JP5504096B2 - Relay device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a day-of-day savings number management device for storing the number of savings for the day that a player has acquired and saved only for the day of use, a visitor recording medium receiving device for receiving a visitor recording medium, and a prize exchange for performing a gift exchange process The present invention relates to a relay device that can communicate with each of the devices.

  Conventionally, as shown in Patent Document 1, a storage ball server that stores the number of stored balls that a member player acquires and can be used and stored on the same day and the following day, and can communicate with the storage ball server, the member player There is known a storage system including a gift exchange device that receives a member card and performs a gift exchange process using the number of stored balls specified from the membership card.

  Moreover, as shown in Patent Document 2, a possession server that stores the number of possessed balls acquired by a player and stored so that it can be used only on that day, and can communicate with the retained ball server, and the player's possession card And a prize exchange device that accepts the prize and performs a prize exchange process using the number of possessions specified from the possession card.

JP 2008-229149 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-51458

  In this case, if the management company's different storage system and holding system are introduced, the number of storages specified from the membership card and the number of holdings specified from the holding card will exist separately. In order to perform a prize exchange process using a common prize exchange apparatus, a relay apparatus for exchanging information including the number of accumulated balls and the number of possessed balls between the prize exchange apparatus, the storage server, and the possession server I need it. When relaying information including the number of balls via such a relay device, if it is attempted to update the number of balls managed by each system at the same time, the ball in each system due to inconvenience of control or the like. Numbers may be counted twice.

  The present invention has been made based on such a background, and an object thereof is a system that manages the number of game media that can be used only on the current day and a system that manages the number of game media that can be used on and after that day. Is to provide a relay device capable of ensuring reliable exchange of information including the number of game media.

  The present invention adopts the following means in order to solve the above problems. The reference numerals used in the description of the best mode for carrying out the invention and the drawings to be described later are appended in parentheses for reference, but the constituent elements of the present invention are not limited to the appended description.

First, means 1
In addition to storing the number of members saved on the day (the number of balls) that the member player acquires in association with the member recording medium (member card 2) owned by the member player and can be used only on that day, Day-of-day savings management that stores the number of visitor-day savings (number of possessions) that are acquired by the visitor player in association with the visitor recording medium (visitor card 3) owned by the player and stored only for the day. First communication means (first communication unit 11a) for communicating with the device (mochitama server 20);
Second communication means (second communication unit 11b) for communicating with the visitor recording medium accepting device (card accepting device 30) for accepting the visitor recording medium;
Communicating with the past savings number management device (storing ball server 50) that stores the past savings number (the number of stored balls) that is acquired by the member player in association with the recording medium for the member and is stored so that it can be used on and after that day. The member recording medium is received, the member day savings number corresponding to the received member recording medium, the past savings number, the visitor recording medium corresponding to the visitor recording medium received by the visitor recording medium receiving device Third communication means (third communication unit 11c) for communicating with a gift exchange device (40) that performs a gift exchange process using the visitor day savings number;
A relay device (10) having
Corresponding to the member recording medium based on receiving the recording information of the member recording medium (member card ID included in the member card insertion notification of Sb02) from the premium exchange device that has received the member recording medium Member day savings number acquisition processing (processing for sending a card insertion notification of Sb11) to acquire the member day savings number to be used from the day savings number management device, and the acquired member day savings number to be used for the prize exchange processing Member day savings number processing means (control unit 12) for performing member day savings number transmission processing (processing for sending notification of number of balls in Sb21) to be transmitted to the gift exchange device.
Based on receiving the recording information of the visitor recording medium (visitor card ID included in the card information notification of Sd02) from the visitor recording medium receiving apparatus that has received the visitor recording medium, the visitor recording medium Visitor day savings number acquisition process (processing to send card insertion notification of Sd11) for acquiring the same day visitor day savings number from the same day savings number management device, and using the acquired visitor day savings number for the gift exchange process Visitor day savings number processing means (control unit 12) for performing visitor day savings number transmission processing (processing for sending notification of the number of possessed balls of Sd21) to be transmitted to the gift exchange device in order to
Acceptance for prohibiting acceptance of the visitor recording medium by the visitor recording medium accepting device based on reception of the record information of the membership recording medium from the premium exchange device that has accepted the membership recording medium A prohibition process (a process for transmitting a card acceptance prohibition request in Sb03) is performed, and a prize exchange end notification (Sb32 process result notification) indicating the end of the prize exchange process is sent from the prize exchange apparatus that has performed the prize exchange process. Based on the reception, whether or not the visitor recording medium is accepted by the visitor recording medium accepting apparatus is permitted to accept the visitor recording medium (a process of sending a card acceptance permission request in Sb48). And a control unit (control unit 12).

The invention according to means 2
The relay device (10) described in the means 1,
The visitor recording medium acceptability control means (control unit 12) records the visitor recording medium from the visitor recording medium accepting apparatus (card accepting apparatus 30) that has received the visitor recording medium (visitor card 3). After receiving the information (visitor card ID included in the card information notification of Sd02, Sf02), the visitor day savings number processing means (control unit 12) transmits the visitor day savings number sending process (Sd21 holding number notice) The membership information included in the membership card insertion notification of Sf02 ′ from the premium exchange device (40) that received the membership recording medium (member card 2). (ID) is received, the reception cancellation processing for canceling reception of the visitor recording medium by the visitor recording medium reception device ( The relay apparatus is characterized by performing a process of transmitting a discharge permission notification of Sf04.

The invention according to means 3 is
A relay device (10) according to means 1 or 2,
The member day savings number processing means is a member day savings number zero process for zeroing the member day savings number based on the member recording medium received by the gift exchange device in accordance with the member day savings number transmission process. (Process to send card insertion response of Sd15 to make the number of balls in the ball server zero) and the number of savings on the day of the member from the prize exchange device (Sb32 processing result including the number of balls after processing) ), The member day savings number update process for updating the member day savings number based on the member recording medium to the received member day savings number (processing the number of holdings of the holding server) In order to update the number of possession balls, a process of sending a card discharge notification of Sb41) is performed,
The said visitor day savings number processing means is a visitor day savings for making the said visitor day savings number zero based on the visitor recording medium received in the said visitor recording medium reception apparatus in connection with the said visitor day savings number transmission process. Number zero processing (processing to send a card insertion response of Sd15 to zero the number of balls in the ball server, and a record update request of Sd23 to zero the number of balls recorded by the visitor card The visitor day savings based on the visitor recording medium based on the fact that the visitor day savings number (the processing result notification of Sd32 including the number of possessed balls after processing) is received from the premium exchange device. Visitor day savings number update process to update the number to the received visitor day savings number (the car of Sd41 A relay device that performs a process of transmitting a discharge notification and a process of transmitting a record update request of Sd48 in order to update the number of possessed balls recorded in the visitor card to the number of retained balls after processing. .

The invention according to means 4 is
A relay device (10) according to any one of means 1 to 3, wherein
Whether there is a normal relationship between the member day savings number (the number of stored coins) acquired in the member day savings number acquisition process and the member day savings number (the number of balls after processing) received from the gift exchange device (50) Member day savings number determination means for determining whether or not (control unit 12 that performs the process of Sb33),
Whether or not the visitor day savings number acquired in the visitor day savings number acquisition process (the number of possessed balls) and the visitor day savings number received from the gift exchange device (the number of possessed balls after processing) are in a normal relationship. A visitor day savings number judging means (control unit 12) for judging (performing judgment of Sd33);
Abnormal processing means (control unit 12) that performs predetermined abnormality processing (Sb34 or Sd34 error processing) based on the fact that the member day savings number determination means or the visitor day savings number determination means determines that the relationship is not normal. And a relay device.

The invention according to means 5 is
A relay device (10) described in any one of the means 1 to 4,
The same-day savings number management device (mochitama server 20) stores a plurality of types (four areas) of member day savings (numbers of possessions) and a plurality of types (four areas) of visitor day savings (holding numbers). Remember the number of balls)
The member day savings number processing means (control unit 12), for the plurality of types of member day savings number, the member day savings number acquisition process (Sb11), the member day savings number transmission process (Sb21), The member day savings number zero processing (Sb15) and the member day savings number update processing (Sb41),
The visitor day savings number processing means (control unit 12) targets the plurality of types of visitor day savings numbers, the visitor day savings number acquisition process (Sd11), the visitor day savings number transmission process (Sd21), and The visitor day savings number zero process (Sd15) and the visitor day savings number update process (Sd41) are performed.

The invention according to means 6 is
A relay device (10) according to any one of means 1 to 5, wherein
Establish communication (determine Sa12 and Sa22) to determine whether or not communication has been established with the day-time savings number management device (mochitama server 20) and the visitor recording medium reception device (card reception device 30) A determination unit (control unit 12);
The relay device is characterized in that it communicates with the premium exchange device (40) on the condition that the communication establishment determination means determines that communication is established.

