JP5847972B1 - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A game machine capable of efficiently controlling an object to be driven is provided. Two driver ICs 15a and 15b are multidrop connected to a control device 21 so that a common drive pattern signal and control signal are transmitted from the control device 21 to the two driver ICs 15a and 15b. . Further, some of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of each of the driver ICs 15a and 15b are set as invalid output channels that are not connected to the driving target LEDs 16a to 16h, and the bit pattern at a predetermined position of the driving pattern signal is an invalid output of one driver IC 15a. It is reflected in the output of the channel and the valid output channel of the other driver IC 15b, and the bit pattern at another position is reflected in the valid output channel of one driver IC 15a and the output of the invalid output channel of the other driver IC 15b. To. [Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a gaming machine including a plurality of driver ICs that drive a driving object and a control device that controls a driving mode of the driving object via the driver IC.

  A gaming machine such as a slot machine includes a plurality of driver ICs as an integrated circuit for driving a driving object such as an LED (light emitting diode). Such a driver IC has a plurality of output channels capable of selectively outputting ON signals and OFF signals, and reflects the drive pattern received from the control device in the output pattern of the ON / OFF signal of each output channel. Thus, the drive target is driven by the drive pattern determined by the control device. Specifically, such a driver IC temporarily stores a drive pattern (lighting pattern) input from a control device (production control board) in a shift register like the LED driver described in Patent Document 1, The drive pattern stored in the shift register at a predetermined timing is reflected on the output pattern of the output channel (output terminal).

  Here, in patent document 1, the structure which cascade-connects several LED driver 31 with respect to a control apparatus is employ | adopted. Thus, in the configuration in which the LED drivers are connected in cascade, the output pattern of the output channel of each LED driver can be made different for each LED driver while suppressing the number of terminals on the control device side to which the LED driver is connected. In addition, since the control device can transmit the drive pattern from a single terminal to a plurality of LED drivers at a time, there is an advantage that the output pattern of the LED driver can be controlled relatively easily.

JP, 2009-072289, A FIG.

  By the way, in the said patent document 1, each LED driver 31 is described so that 16 LED can be driven by connecting LED to all the 16 output channels. However, in an actual gaming machine, LEDs are connected only to some output channels of the LED driver, and the remaining output channels are invalid output channels to which no LEDs are connected. In gaming machines, high-powered driving objects are used to perform a great performance. Therefore, if LEDs are connected to all output channels of a general LED driver, the power consumption will reduce the allowable loss of the LED driver. This is because there is a possibility that the LED driver may operate abnormally or be damaged. Also, the use of an LED driver with a large allowable loss is not practical in terms of size and cost.

  Thus, since the LED driver of the existing game machine is effective only for a part of the output channel, the drive pattern (lighting pattern) output by the control device is wasted in the configuration in which the LED drivers are cascade-connected. For example, in Patent Document 1, the control device transmits a drive pattern of 16 × 4 bits (the number of output channels × the number of LED drivers) in order to control the output patterns of four cascaded LED drivers 31. However, what is actually reflected in the LED lighting mode at the output destination of the drive pattern is only the part reflected in the output channel to which the LED is connected, and the part reflected in the invalid output channel is useless. End up. Such a problem also occurs when a driving object other than an LED is driven.

  This invention is made | formed in view of this present condition, Comprising: Compared with the said conventional structure, it aims at provision of the game machine which can control drive objects, such as LED, efficiently.

