JP5794280B2 - Game machine - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine.

For example, a slot machine is known as a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of circulating bodies and then stopping the circulating bodies (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

For example, in a game using a slot machine, as is well known, when a player bets a medal and operates a start lever, the game starts, and when the start lever is operated by internal processing, the game is won. It is determined whether or not. And after it is determined that the player has won, if the player operates the stop button and the rotation of each orbiting body stops, and the winning symbols (pictures) are aligned, medals will be paid out, or a special advantage that is advantageous to the player. It is a game that shifts to a game, and it is possible to enjoy a wide variety of games.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-174739

As illustrated above, for example, the circulating body accelerates in conjunction with the operation of the start lever, etc., then moves to a constant speed rotation, and repeats operations such as stopping in conjunction with the operation of the stop button, etc. As a driving motor suitable for driving a rotating body , a two-phase stepping motor, a four-phase stepping motor, a five-phase stepping motor, and the like are known.

The invention proposes a possible gaming machine performs an appropriate rotation in the gaming machine using the scan stepping motor as exemplified above.

The present invention
A orbital body with a pattern,
A stepping motor for rotating the rotating body;
Control means for executing drive control processing for driving and controlling the stepping motor;
In a gaming machine that plays a game by stopping the circuit body after rotating the circuit body,
The drive control process for controlling the driving of the stepping motor is executed as part of a timer interrupt process periodically executed by the control means,
The timer interrupt process includes a predetermined indefinite time control process in which the processing time varies,
The drive control process for controlling the driving of the stepping motor is a process executed before the predetermined indefinite time control process in the timer interrupt process, and outputs an excitation signal for controlling the driving of the stepping motor. Processing,
The control means executes a process of changing the excitation signal and outputting the changed excitation signal as a drive control process for driving and controlling the stepping motor when rotating the rotating body at a constant speed. Thus, each time the drive control process for driving and controlling the stepping motor is executed, the excitation state of the stepping motor can be sequentially changed,
The control means outputs the excitation signal to the initial excitation phase in a specific period corresponding to a plurality of excitation signal output timings as a drive control process for driving and controlling the stepping motor when starting the rotation of the rotating body. The process is configured to be executable.

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a suitable rotation in the gaming machine using the scan stepping motor.

It is a perspective view in the state where the front door was closed when the gaming machine according to the present invention was applied to a slot machine. It is a perspective view of the slot machine in a state where the front door is opened. It is a circuit block diagram of a slot machine. It is an assembly perspective view of a left turn cylinder. It is an expanded view of the seal wound around the left rotating drum. It is a figure which shows the operation principle of a stepping motor. It is a connection diagram which shows the drive system of a stepping motor (the 1). It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of an excitation process of 1-2 phase excitation. It is a figure which shows the drive characteristic of a stepping motor. It is a figure which shows the relationship of the excitation phase at the time of an acceleration process. It is a figure which shows the relationship at the time of the stop process of a rotating drum. It is a figure which shows embodiment of a brake voltage (the 1). It is a connection diagram which shows the drive system of a stepping motor (the 2). It is a figure which shows embodiment of a brake voltage (the 2). It is a flowchart which shows the example of a power-on process. It is a flowchart of a main flow. It is a flowchart of a lottery processing routine. It is a flowchart of a spinning cylinder control processing routine. It is a flowchart of a medal payout processing routine. It is a flowchart of a special state processing routine. It is a flowchart of a bonus symbol / replay symbol determination processing routine.

  First, invention groups that can be extracted from the present embodiment are shown as means n (n = 1, 2, 3,...), And will be described while showing effects and the like as necessary. In the following, for ease of understanding, the corresponding configuration in the present embodiment is appropriately shown in parentheses, but is not limited to the specific configuration shown in parentheses.

(Means 1) “In a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping these spinning cylinders,
A stepping motor having a multi-phase structure is used as a drive motor for the above-described drum,
A gaming machine characterized in that when the drive motor is stopped, an excitation phase other than all phases is used, and a brake voltage lower than the drive voltage applied to the drive motor is applied. "
According to this gaming machine, at the time of the rotation stop mode, that is, at the time of stopping the drive motor for the rotation, the brake is applied using an excitation phase other than all phases (excitation phase that is one phase or more and excludes all phases) The brake voltage used at that time is usually lower than the drive voltage applied to the drive motor. As a result, the rotating drum can be stopped smoothly. In combination with the brake voltage, an excitation phase other than all phases (in the case of a two-phase stepping motor, an excitation phase equal to or less than three-phase excitation) is used, so a smoother stop can be realized.

(Means 2) “A gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein when the rotating drum drive motor is stopped, the multi-phase simultaneous excitation mode of two or more phases is switched.”
According to this gaming machine, when the rotating motor is stopped, that is, when the driving motor is stopped with respect to the rotating cylinder, the mode is switched to the multiphase simultaneous excitation mode, and a voltage lower than the driving voltage normally applied to the driving motor is applied as a brake voltage. Since an appropriate braking force is applied to the drive motor, the drive motor can be stopped more naturally and smoothly. Since an unnatural rotation stop does not occur every time the brake is applied, the stop state can be stably realized, so that the concentration power in the game is increased and the player's interest can be enhanced. The multi-phase simultaneous excitation mode refers to a mode (two-phase simultaneous excitation or three-phase simultaneous excitation mode) in which a two-phase stepping motor is simultaneously excited with less than four phases, that is, three or less phases.

(Means 3) “A gaming machine in which the brake voltage is applied from the same time as the timing at which the drive motor is stopped in the means 1”.
According to this gaming machine, by applying a brake at the same time as the timing of stopping the drive motor, it is possible to stop the spinning cylinder at the target spinning cylinder rotation position. The motor stop timing is either a stop timing that arrives after a lapse of a predetermined time from when the stop button is pressed, or a forced stop timing that comes even if the stop button is not pressed.

(Means 4) “A gaming machine, wherein the brake voltage is applied from a time slightly ahead of the timing at which the drive motor is stopped in the means 1.”
According to this gaming machine, since the drive motor is braked slightly ahead of the target rotation stop timing, this rotation can be stopped more accurately at the stop position of the target symbol. .

(Means 5) “In the game 1, the brake voltage for the drive motor is a drive voltage used inside the gaming machine, and a voltage lower than the drive voltage for the drive motor is used. Machine. "
If the output voltage (driving voltage) of the power supply unit provided in the gaming machine can be used as the brake voltage, it is not necessary to add a power supply unit dedicated to the brake voltage, which is a good measure in terms of cost and equipment.

(Means 6) “A gaming machine characterized in that, in the means 5, the brake voltage is set to a minimum driving voltage used in the gaming machine.”
The driving voltage used in the gaming machine is a stabilized voltage having a maximum of 24 volts and a minimum (minimum) of 5 volts in this example. Depending on the model, a voltage other than this may be used, but in any case, the minimum drive voltage prepared in the device is used as the brake voltage. For example, when the minimum driving voltage of the target gaming machine is about 5 volts, this voltage is used as a brake voltage.

  When the normal motor drive voltage applied to the drive motor is about 24 volts, a more stable and smooth rotation stop can be realized by using such a minimum drive voltage as a brake voltage as described later.

(Means 7) “A gaming machine characterized in that, in the means 5, the brake voltage uses an output voltage that is approximately ½ or less of the drive voltage.”
According to this gaming machine, by setting the brake voltage to an output voltage (drive voltage) that is approximately half or less of the drive voltage, it is possible to obtain an appropriate brake force, thereby stopping the rotating drum in an unnatural state. Nothing will happen. When 24 volts (stabilized voltage) is used as the drive voltage, for example, a voltage of 15 volts or less can be set as the brake voltage. In other words, the brake voltage is not limited to the lowest drive voltage among them when the drive voltage used in the gaming machine is used together.

  When there is a port that outputs 12 volts or 5 volts in addition to 24 volts as a drive voltage output from the power supply unit equipped in the gaming machine, the output voltage of 12 volts can be used as a brake voltage as it is. Incidentally, a drive voltage of 12 volts is used for lighting an LED lamp, and a voltage of 10 volts is output from the power supply unit as other drive voltages. A voltage of 10 volts is used as a voltage for driving an audio device such as a speaker, and the above-mentioned voltage of 5 volts is used as a drive voltage for a control circuit including a CPU.

(Means 8) “A gaming machine according to means 5, wherein the brake voltage is approximately 1/6 or less of the drive voltage.”
According to this gaming machine, the brake voltage can be set to approximately half or less of the drive voltage, particularly approximately one sixth of the drive voltage. Although it is slightly weaker than the case where the brake voltage is set to half of the drive voltage in (Means 7), it is possible to obtain the optimum brake force when the brake voltage is 1/6 or less of the drive voltage according to the experiment. As a result, the rotating drum does not stop in an unnatural state, and a smoother rotation stop can be realized. As described above, when an output voltage other than 12 volts output from the power supply unit is used as the drive voltage, an output voltage of 5 volts can be set as the optimum brake voltage as described above.

(Means 9) “A gaming machine characterized in that, in the means 1, the brake voltage is changed stepwise.”
According to this gaming machine, by reducing the brake voltage stepwise, the brake is initially applied with a strong braking force, and the rotating force can be stopped more smoothly by gradually decreasing the braking force. .

(Means 10) A game characterized in that in the means 9, the brake voltage is divided into two stages: a first brake voltage lower than the drive voltage and a second brake voltage lower than the first brake voltage. Machine. "
Applying a brake with a strong braking force (first braking force) by the first braking voltage, and applying a braking with a braking force weaker than the first braking force (second braking force) in the next stage, A smoother rotation stop can be realized.