Further, the invention according to means 7
In addition to storing the number of members saved on the day (the number of balls) that the member player acquires in association with the member recording medium (member card 2) owned by the member player and can be used only on that day, Day-of-day savings management that stores the number of visitor-day savings (number of possessions) that are acquired by the visitor player in association with the visitor recording medium (visitor card 3) owned by the player and stored only for the day. A device (mochitama server 20);
A visitor recording medium accepting device (card accepting device 30) for accepting the visitor recording medium;
A first communication means (first communication unit 11a) for communicating with the same day savings number management device, a second communication means (second communication unit 11b) for communicating with the visitor recording medium receiving device, It is possible to communicate with the past savings number management device (the savings ball server 50) that stores the past savings number (the number of saved balls) that is acquired by the member player in association with the recording medium for the member and is stored so that it can be used on and after that day. Yes, the member recording medium is received, the member day savings number corresponding to the received member recording medium, the past savings number, and the visitor recording medium received by the visitor recording medium receiving device A relay device (10) having a third communication means (third communication unit 11c) for communicating with a gift exchange device that performs a gift exchange process using the number of savings on that day;
A prize exchange system (1) comprising:
The relay device is
Corresponding to the member recording medium based on receiving the recording information of the member recording medium (member card ID included in the member card insertion notification of Sb02) from the premium exchange device that has received the member recording medium Member day savings number acquisition processing (processing for sending a card insertion notification of Sb11) to acquire the member day savings number to be used from the day savings number management device, and the acquired member day savings number to be used for the prize exchange processing Member day savings number processing means (control unit 12) for performing member day savings number transmission processing (processing for sending notification of number of balls in Sb21) to be transmitted to the gift exchange device.
Based on receiving the recording information of the visitor recording medium (visitor card ID included in the card information notification of Sd02) from the visitor recording medium receiving apparatus that has received the visitor recording medium, the visitor recording medium Visitor day savings number acquisition process (processing to send card insertion notification of Sd11) for acquiring the same day visitor day savings number from the same day savings number management device, and using the acquired visitor day savings number for the gift exchange process Visitor day savings number processing means (control unit 12) for performing visitor day savings number transmission processing (processing for sending notification of the number of possessed balls of Sd21) to be transmitted to the gift exchange device in order to
Acceptance for prohibiting acceptance of the visitor recording medium by the visitor recording medium accepting device based on reception of the record information of the membership recording medium from the premium exchange device that has accepted the membership recording medium A prohibition process (a process for transmitting a card acceptance prohibition request in Sb03) is performed, and a prize exchange end notification (Sb32 process result notification) indicating the end of the prize exchange process is sent from the prize exchange apparatus that has performed the prize exchange process. Based on the reception, whether or not the visitor recording medium is accepted by the visitor recording medium accepting apparatus is permitted to accept the visitor recording medium (a process of sending a card acceptance permission request in Sb48). And a control means (control unit 22).

  First, according to the relay apparatus according to the means 1, the reception of the visitor recording medium by the visitor recording medium reception apparatus is prohibited from the reception of the member recording medium by the prize exchange apparatus until the completion of the prize exchange process. Thus, the number of savings based on the member recording medium and the number of savings based on the visitor recording medium are not updated simultaneously, and secure exchange of information including the number of savings can be ensured.

  Further, according to the relay device according to means 2, even if the visitor recording medium is received by the visitor recording medium receiving device, if the member recording medium is received by the giveaway exchange device before the visitor day savings number transmission processing is performed, The number of savings based on the member recording medium and the number of savings based on the visitor recording medium are not updated at the same time, and the exchange of information including the number of savings is ensured. Can be secured.

  Further, according to the relay device according to the means 3, when transmitting the savings number of the day acquired from the savings number management device on the day to the free gift exchanging device, by performing the process of temporarily zeroing the savings number on the day based on the recording medium, When the number of savings on the day is placed under the control of the prize exchange device, and when the number of savings on the day is received from the gift exchange device, the number of savings on the day based on the recording medium is updated to the number of savings on the day. Since the number of savings is again put under the management of the number-of-savings management device on the day, reliable exchange of information including the number of savings on that day can be ensured.

  Also, according to the relay device according to means 4, if the current day savings number acquired from the current day savings number management device and the current day savings received from the free gift exchange device are not in a normal relationship, a predetermined abnormality process is performed. It is possible to detect the number of savings that day.

  Further, according to the relay device according to the means 5, since the plurality of types of savings of the day stored in the day savings number management device are all transmitted to the free gift exchange device and set to zero, the number of savings of the plurality of types of that day However, it is possible to prevent a situation in which a part is under the management of the savings number management device on the day and a part is under the management of the gift exchange device.

  Further, according to the relay device according to the means 6, since communication with the prize exchange device is performed on the condition that communication with the savings number management device and visitor recording medium reception device is established on the day, It is possible to ensure that information including the number of savings can be exchanged.

  Furthermore, according to the prize exchange system according to the means 7, the reception of the visitor recording medium by the visitor recording medium acceptance apparatus is prohibited until the prize exchange process is completed after the receipt of the member recording medium by the prize exchange apparatus. Thus, the number of savings based on the member recording medium and the number of savings based on the visitor recording medium are not updated simultaneously, and secure exchange of information including the number of savings can be ensured.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a prize exchange system including a relay device according to the present invention. FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of a ball DB stored in the ball server, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating an example of a ball DB stored in the ball server. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system at the start of operation. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when the prize exchange apparatus accepts a member card in a normal state. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system when the card accepting apparatus accepts a membership card in a normal state. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when the card accepting apparatus accepts a visitor card in a normal state. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system when a visitor card and a membership card are accepted and a ball is stored in a normal state. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when a visitor card and a membership card are accepted and the visitor card is discharged in a normal state. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when the prize exchange apparatus accepts a member card in the first offline state where the relay apparatus and the possession server are offline. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system when the card accepting device accepts the membership card in the first offline state where the relay device and the possession server are offline. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system when the card accepting device accepts a visitor card in the first offline state where the relay device and the possession server are offline. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when the prize exchange apparatus accepts a member card in the second offline state where the relay apparatus and the prize exchange apparatus are offline. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when the card accepting apparatus accepts the member card in the second offline state where the relay apparatus and the prize exchanging apparatus are offline. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when the card accepting apparatus accepts a visitor card in the second offline state in which the relay apparatus and the prize exchange apparatus are offline. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a prize exchange system, in which (a) is the present embodiment, (b) is Modification 1, and (c) is Modification 2. FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the database is abbreviated as “DB”, the reader / writer is abbreviated as “R / W”, and step S is abbreviated as “S”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention saves the same day savings number management device (the holding ball server 20) and the visitor record that stores the number of savings on the day (the number of holding balls) acquired by the player and saved only for use on the same day. A relay device 10 capable of communicating with each of a visitor recording medium reception device (card reception device 30) that receives a medium (visitor card 3), and a prize exchange device 40 that performs a prize exchange process, and a prize exchange including the relay device 10 The system 1 is concerned.

  The relay device 10 and the gift exchange system 1 according to the present invention, in particular, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, in the relay device 10, the number of possessed balls (Sb 13, Sd 13) acquired from the possession server 20 is used as a gift exchange device. 40 (Sb21, Sd21), the number of balls based on the member card 2 or visitor card 3 (ie, the number of balls stored in the ball server 20 in association with the member card ID of the member card 2, Alternatively, a process of temporarily setting the number of balls stored in the ball server 20 in association with the visitor card ID of the visitor card 3 and the number of balls recorded in the visitor card 3 to zero (Sb15, Sd15, Sd23) If the number of possessed balls is placed under the management of the gift exchange device 40 and the number of savings on the day after subtraction is received from the gift exchange device 40 (Sb32, Sd32), the membership card 2 or the By performing the processing (Sb41, Sd41, Sd48) for updating the number of possessed balls based on the tabard 3 to the number of retained balls after the subtraction, the number of retained balls is put under the management of the retained ball server 20 again. It is characterized by ensuring reliable exchange of information including the number of balls.

  In other words, when the management company's different storage system and holding system are introduced, the number of stored balls specified from the membership card and the number of holdings specified from the holding card will exist separately. In order to perform a prize exchange process using a common prize exchange apparatus, a relay apparatus for exchanging information including the number of accumulated balls and the number of possessed balls between the prize exchange apparatus, the storage server, and the possession server I need it. When relaying information including the number of balls through such a relay device, if a communication abnormality occurs, the number of balls may be counted twice in each system. Therefore, the relay device 10 and the prize exchange system 1 according to the present invention introduces a system that manages the number of game media that can be used only on the current day and a system that manages the number of game media that can be used on and after that day. It is an object of the present invention to provide a relay device that can ensure reliable exchange of information including the number of game media and a prize exchange system including the relay device.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, the relay device 10 and the gift exchange system 1 according to the present invention, after receiving the member recording medium by the gift exchange device 40 (Sb01), until the gift exchange process ends (Sb31). By the processing of the relay device 10, reception of the visitor card 3 at the card reception device 30 is prohibited (that is, the relay device that has received the member card insertion notification of Sd02 from the gift exchange device 40 into which the member card 2 has been inserted in Sb01) Transmits the card acceptance prohibition request at Sd03, the shutter 34 is closed at Sb05 in the card acceptance device 30 and the acceptance of the visitor card 3 is prohibited. The relay device 10 that has received the processing result notification transmits a card acceptance permission request of Sb48, thereby accepting the card. In the device 30, the shutter 34 is opened at Sb50 and the reception of the visitor card 3 is allowed), so that the number of possessions based on the member card 2 and the number of possessions based on the visitor card 3 are updated simultaneously. And the reliable exchange of information including the number of possessed balls can be secured.

  In other words, when the management company's different storage system and holding system are introduced, the number of stored balls specified from the membership card and the number of holdings specified from the holding card will exist separately. In order to perform a prize exchange process using a common prize exchange apparatus, a relay apparatus for exchanging information including the number of accumulated balls and the number of possessed balls between the prize exchange apparatus, the storage server, and the possession server I need it. When relaying information including the number of balls via such a relay device, if it is attempted to update the number of balls managed by each system at the same time, the ball in each system due to inconvenience of control or the like. Numbers may be counted twice. Therefore, the relay device 10 and the prize exchange system 1 according to the present invention introduces a system that manages the number of game media that can be used only on the current day and a system that manages the number of game media that can be used on and after that day. It is an object of the present invention to provide a relay device that can ensure reliable exchange of information including the number of game media and a prize exchange system including the relay device.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, the present invention provides a savings number management device (here, a ball server) that stores the number of savings (here, the number of balls) that stores the number of game media acquired by the player, and the savings. A gaming device (here, the relay device 10 and the card) that can communicate with each of the prize exchange devices 40 that perform the prize exchange processing using the number and receives the recording medium (here, the visitor card 3) that can specify the number of savings. In particular, as shown in FIG. 6, when the relay device 10 is in a communicable state (online state) with the prize exchange device 40, the visitor card is only in response to an instruction (Sd32) of the prize exchange device 40. 3 is a communicable savings number update process for updating the number of possessed balls specified from 3 (a process of sending a card discharge notification of Sd41 in order to update the number of retained balls stored in the retained ball server 20, 14), the Sd48 record update request is transmitted in order to update the number of possessed balls recorded by the visitor card 3. However, as shown in FIG. 14, communication with the prize exchange device 40 is disabled (offline state). Then, when the input of the number of possessed balls after the prize exchange to be updated is received (Sl40), the number of possessed balls specified from the visitor card 3 is retained after the prize exchange to be updated, regardless of the instruction of the prize exchanging device 40. Since the number of saved savings update processing for updating the number of balls is performed, it is possible to manage the number of balls while enabling the prize exchange work even if communication with the prize exchange device 40 becomes impossible or the prize exchange device 40 breaks down. It is characterized by ensuring certainty.