The present invention provides a first driver IC and a second driver IC that drive one or a plurality of driving objects, and a driving mode of the driving object via the first driver IC and the second driver IC. A gaming machine comprising a control device for controlling, wherein the first driver IC and the second driver IC have a plurality of output channels capable of selectively outputting an ON signal and an OFF signal to the driving object. A drive signal output unit, a serial input unit to which a signal is input in a serial format, a control input unit to which a control signal is input, and a bit pattern of the signal input to the serial input unit in the input order An input data temporary storage unit that stores the same number of bits as the output channel, and the bit stored in the input data temporary storage unit when a control signal of a predetermined mode is input to the control input unit. A drive signal switching unit that reflects the pattern on the output pattern of the ON signal and the OFF signal of the output channel, respectively, and the control device receives the drive pattern signal including a bit pattern having a predetermined number of bits as the first pattern. By transmitting the control signal of the predetermined mode to the control input unit of the first driver IC and the second driver IC, while transmitting to the serial input unit of the driver IC and the second driver IC, A part or all of the drive pattern signal is reflected in the output pattern of the drive signal output unit of each of the driver ICs. Further, the first driver IC and the second driver IC are applied to the control device. Driver ICs are multi-drop connected, and the common driver is connected from the control device to the first driver IC and the second driver IC. The pattern signal and the control signal are configured to be transmitted. In the first driver IC and the second driver IC, only a part of output channels of the drive signal output unit is connected to the drive object. The remaining output channels are invalid output channels that are not connected to the object to be driven, and the valid output channel and the invalid output channel are bits at predetermined positions of the drive pattern signal. The pattern is reflected in the output patterns of the invalid output channel of the first driver IC and the valid output channel of the second driver IC, and the drive pattern signal has a position different from the predetermined position. A part or all of the bit pattern is generated by the effective output channel of the first driver IC and the non-output of the second driver IC. A gaming machine provided to be reflected in an output pattern of an effect output channel. Here, “multi-drop connection to the control device” refers to a connection form connected to the control device via a common signal transmission path.

  In such a configuration, the bit pattern reflected in the invalid output channel of one driver IC in the drive pattern signal is reflected in the output pattern of the valid output channel of the other driver IC. For this reason, in such a configuration, even if the driving object is connected to only a part of the output channel of each driver IC, many of the bit patterns of the driving pattern signal can be reflected in the operation of the driving object. Compared with the configuration in which the ICs are cascade-connected, the length of the drive pattern signal can be shortened. In the present invention, since the control device transmits a signal to each driver IC via a common signal transmission path, only one set of signal transmission path is required for transmitting a signal from the control device to each driver IC. . In addition, since the drive pattern signals transmitted from the control device to the respective drivers are common, processing for transmitting different signals to the two driver ICs is not necessary. Therefore, according to the present invention, the driven object can be controlled more efficiently than in the conventional configuration.

  In the present invention, the valid output channel and the invalid output channel are such that all the bit patterns of the drive pattern signal are at least one of the valid output of the first driver IC and the second driver IC. A configuration is proposed that is reflected in the output pattern of the channel.

  In such a configuration, all the bit patterns of the drive pattern signal are reflected in the output channel of one of the driver ICs, so that the drive pattern signal is not wasted and the drive control of the drive target is made more efficient. It becomes possible to do.

  As described above, according to the gaming machine of the present invention, it is possible to efficiently control the driven object as compared with the conventional configuration.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the slot machine 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the slot machine 1 related to lighting control of the effect lamps 12a to 12d. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit of the upper right LED driver 15a. It is a timing chart which shows the operation mode of LED driver 15a-15d. 10 is an input / output correspondence table showing output patterns of output channels OUT0 to OUT7 with respect to lighting pattern signals d0 to d7. It is a block diagram which shows the control circuit which concerns on the upper right LED driver 15a and lower right LED driver 15b. It is an input / output correspondence table showing output patterns of output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the LED drivers 15a and 15b with respect to lighting pattern signals d0 to d7. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control circuit according to an upper right LED driver 15a and a lower right LED driver 15b according to the second embodiment. 10 is an input / output correspondence table showing output patterns of output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of LED drivers 15a and 15b with respect to lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 in Example 2. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control circuit according to an upper right LED driver 15a and a lower right LED driver 15b according to a third embodiment. 12 is an input / output correspondence table showing output patterns of output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of LED drivers 15a and 15b with respect to lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 in Example 3. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control circuit according to an upper right LED driver 15e and a lower right LED driver 15b according to a fourth embodiment. 10 is an input / output correspondence table showing output patterns of output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of LED drivers 15b and 15e with respect to lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 in Example 4. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a control circuit according to an upper right LED driver 15a, a right middle LED driver 15f, and a lower right LED driver 15b according to a fifth embodiment. 10 is an input / output correspondence table showing output patterns of output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of LED drivers 15a, 15b, and 15f with respect to lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 in Example 5. In Example 6, it is a block diagram which shows the control circuit which concerns on each LED driver 15a-15d. It is an input-output correspondence table which shows the output pattern of output channel OUT0-OUT7 of each LED driver 15a-15d with respect to lighting pattern signal d0-d7 in Example 6. FIG. FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a control circuit according to an upper right LED driver 15a and a lower right LED driver 15b according to a seventh embodiment.

