JP6078666B2 - Game system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a game system capable of distributing owned game media owned by a player to other players.

  Conventionally, as a gaming system capable of allocating owned gaming media owned by a player to other players, game media data acquired by one gaming device is connected to each gaming device. By registering it in the management computer, other game devices can share and use the game medium data (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-141524 A

  However, in Patent Document 1, when sharing game media data with other gaming devices, it is necessary to input the name of the player to be shared, which is troublesome, as well as members with the same name. If there is, there is a problem that it cannot be shared correctly, and in order to share these game media data, both players must be registered as members in advance at the game hall. A general player who does not have a membership card is required to be a member who has issued a card, and can share game media data or share game media data with others. However, there is also a problem that these general players cannot meet the desire to share.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a problem, and it is a general player who makes a distribution so that a plurality of players can use the number of owned game media based on the same game media data. Another object of the present invention is to provide a gaming system that can be carried out without any troublesome input (simple) and definitely (accurate).

In order to solve the above-described problem, a gaming system according to claim 1 of the present invention provides:
A recording medium that is issued to a general player different from the member player registered as a member, and in which non-recording medium identification information that can specify the number of game media owned by the general player in the game of the day is recorded is capable of accepting a membership recording medium body, a recording medium reading means for reading the recording medium identification information recorded on the non-member for a recording medium with receiving,
A recording medium issuing unit having a recording medium storage unit for storing the non-member recording medium, and capable of issuing the non-member recording medium stored in the recording medium storage unit;
Recording medium identification information transmitting means for transmitting the recording medium identification information read by the recording medium reading means;
Use processing means for performing processing for using the number of game media possessed on the day specified from the recording medium identification information for the game;
A gaming device provided corresponding to the gaming machine;
A management device connected to the gaming device for data communication;
A gaming system comprising:
The gaming device is:
And information capable of specifying the sorting number game medium is at least a part of this number of days owned game media, among the non-member for a recording medium having stored in the recording medium reservoir, issued as a game recording medium for distribution destination Transmitting means for transmitting the recording medium identification information of the allocation destination read by the recording medium reading means from the non-member recording medium;
With
The management device
Storage processing means for performing processing for storing the number of distribution game media in association with the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination transmitted from the gaming device;
The recording medium identification transmitted from the recording medium identification information transmitting means of the other gaming device when the non-member recording medium issued as the game recording medium of the distribution destination is received by the other gaming device If the information is the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination, the number of game media can be used within the range of the number of distribution game media stored in association with the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination. Enabling processing means for executing the enabling processing for
It is characterized by having.
According to this feature, the distribution to be able to use the number of equivalents day own game media at a plurality of player, since generally the player is performed by accepting a non-member for a recording medium which can be owned, General even Yu technique person, not only can receive these distribution, Ru can be used to implement this of sorting easily and accurately.

A gaming system according to means 1 of the present invention is the gaming system according to claim 1,
The transmission means also transmits the recording medium identification information of the game recording medium of the distribution source after accepting the distribution operation,
When the game device accepts a sort operation by the sort operation accepting means, the game device determines whether or not the number of game media possessed on the day specified from the recording medium identification information of the sort source exists, Provided is a notification means for notifying that the number of owned game media exists on the day on condition that the number of owned game media exists.
According to this feature, when the number of game media owned on the day is present when the distribution is performed, it is notified that the number of game media owned on the day exists. It is possible to avoid performing distribution from the number of game media owned before the day without knowing that it exists.

The gaming system according to means 2 of the present invention is the gaming system according to claim 1 or means 1, wherein
The management device includes distribution setting means for setting whether to permit the use of the number of game media owned before the day of distribution by acceptance in the distribution operation,
The gaming apparatus includes a distribution setting information storage unit that stores distribution setting information that is transmitted from the management device and that can specify whether the distribution setting unit is permitted or not permitted.
The gaming device is:
Number of game media owned on the day identified as non-permissible in the distribution setting means by the distribution setting information stored in the distribution setting information storage means and specified from the recording medium identification information of the distribution source Is smaller than the number of distribution game media distributed by the distribution, the distribution operation acceptance in the distribution operation reception unit is invalidated, while the distribution setting information stored in the distribution setting information storage unit If it is specified that the permission is set in the means and the number of game media owned on the day specified from the recording medium identification information of the distribution source is smaller than the number of distribution game media distributed by the distribution, the distribution game medium The number of game media owned on the day that is more than the shortage of the number is the recording medium of the distribution source On the condition that it is specified from other information, accepting the sorting operation in the sorting operation accepting means is valid, and the number of the distributed game media and the difference between the number of the distributed game media and the number of owned game media on the day can be specified. Distribution information is transmitted from the transmission means together with the recording medium identification information of the distribution source,
The storage processing means of the management device includes:
When the difference number is not specified from the distribution breakdown information, in the distribution process, the number of distribution game media specified from the received distribution breakdown information is stored in association with the received recording medium identification information of the distribution source. And subtracting and updating the number of game media possessed on the same day, storing the received recording medium identification information as a distribution destination game recording medium, and associating it with the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination Remember the number,
When the difference number is specified from the distribution breakdown information, in the distribution process, the shortage number that is the difference number specified from the received distribution breakdown information is associated with the received recording medium identification information of the distribution source. While subtracting and updating the number of game media owned before that day stored, the received recording medium identification information of the distribution destination is stored as the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination game recording medium. The number of distribution game media specified from the received distribution breakdown information is stored in association with the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination.
According to this feature, even if the number of game media owned on the day or the number of game media owned on the distribution source day is smaller than the number of game media distributed by the distribution, the distribution setting means sets the allowance. If the number of game media owned before the day is more than the shortage with respect to the number of game media to be allocated (exists), the allocation operation on the day is validated and accepted, and the shortage is counted from the number of game media owned before the day. Since the game is automatically distributed, it is not necessary for the player to perform the allocation operation individually before the day and perform the allocation of the deficiency, which not only improves the convenience of the player, Since the distribution setting information is stored in advance in the game device, it is possible to specify whether these game devices are set to be permitted or not permitted in the distribution setting means. Even if the non-permission is set in the distribution setting means, if the number of game media owned on the day or the number of game media owned on the distribution source day is smaller than the number of game media distributed on the day of distribution, It is possible to avoid that the operation is received in vain and an error is generated in the management device and the gaming device due to the unavailability of the allocating request before the day due to the acceptance of the allocating operation on the corresponding day.

The gaming system according to means 3 of the present invention is the gaming system according to means 2,
The gaming device includes a shortage replenishment accepting / accepting unit that accepts execution / non-execution of the shortage from the number of game media possessed before the day from a player, and the execution is accepted by the shortage replenishment accepting / accepting unit. On this condition, the recording medium identification information and the shortage number specifying information for specifying the shortage number are transmitted from the transmission means.
According to this feature, the player can select execution / non-execution of the distribution based on the number of game media owned before the day of the shortage for each distribution.

The gaming system according to means 4 of the present invention is the gaming system according to means 2 or means 3,
The gaming device is:
A distribution game medium number receiving means for receiving the number of distribution game media from a player;
When it is specified by the distribution setting information stored in the distribution setting information storage means that the non-permission is set in the distribution setting means, the number of game media owned on the day specified from the recording medium identification information of the distribution source Is specified and notified as the number of game media that can be distributed, while the distribution setting information stored in the distribution setting information storage means specifies that the permission is set in the distribution setting means. Distributable number notification that specifies the total number of game media owned on the day and the number of game media owned before the day specified from the recording medium identification information of the distribution source, and notifies the specified total number as the number of game media that can be distributed Means,
It is characterized by having.
According to this feature, the player can distribute the desired number of game media and is notified of the number of game media that can be distributed according to the setting contents in the distribution setting means. Since the number of distribution game media can be determined with reference to the number of possible game media, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of inconveniences such as errors due to acceptance of an inappropriate number of game media.

The gaming system according to means 5 of the present invention is the gaming system according to any one of claims 1 and 4, wherein
The storage processing means of the management device specifies the number of fee game media serving as a fee according to the number of game media owned before the corresponding day when the number of game media owned before the day is enabled by the use processing means, The specified fee game medium number is subtracted and updated together with the number of game media owned before the day from the number of game media owned before the day specified from the recording medium identification information of the distribution source.
According to this feature, since the fee game media number is not subtracted from the number of owned game media before the day of distribution, the number of game media desired by the player receiving the distribution can be accurately distributed.

The gaming system according to means 6 of the present invention is the gaming system according to any one of claims 1 and 1 to 5,
The transmission means also transmits the recording medium identification information of the game recording medium of the distribution source after accepting the distribution operation,
In accordance with transmission from the transmission unit, the management device distributes the game game from the number of owned game media specified from the recording medium identification information of the distribution source transmitted from the transmission unit during a predetermined period. Excess determining means for determining whether or not the total number of game media and the total number of game media owned before the day distributed according to transmission from the transmitting means exceeds a predetermined upper limit number. ,
The storage processing unit is characterized in that the processing is performed on the condition that the determination result by the excess determination unit is a determination result that the determination result is not exceeded.
According to this feature, it is possible to limit the number of owned game media to be distributed in a predetermined period, so that it is possible to avoid the occurrence of a disadvantage of the game hall due to excessive distribution, such as a decrease in sales. Can do.

The gaming system according to means 7 of the present invention is the gaming system according to any one of claims 1 and 1 to 6,
In the gaming device, device identification information capable of individually identifying each gaming device is stored, and the transmission means transmits the device identification information of the gaming device,
In response to receiving a distribution history request from a distribution history storage unit that stores a distribution history including device identification information transmitted from the transmission unit, and a game information management device that manages game information of the gaming machine. And a distribution history transmitting means for returning a distribution history stored in the distribution history storage means.
According to this feature, the distribution history can be confirmed in the game information management device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an overall image of a gaming system in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a front view which shows the pachinko machine 2 and the card unit 3 which were used for the game system of Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is top view sectional drawing which shows the structure of the card reader / writer 327 used for the card unit 3 of Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the protrusion part 305 of the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the counting and the fraction discharge unit 340 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a side view of the card unit 3 of Example 1 of this invention. It is a fracture | rupture top view which shows the internal structure of the counting and fraction discharge unit 340 used for Example 1 of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the card table of the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention, (b) is a figure which shows the game information table of the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. (C) is a figure which shows the member game information used in Example 1 of this invention, (d) is a figure which shows the number-of-stored-ball data used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the transmission data sequence transmitted from the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view of the distribution apparatus 5 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the distribution apparatus 5 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the system controller 100 used in Example 1 of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the member card table in the system controller 100 used in Example 1 of this invention, (b) is a figure which shows a visitor card table. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the management computer 150 used in Example 1 of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the member saving management table in the management computer 150 used in Example 1 of this invention, (b) is a figure which shows a visitor saving management table. (A) is a figure which shows the unit management table used in Example 1 of this invention, (b) is a figure which shows the storage / payout history table used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the distribution log | history table used in Example 1 of this invention. (A) is a figure which shows the member information table in the management computer 150 used in Example 1 of this invention, (b) is a figure which shows the game history table classified by member. (A) is a figure which shows the distribution setting screen in the management computer 150 used in Example 1 of this invention, (b) is the storage ball discharge | emission setting screen in the management computer 150 used in Example 1 of this invention. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content implemented in the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the count information processing implemented in the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the payout process implemented in the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the distribution process implemented in the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the distribution process implemented in the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the distribution process implemented in the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing content of the distribution process implemented in the card unit 3 used in Example 1 of this invention. (A), (b) is a figure which shows transmission / reception of the information between the card unit 3 or the distribution apparatus 5 and the management computer 150 in Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows transfer of the information between the card unit 3 and the management computer 150 in Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows transmission / reception of the information between the hall computer 140 and the management computer 150 in Example 1 of this invention. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the display content of the display part 312 of the card unit 3 in Example 1 of this invention. (A)-(g) is a figure which shows the display content of the display part 312 of the card unit 3 in Example 1 of this invention. (A)-(d) is a figure explaining the flow path in the counting and fraction discharge unit 340 used for Example 1 of this invention, and the flow-down condition of the pachinko ball. (A)-(d) is a figure which shows the display content of the display apparatus 501 of the distribution apparatus 5 in Example 1 of this invention. It is a front view which shows card unit 3 '' used as the game device of the other form of this invention.

  EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The form for implementing the game system which concerns on this invention is demonstrated below based on an Example.

  An embodiment of the gaming system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an overall image of the gaming system of the embodiment of the present invention. A card reader-type pachinko machine (hereinafter abbreviated as a pachinko machine) 2 which is a gaming machine arranged in parallel on an amusement island (not shown), and a pachinko machine 2 at a predetermined position on the side of the pachinko machine 2 A visitor card having a prepaid function, which is a game recording medium that is set up in a one-to-one correspondence and is issued to a general player who has not registered as a member, or a member player who has registered as a member in the gaming machine Accepting a membership card, which is a issued game recording medium, and lending a pachinko ball, which is a game medium used for gaming in a gaming machine, or a pachism acquired in a game in the corresponding pachinko machine 2 The card unit 3 that counts the coins and pays out (returns) the pachinko balls within the counted number of pachinko balls, the visitor card and the membership card used in the card unit 3, and the card unit 3 The system controller 100 that performs management, etc., the management of the counted number of balls counted in each card unit 3, and the number of saved balls and visitor cards that the member player possessing the membership card possesses so that it can be used again A management computer 150 for managing the number of possessed balls, a hall computer 140 serving as a game information management device of the present invention for managing game information such as machine data of each pachinko machine 2 installed in the game hall, The number of reserved cards in the membership card and the number of balls in the visitor card that are provided at predetermined locations in the amusement hall, such as the location near the prize counter in the venue. , The distribution device 5 distributes to other visitors card or membership card, a prize exchange POS terminal 170 to be provided to the prize counter game arcade performing prize exchange, are mainly composed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, each of the devices constituting the gaming system of this embodiment is connected so as to be capable of bidirectional data communication via a hub (HUB) 7 and a communication cable 8. Each connected device is assigned a local IP address to form a local area network (LAN), and each of the devices connected to the local area network (LAN) can be individually identified. The device ID is assigned, and each device has an IP address table in which the device (unit) ID and the local IP address are associated, a unit management table (see FIG. 17A) described later, and the like. By giving each local IP address specified by the device (unit) ID to transmission data and transmitting / receiving it, It has to be able to perform the transmission and reception of over data.

  As described above, the system controller 100 of the present embodiment manages the prepaid balance (game value) remaining in each member card and each visitor card, and these member cards via the communication line 11. And a management server 12 installed in a card management company outside the amusement hall that manages the visitor card so that bidirectional data communication can be performed. By transmitting the information, the card management company can grasp the sales etc. by the membership card and the visitor card of each game hall by the management server 12.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a monitoring camera system for monitoring the inside of the game hall is connected to the hall computer 140 of the present embodiment, and a monitoring image inside the gaming hall captured by the monitoring camera system is displayed. These are stored and managed together with the base data of each pachinko machine 2 and the like. Note that game information such as the base data of each pachinko machine 2 managed by the hall computer 140 is updated to the latest information by transmission data transmitted from the card unit 3 corresponding to each pachinko machine 2, as will be described later. It has been updated.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the card unit 3 and the pachinko machine 2 have various signals associated with the lending of a plurality of pachinko balls (25 in this embodiment) predetermined as payout units. Are a terminal terminal lending completion signal (EXS) and a table READY signal (PRDY) output from the pachinko machine 2, a card unit READY signal (BRDY) and a terminal terminal lending request completion confirmation signal (BRQ) output from the control unit 328. Are connected so as to be able to transmit and receive, and a jackpot signal, a probability changing signal, a time-shortening signal, a winning ball signal, and a start signal, which will be described later, output from the pachinko machine 2 are connected thereto.

  First, the pachinko machine 2 which is a gaming machine used in the present embodiment will be briefly described below. The pachinko machine 2 has a glass door frame 22 formed in a frame shape as shown in FIG. There is a hitting ball supply tray 23 on the lower surface of the glass door frame 22. An operation unit 14 is provided at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the hitting ball supply tray 23, and a lower tray 24 that stores pachinko balls overflowing from the hitting ball supply tray 23 is provided below the hitting ball supply tray (upper plate) 23. A hitting operation handle (hereinafter referred to as an operation knob) 25 for emitting a hitting ball is provided.

  A game board 26 is detachably attached to the rear side of the glass door frame 22. A game area 27 is provided in front of the game board 26. A special figure variable display section 28 in which a plurality of types of identification information called “special symbols” are variably displayed in a lower area on the right side toward the game area 27, and a plurality of types called “effect symbols” in the vicinity of the center. Is provided with an effect display unit 29 on which the identification information is variably displayed and an effect image is displayed, and a variable display device 30 on which a plurality of types of identification information called “ordinary symbols” are variably displayed. The game board 26 is provided with a plurality of winning holes 44, a passing gate 31, a starting winning hole 34, and a variable winning ball device 36. A recovery outlet 46 is formed.

  When a hitting ball is won in each of the winning openings, a winning ball corresponding to each winning opening is paid out by a ball cutting / dispensing device (not shown) and also according to the number of winning balls paid out by the ball cutting / dispensing device. A prize ball signal (1 pulse per 10 balls) is output to the outside, so that the number of prize balls is notified to the outside.

  A ball hit by a hammer (not shown) that is swung by the operation of the hitting operation handle 25 enters the game area 27 through the hitting rail, and then flows down the game area 27. At this time, pachinko balls whose launch momentum is too weak to reach the game area 27 are circulated to the lower plate 24 through a circulation path (not shown).

  In addition, when the ball that has been driven into the game area 27 passes through the passing gate 31, the normal symbol that is stopped and displayed on the variable display device 30 is variably started.

  When the display result after the variable display operation of the variable display device 30 is a predetermined display result (for example, ◯), the movable piece 35 provided at the start winning opening 34 is opened for a predetermined time and the player This is an advantageous state.

  When a pachinko ball is won in the start winning opening 34, all special symbols start variable display (variable display) in the special figure variable display section 28, and the effect display starts in the effect display section 29. After that, when the special symbol in the special figure variable display unit 28 is stopped and the stop display result is a specific display mode determined in advance, the left, middle and right effect symbols in the effect display unit 29 are displayed. The variable display is also stopped, and the display mode of the effect symbol is also set to a predetermined specific display mode (for example, 777), so that a specific gaming state (big hit state) is generated and a big hit signal is output. As a result, the occurrence of the jackpot is notified to the outside.

  Further, when the special symbol on the special symbol variable display unit 28 is stopped, a start signal having a predetermined pulse width is output, and the special symbol variable display (variable display) is performed on the special symbol variable display unit 28. Will be notified.

  When the big hit state occurs in this way, the opening / closing plate 40 provided in the variable winning ball apparatus 36 is opened, and a first state advantageous to the player is obtained. This first state ends when a predetermined period (for example, 30 seconds) or a predetermined number of hit balls (for example, 10) wins, whichever comes first, and then for the player This is a disadvantageous second state.

  If a hit ball that has entered the large winning opening of the variable winning ball apparatus 36 in the first state wins a specific winning area (V pocket) and is detected by a V count switch (not shown), Waiting for the end of the first state, repeated continuation control is performed to control from the second state to the first state. The upper limit number of the repeated continuation control is set to 15 times, for example.

  When the display result of the special figure variable display unit 28 and the display result of the effect symbol of the effect display unit 29 are stopped and displayed in combination with a predetermined jackpot symbol, a big hit occurs as described above, but the big hit symbol stops. A reach state may occur in a state before being displayed.

  When the special symbol variably displayed on the special symbol variable display unit 28 and the production display unit 29 and the production symbol are stopped and displayed with a combination of symbols corresponding to a predetermined probability variation symbol type, the “big hit” by the repeated continuation control is performed. After the completion of, the probability variation state where the probability of a big hit again becomes a higher probability state than the normal probability state becomes a probability fluctuation state, distinguishing the big hit in these probability variation symbols from the normal big hit `` probability big hit '' In the probability variation state after the end of the probability variation jackpot, the probability variation state signal is output to notify the outside of the occurrence of the probability variation state.

  Further, when the special symbol variably displayed on the special symbol variable display unit 28 and the effect display unit 29 and the production symbol are stopped and displayed with a combination of symbols other than the predetermined probability variation symbol, the “big hit” by the repeated continuation control is performed. After the end, until the variable display reaches a predetermined number of times in the special figure variable display unit 28 and the effect display unit 29 or until the next big hit occurs, the special symbol in the special figure variable display unit 28 and the effect in the effect display unit 29 The variable display time (fluctuation time) of the symbol is shortened when it is shortened compared to the normal gaming state. During these short states, the short / short state signal is set to the output state. Occurrence is notified to the outside.

  The pachinko machine 2 of this embodiment is equipped with an information output board (not shown) for outputting these signals externally, and the information output board and the card unit 3 are connected via a signal cable (not shown). From the information output board, an external output signal consisting of a big hit signal, a probability changing signal, a short time signal, a start signal, and a winning ball signal is output to the card unit 3 via a signal cable.

  Here, the big hit signal is a signal that is in the output state during the big hit state period, the probability changing signal is a signal that is in the output state only during the probability changing state period, and the short and medium time signal is the period in the short time state The start signal is a pulse signal of a predetermined width that is output when the variable display is completed after all the display results of the special figure variable display section 28 are derived and displayed. The ball signal is a pulse signal having a predetermined width that is output every time a predetermined number of balls (10 balls in this embodiment) is paid out.

  The pachinko machine 2 according to the present embodiment has a control for counting and paying out a predetermined number of award balls from a game control board that controls the game in the pachinko machine 2 based on a prize ball signal output based on winning. And a prize ball control board (not shown) that controls to count and lend out 25 pachinko balls, which are payout units, based on signals input / output from the card unit 3, as with a normal CR machine. In addition, pachinko balls can be lent out in multiples of 25 balls, which is the payout unit.