(Means 11) A gaming machine characterized in that, in the means 9, the first brake voltage is approximately ½ or less of the drive voltage, and the second brake voltage is approximately ６ of the drive voltage. . "
According to this gaming machine, the first brake voltage is reduced to approximately half of the drive voltage, and the second brake voltage is decreased to approximately 1/6 of the drive voltage, so that the appropriate brake force is gradually reduced. And can achieve a smooth rotation stop. When 24 volts (stabilized voltage) is used as the driving voltage, 12 volts is appropriate for the first brake voltage, and 5 volts is appropriate for the second brake voltage. Any of these brake voltages can use the output voltage from the power supply unit as it is.

(Means 12) “In means 1, when the stepping motor is a two-phase stepping motor based on the 1-2 phase excitation method, the brake drum is stopped using an excitation phase other than the four phases in the brake mode. A gaming machine that features. "
According to this gaming machine, the brake is applied using an excitation phase that is one or more phases and excluding all phases, so that a strong braking force is generated to some extent, so that the rotating cylinder can be rapidly stopped.

(Means 13) “A gaming machine characterized in that the brake is applied in the means 12 by simultaneous multi-phase excitation other than all phases.”
When a 1-2 phase stepping motor using the 1-2 phase excitation method is used, if the brake is applied by switching to a multiphase simultaneous excitation mode other than all phases (4 phases), a smoother rotation stop can be realized.

(Means 14) “A gaming machine characterized in that, in the spinning cylinder stop mode in the means 13, the spinning cylinder is braked by three-phase simultaneous excitation or two-phase simultaneous excitation.”
According to this gaming machine, the three-phase simultaneous excitation or the two-phase simultaneous excitation generates a stronger braking force than the four-phase simultaneous excitation. Since the brake voltage is lower than the drive voltage, it is possible to prevent an unnatural way of stopping such as stopping with vibration. By using three-phase simultaneous excitation or two-phase simultaneous excitation, the stop position of the rotating drum can also be specified.

(Means 15) “In any one of means 1 to 14, the gaming machine is a pachinko machine.”
Here, the pachinko machine has an operation handle as its basic configuration, and in accordance with the operation of the operation handle, a game ball is launched into a predetermined game area, and the game ball is arranged at a predetermined position in the game area. The display of the symbols on the display device is started as a prerequisite to winning the mouth, and during the occurrence of the special gaming state, the winning mouth arranged at a predetermined position in the gaming area is displayed. The gaming machine is configured such that a game ball can be won by being released in a predetermined manner, and a valuable value corresponding to the number of winnings is given. The valuable value can be returned as a prize sphere, or valuable information corresponding to the valuable value can be written using a card-like recording medium such as a magnetic card.

  There are two types of pachinko machines: a special game state (big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game balls, and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes game balls. There are different types of gaming modes.

(Means 16) “In any one of means 1 to 14, the gaming machine is a slot machine.”
Here, as a basic configuration of the slot machine, the slot machine is provided with a display device for confirming and displaying a symbol after a symbol string composed of a plurality of symbols for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state is displayed. The variation of the symbol is started due to the operation of the operation means (for example, the operation lever), and the variation of the symbol is stopped due to the operation of the operation means for the stop (for example, the stop button) or after a predetermined time has passed. This is a gaming machine provided with special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player on the condition that the determined symbol at the time of stoppage is a specific symbol.

  The above-described gaming machines include a special gaming state (a jackpot state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of gaming media, and a normal gaming state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the gaming media. There are two types of game modes. Typical examples of game media used in this type of gaming machine include coins and medals.

(Means 17) “In any one of means 1 to 14, the gaming machine is a gaming machine in which a pachinko machine and a slot machine are fused.”
Such a gaming machine (multi-function machine) includes a display device that, as its basic configuration, displays a fixed symbol after variably displaying a symbol string composed of a plurality of identification information for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state. Furthermore, the variation of the symbol is started due to the operation of the starting operation means such as the operation lever, and the design is caused by the operation of the stopping operation means such as the stop button or when a predetermined time elapses. Special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player on the condition that the change of the game is stopped and the fixed symbol at the time of stoppage is a specific symbol, and using a game ball as a game medium The game machine is configured to require a predetermined number of game balls at the start of fluctuations in the identification information and to pay out many game balls when a special game state occurs.

  The above-described gaming machines include a special gaming state (a big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of gaming balls, and a normal gaming state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the gaming balls. There are two types of game modes.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described using examples. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slot machine 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention with the front door closed, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the slot machine 10 with the front door opened, and FIG. It is a block diagram which illustrates a general connection.

  In the slot machine 10 applied as this embodiment, the front door 12 is rotatably attached to the main body 11 with the left side as a rotation axis, and the front door 12 is locked by the locking device 20 when the front door 12 is closed. .

  The front door 12 has an upper lamp 13 that lights or flashes as the game progresses, and speakers 14 and 14 that sound various sound effects as the game progresses and inform the player of the gaming state. The upper plate 15 on which the model name and the like are displayed, the game panel 30 through which the left turn cylinder L, the middle turn cylinder M, and the right turn cylinder R can be seen through, and various buttons 51, 53 to 56 near the middle stage. , 61 to 63, the operation unit 50 provided with the start lever 52 and the medal insertion slot 57, the lower plate 16 on which the model name, characters related to the game, and the like are displayed, and the medal paid out from the medal payout opening 17. A receiving medal tray 18 is mounted. Inside the main body of the slot machine 10, a power supply box 85 (see FIG. 3) and a control device 70 (see FIG. 3) are mounted.

  The gaming panel 30 is disposed on the left side of the exposure windows 31L, 31M, and 31R, and the exposure window 31L that exposes the outside of the left and right rotation cylinders L, M, and R when the rotation and rotation of the right rotation cylinder L are stopped or rotating. Five bet lamps 32, 33, 33, 34, 34, and three display units (credit number display unit 35, game number display unit 36, and payout number) disposed below the exposure windows 31L, 31M, 31R Display unit 37).

  Each of the exposure windows 31L, 31M, 31R is formed in a size capable of exposing three symbols vertically for each of the stopped left turn cylinder L, middle turn cylinder M, and right turn cylinder R. For this reason, 3 × 3 = 9 (symbol) is displayed to the player in a state where each of the spinning cylinders L, M, R is stopped. Then, a total of five lines including the upper, middle, and lower horizontal lines and a pair of diagonal lines indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 1 are appropriately activated according to the number of medals bet. The exposure windows 31L, 31M, and 31R can be combined into a single exposure window.

  An activated line is referred to as an “effective line”, and a combination where a predetermined award is assigned to the active line is referred to as a “winning”. However, when “cherry” is present in the symbol on the active line among the three symbols of the stopped left turning cylinder L, this is also referred to as “winning”.

  Since the left rotating cylinder L, the middle rotating cylinder M, and the right rotating cylinder R are configured by similar units, the left rotating cylinder L will be described as an example here with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. 4 is an assembly perspective view of the left turn cylinder L, and FIG. 5 is a development view of the seal 47 wound around the left turn cylinder L. FIG. The left-handed drum L is obtained by winding a seal 47 in which 21 symbols (identification elements) are drawn at equal intervals around the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical skeleton member 40 forming a cylindrical cage. 40 boss portions 41 are attached to a drive shaft of a left-turn cylinder stepping motor 71L via a disk-like boss reinforcing plate 42.

  The left-turn cylinder stepping motor 71L is fixed to a motor plate 43 suspended in the body 11 shown in FIG. 2 by screws 43a. The motor plate 43 has a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element. A rotating index photosensor (rotational position detection sensor) 44 is provided. A pair of photosensors (not shown) constituting the rotating index sensor 44 are arranged above and below the predetermined distance.

  A base end portion 45b of a sensor cut bun 45 extending in the radial direction is fixed to the boss reinforcing plate 42 integrated with the left rotating drum L with a screw 45c. The tip 45a of the sensor cut bun 45 is bent by approximately 90 ° and is aligned so that it can pass through the gap between both elements of the rotating index photosensor 44. Then, every time the left cylinder L makes one rotation, the cylinder index photo sensor 44 detects the passage of the tip 45a of the sensor cut bang 45, and outputs a detection signal to the controller 70 each time it is detected. Based on this detection signal, the angular position of the left cylinder L can be confirmed and corrected every rotation. In addition, the seal | sticker 47 wound around each spinning cylinder uses what differs in the order and the generation frequency of the pattern drawn on each.

  The stepping motor 71L is set so that the left cylinder L makes one round by a drive signal (excitation signal) of 504 pulses, and the rotational position is controlled by this pulse. In other words, since the 21 symbols are sequentially exposed from the exposure window 31L when the left cylinder L makes one round, 24 pulses (= 504 pulses / 21 symbols) are required to switch from one symbol to the next. Based on the number of pulses from when the detection signal of the rotating index photosensor 44 is output, it is possible to recognize which symbol is exposed from the exposure window 31L or to expose an arbitrary symbol from the exposure window 31L. Can do.

  The stepping motor 71 (71L, 71M, 71R) illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a motor driver 712, a voltage switching unit 713, and the like as described later. The voltage switching means 713 is controlled based on a switching control signal from the input / output processing circuit 80 that is output when the rotating cylinder is stopped.

  FIG. 6 is a connection diagram showing the operation principle of the stepping motor 71L. In this embodiment, a hybrid (HB) type two-phase stepping motor employing a 1-2 phase excitation method is used as the stepping motor 71L. The stepping motor is not limited to a hybrid type or two-phase, and various stepping motors such as a four-phase or five-phase stepping motor can be used.

  As is well known, the hybrid type stepping motor 71L includes a rotor (rotor) 60 disposed in the center and first to fourth poles 601 to 604 disposed around the rotor 60.