An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a slot machine will be described according to the following examples.
In the following embodiments, the object to be driven according to the present invention corresponds to an LED, and the first driver IC and the second driver IC according to the present invention are the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b. It corresponds to each. The control device according to the present invention corresponds to the sub-control device 21, and the drive pattern signal according to the present invention corresponds to a lighting pattern signal.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 2 of the slot machine 1 is opened forward and is covered by a front door 3 from the front. A visual recognition window 4 for visually recognizing three reels 9 disposed inside the housing 2 is provided at the center of the front door 3. On the front side of the front door 3, various switches such as bet switches 5 a and 5 b, a start switch 6, and a stop switch 7 used for a game operation are disposed below the viewing window 4. Further, an image display 10 for displaying an effect image is disposed above the viewing window 4. The image display 10 is composed of a liquid crystal display device, and is fitted into the upper part of the front door 3. And the effect lamps 12a-12d are arrange | positioned at the front side both sides of the front door 3. As shown in FIG.

  The effect lamps 12a to 12d are an upper right effect lamp 12a and an upper left effect lamp 12c disposed on both upper sides of the front door 3, and a lower right effect lamp 12b disposed on both lower sides of the front door 3. It comprises a lower left effect lamp 12d. Each of the effect lamps 12a to 12d is formed by covering an LED substrate on which a plurality of LEDs are mounted with a translucent cover body.

FIG. 2 is a control circuit related to lighting control of the effect lamps 12a to 12d.
The main control device 20 and the sub control device 21 are disposed inside the housing 2. The main control device 20 mainly executes control related to games. On the other hand, the sub-control device 21 mainly executes control related to effects. In the present embodiment, lighting / extinguishing of the LEDs 16 a to 16 p disposed in the effect lamps 12 a to 12 d is controlled by the sub-control device 21. Specifically, the sub-control device 21 is connected to the LED boards 14a to 14d constituting the effect lamps 12a to 12d, and the LEDs 16a to 16p are controlled based on game information received from the main control device 20. Determine the lighting pattern. Then, the sub-control device 21 sends a lighting pattern signal and a control signal to the LED drivers 15a to 15d disposed on the LED boards 14a to 14d in order to light the LEDs 16a to 16p with a required lighting pattern. Send. The lighting pattern signal is data in a serial format indicating the lighting / extinguishing pattern of the LEDs 16a to 16p by a bit pattern.

  As shown in FIG. 2, one LED driver 15a to 15d is disposed on each of the LED boards 14a to 14d constituting the effect lamps 12a to 12d. Four LEDs 16a to 16p are connected to each LED driver 15a to 15d, and each LED driver 15a to 15d is connected to each LED 16a to 16p according to a lighting pattern signal and a control signal transmitted from the sub-control device 21. Is configured to be turned on / off.

  Next, the structure of each LED driver 15a-15d arrange | positioned by LED board 14a-14d is demonstrated. All the LED drivers 15a to 15d are driver ICs having the same circuit configuration. For this reason, in the following, the upper right LED driver 15a disposed on the upper right LED board 14a of the upper right effect lamp 12a will be described in detail, and an explanation regarding the LED drivers 15b to 15d disposed in the other effect lamps 12b to 12d will be described. Is omitted.

  The upper right LED driver 15a is a general-purpose driver IC for lighting LEDs. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper right LED driver 15a includes an output unit 30 having eight output channels OUT0 to OUT7 to which the LEDs 16a to 16d can be connected, and an input for receiving a signal from the sub-control device 21. Unit 31, a shift register 32 that temporarily stores the received lighting pattern signal, and a switching circuit that takes in the bit pattern of the lighting pattern signal stored in the shift register 32 and reflects it in the output patterns of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 33. Here, the output unit 30 corresponds to the drive signal output unit according to the present invention, the shift register 32 corresponds to the input data temporary storage unit according to the present invention, and the switching circuit 32 This corresponds to the drive signal switching unit according to the invention.