  That is, when the game apparatus (here, the relay apparatus 10) and the prize exchange apparatus 40 are offline, or when the prize exchange apparatus 40 is out of order, the game apparatus can give the prize exchange apparatus 40 a ball. The number cannot be transmitted, and the prize exchange process using the number of possessed balls cannot be performed. If you can update the number of balls in both the gaming device and the gift exchange device so that there will be no hindrance to the gift exchange business, double counting the number of balls managed by the ball server There is a risk of habit. Therefore, the gaming apparatus according to the present invention enables a prize exchange operation even when communication with the prize exchange apparatus 40 becomes impossible or the prize exchange apparatus 40 breaks down, while ensuring the certainty in managing the number of balls. A device is provided.

  First, the configuration of the gift exchange system 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The gift exchange system 1 includes a possession server 20, a card reception device 30, and a relay device 10 that can communicate with the possession server 20, the card reception device 30, and the gift exchange device 40. The prize exchange device 40 can communicate with the storage server 50. These relay device 10, possession ball server 20, card reception device 30, prize exchange device 40, and storage ball server 50 are provided in the game hall.

  Here, the relay device 10, the possession server 20, and the card receiving device 30 included in the prize exchange system 1 are manufactured and sold by, for example, Company X, and the prize exchange apparatus 40 not included in the prize exchange system 1, The storage ball server 50 is manufactured and sold by a company Y other than the company X, for example. That is, when the relay apparatus 10 introduces a storage system (a storage server 50 of company Y) and a holding system (a storage server 20 of company X) of different management companies, information including the number of storages and the number of storages is provided. It is for communication.

  A HUB 6 is provided between the relay device 10 and the holding ball server 20, and the HUB 6 is provided corresponding to a gaming machine (pachinko machine or pachislot machine), and the number of game media acquired by the gaming machine is indicated. A plurality of counter units 8 for counting are connected. In each unit counting unit 8, when the number of game media is counted with the card (member card 2 or visitor card 3) being received, the card ID of the card (member card ID or visitor card ID) and The count value of the number of game media is transmitted to the possession server 20 through the HUB 6, and the possession server 20 transmits the number of possession balls stored in association with the transmitted card ID. The counted value is added and updated and saved.

  In this gift exchange system 1, a membership card 2 and a visitor card 3 which are recording media are used. These cards include a non-contact type IC chip having a nonvolatile EEPROM as a recording area at a predetermined portion of a thin plastic plate having a rectangular shape. Incidentally, the card here includes a coin having a circular shape.

  The member card 2 is a member recording medium issued to a player who has registered as a member at the amusement hall (member player). The member recording medium can be individually identified and the number of members saved on the day. A member card ID that can specify (the number of balls) and a member ID that can individually specify a member player and that can specify the number of past savings (the number of stored balls) are recorded in advance on the IC chip. Note that the number of possessed balls and the number of accumulated balls are not recorded on the IC chip of the membership card 2.

  The visitor card 3 is a visitor recording medium that is issued to a player (visitor player) at a game hall. The visitor card 3 is information that can individually identify the visitor recording medium, and the number of visitors saved on the day of the visitor The visitor card ID that can specify the number is recorded in advance on the IC chip. Also, the number of holding balls is recorded on the IC chip.

  The relay device 10 is a computer having a first communication unit 11a, a second communication unit 11b, a third communication unit 11c, a display 13, an input device 14, and a printer 15 connected to the control unit 12.

  The first communication unit 11a is communicably connected to a later-described communication unit 21 of the ball server 20 via the HUB 6, and manages communication between the relay device 10 and the ball server 20. The second communication unit 11b is communicably connected to a later-described communication unit 31 of the card reception device 30 and controls communication between the relay device 10 and the card reception device 30. The third communication unit 11c is communicably connected to a later-described relay device communication unit 41b of the gift exchange device 40, and manages communication between the relay device 10 and the gift exchange device 40.

  The control unit 12 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, and the like. When the processing program stored in the ROM is executed by the CPU using the RAM as a work area, each component of the relay device 10 is provided. Various processes are performed by controlling the operation, and the processes will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The display 13 displays various types of information. For example, the error content is displayed by various types of error processing. The input device 14 inputs various types of information. For example, the Sk40 in FIG. 13 or the Sl40 in FIG. The printer 15 prints and issues various types of information. For example, the error content is printed and issued by various types of error processing, and a processing result recording receipt is printed by Sk47 ′ in FIG. 13 or Sl47 ′ in FIG. And issue.

  The holding ball server 20 is a computer having a communication unit 21 connected to the control unit 22 and a holding ball DB 23. As described above, the communication unit 21 manages communication with the relay device 10. The control unit 22 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, and the like, and each processing element stored in the ROM is executed by the CPU using the RAM as a work area, whereby each constituent element included in the holding ball server 20 is provided. These operations are performed to perform various processes, which will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the membership ball 23 is acquired by the member player in association with the member card 2 which is a member recording medium (here, the member card ID which is the member day savings number specifying information). In addition to storing the number of balls for the member, the number of game media saved so that it can be used only on that day, the visitor card 3 (here, the visitor day savings number specifying information) Corresponding to a certain visitor card ID), the number of possession balls for the visitor is stored, which is the number of visitor days saved that the number of game media acquired by the visitor player can be used only on that day. In the membership ball DB, the member ID of the member player is also stored in association with the membership card ID and the number of balls.

  The holding ball DB 23 stores the number of holding balls for members of a plurality of types (here, four types of areas 1 to 4) and the number of holding balls for visitors. And the number of balls of pachinko balls whose exchange unit price (hereinafter referred to as “unit price”) is 1 yen is stored, and the number of balls of pachinko balls whose unit price is 4 yen is stored in area 2; 3 stores the number of medals with a unit price of 5 yen, and area 4 stores the number of medals with a unit price of 20 yen.

  The card receiving device 30 is a terminal having a communication unit 31, a card R / W 33, and a shutter 34 that are connected to the control unit 32. The communication unit 31 manages communication with the relay device 10 as described above. The control unit 32 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, and the like, and each processing element stored in the ROM is executed by the CPU using the RAM as a work area, whereby each component included in the card reception device 30 is provided. These operations are performed to perform various processes, which will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The card R / W 33 accepts insertion of a card (member card 2 or visitor card 3) from a card insertion slot (not shown) and reads recorded information of the inserted card. The shutter 34 is provided in the card insertion slot, and is closed (that is, card reception is prohibited) and opened (that is, card reception is allowed) under the control of the control unit 32.

  The storage server 50 is a computer having a communication unit 51 connected to the control unit 52 and a storage DB 53. The communication unit 51 is communicably connected to a later-described storage server communication unit 41a of the gift exchange device 40, and manages communication between the storage server 50 and the gift exchange device 40. The control unit 52 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, and the like. When the processing program stored in the ROM is executed by the CPU using the RAM as a work area, each component included in the storage server 50 is controlled. Various operations are performed by controlling the operation.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the storage ball DB 53 is a game medium acquired by a member player in association with the member card 2 (here, the member ID which is the past saving number specifying information) as a member recording medium. The number of stored balls, which is the number of past savings that have been saved so that the number can be used even after the current day and the next day, is stored.

  The storage ball DB 53 stores the number of balls for a member of a plurality of types (here, four types of areas 1 to 4) and the number of balls for a visitor. Stores the number of pachinko balls that have a replacement unit price (hereinafter abbreviated as “unit price”) of 1 yen, stores the number of pachinko balls that have a unit price of 4 yen, and stores area 3 Thus, the number of possessions of medals whose unit price is 5 yen is stored, and the number of possessions of medals whose unit price is 20 yen is stored in area 4.

  Note that the member ID stored in the member's own ball number DB 23 shown in FIG. 2 (a) and the number of balls in the four areas in the own ball server 20 are obtained via a line (not shown) after the end of the business day. The number of balls held in the four areas is added to the number of balls stored in the four areas stored in the storage ball DB 53 in association with the member ID in the storage ball server 50, and the next day or later. Can also be used.

  The gift exchange device 40 is communicable with the storage server 50, receives the membership card 2, receives the membership card 2 corresponding to the received membership card 2, the number of storage balls, and the visitor card 3 received by the card reception device 30. The prize exchange process using the number of balls for the visitor corresponding to is performed. The gift exchange device 40 includes a storage server communication unit 41a, a relay device communication unit 41b, a display 43, an input device 44, a bar code reader 45, a touch panel display 46, and a card R / W 47 connected to the control unit 42. It is a terminal.

  The storage server communication unit 41a manages communication with the storage server 50 as described above. The relay device communication unit 41b manages communication with the relay device 10 as described above. The control unit 42 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, and the like, and each component included in the prize exchange device 40 is executed by the CPU executing a processing program stored in the ROM using the RAM as a work area. These operations are performed to perform various processes, which will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The display 43 displays various types of information, the input device 44 receives input of various types of information, and the bar code reader 45 reads bar codes attached to prizes. Are operated by the store clerk. The touch panel display 46 displays various types of information and receives input of various types of information, and is operated by the player. The card R / W 47 accepts the insertion of the member card 2 from a card insertion slot (not shown) and reads the recorded information of the inserted member card.