  The rotor 60 includes a front rotor 60a magnetized at the N pole and a back rotor 60b magnetized at the S pole, and teeth (small teeth) and teeth provided around the front rotor 60a. In between, it is attached to the rotating shaft in a state of being relatively shifted by ½ pitch so that the teeth provided around the back rotor 60b are positioned. A cylindrical magnet (not shown) is attached between the front rotor 60a and the back rotor 60b.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the exciting coils L0 and L2 are bifilar wound around the first and third poles 601 and 602, and the winding end of the exciting coil L0 and the winding start of the exciting coil L2 are connected. A predetermined DC voltage is applied to the terminal 714 through the terminal 714. Details will be described later. Similarly, the exciting coils L1 and L3 are bifilar wound on the second and fourth poles 602 and 604, and the winding end of the exciting coil L1 and the winding starting end of the exciting coil L3 are connected to each other. A voltage is applied.

  Here, as described above, an excitation signal is applied to the first excitation coil L0 to excite the first pole 601 to the S pole, and the phase exemplified by the third pole 603 to the N pole is the A phase. The excitation signal is applied to the excitation coil L2 of No. 3 to excite the first pole 601 to the N pole, the phase for exciting the third pole 603 to the S pole is set to the A-phase, and further to the second excitation coil L1. The excitation signal is applied to excite the second pole 602 to the S pole, the phase for exciting the fourth pole 604 to the N pole is set to the B phase, and the excitation signal is applied to the fourth excitation coil L3. The phase in which the 2-pole 602 is excited to the N pole and the fourth pole 604 is excited to the S pole is referred to as a B-phase.

  In the case of the one-phase excitation drive method, the rotor 60 is rotationally driven clockwise (or counterclockwise) by sequentially applying excitation signals to the A-phase, B-phase, A-phase and B-phase. Can do.

  That is, for example, when the A phase is first energized, the protrusion of the first pole 601 that is the S pole and the teeth of the front rotor 60a, the protrusion of the third pole 603 that is the N pole, and the teeth of the back rotor 60b are respectively When facing each other by the attractive force and then energizing the B phase, the protrusion of the second pole 602 and the teeth of the front rotor 60a that are the S pole, the protrusion of the fourth pole 604 that is the N pole and the teeth of the back rotor 60b Facing each other by suction force, and then energizing the A-phase, the protrusion of the first pole 601 and the teeth of the back rotor 60b that become the N pole, the protrusion of the third pole 603 that becomes the S pole and the front side When the teeth of the rotor 60a face each other by a suction force and then the B-phase is energized, the protrusion of the second pole 602 that becomes the N pole, the teeth of the back rotor 60b, and the fourth pole 604 that becomes the S pole Protrusion and front rotor 60 And teeth facing the respective suction force. By exciting in this order, the rotor 60 rotates clockwise in FIG. 6 (one-phase excitation drive).

  On the other hand, in this embodiment, 1-2 phase excitation drive that alternately performs 1-phase excitation and 2-phase excitation is employed. In the 1-2 phase excitation drive, excitation is performed according to the following excitation sequences (excitation order) (1) to (8).

  That is, as shown in FIG. 8, in the 1-2 phase excitation drive, (1) the A phase is energized (1 phase excitation), and (2) both the A phase and the B phase are energized (2 phase excitation). Similarly, (3) energize the B phase, (4) energize both the B phase and the A-phase, (5) energize the A-phase, and (6) both the A-phase and the B-phase. In this drive system, (7) the B-phase is energized, (8) both the B-phase and the A phase are energized, and then the process returns to (1). By adopting this 1-2 phase excitation drive, the angle change per step is about 0.714 ° per step of 1 phase excitation drive.

  The drive signals for the stepping motors 71L, 71M, 71R are given to the motor driver 712 as excitation phase pattern data (hereinafter referred to as excitation data) for determining the excitation phase as shown in FIG. This excitation data is stored in the RAM 76 shown in FIG. 3, and is output to the input / output processing circuit 80 based on a command from the CPU 72 by a timer interruption process within a later-described cylinder control process routine. The excitation phase for the stepping motor 71 (71L, 71M, 71R) is determined by this excitation data, and an excitation signal (current) is supplied to the excitation phase.

  Different voltages are supplied to the above-described exciting coils L0 to L3 when the motor is driven and when the rotating cylinder is stopped when the brake is applied. In both cases of normal motor driving (acceleration and constant speed), a stabilized DC voltage of 24 volts is applied as the drive voltage in this example. On the other hand, when the rotating cylinder is stopped, that is, when the stepping motor 71 is braked, a voltage lower than the drive voltage (hereinafter referred to as a brake voltage) is applied.

  As a brake voltage value lower than the normal drive voltage, a drive voltage of 1/2 or less is preferable. As the brake voltage, an independently set voltage can be used, or various drive voltages used inside the apparatus main body, that is, the gaming machine main body, can be used as the brake voltage. In this embodiment, the latter is exemplified. When the driving voltage used in the gaming machine is used in combination, the lowest driving voltage used in the gaming machine can be set as the brake voltage. In the embodiment, the case where the power supply unit 85 capable of outputting a stabilized voltage having a maximum value of 24 volts and a minimum value of 5 volts is illustrated.

  Therefore, among the plurality of output voltages having different values output from the power supply unit 85 as shown in FIG. 7, in this example, stabilized DC voltages of 24 volts and 5 volts are supplied to the voltage switching means 713, respectively. The voltage selected by the means 713 is applied to each exciting coil L0 to L3 as a drive voltage or a brake voltage. Which voltage is selected at what timing will be described later. Incidentally, the voltage of 5 volts is used as a drive voltage for the control circuit 70 shown in FIG. 3, or is used as a drive voltage for the audio or display control circuits 84 and 94.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the single bet lamp 32 is disposed on the left side of the middle horizontal line, and the two bet lamps 33 and 33 are disposed on the left side of the upper horizontal line and the lower horizontal line. The lamps 34 are arranged on the left side of the pair of diagonal lines. The timing when each of the bet lamps 32, 33, 33, 34, 34 is turned on will be described in the procedure for betting medals described later.

  The credit number display unit 35 displays the number stored in the slot machine when the credit function described later is valid. The game number display unit 36, for example, how many times JAC (jack) at the time of a big bonus. The number of times that the JAC symbol has been established and the number of remaining JAC symbols during the JAC game are displayed. The payout number display portion 37 is paid out when the same symbol is won on the active line. The number of sheets is displayed.

  The operation unit 50 includes a credit button 51, a start lever 52, a left-turn cylinder stop button 53, a middle-turn cylinder stop button 54, a right-turn cylinder stop button 55, a return button 56, A medal slot 57, a one-bed bet button 61, a two-bed bet button 62, and a max bet button 63 are provided.

  The credit button 51 is configured to be a toggle type that is turned on when pressed once, turned off when pressed once, and switched on / off every time the push button is operated. When the credit button 51 is in the off state, the display of the credit number display unit 35 disappears, and medals inserted from the medal insertion slot 57 and medals paid out when winning are paid out from the medal payout opening 17 to the medal tray 18. In addition, when the credit button 51 is in the on state, a number (“0” when it is turned off from on) is displayed on the credit number display portion 35, and the credit function is enabled. Here, the credit function is a function of storing the number of coins inserted from the medal slot 57 in the slot machine when the number of max bets exceeds three (here, three). Is displayed on the credit number display section 35. When one or more credits are displayed on the credit number display unit 35 and the credit button 51 is pressed to turn it off, the displayed number of medals are paid out from the medal payout opening 17 to the medal tray 18 and the medals are paid out. Each time the credit number display unit 35 is decremented, the value is decremented by one and the display disappears after the value becomes zero.

  The start lever 52 is a lever that is pushed by the hand when the player starts the game, and automatically returns to the original position after the hand is released. When the start lever 52 is operated while a medal is bet, the start switch 52a (see FIG. 3) is turned on and a start command is generated, and the spinning cylinders L, M, and R are simultaneously moved by the start command. Start spinning.

  The stop button 53 for the left turning cylinder, the stop button 54 for the middle turning cylinder, and the stop button 55 for the right turning case are used to stop the rotating left turning cylinder L, middle turning cylinder M, and right turning cylinder R, respectively. Is a button for pressing with a finger, and when each of the buttons 53, 54, 55 is pressed, a stop switch 53a for the left turning cylinder, a stop switch 54a for the middle rotation cylinder, and a stop switch 55a for the right rotation cylinder (FIG. 3) is turned on and a stop command is generated. Each stop button 53, 54, 55 is turned on by a lamp (not shown) while each cylinder rotates at a constant speed, and is turned off when the rotation stops.

  The return button 56 is a button that is pressed when a medal inserted into the medal slot 57 is jammed. When this button is pressed, the jammed medal is returned from the medal payout opening 17. The medal insertion port 57 is an entrance for inserting medals, and the inserted medals enter either the storage passage 91 leading to the hopper 86 provided inside or the payout passage 92 leading to the medal payout outlet 17. Led. Switching between the storage passage 91 and the payout passage 92 is performed by a medal passage switching solenoid 66.

  Each bet button 61, 62, 63 is a button for determining the number of medals to bet in the game before the game is started. Here, a procedure for betting medals will be described. When the credit button 51 is in the off state (when the credit number display unit 35 is turned off), or when the credit button 51 is in the on state and the stored number and the bet number are zero (“0” is displayed in the credit number display unit 35) When a medal is inserted from the medal insertion slot 57 when it is displayed, a bet is placed.

  That is, when the first medal is inserted into the medal insertion slot 57, the first bet lamp 32 is turned on, and the corresponding middle horizontal line becomes the active line, and the second medal is inserted into the medal insertion slot 57. When inserted, the two-bet lamps 33 and 33 are turned on, and a total of three lines including the upper horizontal line and the lower horizontal line corresponding thereto become effective lines, and the third medal is inserted into the medal insertion slot 57. When inserted, the three-bed bet lamps 34 and 34 are turned on, and a total of five lines including a pair of diagonal lines corresponding thereto become effective lines.