  Next, the visitor card and the membership card used in the present embodiment will be briefly described. The visitor card and the membership card used in the present embodiment have a nonvolatile memory for storing various data. And an IC card on which an IC chip having a control unit that performs non-contact communication with an external reader / writer device is rewritten and read out. In the membership card, a card ID that can identify each card, specifically, a visitor card that has a card ID that begins with VC, and a membership card that has a membership card ID that starts with KC is stored in a non-rewritable manner in advance. In addition, the type can be identified from the card ID, the prepaid balance data that can specify the prepaid balance, The presence or absence of dividing (indicates there distribution is "1", "0" indicating no sorting) identifiable allocation flag various data for are stored.

  The member card is issued to a member player who has registered as a member in the amusement hall, and a member ID assigned to the member is stored in a non-rewritable manner. In addition, as will be described later, the member player can use the membership card to store the pachinko balls once acquired and counted so that they can be used again in the game after the next day. However, these member cards do not directly record the number of stored balls, which is data of the stored balls, and the number of stored balls is associated with the member card ID and the member ID in the management computer 150 as will be described later. By being stored, it is specified from the member card ID or member ID.

  The visitor card is purchased and issued by a card issuing / payment machine (not shown) installed in the amusement hall, and is also issued by the card unit 3. The visitor card stores the number of balls and date based on the counted number of balls counted by the player who owns the visitor card, and the number of balls is stored only on the day of each game in the game hall. The card unit 3 can be used.

  In this embodiment, as described above, the number of possessed balls is written and recorded only on the visitor card, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the data on the number of retained balls and the number of accumulated balls is recorded. May be recorded on the membership card in the same manner as the visitor card.

  Next, the card unit 3 according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 10 and FIG. 33. As shown in FIG. Various display units such as a multi-function lamp 301 that can be informed of the state of the card unit 3 and the like by being lit in a plurality of colors, a bill insertion slot 302 for inserting bills, and a device front side from the front of the device A protruding portion 305 formed in a protruding manner, a payout button 311 for accepting a counting payout operation for paying out the counted number of balls, and a card insertion slot 309 for inserting a member card or a visitor card are provided.

  A card insertion slot 309 provided on the front surface of the card unit 3 is connected to a card slot 392 of a card reader / writer 327 (see FIG. 7) built in a position corresponding to the card insertion slot 309. A visitor card or a membership card can be inserted into the card slot 392 through the insertion slot 309.

  A protruding portion 305 is provided on the front surface of the card unit 3 so as to protrude forward. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, on the surface of the protruding portion 305 facing the player, a display unit 312 capable of displaying various information, a menu button 316 for displaying a main menu screen, a table When a table data button 318 for displaying data and a member card is received, a replay game using the member card ID recorded on the member card and the number of balls specified by the member ID is performed. Replay button 319, replay display unit 320 for notifying that the operation of replay button 319 is effective, and an infrared signal from a remote control (not shown) possessed by an attendant of the game hall are An IR light receiving unit 315 that converts and outputs a signal is provided, and each display item displayed on the display unit 312 is provided on the surface of the display unit 312. Transparent touch panel 314 to be input is provided by touching with a finger.

  Further, a liquid crystal display 313, which will be described later, and a switch corresponding to each button are provided inside the protrusion 305, and these correspond to the protrusion 305 as shown in FIG. By being connected to the display control board 329 provided at the position in the apparatus, display control of the liquid crystal display 313, input position detection by the transparent touch panel 314, and the like are performed by the display control board 329.

  At the upper position in the card unit 3, a banknote inserted in the banknote insertion slot 302 is connected, and a bill inserted into the banknote insertion slot 302 is taken to identify its authenticity and banknote type. A banknote identification unit 321 that outputs to a control unit 328, which will be described later, provided in the unit is provided. In the banknote identification unit 321, various banknotes (10,000 yen, 5,000 yen, 2,000 yen, 1,000 yen each) (Banknotes) can be accepted.

  Further, a control unit 328 for controlling the operation of the card unit 3 is provided at a substantially central position of the card unit 3 so as to be easily connected to each part constituting the card unit 3, and as will be described later. Various operations of the card unit 3 are controlled by the control unit 328.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a recovery channel box 348 having a recovery channel inclined from the front side to the rear (inward) side of the card unit 3 is provided at the lowermost position of the card unit 3. In addition, the card unit 3 is disposed at the lower end position of the front surface of the card unit 3 on the front surface side of the recovery flow path box 348 at the lower position of the lower plate 24 of the pachinko machine 2, thereby being discharged from the lower plate 24. There is a connecting rod 344 for allowing the pachinko balls discharged from the box-like counting / fractional payout unit 340 to flow into the card unit 3 while counting the pachinko balls that are less than the payout unit number. A connecting rod mounting port 348 ′ to be mounted is provided, and the pachinko balls that flow down the connecting rod 344 and flow into the recovery flow path box 348 from the connecting rod mounting port 348 ′ are recovered. The road box 348 from the front side of the card unit 3 will flow down to the rear (inner) side, and is discharged to a collecting gutter (not shown) of the game island from the rear lower end of the card unit 3.

  In the card unit 3 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the main body of the card unit 3 engages with a unit holder 31 'formed at the upper and lower positions, and the main body of the card unit 3 is pulled out in the front direction. A cylinder lock (not shown) is provided at a predetermined position below the front surface of the card unit 3 through a unit holder 31 ′ that can be held, and is locked by an unlocking key possessed by an attendant or the like. The card unit 3 can be pulled out by canceling. Further, the unit holder 31 ′ is provided with a connector for relaying various connection cables, and a communication cable or the like connected to the control unit 328 is relay-connected via the unit holder 31 ′. These communication cables are devised so that the card unit 3 main body cannot be pulled out by being entangled when the card unit 3 main body is pulled out.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the card unit 3 of this embodiment. As described above, the card unit 3 mainly controls the bill identification unit 321, the card reader / writer 327, the display control board 329, the counting / fractional dispensing unit 340, and the control of each part of the card unit 3. And a control unit 328 that implements various functions of the card unit 3, and a bill identification unit 321, a card reader / writer 327, a counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 and a display control board 329 are provided in the control unit 328. To send and receive various data.

  The card reader / writer 327 reads and writes recorded information such as a (member) card ID, a member ID (member card only), and prepaid balance data recorded on the member card and visitor card inserted from the card insertion slot 309. I do.

  The configuration of the card reader / writer 327 used in the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4. Inside the card reader / writer 327, a member card or a visitor card is inserted from the card insertion slot 309. An insertion sensor 397 for detecting that a membership card or a visitor card is being inserted, a shutter solenoid 399 for moving a shutter to block insertion of a new membership card or visitor card from the card insertion slot 309, A guide rail 398 extending from the card insertion slot 309 and slidable with a membership card or a visitor card, and a membership card or a visitor card arranged so as to sandwich the guide rail 398 and inserted into the card slot 392 , The card slot 392 and the membership card and visitor card A take-in / discharge roller 387 ′ for discharging the card from the card insertion slot 309, a drive motor 386 ′ for driving the take-in / discharge roller 387 ′, and an inward side of the card slot 392 by the take-in / discharge roller 387 ′. The movement of the taken member card or visitor card on the guide rail 398 is carried out by being driven and rotated by the drive motors 386 and 393, and one side of the transport rollers 387 and 388 is stretched. A transport mechanism comprising a transport belt 391, a solenoid 389 for raising and lowering a stop pin that stops the transported member card or visitor card at a predetermined position, or a member card or visitor card stopped at a predetermined position A communication head 390 for supplying power to the terminal and performing data communication, and a membership card connected to the communication head 390 And a communication board 327a for controlling data transmission / reception with the visitor card, and reading data from the inserted membership card or visitor card and writing to the membership card or visitor card in a non-contact state. It is possible.

  The transport roller 387 constituting the transport mechanism provided in the card reader / writer 327 of this embodiment is provided to be separated from the card insertion slot 309 by a distance substantially equal to the length dimension of one member card or visitor card. One member card or visitor card is retained (held) between the card insertion slot 309 and the transport roller 387, and another member card or visitor card is placed at a predetermined position corresponding to the communication head 390. Can be read and written, and as will be described later, when the distribution process is performed, the visitor card issued by the distribution and the member card being accepted are continuously and substantially simultaneously. If the card can be ejected from the card insertion slot 309, and if the distribution destination card is accepted in the distribution, the distribution While it held without discharging the previous card, so that can be completed writing to the distribution source of visitor card.

  A card storage section 370 capable of storing up to 10 visitor cards is provided at the inner terminal end position of the card unit 3 of the conveyor belt 391 provided in the card reader / writer 327 of the present embodiment. It is possible to issue visitor cards.

  Inside the card storage section 370 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a pair of transport rollers 371 driven and rotated by a drive motor 373 and a transport belt 372 stretched around the transport rollers 371. And a visitor card for moving (accommodating and discharging) the visitor card is provided, and the visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 is pressed toward the transfer belt 372 via the support plate 377. A pressing spring 376 is provided.

  A swing roller 375 that swings by a solenoid 374 is provided at a substantially central portion of the transport belt 372 in the transport mechanism. When the visitor card is taken into the card storage unit 370, the swing roller 375 is swung by the solenoid 374 and comes into contact with the transport belt 372, so that the central portion of the transport belt 372 protrudes and is already stored. By pressing the card or support plate 377, a gap for newly receiving the visitor card is formed between the conveyor belt 372 and the visitor card or support plate 377. Therefore, the inserted visitor card can be smoothly stored in the card storage unit 370, and after the visitor card is taken in, the swing roller 375 returns to a position where it does not come into contact with the transport belt 372. The visitor card is stored in a state where the protrusion of the central portion of the transport belt 372 is eliminated and the transport belt 372 contacts the entire surface of the visitor card, and when the visitor card is discharged, the visitor that contacts the transport belt 372 is stored. The card is discharged to the conveyance belt 391 by moving the conveyance belt 372 in the direction opposite to that of taking in the card.

  The card storage unit 370 is provided with a card replenishment detection sensor 378 that is an optical sensor that detects that the number of visitor cards stored in the card storage unit 370 is 1 or less. A card full detection sensor 379 is provided by an optical sensor that detects that the number of visitor cards stored in the card storage unit 370 has reached 10 (full). When the card replenishment detection sensor 378 detects that the number of visitor cards has become one or less due to the absence of light reflection from the visitor card, the detection signal is output to the control unit 328, whereby the control unit 328. When the multi-function lamp 301 is turned on in a predetermined lighting mode for requesting card replenishment, the store clerk is informed that there are not enough visitor cards, and the card full detection sensor 379 indicates the number of visitor cards. When it is detected that there are 10 sheets (full tank) due to light reflection from the visitor card, the detection signal is output to the control unit 328 so that the control unit 328 can In 370, you can recognize that the visitor card is full. The visitor card without performing the recovery of terpolymers card is ejected from the card insertion opening 309.

  When the visitor card is replenished to the card storage unit 370, the visitor card with a remaining balance of 0 is sequentially inserted into the card insertion slot 309 in a state where the clerk has shifted to the card replenishment mode by operating the remote controller. These inserted visitor cards are sequentially stored in the card storage unit 370.

  Next, the control unit 328 of the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 328 is accepting a central processing circuit (CPU) 328a capable of executing a control program and a card reader / writer 327. (Member) card ID of visitor card and membership card, prepaid balance, number of possessed balls, number of stored balls, number of points visited, corresponding pachinko machine 2 machine data, game information of members in game, counting / fractional payout unit 340 A RAM 328b capable of storing various data such as stored ball count data that is the number of pachinko balls stored in the CPU, a control program executed by a central processing circuit (CPU) 328a, and a device ID of the card unit 3 Distribution that can specify the presence or absence of permission for direct storage allocation set in the setting information and the distribution setting screen described later EEPROM 328c which is a non-volatile memory capable of rewriting and storing various data such as fixed information and (member) card ID while away, and real-time clock (RTC) 328d capable of outputting time information and calendar information at that time The RAM 328b is backed up by a battery (not shown), and the stored data is retained for a predetermined period even when the power is turned off.

  As described above, the control unit 328 of this embodiment is connected to the prize ball control board (not shown) provided in the pachinko machine 2 so as to be able to exchange various signals accompanying the lending of the pachinko balls. In addition, as described above, by connecting to the information output board of the pachinko machine 2 through the signal cable, various external output signals such as a big hit signal can be input.

  The control unit 328 is connected to an out ball counter 16 provided at a lower position of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 so that each count signal from the out ball counter 16 can be input. In response to the input of the count signal from the counter 16, a predetermined number corresponding to the count signal is added to the value of the total number of shot balls in a game information table (see FIG. 9B) to be described later.

  Further, the control unit 328 is connected to the counting / fractional payout unit 340 and, as will be described later, in response to the reception of the counting information output from the counting / fractional payout unit 340, the lower position of the display unit 312 The total number of balls counted by the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 (the balls already counted on that day before that time) by updating the value of the number of balls already counted (see FIG. 5). If there are numbers, the total number of balls) is displayed as the counted number of balls.

  The control unit 328 is connected to a payout button switch 311 ′ corresponding to a payout button 311 provided at a position below the protrusion 305 on the front surface of the apparatus, and a signal corresponding to the operation of the payout button 311 By inputting from the button switch 311 ′, the presence / absence of the operation of the payout button 311 is grasped, and when the payout button 311 is operated, a payout process described later is performed to pay out pachinko balls corresponding to the number of payout units. While performing from the corresponding pachinko machine 2, the pachinko balls with a fraction less than the number of payout units are paid out from the counting / fractional payout unit 340.

  In the card table stored in the RAM 328b of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9A, the (member) card ID and member ID (read from the visitor card or member card inserted in the card reader / writer 327 are displayed. (Member card only), (Member) card ID and prepaid balance based on prepaid balance data, card ID or (member) card ID and number of coins specified from member ID, (member) card ID and member ID The number of stored balls (members only) and the number of store visit points (members only) specified from the member ID are stored.

  Further, in the game information table of the present embodiment stored in the RAM 328b, as shown in FIG. 9B, game information for three days including today, that is, today's data, previous day's data, and previous day's data are displayed. It is remembered. The previous day data and the previous day data are also stored in the EEPROM 328c. However, when displaying the previous day data and the previous day data, the present day data and the previous day data can be processed at a higher speed than reading from the EEPROM 328c. In the embodiment, the previous day data and the previous day data read from the EEPROM 328c in advance are stored in the game information table stored in the RAM 328b.

  In the game information table of this embodiment, the current game based on the input status of the above-mentioned big hit signal, probability changing signal, and short-time signal output from the corresponding pachinko machine 2 to the input terminals 1 to 3 (not shown). State (only today), latest game state data (input state of input terminal 1 to input terminal 3, 0: LOW / not connected, 1: HIGH, today only) from the left bit and previous game state data ( The game state data before being updated to the latest game state data (only today), the total number of hit balls, the total number of winning balls from the start of business, the number of difference balls (the total number of hit balls-the total number of winning balls) , The total number of starts, reset every time the occurrence of a big hit state is identified, the number of start after hit that is the number of starts after the occurrence of the big hit, the number of big hits that is the number of occurrence of the big hit from the start of business, the time of business start Occurrence of probability variation state from The number of times of probability change, the number of short-time occurrences since the start of business, and the number of consecutive homes that are the number of big hits that occurred from the big hit that occurred in the normal gaming state to the next normal gaming state The game information is stored in the latest information based on the jackpot signal, probability change signal, time reduction signal, start signal, prize ball signal, and out ball count signal input to the input terminal. Updated.

  Note that today's table data aggregated and managed in these game information tables, as shown in FIG. 10, a specific data header indicating that it is a transmission data string including the table data at the head, and the card unit As a transmission data string of a predetermined format to which the device ID of 3 and the corresponding machine number of the pachinko machine 2 are assigned, in response to reception of a transmission request from the hall computer 140 (at the time of changing the gaming state) Sent. The ECC in FIG. 10 is an error correction code.

  Further, in the member game information table of the present embodiment stored in the RAM 328b, as shown in FIG. 9C, game information from the time when the member card is inserted into the card reader / writer 327, that is, the insertion The game information relating to the game of the member who has the member card is stored.

  Specifically, the start time when the member started playing (member card acceptance time), the end time when the member finished playing (member card return time), the member's game time, and after the member started playing The number of start-ups, the number of jackpots that have occurred since the member started playing, the number of jackpots that have occurred since the member started playing, the number of positive changes that have occurred since the member started playing, the member has started playing The number of balls acquired from (the difference from the number of balls counted at the start of the game), the spending amount used by the member for the game, the number of replay balls used for replay after the member started the game, The number of balls used since the member started the game is updated and stored, and the game information (table data) since the member player playing the game with the corresponding pachinko machine 2 can start grasping. It is like that.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9 (d), stored ball number data is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 328 b, and the counting / fractional payout unit 340 is stored in a later-described storage unit inside the counting / fractional payout unit 340. The number of pachinko balls that have flowed in as a result of counting is added and updated to the stored ball count data, while the number of pachinko balls that have been paid out from the counting / fractional payout unit 340 is subtracted and updated from the stored ball count data. Thus, the number of pachinko balls currently stored in the storage unit can be specified by the stored ball number data.

  Further, as described above, the control unit 328 includes a remaining amount indicator provided in the operation unit 14 of the corresponding pachinko machine 2, a loan button switch for detecting the operation of the loan button, a member card and a visitor being received. A return button switch for detecting the operation of the return button operated when returning the card is connected, so that the operation of the lending button and the operation of the return button can be detected, and the display control of these remaining amount indicators is performed.

  The control unit 328 outputs various information input from the display control board 329 in response to an output from the IR light receiving unit 315 according to transmission from the remote controller, operation of various buttons provided on the protrusion 305, and operation of the touch panel. The full color provided in the multi-function lamp connected to the control unit 328 in response to the currency identification information by the banknote identification unit 321, the card insertion information from the card reader / writer 327, the visitor card storage state information, etc. The LED 301a and other LED lighting controls, card reader / writer 327, display control board 329 control, balance indicator display control and other overall operation controls, as shown in FIG. 21, are inserted into the card insertion slot 309. Card acceptance processing to determine whether membership cards and visitor cards can be used Loan processing for lending using the prepaid balance based on the prepaid balance data read from the member card or visitor card being received, return processing for returning the member card or visitor card being accepted by operating the return button, money In response to the receipt of money, the payment to the prepaid balance remaining on the member card or visitor card being accepted, the issuance / payment processing to write and issue the prepaid balance on a new visitor card, and the replay processing using the number of stored balls In response to the operation of the payout button 311, the number of balls counted (including those specified by the inserted visitor card and member card) is paid out (returned), and the number of balls paid out is subtracted from the counted number of balls. Payout processing, and transition to the away mode upon receipt of a signal based on the away operation on the remote control Away processing order, executes various processes of the sorting processing for sorting the counts already piece count and 貯玉 number as the count already piece count and 貯玉 number other players by accepting the sorting operation.

  The control unit 328 is connected to the system controller 100, the hall computer 140, the management computer 150, etc. connected to the local area network (LAN) via the communication unit 334 and the HUB 7 so as to be able to perform data communication. These computers can send and receive various data through the communication unit 334.

  The display control board 329 connected to the control unit 328 includes a liquid crystal display 313 that forms the display unit 312, a transparent touch panel 314, various switches (a menu switch 316 a corresponding to the menu button 316, and a base data button 318. The corresponding table data switch 318a, the replay switch 319a corresponding to the replay button 319), the IR light receiving unit 315, and the electronic components such as the LED 320a provided in the replay display unit 320 are connected. Operation information on the transparent touch panel 314, operation information on various switches, and information based on the output signal output from the IR light receiving unit 315 are output to the control unit 328 via the display control board 329.

  In the display control board 329 of the present embodiment, a display driving circuit (not shown) that performs display driving of the liquid crystal display 313 and a position that is pressed based on an output signal from the transparent touch panel 314 are specified and An input position detection circuit (not shown) that outputs the specified input position information, a VDP (not shown) that performs processing related to a display image displayed on the display unit 312, a VROM that stores image data used for menu display, etc. (Not shown), VRAM (not shown) for temporarily storing display data to be displayed on the display unit 312, and determination and processing associated with inputs from various switches and touch panels, etc., independently from the control unit 328 Based on display data (page data) output from the control unit 328, etc. A display screen, and is capable of displaying on the liquid crystal display 313 constituting the display unit 312.

  The control unit 328 is connected to the counting / fractional payout unit 340 so that various data such as counting information and a fractional payout request can be transmitted and received by serial communication capable of transmitting and receiving data with a small number of communication lines.

  Here, the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 of the present embodiment will be described in detail. The counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 of the present embodiment includes the lower plate 24 of the pachinko machine 2 as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. It is a horizontally long box disposed between the repair board 1 of the amusement island, and is connected to a recovery flow path box 348 provided at the lowest position of the card unit 3 via a connecting rod 344. Yes.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the end of the connecting rod 344 bent at a right angle is attached to the connecting rod mounting port 348 ′ connected to the recovery flow path box 348 provided below the front surface of the main body of the card unit 3. Thus, the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 is positioned immediately below the lower plate 24.

  The top surface of the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 is formed with a hopper-shaped insertion portion 345 into which pachinko balls discharged from the lower plate 24 are inserted, and the front side of the card unit 3 main body ( On the left side), there is provided a return storage section 342 for storing the paid-out (returned) fractional pachinko balls so that they can be taken out.

  Further, a step portion is provided on the hitting operation handle 25 side of the counting / fractional payout unit 340 of the present embodiment, and the step portion has an elastic member on the upper surface, and the height position of the elastic member is provided. A hand placement member 343 capable of adjusting the position of the hand can be placed on the hand placement member 343 when the player operates the hitting operation handle 25. In a long game, it is possible to prevent the hand from getting tired by operating the hitting operation handle 25, but the present invention is not limited to this. 343 may not be provided.

  The counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 mainly includes an upper unit 340a constituting the upper part of the unit and a lower unit 340b constituting the lower part of the unit. The upper unit 340a is detachable from the lower unit 340b. Has been.

  The upper part of the upper unit 340a is a throwing-in part 345 having a concave shape capable of temporarily storing pachinko balls discharged from the lower plate 24.

  An inflow port 346 connected to the counting channel 347 formed in the lower unit 340b is provided at the lowest position on the bottom surface of the charging unit 345. As will be described later, the counting channel 347 is formed so as to be inclined in the direction of the connecting rod 344 so that the connecting rod 344 side is downward, and the inflow port 346 is connected to the counting channel 347. It is provided so as to open toward the rear side of the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340, which is in a direction perpendicular to the inclination direction.