  In this prize exchange device 40, a prize exchange process performed in a state in which the number of balls in four areas included in the notice of the number of balls received from the relay device 10 is stored in the RAM of the control unit 42 will be described. First, the control unit 42 displays the stored number of balls in the four areas on the touch panel display 46. Next, when the store clerk reads the barcode of the prize to be exchanged by the barcode reader 45, the control unit 42 displays the number of exchange balls specified from the read barcode on the display 43 and the touch panel display 46. To do. Next, when the player selects, on the touch panel display 46, the number of balls in one or more areas to be used for prize exchange out of the displayed number of balls in the four areas, the control unit 42 The number of exchange balls is subtracted from the number of possessions in the selected area among the number of possessions, and the prize exchange process is terminated. Then, in the prize exchange device 40 in which the prize exchange process has been completed, the control unit 42 includes the number of possessed balls after processing, which is the number of possessed balls in the four areas after the subtraction (that is, does not subtract the number of possessed balls in the subtracted area). The processing result notification is transmitted from the relay device communication unit 41b to the relay device 10.

  In the prize exchange device 40, the prize exchange process similar to that using the above-mentioned number of possessed balls is performed using the number of accumulated balls in the four areas acquired from the accumulation server 50.

  Next, the operation of the gift exchange system 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. Each process shown in each figure is composed of a step code of Sa to Sl and a step number, and the same type of process is given the same step number as much as possible. Therefore, the description of the same type of process is omitted. There is a case.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system 1 at the start of operation. First, when the power of the holding server 20, the card receiving device 30, the relay device 10, and the gift exchange device 40 is turned on and the initialization thereof is completed, the gift exchange device 40 confirms the connection at Sa00. Although the request is transmitted to the relay device 10, the relay device 10 ignores the reception of the connection confirmation request until the communication with the card receiving device 30 and the ball server 20 is established. Communication with the gift exchange device 40 is not performed.

  When the relay device 10 accepts the operation start operation in Sa01 in this initialization end state, the relay device 10 performs communication establishment processing by transmitting and receiving predetermined information to and from the card acceptance device 30 in Sa11. In Sa12, It is determined whether or not communication with the card accepting apparatus 30 has been established. If it is determined that communication with the card acceptance device 30 has not been established at this Sa12 (NO), that is, the time has expired before the establishment of communication, a predetermined error process (for example, an error screen is displayed on the display 13) is performed. And the operation of the prize exchange system 1 is disabled.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in Sa12 that communication with the card acceptance device 30 has been established (YES), a card acceptance prohibition request is transmitted to the card acceptance device 30 and the card acceptance prohibition request is received in Sa13. The card reception device 30 returns a card reception failure notification to the relay device 10 at Sa14 and closes the shutter 34 at Sa15 to prohibit reception of the card (member card 2 or visitor card 3). .

  If it is determined that communication with the card acceptance device 30 is established at Sa12 (YES), communication establishment processing is performed by transmitting / receiving predetermined information to / from the ball server 20 at Sa21, and at Sa22. It is determined whether or not communication with the holding ball server 20 has been established. If it is determined that communication with the ball server 20 has been established in Sa22 (YES), based on the fact that the connection confirmation request has been received from the gift exchange device 40 in Sa30, the gift exchange device 40 in Sa31. A communication establishment process is performed by transmitting / receiving predetermined information to / from. According to this, since communication with the prize exchange device 40 is performed on the condition that communication with the possession server 20 and the card reception apparatus 30 is established, information including the number of possessions is exchanged at the time of prize exchange. It can be guaranteed that the situation is possible.

  On the other hand, even if it is determined that the communication with the holding ball server 20 is not established in Sa32 (NO), that is, the time is up before the communication is established, in order to enable the processing shown in FIG. The communication establishment process of Sa31 is performed based on the reception of the connection confirmation request.

  After the communication establishment process of Sa31 is performed, a card acceptance permission request is transmitted to the card acceptance device 30 in Sa32, and the card acceptance device 30 that has received the card acceptance permission request sends a card acceptance standby notification in Sa33. While replying to the relay device 10 and opening the shutter 34 at Sa34, acceptance of the card (member card 2 or visitor card 3) is permitted.

  And the relay apparatus 10 which received the card | curd acceptance standby notification determines whether or not communication with the possession server 20 is established in Sa41, and if communication is not established (NO), FIG. If the state has shifted to the first offline state shown in FIG. 11 and communication has been established (YES), it is determined in Sa42 whether or not communication with the prize exchange device 40 has been established, and communication has to be established. If (NO), it shifts to a second offline state shown in FIGS. 12 to 14 described later, and if communication is established (YES), it shifts to a normal state shown in FIGS. 4 to 8 described later. Here, the control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sa42 functions as a communication enable / disable determining unit that determines whether the communication is possible (online) or communication is impossible (offline) where communication with the gift exchange device 40 is possible. It is.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system when the prize exchange device accepts a member card in a normal state. First, in Sb01, the gift exchange device 40 accepts the insertion of the member card 2 with the card R / W 47, and reads the recorded information (member card ID and member ID) of the member card 2, and in Sb02 the read member card. A membership card insertion notification including the ID is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  The relay device 10 that has received the membership card insertion notification transmits a card acceptance prohibition request to the card acceptance device 30 in Sb03, and the card acceptance device 30 that has received the card acceptance prohibition request receives the card acceptance in Sb04. A failure notification is returned to the relay device 10, and the shutter 34 is closed in Sb05, thereby prohibiting acceptance of the card (member card 2 or visitor card 3). The control unit 12 that performs the process of Sb03 prohibits the reception of the visitor card 3 in the card reception device 30 based on the reception of the member card ID of the member card 2 from the gift exchange device 40 that has received the member card 2. It functions as a visitor recording medium acceptance permission / inhibition control means for performing an acceptance prohibition process for the purpose.

  The relay device 10 that has received the membership card insertion notification transmits a card insertion notification including the membership card ID included in the received membership card insertion notification to the possession server 20 in Sb11, and the card insertion notification In Sb12, the possessed ball server 20 that has received the data extracts the number of retained balls in the four areas stored in the retained ball DB 23 in association with the member card ID included in the received card insertion notification, and in Sb13, The card insertion result including the extracted number of balls in the four areas is transmitted to the relay device 10, and the relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result receives the card insertion result of the four areas included in the received card insertion result in Sb14. The number of possessed balls is stored, and in Sb21, a retained ball number notification including the stored number of retained balls that is the number of retained balls in the four areas is transmitted to the gift exchange device 40. The control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sb11 and Sb21 is associated with the member card ID based on the reception of the member card ID of the member card 2 from the gift exchange device 40 that has received the member card 2. Member day savings number acquisition processing for acquiring the number of possessed balls stored in the ball server 20, and member day savings number to be transmitted to the gift exchange device 40 in order to use the acquired number of possession balls for the gift exchange processing It functions as a member day savings number processing means for performing transmission processing.

  The relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result transmits a card insertion response indicating that the card insertion result has been received to the ball server 20 in Sb15, and the ball server that has received the card insertion response. 20 is Sb16, and the number of balls held in the four areas extracted in Sb12 is made zero. The control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sb15 is associated with the member day savings number transmission process (Sb21) and stores the number of balls based on the member card 2 received by the gift exchange device 40 (that is, stored in the ball server 20). The number of savings on the day of the membership is reduced to zero.

  The prize exchange device 40 that has received the number notification of the number of balls stores the number of balls in the four areas included in the notification of the number of balls, and the number of balls that indicates that the notification of the number of balls is received at Sb22. A response is sent back to the relay device 10, the prize exchange process is performed in Sb31, and a processing result notification including the number of balls after processing (that is, the number of balls in four areas after subtraction) is relayed in Sb32. It transmits to the apparatus 10.

  The relay device 10 that has received the processing result notification, in Sb33, the post-processing number of balls (that is, after subtraction) in which the number of stored balls (that is, the number of balls in four areas stored in Sb14) is included in the processing result notification. It is determined for each area whether or not it is equal to or greater than the number of balls in the four areas. The control unit 12 that performs the process of Sb33 has a normal relationship between the number of possessed balls acquired in the member day savings number acquiring process and the number of retained balls received from the gift exchange device 40 (here, the number of retained balls) It functions as a member day savings number judging means for judging whether or not (number of possessed balls after processing).

  If it is determined in Sb33 that the stored number of balls is less than the number of balls after processing (NO) for at least one of the number of balls in four areas, a predetermined error process (for example, an error screen is displayed) in Sb34. 13 is displayed, the error is reduced, and / or the error content is printed by the printer 15 and output). The control unit 12 that performs the process of Sb34 functions as an abnormality processing unit that performs a predetermined abnormality process based on the determination that the member day savings number determination unit (Sb33) does not have a normal relationship. . According to this, it is possible to detect the occurrence of an abnormal number of balls (for example, an increased number of balls that should have been subtracted after a gift exchange process is performed).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in Sb33 that the number of retained balls is greater than or equal to the number of retained balls for all four areas (YES), in Sb41, the number of retained balls (that is, after subtraction) 4, the number of balls in the four areas is transmitted to the ball server 20, and the ball server 20 that has received the card discharge notification is Sb 42 and the ball in the four areas that has been zeroed in Sb 16. The number is updated to the number of balls in the four areas included in the received card discharge notification, and an update notification indicating that the update has been performed is transmitted to the relay device 10 in Sb43. The control unit 12 that performs the process of Sb41 receives the number of balls after the subtraction from the prize exchange device 40 that has performed the prize exchange process and subtracts the number of balls, and based on the membership card 2 It functions as a member day savings number processing means for performing member day savings number update processing for updating the number (that is, the number of holdings stored in the holding ball server 20) to the number of holdings after the subtraction.