  When four or more medals are inserted into the medal insertion slot 57, when the credit button 51 is off, that is, when the credit function is not effective, the medal is returned from the medal payout opening 17 to the medal tray 18, but the credit button 51 When is turned on, that is, when the credit function is valid, the number of medals inserted is stored in the slot machine with the valid line as it is, and the stored number is displayed on the credit number display section 35. The upper limit of the number of credits is determined (for example, 50), and when more medals are inserted, the medal payout port 17 returns the medal to the medal tray 18.

  When 3 or more medals are stored, when the 1-bet button 61 is pressed, the numerical value displayed on the credit number display unit 35 is decremented by 1 and the 1-bet lamp 32 is lit to turn the middle stage. When the horizontal line becomes an active line and the two-bet button 62 is pressed, the numerical value displayed in the credit amount display section 35 is decremented by two and the one-bet lamp 32 and the two-bet lamps 33 and 33 are displayed. Lights up to activate a total of three lines, and when the maximum bet button 63 is pressed, the numerical value displayed in the credit number display section 35 is decremented by three and all bet lamps 32, 33, 33, 34 are displayed. , 34 are lit and a total of five active lines are activated.

  On the other hand, when two medals are stored, if the one-bet button 61 or the two-bet button 62 is pressed, the operation is the same as before, but if the maximum bet button 63 is pressed, the two-bet button 62 is When the single bet button 61 is pressed when only one medal is stored, the two bet button 62 and the maximum bet button 63 are operated. When pressed, the operation is the same as when the single bet button 61 is pressed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the power box 85 includes a power switch 81, a reset switch 82, a setting key insertion hole 83, and the like. When the power switch 81 is turned on, it supplies power to each unit including the CPU 72. When the power switch 81 is turned on while the reset switch 82 is on, the contents of the RAM 76 are reset, and when it is simply turned on, the error state is reset. By inserting a setting key (not shown) into the setting key insertion hole 83, the setting key switch 83a (see FIG. 3) is turned on, and the setting state of the slot machine 10 can be changed from “setting 1” to “setting 6”.

  The hopper 86 includes an auxiliary tank 87 that stores medals, and a payout device 88 that pays out medals in the auxiliary tank 87 to the medal payout outlet 17 through an opening 93 that leads to a payout passage 92. The payout device 88 sends out medals to the opening 93 while rotating a medal sending rotary plate (not shown) by a hopper drive motor 65 (see FIG. 3).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 70 is configured as a microcomputer centering on a CPU 72, and a power supply unit (power supply box) 85 that supplies power to the CPU 72 and a clock circuit 78 that outputs a rectangular wave of a predetermined frequency. Are connected to each other by a bus 79, a ROM 74 for storing a processing program, a RAM 76 for temporarily storing data, and an input / output processing circuit 80.

  The counter 77 is used to detect the rotation state of the spinning cylinders L, M, and R. The counter 77 is reset every rotation, incremented every 24 steps, and incremented every step. The symbol offset counter is reset in 24 steps.

  The control device 70 includes a detection signal from the cylinder index photo sensor 44, a reset signal from the reset switch 82, an on / off signal from the setting key switch 83a, and the bet switches 61a and 62a linked to the bet buttons 61, 62, and 63. , 63a, a bet signal from the credit switch 51 linked to the credit button 51, a start command signal from the start switch 52a linked to the start lever 52, left, middle and right turn stop buttons 53, 54, 55, stop command signals from the left, middle and right turn cylinder stop switches 53a, 54a and 55a, detection signals from the payout sensor 64 which detects medals paid out from the hopper 86, left turn cylinder L and middle turn cylinder M, Stepping motor 7 for driving left, middle and right turn cylinders 7 L, 71M, such as the position detection signal from the 71R is input through the input-output processing circuit 80.

  From the control device 70, a lighting signal to the upper lamp 13 and the 1 to 3 bet lamps 32, 33, 34, a display signal to the credit number display unit 35, the game number display unit 36 and the payout number display unit 37, a payout Drive signal to the hopper drive motor 65 that causes the device 88 to perform a payout operation, to the left, middle, and right turn cylinder stepping motors 71L, 71M, and 71R that drive the left turn cylinder L, middle turn cylinder M, and right turn cylinder R Control signal, a drive signal to the medal passage switching solenoid 66 for controlling whether the medal inserted into the medal insertion slot 57 is guided to the hopper 86 or the medal payout outlet 17, and a sound effect generated from the speaker 14 is controlled. A command signal to the audio control device 84, a command signal to the display control device 94 for controlling the display content of the liquid crystal display 15, and the like are output via the input / output processing circuit 80.The control device 70 includes various counters such as a credit counter that counts the number of credits.

  By the way, when the stepping motor 71 (71L, 71M, 71R) described above is used as the rotating drum driving motor of the slot machine, the driving characteristics shown in FIG. 9 are required. This driving characteristic is that the stepping motor 71 starts rotating after the start button (which may be a start operation lever) is operated and reaches a constant constant speed rotation, a constant speed rotation period Tb, and a stop. In relation to the operation of the buttons 53 to 55, the operation is divided into a stop period Tc including a predetermined slip (slip used for symbol adjustment). While there is no restriction on how much the acceleration period Ta must be, when the stop buttons 53 to 55 are not operated, the time obtained by adding the constant speed period Tb to the acceleration period Ta must be 30 seconds or more. There is a regulation that must be done. During the stop period Tc, it is required to fix the excitation phase for the drive motor within about 190 msec at the maximum after the stop buttons 53 to 55 are operated.

  In the acceleration period Ta, it is necessary to shift to the constant speed rotation state as soon as possible. For this purpose, an interruption to the excitation phase for the stepping motor 71 (switching from the excitation phase of 1-phase excitation to 2-phase excitation and 2) It is sufficient to speed up the switching from phase excitation to one-phase excitation), but doing so may promote step-out and rotational instability. Therefore, it is necessary to perform the optimum interrupt processing that realizes the shortest acceleration processing without causing step-out or rotation instability.

  When applying the excitation signal to the excitation coil by the interrupt process, it is necessary to set an appropriate interrupt timing for the excitation phase. For this purpose, particularly during the acceleration of the motor, at least until the rotational fluctuation of the rotor 60 is suppressed, It is necessary to hold the excitation state for the initial excitation phase to which the excitation signal is applied.

  Basically, consideration should be given so as to avoid as much as possible the effects of the magnitude of the rotational torque at the start of rotation and the out-of-step or rotational instability. The degree of convergence of the rotational vibration (slightly damped vibration) of the rotor 60 that occurs when the teeth of the rotor 60 are attracted to the tooth sides of the poles 601 to 604 differs depending on the attractive force generated by the initial excitation. Although it differs depending on the inertia of the rotating cylinders L, M, R, etc., according to the experiment, the rotor 60 stopped after repeating the reciprocation (cycle) in 30 msec for 5 to 6 reciprocations. To avoid this as much as possible, about 10 times the minimum interrupt timing is required. Therefore, during this period, at least the same excitation phase is fixed (held). However, as the stepping motor, a hybrid (HB) type two-phase stepping motor employing a 1-2 phase excitation method is used.

  Here, when the minimum interrupt time for the CPU 72 described above is set to 1.49 msec, the initial excitation hold time is set to 1.49 msec × 10 interrupt = 14.9 msec in this example. Of course, it may be set longer than this.

  Excitation data for the excitation signal shown in FIG. 8 is output to the motor driver 712 so that excitation is continuously performed for 10 interruption periods. Although the acceleration period is set to about 138 msec in the example of FIG. 8, the value is arbitrary.

  Even during the acceleration period from the initial excitation, the one-phase excitation and the two-phase excitation are alternately repeated. The interruption timing to the excitation phase, in other words, the phase excitation holding period is, for example, an excitation holding period as shown in FIG. Are controlled so as to be sequentially shorter. In a hybrid (HB) type two-phase stepping motor that employs a 1-2 phase excitation method as a stepping motor, the first excitation (initial excitation) is performed for 10 interrupts in the illustrated example, and therefore, phase excitation holding for 10 interrupts is performed. The second excitation is performed for 8 interrupts, and the excitation time is shortened by setting the interrupts to be gradually shortened as shown in FIG. 10, and finally the excitation phase is set at the minimum interrupt interval. Are set to interrupts that allow transition to normal 1-2 phase excitation (constant speed rotation period) in which are sequentially switched.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, when the last excitation phase in the acceleration period is two-phase excitation and this is one interrupt, the first excitation phase in the next constant speed rotation period is one-phase excitation, One interrupt is the minimum interrupt interval. In this way, the interrupt processing timing in the acceleration period is shortened sequentially as it approaches constant speed rotation, so that high-speed acceleration processing can be realized in a short time and smooth transition to constant speed rotation is possible. Become.

  The acceleration period shown in FIG. 10 is an example in which the entire acceleration period is set to approximately 138.57 msec. Therefore, when the entire acceleration period is set to a value different from this, the acceleration period depends on the value. Needless to say, interrupt processing timing is selected, and interrupt processing different from the interrupt processing shown in FIG. 10 is performed accordingly.

  As shown in FIG. 16 to be described later, the drive control process for the rotating drum is performed in a timer interrupt process routine for the CPU 72. This drive control process routine is also processed in a loop of various process routines, and all the processes are completed. Information indicating the processing result at the stage is given to the input / output processing circuit (input / output port) 80 shown in FIG. However, since these processing times due to the interrupt processing differ depending on the events that occur, the output timing of the excitation signal for driving the drum is also affected by this interrupt processing time.