  Therefore, the pachinko balls thrown into the insertion portion 345 flow into the counting channel 347 from the inflow port 346 and flow down on the counting channel 347 in the direction of the connecting rod 344. Counting is performed by a counting sensor 356 (described later) provided in the downstream portion (see FIG. 8).

  That is, the counting passage of the present invention is formed by the inflow port 346 and the counting channel 347, and the direction of the inflow port 346 is provided so as to be perpendicular to the direction of the channel in the counting channel 347. The passage has one bent portion, so that it is possible to prevent the rod-shaped metal member from being inserted from these inflow ports 346 and reaching the counting sensor 356.

  In addition, an inclined cover portion 345 ′ formed so as to be inclined to the front side of the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 is provided at the upper portion of the counting channel 347, and the pachinko balls on the inclined cover portion 345 ′ are It flows down to the front side of the input part 345. That is, the pachinko balls thrown into the throwing portion 345 are once collected at the front side position of the throwing portion 345, and then the bottom of the throwing portion 345 has the bottom of the throwing portion 345 in which the inlet 346 is formed. By being inclined toward the hand placement member 343 side (right side), it flows down toward the inflow port 346 and flows from the inflow port 346 toward the rear of the counting / fractioning unit 340. It has become.

  In this way, the pachinko balls put in from the lower plate 24 are once collected on the front side of the loading unit 345, so that the pachinko balls in the loading unit 345 can be easily taken out without being obstructed by the lower plate 24. This is preferable. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the inserted pachinko balls may not be collected on the front side of the input unit 345.

  The inlet 346 is provided with an inlet shutter 352 for blocking the inflow of pachinko balls from the inlet 346, and the inlet shutter 352 is released, so that A pachinko ball flows into the counting channel 347 from the inlet 346.

  In addition, the side of the upper unit 340a on the side of the connecting rod 344 (on the left side) is provided with a counting operation unit 355 that is operated by the player when counting, and by the operation in the counting operation unit 355, The inlet shutter 352 is released in response to the operation of the counting switch 355 ′ included in the counting operation unit 355.

  On the other hand, on the front surface of the lower unit 340b, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, a bottomed box-like return storage section 342 is provided at the end position of the connecting rod 344. A front portion of the return storage portion 342 is provided so as to protrude from the front surface of the lower unit 340b, and a take-out concave portion 342 ′ is provided at a portion of the front surface of the upper unit 340a that is an upper position of the return storage portion 342. It is provided so that the fractional pachinko balls paid out to the return storage section 342 can be easily taken out from the return storage section 342.

  Next, the structure of the lower unit 340b of a present Example is demonstrated based on FIG. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the counting / fractional dispensing unit 340 when the upper unit 340a is removed, as viewed from above, that is, a plan view of the lower unit 340b as viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 8, it mainly includes a counting channel 347, a counting module 330, an inflow channel 339, a storage unit 338, a discharge channel 337, a return channel 335, and a return storage unit 342.

  The counting channel 347 is a two-channel channel formed across the lower unit 340b in the rear part of the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 that is located immediately below the inclined cover portion 345 ′. Pachinko balls flow down in alignment toward the connecting rod 344 side.

  The counting module 330 is provided on the downstream side of the counting channel 347 and includes a counting sensor 356 for detecting and counting pachinko balls flowing down the counting channel 347.

  On the front side of the counting flow path 347, there is a storage part 338 for storing pachinko balls used for paying out pachinko balls having a fraction less than the payout unit number, and the front side of the storage part 338 has a height on the rear side. The storage portion 338 and the downstream portion of the counting module 330 are connected by an inflow passage 339 inclined toward the storage portion 338 side. The pachinko balls that have been counted by the counting sensor 356 are allowed to flow into the storage section 338 through the inflow passage 339 and be stored.

  A pachinko ball outlet 338 ′ stored in the reservoir 338 is provided at a front side position of the reservoir 338, and the outlet 338 ′ is directed toward the outlet 338 ′ in the reservoir 338. Guide grooves (not shown) formed so as to meander are provided, and the pachinko balls that have flowed into the storage portion 338 are stored in an aligned state on the guide grooves in the order of flow, The pachinko balls stored in advance are discharged from the outlet 338 ′.

  In addition, two flow paths are formed in the counting module 330, and among the two flow paths, one flow path on the front side is a flow path changing shutter at the downstream end position of the counting module 330. 351 is provided, and when the flow path changing shutter 351 is projected and retracted, the flow direction of the pachinko balls can be switched to the connecting rod 344 side or the inflow path 339 side.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a storage ball sensor 357 for detecting and counting pachinko balls flowing down the inflow passage 339 and stored in the storage portion 338 is located near the branch portion to the inflow passage 339. Is provided.

  Further, the outlet 338 ′ has the lowest height in the reservoir 338 so that the pachinko balls stored in the reservoir 338 naturally flow down toward the outlet 338 ′. The outlet 338 ′ is connected to the discharge channel 337 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the discharge passage 337 is provided with a recess mounted on the rotation shaft of the discharge motor 353 and having a recess capable of accommodating one pachinko ball on the outer periphery thereof, as shown in FIG. A sprocket 353 ′ is arranged, and the discharge sprocket 353 ′ regulates the natural outflow of pachinko balls from the outlet 338 ′, and the discharge motor 353 is operated to rotate the discharge sprocket 353 ′. Pachinko balls that have flowed out to the outlet 338 ′ are taken into the recesses formed in the payout sprocket 353 ′ one by one and discharged into the discharge flow path 337 by the rotation of the payout sprocket 353 ′. It flows down the path 337, joins the connecting rod 344, and is collected in the card unit 3.

  In the middle of the discharge flow path 337, a pachinko ball that has flowed down the discharge flow path 337 by advancing and retreating the flow dividing port 336 to the return passage 335 connected to the return storage section 342 and the flow path switching plate mounted. The flow path switching solenoid 358 that can be switched to the connecting rod side or the return path side is provided, and a discharge sprocket 353 ′ is disposed at an upstream position of the flow outlet 336 of the discharge flow path 337. A payout sensor 354 for detecting and counting the pachinko balls lifted and supplied to the discharge flow path 337 is provided, and the payout sensor 354 pays out (returns) to the player through the return passage 335. The number of balls can be counted, and pachinko balls collected (discharged) from the storage unit 338 through the connecting rod 344 into the card unit 3 can be counted. It has become to so that.

  In addition, inside the lower unit 340b located below the stepped portion where the hand placement member 343 is provided, a control microcomputer or the like serving as a control unit 350 for controlling the counting / fractional dispensing unit 340 is mounted. A control board 341 is incorporated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control board 341 includes the flow path changing shutter 351, the inlet shutter 352, the dispensing motor 353, the dispensing sensor 354, and the counting switch 355 ′ incorporated in the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340. The counting sensor 356, the storage ball sensor 357, and the flow path switching solenoid 358 are connected, and the control board 341 is controlled to form each function of the counting / fractional dispensing unit 340.

  In addition, the control board 341 is electrically connected to the main body of the card unit 3 via a connecting rod 344.

  Specifically, a connection channel formed so as to incline from the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 toward the connection rod mounting port 348 ′ is provided inside the connection rod 344, and the connection channel The connecting rod cover 344 ′ is attached to the upper portion of the connecting rod cover, and a connecting cable is installed in the connecting rod cover 344 ′.

  A predetermined number of metal connection terminal pins 349 ′ connected to the control unit 328 or a power supply circuit (not shown) via a connection cable are provided at an upper position on the front side of the recovery flow path box 348 inside the card unit 3 body. A connection terminal portion 349 is provided.

  These connection terminal pins 349 ′ are provided so as to face the upper position of the connection rod attachment port 348 ′ attached to the connection rod 344.

  On the other hand, a terminal insertion member connected to the connection cable in the connection rod cover 344 ′ is provided at the end of the connection rod cover 344 ′ attached to the connection rod attachment port 348 ′.

  Therefore, when the connecting rod 344 is mounted in the connecting rod mounting port 348 ′, the connection terminal pin 349 ′ is inserted into the terminal insertion member, and the connection terminal pin 349 ′ and the terminal insertion member are electrically connected to each other. The control unit 328 and the control board 341 inside the main body are communicably connected, and operating power is supplied to the control board 341 from the card unit 3 main body.

  Here, the flow of the pachinko balls in the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 will be described with reference to FIG. 33. When pachinko balls are counted in a state where no pachinko balls are stored in the storage unit 338, FIG. As shown in (a), when the flow path is changed to the inflow path 339 side by the flow path changing shutter 351, the counted pachinko balls counted by the counting sensor 356 pass through the inflow path 339 into the storage unit 338. It flows into and is stored.

  At this time, the pachinko balls flowing into the inflow path 339 and the storage section 338 are detected by the storage ball sensor 357, and each time one pachinko ball is detected, the control board 341 (control section 350). On the other hand, when the detection signal is output, the number of replenishment balls, which is the number of pachinko balls flowing into the storage portion 338 and the inflow path 339 in the control board 341 (control unit 350), is counted. The replenishment ball number information including the counted replenishment ball number is transmitted to the control unit 328, whereby the replenishment ball number is added and updated to the stored ball number data. The replenishing ball number information is given the device ID of the card unit 3 by the control unit 328 and transmitted to the management computer 150, so that the replenishing ball number information is stored in the storage / dispensing history table based on the replenishing ball number information. As a storage / dispensing history corresponding to the device ID, a storage / dispensing history including the type of “storage” and the number of supplementary balls is registered.

  Specifically, from the start of input of a detection signal according to detection of a new pachinko ball by the storage ball sensor 357, the storage ball sensor 357 causes the storage portion 338 and the inflow path 339 to be filled with the pachinko balls. Count the number of detection signals that are input until the pachinko ball is detected continuously for a predetermined time or longer, or until the pachinko ball is not detected for a predetermined time or longer, and the count number is replenished. To the control unit 328, the control unit 328 adds and updates the count number included in the supplemented ball number information to the stored ball number data.

  After the inside of the reservoir 338 and the inflow path 339 are filled with pachinko balls in this way, the flow path change to the inflow path 339 side by the flow path change shutter 351 is canceled as shown in FIG. As a result, all the pachinko balls that have been counted by the counting sensor 356 flow down the connecting rod 344 and are collected in the game island via the collection flow path box 348 inside the card unit 3.

  In the state where pachinko balls are stored in the storage unit 338 in this way, when the number of pachinko balls having a fraction less than the dispensing unit, for example, 20 balls are paid out (returned), that is, as will be described later. In addition, when a fraction payout request including 20 balls, which is the fraction to be paid out (returned), is received from the control unit 328, the flow path is switched by the flow path switching solenoid 358 to the return path 335 as shown in FIG. , And by operating the payout motor 353 until a detection signal of 20 which is the payout ball number (fraction) included in the received fraction payout request is input from the payout sensor 354, the payout ball number (fractional number) ) 20 pachinko balls are supplied to the discharge flow path 337, so that the 20 pachinko balls supplied to the discharge flow path 337 Flows into the return passage 335 from, comes to be stored is returned to the return reservoir 342.

  When a number of detection signals corresponding to these fractions are input from the dispensing sensor 354, a fraction dispensing completion notification is transmitted to the control unit 328 as a response to the fraction dispensing request. 328 subtracts and updates 20 which is the fraction included in the fraction payout request from the stored ball count data, and transmits a payout completion notification to the management computer 150 as will be described later.

  Further, when a discharge request including the number of discharged balls, for example, 55 balls, transmitted from the control unit 328 in response to reception of a discharge instruction from the management computer 150 is received, as shown in FIG. In addition, the payout motor 353 is operated until the detection signal 55, which is the number of discharged balls included in the received discharge request, is input from the payout sensor 354 without switching the flow path to the return passage 335. Thus, by supplying 55 pachinko balls corresponding to the number of discharged balls to the discharge flow path 337, the 55 pachinko balls supplied to the discharge flow path 337 are connected to the inside of the connecting rod 344 and the card unit 3 main body. It is recovered in the game island through the recovery flow path box 348.

  When a number of detection signals corresponding to the number of discharged balls are input from the payout sensor 354, a discharge completion notification is transmitted to the control unit 328 as a response to the discharge request. In 328, 55, which is the number of discharged balls included and transmitted in the discharge request, is updated by subtraction from the stored ball number data.

  In addition, when the number of discharged balls included in the discharge request is the total number, the payout motor 353 is operated until no pachinko ball detection signal is input from the payout sensor 354, so that the storage unit 338 and the inflow passage 339 are operated. All the stored pachinko balls are discharged to the connecting rod 344, and the storage part 338 and the inflow path 339 are in an empty state.

  Next, the distribution device 5 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12. The distribution device 5 has a vertically long box-like appearance as shown in FIG. An operation notification lamp 503 for informing the operation status, a display device 501 formed of a liquid crystal display having a transparent touch panel 502 on the surface, a first card insertion slot 504 into which a visitor card or membership card as a distribution source is inserted, A first insertion slot LED 506 is provided corresponding to the first card insertion slot 504 and notifies the discharge of the card from the first card insertion slot 504 by blinking, etc., and a visitor card or membership card as a distribution destination is inserted. In addition, a second card insertion slot 505 from which a visitor card for a new distribution destination is issued is provided in correspondence with the second card insertion slot 505. A second insertion port LED507 for notifying by blinking the discharge or the like card from the second card slot 505 is provided.

  The display device 501 displays an operation guide for the distribution device 5, and the user can easily perform distribution by inserting a card or selecting a menu along the operation guide.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the sorting device 5 of the present embodiment. The device has almost the same configuration as the card reader / writer 327 (see FIG. 4) built in the card unit 3 described above. The first card reader / writer 508 is provided so as to face the first card insertion slot 504, and the second card reader / writer 509 having the same configuration as the card reader / writer 327 (see FIG. 4) It is provided so as to face the card insertion slot 505.

  The second card reader / writer 509 has a card storage unit 370 for storing visitor cards to be issued, like the card reader / writer 327 described above, and can newly issue a visitor card as a distribution destination. On the other hand, the first card reader / writer 508 has a configuration in which the card storage unit 370 is omitted, and does not have a visitor card issuing function.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the distribution device 5 includes a control unit 510 that is connected to each unit provided in the distribution device 5 and performs control for realizing various functions of the distribution device 5. The control unit 510 includes a ROM (not shown) that stores a control program in which control contents for realizing various functions of the distribution device 5 are described, and a microcomputer (CPU) that executes the control program. ) And a RAM that can be used by the microcomputer (CPU) for processing. Note that the ROM stores distribution setting information transmitted from the management computer 150, as with the card unit 3, and specifies whether or not permission for direct distribution from the number of stored balls is set by the distribution setting information. It can be done.

  The control unit 510 is connected to the above-described local area network (LAN) through the communication unit 511, and can perform data communication with the management computer 150 and the like on the local area network (LAN).

  Next, the system controller 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 13, the system controller 100 used in the present embodiment has a data bus 101 that transmits and receives data inside a computer, a CPU 102 that performs various processes performed by the system controller 100, a work memory, and the like. RAM 103, RTC 104 that outputs time information and calendar information, storage device 105 such as a hard disk, input device 106 such as a keyboard and mouse, display device 107 that displays and outputs various screens, and prints various information Installed in a card company, a communication unit 109 that performs data communication with a printer 108, a card unit 3 (control unit 328) connected to a local area network (LAN), a distribution device 5, a card issuing / payment machine, etc. Data communication with the management server 12 Digital service unit (DSU) 110 is connected is a conventional computer.

  The storage device 105 has a membership card table (FIG. 14 (FIG. 14)) for managing prepaid balance remaining in the membership card in addition to a processing program in which processing contents for performing various processes executed in the system controller 100 are described. a)) and a visitor card table (see FIG. 14B) for managing the prepaid balance remaining on the visitor card.

  In the membership card table, as shown in FIG. 14A, each membership card is associated with a membership card ID that can be individually identified, and the membership ID of the membership player who has issued the membership card, and prepaid The remaining amount and an unusable flag indicating whether or not the member card is unusable are stored, and the prepaid balance or the use of the member card can be used from the member card ID or member ID stored in the member card. Can be specified.

  In the visitor card table, as shown in FIG. 14B, each visitor card is associated with a card ID that can be individually identified, and the status of the visitor card (whether it is being used or stored). ), The latest issuance date and time when the prepaid card was issued, the prepaid balance, and an unusable flag indicating whether or not the card is unusable are stored in the visitor card. The prepaid balance, the availability of the visitor card, and the latest issue date and time can be specified from the card ID.

  The system controller 100 (CPU 102) of the present embodiment transmits the device ID of the card unit 3 and the received membership card or visitor transmitted from each card unit 3 in response to acceptance of the membership card or visitor card in the card unit 3. In response to receipt of a card acceptance notification including the (member) card ID read from the card and the prepaid balance, a card acceptance process is performed for determining whether or not the member card or visitor card can be used and returning the card to the card unit 3.

  Further, the system controller 100 (CPU 102) of the present embodiment is included in the received lending completion notification in response to reception of a lending completion notification (to be described later) transmitted along with the lending processing in the card unit 3 (member). A subtraction update process for subtracting and updating the tax-included use amount included in the lending completion notice from the prepaid balance stored in the member card table or visitor card table corresponding to the card ID is performed.

  In addition, the system controller 100 (CPU 102) of the present embodiment receives the received card in response to receipt of a card deposit notification (to be described later) transmitted in accordance with the issuance / payment processing in the card unit 3 or the card issuance / payment machine. Corresponding to the (member) card ID included in the payment notification, a payment update process is performed to add and update the payment amount included in the card payment notification to the prepaid balance stored in the member card table or visitor card table.

  In addition, the system controller 100 (CPU 102) of the present embodiment responds to the receipt of the distribution issue notification transmitted from the card unit 3 or the distribution device 5 with the issuance of the visitor card in the card unit 3 or the distribution device 5. Corresponding to the card ID included in the received distribution issue notification, “0” is stored in the prepaid balance stored in the visitor card table, and update processing for updating the status and the latest issue date data is performed.

  Next, the management computer 150 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 15, the management computer 150 used in the present embodiment is connected to a data bus 151 that transmits and receives data within the computer, and a central processing unit (for performing various processes performed by the management computer 150) ( CPU) 152, RAM 153 used as a work memory, real-time clock (RTC) 154 that outputs time information and calendar information, a storage device 155 including a hard disk, an input device 156 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and various screens are displayed. A display device 157 for outputting, a printer 158 for printing various information, and a communication unit 159 for performing data communication with the card unit 3, the sorting device 5 and the gift exchange POS terminal 170 connected to the local area network (LAN) are connected. Is a normal computer.

  In the storage device 155, in addition to a processing program in which processing contents for performing various processing executed in the management computer 150 are described, on the business day, which is the number of saving balls owned by a member player possessing a membership card Recorded in the visitor card and member saving management table (see FIG. 16 (a)) for managing the number of possessions acquired by the member player and the number of stored balls acquired by the member player before the business day A visitor saving management table (see FIG. 16 (b)) for managing the number of possessions acquired on the business day by the player who possesses the visitor card, and the current time in each card unit 3 in the game hall A unit management table (see FIG. 17 (a)) for managing the number of balls already counted and the card being received by each card unit 3; A storage / payout history table (see FIG. 17 (b)) for managing the number of existing storages stored in the storage unit 338 of the storage unit 3 at that time, the storage history from the storage unit 338, and the payout history; A distribution history table (see FIG. 18) that stores and manages the distribution history that has been distributed in the venue, and a member information table (see FIG. 19 (a)) that stores member information regarding the member player who owns the membership card. ) And a member-specific game history table (see FIG. 19B) in which a game history including game information of the member player is stored for each member ID that can identify the member player.

  In the member saving management table, as shown in FIG. 16A, a member ID that is member identification information that can be associated with each member card ID and that can individually identify the member player who has issued the member card. And the total number of balls acquired by the member player on that business day, which is the number of balls that are not used for game or prize exchange, and the member player acquired before that business day The total number of balls acquired and the number of stored balls that are unused for gaming and prize exchange are stored, and the member player possesses the member card ID or member ID stored in the member card. The number of holding balls and the number of stored balls can be specified.

  Note that the number of balls managed in the member savings management table is managed as the number of balls held only on that business day, and the number of balls in the member savings management table in the closing process after the end of business is the number of balls After being updated, everything is reset.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 16B, the visitor saving management table associates each visitor card with a card ID that can be individually identified, and possesses the latest issue date and time of the visitor card and the visitor card. The total number of balls that the player has acquired on that business day, and the number of balls that are unused for the game or prize exchange are stored, and from the card ID stored in the visitor card, It is possible to specify the number of balls possessed by the player.

  In addition, the number of balls managed in the visitor savings management table is valid only on the day of business, and all the existing balls in the visitor savings management table are reset in the closing process after the end of business. , Disabled. In addition, when the number of possessions before the day is recorded on the visitor card, the number of possessions is erased as invalid.

  In the unit management table, as shown in FIG. 17A, the local IP address of the card unit 3 is stored in association with the device ID uniquely assigned to each card unit 3 installed in the game hall. A local IP, an island where the island number of the game island where the card unit 3 is installed are stored, a situation where the card unit 3 is receiving a card or is waiting, and The corresponding unit number in which the unit number of the pachinko machine 2 corresponding to the card unit 3 is stored, the reception ID in which the card ID of the member card or visitor card being received is stored, and the count of each card unit 3 at that time The number of finished balls is stored, and the data of the counted number of balls is periodically updated according to the reception of the transmission request from the management computer 150. Is transmitted from each card unit 3 after a predetermined time (for example, after 5 seconds) after the change of the counted number of balls, so that the latest counted number of balls is managed. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 17B, the storage / payout history table is linked to the card unit 3 in association with the device ID uniquely assigned to each card unit 3 installed in the game hall. The number of pachinko balls currently stored in the storage unit 338 inside the counting / fractional payout unit 340 is stored together with the current storage number, the type of whether it is date, storage or discharge (including discharge), storage or discharge In the case where the number of balls that have been stored and the type is storage, a storage / payout history is stored that includes the number of pachinko balls remaining in the storage unit 338 out of the number of stored balls, and at that time The number of pachinko balls stored in the storage section 338 of each card unit 3 can be specified and the time when the pachinko balls are stored or dispensed can be specified It has become.