  According to this, when the number of possessed balls acquired from the possessed ball server 20 is transmitted to the giveaway exchanging device 40 (Sb21), the number of retained balls based on the membership card 2 is temporarily reduced to zero, whereby When the number of balls is placed under the control of the gift exchange device 40 and the number of balls after subtraction is received from the gift exchange device 40, the number of balls based on the member card 2 is updated to the number of balls after the subtraction. As a result, the number of possessed balls is again placed under the management of the retained ball server 20, so that reliable exchange of information including the number of retained balls can be ensured. That is, when a communication abnormality occurs in the state where the number of retained balls remains in the retained ball server 20, the number of retained balls after the subtraction is further added to the remaining number of retained balls. In the present invention, since the number of possessed balls does not remain in the retained ball server 20, such a problem does not occur.

  Further, since the number of possessions of a plurality of types (4 areas) stored in the possession server 20 is all transmitted to the free gift exchange device 40 to be zero, a part of the number of possessions of the plurality of types is retained. It is possible to prevent a situation in which the server is under the control of the ball server 20 and a part thereof is under the control of the gift exchange device 40.

  In this example, the company X that manufactures and sells the relay device 10, the possession server 20, and the card reception device 30 supports reliable exchange of information including the number of possessions. , And the Y company that manufactures and sells the storage server 50 are easily connected to the prize exchange system 1.

  Receiving the update notification, the relay device 10 deletes the number of balls in the four areas stored in Sb14 in Sb44, transmits a processing result response to the gift exchange device 40 in Sb45, and in Sb47. The card discharge response is transmitted to the possession server 20. Upon receiving the processing result response, the gift exchange device 40 ejects the accepted membership card 2 in Sb46.

  The relay device 10 that has received the update notification transmits a card acceptance permission request to the card acceptance device 30 in Sb48, and the card acceptance device 30 that has received the card acceptance permission request receives a card acceptance standby in Sb49. The notification is sent back to the relay device 10 and, at Sb50, the shutter 34 is opened to allow the reception of the card (member card 2 or visitor card 3). The control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sb48 receives the premium exchange end notification (the processing result notification of Sb32) indicating the completion of the premium exchange processing from the premium exchange device 40 that has performed the premium exchange processing. It functions as a visitor recording medium acceptance permission control means for performing acceptance acceptance processing for allowing acceptance of the visitor card 3 by the acceptance device 30.

  According to this, since the reception of the visitor card 3 by the card reception device 30 is prohibited until the gift exchange processing is completed after the reception of the member card 2 by the gift exchange device 40, the holding based on the member card 2 is prohibited. The number of balls and the number of balls based on the visitor card 3 are not updated simultaneously, and secure exchange of information including the number of balls can be ensured.

  In addition, in FIG. 4 demonstrated above, the control part 12 which processes Sb11, Sb21, and Sb41 is a member in the state which has determined with the prize exchange apparatus 40 that it can communicate with the prize exchange device 40 by a communication availability determination means. Based on the receipt of the member card ID of the member card 2 from the gift exchange device 40 that has received the card 2, a saving for acquiring the number of balls stored in the ball server 20 in association with the member card ID The number acquisition process and the process of transmitting the acquired number of possessed balls to the prize exchange device 40 so as to be used for the prize exchange process, and receiving the number of possessed balls after subtraction from the prize exchange device 40 Based on the above, it functions as a communicable time processing means for performing processing for updating the number of possessed balls based on the membership card 2 to the number of retained balls after the subtraction.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system 1 when the card accepting device 30 accepts the member card 2 in the normal state. First, when accepting insertion of the membership card 2 with the card R / W 33 in Sc01, the card acceptance device 30 reads the recorded information (member card ID) of the membership card 2, and includes the read membership card ID in Sc02. A card information notification is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  The relay device 10 that has received the card information notification determines whether or not the visitor card ID is included in the card information notification in Sc03. Here, since the determination result is NO, the reception is performed in Sc11. The ball server 20 that has transmitted the card insertion notification including the membership card ID included in the card information notification to the ball server 20 and received the card insertion notification is included in the received card insertion notification in Sc12. The number of balls in the four areas stored in the holding ball DB 23 in association with the member card ID is extracted, and the card insertion result including the extracted number of balls in the four areas is transmitted to the relay device 10 in Sc13. Then, the relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result stores the number of balls in four areas included in the received card insertion result in Sc14.

  The relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result transmits a card insertion response indicating that the card insertion result has been received to the ball server 20 in Sc15, similarly to Sb15 in FIG. The ball server 20 that has received the insertion response sets the number of balls in the four areas extracted in Sc12 to zero in Sc16. However, the same process as Sb21 in FIG. 4 is not performed, and an error display to the effect that the member card 2 has been inserted into the card reception device 30 is displayed on the display 13 in Sc21.

  When an operation of a confirmation button (not shown) is accepted in Sc22, a card discharge notification including the number of balls in the four areas stored in Sc14 is transmitted to the ball server 20 in Sc41. The ball server 20 that has received the No. 4 updates the number of balls in the four areas zeroed in Sc16 to the number of balls in the four areas included in the received card discharge notification in Sc42, and the update in Sc43 An update notification indicating that the communication has been performed is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  Receiving the update notification, the relay device 10 erases the number of balls in the four areas stored in Sc14 in Sc44, does not perform the same processing as Sb45 in FIG. 4, and sends a card discharge response in Sc47. It transmits to the possession server 20. Further, in Sc51, a discharge permission notification is transmitted to the card receiving device 30, and the card receiving device 30 that has received the discharge permission notification discharges the accepted member card 2 in Sc52, and the discharging is completed in Sc53. The notification is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  That is, in the normal state in which the relay device 10 and the possession server 20 and the relay device 10 and the gift exchange device 40 can communicate, the member card 2 is not accepted by the card accepting device 30 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, it is accepted by the gift exchange device 40. In the second offline state where the relay device 10 and the gift exchange device 40 cannot communicate with each other, the member card 2 is not accepted by the gift exchange device 40 as shown in FIG. 12, but the card accepting device as shown in FIG. This will be described later.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system 1 when the card accepting device 30 accepts the visitor card 3 in the normal state. First, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the insertion of the visitor card 3 with the card R / W 33 at Sd01, the card receiving device 30 reads the recorded information (visitor card ID, number of possessions) of the visitor card 3, and at Sd02 the read visitor A card information notification including the card ID and the number of balls is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  The relay device 10 that has received the card information notification determines whether or not the visitor card ID is included in the card information notification in Sd03. Here, since the determination result is YES, the reception is performed in Sd11. The ball server 20 that has transmitted the card insertion notification including the visitor card ID included in the card information notification to the ball server 20 and has received the card insertion notification is included in the received card insertion notification in Sd12. The number of balls in the four areas stored in the holding ball DB 23 in correspondence with the visitor card ID is extracted, and the card insertion result including the extracted number of balls in the four areas is transmitted to the relay device 10 in Sd13. To do.

  The relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result receives the number of balls in four areas included in the received card insertion result (that is, the number of stored balls stored in the ball server 20) and the card information of Sd02. The number of balls held in the four areas included in the notification (that is, the number of balls held by the visitor card 3) is compared. Memorize the number of balls. Further, if the comparison result is the number of stored balls> the number of recorded balls, the recorded number of balls is stored in Sd14. As shown in FIG. 11, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the visitor card 3 and the gift exchange process is performed in the first offline state where the relay device 10 and the possessing server 20 cannot communicate, This is because the number of balls after subtraction is not stored in 20, but the number of balls after subtraction is recorded in the visitor card 3, so that the number of retained balls> the number of recorded balls. If the comparison result is the number of stored balls <the number of recorded balls, error processing is performed without performing the processing of Sc14. This is because this situation does not occur unless the number of recorded balls is rewritten illegally.

  In addition, the relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result transmits, to Sd21, a number-of-balls notification that includes the number of balls held that is the number of balls in the four areas stored in Sd14, to the prize exchange device 40. Here, the control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sd11 and Sd21 is associated with the visitor card ID based on the reception of the visitor card ID from the card accepting device 30 that has received the visitor card 3, and the holding server Visitor day savings number acquisition processing for acquiring the number of possessed balls stored in 20, and visitor day savings number transmission processing for transmitting the acquired number of possessed balls to the gift exchange device 40 for use in the gift exchange processing It functions as a visitor day savings number processing means.

  The relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result transmits a card insertion response indicating that the card insertion result has been received to the ball server 20 in Sd15, and receives the card insertion response. 20 is Sd16, and the number of balls in the four areas extracted in Sd12 is set to zero. Further, the relay device 10 that has received the card insertion result transmits a record update request including the number of holding balls to the card reception device 30 in Sd23, and the card reception device 30 that has received the record update request receives Sd24. Then, the number of possessed balls recorded in the received visitor card 3 is updated to the number of possessed balls (that is, zero) included in the received record update request, and a record update notification is sent to the relay device 10 in Sd25. To send. The control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sd15 and Sd23, with the visitor day savings number transmission processing (Sd21), the number of balls based on the visitor card 3 received by the card receiving device 30 (that is, the holding ball server 20). The visitor day savings number zero processing is performed to make the stored number of possessed balls and the number of retained balls recorded by the visitor card 3 zero.

  The prize exchange device 40 that has received the number notification of the number of balls stores the number of balls in the four areas included in the notification of the number of balls, and the number of balls that indicates that the notification of the number of balls is received at Sd22. A response is returned to the relay device 10, and the prize exchange process is performed in Sd31, and a processing result notification including the number of balls after processing (that is, the number of balls in four areas after subtraction) is relayed in Sd32. It transmits to the apparatus 10.

  The relay device 10 that has received the processing result notification, in Sd33, the number of retained balls (that is, after subtraction) in which the stored number of retained balls (that is, the number of retained balls in four areas stored in Sd14) is included in the processing result notification. It is determined for each area whether or not it is equal to or greater than the number of balls in the four areas. The control unit 12 that performs the process of Sd33 has a normal relationship between the number of possessed balls acquired in the visitor day savings number acquiring process and the number of retained balls received from the gift exchange device 40 (here, the number of retained balls) It functions as a visitor day savings number judging means for judging whether or not the number of possessed balls after processing).