  The input unit 31 includes four input terminals, ENABLE, LATCH, CLOCK, and SERIAL_IN. A digital signal of H (high voltage) or L (low voltage) is input from the sub-control device 21 to each input terminal. The Among these input terminals, SERIAL_IN is an input terminal to which a lighting pattern signal is input from the sub-control device 21 in a serial format. On the other hand, ENABLE, LATCH, and CLOCK are input terminals to which a control signal is input from the sub-control device 21. That is, SERIAL_IN corresponds to the serial input unit according to the present invention, and ENABLE, LATCH, and CLOCK correspond to the control input unit according to the present invention. Three control signals, an enable signal, a latch signal, and a clock signal, are input to the input unit 31 from the sub-control device 21. The enable signal is a signal for switching the output of the output unit 30 between a valid state and an invalid state, and is input to ENABLE. The latch signal is a signal for reflecting the transmitted lighting pattern signal in the output pattern of the output unit 30, and is input to the LATCH. The clock signal is a signal for synchronization when transmitting the lighting pattern signal, and is input to the CLOCK.

  The shift register 32 takes in the lighting pattern signal input to SERIAL_IN bit by bit in accordance with the clock signal and temporarily stores it. Specifically, the shift register 32 stores the most recent 8 bits of the bit pattern input to the SERIAL_IN in the input order, and stores the stored 8-bit bit pattern in the output terminals Q0 to Q7 of the shift register 32. To the switching circuit 33 in a parallel format.

  The switching circuit 33 is a register composed of eight latch circuits 37. Each latch circuit 37 is configured to receive the outputs of Q0 to Q7 of the shift register 32 and a latch signal. When the latch signal becomes H, the shift register 32 stores 8 at that time. A bit pattern of bits is taken in and stored in each latch circuit 37 bit by bit. The 8-bit bit pattern captured and stored by each latch circuit 37 is output to the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the output unit 30 and reflected in the output patterns of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7.

  Each of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the output unit 30 is an open collector type output terminal, and when it is “ON”, the output is a low voltage (L), and when it is “OFF”, the output is high impedance. As will be described later, the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 are connected to the cathode sides of the LEDs 16a to 16d, and the anode sides of the LEDs 16a to 16d are connected to the power source, so that the LEDs 16a to 16d are output according to the outputs of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7. Can be switched between a lighting state and a light-off state. That is, the ON signal and OFF signal of the output channel according to the present invention correspond to the low voltage output and the high impedance output of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7, respectively. Each output channel OUT <b> 0 to OUT <b> 7 is connected to a separate latch circuit 37 of the switching circuit 33. When the output Q of the connected latch circuit 37 is H, the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 are “ON”. When the output Q of the connected latch circuit 37 is L, the output channel OUT0 is output. ~ OUT7 is configured to be "OFF". Further, when the enable signal is input to the output unit 30 and the enable signal is L, all the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 are configured to be “OFF” regardless of the output Q of the switching circuit 33. ing.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing a control mode when the sub-control device 21 switches the output pattern of the upper right LED driver 15a.
When the sub control device 21 switches the output pattern of the upper right LED driver 15a, first, as shown in FIG. 4, 8-bit lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 are transmitted to the upper right LED driver 15a together with the clock signal. On the other hand, the upper right LED driver 15a fetches and stores the transmitted lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 bit by bit in the shift register 32. Then, after transmitting the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7, the sub control device 21 temporarily switches the latch signal to the upper right LED driver 15a to H. Thereby, in the upper right LED driver 15a, the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 are fetched from the shift register 32 to the switching circuit 33, and the ON / OFF output patterns of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 are the bits of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7. It will reflect the pattern. In the example of FIG. 4, the enable signal is always controlled to H. However, when the latch signal is set to H, the enable signal is controlled to L and then the enable signal is switched to H. The output patterns of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 may be switched to the bit patterns of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7.