  In addition, when the storage / dispensing history of the type “dispensing” is newly registered, the number of balls included in the newly registered “dispensing” storage / dispensing history is set to the oldest type “storage”. Subtraction update from the existing number of storage / dispensing histories (if the number of existing items is small, the subtraction update is performed in order from the oldest history in order), and the number of existing items becomes zero and the number of existing items is zero. All the previous history is deleted, and in this way, the pachinko that has been stored in the storage unit 338 for the longest by the storage / dispensing history of the oldest type is “storage”. The storage period of the balls can be specified, and the storage periods of the pachinko balls existing in the storage unit 338 can also be specified.

  In the distribution history table, as shown in FIG. 18, the date of distribution, the device ID of the card unit 3 or distribution device 5 on which the distribution has been performed, the card ID of the distribution source card, the distribution destination Issuance of the card ID of the card and whether the visitor card is issued when the distribution destination is a visitor card, the number of allocated balls that are the number of allocated balls, and the number of allocated balls A distribution history comprising the number of distributed storage balls, the number of commission balls collected in the distribution (the number of stored balls), and usage acceptance indicating whether or not the distribution destination card is received by the card unit 3 after the distribution In this embodiment, the distribution history for one month, which is the maximum period that can be selected as the aggregation target period on the distribution setting screen described later, is stored. To have.

  As data stored in “issue”, “1” is stored when a visitor card is issued, and “0” is stored when no visitor card is issued. Further, as data stored in “use acceptance”, “1” is stored when it has been accepted, and “0” is stored when it has not been accepted.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the distribution history tables indicate the total number of pachinko balls distributed in the game hall for a predetermined period, for example, one day, and the distribution holding balls of all the history in which the date of the day is stored. The number and the number of distributed storage balls can be specified by summing the number and the number of distributed storage balls, and similarly, the same card ID is stored in the distribution source card and the number of distributed holding balls and the number of distributed storage balls in all the histories in which the date of the day is stored. The total number of pachinko balls distributed on the day can be specified from the distribution source card, and the same card ID is stored in the distribution destination card, and all the dates stored on the day are stored. The total number of pachinko balls distributed on the same day can be specified for the distribution destination card by summing the number of balls that have been distributed and the number of balls that have been distributed. It has become way.

  As shown in FIG. 19 (a), the member information table is associated with the member ID of the member player who owns the member card, and the personal identification number and the day of receiving the member card. Membership consisting of store visit points where the predetermined store visit points are added and updated once, rank based on store visit status, member's name (last name and name), gender, age, birthday, occupation, address, e-mail address Attribute information (personal information) is registered.

  In the member-specific game history table, as shown in FIG. 19B, for each member ID, the game history of the member player, specifically, the date of visit to the store, the pachinko machine 2 where the game was played. Number, model name, game start time (time), game end time (time), game time from game start to end, number of starts, number of bonuses, number of probability fluctuations (number of probability changes), number of balls earned, expenditure A game history including the amount of money, the number of replay balls, and the number of used balls is stored. The visit date of the member-specific game history table stores the date when the game history is stored based on the calendar information output from the RTC 154, and the game start time, game end time, game time, start count, The game history of the number of bonuses, the number of chances of change, the number of balls acquired, and the amount of money spent is stored based on member game history data transmitted from the card unit 3 when the member card is returned via the counting / payout unit 4.

  Here, the distribution setting that can be performed by the management computer 150 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 20A. In the management computer 150 of this embodiment, the card unit 3 and the distribution device 5 in the game hall are assigned. Various settings relating to the restrictions on distribution performed in this way are made possible on the distribution setting screen shown in FIG.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20 (a), the contents of these restrictions include a restriction on the total number of distributions in the entire game hall, a restriction on the total number distributed from one visitor card or membership card, There are restrictions on the total number allocated to visitor cards or membership cards, restrictions on re-assignment before the card is accepted by the card unit 3 after distribution of 1, and restrictions on direct distribution based on the number of stored balls. The contents of each restriction can be set to contents desired by the game hall.

  As shown in FIG. 20A, in the distribution setting screen of the present embodiment, a setting item “Aggregation target period” is provided at the upper position of the screen, and compared with the contents to be restricted on the distribution setting screen. You can now specify the period for which data to be collected is aggregated.

  For example, if you want to limit the total number of distributions during the time period, for example, from the start of business to 15:00, you can select the content from “15:00 from the start of business” and want to limit it on a daily basis. In this case, it is only necessary to select “one day” in the setting item of the “summation target period”, and if it is desired to limit in one week unit, ”Can be selected.

  In the present embodiment, all items that limit the total period are common, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the total period, distribution source upper limit, distribution destination Each of the upper limit restrictions may be set individually.

  As shown in FIG. 20A, a check box for selecting execution / non-execution of the distribution total number restriction is provided in the distribution total number restriction item, and an input unit for inputting the total number to be restricted is provided. When the restriction on the total number of sorting is performed, the check box corresponding to “Yes” is selected and checked, and the value of the total number to be restricted (upper limit value) may be input to the input unit.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 20A, a check box for selecting execution / non-execution of the distribution source upper limit is provided in the item of distribution source upper limit, and the total number to be limited is input. There are input sections for each member card and visitor card, and when the distribution source upper limit is enforced, select the check box corresponding to “Yes” and check each card. It is only necessary to input the total value (upper limit value) to be limited to the input unit to be performed.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 20A, a check box for selecting execution / non-execution of the distribution destination upper limit restriction is provided in the item of the distribution destination upper limit restriction, and the total number to be restricted is input. There are separate input sections for each member card and visitor card. If you want to limit the distribution destination upper limit, select the check box corresponding to “Yes” and check each card. It is only necessary to input the total value (upper limit value) to be limited to the input unit to be performed.

  In addition, a check box for selecting execution / non-execution of the continuous distribution restriction is provided in the item of the continuous distribution restriction, and the card of the distribution destination at the time of one distribution is a card unit. “When” is performed when restricting the execution of another distribution before inserting into the card unit 3, that is, when limiting a plurality of distributions before inserting into the card unit 3 and performing the receiving. Select the check box corresponding to the check box, and if you want to allow multiple sorting before inserting into the card unit 3 and accepting it, select the check box corresponding to "No" and check Just do it.

  In this way, when continuous distribution restriction is implemented, the distribution frequency cannot be re-executed unless the distribution-destination card is inserted into the card unit and accepted. In the case where the continuous distribution restriction is not performed, that is, when continuous distribution is allowed, the distribution destination player is continuously assigned from a plurality of distribution source players. The distribution can be received, and the convenience of the player can be improved.

  In addition, in the item of direct allocation of stored balls, a check box for selecting whether or not to permit direct allocation based on the number of stored balls owned by member players, that is, whether or not to implement direct allocation restrictions based on the number of stored balls If you want to allow direct distribution from the number of stored balls, you can check by selecting the check box corresponding to `` permitted '', if you do not allow direct distribution from the number of stored balls, Select the check box corresponding to “non-permitted”.

  As described above, after specifying and inputting the desired setting contents in each setting item, by selecting and inputting the “setting” selection input section provided at the bottom of the distribution setting screen, the distribution setting screen is displayed. The setting contents are updated and stored. Note that when a “reset” selection input section provided at the bottom of the distribution setting screen is selected and input, the content of each item on the screen is initialized to a predetermined default state.

  Then, in response to the selection input unit of “setting” being selected and input as described above, the management computer 150 stores the distribution setting information that can specify the setting contents in the item of direct allocation of stored money on the distribution setting screen. The distribution setting information stored in the EEPROM 328c of each card unit 3 or the control unit 510 (ROM) of the distribution device 5 is updated to the transmitted distribution setting information.

  In addition, the management computer 150 of this embodiment has a function of causing the storage unit 338 of each card unit 3 to discharge pachinko balls stored after a preset upper limit period. Settings such as an upper limit period for discharging can be performed on the stored ball discharge setting screen shown in FIG.

  In the storage ball discharge setting screen of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 20B, the setting item of the storage upper limit period for specifying the upper limit period and the determination of whether or not the upper limit period has been exceeded are performed. The item of the determination time for designating the time to perform, and any discharge form of the form that discharges only the pachinko balls that exceed the upper limit period or the form that discharges all the pachinko balls stored in the storage unit 338 The item of the discharge form for specifying whether or not, and when discharging, the card unit that has performed the discharging indicates that it is necessary to replenish pachinko balls to the storage unit 338 by discharging. 3, a discharge notification item for designating whether or not to perform discharge notification to be notified, and a notification time item for designating the execution time for performing these discharge notifications are provided.

  For each of these items, after selecting the desired content, by selecting and inputting the “setting” selection input section provided below the stored ball discharge setting screen, the setting content of the stored ball discharge setting screen Is updated and stored. Note that, when a “reset” selection input section provided at the bottom of the stored ball discharge setting screen is selected and input, the contents of each item on the screen are initialized to a predetermined default state.

  Here, the pachinko balls stored in the storage section 338 of each card unit 3 are discharged, for example, when the storage ball discharge setting screen is set as shown in FIG. In brief, the management computer 150 sets the storage ball discharge setting screen at the time when the determination time of the storage ball discharge setting screen comes, that is, at the time of the business end process (tightening process). The card unit 3 in which the pachinko balls are stored exceeding the storage upper limit period of 3 days is specified based on the data stored in the storage / payout history table (see FIG. 17B). .

  Specifically, the number of existing storages and the date of the oldest storage / dispensing history whose type is “storage” is higher than “3 days”, which is the upper limit period set in the storage upper limit period item. Whether or not it is the previous one, that is, the device ID of the card unit 3 that includes a date older than the date three days ago and that stores the storage / dispensing history of the type “storage”, transmits the discharge instruction. Extract all as targets.

  When “all” is selected as the discharge mode, a discharge instruction including the total number of discharged balls is transmitted to the card units 3 of all the extracted device IDs.

  In response to the reception of the discharge instruction, the card unit 3 discharges the control unit 328 including the total number of discharged balls from the control unit 328 to the control board 341 (control unit 350) of the counting / fractional payout unit 340 as described above. By transmitting the request, all the pachinko balls stored in the storage part 338 and the inflow path 339 are discharged to the connecting rod 344, and the storage part 338 and the inflow path 339 are emptied. In addition, when the number of existing storages becomes “0” due to this discharge, all the storage / payout histories stored corresponding to the device IDs of the card units 3 that have performed these discharges are erased.

  In addition, when “excessive period balls only” is selected as the discharge mode, the number of pachinko balls that have exceeded the period (number of excess period balls) is specified for each card unit 3 of each extracted device ID. Then, a discharge instruction including the specified number of balls over the specified period as the number of discharged balls is transmitted.

  The number of balls that exceed the period is all of the history that includes the date before the upper limit period of “3 days” in the storage / dispensing history that includes the type of storage that is stored corresponding to each extracted device ID. It is specified by specifying and totaling the number of existence in the specified storage / dispensing history.

  As described above, the card unit 3 counts from the control unit 328 in response to the discharge instruction including the specified number of excess balls as the number of discharged balls being transmitted to the card unit 3. -By sending a discharge request including the number of balls over the period, which is the number of balls to be discharged, to the control board 341 (control unit 350) of the fraction dispensing unit 340, the old in the inflow path 339 and the guide groove of the storage unit 338 Of the pachinko balls stored in order, only the number of over-period balls stored in the area near the outlet 338 ′, which is the leading portion, is counted and discharged to the connection channel. In addition, as a result of this discharge, a new storage / payout history including the date, the number of balls that have been discharged, and the type of “payout” is newly registered, as described above, before the upper limit period. As the number of existences in the storage / dispensing history of the storage type “0” becomes “0”, the storage / dispensing history in which the existence number has become “0”, as well as the storage / dispensing in which these types are “0”. All the storage / dispensing histories in which the types older than the history are paid out are deleted.

  Then, the device ID extracted as the transmission target of the discharge instruction is registered as the card unit 3 to be discharged and is notified at the notification time on the stored ball discharge setting screen, that is, before the business disclosure (opening process). At this time, by transmitting a discharge notification instruction to the card unit 3 of the device ID registered as the discharge notification target, the pachinko stored in the display unit 312 of the card unit 3 that has received the discharge notification instruction. By displaying the discharge notification message that the ball is discharged and the storage unit 338 needs to be replenished with the pachinko ball, it is notified that the stored pachinko ball has been discharged.

  In response to the display of the discharge notification message, the attendant at the game hall operates the remote controller (not shown) to carry out the added reserve mode operation to shift the card unit 3 to the added reserve mode and refill the pachinko machine. After throwing the balls into the throwing unit 345, by operating the counting operation unit 355, the thrown pachinko balls are stored in the storage unit 338 and added to the pachinko balls without being added to the counted number of balls. Is done. After the replenishment, the clerk operates the remote controller again to cancel the added reserve mode and return to the normal mode.

  Along with this discharge notification message, the number of pachinko balls required for replenishment, that is, the number of balls that can be newly stored is specified and displayed from the difference between the number of stored balls and the maximum number of stored balls at that time. Anyway.

  In addition, the management computer 150 of this embodiment uses the distribution history including the device ID of the card unit 3 subjected to the distribution process stored in the distribution history table, and member information such as store visit points stored in the member information table. Etc. are transmitted to the system controller 100 and the hall computer 140, and halls used by the game hall staff to check the game information of the pachinko machine 2 and the video of the surveillance camera in the game hall. In the computer 140, information on the distribution history and member information can be confirmed.

  The information providing function will be described with reference to FIG. 30 as an example in which distribution history information is provided. First, when a predetermined operation for displaying a distribution history is performed in the hall computer 140, The computer 140 identifies the date / time information of the latest distribution history among the distribution histories already acquired and stored from the management computer 150, and manages the distribution history request including the date / time information of the identified latest distribution history. Send to computer 150.

  In response to reception of the distribution history request, the management computer 150 identifies a distribution history including date and time information after the date and time information included in the received distribution history request as an unsent history, and all the identified unsent histories are assigned to the distribution history. It is read from the table and returned to the hall computer 140 as distribution history information.

  In response to receiving the distribution history information, the hall computer 140 additionally registers the received distribution history in the already stored distribution history, and includes a list of distribution history including the additionally registered distribution history, A list including display of device IDs that have been subjected to the distribution process included in the distribution history is displayed.

  In this way, when data or an image suspected of abnormality is found in the confirmation of game information of the pachinko machine 2 or the confirmation of the video of the surveillance camera, it is determined whether or not these are abnormal. Therefore, the hall computer 140 can quickly browse information on the distribution history including the display of the device ID that has been subjected to the distribution process, so that these determinations can be made quickly and accurately while identifying the card unit 3 that has been subjected to the distribution process. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the management computer 150 may not have such a distribution history providing function.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the card unit 3 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the control unit 328 of the card unit 3 is activated by turning on the power to the card unit 3, thereby performing the activation process of Sb1, initializing various tables, checking the connection status of each unit, and system controller. 100, hall computer 140, management computer 150 connection confirmation request transmission and each setting data based on the setting information returned from system controller 100, hall computer 140, management computer 150 in response to the connection confirmation request transmission Set initial values, etc.

  Then, after the activation process is completed, the process of Sb2 to Sb10 is performed to accept the card that is the insertion of the membership card or the visitor card into the card insertion slot 309 and the rental button by the player (member or visitor) Operation, cash acceptance by inserting a bill from the bill insertion slot 302, operation of a return button by a player, operation of a replay button 319 (reception of replay operation information from the display control board 329), operation of a payout button 311, An operation for leaving a seat using a remote control owned by a staff member (receiving seating operation information from the display control board 329), a selection operation for selecting a sorting menu by a player (receiving a sorting operation information from the display control board 329), a menu button 316 Standby state for detecting operation (reception of main menu display operation information from display control board 329) To become.

  The control unit 328 monitors the reception of the counting information transmitted from the counting / fractioning unit 340 in parallel with the normal processing shown in FIG. 21 after the start processing of Sb1. Processing, processing for monitoring reception of an added reserve request transmitted from the remote controller in response to an added reserve mode operation on the remote controller, and a big hit signal, probability change output from the corresponding pachinko machine 2 or out ball counter 16 An interrupt monitoring process (not shown) for monitoring the input or change of the medium signal, the short / middle signal, the start signal, the prize ball signal, and the out ball counting signal is based on a processing task that is separate from the processing task that performs these normal processes. By performing, it is possible to monitor the occurrence of each target state, and sequentially perform addition update to the counted number of balls, transition to and cancellation of the added reserve mode, and game information update processing It has become the jar.

  Here, the flow in which the pachinko balls are counted in the card unit 3 will be described. When counting pachinko balls, the player is first paid out from the pachinko machine 2 and stored in the lower plate 24. The pachinko balls are thrown into the throwing portion 345 by operating a lever provided on the lower plate 24.

  Then, after the amount of pachinko balls to be counted is thrown into the throwing part 345, the counting operation part 355 is operated to open the inlet shutter 352 provided at the inlet 346 to the counting channel 347. As a result, the pachinko balls temporarily stored in the insertion portion 345 flow into the counting channel 347 from the inlet 346, flow down the counting channel 347, and are detected by the counting sensor 356. Every time a pachinko ball is detected, a count sensor signal of a predetermined pulse is output to the control board 341 (control unit 350).

  When a predetermined number (for example, 10) of count sensor signals are input from the count sensor 356 within a predetermined time (for example, 1 second), the control board 341 (control unit 350) has 10 balls. Count information including a constant count command indicating that the counter is counted is transmitted to the control unit 328 every time a predetermined number of count sensor signals are counted, and within a predetermined time (for example, 1 second). When a predetermined number (for example, 10) of counting sensor signals are not input, the counting includes a fraction counting command corresponding to the number of counting sensor signals that are input and counted at a predetermined time (for example, 1 second). Send information. As these fraction counting commands, a command of a type corresponding to a number less than a predetermined number may be determined in advance. If the predetermined number is 10, the fraction counting command corresponding to 1 to the fraction counting corresponding to 9 is performed. Nine types of fraction counting commands up to the command may be used.

  The count information is received at the SS1 step in the count information processing shown in FIG. 22 performed by the control unit 328, and it is determined that the count information has been received, and the process proceeds to the SS2 step. It is determined whether or not the count prohibition state is outputting the count prohibition instruction.

  When counting is prohibited, the process proceeds to step SS5, where the display unit 312 displays that a counting error has occurred, and the process proceeds to an error notification process in which the multifunction lamp 301 is lit. If counting is not prohibited, the process proceeds to step SS3, and it is determined whether or not it is in the addition reservation mode by the remote controller possessed by the attendant.

  The number of balls specified from the command included in the count information received during the prohibition of counting is returned by paying out the pachinko balls stored in the storage unit 338 in the same manner as the fractional payout. You may make it return to the storage part 342. FIG.

  If not in the reserve mode, the process proceeds to step SS4 to add and update the number of balls according to the type of command included in the received count information to the number of balls in the card table and the number of balls counted in the display unit 312. Then, the process returns to the SS1 step. On the other hand, in the addition reservation mode, the process returns to the SS1 step without performing the SS4 step.

  That is, the pachinko balls that have flowed into the counting flow path 347 from the inlet 345 through the inflow port 346 are detected one by one by the counting sensor 356 and added to the number of balls and the number of balls already counted.

  In addition, in these additions, the addition end detection timer (in this embodiment, 5 seconds is set) for detecting the end of the addition is reset for each addition, and the addition end detection timer is up. At the time point, that is, when the predetermined time set in the addition end detection timer has elapsed since the last addition was performed, the device ID of the card unit 3, the card ID of the card being received, and the post-addition When the number of possessed balls update request including the counted number of balls is transmitted to the management computer 150, the number of possessed balls after addition is the number of balls in the member saving management table or visitor saving management table of the management computer 150, The counted number of balls in the unit management table is updated without delay to the counted number of balls included in the number-of-balls update request.

  Next, when the player inserts a visitor card or a membership card into the card insertion slot 309 in the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 described above, the insertion detection information accompanying the insertion of the visitor card or membership card is a card reader. As a result of output from the writer 327 to the control unit 328, the control unit 328 determines that there is card acceptance in Sb2, advances to the step of Sb20, and performs card acceptance processing.

  In the card accepting process of this embodiment at Sb20, an instruction for taking in the membership card or visitor card inserted into the card insertion slot 309 is output to the card reader / writer 327, and the inserted membership card or visitor card is sent to the card reader. Data stored in the card slot 392 of the writer 327 and stored in the member card or visitor card, specifically, the (member) card ID and member ID (member card only) of the member card or visitor card And prepaid balance data, number of possession data (visitor card only), distribution flag, and the like are read.

  Then, the control unit 328 transmits an authentication request including the (member) card ID read from the received member card or visitor card, the prepaid balance data, and the device ID to the system controller 100, and receives the authentication result from the system controller 100. Perform the card authentication process.

  In response to the reception of the authentication request, the system controller 100 determines whether the (member) card ID included in the received authentication request exists in the member card table or the visitor card table, and cannot be used in the unavailable flag “1”. ”Is stored, and if it is present and unavailable“ 1 ”is not stored, that is, if“ 0 ”is stored in the unavailable flag, the (member) card ID is stored. The prepaid balance that is stored and managed in the member card table or visitor card table in association is specified from the prepaid balance data included in the received authentication request, that is, the prepaid balance data read from the received member card or visitor card It is determined whether it matches the prepaid balance to be As a result, “authentication OK” is returned. On the other hand, when the (member) card ID does not exist in the member card table or the visitor card table, or when the unavailable flag “1” is stored in the unavailable flag, the prepaid balance is If they do not match, “authentication NG” is returned. However, if the prepaid balance does not match and the prepaid balance specified from the prepaid balance data included in the authentication request is smaller, the prepaid balance in the member card table or visitor card table is set to the small amount. In addition to renewing the amount, “authentication OK” is returned to permit use of the member card or visitor card.