  As a result, an interruption is performed every minimum interruption time (1.49 msec), and excitation signal data necessary for one-phase excitation or two-phase excitation (eg, 8-bit data (hexadecimal display) as shown in FIG. 8). Output to the motor driver 712 via the input / output processing circuit 80, the output interval cannot be made uniform. That is, the output interval slightly varies depending on the length of other interrupt processing times. This makes it impossible to achieve more stable rotation of the cylinder.

  In order to solve this, the data output interval is made uniform by outputting the data for the excitation signal to the input / output processing circuit 80 side without waiting for the processing time of other timer interruption processing. In this way, the excitation signal data can always be output to the motor driver 712 at a constant interval regardless of the amount of other interrupt processing time. As a result, the phase excitation timing becomes constant, and the rotation of the stepping motors 71L, 71M, and 71R is stabilized. Therefore, the player can be concentrated on the game by the stable rotation of the rotating cylinders L, M, and R.

  Next, stop processing (brake processing) of the rotating cylinders L, M, and R will be described. As described above, when any of the stop buttons 53, 54, and 55 is operated, the drive motors 71L, 71M, and 71R are driven at the timing at which the rotating cylinders L, M, and R stop with a predetermined pattern. The brake is applied. After the stop buttons 53 to 55 are operated, the rotating cylinders L, M, and the like are included within a specified time Ts (= 190 msec) shown in FIG. 11 including a slip process (rotation process for 1 to 4 symbols as will be described later). R must be stopped. When the state where the stop button is not pressed continues for a predetermined time or longer, the corresponding rotating cylinder is forcibly stopped by an instruction from the control unit.

  As described above, when a two-phase stepping motor is used as the rotating drum driving motor, when applying a brake to the stepping motor, four-phase simultaneous excitation (A-phase, A-phase, B-phase and B-phase) is usually performed. When these four excitation phases are excited simultaneously, they stop smoothly, but on the other hand, there is a possibility that the rotation stop position shifts because the braking force is weak. That is, the stop position accuracy is poor. As a result, the excitation phase to be excited in the next rotation cannot be specified, and the rotation of the rotor 60 occurs at the initial stage of acceleration as described above.

  In order to solve this problem, it is only necessary to perform simultaneous excitation of less than four phases instead of applying the brake by simultaneous excitation of four phases. That is, simultaneous excitation with three phases or simultaneous excitation with two phases. Of course, one-phase excitation may be used. Since simultaneous excitation with less than four phases is easier to specify than four-phase simultaneous excitation, the displacement of the rotating cylinder stop position is reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce the rotational vibration at the next rotation of the rotating drum.

  On the other hand, when such simultaneous excitation with less than four phases is performed, a new problem arises because simultaneous excitation with less than four phases increases braking force rather than four-phase simultaneous excitation. It is the vibration with respect to the rotation direction when the rotating drum is stopped. Although this vibration is a damped vibration, it is preferable that there is no such rotational vibration when the rotating cylinder is stopped. In particular, a player who is immersed in the game may be worried about even a slight rotational swing, which can greatly divert interest.

  For this reason, when it is time to apply the brake including the forcible processing for the brake, a voltage (brake voltage) set to a voltage lower than the normal drive voltage is supplied to the drive motor 71. Is done. The total braking force is optimized by reducing the braking voltage applied to the exciting coils L0 to L3 and weakening the generated electromagnetic force by the amount of braking force increased by multiphase excitation with less than four phases. By doing so, adverse effects caused by multi-phase excitation due to less than four phases are eliminated.

  The brake voltage is preferably about half or less of the drive voltage. As the brake voltage, an independently set voltage can be used, or various drive voltages used inside the apparatus main body, that is, the gaming machine main body, can be used as the brake voltage. If the output voltage generated by the power supply unit 85 shown in FIG. 3 can be used as a brake voltage as it is, it is still preferable from the viewpoint of cost reduction and simplification of the device. In the power supply unit 85, in addition to an output voltage of at least 24 volts, 12 volts used as an operating voltage for a control system such as a solenoid and a display system such as an LED lamp and an operating voltage for a processing circuit such as a control circuit 70 This is because each stabilized DC voltage of 5 volts can be obtained.

  An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In FIG. 7, voltages of 24 volts and 5 volts output from the power supply unit 85 are respectively supplied to the voltage switching means (SW) 713, and the voltage (24 volts / 5 volts) selected by the voltage switching means 713 is excited. Applied to the voltage supply terminal 714 for the coils L0-L3. Here, the drive voltage used when driving the drive motor 71 is 24 volts, and the brake voltage applied to the drive motor 71 when stopping the rotating drum is 5 volts.

  The voltage switching signal VS is supplied from the input / output processing circuit 80 to the voltage switching means 713, and voltage selection processing is performed at a desired timing. The voltage selection signal VS is generated by the CPU 72.

  FIG. 12 shows the timing of applying the brake. In FIG. 12A, when ta is the time when any of the stop buttons 53 to 55 is pressed, the time after a predetermined time has passed through symbol adjustment processing such as slipping. The brake voltage is actually applied to the drive motor 71 at tb. When the rotation of the drive motor 71 is stopped by the application of the brake voltage, the symbol designated in advance is stopped in the exposure windows 31L, 31M, 31R. As a brake mode that uses a multi-phase excitation phase, the multi-phase simultaneous excitation mode is a three-phase simultaneous excitation or a two-phase simultaneous excitation. Since the brake voltage is low, the brake can be applied by one-phase excitation.

  Here, for example, in the case of three-phase simultaneous excitation, a brake voltage that is lower than the drive voltage, approximately 1/6 in this example, is applied to a predetermined specific excitation phase, for example, the excitation coils L0, L1, and L2. Is done.

  In this way, even with a relatively low brake voltage, since the three-phase simultaneous excitation provides a relatively large attractive force, the rotor 60 with the rotating cylinders L, M, and R can be rapidly moved without rotational vibration. Can be stopped. In other words, by suppressing the brake voltage, the rotational fluctuation that is likely to occur due to simultaneous excitation of the three phases is prevented.

  According to experiments, it has been found that if the brake voltage is less than half of the drive voltage, the rotating drum is stopped without unnatural rotation fluctuation. Therefore, the brake voltage may be 12 volts or 10 volts, which is almost half of the drive voltage.

  However, further experiments confirmed that a sufficient effect can be obtained even if the brake voltage is lowered to about 5 volts. By reducing the brake voltage, extra power consumption can be improved. This is because during the game, the rotating drum is frequently rotated and stopped, so that the lowest possible brake voltage is advantageous in terms of total power. The voltage of 10 volts described above is a stabilized output voltage output from the power supply unit 85, which is a drive voltage used when driving an acoustic device such as the speaker 14.

  When the three phases are excited simultaneously, the position when the rotor is stopped is specified. Therefore, it is easy to specify the excitation phase for the next rotation, and effective for the initial rotation fluctuation due to the discontinuity of the excitation phase. Can be suppressed. By using the existing voltage as the brake voltage, there is an advantage that it can be used as it is without modifying the configuration of the existing power supply unit 85.

  After the rotation is stopped, the supply of the brake voltage is stopped, or the brake voltage is continuously applied as it is until the next rotation of the rotation. In the latter case, the stop position of the spinning cylinder can be fixed even when a large vibration is unexpectedly applied to the gaming machine.

  FIG. 12B shows an example in which the timing for applying the brake voltage is slightly preceded by Δtx from the timing for actually applying the brake (time tb). The amount of advance is set based on the relationship between the rotary drum and the inertia of the rotor 60. For example, it is advanced from 10 to several tens of milliseconds. In this way, it is possible to stop a predetermined symbol within the exposure window without causing rotational shaking. Even in the case of FIG. 12B, it can be easily understood that the same effect as in FIG. 12A can be obtained.

  The embodiment of FIG. 12 is a case where the voltage is lowered from the drive voltage to the brake voltage all at once when the brake mode is set. In other words, there is only one type of brake voltage, but this brake voltage is not particularly limited to one type. Even if the brake voltage is gradually lowered, the rotating drum can be stopped very naturally without causing any disturbing rotation.

  FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 show an embodiment in which the brake voltage is applied as a variable step voltage, particularly in two steps, while changing the brake voltage as an example. Since the voltage from the power supply unit 85 is used as it is as the brake voltage, 12 volts is used as the first brake voltage and 5 volts is used as the second brake voltage.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, three types of voltages (24 volts / 12 volts and 5 volts) generated by the power supply unit 85 are supplied to the voltage switching means (SW) 713, and the voltage from the input / output processing circuit 80 is supplied. Any voltage is selected by the switching signal VS. The selected voltage is applied to desired excitation coils L0 to L3 via the power supply terminal 714.

  Here, the voltage of 24 volts is for the drive motor 71 as described above, the voltage of 12 volts is used as the drive voltage for the medal path switching solenoid 66, and the voltage of 5 volts is controlled as described above. It is used as a drive voltage for the circuit 70 and processing circuits such as the audio or display control devices 84 and 94.

  FIG. 14 shows the timing of applying the brake. In FIG. 14A, the drive motor 71 is applied at a time tb after a lapse of a predetermined time from a time ta when any of the stop buttons 53 to 55 is pressed. In contrast, a first brake voltage (12 volts) is applied. A second brake voltage (5 volts) lower than the first brake voltage is applied after a predetermined time Δty has elapsed since the application of the first brake voltage. The predetermined time Δty is set to a very short time, for example, 10 to several tens of milliseconds. As the excitation phase, three-phase simultaneous excitation or two-phase simultaneous excitation is shown as described above.

  In this way, by applying the brake voltage in two stages, a relatively strong first brake force is obtained at first, and then a weaker second brake force is applied thereafter, so that it is very smooth. The rotor can be stopped. Of course, it is possible to realize a natural and smooth stop process without causing a rotational shake that is an obstacle to the player. Other functions and effects are the same as those in the above-described embodiment.