  FIG. 5 shows a mode in which the outputs of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the upper right LED driver 15a reflect the bit patterns of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7. As shown in FIG. 5, each output channel OUT0-OUT7 of the upper right LED driver 15a reflects a bit pattern at a specific position of the lighting pattern signals d0-d7. For example, in the case of the OUT7 output channel, the bit pattern d7 input first among the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 is reflected. More specifically, the output channel of OUT7 is “ON” when the bit pattern d7 is “1 (H)”, and “OFF” when the bit pattern d7 is “0 (L)”. It becomes.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the sub-control device 21 transmits the control signal and the lighting pattern signal to the upper right LED driver 15a, thereby converting the 8-bit bit pattern of the lighting pattern signal into the upper right. This is reflected in the ON / OFF output patterns of the eight output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the LED driver 15a. The sub-control device 21 transmits signals to the other three LED drivers 15b to 15d in the same manner as the upper right LED driver 15a, so that the output channels OUT0 to OUT0 of the respective LED drivers 15b to 15d are transmitted. Controls the output pattern of OUT7.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper right LED driver 15 a and the lower right LED driver 15 b are multidrop connected to the sub-control device 21. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b are connected in parallel to the common output channel of the sub-control device 21, and each signal that transmits a control signal and a lighting pattern signal. The transmission path is configured to be shared by the two LED drivers 15a and 15b. In such a configuration, since the common control signal and the lighting pattern signal are simultaneously transmitted from the sub-control device 21 to the two LED drivers 15a and 15b without distinguishing the signal transmission destination, the sub-control device 21 has the same circuit configuration. The two LED drivers 15a and 15b perform the same operation according to the signal from the sub-control device 21. That is, in such a configuration, the output patterns of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 are the same for the two LED drivers 15a and 15b.

  The upper left LED driver 15c and the lower left LED driver 15d are connected to the sub-control device 21 via an output channel different from that of the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b, as shown in FIG. The upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b are controlled independently. Since the configuration related to the upper left LED driver 15c and the lower left LED driver 15d is not a main part of the present invention, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the LEDs 16a to 16h connected to the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the LED drivers 15a and 15b have the cathode side connected to the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 and the anode side connected to the power supply VCC. For this reason, in such a configuration, when the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 to which the LEDs 16a to 16h are connected are ON, the LEDs 16a to 16h are lit with current flowing.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the LEDs 16a to 16h are connected to only four of the eight output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the LED drivers 15a and 15b. Since the LEDs 16a to 16h of the present embodiment are high-brightness LEDs with high power consumption, if the LEDs are connected to all the output channels OUT0 to OUT7, the power consumption exceeds the allowable loss of the LED drivers 15a and 15b. is there. Therefore, each of the LED drivers 15a and 15b is an effective output channel in which the ON / OFF pattern is reflected in the lighting / extinguishing of the LEDs 16a to 16h among the eight output channels OUT0 to OUT7, and the remaining Four are invalid output channels whose ON / OFF pattern is not reflected in the lighting / extinguishing of the LEDs 16a to 16h.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the LEDs 16a to 16h are turned on / off so that the LEDs 16a to 16h connected to the two LED drivers 15a and 15b reflect the bit patterns at different positions of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7. The positions of the effective output channels OUT0 to OUT7 that connect the two are made different between the two LED drivers 15a and 15b. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the upper right LED driver 15a, OUT0 to OUT3 reflecting the bit pattern of the last 4 bits (d0 to d3) of the lighting pattern signal are effective output channels. OUT4 to OUT7 reflecting the bit pattern of the first 4 bits (d4 to d7) of the lighting pattern signal are invalid output channels. On the other hand, in the lower right LED driver 15b, OUT0 to OUT3 reflecting the bit pattern of the latter half 4 bits (d0 to d3) of the lighting pattern signal are invalid output channels, and the first half 4 bits (d4 to d7) of the lighting pattern signal. OUT4 to OUT7 reflecting the bit pattern of) are effective output channels.

  For this reason, in such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 7, the bit patterns d4 to d7 of the first half of the lighting pattern signal include the invalid output channels OUT4 to OUT7 of the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b. Are reflected in the valid output channels OUT4 to OUT7, and the bit patterns d0 to d3 of the latter half of the lighting pattern signal are valid output channels OUT0 to OUT3 of the upper right LED driver 15a and invalid output channels of the lower right LED driver 15b. It will be reflected in OUT0-OUT3.

  Thus, in this embodiment, half of the bit patterns of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 are reflected in the outputs of the invalid output channels OUT0 to OUT7 of the LED drivers 15a and 15b, but one of the LED drivers 15a and 15b. The bit patterns reflected in the invalid output channels OUT0 to OUT7 are reflected in the valid output channels of the other LED drivers 15a and 15b and reflected in the lighting / extinguishing patterns of the LEDs 16a to 16h. Most of the bit patterns of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 can be reflected in the lighting / extinguishing patterns of the LEDs 16a to 16h. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to control the lighting of many LEDs with a lighting pattern signal with a small number of bits, as compared with the conventional configuration in which LED drivers (driver ICs) are cascade-connected. There is an advantage that the control can be made efficient.

