed in which a detection signal is simply generated when the threshold value T is exceeded, and a non-detection signal is converted when the threshold value T is not exceeded. As shown in the upper part of FIG. 14, even a light reception signal constituting a clearly different light reception waveform caused by individual differences such as LEDs in the light projecting part 111 and the light projecting part 162 is shown in the lower part of FIG. 14. In this way, it is converted into the same digital signal. For this reason, the medal M may be illegally counted by comparing the light receiving signal generated by receiving the light with the light receiving unit 114 and the control signal.

  On the other hand, the sensor 71 shown in FIG. 7 of the present application performs, for example, the light reception waveform parameters α1, β1, γ1, and δ1 in the upper left part of FIG. 15 and the light reception waveform in the upper right part of FIG. The parameters α2, β2, γ2, and δ2 are compared with the reference waveform parameters α, β, γ, and δ, respectively. As a result, as shown in the upper left part of FIGS. 12 and 15, when the reference waveform parameters α, β, γ, and δ match the received light waveform parameters α1, β1, γ1, and δ1, the lower left part of FIG. As shown in the figure, the received light signal of the analog signal is converted into a proper digital signal because a signal higher than the threshold T is converted into a detection signal and a signal lower than the threshold T is converted into a non-detection signal. On the other hand, when the reference waveform parameters α, β, γ, δ and the received light waveform parameters α2, β2, γ2, δ2 do not coincide with each other as shown in the upper right part of FIGS. As described above, since the received light signal of the analog signal is continuously converted into the digital signal of only the non-detection signal, the passage of the medal M is not detected as described above.

  As a result, since only the modulated light received from the light receiving unit 111 can be used in the passage detection operation, it is possible to suppress the counting of the illegal medals M using the illegal jig 151. .

  Further, since the presence / absence of fraud is detected by comparing the received light waveform parameter and the reference waveform parameter, it is possible to prevent malfunction due to disturbance light.

  Further, in the above, an example in which the presence / absence of fraud is detected based on the comparison between the average value of received light waveform parameters of a plurality of received light signals and a reference waveform parameter has been described. By comparing with the above, fraud may be detected when the number of times does not match the specified number of times.

  According to the above, it is possible to suppress illegal counting of gaming media in the gaming machine by the illegal jig, and it is possible to detect the illegality by recognizing the use of the illegal jig.

  In this specification, the step of describing the program recorded on the recording medium is not limited to the processing performed in time series in the order described, but of course, it is not necessarily performed in time series. Or the process performed separately is included.

It is a general-view perspective view which shows the structure of embodiment of the game machine to which this invention is applied. It is a general-view figure which shows the structure of embodiment of the game machine to which this invention is applied. It is a front view which shows the structural example of a selector. It is a rear view which shows the structural example of a selector. It is an exploded view which shows the structural example of a selector. It is a general-view figure which shows the structural example of a sensor. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the sensor of a 1st Example. It is a flowchart explaining the passage detection operation | movement by the sensor of FIG. It is a wave form diagram explaining the passage detection operation | movement by the sensor of FIG. It is a wave form diagram explaining the passage detection operation | movement by the sensor of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the fraud determination operation | movement by the sensor of FIG. It is a wave form diagram explaining a received light waveform parameter. It is a figure which shows the example by which the fraudulent jig | tool was used for the sensor of FIG. It is a wave form diagram when a fraudulent jig | tool is used for the sensor of FIG. It is a wave form diagram explaining the fraud determination operation | movement by the sensor of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Game machine 10 Medal selector 71 Sensor 111 Light projection part 112 Light projection control part 113 Reflector 114 Light receiving part 115 Passing detection part 121 Counter 151 Fraud jig | tool 161, 161-1, 161-2 Unauthorized light projection part 162, 162- 1,162-2 Fraud receiving part

Claims (4)

A light receiving unit for detecting light;
A waveform information acquisition unit for acquiring a light reception level detected by the light receiving unit as waveform information;
A light projecting unit that projects light detectable by the light receiving unit;
Reference waveform information includes information indicating a rise time, a pulse width, a fall time, or a parameter indicating a light reception level of a light reception level waveform when light projected by the light projecting unit is detected by the light receiving unit. As a reference waveform information storage unit,
A fraud detector that detects whether or not the waveform information acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit matches the reference waveform information stored in the reference waveform information storage unit ;
A light projecting control unit for generating a control signal for projecting the light projecting unit at a predetermined time interval;
A passing part that allows a disk-shaped object to pass through while blocking the light path between the light projecting part and the light receiving part;
An object detection apparatus comprising: a passage detection unit that detects passage of the disk-shaped object by comparing the waveform information with the control signal when fraud is not detected by the fraud detection unit. A waveform information storage unit for storing waveform information of a plurality of waveforms acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit;
An averaging unit that averages each parameter of the waveform information of the plurality of waveforms stored in the waveform information storage unit,
The fraud detection unit is fraudulent depending on whether or not the waveform information composed of each parameter averaged by the averaging unit matches each parameter in the reference waveform information stored in the reference waveform information storage unit. The object detection device according to claim 1 , wherein presence or absence is detected. The object detection device according to claim 1, wherein the fraud detection unit detects the presence or absence of fraud by a waveform acquired by the waveform information acquisition unit and each parameter in the reference waveform information not matching a predetermined number of times. Token selecting device comprising an object detection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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