  FIG. 14B shows an example in which the timing for applying the first brake voltage is slightly preceded by Δty from the timing for actually applying the brake (time point tb). The amount of advance is set based on the relationship between the rotary drum and the inertia of the rotor 60. For example, it is advanced from 10 to several tens of milliseconds. Thereafter, a second brake voltage is applied. In this way, it is possible to stop a predetermined symbol within the exposure window without causing rotational shaking. It can be easily understood that the same effect as in FIG. 12A can be obtained even in the case of FIG. 14B.

  In the above-described embodiment, all are explanations when the player operates any of the stop buttons 53 to 55, but the forced stop mode when the specified time elapses without pressing these stop buttons 53 to 55. Even in this case, the same processing as described above is executed. In this case, the processing in FIG. 12A or FIG. 14A is particularly performed. In this embodiment, the brake voltage is set in consideration of the output voltage of the existing power supply unit 85. However, the brake voltage is not limited to this output voltage, and the brake voltage in the embodiment is merely an example. Therefore, any voltage can be used as the brake voltage as long as it is approximately half or less of the drive voltage. For example, the first brake voltage can be set to 15 volts and the second brake voltage can be set to 7 volts.

  Both the rotation control process and the stop control process described above are performed in the spinning cylinder control process routine S230 (see FIG. 16) as described later.

  Next, the operation of the slot machine 10 according to this embodiment will be described. When the CPU 72 of the control device 70 changes from the power-off state to the power-on state, the CPU 72 starts the power-on process shown in FIG. In this power-on process, first, it is determined whether or not the power switch 81 is turned on while the reset switch 82 of the power box 85 is pressed (step S100). When the power switch 81 is turned on while the reset switch 82 is pressed, the contents of the RAM 76 are cleared (step S110), and the power recovery flag is reset (= 0) (step S120). This power recovery flag is a flag that is set (= 1) when the power is turned off. That is, when the power is turned off, the power recovery flag is set, the state at that time is stored in the RAM 76 as power failure occurrence information, and the power failure occurrence information is held by the backup power source.

  After resetting the power recovery flag in step S120 or when the power switch 81 is turned on without pressing the reset switch 82 in step S100, a setting key (not shown) is inserted into the setting key insertion hole 83 of the power supply box 85. It is determined whether or not the setting key switch 83a has been turned on (step S130). When the setting key switch 83a is turned on, any one of six setting states ("Setting 1" to "Setting 6") can be selected by the setting switch 83a, so that it is determined which setting state has been selected. The internal processing corresponding to the selected setting state is executed (step S140). Thereafter, the contents stored in the RAM 76 are cleared (step S150), and the power recovery flag is reset (step S160).

  After resetting the power recovery flag in step S160 or when the setting key switch 83a is not turned on in step S130, it is determined whether or not the power recovery flag is set (step S170). When the power is set, a power recovery process for returning to the state before the power is turned off is performed based on the power failure occurrence information stored in the RAM 76 (step S180), and then this routine is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the power recovery flag is not set in step 170, the power supply processing routine is terminated as it is. By this power recovery process, for example, even if the power is turned off due to a power failure, the power returns to the state before the power is turned off.

[Main flow]
Next, the main flow of the slot machine 10 will be described. The CPU 72 of the control device 70 starts the main flow shown in FIG. 16 after the power-on process is completed. In this main flow, first, it is determined whether or not a medal is bet (step S200). When a medal is bet, the start lever 52 is subsequently operated to determine whether or not the start switch 52a is turned on and a start command is generated (step S210). When a start command is generated, the lottery shown in FIG. The processing routine (step S220), the spinning cylinder control processing routine (step S230) in FIG. 18, the medal payout processing routine (step S240) in FIG. 19, and the special state processing routine (step S245) in FIG. The data generated by the process is output to the input / output processing circuit 80 (step S247). However, the data processed in the spinning cylinder control processing routine S230 is output to the input / output processing circuit 80 without waiting for the results of other processing routines.

  When the output processing to the input / output processing circuit 80 ends, the process returns to step S200. On the other hand, when no medal is bet in step S200 or when no start command is issued in step S210, the process returns to step S200.

[Lottery processing routine]
In the lottery processing routine, as shown in FIG. 17, the CPU 72 of the control device 70 first determines whether or not the game is successful based on the number of medals bet, the current setting state of the slot machine 10, and the small role probability. A random number table is selected (step S250). Here, the number of medals bet is any one of 1 to 3, and a random number table is selected such that the larger the number of medals, the higher the lottery probability of the winning combination is. For example, the probability when three bets are bet is A random number table that is higher than three times the probability of betting one is selected.

  The setting state of the slot machine 10 is any one of “setting 1” to “setting 6” set by using a setting key (not shown), and the random number having the lowest winning lottery probability at the time of “setting 1”. A table is selected, and when “setting 6” is selected, a random number table having the highest winning lottery probability is selected. Furthermore, there are two types of small and high probabilities, the higher random number table is selected when the current payout rate is lower than the predetermined expected value, and the lower random number is selected when the current expected rate is higher than the predetermined expected value. A table is selected.

  Subsequently, the lottery of the winning combination is performed by comparing the random number table selected in this way with the random number latched by the random number counter when the start switch 52a is turned on this time (step S260). Then, it is determined whether or not the winning combination has been won (step S270). If the winning combination has not been won, this routine is terminated. If the winning combination has been set, the winning flag corresponding to the winning combination is set and the symbols are aligned. An effective line to be determined is determined (step S280), a slip table for turning stop control is determined and stored in the slip table storage area of the RAM 76 (step S290). Here, the slip table is different in a symbol on a predetermined effective line at a timing when the stop button is pressed and a symbol to be stopped on the effective line (a symbol corresponding to a role selected and determined in advance). In this case, the table defines how much the rotator slides so that the symbol to be stopped stops on a predetermined effective line.

[Rotating drum control processing routine]
In the rotation control process routine, as shown in FIG. 18, the CPU 72 of the control device 70 first performs a weight process (step S300). This wait process is a process of waiting (waiting) without starting the rotation of the rotating cylinder in the current game until a predetermined time (for example, 4.1 seconds) elapses from the time when the rotation of the rotating cylinder started in the previous game. It is. For this reason, even if the player bets and operates the start lever 52, the left, middle, and right turning cylinders L, M, and R may not immediately rotate. Subsequent to this weighting process, a rotating cylinder rotation process, which will be described later, is performed (step S310), and the rotating process is performed for each of the left, middle, and right rotating cylinders L, M, and R so that the driving characteristics shown in FIG. Do.

  For the initial excitation phase that performs one-phase excitation or two-phase excitation, considering the rotational fluctuation of the drive motor 71, in this embodiment, 10 interrupts are performed as shown in FIG. Two-phase excitation (or two-phase excitation and one-phase excitation) is alternately performed for a predetermined number of interruptions for acceleration. As described above, the output timing of the excitation signal data when the spinning cylinders L, M, and R are rotating at a constant speed is synchronized with the timer interrupt processing timing as described above without waiting for any processing other than the spinning cylinder control processing. Is called.

  When accelerating and rotating at a constant speed, the input / output processing circuit 80 is excited without waiting for the processing results of other processing routines (processing routines such as step S220 and step S230) shown in FIG. Excitation data for the power excitation phase is output in synchronization with the minimum interrupt unit. As the excitation data shown in FIG. 8, data stored in the RAM 76 is used.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not a stop command is generated by pressing any of the left, middle and right turn stop buttons 53, 54 and 55 (step S320). It is determined whether or not a predetermined maximum rotation time (for example, 40 seconds) has elapsed (step S330). When the maximum rotation time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S320, and when the maximum rotation time has elapsed, the rotation is in progress. Forcible stop processing (brake processing) for forcibly stopping all the cylinders is performed by switching to, for example, three-phase simultaneous excitation immediately after the two-phase excitation in a state where the brake voltage is set (step S340). When the stop process is performed, the symbol number and the value of the symbol offset counter 77 (see FIG. 3) (symbol number and symbol offset value) are stored in the RAM 76 each time.

  On the other hand, when any one of the left, middle and right turning stop buttons 53, 54 and 55 is pressed and a stop command is generated in step S320, a turning stop execution process is performed (step S350). In this rotation stop execution process, the rotation corresponding to the currently pressed stop button among the left, middle and right rotation stop buttons 53, 54 and 55 is stopped. As described above, the rotating cylinder is stopped by switching to three-phase excitation while applying a brake voltage immediately after two-phase excitation. By switching to the three-phase excitation, the stepping motors 71L, 71M, 71R corresponding to the stop buttons 53, 54, 55 are in a kind of regeneration mode.

  When a winning combination is set and the winning flag is set, the winning table is stored in the sliding table storage area of the RAM 76 so that the winning combinations are arranged on a predetermined active line as much as possible. To. For example, if the symbol “Bell” is selected on the lower horizontal line and the button is pressed at the timing when the symbol “Bell” stops on the upper horizontal line, it is rotated by two symbols. Slide to stop on a horizontal line. However, since the range that can be slid is determined in advance (for example, up to four symbols), the symbol “bell” may not stop on the lower horizontal line depending on the timing of pressing the stop button. Note that the same processing is performed in the above-described forced stop processing when the winning flag is set.

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the current stop command is the first stop command, that is, whether or not the stop button has been pressed when all three spinning cylinders are rotating (step S360). In some cases, a slip table change process is performed (step S370). In this slide table changing process, for example, it is determined whether or not a combination of combinations occurs when trying to align the combinations on the selected active line. When this occurs, the selected effective line is changed to another effective line, and the sliding table corresponding to the changed effective line is changed to exit this process.