  When the authentication result returned from the system controller 100 is “authentication NG”, the card unit 3 outputs an instruction to eject the accepted member card or visitor card to the card reader / writer 327 and inserts the inserted member card or visitor. If the returned authentication result is “authentication OK” while returning the card and completing the card acceptance process, the (member) card ID, member ID (member only), and prepaid balance read from the accepted card are returned. Are stored in the card table, and as shown in FIG. 29, the management computer 150 reads (member) card ID, device ID, and number of balls (visitor card only) read from the received membership card or visitor card. And a card acceptance notification including distribution flag data.

  In response to reception of this card acceptance notification, the management computer 150 first determines whether or not the number of possessed balls included in the received card acceptance notification is present, and if so, verifies the number of possessed balls. Perform verification processing.

  Specifically, the number of balls stored in the visitor saving management table corresponding to the card ID included in the received card acceptance notification matches the number of balls included in the received card acceptance notification. Determine whether.

  If they do not match in the verification determination, the card unit 3 returns the verification error information indicating that the verification of the number of possessed balls is NG to the card unit 3 that is the transmission source of the received card acceptance notification. The visitor card is returned.

  On the other hand, if they match in the collation determination, or if the received card acceptance notification does not include the number of balls (in the case of a membership card), the distribution flag data included in the received card acceptance notification is It is determined whether or not it is “1” indicating the presence or absence of.

  If the distribution flag data is “0” in the determination, that is, if there is no distribution, the process proceeds to the normal acceptance process, whereas if the distribution flag data is “1” in the determination, that is, if there is distribution. The distribution history table includes a distribution history including the card ID included in the received card acceptance notification, and whether or not there is a history in which “0” is registered in the usage acceptance, that is, in the received card acceptance notification. It is determined whether or not the included card ID matches the card ID included in the distribution history in which “0” is registered for use acceptance.

  If there is a distribution history, that is, the card ID included in the received card acceptance notification matches the card ID included in the distribution history in which “0” is registered for usage acceptance, the matching distribution history If the card number is the member card ID, that is, the member savings management table, the number of balls allocated (the total of the number of balls held and the number of balls stored) is the number of balls corresponding to the card ID included in the card acceptance notification. If the card ID is a visitor card card ID, the number of possessed balls or the number of stored balls stored in correspondence with the member card ID is updated in the visitor saving management table. The number of allocated balls is added and updated to the stored number of balls, enabling the use of the number of held balls, and the acceptance acceptance of the specified distribution history. The data, after updating to "1" indicating the already accepted use, proceed to the normal reception processing.

  In addition, if there are multiple specified distribution histories when continuous distribution is not restricted, all the distribution numbers (the total of the distribution balls and distribution storage balls) of each specified distribution history are added. Updated.

  Further, when the distribution history does not exist at the time of specifying the distribution history, that is, the distribution in which the card ID included in the card reception notification whose distribution flag data is “1” is registered with “0” in the usage reception is registered. If it does not match the card ID included in the history, the error information is returned, the card received in the card unit 3 is ejected and returned, and the card cannot be used. Error information including the machine number of the pachinko machine 2 corresponding to the card unit 3 of the included device ID is displayed on the display device 157 of the management computer 150 and notified.

  In the normal acceptance process, the management computer 150 first updates the “status” data in the unit management table corresponding to the device ID included in the received card acceptance notification to “accepting” and is included in the received card acceptance notification. (Member) card ID is stored in the item “Reception ID” of the unit management table.

  Next, the number of possessed balls and the number of stored balls (member only) corresponding to the (member) card ID included in the received card acceptance notification are associated with the (member) card ID in the member saving management table or the visitor saving management table. In addition to specifying from each stored data, if the card ID is a member card ID, further specify the PIN and store visit point stored in the member information table corresponding to the member card ID, Sending the received card acceptance notification to the reception processing completion notification including the specified number of held balls, number of stored balls (member only), point of visit (member only), PIN (member only), and (member) card ID Reply to the original card unit 3.

  In response to the reception of the acceptance process completion notification, the card unit 3 (control unit 328) determines the number of possessed balls, the number of stored balls (member only), the point of visit (member only), the PIN number ( (Member only) is stored in the card table, and the distribution flag of the card being accepted is updated to “0”, and then the prepaid balance stored in the card table is displayed on the balance display of the corresponding pachinko machine 2 At the same time, the number of held balls stored in the card table is displayed on the display unit 312 as the counted number of balls, and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  When the player operates the lending button after the prepaid balance is displayed on these remaining amount indicators, a signal from the lending button switch for detecting the lending button operation by the player is sent to the control unit 328. The control unit 328 determines that the operation of the lending button is present in the step Sb3 in the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10, proceeds to the step Sb21, and executes the lending process.

  In this lending process, first, the prepaid balance read out from the inserted membership card or visitor card (including the visitor card issued by inserting the banknote) and stored in the RAM 328b (card table) is the corresponding pachinko machine 2 If the prepaid balance is less than 100 yen, it is determined as “Yes” in the determination when the prepaid balance is less than 100 yen. When the lending process is finished and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10, if the prepaid balance is 1 count = 100 yen or more, the process proceeds to the next step. It is determined whether or not 5 degrees set as is equal to or more than 500 yen.

  When the prepaid balance is the usage frequency of 5 frequency = 500 yen or more, the usage amount ball lending process is performed. On the other hand, when the usage frequency is 5 frequency = less than 500 yen, the display amount ball lending process is performed. To implement.

  In this used amount ball lending process, a payout instruction for the number of pachinko balls corresponding to a use frequency of 5 degrees = 500 yen, specifically, a signal for instructing the payout of 25 balls, which is a single frequency, is output five times. Thus, the corresponding pachinko machine 2 is made to pay out 125 balls corresponding to 5 times = 500 yen.

  Specifically, PRDY HIGH / LOW output from the pachinko machine 2 is determined. If PRDY is HIGH, a predetermined error process is performed, and the lending process is terminated.

  When PRDY is LOW, after BRDY is switched to LOW, BRQ is set to LOW, and a state of waiting for detection of EXS HIGH from the pachinko machine 2 is awaited. Based on detection of LOW of EXS, BRQ is set. Switch to HIGH and wait for detection of EXS HIGH.

  Next, when the payout for one time in the pachinko machine 2 is completed and the HIGH level of the EXS is detected, the control unit 328 displays the prepaid balance displayed on the balance indicator, the prepaid balance data on the card table, and the receiving member. 100 yen corresponding to the one time is subtracted from the prepaid balance data stored in the card or visitor card, and the number of BRQs is counted, and the counted number of BRQs is equivalent to the number of use of 5 times. Compare with 5 times.

  When the number of BRQs counted in this comparison does not match the number of 5 times, the payout process for the above-mentioned 1 time is performed again, and the number of BRQs counted in the comparison with the above-mentioned usage frequency Is equal to 5 degrees, BRDY is set to HIGH.

  Then, the device ID uniquely assigned to the card unit 3 to the system controller 100, the (member) card ID of the member card or visitor card being received, and the amount used (500 yen) corresponding to the frequency of use. Is sent, and the used amount is subtracted and updated from the prepaid balance stored in association with the (member) card ID in the member card table or visitor card table of the system controller 100.

  Then, it is determined whether or not the accepting card is a visitor card. If it is not a visitor card, the lending process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10, while the visitor card is being accepted. Determines whether the prepaid balance displayed on the balance display (same as the prepaid balance stored in the card table of the RAM 328b) is zero.

  If the prepaid balance is not 0 in the determination, the lending process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10. On the other hand, if the prepaid balance is 0, the number of balls in the card table is further increased. Determine if it exists.

  If the number of possessed balls is present, the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10. On the other hand, if the number of possessed balls is not present, an instruction to collect a visitor card whose prepaid balance becomes 0 is output to the card reader / writer 327. Then, the card is stored in the card storage unit 370 on the inner side of the card reader / writer 327, and the system controller 100 and the management computer 150 are sent a collection notification including the card ID of the collected visitor card. After updating the “status” of the visitor card table of the controller 100 to “in storage” and updating the data of the card unit 3 in the unit management table of the management computer 150, the card table is reset, and Sb2 to Sb10 Return to the standby state.

  On the other hand, in the display amount ball lending process, payout for the number of times obtained by dividing the prepaid balance (same as the prepaid balance stored in the card table of the RAM 328b) displayed on the balance indicator by 100 yen corresponding to one count. If the instruction, for example, the prepaid balance is 400 yen, the signal for instructing the payout of 25 balls, which is one frequency, is output four times, and the payout of 4 times = 100 balls corresponding to 400 yen is used as described above. In the same way as in the case of payout, the corresponding pachinko machine 2 carries out the payment, the prepaid balance displayed on the balance indicator, the prepaid balance data on the card table, and the member card or visitor card being received. The amount of 400 yen equivalent to 4 times of using prepaid balance data for pachinko ball lending is deducted and updated, that is, “ Updated to ".

  The system controller 100 completes the lending including the device ID uniquely given to the card unit 3, the (member) card ID of the member card or visitor card being received, and the usage amount of 400 yen. The notification is transmitted, and the system controller 100 causes the prepaid balance stored in the membership card table or visitor card table to be subtracted from the prepaid balance stored in the membership card table or visitor card table and updated.

  Then, as in the case of the above-mentioned usage frequency, it is determined whether the card being received is a visitor card and the prepaid balance is 0 (in this case, it is always determined that it is 0), If it is a visitor card and the prepaid balance is 0, the visitor card is further collected on condition that the number of possessed balls does not exist, and then the lending process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  Further, in the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 described above, when a player inserts cash (banknote) from the banknote insertion slot 302, money identification information accompanying the insertion of the cash (banknote) is controlled from the banknote identification unit 321. By outputting to the unit 328, the control unit 328 determines that there is acceptance of cash in the step of Sb4, proceeds to the step of Sb22, and performs issue / payment processing.

  In this issuance / payment process, first, the amount of money inserted is specified from the input money identification information, and it is determined whether or not there is a member card or visitor card accepted by the card reader / writer 327. To do.

  When it is determined that there is no member card or visitor card being received, the control unit 328 moves the visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 to a predetermined reading position on the card slot 392, The card ID of the visitor card is read, and an issuance request including the read card ID, the input amount, and the device ID of the card unit 3 is transmitted to the system controller 100.

  In response to receiving this issuance request, the system controller 100 determines whether or not the card ID included in the received issuance request exists in the visitor card table, and if it exists, the visitor corresponding to the card ID. Update the “status” of the card table to “in use” and store the current date and time output from the RTC 104 in the latest issue date and time, and store the received input amount in the “remaining amount” as the prepaid balance, “Issuance permission” is returned to the card unit 3 that is the transmission source of the issue request. If the received card ID does not exist in the visitor card table, “Issuance impossible” is returned.

  In response to the transmission of the “issue permission”, the system controller 100 notifies the management computer 150 of an issuance notification including the stored latest issuance date and time, the card ID and the device ID included in the received issuance request. By notifying, the management computer 150 stores the latest issue date and time included in the received issue notification in the latest issue date and time of the visitor saving management table corresponding to the card ID included in the received issue notification and received The “status” of the unit management table corresponding to the device ID included in the issue notification is updated to “accepting”, and the received card ID is stored in “acceptance ID” to update the unit management table.

  The card unit 3 (control unit 328) writes and stores the prepaid balance corresponding to the inserted amount in the visitor card moved to the card slot 392 in response to the reception of the above “issue permission”, and also stores the prepaid amount in the card table. After storing the card ID of the visitor card and the prepaid balance corresponding to the inserted amount, and displaying the prepaid balance on the balance display, the issuing / paying process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  In addition, when "Issuance is impossible" is received from the system controller 100 and when a visitor card is not stored in the card storage unit 370, the cash (banknote) inserted from the banknote insertion slot 302 is returned, An error notification process for turning on the multi-function lamp 301 in a predetermined error notification mode is performed until the error state is eliminated, thereby notifying the occurrence of an error.

  On the other hand, if there is a member card or visitor card being accepted in the card slot 392 at the time of cash (banknote) insertion, the amount specified above is stored in the member card or visitor card being received and the card table. After adding the prepaid balance specified from the stored prepaid balance data and updating each of the prepaid balance data to the prepaid balance data that can be specified, the deposit amount (to the input amount) is updated. The same) and the device ID of the card unit 3 and the (member) card ID of the member card or visitor card being received are transmitted to the system controller 100, and the member card table of the system controller 100 or At the visitor card table, the (member) card The said input money amount of money to be added update the prepaid balance, which corresponds to the de-ID are stored.

  Then, the remaining amount of the prepaid displayed on the remaining amount display is updated and displayed as a new amount after the addition update, the deposit process is terminated, and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  In addition, when the player operates the return button in the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 described above, a signal from the return button switch for detecting the operation of the return button by the player is input to the control unit 328. As a result, the control unit 328 determines that there is an operation of the return button in Sb5, proceeds to Sb23, and performs return processing.

  In this return process, first, it is determined whether or not there is a member card or visitor card being accepted by the card reader / writer 327, and if it does not exist, the operation is invalidated. The operation of the payout button 311 is invalidated, and a count prohibition instruction is output to the counting / fractional payout unit 340 to prohibit new counting.

  In response to the output of the counting prohibition instruction, the counting / fraction dispensing unit 340 disables the operation of the counting operation unit 355, thereby prohibiting the release of the inflow shutter 352, so that a new pachinko ball is counted. It is forbidden.

  Then, the control unit 328 transmits a return notification including the device ID of the card unit 3, the card ID of the returned card, the number of possessed balls and the number of stored balls (member only) to the management computer 150. To do.

  In response to receiving the return notification, the management computer 150 stores the number of balls and the number of stored balls stored in the member saving management table or visitor saving management table corresponding to the (member) card ID included in the received return notification. (Members only) is updated to the number of possessed balls and the number of stored balls included in the received return notification, and the “status” corresponding to the device ID received in the unit management table is changed to “standby” And the update completion notification is transmitted to the card unit 3 that is the transmission source of the return notification.

  In response to the reception of the update completion notification, the card unit 3 (control unit 328) determines whether or not the card being received is a visitor card. If the card is a visitor card, the card table is stored in the visitor card. After recording the number of possessed balls, a discharge instruction is output to the card reader / writer 327 so that the accepted visitor card or member card is discharged from the card insertion slot 309, the card table is reset, and the operation of the payout button 311 is disabled. And the prohibition of counting are canceled and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  When the card to be returned is a membership card, the control unit 328 transmits a return notification including membership game information data stored in the membership game information table and resets the membership game information table. Member game information data is registered in the member-specific game history table.

  Further, when the player operates the replay button 319 in the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 described above, the replay operation information is transmitted from the display control board 329 that has detected the operation of the replay button 319 to the control unit. By being input to 328, the control unit 328 determines that there is an operation of the replay button 319 in Sb6, proceeds to Sb24, and performs a replay process.

  In this replay process, first, it is determined whether or not the number of balls is “0”. If the number of balls is not “0”, the operation is invalidated, and “ After the message “Please operate the payout button” is displayed on the display unit 312, the process returns to the standby state of Sb <b> 2 to Sb <b> 10, but if the number of held balls is “0”, the RAM 328 b It is determined whether or not the collated flag indicating whether or not the password stored in the password is “1” indicating that the collation has been completed. Perform the PIN code acceptance process.

  In this way, in this embodiment, the number of possessed balls acquired by the member player on the day is different from the number of accumulated balls, and payout is performed without requiring a fee, so there are the number of possessed balls that do not incur these fees. By disabling the replay operation in this case, the disadvantage of the member player due to the use of the accumulated number of balls incurred despite the existence of the number of possessed balls that do not incur the fee is eliminated. Be able to.

  In the security code acceptance process of this embodiment, first, a security code acceptance screen including a numeric keypad and an announcement display for prompting the input of the security code are displayed on the display unit 312 to accept the security code.

  Then, the received personal identification number is compared with the personal identification number stored in the card table, and when the two coincide, the collation flag in the predetermined area in the RAM 328b is updated to “1” indicating the collation. The replay ball lending process is executed on condition that the number of stored balls stored in the card table is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of replay unit balls (135 balls).

  On the other hand, in the case of “1” indicating that collation has been completed, it is further determined whether or not the LED 320a is in a lit state, that is, whether or not the number of stored balls is equal to or greater than a predetermined number of replay unit balls. Is in the lit state, 135 balls, which is the number of replay units, are subtracted from the number of balls stored in the card table and updated, the replay display unit 320 (LED 320a) is turned off, and the replay ball lending is performed. Perform the process. In the replay ball lending process of this embodiment, the number of pachinko balls corresponding to the replay unit number (135 balls), specifically, 125 balls excluding 10 fees from the replay unit number (135 balls). As in the case of the lending process described above, the pachinko machine 2 is made to execute the pachinko machine 2 by outputting a signal instructing the payout of 25 balls, which is a payout unit in the corresponding pachinko machine 2, five times.

  In addition, when the number of stored balls after subtraction update of the number of replay unit balls is equal to or more than the number of replay unit balls, the replay display unit 320 (LED 320a) is turned on again after the replay ball lending process is completed. State.

  Then, after sending a replay completion notification including the membership card ID and membership ID stored in the card table to the management computer 150 and the number of replay units subtracted from the number of stored balls (135 balls), The replay process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  The management computer 150 that has received the replay completion notification, in the member saving management table, determines the number of replay units (from the membership card ID included in the replay completion notification and the number of stored balls stored in association with the member ID). (135 balls) is subtracted and updated.

  Further, when the payout button 311 is operated in the above-described standby state of Sb2 to Sb10, an operation signal from the payout button switch 311 ′ is input to the control unit 328, so that the control unit 328 pays out in Sb7. When it is determined that the button 311 is operated, the process proceeds to Sb25, and the payout process shown in FIG. 23 is performed. When the payout operation is invalid, the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 is continued without proceeding to Sb25.

  In the payout process of this embodiment, first, as shown in FIG. 23, it is determined whether or not there is a counted number of balls, that is, the number of balls in the card table (Sh1).

  In the determination in the step of Sh1, if there is no counted number of balls (the number of held balls), the process proceeds to the step of Sh6 and, for example, an error message “There is no counted number of balls” on the display unit 312. Is displayed to inform the player that there is no counted number of balls (the number of balls held), and then the payout process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  On the other hand, if there is a counted number of balls (the number of balls held), the process proceeds to step Sh2, where the counted number of balls is 125 balls or more corresponding to a preset number of 5 payouts which is a predetermined payout setting number. It is determined whether or not there is.

  If it is determined that the number of balls is 125 or more, the process proceeds to Sh8 and a payout set number payout process is performed.

  Specifically, in the payout set number payout process, the high / low PRDY output from the pachinko machine 2 is determined as in the case of the usage frequency loan process described above, and the condition is that PRDY is LOW. After switching BRDY to LOW, BRQ is set to LOW, and a state of waiting for detection of EX HIGH from the pachinko machine 2 is entered, and BRQ is switched to HIGH based on detection of the LOW of EXS. The payout of 25 pachinko balls corresponding to the frequency is executed, and a state of waiting for detection of HIGH of EXS is entered.

  Next, when the payout of one payout unit in the pachinko machine 2 is completed and the HIGH of the EXS is detected, the control unit 328 counts the number of BRQs, and the counted number of BRQs corresponds to the number of payouts set to 5 degrees. Compare with 5 times.

  If the number of BRQs counted in this comparison does not match the number of 5 times, the above-mentioned payout process is performed once again, and the number of BRQs counted in the above comparison is the set number of payouts. If it matches the 5th frequency, BRDY is set to HIGH.

  Then, the control unit 328 determines from the counted number of balls in the display unit 312 and the number of balls in the card table (if the card being received is a visitor card, the number of balls in the visitor card being received). While subtracting and updating the number of balls, the device ID uniquely assigned to the card unit 3, the (member) card ID of the member card or visitor card being received, and the ball that has been paid out to the management computer 150 The payout completion notification including the number (125 balls) is transmitted, and the payout is made from the number of possessed balls stored in association with the (member) card ID in the member saving management table or visitor saving management table of the management computer 150 After subtracting and updating the number of balls (125 balls), the process proceeds to Sh20 card collection determination processing.

  In this card collection determination process, it is determined whether or not the accepted card is a visitor card whose number of counted balls (number of balls) after subtraction update is “0”. If the visitor card is “0”, the prepaid balance is also “0”, as in the case where the prepaid balance in the aforementioned lending process is “0”. After collecting the visitor card, the payout process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  On the other hand, if the determination result in the step of Sh2 is a determination result that is not equal to or greater than the set number of payouts, the process proceeds to the step of Sh3 and 25 balls, which is the number of payout units in the pachinko machine 2 corresponding to the counted number of balls. It is determined whether it is above.

  When it is determined that the number of balls is not more than 25 in the determination, for example, when the counted number of balls is 20, the process proceeds to the step of Sh4 and is stored in the storage unit 338 specified from the stored ball number data. It is determined whether or not the number of remaining pachinko balls (remaining number) is 20 or more that is the counted number of balls, that is, whether or not 20 balls that are the counted number of balls can be paid out. .

  In this determination, when it is determined that the number of pachinko balls (remaining number) stored in the storage unit 338 is not equal to or greater than the counted number of balls, that is, 20 pachinko balls cannot be paid out. In the case of, the process proceeds to the step of Sh7, and the display unit 312 displays a message “Cannot pay out due to lack of balls. Please call an attendant.” The storage ball remaining number error notification process of lighting in a predetermined lighting mode for notifying that a storage ball remaining number error has occurred is performed.

  As described above, the clerk who grasps that the number of pachinko balls (remaining number) stored in the storage unit 338 is small by using this notification, shifts to the added reservation mode using the remote control, and enters the storage unit 338. By replenishing the pachinko balls, it is possible to pay out the pachinko balls from the storage unit 338.

  On the other hand, in the determination in the step of Sh4, if it is determined that the number of pachinko balls (remaining number) stored in the storage unit 338 is equal to or more than 20 balls, which is the counted number of balls, the step of Sh5 is performed. Going forward, a fraction payout request including the number of payout balls of 20 which is the counted number of balls is transmitted to the counting / fractional payout unit 340.