  If it is determined in Sd33 that the number of retained balls is less than the number of retained balls (NO) for at least one of the number of balls in the four areas (NO), in Sd34, a predetermined error process (for example, an error screen is displayed) 13 is displayed, the error is reduced, and / or the error content is printed by the printer 15 and output). The control unit 12 that performs the process of Sd34 functions as an abnormality processing unit that performs a predetermined abnormality process based on the fact that the visitor day savings number determination unit (Sd33) determines that the relationship is not normal. . According to this, it is possible to detect the occurrence of an abnormal number of balls (for example, an increased number of balls that should have been subtracted after a gift exchange process is performed).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in Sd33 that the number of retained balls is greater than or equal to the number of balls after processing (YES) for all four areas, the number of balls after processing (that is, after subtraction) 4, the number of balls in the four areas is transmitted to the ball server 20, and the ball server 20 that has received the card discharge notification is Sd 42 and the ball in the four areas that is zeroed in Sd 16. The number is updated to the number of balls in the four areas included in the received card discharge notification, and an update notification indicating that the update has been performed is transmitted to the relay device 10 in Sd43.

  Receiving the update notification, the relay device 10 deletes the number of balls in the four areas stored in Sd14 in Sd44, and transmits a processing result response to the gift exchange device 40 in Sd45, and in Sd47. The card discharge response is transmitted to the possession server 20.

  In addition, the relay device 10 that has received the update notification transmits a record update request including the number of possessed balls included in the received processing result notification to the card reception device 30 in Sd48, and the record update request is transmitted. In Sd49, the received card reception device 30 updates the number of possessed balls recorded in the received visitor card 3 (here, zero) to the number of retained balls included in the received record update request, In Sd50, the recording update notification is transmitted to the relay device 10, and the relay device 10 that has received the recording update notification transmits the discharge permission notification to the card receiving device 30 in Sd51, and the discharge permission notification is sent. The received card acceptance device 30 ejects the accepted visitor card 3 in Sd52, and transmits a delivery completion notice to the relay device 10 in Sd53.

  Here, based on the fact that the control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sd41 and Sd48 receives the number of balls after subtraction from the prize exchange device 40 that has performed the prize exchange processing and subtracted the number of balls, Visitor day for updating the number of balls based on the card 3 (that is, the number of balls stored in the ball server 20 and the number of balls recorded by the visitor card 3) to the number of balls after the subtraction. It functions as a visitor day savings number processing means for performing savings number update processing.

  According to this, when the number of possessions acquired from the possession server 20 is transmitted to the prize exchange device 40 (Sd21), the number of possessions based on the visitor card 3 is temporarily reduced to zero, thereby performing the possession. When the number of balls is placed under the control of the prize exchange device 40 and the number of possessed balls after subtraction is received from the prize exchange device 40, the number of possessions based on the visitor card 3 is updated to the number of possessions after the subtraction. As a result, the number of possessed balls is again placed under the management of the retained ball server 20, so that reliable exchange of information including the number of retained balls can be ensured. That is, when a communication abnormality occurs in the state where the number of retained balls remains in the retained ball server 20, the number of retained balls after the subtraction is further added to the remaining number of retained balls. In the present invention, since the number of possessed balls does not remain in the retained ball server 20, such a problem does not occur.

  Further, since the number of possessions of a plurality of types (4 areas) stored in the possession server 20 is all transmitted to the free gift exchange device 40 to be zero, a part of the number of possessions of the plurality of types is retained. It is possible to prevent a situation in which the server is under the control of the ball server 20 and a part thereof is under the control of the gift exchange device 40.

  In this example, the company X that manufactures and sells the relay device 10, the possession server 20, and the card reception device 30 supports reliable exchange of information including the number of possessions. , And the Y company that manufactures and sells the storage server 50 are easily connected to the prize exchange system 1.

  In FIG. 6 described above, the control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sd11, Sd21, and Sd41 accepts the card in a state in which the communication availability determination unit determines that it is communicable (online) with the prize exchange device 40. Based on the receipt of the visitor card 3 by the device 30, the saving number identification process for identifying the number of possessed balls from the visitor card ID of the received visitor card 3, and the identified number of retained balls are used for the prize exchange process. Therefore, based on the fact that the savings number transmission process to be transmitted to the prize exchange device 40 is performed, and the savings number after the subtraction is received from the prize exchange device 40 that has performed the prize exchange process and subtracts the number of possessions, It functions as a communicable time processing means for performing a communicable savings number updating process for updating the specified number of retained balls to the number of retained balls after the subtraction.

  Next, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system 1 when the visitor card 3 and the membership card 2 are received in a normal state and the holding balls are stored. Briefly, after the card accepting device 30 accepts the visitor card 3 and the relay device 10 performs the visitor day savings number transmission process (Se21), when the prize exchange device 40 accepts the member card 2, the savings process ( Se31) is performed.

  Specifically, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the insertion of the visitor card 3 with the card R / W 33 at Se01, the card accepting device 30 reads the recorded information (visitor card ID, number of possessions) of the visitor card 3, and the relay device 10, The possession server 20, the card accepting device 30, and the gift exchange device 40 perform the processing of Se02 to Se25 similar to Sd02 to Sd25 of FIG. 6, and in particular, the relay device 10 is Se21, and the four areas stored in Se14 The number-of-balls notification including the number of balls that is stored is transmitted to the gift exchange device 40.

  The prize exchange device 40 that has received the number notification of the number of balls stores the number of balls in the four areas included in the notification of the number of balls, and the number of balls indicating that the notification of the number of balls is received at Se22. When a response is returned to the relay device 10 and the insertion of the membership card 2 is accepted by the card R / W 47 at Se30, the recorded information (member ID) of the membership card 2 is read, and the storage process is performed at Se31. In this storage process, first, the control unit 42 displays the stored number of balls in the four areas on the touch panel display 46. Next, when the player designates the number of balls held in one or two or more areas (that is, the area and the number of balls) to be stored out of the displayed number of balls in the four areas, the control unit 42 subtracts the number of balls to be stored from the number of balls in the selected area of the stored number of balls, the member ID read and the number of balls subtracted (that is, the number of balls to be stored) ) To the storage server 50 is transmitted. The storage server 50 that has received the storage request adds the number of balls included in the received storage request to the number of storages stored in the storage DB 53 in association with the member ID included in the received storage request, A storage completion completion notification is transmitted to the gift exchange device 40. The prize exchanging device 40 that has received the notice of the completion of the accumulated ball ends the accumulated ball process. Then, in the giveaway exchanging device 40 in which the storage ball processing is completed, the control unit 42 includes the number of balls after processing which is the number of balls in the four areas after the subtraction (that is, subtracting the number of balls in the subtracted area) in Se32. The processing result notification (including the number of possessed balls in the area that has not been performed) is transmitted from the relay device communication unit 41b to the relay device 10.

  Thereafter, the relay device 10, the possession server 20, the card receiving device 30, and the gift exchange device 40 perform the processing of Se33 to Se53, similar to Sd33 to Sd53 of FIG. In the case where all of the number of balls in a certain area is stored in the storage process of Se31, the number of balls in the area updated in Se42 or Se49 remains zero updated in Se16.

  Next, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system 1 when the visitor card 3 and the membership card 2 are received and the visitor card 3 is discharged in a normal state. Briefly, if the gift exchange device 40 accepts the member card 2 before the card accepting device 30 accepts the visitor card 3 and the relay device 10 performs the visitor day savings number transmission processing, the visitor card 3 is ejected. The prize exchange process (Sf31) using the number of balls in the membership card 2 is performed.

  Specifically, first, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the insertion of the visitor card 3 with the card R / W 33 at Sf01, the card receiving device 3 reads the record information (visitor card ID, number of possessions) of the visitor card 3, and at Sf02, A card information notification including the read visitor card ID and the number of balls is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  The relay device 10 that has received the card information notification determines whether or not the visitor card ID is included in the card information notification in Sf03. Here, the determination result is YES. The prize exchange device 40 that received the insertion of the member card 2 at Sf01 ′ before the visitor day savings number transmission process shown in Sd21 (in this example, before the visitor day savings number acquisition process shown in Sd11 of FIG. 6) is received. When the member card insertion notification of Sf02 ′ including the member card ID of the member card 2 is received, the card accepting device that has transmitted the discharge permission notice to the card accepting device 30 and received the discharge permission notice in Sf04 The relay device 30 discharges the accepted visitor card 3 in Sf05, transmits a discharge completion notification to the relay device 10 in Sf06, and receives the discharge completion notification. 0 transmits a card reception prohibition request to the card reception device 30 in Sf07, and the card reception device 30 that has received the card reception prohibition request returns a card reception prohibition notification to the relay device 10 in Sf08. At the same time, by closing the shutter 34 in Sf09, acceptance of the card (member card 2 or visitor card 3) is prohibited.

  Thereafter, the relay device 10, the ball server 20, the card receiving device 30, and the gift exchange device 40 perform the processing of Sf11 to Sf50, similar to Sb11 to Sb50 of FIG. 4, and use the number of balls of the membership card 2. The prize exchange process (Sf31) is performed.

  Here, the control unit 12 that performs the process of Sf04 receives the visitor card ID of the visitor card 3 from the card receiving device 30 that has received the visitor card 3, and then the visitor day save number processing means performs the visitor day save number processing unit. Before performing the transmission process (Sd21 in FIG. 6), the card reception device 30 receives the visitor card 3 based on the reception of the member card ID of the member card 2 from the gift exchange device 40 that has received the member card 2. It functions as a visitor recording medium acceptability control means for performing processing for canceling the image. According to this, even if the visitor card 3 is received by the card reception device 30, if the membership card 2 is received by the giveaway exchange device 40 before the visitor day savings number transmission processing is performed, the reception of the visitor card 3 is cancelled. In addition, the number of possession balls based on the membership card 2 and the number of possession balls based on the visitor card 3 are not updated simultaneously, and secure exchange of information including the number of possession balls can be ensured.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system 1 when the prize exchange apparatus 40 receives the member card 2 in the first offline state where the relay apparatus 10 and the possession server 30 are offline. In brief, in this case, since the number of balls in the membership card 2 cannot be specified, the membership card 2 is discharged and the prize exchange process is not performed.