  In particular, in this embodiment, all of the lighting pattern signals d4 to d7 reflected on the invalid output channels OUT4 to OUT7 of the upper right LED driver 15a are reflected on the valid output channels OUT4 to OUT7 of the lower left LED driver and lower right. The LEDs 16a to 16h are connected so that all of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d3 reflected in the invalid output channels OUT0 to OUT3 of the LED driver 15b are reflected to the valid output channels OUT0 to OUT3 of the upper right LED driver 15a. For this reason, the present embodiment has an advantage that the 8-bit lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 can be reflected in the lighting / extinguishing patterns of the eight LEDs 16a to 16h without waste of one bit.

  In the present embodiment, since the two LED drivers 15a and 15b are multidrop connected to the sub-control device 21, the number of signal transmission paths between the sub-control device 21 and the LED drivers 15a and 15b is reduced. can do. Moreover, since the sub-control device 21 transmits a common signal to the two LED drivers 15a and 15b, processing for transmitting a signal for each of the LED drivers 15a and 15b becomes unnecessary. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is possible to make the lighting control of the LED more efficient in this respect.

  Examples 2 to 7 in which the configuration of Example 1 is changed will be described below. In the following description of the embodiments, configurations common to the first embodiment are denoted by common reference numerals in the text and the drawings, and description thereof is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the LED connection mode is changed from the first embodiment (see FIG. 7). Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, a fifth LED 16q is connected to the output channel of OUT4 of the upper right LED driver 15a, and as shown in FIG. 9, two LED drivers 15a, The output channel of OUT4 of 15b becomes an effective output channel. For this reason, in this embodiment, the bit pattern d4 of the fifth bit from the last of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 is reflected in the outputs of the effective output channels OUT4 of both LED drivers 15a and 15b, and the two effective outputs. The two LEDs 16e and 16q connected to the channel OUT4 are lit in the same manner. Thus, in the present invention, a part of the bit pattern of the drive pattern signal (lighting pattern signal) can also be configured to be reflected in the output of the effective output channel of both LED drivers (driver ICs).

  In the present embodiment, the LED connection mode is changed from the first embodiment (see FIG. 7). Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the output channel of OUT3 of the upper right LED driver 15a is an invalid output channel to which no LED is connected. In such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 11, the bit pattern d3 of the fourth bit from the last of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 is reflected in the output of the invalid output channel OUT3 of both LED drivers 15a and 15b. In other words, some of the bit patterns d3 of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 are not reflected in the lighting state of the LEDs. As described above, according to the present invention, a part of the bit pattern of the drive pattern signal (lighting pattern signal) may be reflected in the output of the invalid output channel of both LED drivers (driver ICs).

  In this embodiment, the number of output channels of the upper right LED driver is changed from that in the first embodiment. Specifically, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the upper right LED driver 15e includes only four output channels OUT0 to OUT3. In the upper right LED driver 15e, the bit pattern of the first 4 bits (d4 to d7) is lost among the 8-bit lighting pattern signals d0 to d7, and the bit pattern of the second 4 bits (d0 to d3) is output to the output channel OUT0. It is reflected in the output pattern of .about.OUT3. The configuration of the upper right LED driver 15e according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the upper right LED driver 15a according to the first embodiment except for the number of output channels.

  Since the upper right LED driver 15e according to the present embodiment is also limited by allowable loss, the LEDs 16a and 16b are connected only to the two output channels OUT0 and OUT1 out of the four output channels OUT0 to OUT3, and the remaining two outputs. Channels OUT2 and OUT3 are invalid output channels. On the other hand, for the lower right LED driver 15b, out of the eight output channels OUT0 to OUT7, the output channels of the six output channels OUT2 to OUT7 are effective output channels connected to the LEDs 16c to 16h.