  In response to the reception of the fraction payout request, the counting / fractional payout unit 340 switches the flow path to the return passage 335 by the flow path switching solenoid 358 and is the number of payout balls (fraction) included in the received fraction payout request. By operating the payout motor 353 until 20 detection signals are input from the payout sensor 354, 20 pachinko balls corresponding to the payout balls (fraction) are returned from the diversion port 336 on the discharge flow path 337. By flowing into the passage 335 and being returned to and stored in the return storage unit 342, the player can take out these 20 paid-out pachinko balls from the return storage unit 342.

  Then, at the stage where the payout of 20 pachinko balls based on the fraction payout request is completed, the control unit 350 of the counting / fractional payout unit 340 transmits a fraction payout completion notification to the control unit 328.

  In response to the reception of the fraction payout completion notice, the control unit 328 determines the number of balls counted on the display unit 312 and the number of balls held on the card table (if the card being received is a visitor card, the visitor card being received). The number of balls paid out is subtracted and updated from the number of possessed balls). Thereby, the counted number of balls and the number of balls are “0”.

  Then, the management computer 150 is provided with the device ID uniquely assigned to the card unit 3, the (member) card ID of the member card or visitor card being received, and the number of paid-out balls (20 balls). A payout completion notification is sent, and the number of payout balls (20 balls) returned from the number of possessed balls stored in association with the (member) card ID in the member saving management table or visitor saving management table of the management computer 150 ) Is subtracted and updated to “0”, the card collection determination process of Sh20 described above is performed, the payout process is terminated, and the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 is returned.

  When these payout completion notifications are received, the “payout” type and the number of payout balls are stored as the storage / payout history corresponding to the device ID in the storage / payout history table based on the payout completion notification. A storage / dispensing history including (20 balls) is registered.

  That is, when the counted number of balls (the number of possessed balls) is a fraction less than 25 balls corresponding to the number of times that is the payout unit, the player operates the payout button 311 so that the pachinko ball of the fraction is By being paid out from the pachinko balls stored in the storage unit 338 in the counting / fractional payout unit 340, it is returned to the player.

  On the other hand, in the determination in Sh3, when it is determined that the counted number of balls (the number of balls held) is 25 or more, the process proceeds to the step of Sh9, and the maximum payout within the range of the counted number of balls is possible. After specifying the payout unit and the fraction less than the payout unit, the process proceeds to the step of Sh10 to pay out the number of balls of the specified maximum payout unit from the corresponding pachinko machine 2, and the steps of Sh4 and Sh5 described above are performed. By carrying out, the specified number of pachinko balls are paid out to the return storage unit 342 in the counting / fractional payout unit 340.

  Specifically, for example, if the number of possessed balls (the number of counted balls) is 110 balls, in the step of Sh9, the value obtained by dividing 110 balls which is the number of retained balls by 25 balls which are payout units. An integer value of 4 is specified as the payout frequency corresponding to the maximum payout unit, and 10 balls less than the payout unit, which is the remainder of the value divided by the payout unit of 25 balls, are specified as a fraction.

  Then, in Sh10, the PRDY output from the pachinko machine 2 is determined to be HIGH / LOW, and on the condition that PRDY is LOW, BRDY is switched to LOW, then BRQ is set to LOW, and the EXS from the pachinko machine 2 is set. HIGH detection waiting state, and by switching the BRQ to HIGH based on the detection of the LOW of the EXS, 25 pachinko balls corresponding to a single payout unit are paid out, and the EXS HIGH detection It will be in a waiting state.

  Next, when the payout of one payout unit in the pachinko machine 2 is completed and the HIGH level of the EXS is detected, the control unit 328 counts the number of BRQs, and the payout number specified in the step of Sh8. Compare with 4 times corresponding to 4 degrees which is the frequency.

  If the number of BRQs counted in this comparison does not match the number of 4 times, the payout process for the above-mentioned 1 time is performed again, while the number of BRQs counted in the above comparison is the number of payouts set to 4 If it matches, BRDY is set to HIGH.

  Then, the control unit 328 calculates the number of balls counted on the display unit 312 and the number of balls held on the card table (if the card being received is a visitor card), the number of balls on the visitor card being received) In addition to subtracting and updating 100 balls corresponding to the 4 times of payout, the device ID uniquely assigned to the card unit 3 to the management computer 150 and the (member) card ID of the member card or visitor card being accepted And a payout completion notification including the number of balls paid out (100 balls), and stored in association with the (member) card ID in the member saving management table or visitor saving management table of the management computer 150. After subtracting and updating the number of balls (100 balls) paid out from the number of possessed balls, the remaining fraction is obtained by executing the steps of Sh4 and Sh5. The zero pachinko balls are paid out to the return storage unit 342 in the counting / fractional payout unit 340, and the number of balls that have been paid out is subtracted and updated so that the counted number of balls in the display unit 312 and the card table The number of possessions (if the card being accepted is a visitor card, the number of possessions of the visitor card being accepted) is all set to “0” and the possession of the card being accepted in the management computer 150 The number is also set to “0”.

  In other words, when the counted number of balls (the number of balls) is 25 balls or more corresponding to one payout unit, which is less than 125 balls corresponding to the set number of payouts, and there are fractions, In order to pay out the fraction, the player can pay out the pachinko balls of that fraction from the pachinko balls stored in the storage unit 338 in the counting / fractional payout unit 340 without operating the payout button 311 individually. To be returned to. Even when these fractions are paid out, as described above, a payout completion notification including the payout ball number is transmitted to the management computer 150, so that the storage is performed based on the payout completion notification. In the payout history table, a storage / payout history including the type of “payout” and the number of payout balls (10 balls) is registered as the storage / payout history corresponding to the device ID.

  Further, when a player wants to leave his / her seat for his / her purpose, it is necessary to call an attendant and have the remote control carried by the attendant perform the leaving operation to shift to the away mode.

  When a remote control operation is performed on the remote controller, a predetermined infrared signal corresponding to the remote control operation is output from the remote control, so that the infrared signal can be specified by the IR light receiving unit 315. By being converted into a predetermined electrical signal and output to the display control board 329, the display control board 329 outputs to the control unit 328 the leaving operation information indicating that the leaving operation has been performed.

  The output of the leaving operation information is detected in Sb8 in the above-described standby state of Sb2 to Sb10, so that it is determined that there is a leaving operation, and the process proceeds to Sb26 to perform the leaving process.

  In this leaving process, the control unit 328 first invalidates all operations and outputs a count prohibition instruction to the counting / fractional payout unit 340 (control unit 350) to count new pachinko balls. Ban.

  The control unit 328 determines the (member) card ID and the member ID (member card only) and the number of balls being received by the card reader / writer 327 even if the card data in the RAM 328b is lost due to a long power interruption or the like. (Member) card ID and the member ID are stored in a predetermined storage area of the EEPROM 328c, and then a discharge instruction is output to the card reader / writer 327 to accept the member card or visitor card being received. The display unit 312 starts displaying “being away” and displaying the elapsed time (remaining time of the predetermined away time) and outputting a card insertion enable instruction to the card reader / writer 327. In association with the ejection, the shutter of the card insertion slot 309 is brought into a sunk state by the shutter solenoid 399. In Rukoto, the process proceeds to Away mode to allow only card inserted from the card insertion slot 309.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, since the RAM 328b of the control unit 328 is backed up by a battery, the (member) card ID and the member ID (member only) are cards that are subject to cancellation of the away mode. As information, it may be stored again in a predetermined area in the RAM 328b, or, as in the present embodiment, the (member) card ID and the member ID (only the member card) are stored in the card table when the member card or visitor card is received. ) Is already stored, the new (member) card ID and member ID are not stored, and the (member) card ID and member ID (member) already stored in the card table are omitted. (Card only) may be used.

  The player may leave his / her seat by bringing the membership card or visitor card discharged from the card insertion slot 309.

  Note that the control unit 328 transmits a leave notice including the device ID and the (member) card ID of the ejected card to the system controller 100 and the management computer 150 when shifting to the above-described leave mode. (Member) By registering the card ID as a leaving card, even if these discharged cards are received by another card unit 3, the sorting device 5, or the gift exchange POS terminal 170, the card cannot be used. To be returned.

  When the player finishes his job and resumes the game, the member card or visitor card discharged at the time of leaving the seat may be inserted into the card insertion slot 309, and the member card or visitor card is inserted. In this case, the control unit 328 reads the (member) card ID and the member ID (member card only) from the inserted member card or visitor card, and stores the (member) card ID and member ID (member ID (only the member card) in the predetermined storage area of the EEPROM 328c. (Membership card only).

  If the (member) card ID and the member ID (member card only) do not match, the inserted member card or visitor card is ejected and the away mode is continued, while the (member) card ID and member ID ( (Member card only) matches, the (member) card ID and member ID (member card only) stored in the predetermined storage area of the EEPROM 328c are erased, and the operation performed in the transition to the away mode is prohibited. By canceling the prohibition of counting, the mode is changed from the away mode to the normal mode, and the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 is returned.

  In the case where the player who has left the seat does not return even if the predetermined time has passed, the seat leaving mode can be forcibly canceled. When the forced release is performed, the clerk only has to operate the forced release button provided on the remote control that is possessed, and the forced release button is operated from the remote control (forced release operation) by operating the forced release button. The infrared signal is converted into a predetermined electrical signal that can specify the forced release operation by the IR light receiving unit 315 and output to the display control board 329. The forced release operation information indicating that the forced release operation has been performed is output from the display control board 329 to the control unit 328.

  When the forced release operation information is input during these leaving modes, the control unit 328 stores the (member) card ID and the member ID (member card only) and the number of balls stored in a predetermined storage area of the EEPROM 328c. Is stored in the other predetermined area of the EEPROM 328c as forced release history data, and then the data is erased and the card table is reset.

  Then, by canceling the prohibition of the operation and counting prohibition performed in the transition to the away mode, the transition from the away mode to the normal mode returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10, and a new member card or visitor card and It is possible to accept bills.

  Further, the forced release history data is transmitted to both the system controller 100 and the management computer 150 in response to a transmission request from the system controller 100 and the management computer 150 or in a closing process at the time of closing of business. Even if there is a complaint by a person away from the person by being stored and managed by the computer 150, the system controller 100 or the management computer is controlled by the forced release history data stored and managed in the system controller 100 or the management computer 150. Even if a failure occurs in any of 150, the number of balls possessed by the person away can be reliably guaranteed.

  When the player selects and inputs the “distribution” menu in the main menu shown in FIG. 5 displayed on the display unit 312 in the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 described above, the selection of the “distribution” menu is selected. When the distribution operation information is input to the control unit 328 from the display control board 329 that has detected the input, the control unit 328 determines that there is a distribution operation in Sb9, proceeds to Sb27, and performs the distribution process shown in FIGS. To implement.

  First, in the distribution process of the present embodiment, the control unit 328 first invalidates the operation of the payout button 311 so that the counted number of balls (the number of balls held) does not change, and the counting / fractional payout unit 340 Then, a counting prohibition instruction is output to prohibit the counting of a new pachinko ball (S1).

  Then, based on the distribution setting information stored in the EEPROM 328c that can specify the setting contents on the distribution setting screen of FIG. 20, it is determined whether or not the permission for direct distribution from the number of stored balls is set (S2). .

  If the direct distribution permission is not set in the determination, the process proceeds to M in FIG. 25. If the direct distribution permission is set, the process proceeds to step S3, and the membership card is being received. It is determined whether or not.

  If the member card is not accepted in the determination, the process proceeds to M in FIG. 25. If the member card is being accepted, the process proceeds to step S4, and the distribution target selection acceptance screen shown in FIG. A distribution target selection acceptance process is performed for accepting selection of whether the number of stored balls or the number of possessed balls is to be displayed on the display unit 312 and used for the distribution.

  As shown in FIG. 31A, this distribution target selection acceptance screen includes a message “Please select a target to be used for distribution.” And is selected when the target to be used for distribution is the number of stored balls. Selection input section of “sort from stored balls (number of balls owned before the day)” and “sort from counted balls (number of balls owned today)” selected when the target to be used for allocation is the number of possessed balls The selection input unit is provided, and the player may select and input the selection input unit to be used for distribution.

  And it progresses to the step of S5, it is determined whether the storage ball was selected in the allocation object selection acceptance process of S4, and when the accumulation ball is not selected, that is, in the distribution object selection acceptance screen, When the selection input section of “distribution from the number of balls owned today” is selected and input, the process proceeds to M in FIG. 25, while when the storage ball is selected, that is, “save ball (owned before the day) on the distribution target selection acceptance screen” If the selection input unit of “distribution from the number of balls)” is selected and input, the process proceeds to step S6, and it is determined whether or not the counted number of balls, that is, the number of balls in the card table exists.

  In this determination, when there is no counted number of balls (the number of holding balls), the process proceeds to B in FIG. 26, and the process consisting of steps Sf30 to Sf41 is performed, so that the distribution from the number of balls is performed. On the other hand, if the counted number of balls (the number of balls held) exists, the process proceeds to step S7 to display the selection confirmation screen shown in FIG. In addition to notifying that the number of possessed balls) exists, a selection confirmation receiving process is performed in which it is confirmed from the player whether or not it is sufficient to set the number of stored balls as the target used for distribution.

  In this selection confirmation screen, as shown in FIG. 31 (b), “the number of counted balls is XXXX for informing that the number of counted balls (the number of held balls) exists. "OK" and "NG" selection input sections are provided, and the player selects and inputs the "OK" selection input section when the use of the stored ball is acceptable. When it is desired to use the counted number of balls recognized as being present by the notification for distribution, the selection input unit “NG” may be selected and input.

  Then, it is determined in step S8 which selection input part of “OK” or “NG” on these selection confirmation screens is selected and input, and when the selection input part of “OK” is selected and input, FIG. When the process proceeds to B and the process including the steps Sf30 to Sf41 is performed, the distribution from the number of stored balls is performed. On the other hand, when the selection input unit of “NG” is selected and input, By proceeding to (Sf2-), as will be described later, the distribution from the counted number of balls is performed.

  Hereinafter, the processing after Sf1 of FIG. 25 performed by shifting to M described above will be described. First, in the step of Sf1, whether the number of balls already counted, that is, the number of balls in the card table is zero. It is determined whether or not there is a number of possessed balls.

  When the counted number of balls (the number of balls held) is 0, the process proceeds to step Sf21, and it is determined whether or not the receiving card is a membership card.

  If it is not a membership card, the distribution process is terminated and the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10. On the other hand, if it is a membership card, the process proceeds to step Sf21 + and the distribution setting information stored in the EEPROM 328c is updated. Based on this, it is determined whether or not permission for direct distribution from the number of stored balls is set.

  If the direct distribution permission is set in the determination, the process proceeds to B in FIG. 26. If the direct distribution permission is not set, the process proceeds to step Sf22 and is stored in the card table. A display unit for the number of stored balls, an addition number input unit for receiving an input of the number of balls to be added to the number of balls from the stored number of balls, a code number receiving unit for receiving a code number, and an added number of stored balls input unit A storage ball use screen (not shown) having a numeric keypad for inputting the added number of balls is displayed on the display unit 312, and the number of balls used for addition to the number of balls is received from the member player. In addition, a selection input section for “decision” and “cancel” is provided on the storage ball use screen, and a player who does not add from the number of stored balls to the number of possessed balls in order to perform the distribution, By selectively inputting the “cancel” selection input unit, the distribution process is completed.

  In addition, in the case where it is desired to add the number of balls to the number of balls, the member player operates the numeric keypad provided at the bottom of the screen to use the balls to add the number of balls to be used for the addition to the number of balls. After inputting in the number of storages input part, the selection input part of “decision” is selected and input.

  The control unit 328 proceeds to step Sf23 in response to the selection input of “decision”, performs the number-of-balls adding process, and then returns to step Sf2-.

  In this number-of-balls adding process, the control unit 328 first determines whether or not the number of balls input to the added number of stored balls input unit is within the range of the number of stored balls stored in the card table. If not, an error is displayed on the display unit 312, the number of possessed balls is stopped, and the process returns to the step of Sf 2-while the number of balls input to the added storage number input unit is stored in the card table. If it is within the range of the number of stored balls, it is determined whether or not the accepted PIN number matches the PIN number stored in the card table.

  Then, in the case where the passwords match, the number of coins added including the device ID of the card unit 3, the member card ID being accepted, and the number of balls added that is the number of balls input to the added number of balls input unit The request is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to the reception of the number-of-balls-adding request, the management computer 150 associates the number-of-balls-added storage number included in the received number-of-balls-adding request with the member card ID included in the received number-of-balls-adding request. And confirming whether it is within the range of the number of stored balls stored in the member savings management table, and subtracting and updating the added number of stored balls from the number of stored balls, provided that it is within the range of the number of stored balls The number of balls obtained by subtracting a predetermined fee (same as the above-mentioned replay fee in the present embodiment) from the number of accumulated balls added is stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID. The number of balls is updated by adding to the number of balls, and a notification of completion of adding the number of balls including the number of balls after the addition update, the number of stored balls after the subtraction update, and the membership card ID included in the received request for adding the number of balls To the card unit 3 that sent the addition request To reply to. At this time, the management computer 150 updates the counted number of balls stored in the unit management table in correspondence with the device ID included in the received number-of-balls-adding request to the number of balls after the addition update.

  The control unit 328 updates the number of balls and the number of stored balls in the card table to the number of balls and the number of stored balls included in the received notification of completion of adding the number of balls in response to receiving the notification of completion of adding the number of balls. To do.

  By doing in this way, the member player pays out the number of accumulated balls once in the pachinko machine 2 by the re-playing operation, and throws out the paid-in pachinko balls from the lower plate 24 to the input unit 345 and counts them. Without adding to the number of balls, the desired number of stored balls can be added to the number of balls in a simple and quick manner and used for distribution.

  On the other hand, in the determination in the step of Sf1, if the counted number of balls (the number of held balls) is not 0, the process proceeds to the step of Sf2- to perform a sortable ball number specifying process for specifying the number of balls that can be sorted.

  In this assignable ball number specifying process, as in the above-described step of Sf21 +, it is determined whether or not direct distribution permission from the number of stored balls is set based on the distribution setting information, and direct distribution permission is set. If not, the number of balls counted at that time, that is, the number of balls held in the card table is specified as the number of balls that can be distributed, while direct allocation permission is set and the membership card is being accepted. In this case, the total number obtained by subtracting the number of fees from the number of stored balls and adding the number of balls in the case of distributing all of the number of stored balls to the number of held balls is specified as the number of balls that can be distributed. .

  Then, the process proceeds to the step of Sf2, and as shown in FIG. 32 (a), as shown in FIG. 32 (a), the distribution ball number acceptance screen including the number of balls (in the case of direct distribution non-permitted) specified by the distributionable ball number specifying process of Sf2- As shown in FIG. 32 (h), the distribution ball number acceptance screen including the integrated distribution possible ball number (at the time of direct distribution permission) specified by the distributionable ball number specifying process of Sf2- is displayed on the display unit 312. Then, the number of balls to be distributed to the distribution destination (number of balls to be distributed) is received from the player.

  As shown in FIG. 32 (a) and FIG. 32 (h), in the sorting ball number acceptance screen of this embodiment, a sortable ball number display unit for displaying the number of balls that can be used for sorting, and a sorting ball. When the number of sorting balls for inputting the number, the selection input unit for “Decision”, the selection input unit for “Cancel” for interrupting the process, and the card being accepted are membership cards, The selection input section of “use of stored ball” operated when adding the number to the number of possessed balls (only when direct allocation is not permitted in FIG. 32A), the numeric keys from 0 to 9, “half”, “ And an operation unit composed of “1/4” and “fraction” keys, and the player selects and inputs these numeric keys and “half”, “1/4”, and “fraction” keys. The desired number of balls to be sorted is input to the number of balls to be sorted.

  In addition, when the “half” key is selected and input, the number of balls that have been counted (the number of balls that can be held) or the number of balls that is half the number of balls that can be distributed (the number that is not divisible) When the “1/4” key is selected and entered, the number of balls that have been counted (the number of balls) or a ball that is 1/4 of the number of balls that can be distributed The number (rounded off if not divisible) is automatically input to the sorting ball number input section, and when the “fraction” key is selected and entered, the number of counted balls (the number of balls held) or the total number of balls that can be sorted is 1000. The number of balls less than the ball is automatically input to the sorting ball number input section.

  In addition, when the selection input section of “use of storage ball” is selected and input on the distribution ball number acceptance screen, the selection input of “use of storage ball” is detected in step Sf3 and proceeds to Sf21, as described above. In addition, on the condition that the card being accepted is a membership card and direct allocation permission is not set, the number-of-balls adding process (Sf23) for adding the number of balls to the number of balls is executed. The number of balls that can be used for sorting can be increased easily and quickly.

  Further, when the player inputs a desired number of balls to be allocated to the allocation ball number input unit and then selects and inputs a “decision” selection input unit, the step of Sf4 is performed according to the selection input of the “decision” In this case, it is determined whether or not the number of balls to be distributed accepted at the number of balls to be distributed is equal to or less than the number of balls counted (the number of balls). In the case where the counted number of balls (the number of possessed balls) is insufficient with respect to the number of allocated balls received, the processing of steps Sf25 to Sf29 described later is performed, while the number of counted balls (the number of retained balls). In the case of the following, the process proceeds to step Sf5, and as shown in FIG. 28A, the management computer 150 is informed of the device ID of the card unit 3 and the (member) card ID of the receiving card. , The number of balls to be sorted received in the number of balls to be sorted , It transmits a distribution permission request including the counting already piece count of the time stored in the card table (number lifting ball).

  In response to receiving this distribution permission request, the management computer 150 associates the (member) card ID included in the received distribution permission request with the number of balls stored in the member saving management table or the visitor saving management table, Compare the counted number of balls (number of balls) included in the received distribution permission request, and if both do not match, the number of balls in the member saving management table or visitor saving management table, and the received device in the unit management table The counted number of balls corresponding to the ID is updated to the counted number of balls (the number of balls held) included in the received distribution permission request.