  Specifically, when the prize exchange device 40 accepts the insertion of the member card 2 with the card R / W 47 in Sg01, the record information (member card ID and member ID) of the member card 2 is read, and the relay device 10, card The accepting device 30 and the gift exchange device 40 perform the processing of Sg02 to Sg05 in the same manner as shown in Sb02 to Sb05 of FIG. 4, but the relay device 10 and the possession server 20 cannot communicate with each other. A predetermined error process (for example, an error screen is displayed on the display 13) is performed in Sg06 without performing the processes after Sb11. Further, since the prize exchange device 40 does not receive the number-of-balls notification shown in Sb21 of FIG. 4, the time-out is detected at Sg07, and the accepted membership card 2 is discharged at Sg08.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system 1 when the card accepting device 30 accepts the member card 2 in the first offline state where the relay device 10 and the possession server 20 are offline. Briefly, in this case as well, since the number of possessions of the member card 2 cannot be specified, the member card 2 is discharged, and the prize exchange process is not performed.

  Specifically, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the insertion of the member card 2 with the card R / W 33 in Sh01, the card accepting device 30 reads the record information (member card ID) of the member card 2, and the relay device 10 and the card accepting device. 30 performs the processing of Sh02 to Sh03 in the same manner as shown in Sc02 to Sc03 of FIG. 5, but the relay device 10 and the ball server 20 cannot communicate with each other, so the processing of Sc11 and after of FIG. 5 is not performed. , Sh04 sends a discharge permission notification to the card acceptance device 30, and the card acceptance device 30 that has received the discharge permission notification ejects the accepted membership card 2 in Sh05, and the discharge is completed in Sh06. The notification is transmitted to the relay device 10.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the gift exchange system 1 when the card receiving device 30 receives the visitor card 3 in the first offline state where the relay device 10 and the possession server 20 are offline. In short, in this case, the number of stored balls stored in the ball server 20 in association with the visitor card ID of the visitor card 3 cannot be specified, but the record recorded by the visitor card 3 Since the number of possessed balls can be specified, a prize exchange process (Si31) using the recorded number of retained balls is performed.

  Specifically, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the insertion of the visitor card 3 with Si01 and the card R / W 33, the card accepting device 30 reads the recorded information (visitor card ID, the number of possessions) of the visitor card 3, and the relay device 10, The card accepting device 30 performs the processing of Si02 to Si03 in the same manner as indicated by Sd02 to Sd03 in FIG. 6, but the relay device 10 and the holding server 20 cannot communicate with each other, so the processing of Sd11 to Sd13 in FIG. Without processing, the number of balls held in the four areas included in the received card information notification is stored in Si14, and the processing shown in Sd21 to Sd33 in FIG. 6 is performed without performing the processing in Sd15 to Sd16 in FIG. In the same manner, the processes of Si21 to Si33 are performed, and the processes of Sd41 to Sd43 and Sd47 of FIG. 6 are not performed, and Sd44, Sd45, and Sd48 to Sd53 of FIG. Similar to be the performed Si44, Si45, and the processing of Si48～Si53.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system 1 when the prize exchange apparatus 40 receives the member card 2 in the second offline state where the relay apparatus 10 and the prize exchange apparatus 40 are offline. In brief, in this case, since the number of balls in the membership card 2 cannot be specified, the membership card 2 is discharged and the prize exchange process is not performed.

  Specifically, when the prize exchange device 40 accepts the insertion of the member card 2 with the card R / W 47 in Sj01, the record exchange information (member card ID, member ID) of the member card 2 is read. Since the communication with the gift exchange device 40 is impossible, the processing after Sb02 in FIG. 4 is not performed, and there is no reception of the number-of-balls notification shown in Sb21 in FIG. At 03, the accepted membership card 2 is discharged.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system 1 when the card accepting apparatus 30 accepts the member card 2 in the second offline state in which the relay apparatus 10 and the prize exchange apparatus 40 are offline. In short, in this case, the number of possessed balls of the member card 2 can be specified, but the prize exchange device 40 cannot perform the prize exchange process, so the relay apparatus 10 determines the number of possessed balls after the prize exchange. A process for receiving an input and updating the number of possessed balls of the identified member card 2 to the number of possessed balls that has received the input is performed.

  Specifically, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the insertion of the member card 2 with the card R / W 33 in Sk01, the card accepting device 30 reads the recorded information (member card ID) of the member card 2, and the relay device 10 and the possession server 20 , And the card accepting device 30 perform the processing of Sk02 to Sk16 in the same manner as shown in Sc02 to Sc16 of FIG. 5, but the relay device 10 and the gift exchange device 40 cannot communicate with each other. The process of Sc22 is not performed.

  Then, after exchanging the prize using the number of possessed balls stored in Sk14 (the number of retained coins), the number of possessed balls used (the number of used coins) used for the prize exchange in Sk40 from the store clerk of the game hall Is received, a card discharge notification including the number of balls in four areas (the number of balls after prize exchange) after subtracting the number of used balls from the stored number of balls is received to the ball server 20 in Sk41. The relay device 10, the possession server 20, and the card receiving device 30 perform the processing of Sk 42 to Sk 53 as shown in Sc 42 to Sc 53 of FIG. 5 and the relay device 10 notifies the update notification of Sk 43. On the basis of the fact that the receipt is received, a receipt on which the processing result is recorded is printed by the printer 15 and issued at Sk47 ′.

  Here, the control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sk11 and Sk41 has accepted the membership card 2 by the card receiving device 30 in a state where the communication acceptability determining unit determines that communication with the giveaway exchange device 40 is in an inactive state (offline). Based on this, the number of retained balls to be updated (here, the number of retained balls) to be updated while performing the number-of-savings acquisition process of acquiring the number of retained balls associated with the member card ID and stored in the retained ball server 20 The number of possessed balls based on the membership card 2 is updated based on the received number of retained balls based on the receipt of the input (that is, the prize exchange is performed by subtracting the number of retained possessed balls from the number of retained possessed balls). It functions as a non-communication processing means for performing processing for updating the number of possession balls).

  According to this, the number of balls specified from the membership card 2 is determined only in accordance with an instruction from the gift exchange device 40 in a state where the number of balls specified from the member card 2 is communicable with the gift exchange device 40. When the communicable savings number update process for renewal is performed, but communication with the free gift exchange device 40 is not possible, if the input of the number of balls to be renewed is accepted, the membership card is not used regardless of the instruction of the free gift exchange device 40 Since the incommunicable savings number update process for updating the number of possessed balls specified from 2 to the number of possessed balls to be updated is performed, communication with the prize exchange device 40 becomes impossible or the prize exchange device 40 breaks down. In addition, it is possible to guarantee the management of the number of possessions while enabling free gift exchange.

  Further, the control unit 12 and the printer 15 that perform the processing of Sk47 ′ issue a processing result recording medium (in this case, a processing result recording receipt) in which information that can specify the processing result of the saving number update processing when communication is disabled is recorded. It functions as processing result recording medium issuing means. According to this, it is possible to manage the number of balls in comparison with the processing result specified from the processing result recording medium.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the prize exchange system 1 when the card accepting apparatus 30 accepts the visitor card 3 in the second offline state in which the relay apparatus 10 and the prize exchange apparatus 40 are offline. In short, in this case, the number of balls in the visitor card 3 can be specified, but the prize exchange device 40 cannot perform the prize exchange process. A process for receiving an input and updating the number of balls in the identified visitor card 3 to the number of balls in which the input has been received is performed.

  Specifically, when the card accepting device 30 accepts the insertion of the visitor card 3 with the card R / W 33 in S101, the card accepting device 30 reads the recorded information (visitor card ID, number of possessions) of the visitor card 3, and the relay device 10, As shown in Sd02 to Sd16 in FIG. 6, the holding server 20 and the card accepting device 30 perform the processes in S102 to S16, but the relay device 10 and the gift exchange device 40 cannot communicate with each other. The processes of Sd21, Sd22, and Sd31 to Sd34 are not performed.

  Then, after exchanging prizes using the number of possessed balls stored in S14 (stored number of possessed balls), the number of possessed balls (number of used coins) used for the prize exchange in S140 is input from a store clerk in the game hall. Is received, a card discharge notification including the number of balls in four areas (the number of balls after prize exchange) after subtracting the number of used balls from the stored number of balls is sent to the ball server 20 in S141. The relay device 10, the holding ball server 20, and the card receiving device 30 perform the processing of Sl42 to Sl53, as shown in Sd42 to Sd53 of FIG. 6, and the relay device 10 notifies the update notification of Sl43. Is received, the receipt recording the processing result is printed and issued by the printer 15 in S47 ′, as shown in Sk47 ′ of FIG.

  Here, the control unit 12 that performs the processing of Sl11 and Sl41 accepts the visitor card 3 by the card accepting device 30 in a state where the communication acceptability determining unit determines that communication with the giveaway exchange device 40 is in an inactive state (offline). Based on that, based on having received the input of the number of holding balls (here, the number of used balls) to be updated while performing the saving number specifying process which specifies the number of holding balls from the visitor card ID of the visitor card 3 And updating the specified number of possessed balls based on the number of possessed balls that received the input (that is, updating the number of retained balls to the number of possessed balls after exchanging the number of used balls) It functions as a non-communication processing means for performing processing.