  Here, the combination of the roles means that, for example, when the symbols “bells” are arranged on the middle horizontal line, the symbols “Cherry” appear on the lower horizontal line in the left swirl. When it occurs at the same time. The symbol “Cherry” is played when the symbols are aligned on a predetermined effective line, but the symbol “Cherry” has three patterns of the left turn cylinder L exposed from the exposure windows 31L, 31M, 31R. When one of the symbols is the symbol “cherry”, a combination is generated regardless of the symbols of the other spinning cylinders M and R. Further, the sliding table changing process may be performed other than when avoiding the combination of the combinations.

  On the other hand, when the current stop command is not the first stop command in step S360, whether or not it is the second stop command, that is, one of the three spinning cylinders L, M, and R stops and the two spinning cylinders rotate. It is determined whether or not the stop button has been pressed (step S380), and when it is the second stop command, stop eye determination processing is performed (step S390).

  In the stop eye determination process, it is determined whether or not two of the drums are aligned with a bonus symbol (for example, “7”, etc.). The sound effects and the like are generated from the speakers 14 and 14 via the control device 84, and then the process is exited. In the stop eye determination process, it may be determined whether another condition other than two bonus symbols is satisfied, or an effect other than the sound effect may be performed.

  Then, after the forced stop process in step S340, after the slip table change process in step S370, after the stop eye determination process in step S390, or in step S380, the current stop command is not the second stop command. If it is determined that the rotation of all of the left, middle, and right turn cylinders L, M, and R has been stopped (step S400), one of the left, middle, and right turn cylinders L, M, and R is determined. When the rotation is not stopped, the process returns to step S320 again. When all the rotations of the left, middle and right cylinders L, M and R are stopped, a payout determination process is performed (step S410), and this routine is finished. In the payout determination process, it is determined whether or not the winning combination is arranged on the effective line. When the winning combination is not aligned on the effective line, zero is set in the payout number storage area of the RAM 76, and the winning combination is aligned on the effective line. When it is, it is determined whether or not the winning combination matches the winning combination. If they do not match, an error is displayed by the upper lamp 13 or the like and zero is set in the payout number storage area to match. Sometimes, 15 is stored as the upper limit in the payout number storage area.

[Medal payout processing routine]
In the medal payout processing routine, as shown in FIG. 19, the CPU 72 of the control device 70 first counts the count value of the payout number counter (also referred to as the payout number) and the numerical value (scheduled payout number) stored in the payout number storage area. (Step S430). If the number of payouts does not match the planned payout number, it is determined whether or not the credit switch 51a is turned on by operating the credit button 51. (Step S435) When it is turned on, it is determined whether or not the count value of the credit counter has reached the upper limit (Step S440), and when it has not reached the upper limit, the count value of the credit count and the number of payouts are each incremented by one. (Step S450). As a result, the number of credits displayed on the credit number display unit 35 and the payout number display unit 37 are each incremented by one. On the other hand, when the credit switch 51a is off or when the count value of the credit counter reaches the upper limit, the hopper driving motor 65 is driven and a medal is issued from the hopper 86 through the medal payout port 17 by the payout device 88. While paying out to the tray 18 (step S460), the payout number is incremented by 1 according to the medal detection signal of the payout sensor 64 attached to the hopper 86 (step S470). As a result, the number of payout number display section 37 is incremented by one. Then, after the payout number is incremented by 1 in step S450 or step S470, the process returns to step S430 again. When the number of payouts matches the number of payouts in step S430, the hopper drive motor 65 is stopped (step S480), and this routine is ended. The number of payouts and the number-of-payout display unit 37 are reset when the start lever 52 is operated next time.

[Special status processing routine]
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, a special state processing routine (step S245) is included in the subroutine processing. This special state process will be described below. Prior to the description, the bonus game will be described.

  The regular bonus (hereinafter referred to as “RB”) game is composed of 23 JAC games. The JAC game is a game in which only one bet is allowed, and is a game with a very high probability that the JAC symbols (replay symbols in this case) are aligned on the active line, that is, the probability of establishment of the JAC symbols. When a JAC symbol is established in a JAC game, the maximum number (15 in this case) of medals is paid out. When the JAC symbol is established 8 times, the RB game is ended even before the JAC game reaches 12 times. On the other hand, the big bonus (hereinafter referred to as “BB”) game is composed of 30 small role games and 3 JAC ins. A small role game is a game that has a high probability of becoming a small role per unit (with symbols such as “bells” on the active line). JAC-in means entering into 12 JAC games. When JAC symbols are aligned on the active line, JAC in is established. The JAC game is the same as that of the RB game. Also, when the JAC game by the third JAC in is finished, the BB game is finished even before the small role game reaches 30 times, and before the JAC in reaches 3 times after the 30 small role games are finished. Even if there is, the BB game ends.

  In the special state process, as shown in FIG. 20, the CPU 72 of the control device 70 first determines whether or not the gaming state is a bonus state (step S500), and when the gaming state is not a bonus state, A replay symbol determination process is performed (step S524). In the bonus symbol / replay symbol determination process, as shown in FIG. 21, first, it is determined whether or not the RB has been won in the winning lottery and the RB winning flag has been set (step S700). This time, it is determined whether or not RB symbols (for example, symbol “BAR”) are aligned on the effective line (step S710). If the RB symbols are not aligned, an irregular flag is set (step S730), and this process is terminated. To do. This irregular flag is a flag for instructing to perform an irregular operation when starting the next rotation of the drum. On the other hand, when the RB symbols are aligned on the active line this time, the RB winning flag and the irregular flag are reset and the RB setting flag is set to set the RB state as one type of the bonus state, and the RB game of (Table 1). Initial setting processing is executed (step S720), and this routine is terminated.

  If the RB winning flag is not set in step S700, it is determined whether or not BB is won in the winning lottery and the BB winning flag is set (step S740). It is determined whether or not the symbols (for example, symbol “7”) are aligned (step S750). If the symbols are not aligned, the irregular flag is set (step S730), and the process is terminated. On the other hand, when the BB symbols are aligned on the active line this time, the BB winning flag and the irregular flag are reset, and the BB setting flag is set to the BB state which is a kind of bonus state. Processing is executed (step S760), and this routine is terminated.

  If the BB winning flag is not set in step S740, a replay symbol determination process is executed (step S770). That is, it is determined whether or not the replay winning flag is set in the lottery of the combination and the replay winning flag is set, and whether or not the replay symbols are aligned on the active line. When the negative determination is made, this routine is finished, and when the positive determination is made The replay winning flag is set to set the replay state, and this routine is terminated. In the replay state, the previous bet number in step S200 of the main flow is forcibly bet, but the player's medal is not consumed.

  In Table 1, the remaining small role game counter represents the remaining number of small role games (also referred to as the remaining small role game number), and the remaining JAC in counter represents the remaining number of times that JAC can be performed (both the remaining JAC in number). The remaining JAC establishment counter represents the remaining number of times that the JAC symbol can be established (also referred to as the remaining JAC establishment number), and the remaining JAC game counter represents the number of remaining JAC games (also referred to as the remaining JAC game number). . The number of remaining small role games, the number of remaining JAC ins, the number of remaining JACs established, and the number of remaining JAC games are displayed on the game number display unit 36 as appropriate. By the way, if a small role winning flag or replay winning flag is set by winning a small role or replay in the role lottery, those winning flags will not be aligned on the active line in the game. Will be reset, but if the RB winning flag or the BB winning flag is set by winning the RB or BB in the winning lottery, even if the RB symbol or BB symbol cannot be aligned on the active line in the game The winning flag will be carried over to the next time.

  Now, referring back to FIG. 20, when the gaming state is the bonus state in step S500, it is determined whether or not the bonus state is the RB state (step S502). When the gaming state is not the RB state, that is, when the small game of the BB game is in progress, Is determined to be aligned on the active line (step S504), and when the JAC symbols are aligned on the effective line, the RB state is set (coexisting with the BB state) and the RB in-BB game initial setting process in (Table 1) (Step S506), and this routine is finished. On the other hand, when the JAC symbols are not aligned on the active line in step S504, one small role game has been digested in the BB state, so the number of remaining small role games is decremented by 1 (step S508). It is determined whether or not the number of remaining small role games has become zero (step S510). If it is not zero, this routine is terminated, and if it is zero, various setting flags, BB setting flags, various counters, etc. are appropriately reset or ending processing is performed. Special game state termination processing is performed (step S526), and this routine is terminated.

  When the gaming state is the RB state in step S502, it is determined whether or not the JAC symbols are aligned on the effective line (step S512). When the JAC symbols are aligned on the effective line, the remaining JAC establishment number is decremented by 1 ( Step S514). After that, or when the JAC symbols are not aligned on the active line in step S512, one JAC game has been consumed, so the number of remaining JAC games is decremented by 1 (step S516). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not either the remaining number of JACs or the number of remaining JAC games has become zero (step S518). If none of them has become zero, that is, the JAC symbol has not yet been established eight times. If the JAC game has not been digested 12 times, the routine is terminated.

  On the other hand, if any of them is zero, that is, if the JAC symbol has been established 8 times or the JAC game has been digested 12 times, the JAC in has been digested once, so the remaining JAC in times are reduced by 1 day. In step S520, it is determined whether the number of remaining JAC ins is zero (step S522). When the number of remaining JAC ins is zero, the above-described special game state termination processing is performed (step S526), and this routine is terminated. . By the way, if the RB symbol is aligned on the active line after the RB is won in the lottery of the combination and the RB winning flag is set, the initial remaining JAC in number is 1 (see Table 1), so in step S520. It becomes zero, and an affirmative determination is always made in step S522, and the RB setting flag is reset in the special gaming state end process.