  Then, in the above-described distribution setting screen (see FIG. 20A), it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set for the total number of distributions, and when “Yes” is set for the total number of distributions. , The total number of pachinko balls distributed (total) distributed in the game hall during the period set as the totaling period on the distribution setting screen, for example, in one day, all distributions including the date of that day in the distribution history table It is specified by summing up the number of balls in the history and the number of balls stored. In the present embodiment, the total number (total) of these distributions is calculated at the time of receiving the distribution permission request. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and these totals are performed in advance. You may make it keep.

  Then, the total number of distributions (total) after adding the number of balls to be distributed (number of balls to be distributed) included in the received distribution permission request to the specified total number of distributions (total) It is determined whether or not the limit number set in is exceeded.

  Furthermore, in the above-mentioned distribution setting screen, it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set for the distribution source upper limit, and if “Yes” is set for the distribution source upper limit, it is set as the aggregation target period. The total number of pachinko balls distributed (distribution source) distributed from the card specified from the (member) card ID included in the received distribution permission request that becomes the distribution source card, for example, in one day that is the distribution period, It is specified by summing the number of balls that have been sorted and the number of balls that have been sorted in all sorting histories that include the (member) card ID that is included in the received sorting permission request, including the date of the current day.

  In the case of counting the total number of distributions (distribution source), if the card ID is the visitor card ID, the latest issue date and time stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID The date and time when the visitor card was last issued is specified, and only the distribution history including date and time information after the specified last issued date and time is included in the counting target. The total number of distribution (distribution source) that is distributed from the player who issued the last visitor card is accurately specified.

  Then, the total number of distribution (distribution source) after adding the number of distribution balls (number of distributed balls) included in the received distribution permission request to the specified total distribution number (distribution source) is the distribution source upper limit on the distribution setting screen. It is determined whether or not the limit number set in the limit item is exceeded.

  In any of these determinations, if any of the limit numbers is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is impossible including the card ID included in the received distribution permission request is returned. When replying that these sorts cannot be made, the total number of sorting (total) before adding the number of sorting balls included in the received sorting permission request (total) and the difference number (whole) between the limit and the received sorting permission request When the total number of distribution balls (distribution source) before adding the number of balls to be distributed included in the number and the difference number (distribution source) between the limit numbers are calculated, and these difference numbers are both positive values, The smaller difference number is specified as the assignable number, and an unassignable message including the specified assignable number is returned.

  On the other hand, when both “no” is set in the distribution total number limit and the distribution source upper limit limit, and “Yes” is set in the distribution total number limit and / or the distribution source upper limit limit, the limit number is set. If it is determined that it does not exceed, a distribution permission including the (member) card ID included in the received distribution permission request is returned.

  In step Sf6, the control unit 328 determines whether or not the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission. If the reply is not possible, the control unit 328 determines “No” in the step Sf6 and determines that the reply is Sf24. As shown in FIG. 32 (f), the restricted ball including the display of the number of balls that can be sorted included in the received non-sortable is displayed on the display unit 312 by proceeding to the step of and performing the limit ball number error screen display. After displaying the number error screen and notifying the player of the number of balls that can be distributed, the process returns to the step of Sf2.

  At this time, on the sorting ball number acceptance screen displayed on the display unit 312 in the sorting ball number acceptance process of Sf2, the number of balls that can be sorted included in the received non-sortable ball number is displayed on the sortable ball number display unit. Since the player can grasp the number of balls that can be allocated on the distribution ball number acceptance screen, the player can input the number of balls that can be allocated again as the number of balls to be distributed in step Sf2. It is possible to avoid repeated and limit ball number error.

  On the other hand, if the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission, “Yes” is determined in step Sf6, the process proceeds to step Sf7, and a card insertion enabling instruction is output to the card reader / writer 327. , While permitting the insertion of a new card into the card insertion slot 309, as shown in FIG. 32 (b), a display section for the number of balls to be distributed, a display section for a message prompting the insertion of the card to be distributed, and the distribution After a new issue acceptance screen having a new issue selection input unit for accepting a new issue operation of a visitor card when there is no previous card is displayed on the display unit 312, a transition is made to a monitoring state in which the steps of Sf8 and Sf9 are cycled Then, it is monitored whether there is a selection input from the new issue selection input unit or whether a new card is inserted into the card insertion slot 309.

  When the player who is the distribution destination does not have a visitor card or membership card, it is only necessary to select and input a new issue selection input section. When the new issue selection input section is selected and input, When the selection input is detected as being accepted in step Sf8, the process proceeds to step Sf10 and it is determined whether or not the card being accepted is a member card. If the card is not a member card, that is, the card being accepted is a visitor card. If it is, the process proceeds to Sf11 to perform the visitor issue distribution process. On the other hand, if the accepted card is a member card, the process proceeds to Sf12 to perform the member issue distribution process.

  In the visitor issuance distribution process of Sf11, the control unit 328 first retracts and holds the accepting visitor card at the retracted position on the card insertion port 309 side of the card reader / writer 327, and at a predetermined in the card reader / writer 327. The visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 is moved to the read position, and the card ID of the visitor card is read and temporarily stored.

  The issuance including the read card ID (new), the card ID (old) of the visitor card retreated to the retreat position stored in the card table, the number of balls to be distributed, and the device ID of the card unit 3 A distribution request is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to reception of this issue distribution request, the management computer 150 includes the visitor card ID (new) and card ID (old) in the received issue distribution request, that is, the card IDs of the two visitor cards. Is determined to be a visitor issue distribution process in which a visitor card is exchanged, and the holding balls stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID (old) included in the received issue distribution request The number and the latest issue date and time, and subtracting and updating the distribution ball number included in the issued distribution request received from the specified number of holding balls, and the number of holding balls after the subtraction update and the specified latest issue date and time The number of coins stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID (new) included in the issued issuance distribution request and the latest issuance date / time And 憶, the "0" to the number of lifting balls stored in the visitor savings management table in association with the card ID (old), updates and stores the date and time of the point to the latest issue date.

  Further, the card ID (new) is updated and stored in the data of “acceptance ID” corresponding to the device ID included in the issued distribution request received in the unit management table, and the number of balls distributed in the data of “counted balls” The number of balls that have been subtracted is updated and stored.

  The distribution history includes the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received distribution request, the card ID (old) as the distribution destination card, and the card ID (new) as the distribution source card. After registering a distribution history including “1” indicating “number of holding balls”, “0” indicating no use acceptance, “−” indicating “not included” in the number of distributed storage balls and the number of commission balls in the distribution history table , Reply the issue distribution completion notification.

  In response to the receipt of the issuance distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of allocated balls by subtracting from the number of balls in the card table, and also stores the temporarily stored card ID (new) and the card table. A card exchange request including the existing card ID (old) and the prepaid balance is transmitted to the system controller 100.

  In response to receiving this card exchange request, the system controller 100 identifies the prepaid balance and the latest issue date and time stored in the visitor card table in association with the card ID (old), and the identified prepaid balance has been received. The prepaid balance and the latest issuance date are stored in the prepaid balance and the latest issuance date corresponding to the card ID (new) included in the received issuance distribution request, on condition that the prepaid balance matches. The corresponding “situation” is updated to “in use”, the prepaid balance stored in association with the card ID (old) is set to “0”, and the date and time at that time is updated and stored in the latest issue date, Reply notification of card exchange completion.

  In other words, in order to use the visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 as the distribution source card, and newly issue the visitor card that has been received up to that point, the data is reassigned. To do.

  In response to the reception of the card exchange completion notification, the control unit 328 updates and stores the temporarily stored card ID (new) in the card ID of the card table, and for the card with the card ID (new), After the prepaid balance and the number of possessions stored in the card table are written and stored, the card with the card ID (new) is temporarily retracted to the card storage unit 370, so that the standby position on the card insertion slot 309 side The visitor card with the card ID (old) held in is moved to the predetermined reading position, the prepaid balance and the number of balls are updated to “0”, and the distribution flag is updated to “1” indicating that there is a distribution To do.

  After these updates are completed, the visitor card with the card ID (old), that is, the visitor card that was being accepted at the time of accepting the sorting operation is ejected from the card insertion slot 309 and retracted to the card storage unit 370. The card with the new card ID (new) is moved to a predetermined reading position, and a message “Please take out the issued visitor card” is displayed on the display unit 312 as shown in FIG. The displayed visitor card is displayed until it is removed from the card insertion slot 309, and the visitor issue distribution process is terminated. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  Thus, in the visitor issue distribution process of the present embodiment, the visitor card that was being accepted at the time of accepting the distribution operation is issued as the visitor card of the distribution destination, so the player can In order to issue a visitor card, it is necessary to eject the visitor card that was being accepted at the time of accepting the distribution operation, issue a new visitor card, and insert the visitor card again after the issuance is completed. ), The visitor card can be issued smoothly and the visitor card once discharged is not lost.

  These issued visitor cards are inserted into the other card unit 3 as described above, so that the number of distributed balls is added to the number of balls and is displayed on the display unit 312 as counted balls. By displaying, the number of possessed balls can be paid out by operating the payout button 311.

  In addition, in the member issuance distribution process of Sf12, the control unit 328 first retracts and holds the member card being received at the retreat position on the card insertion port 309 side of the card reader / writer 327, and in the card reader / writer 327. The visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 is moved to the predetermined reading position, and the card ID of the visitor card is read out and temporarily stored.

  Then, an issuance distribution request including the read card ID, the membership card ID stored in the card table, the number of distributed balls, and the device ID of the card unit 3 is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to receipt of this issue distribution request, the management computer 150 determines that it is a member issue distribution process by including the visitor card ID and member card ID in the received issue distribution request, and receives the issued issue The number of possessed balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the membership card ID included in the distribution request is specified, and the number of allocated retained balls included in the issued distribution distribution request is subtracted and updated from the specified number of retained balls In addition, “0” is stored in the number of balls stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID of the visitor card included in the issued issuance distribution request, and the current date and time is updated and stored. .

  Further, the “counted number of balls” data corresponding to the device ID included in the issued distribution request received in the unit management table is updated to the number of held balls after the number of distributed balls is subtracted and updated.

  Then, as the distribution history, the current date and time, the device ID included in the received issue distribution request, the card ID as the distribution destination card, the member card ID as the distribution source card, and “1” indicating the issue After the distribution history is registered in the distribution history table, the distribution is completed after the distribution history including “0” indicating the number of balls to be distributed, “0” indicating no use acceptance, and “−” indicating the absence of distribution balls and fees Reply to notification.

  In response to receipt of this issuance distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of distributed balls from the number of cards in the card table and updates the system controller with a distribution issuance request including the card ID of the visitor card temporarily stored. To 100.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue request, the system controller 100 sets “0” to the prepaid balance stored in the visitor card table in association with the card ID included in the received distribution issue request, and the latest issue date and time Is updated and stored in the “status”, and a distribution issue completion notification is returned.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue completion notification, the control unit 328 writes and stores “0” as the prepaid balance and the number of balls in the issued visitor card, and updates the distribution flag to “1” indicating that there is a distribution.

  Then, a reservation for use request including the membership card ID stored in the card table is transmitted to the system controller 100 to disable use of the membership card in another card unit 3, and then the card insertion slot 309. The membership card held in the standby position on the side is ejected from the card insertion slot 309 and, as shown in FIG. 32 (d), “When the returned membership card is taken out, a visitor card for distribution is issued. Is displayed on the display unit 312 to prompt the user to take out the ejected membership card.

  When the member player removes his / her member card from the card insertion slot 309 according to the display of this message, the visitor card is immediately ejected from the card insertion slot 309 according to the removal, and FIG. 32 (c) As shown in FIG. 5, a message “Please take out the issued visitor card” is displayed on the display unit 312.

  The member player takes out the visitor card discharged to the card insertion slot 309 and hands it to another player who distributes the card, and inserts his member card through the card insertion slot 309 again.

  In response to the insertion of the membership card, the control unit 328 determines whether or not the membership card ID read from the re-inserted membership card matches the membership card ID stored in the card table. Sometimes, the card is returned to shift to an error notification state in which an error is notified to a staff member. On the other hand, when they match, the member issue distribution process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when a new card is inserted into the card insertion slot 309 in the monitoring state at the steps Sf8 and Sf9, the insertion of the card is detected at the step Sf9, and the process proceeds to the step Sf14. The card is moved to the storage unit 370 and retracted, and the recording information of the newly inserted card is read out to determine whether or not the newly inserted card is a membership card.

  If the newly inserted card is a membership card, the process proceeds to step Sf15. Further, it is determined whether or not the distribution source card received before the card is inserted is a membership card. If the card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf16, where a member-to-member distribution process in which the distribution source card is a member card and the distribution destination card is also a member card is executed and the card is inserted. If the distribution source card received in step S3 is not a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf17, and a visitor-to-member distribution process is performed in which the distribution source card is a visitor card and the distribution destination card is a member card.

  On the other hand, if the newly inserted card is a visitor card, the process proceeds to step Sf18, and further, it is determined whether or not the distribution source card received before the card is inserted is a membership card. If the distribution source card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf19, and a member-to-visitor distribution process is performed in which the distribution source card is a member card and the distribution destination card is a visitor card, and the card is inserted. If the distribution source card received before the distribution is not a membership card, the process proceeds to step Sf20, and a visitor-visitor distribution process is performed in which the distribution source card is a visitor card and the distribution destination card is also a visitor card. .

  In the member-to-member distribution process of Sf16 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 28 (b), the control unit 328 reads the device ID of the card unit 3 and the member card ID read from the inserted distribution-destination member card. A distribution request including (distribution destination), the member card ID (distribution source) of the distribution source member card stored in the card table, and the number of distributed balls is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to receiving this distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction. In this case, the member card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request is included as a distribution destination card, and it is searched whether there is a distribution history whose use acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance.

  If it exists by the search, a reply indicating that the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is not returned is returned, while if it does not exist by the search and the continuous distribution restriction is set to “not”. In this case, it is further determined whether or not “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit on the above-mentioned distribution setting screen. If “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit, the total is calculated. The total number of pachinko balls distributed to the card specified from the membership card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request that becomes the distribution destination card in the period set as the target period (for example, one day) All) including the membership card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request as the distribution destination card. Identifying by summing the sorting lifting piece count and distribution 貯玉 number of distribution history.

  Then, the total number of distribution (distribution destination) after adding the number of balls to be distributed included in the received distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is set in the item of distribution destination upper limit on the distribution setting screen It is determined whether or not the limit number is exceeded.

  In the determination, if the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is impossible including the membership card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned. When replying that these sorts are impossible, calculate the total number of sorts (sorting destination) and the difference number (sorting destination) before adding the number of holding balls included in the received sort request, When the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as an assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned is made in the card unit 3 as shown in FIG. After the same error screen is displayed, the process returns to the step of Sf 2, and the distribution ball number acceptance screen having the possible allocation number included in the non-distributable number returned is displayed on the display unit 312. Then, on the distribution ball number acceptance screen, the number of balls that can be distributed is input again as the number of balls to be distributed, so that the distribution can be reliably received.

  On the other hand, when the limit number is not exceeded and when “No” is set in the distribution destination upper limit, the member saving management table is associated with the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request. Identifies the number of held balls, updates the number of allocated balls included in the received allocation request from the specified number of held balls, and corresponds to the device ID included in the allocated request received in the unit management table The “counted number of balls” data to be updated is updated to the number of balls that have been updated after subtracting and updating the number of balls that have been allocated.

  Then, as the distribution history, the current date and time, the device ID included in the received distribution request, the member card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the member card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card The distribution history includes “0” indicating non-issuance, “0” indicating the number of balls to be distributed, “0” indicating that there is no usage acceptance, and “−” indicating that there is no distribution storage ball number and commission ball number. After registering in the table, a distribution completion notification including the membership card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of allocated balls by subtracting the number of allocated balls from the number of cards in the card table and updates the distribution flag of the distribution destination member card to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. Return the member card of the distribution source which has been returned from the card insertion slot 309 and temporarily evacuated to the card storage unit 370 to a predetermined reading position, and on the display unit 312, as shown in FIG. The message “Please take the card that has been removed” is displayed to prompt the user to take out the returned member card of the distribution destination, and the member-to-member distribution process ends. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  When the returned membership card of the distribution destination is inserted into another card unit 3, the number of allocated balls stored in the distribution history table is added to the number of balls and can be used.

  In the visitor-member distribution process of Sf17 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 28 (b), the control unit 328 reads the device ID of the card unit 3 and the member card ID read from the inserted distribution-destination member card. A distribution request including the (distribution destination), the card ID (distribution source) of the visitor card stored in the card table, and the number of balls to be distributed is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to receiving this distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction. In this case, it is searched whether there is a distribution history that includes the member card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request and whose use acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance.

  When it exists by the search, a reply indicating that the distribution is not possible including the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned, and when it does not exist by the search and the continuous distribution restriction is set to “No” In addition, it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit in the above-mentioned distribution setting screen, and if “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit, The total number of pachinko balls distributed to the card specified from the member card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request that becomes the distribution destination card in the period set as the period (for example, one day) ) For all distributions that include the current day's date and the membership card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request. Only identified by summing the sorting lifting piece count and distribution 貯玉 number of history.

  Then, the total number of distribution (distribution destination) after adding the number of balls to be distributed included in the received distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is set in the item of distribution destination upper limit on the distribution setting screen It is determined whether or not the limit number is exceeded.

  In this determination, if the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is impossible including the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned. When replying that these sorts are impossible, calculate the total number of sorts (sorting destination) and the difference number (sorting destination) before adding the number of holding balls included in the received sort request, When the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as an assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned is made in the card unit 3 as shown in FIG. After the same error screen is displayed, the process returns to the step of Sf 2, and the distribution ball number acceptance screen having the possible allocation number included in the non-distributable number returned is displayed on the display unit 312. Then, on the distribution ball number acceptance screen, the number of balls that can be distributed is input again as the number of balls to be distributed, so that the distribution can be reliably received.

  On the other hand, when the limit number is not exceeded and when the distribution destination upper limit is set to “No”, the restriction is stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request. The number of held balls is specified, the number of allocated balls included in the received distribution request is subtracted from the specified number of held balls, and the device ID included in the received distribution request is received in the unit management table. Update the data of “counted balls” to the number of balls after subtracting and updating the number of balls held.

  Then, as the distribution history, the current date and time, the device ID included in the received distribution request, the member card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card, A distribution history table including a distribution history including “0” indicating non-issuance, “0” indicating the number of balls to be distributed, “0” indicating no use acceptance, and “−” indicating “none” in the number of distribution storage balls and commission balls. After registration, the distribution completion notification including the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of allocated balls by subtracting the number of allocated balls from the number of cards in the card table and updates the distribution flag of the distribution destination member card to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. The return visitor card returned from the card insertion slot 309 and temporarily saved in the card storage unit 370 is returned to a predetermined reading position, and “return” is displayed on the display unit 312 as shown in FIG. Please take out the received card "to prompt the user to take out the returned member card for distribution, and the visitor-member distribution process is terminated. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  When the returned membership card of the distribution destination is inserted into another card unit 3, the number of allocated balls stored in the distribution history table is added to the number of balls and can be used.

  In the member-to-visitor distribution process of Sf19 of the present embodiment, the control unit 328, as shown in FIG. 28B, the card ID (card ID read from the inserted distribution-destination visitor card), as shown in FIG. The distribution request including the distribution destination), the member card ID (distribution source) of the distribution source member card stored in the card table, and the number of balls to be distributed is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to receiving this distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction. In this case, it is searched whether there is a distribution history that includes the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request as a distribution destination card and whose use acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance.

  If it exists by the search, a reply indicating that the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is not returned is returned, while if it does not exist by the search and the continuous distribution restriction is set to “not”. In this case, it is further determined whether or not “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit on the above-mentioned distribution setting screen. If “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit, the total is calculated. The total number of pachinko balls distributed to the card specified from the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request that becomes the distribution destination card in the period set as the target period (for example, one day) ) Is a distribution history including the date of the day and the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request as a distribution destination card. What is specified by summing the distribution number lifting balls of the distribution history including the date and time information since the last issue date in association with the said card ID (distribution destination) is stored in the visitor savings management table.

  Then, the total number of distribution (distribution destination) after adding the number of balls to be distributed included in the received distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is set in the item of distribution destination upper limit on the distribution setting screen It is determined whether or not the limit number is exceeded.

  In the determination, if the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is impossible including the membership card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned. When replying that these sorts are impossible, calculate the total number of sorts (sorting destination) and the difference number (sorting destination) before adding the number of holding balls included in the received sort request, When the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as an assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned is made in the card unit 3 as shown in FIG. After the same error screen is displayed, the process returns to the step of Sf 2, and the distribution ball number acceptance screen having the possible allocation number included in the non-distributable number returned is displayed on the display unit 312. Then, on the distribution ball number acceptance screen, the number of balls that can be distributed is input again as the number of balls to be distributed, so that the distribution can be reliably received.

  On the other hand, when the limit number is not exceeded and when “No” is set in the distribution destination upper limit, the member saving management table is associated with the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request. Identifies the number of held balls, updates the number of allocated balls included in the received allocation request from the specified number of held balls, and corresponds to the device ID included in the allocated request received in the unit management table The “counted number of balls” data to be updated is updated to the number of balls that have been updated after subtracting and updating the number of balls that have been allocated.

  Then, as the distribution history, the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received distribution request, the card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the member card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card, A distribution history table including a distribution history including “0” indicating non-issuance, “0” indicating the number of balls to be distributed, “0” indicating no use acceptance, and “−” indicating “none” in the number of distribution storage balls and commission balls. After registration, the distribution completion notification including the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of allocated balls from the number of cards in the card table and updates the distribution flag of the distribution destination visitor card to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. Return the member card of the distribution source which has been returned from the card insertion slot 309 and temporarily evacuated to the card storage unit 370 to a predetermined reading position, and on the display unit 312, as shown in FIG. The message “Please take out the card that has been issued” is displayed to prompt the user to take out the returned visitor card, and the member-to-visitor distribution process ends. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  The returned visitor visitor card is inserted into another card unit 3, so that the number of assigned balls stored in the assigned history table is added to the number of held balls and can be used.