  According to this, in the communicable state with the free gift exchange device 40, the communicable savings number updating process for updating the number of balls specified from the visitor card 3 is performed only in accordance with an instruction from the free gift exchange device 40. However, in the state where communication with the prize exchange device 40 is not possible, if the input of the number of possessed balls to be updated is received, the number of possessed balls specified from the visitor card 3 is updated without receiving an instruction from the prize exchange device 40. Since the number-of-communications savings number update process for updating to the number of possessed balls is performed, the number of retained balls can be performed even if communication with the giveaway exchange device 40 becomes impossible or the giveaway exchange device 40 breaks down, enabling a prize exchange operation. Management certainty can be guaranteed.

  In the present embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. 15 (a), the number-of-savings management device (mochitama server 20) and the game device (relay device 10 + card reception device 30) can communicate with each other, and In the prize exchange system 1 in which the gaming apparatus and the prize exchange apparatus 40 can communicate with each other, when the gaming apparatus and the prize exchange apparatus 40 are offline, a card (member card 2 or visitor card 3) is used with the gaming apparatus. If accepted, this is a technique that can update the number of savings (the number of possessed balls) based on the card without an instruction from the gift exchange device 40, but this technique is a modification 1 or modification 2 in which the arrangement of the devices is different. The present invention can also be applied to the prize exchange system 1 as described above.

  For example, as in the first modification shown in FIG. 15 (b), the gaming device is not provided with a relay device, but consists only of a card receiving device, the saved number management device and the gaming device can communicate, and the gaming device Can be communicated with each other, and when the gaming device accepts the card, the savings number of the card is acquired from the savings number management device and transmitted to the prize exchange device. In the prize exchange system that performs the prize exchange process using the number of savings, when the gaming apparatus and the prize exchange apparatus are offline, when the card is received by the gaming apparatus, the prize exchange apparatus does not instruct The number of savings based on the card can be updated.

  Further, as in the second modification shown in FIG. 15 (c), the gaming device is not provided with a relay device, but only a card receiving device, the savings number management device and the gaming device can communicate, and the savings number management When the device and the prize exchange device are communicable and the gaming device accepts the card, the savings number of the card is transmitted from the savings number management device to the prize exchange device, and the savings number is stored in the prize exchange device. In the prize exchange system that performs the prize exchange process using the number, the savings number management apparatus and the prize exchange apparatus are offline (in other words, the game apparatus and the prize exchange apparatus via the savings number management apparatus are offline). When the card is received by the gaming device, the number of savings based on the card can be updated without depending on the instruction of the prize exchange device.

  Finally, a modification of the present invention will be described.

  In the above embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the example is described in which the member day savings number specifying information (member card ID) and the past savings number specifying information (member ID) are different information. The member day savings number specifying information and the past savings number specifying information may be the same information.

  In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an example in which the number of possessed balls or the number of stored balls is not recorded on the member card 2 has been described. May be recorded. In this case, as the member day savings number zero update process, in addition to the process shown in Sb11 of FIG. It is preferable to perform a process such as Sd23.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the example in which the number of possessed balls is recorded on the visitor card 3 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of retained balls is not recorded on the visitor card 3. In this case, as the visitor day savings number zero update processing, the processing shown in Sd23 of FIG. 6 is not performed, and the card receiving device 30 is in the first offline state in which the relay device 10 and the possession server 20 are offline. Even if the visitor card 3 is received, the process of FIG. 11 (that is, the prize exchange process using the number of possessions recorded on the visitor card 3) is not performed, and the process as shown in FIG. Since the number is not recorded, the gift exchange operation cannot be performed, and the processing for ejecting the visitor card 3 is performed.

  In the above embodiment, a card (member card 2 and / or visitor card 3) is inserted in the card R / W 33 of the card receiving device 30 or the card R / W 47 of the gift exchange device 40, whereby the card is received. Although an example has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, the card is brought close to the card R / W, the recorded information is read from the IC chip of the card in a non-contact manner, and the read recorded information is stored. It may be accepted.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the example in which the number of balls of a plurality of types (four areas) is stored in the holding ball DB 23 or the storage ball DB 53 is not limited to this, but the number of balls. May be stored, and when storing the number of balls of a plurality of types, it is sufficient to store two or more types.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in Sb02 in FIG. 4, Sf02 ′ in FIG. 8, and Sg02 in FIG. 9, the member card is transferred from the gift exchange device 40 that accepts the insertion of the member card 2 to the relay device 10. The member card insertion notification including the member card ID of 2 is transmitted, and the card including the member card ID from the relay device 10 to the possession server 20 as shown in Sb11 of FIG. 4 and Sf11 of FIG. The example in which the insertion notification is transmitted and the number of possessed balls in the four areas corresponding to the member card ID is extracted in the possession server 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the member ID is included instead of the member card ID. A member card insertion notification is transmitted, a card insertion notification including the member ID is transmitted, and the possession server 20 extracts the number of retained balls in the four areas corresponding to the member ID. Unishi and may be. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, the member card ID and the member ID are not recorded on the IC chip of the member card 2, but the member card ID and the member ID are recorded on the magnetic tape. In this configuration, the card R / W 33 of the card reception device 30 may read the member card ID of the IC chip, and the card R / W 47 of the giveaway exchange device 40 may read the member ID of the magnetic tape.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in Sb33 in FIG. 4 and the like, the control unit 12 functioning as a visitor day savings number judging means takes into account the case where no subtraction is performed in the prize exchange process (for example, when canceled). Then, the example of determining whether or not the number of retained balls is equal to or greater than the number of retained balls has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in consideration of the fact that subtraction is always performed in the gift exchange process, the memory is stored. It may be determined whether the number of possessed balls exceeds the number of possessed balls after processing, and the number of retained coins is taken into consideration that in the prize exchange process, subtraction over the minimum number of exchanged balls is always performed. It may be determined whether or not exceeds (the number of balls after processing−the minimum number of exchanged balls). That is, the visitor day savings number determination means may be any unit that determines whether or not the number of stored balls and the number of balls after processing are in a normal relationship.

  In the above embodiment, an example is described in which the number of used balls is received and the number of used balls is calculated by subtracting the number of used balls from the stored number of balls in Sk40 of FIG. 13 or Sl40 of FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an input of the number of possessed balls after prize exchange may be accepted, and the number of possessed balls after the prize exchange may not be calculated. In other words, any device that accepts input of the number of savings to be updated may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the control unit 12 grasps the number of used balls input by the input device 14 of the relay device 10 in Sk40 of FIG. 13 or Sl40 of FIG. 14 has been described. The control part 12 may grasp | ascertain the number of used possessions input with the other apparatus which can communicate with the relay apparatus 10. FIG. In other words, the control unit 12 functioning as a communication disabled processing unit only needs to perform a communication disabled storage number update process based on the receipt of an input of the saving number to be updated, and the input form is not particularly limited. .

  In the above embodiment, the example of issuing a receipt as a processing result recording medium has been described in Sk47 'of FIG. 13 and Sl47' of FIG. 14, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a card may be issued. In other words, the processing result recording medium issuing means may be any one that issues a processing result recording medium in which information capable of specifying the processing result of the savings number update processing when communication is disabled is recorded.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Premium exchange system 2 ... Member card 3 ... Visitor card 10 ... Relay device 11a ... 1st communication part (for Mochitama server)
11b ... 2nd communication part (for card reception apparatuses)
11c ... 3rd communication part (for prize exchange devices)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Control part 13 ... Display 14 ... Input device 15 ... Printer 20 ... Mochitama server 21 ... Communication part 22 ... Control part 23 ... Mochitama DB
30 ... Card acceptance device 31 ... Communication unit 32 ... Control unit 33 ... Card R / W (Receiving visitor card and offline membership card)
34 ... Shutter 40 ... Premium exchange device 41a ... Storage server communication unit 41b ... Relay device communication unit 42 ... Control unit 43 ... Display (for store clerk)
44 ... Input device (for clerk)
45 ... Bar code reader 46 ... (Touch panel type) Display (for players)
47 ... Card R / W (accepts membership card)
50 ... Storage server 51 ... Communication unit 52 ... Control unit 53 ... Storage DB

Claims (1)

Stores the number of member-day savings that are acquired by the member player in association with the member recording medium owned by the member player and stored only for use on that day, and the recording medium for visitor owned by the visitor player A first communication means for communicating with the day-of-day savings number management device that stores the number of savings for the day of the visitor that is acquired by the visitor player in association with
Second communication means for communicating with the visitor recording medium accepting device for accepting the visitor recording medium;
It is possible to communicate with the past savings number management device that stores the past savings number acquired by the member player in association with the recording medium for members and stored so that it can be used after the current day and the next day, and the recording medium for members Receiving and exchanging prizes using the member day savings corresponding to the received member recording medium, the past savings number, and the visitor day savings corresponding to the visitor recording medium received by the visitor recording medium accepting device Third communication means for communicating with a prize exchange device for processing;
A relay device having
Based on the receipt of the recording information of the member recording medium from the premium exchange device that received the member recording medium, the member day savings number corresponding to the member recording medium is acquired from the day savings number management device. Member day savings number processing means for performing member day savings number acquisition processing and member day savings number transmission processing for transmitting the acquired member day savings number to the gift exchange device so as to be used for the gift exchange processing When,
Based on the fact that the recording information of the visitor recording medium is received from the visitor recording medium receiving device that has received the visitor recording medium, the current day savings number management corresponding to the visitor recording medium is managed. Visitor day savings acquisition processing for acquiring the visitor day savings number acquired from the device, and visitor day savings number transmission processing for transmitting the acquired visitor day savings number to the prize exchange device in order to use it for the gift exchange process Number processing means;
Acceptance for prohibiting acceptance of the visitor recording medium by the visitor recording medium accepting device based on reception of the record information of the membership recording medium from the premium exchange device that has accepted the membership recording medium The visitor recording medium receiving device performs the prohibition process, and the visitor recording medium receiving device receives the premium record completion notification indicating the completion of the premium exchange process from the premium exchange device that has performed the premium exchange process. A relay apparatus comprising: a visitor recording medium acceptance permission / inhibition control means for performing acceptance acceptance processing for permitting medium acceptance.

Images