  On the other hand, when the number of remaining JAC ins is not zero in step S522, that is, when JAC in has not been digested three times in the BB state, after performing RB state end processing for resetting the RB setting flag (step S523), this time JAC When the player enters the game, the remaining small role game number is decremented by 1 (step S508) because one small role game is consumed, and then it is determined whether or not the remaining small role game number becomes zero (step S508). S510) When the number of remaining small role games is zero, the above-described special gaming state termination processing is performed (step S526), and this routine is terminated. On the other hand, when the number of remaining small role games is not zero, the small role game in the BB state has not reached 30 times, and the JAC in has not reached 3 times, so this routine is ended. At this time, the RB state is canceled, but the BB state is continued.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in a gaming machine that plays a game by rotating a plurality of spinning cylinders and then stopping the spinning cylinders, in the spinning cylinder stop mode in which the stepping motor for rotating the cylinder driving is stopped, all phases other than The excitation phase is used and the brake is applied with a brake voltage lower than the drive voltage applied to the drive motor.

  According to this, the brake is applied using an excitation phase other than all phases (excitation phase of one phase or more and excluding all phases), and the brake voltage to be used is lower than the normal motor drive voltage. Because there is, a natural stop state can be realized.

  By switching to a mode that uses multi-phase excitation phases including one-phase excitation when the rotating drum drive motor is stopped, a smoother rotation stop can be realized. When braking with two or more excitation phases, the multi-phase simultaneous excitation mode is set. Since an unnatural rotation stop does not occur every time the brake is applied, the stop state can be stably realized, so that the concentration power in the game is increased and the player's interest can be enhanced. The multi-phase simultaneous excitation mode is a mode in which two-phase stepping motors are energized simultaneously with less than four phases, that is, three phases or less (two-phase simultaneous excitation or three-phase simultaneous excitation mode). However, since the brake voltage is lower than usual, the rotation stops more smoothly than before.

  The brake voltage is applied at the same time as when the drive motor is stopped. According to this, by applying a brake at the same time as the timing at which the drive motor is stopped, the rotating cylinder can be stopped at the target rotating position.

  The brake voltage can also be applied from a time slightly ahead of the timing at which the drive motor is stopped. Since the drive motor is braked slightly ahead of the rotation position, the rotation can be stopped more accurately at the target rotation position.

  The drive voltage for the drive motor is lower than the normal motor drive voltage applied to the drive motor, and can be used in combination with the drive voltage used inside the gaming machine. When used together, it is possible to set the minimum voltage to the brake voltage.

  Specifically, an output voltage that is approximately ½ or less of the drive voltage is used as the brake voltage. By reducing the brake voltage to ½ or less, it is possible to obtain an appropriate braking force, which prevents the rotating cylinder from stopping in an unnatural state. When 24 volts (stabilized voltage) is used as the drive voltage, for example, a voltage of 15 volts or less can be set as the brake voltage. By setting the brake voltage to less than half of the drive voltage, it is possible to achieve the optimum braking force, which prevents the rotating cylinder from stopping in an unnatural state and smoother rotation stop (rapid stop) realizable.

  If the drive voltage output from the power supply unit equipped in the gaming machine can be used as a brake voltage, it will not be necessary to add a dedicated power supply unit, and it will not be necessary to modify the power supply unit. Down, simplification of the internal configuration of the device can be realized. By setting the brake voltage to less than half of the drive voltage, it is possible to achieve the optimum braking force, which prevents the rotating cylinder from stopping in an unnatural state and smoother rotation stop (rapid stop) realizable.

  The brake voltage can be changed stepwise, for example, in two steps. According to this, it is possible to stop the rotating cylinder more smoothly by applying a brake with a strong braking force at first and gradually decreasing the braking force. Even in this case, if the output voltage of the power supply unit can be used, the power supply unit can be simplified.

  When the stepping motor is a two-phase stepping motor based on the 1-2 phase excitation method, in the brake mode, the rotating cylinder is stopped by simultaneous multiphase excitation other than four phases.

  Since the excitation phase is less than four phases, three-phase simultaneous excitation or two-phase simultaneous excitation is performed. The 3-phase simultaneous excitation or 2-phase simultaneous excitation generates a stronger braking force than the 4-phase simultaneous excitation, so that the rotating cylinder can be stopped quickly, and the brake voltage at that time is higher than the drive voltage. Therefore, it is possible to prevent unnatural stopping that stops with vibration. Since the three-phase simultaneous excitation or the two-phase simultaneous excitation can be used, the stop position of the rotating drum can be specified, so that it is possible to effectively suppress rotational fluctuations such as minute vibrations at the initial stage of the next rotation. Since the brake voltage is low even with one-phase excitation, it is possible to realize a smoother rotation stop than before.

  The gaming machine described above is a pachinko machine. The pachinko machine has an operation handle as its basic configuration, and in response to the operation of the operation handle, a game ball is launched into a predetermined game area, and the game ball is awarded to an operation port arranged at a predetermined position in the game area. As a necessary condition, the display of the variation of the symbols on the display device is started, and during the occurrence of the special game state, the winning opening arranged at a predetermined position in the game area has a predetermined mode. It is a gaming machine in which a game ball can be won by being released at, and a valuable value according to the number of winnings is given.

  The valuable value can be returned as a prize sphere, or valuable information corresponding to the valuable value can be written using a card-like recording medium such as a magnetic card. There are two types of pachinko machines: a special game state (big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game balls, and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes game balls. There are different types of gaming modes.

  The gaming machine described above is a slot machine. The slot machine, as its basic configuration, is equipped with a display device that displays a fixed symbol after a symbol string consisting of a plurality of symbols for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state. As a result, the change of the symbol is started, and the change of the symbol is stopped due to the operation of the stop button or after a lapse of a predetermined time. This is a gaming machine provided with special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player as a necessary condition.

  This gaming machine includes a special game state (a big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game media and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the game media. There are different types of gaming modes. Typical examples of game media used in this type of gaming machine include coins and medals.

  The above-described gaming machine is a gaming machine in which a pachinko machine and a slot machine are fused. Such a gaming machine (multi-function machine) includes a display device that, as its basic configuration, displays a fixed symbol after variably displaying a symbol string composed of a plurality of identification information for identifying the gaming state according to the gaming state. Furthermore, the variation of the symbol is started due to the operation of the starting operation means such as the operation lever, and the design is caused by the operation of the stopping operation means such as the stop button or when a predetermined time elapses. Special game state generating means for generating a special game state advantageous to the player on the condition that the change of the game is stopped and the fixed symbol at the time of stoppage is a specific symbol, and using a game ball as a game medium The gaming machine is configured such that a predetermined number of game balls are required at the start of variation of the identification information, and a large number of game balls are paid out when a special game state occurs.

  This gaming machine includes a special game state (a big hit state) that is advantageous to a player who can acquire at least a large number of game balls, and a normal game state that is disadvantageous to a player who consumes the game balls. There are different types of gaming modes.

  The present invention is not limited to the gaming machine of the above-described embodiment, and can of course be implemented in various forms as long as it belongs to the technical scope of the present invention.

  For example, the number of spinning cylinders may be two or more, and the display device including the spinning cylinder may be a vertical type or a horizontal type. The rotating directions of the rotating cylinders do not need to be aligned in the same direction, and the present invention can be applied to a gaming machine having rotating cylinders that rotate in reverse directions. The present invention may be applied to any slot machine such as B type, C type, A type and C type composite type, B type and C type composite type, etc. Furthermore, the present invention may be applied to a multi-function machine in which a slot machine and a pachinko machine are combined, and it is obvious that the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained in any case. The stepping motor used as the drive motor is not limited to the two-phase stepping motor, and a four-phase stepping motor or a five-phase stepping motor can be used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Slot machine, 11 ... Main body, 12 ... Front door, 30 ... Game panel, 31L, 31M, 31R ... Exposed window, 40 ... Cylindrical frame member, 41 ... Boss part, 42 ... Boss reinforcement board, 43 ... Motor plate, 44 ... Circle index photo sensor, 45 ... Sensor cut van, 47 ... Seal, 51 ... Credit button, 52 ... Start lever, 53 ... Stop button for left-handed cylinder, 54 ... Stop button for middle-cylinder, 55 ... Right-handed cylinder Stop button, 70 ... Control device, 71L ... Stepping motor for left turn cylinder, 71M ... Stepping motor for middle turn cylinder, 71R ... Stepping motor for right turn cylinder, 72 ... CPU, 85 ... Power supply unit, 713 ... Voltage switching means 714 ... Power terminal, L ... Left turning cylinder, M ... Medium turning cylinder, R ... Right turning cylinder.

Claims (2)

A orbital body with a pattern,
A stepping motor for rotating the rotating body;
Control means for executing drive control processing for driving and controlling the stepping motor;
In a gaming machine that plays a game by stopping the circuit body after rotating the circuit body,
The drive control process for controlling the driving of the stepping motor is executed as part of a timer interrupt process periodically executed by the control means,
The timer interrupt process includes a predetermined indefinite time control process in which the processing time varies,
The drive control process for controlling the driving of the stepping motor is a process executed before the predetermined indefinite time control process in the timer interrupt process, and outputs an excitation signal for controlling the driving of the stepping motor. Processing,
The control means executes a process of changing the excitation signal and outputting the changed excitation signal as a drive control process for driving and controlling the stepping motor when rotating the rotating body at a constant speed. Thus, each time the drive control process for driving and controlling the stepping motor is executed, the excitation state of the stepping motor can be sequentially changed,
The control means outputs the excitation signal to the initial excitation phase in a specific period corresponding to a plurality of excitation signal output timings as a drive control process for driving and controlling the stepping motor when starting the rotation of the rotating body. A gaming machine that is configured to execute processing. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is a slot machine.

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