  In such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 13, the bit pattern (d0, d1) of the latter half of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 is converted into the effective output channels OUT0 and OUT1 of the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED. This is reflected in the output of the invalid output channels OUT0 and OUT1 of the driver 15b. Further, the 6-bit bit patterns (d2 to d7) of the latter half of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 are output to the invalid output channels OUT2 and OUT3 of the upper right LED driver 15a and the effective output channels OUT2 to OUT7 of the lower right LED driver 15b. Reflected. For this reason, also in the present embodiment, all the bit patterns of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 are reflected in the lighting / extinguishing patterns of the LEDs 16a to 16h. Thus, the first driver IC (upper right LED driver) and the second driver IC (lower right LED driver) according to the present invention do not need to have completely the same circuit configuration, and the number of output channels is small. It may be different.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b of the first embodiment, a middle right LED driver 15f is provided. Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, three LED drivers 15a, 15b, 15f are multidrop-connected to the sub-control device 21, and the three LED drivers 15a, 15b, 15f are connected. On the other hand, a common control signal and a lighting pattern signal are simultaneously transmitted from the common output channel of the sub-control device 21. The middle right LED driver 15f is a driver IC having the same circuit configuration as the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b. According to such a configuration, the three LED drivers 15a, 15b, and 15f perform the same operation by a common signal from the sub-control device 21, and the output patterns of the output channels OUT0 to OUT7 are the three LED drivers 15a, The same applies to 15b and 15f.

  In this embodiment, each of the LEDs 16a to 16h connected to the three LED drivers 15a, 15b, and 15f is turned on / off so as to reflect the bit patterns at different positions of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7. The positions of .about.OUT7 are different among the three LED drivers 15a, 15b, and 15f. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14, the upper right LED driver 15a has four output channels OUT0 to OUT3 as effective output channels, and the right middle LED driver 15f has two output channels OUT4 and OUT5 as effective output channels. In the lower right LED driver 15b, two output channels OUT6 and OUT7 are effective output channels.

  According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 15, the bit pattern (d0 to d3) of the latter half of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7 is reflected in the outputs of the effective output channels OUT0 to OUT3 of the upper right LED driver 15a. The middle 2-bit bit pattern (d4, d5) is reflected in the effective output channels OUT4, OUT5 of the right middle LED driver 15f, and the first 2-bit bit pattern (d6, d7) is reflected in the lower right LED driver 15b. This is reflected in the effective output channels OUT6 and OUT7. Therefore, even in the present embodiment, the lighting / extinguishing patterns of the LEDs 16a to 16h connected to the LED drivers 15a, 15b, and 15f can be individually controlled, and the bit patterns of the lighting pattern signals d0 to d7. Can be reflected in the lighting / extinguishing patterns of the LEDs 16a to 16h. As described above, in the present invention, in addition to the first driver IC (upper right LED driver) and the second driver IC (lower right LED driver), the first driving IC is driven in a manner different from these driver ICs. The third and fourth driver ICs can be multidrop connected to the control device (sub-control device 21).

  In this embodiment, in addition to the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b of the first embodiment, the upper left LED driver 15c and the lower left LED driver 15d are multidrop connected to the common output channel of the sub-control device 21. is there. Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, in the upper right LED driver 15a and the upper left LED driver 15c, four output channels OUT0 to OUT3 are effective output channels, and the lower right LED driver 15b. In the lower left LED driver 15d, four output channels OUT4 to OUT7 are effective output channels. According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 17, the bit pattern (d0 to d3) of the latter half of the lighting pattern signal is reflected in the outputs of the effective output channels OUT0 to OUT3 of the upper right LED driver 15a and the upper left LED driver 15c. Then, the bit pattern (d4 to d7) of the first half of the lighting pattern signal is reflected in the outputs of the effective output channels OUT4 to OUT7 in the lower right LED driver 15b and the lower left LED driver 15d. For this reason, in such a configuration, the LEDs 16a to 16h connected to the right LED drivers 15a and 15b and the LEDs 16i to 16p connected to the left LED drivers 15c and 15d can be lighted symmetrically. Thus, in the present invention, in addition to the first driver IC (upper right LED driver) and the second driver IC (lower right LED driver), the driving object is driven in the same manner as these driver ICs. The third and fourth driver ICs can be multidrop-connected to the control device (sub-control device 21).

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, 16 LEDs 16 arranged in a matrix of 4 rows and 4 columns are turned on by two of an upper right LED driver 15a and a lower right LED driver 15b. Specifically, the effective output channels OUT0 to OUT3 of the upper right LED driver 15a are connected to the anodes of the LEDs 16 in different columns via the transistor 39, and when the effective output channels OUT0 to OUT3 are turned on, the effective outputs are output. The anode of the LED 16 to which the channels OUT0 to OUT3 are connected is configured to be a high voltage. On the other hand, the effective output channels OUT4 to OUT7 of the lower right LED driver 15b are connected to the cathode sides of the LEDs 16 in different rows. When the effective output channels OUT4 to OUT7 are turned on, the effective output channels OUT4 to OUT7 are connected. Further, the cathode of the LED 16 is configured to have a low voltage.

  In such a configuration, the upper right LED driver 15a controls the anode to a high voltage, and the lower right LED driver 15b allows a current to flow only to the LED 16 whose cathode is controlled to a low voltage, so that the LED 16 is selectively selected. Can be turned on. For example, when only the output channels of OUT0 of the upper right LED driver 15a and OUT7 of the lower right LED driver 15b are turned on, only the lower right LED 16 in FIG. 18 can be selectively lit. Thus, in this invention, you may make it connect several drive target object (LED) to one output channel. In addition, a common driving object may be driven by the first driver IC and the second driver IC according to the present invention.

  Note that the gaming machine of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a slot machine, but the present invention is not limited to a slot machine and can be applied to a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine.

  In the above embodiment, the upper right LED driver 15a and the lower right LED driver 15b correspond to the first driver IC and the second driver IC according to the present invention. The present invention can be applied to various driver ICs provided. Further, the first driver IC and the second driver IC according to the present invention are not limited to those in which the LED is a driving target, and may be a stepping motor, a solenoid, an incandescent light bulb, or the like.

  In the above embodiment, the control device (sub-control device 21) and the driver IC (LED driver) are directly connected. However, a relay board is interposed between the control device and the driver IC. May be.

1 slot machine (game machine)
12a to 12d stage lamps 14a to 14d LED board 15a, 15e Upper right LED driver (first driver IC)
15b Lower right LED driver (second driver IC)
15c Upper left LED driver 15d Lower left LED driver 15f Middle right LED driver 16, 16a to 16q LED (object to be driven)
20 Main control device 21 Sub control device (control device)
30 output unit (drive signal output unit)
31 Input unit 32 Shift register (temporary storage unit for input data)
33 switching circuit (drive signal switching unit)
37 latch circuit 39 transistor OUT1-OUT7 output channel

Claims (2)

A first driver IC and a second driver IC that drive one or a plurality of driving objects, and a control device that controls a driving mode of the driving object via the first driver IC and the second driver IC In a gaming machine equipped with
The first driver IC and the second driver IC are:
A drive signal output unit having a plurality of output channels capable of selectively outputting an ON signal and an OFF signal to the drive object;
A serial input section for inputting signals in a serial format;
A control input unit to which a control signal is input;
An input data temporary storage unit for storing the bit pattern of the signal input to the serial input unit in the input order, the same number of bits as the output channel;
When a control signal of a predetermined mode is input to the control input unit, a drive signal switching unit that reflects the bit pattern stored in the input data temporary storage unit in the output patterns of the ON signal and the OFF signal of the output channel; Each with
The control device transmits a drive pattern signal composed of a bit pattern of a predetermined number of bits to the serial input units of the first driver IC and the second driver IC, and the first driver IC and the second driver IC. A part or all of the drive pattern signal is reflected in the output pattern of the drive signal output unit of each driver IC by transmitting the control signal of the predetermined mode to the control input unit of the driver IC. And
Further, the first driver IC and the second driver IC are multidrop-connected to the control device, and the drive pattern common to the first driver IC and the second driver IC from the control device A signal and the control signal are transmitted,
In the first driver IC and the second driver IC, only some output channels of the drive signal output unit are effective output channels connected to the drive object, and the remaining output channels are the It is an invalid output channel that is not connected to the driven object,
The valid output channel and the invalid output channel are such that the bit pattern at a predetermined position of the drive pattern signal is an output pattern of the invalid output channel of the first driver IC and the valid output channel of the second driver IC. In addition, a part or all of the bit pattern at a position different from the predetermined position of the drive pattern signal is reflected on the effective output channel of the first driver IC and the bit pattern of the second driver IC. A gaming machine provided to be reflected in an output pattern of an invalid output channel.   In the valid output channel and the invalid output channel, all of the bit patterns of the drive pattern signal are reflected in the output pattern of at least one of the valid output channels of the first driver IC and the second driver IC. The gaming machine according to claim 1, wherein the gaming machine is provided as described above.

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