  In the visitor-visitor distribution process of Sf20 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 28 (b), the control unit 328 includes the device ID of the card unit 3 and the card ID read from the inserted distribution-destination visitor card ( A distribution request including the distribution destination), the card ID (distribution source) of the distribution source visitor card stored in the card table, and the number of distributed balls is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to receiving this distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction. In this case, it is searched whether there is a distribution history that includes the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request as a distribution destination card and whose use acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance.

  When it exists by the search, a reply indicating that the distribution is not possible including the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned, and when it does not exist by the search and the continuous distribution restriction is set to “No” In addition, it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit in the above-mentioned distribution setting screen, and if “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit, The total number of pachinko balls distributed to the visitor card specified from the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request that becomes the distribution destination card in the period set as the period (for example, one day) ) Including the date of the current day and including the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request as the distribution destination card A is, it identifies by summing the distribution number lifting balls of the distribution history including the date and time information since the last issue date in association with the said card ID (distribution destination) is stored in the visitor savings management table.

  Then, the total number of distribution (distribution destination) after adding the number of balls to be distributed included in the received distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is set in the item of distribution destination upper limit on the distribution setting screen It is determined whether or not the limit number is exceeded.

  In this determination, if the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is impossible including the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned. When replying that these sorts are impossible, calculate the total number of sorts (sorting destination) and the difference number (sorting destination) before adding the number of holding balls included in the received sort request, When the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as an assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned is made in the card unit 3 as shown in FIG. After the same error screen is displayed, the process returns to the step of Sf 2, and the distribution ball number acceptance screen having the possible allocation number included in the non-distributable number returned is displayed on the display unit 312. Then, on the distribution ball number acceptance screen, the number of balls that can be distributed is input again as the number of balls to be distributed, so that the distribution can be reliably received.

  On the other hand, when the limit number is not exceeded and when the distribution destination upper limit is set to “No”, the restriction is stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request. The number of held balls is specified, the number of allocated balls included in the received distribution request is subtracted from the specified number of held balls, and the device ID included in the received distribution request is received in the unit management table. Update the data of “counted balls” to the number of balls after subtracting and updating the number of balls held.

  As the distribution history, the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received distribution request, the card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, the card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card, non- The distribution history table includes a distribution history including “0” indicating issue, “0” indicating the number of holding balls, “0” indicating no use acceptance, and “−” indicating “not included” in the number of storage and handling balls. After registration, a distribution completion notification including the card ID (distribution source) included in the received distribution request is returned.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of allocated balls from the number of cards in the card table and updates the distribution flag of the distribution destination visitor card to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. The return visitor card returned from the card insertion slot 309 and temporarily saved in the card storage unit 370 is returned to a predetermined reading position, and “return” is displayed on the display unit 312 as shown in FIG. Please take out the received card "message, prompt the user to take out the returned visitor card, and end the visitor-visitor distribution process. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  The returned visitor visitor card is inserted into another card unit 3, so that the number of assigned balls stored in the assigned history table is added to the number of held balls and can be used.

  Here, in the determination in the step of Sf4, if the accepted number of assigned balls is not less than the counted number of balls (number of possessed balls), that is, the number of counted balls (number of possessed balls) is insufficient with respect to the accepted number of sorted balls. The following describes the processing of steps Sf25 to Sf29 that are performed in the case where the card is being received. In these processing, first, whether or not the accepted card is a membership card (Sf25), direct distribution from the number of stored balls is performed. Necessary whether or not permission has been set (Sf26), and the number of counted balls (the number of balls) relative to the number of allocated balls received and the number of stored balls of the shortage is required to change to the number of balls. It is sequentially determined whether or not the player possesses a number of stored balls that is equal to or greater than the total number of balls (the number of fees) in the present embodiment (same as the replay fee described above) (Sf27). .

  If any of the determinations of Sf25 to Sf27 is negative (No), the process proceeds to step Sf29 to display the counted ball number error screen of FIG. 32 (e) and display the counted ball number. Is notified to the player, and the “input” selection input section of the counted ball number error screen returns to the step of Sf2- in response to the selection input by the player. Thus, the number of balls that can be distributed is specified again, and the number of balls to be distributed is received. If it is desired to end the process, “cancel” may be selected and input on the counted ball number error screen.

  In addition, when all the determinations of steps Sf25 to Sf27 are Yes, the process proceeds to step Sf28, and it is confirmed whether the number of stored balls can be used for the allocation of the insufficient number of balls. The confirmation acceptance screen shown in (c) is displayed on the display unit 312 and a confirmation acceptance process is accepted from the player.

  This confirmation acceptance screen is subtracted from the number of stored balls by a message indicating that the counted number of balls (the number of balls held) is insufficient, the number of balls that are insufficient, and the distribution of the number of balls that are insufficient. It includes a confirmation message confirming whether the number of balls to be subtracted (number of shortage + number of fees) and the number of stored balls can be used to distribute the number of shortage balls, and select “OK” or “NG” An input unit is provided, and the player selects and inputs the selection input unit of “OK” when the number of stored balls may be used to distribute the insufficient number of balls. If you do not want to use the number of stored balls for distribution, you can select and input the selection input part of “NG”.

  Then, it is determined in step Sf28 'which selection input part of "OK" or "NG" on the confirmation acceptance screen is selected and input. If the selection input part of "NG" is selected and input, the shortage Returning to the step of Sf2- as storage ball use NG, the number of balls that can be distributed is specified again and the number of balls to be distributed is accepted. On the other hand, if the selection input section of “OK” is selected and input, the shortage By shifting to the step of Sf50, which is C in FIG. 27, as the amount-saving-ball use OK, the insufficient number of balls to be distributed is automatically distributed from the number of balls to be stored.

  In this step of Sf50, first, the management computer 150 stores in the card table the device ID of the card unit 3, the member card ID being received, the number of distribution balls received in the distribution ball number input unit, and the card table. The integrated allocation permission request including the number of balls counted at that time (the number of balls held) is transmitted (see FIG. 28A).

  In response to the reception of the integrated distribution permission request, the management computer 150 associates the membership card ID included in the received integrated distribution permission request with the number of balls stored in the member saving management table and the received integrated distribution permission. When the number of balls counted (the number of balls held) included in the request is compared and both do not match, the number of balls held in the member saving management table and the number of balls counted corresponding to the received device ID in the unit management table are Then, the number of balls that have been counted (the number of balls held) is updated in the received integrated distribution permission request.

  Furthermore, the number of stored balls and the number of possessed balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received integrated distribution permission request are specified, and the distribution balls included in the received integrated distribution permission request Fees required when the number of balls in the difference obtained by subtracting the number of balls from the number is specified as the number of missing balls, and the number of stored balls is changed to the number of shortage balls and the number of stored balls in the shortage number of balls Make sure that the total number is equal to or more than the number of balls. When the number of stored balls is not equal to or greater than the total number of shortage balls and commission balls, a reply indicating that the member card ID included in the received integrated ball distribution permission request is not distributed is returned.

  Then, in the above-described distribution setting screen (see FIG. 20A), it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set for the total number of distributions, and when “Yes” is set for the total number of distributions. As described above, the total distribution number (entire) of the pachinko balls distributed in the game hall in the period set as the total target period is specified, and the received total distribution is received in the specified total distribution number (total). It is determined whether or not the total number of allocations (total) after adding the number of allocation balls (number of allocation storage balls) included in the permission request exceeds the limit number set in the item of total allocation limit.

  Furthermore, in the distribution setting screen described above, it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set for the distribution source upper limit, and when “Yes” is set for the distribution source upper limit, as described above, Specify the total number of distribution of pachinko balls (distribution source) distributed from the membership card specified from the membership card ID included in the received integrated distribution permission request that becomes the distribution source card during the period set as the aggregation target period The total number of distributions (distribution source) after adding the number of distribution balls (number of distribution storage balls) included in the received integrated distribution permission request to the specified total distribution number (distribution source) is the distribution source upper limit on the distribution setting screen. It is determined whether or not the limit number set in the limit item is exceeded.

  On the other hand, when both “no” is set in the distribution total number limit and the distribution source upper limit limit, and “Yes” is set in the distribution total number limit and / or the distribution source upper limit limit, the limit number is set. If it is determined that it does not exceed, a distribution permission including the membership card ID included in the received integrated distribution permission request is returned.

  The control unit 328 determines whether or not the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission in the step of Sf51, and if it is impossible to distribute, it is determined as “No” and proceeds to the step of Sf59. Similar to the limit ball number error screen shown in FIG. 32 (f), the limit ball number error screen including the display of the number of balls that can be allocated included in the received non-distributable ball is displayed to notify the player of the number of balls that can be allocated. Thereafter, the process returns to the step of Sf21- which is A in FIG.

  At this time, on the distribution ball number acceptance screen displayed on the display unit 312, the number of balls that can be allocated included in the received non-distributable ball number is displayed on the distributionable ball number display unit. Since the number of balls that can be distributed can be grasped on the screen for receiving the number of distributed balls, by inputting the number of balls that can be distributed again as the number of balls that can be distributed in the step of Sf31, it is possible to repeatedly and Can be avoided.

  On the other hand, if the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission, “Yes” is determined in the step of Sf51, the process proceeds to the step of Sf52, and a card insertion enabling instruction is output to the card reader / writer 327. In addition to permitting the insertion of a new card into the card insertion slot 309, a new visitor card in the case where there is no distribution destination card and a message display section for prompting the insertion of the distribution destination card shown in FIG. After a new issue acceptance screen having a new issue selection input unit for accepting an issue operation is displayed on the display unit 312, a transition is made to a monitoring state in which the steps of Sf 53 and Sf 54 are cycled, and the selection input of the new issue selection input unit is performed. And whether a new card is inserted into the card insertion slot 309 is monitored.

  If the player who is the distribution destination does not have a visitor card or membership card and the new issue selection input section is selected and input, the selection input is detected as being accepted at step Sf54. Proceeding to step Sf58, automatic issue insufficient distribution processing with visitor card issue is performed.

  In this issuance-deficient automatic distribution process, the control unit 328 first retracts and holds the member card being received at the retreat position on the card insertion port 309 side of the card reader / writer 327, and at a predetermined in the card reader / writer 327. The visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 is moved to the reading position, and the card ID of the visitor card is read out and temporarily stored.

  Then, the number of balls in the card table is set as the number of balls to be sorted, and the number of shortage balls that is the difference between the number of balls to be sorted and the number of balls held is specified as the number of balls to be sorted and stored, and the card ID read above And an issuance-deficient automatic distribution request including the membership card ID stored in the card table, the specified number of allocated balls and allocated storage balls, and the device ID of the card unit 3 to the management computer 150. .

  In the present embodiment, for the purpose of reducing the processing load and communication load in the management computer 150, only one distribution request can be obtained by including both the number of balls that are allocated and the number of allocated storage balls in the automatic issue request for insufficient issue. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the issue distribution request including the number of distributed balls and the issue direct distribution request including the number of distributed storage balls described later are individually provided. It goes without saying that the management computer 150 may separately execute the distribution process of the number of possessed balls from the number of possessed balls and the distribution process of the insufficient number of balls from the stored number of balls. Yes.

  In response to receiving this issuance insufficient automatic distribution request, the management computer 150 determines the number of balls and the number of accumulated balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received issuance automatic distribution request. The number of assigned balls included in the issued shortage automatic allocation request received from the specified number of held balls is subtracted and updated, that is, “0”, and is included in the issued shortage automatic distribution request received from the specified number of stored balls The card ID of the visitor card that becomes the distribution destination card included in the issued direct distribution request while subtracting and updating the number of distribution storage balls and the number of commission balls required to transfer the distribution storage number to the number of possessions “0” is stored in the number of possessed balls stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the date and the current date and time are updated and stored in the latest issue date and time.

  Then, as the distribution history, issue the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received automatic insufficient distribution request, the card ID of the visitor card as the distribution destination card, and the membership card ID as the distribution source card. After registering a distribution history including “1” indicating “number of holding balls”, “number of allocated storage balls”, “number of handling balls”, and “0” indicating non-use acceptance in the distribution history table, an issue distribution completion notification is issued. Send back.

  In response to receiving this issuance distribution completion notice, the control unit 328 distributes the number of balls in the card table to the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of balls in the distribution table, and subtracts the number of stored balls in the card table and the number of balls in the commission. The system controller 100 performs the same processing as when the distribution issue request is received by sending the distribution issue request including the card ID of the visitor card temporarily stored to the system controller 100. And return a distribution issuance completion notification.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue completion notification, the control unit 328 writes and stores “0” as the prepaid balance and the number of balls in the issued visitor card, and updates the distribution flag to “1” indicating that there is a distribution.

  Then, a reservation for use request including the membership card ID stored in the card table is transmitted to the system controller 100 to disable use of the membership card in another card unit 3, and then the card insertion slot 309. The membership card held at the standby position on the side is ejected from the card insertion slot 309 and temporarily returned. As shown in FIG. 32 (d), “When the returned membership card is taken out, The message “Card will be issued” is displayed on the display unit 312 to prompt the user to take out the ejected member card.

  When the member player removes his / her member card from the card insertion slot 309 according to the display of this message, the visitor card is immediately ejected from the card insertion slot 309 according to the removal, and FIG. 32 (c) As shown in FIG. 5, a message “Please take out the issued visitor card” is displayed on the display unit 312.

  The member player takes out the visitor card discharged to the card insertion slot 309 and hands it to another player who distributes the card, and inserts his / her member card through the card insertion slot 309 again.

  In response to the insertion of the membership card, the control unit 328 determines whether or not the membership card ID read from the re-inserted membership card matches the membership card ID stored in the card table. Sometimes, the card is returned to shift to an error notification state in which an error is notified to an attendant. On the other hand, when they match, the issuance insufficient automatic distribution process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if there is a new card inserted into the card insertion slot 309 in the monitoring state at the steps Sf53 and Sf54, the insertion of the card is detected at the step Sf53, and the process proceeds to the step Sf55. The membership card is moved to the storage unit 370 and retracted, and the record information of the newly inserted card is read out to determine whether or not the newly inserted card is a membership card.

  If the newly inserted card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf56 to execute the member shortage automatic distribution process. On the other hand, if the newly inserted card is not a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf57. Implement automatic visitor shortage distribution process.

  In the member shortage automatic distribution process of Sf56 of this embodiment, the control unit 328 sets the number of balls in the card table as the number of balls to be distributed and the number of balls that are the difference between the number of balls allocated and the number of balls received. As the number of allocated storage balls, the device ID of the card unit 3, the membership card ID (distribution destination) read from the inserted membership card of the allocation destination, and the membership card of the allocation source stored in the card table A member shortage automatic distribution request including the member card ID (distribution source), the specified number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls is transmitted to the management computer 150. In addition, like the above-mentioned automatic issue shortage allocation request, these automatic member shortage allocation requests may be individually transmitted as a distribution request including the number of distributed holding balls and a direct member distribution request described later including the number of distributed storage balls. good.

  In response to the reception of the automatic shortage member distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction. If there is a distribution history, the membership card ID (distribution destination) included in the received automatic request for distribution of insufficient members is included as the distribution destination card, and the usage acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance. Search for.

  If it exists by the search, a reply indicating that the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received member shortage automatic distribution request is not returned is returned. If “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit on the distribution setting screen described above, and “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit. Is the total number of pachinko balls distributed to the membership card specified by the membership card ID (distribution destination) included in the received automatic request for member shortage distribution that is the distribution destination card during the period set as the aggregation target period (Distribution destination) is specified in the same manner as when the distribution request is received in the member-to-member distribution process described above.

  Then, the total number of distributions (distribution destination) after adding the number of distributed holding balls and the number of distribution storage balls included in the received automatic shortage member distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is the distribution destination on the distribution setting screen. It is determined whether or not the limit number set in the upper limit item is exceeded.

  In the determination, if the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is not possible including the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received member shortage automatic distribution request is returned. In the case of replying that these allocations are not possible, the difference between the total number of distributions (distribution destination) and the limit number before adding the number of distributed possession balls and the number of allocated storage balls included in the received automatic shortage member distribution request ( In the card unit 3, when the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as the assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned. After the error screen similar to that shown in FIG. 32 (c) is displayed, the process returns to A (step Sf2-) in FIG. 25, and the distribution included in the non-distributable distribution returned to the allocatable ball number display section. A sorting ball number acceptance screen having a possible number is displayed on the display unit 312. On the sorting ball number acceptance screen, the number of balls that can be sorted is again input as the number of sorting balls, so that the sorting can be reliably performed. receive Door can be.

  On the other hand, if the limit number is not exceeded and “No” is set in the distribution destination upper limit, it is stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received member shortage automatic distribution request. The number of held balls and the number of stored balls are specified, and the number of allocated balls included in the automatic shortage member distribution request received from the specified number of held balls is subtracted and updated, that is, “0”, and the specified number of stored balls Subtracting and updating the number of allocated storage balls included in the automatic shortage member distribution request received from the above and the number of commission balls required to shift the allocated storage number to the number of possessed balls.

  Then, as the distribution history, the current date and time, the device ID included in the received automatic request for insufficient member distribution, the member card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the member card ID (distribution) as the distribution source card The distribution history including “0” indicating “original”, “0” indicating non-issuance, the number of balls allocated, the number of storage balls, the number of fees, and “0” indicating no acceptance is registered in the distribution history table. After that, a distribution completion notice is returned.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 distributes the number of balls in the card table to the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of balls in the distribution table and subtracts the number of balls stored from the card table and the number of balls from the commission. And the distribution card of the distribution-destination member card is updated to “1” indicating that there is distribution, returned from the card insertion slot 309, and the distribution-source member card temporarily saved in the card storage unit 370 is specified. In addition, the message “Please take the returned card” is displayed on the display unit 312 as shown in FIG. 32 (g) to prompt the user to remove the returned membership card. The member shortage automatic distribution process is terminated. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  The returned membership card of the distribution destination can be used by inserting the number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls stored in the distribution history table by adding them to the other card unit 3. It becomes.

  Next, the visitor shortage automatic distribution process of Sf57 will be described. In the visitor shortage automatic distribution process of Sf57 of this embodiment, the control unit 328 sets the number of balls held in the card table as the number of balls to be distributed and the received distribution balls. The number of shortage balls, which is the difference between the number of balls and the number of possessed balls, is specified as the number of allocated storage balls, and the device ID of the card unit 3 and the card ID (distribution destination) read from the inserted visitor visitor card A visitor shortage automatic distribution request including the membership card ID (distribution source) of the distribution source member card stored in the card table, the specified number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls is transmitted to the management computer 150. . In addition, like the above-mentioned automatic issue shortage request, the visitor card shortage automatic distribution request is individually transmitted as a distribution request including the number of distributed holding balls and a visitor direct distribution request including the number of distributed storage balls to be described later. Also good.

  In response to the reception of the visitor shortage automatic distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set as the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set as the continuous distribution restriction. If there is a distribution history that includes the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received visitor shortage automatic distribution request as a distribution destination card and the use acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance. Search for.

  If it exists by the search, a reply indicating that the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received visitor shortage automatic distribution request is not returned is returned. If “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit on the distribution setting screen described above, and “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit. Is the total number of pachinko balls distributed to the visitor card specified from the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received visitor shortage automatic distribution request that becomes the distribution destination card in the period set as the aggregation target period ( The distribution destination) is specified in the same manner as when the distribution request is received in the member-to-visitor distribution process described above.

  Then, the total number of distributions (distribution destination) after adding the number of distributed holding balls and the number of distribution storage balls included in the received visitor shortage automatic distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is the distribution destination on the distribution setting screen. It is determined whether or not the limit number set in the upper limit item is exceeded.

  In this determination, when the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is not possible including the membership card ID (distribution source) included in the received visitor shortage automatic distribution request is returned. When replying that these sorts are not possible, the difference between the total number of sorts (sorting destination) and the limit number before adding the number of balls to be sorted and the number of balls to be sorted included in the received visitor shortage automatic sorting request ( In the card unit 3, when the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as the assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned. After the error screen similar to that shown in FIG. 32 (c) is displayed, the process returns to A (step Sf2-) in FIG. 25, and the distribution included in the non-distributable distribution returned to the allocatable ball number display section. A sorting ball number acceptance screen having a possible number is displayed on the display unit 312. On the sorting ball number acceptance screen, the number of balls that can be sorted is again input as the number of sorting balls, so that the sorting can be reliably performed. Receiving Rukoto can.

  On the other hand, if the limit number has not been exceeded and “No” is set in the distribution destination upper limit, the member saving management table stores it in association with the member card ID included in the received visitor shortage automatic distribution request. The number of held balls and the number of stored balls are specified, and the number of allocated balls included in the visitor shortage automatic distribution request received from the specified number of held balls is subtracted and updated, that is, “0”, and the specified stored balls The number of distribution storage balls included in the visitor shortage automatic distribution request received from the number and the number of commission balls required to shift the distribution storage ball number to the number of possession balls are subtracted and updated.

  Then, as the distribution history, the current date and time, the device ID included in the received automatic visitor shortage distribution request, the card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the member card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card ), A distribution history including “0” indicating non-issuance, the number of allocated balls, the number of allocated storage balls, the number of commission balls, and “0” indicating no usage acceptance is registered in the distribution history table. , Reply to the distribution completion notification.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 distributes the number of balls in the card table to the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of balls in the distribution table and subtracts the number of balls stored from the card table and the number of balls from the commission. And the distribution card of the distribution destination visitor card is updated to “1” indicating that there is distribution, returned from the card insertion slot 309, and the distribution-source member card temporarily saved in the card storage unit 370 is predetermined. As shown in FIG. 32 (g), the message “Please take back the returned card” is displayed on the display unit 312 to prompt the user to take out the returned visitor card. The visitor shortage automatic distribution process is terminated. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  The returned visitor visitor card is inserted into the other card unit 3 so that the number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls stored in the distribution history table are added to the number of balls and can be used. It becomes.

  Next, a process for distributing from the number of stored balls, which includes the steps Sf30 to Sf41 shown in FIG. 26, which is shifted from the step S8 in FIG. 24 or the step Sf21 + in FIG. 25, will be described below.

  First, in step Sf30, the number of balls that can be distributed is specified. Specifically, when these Sf30 steps are carried out, permission for direct distribution from the number of stored balls is always set, and membership cards are being accepted. All of the number of stored balls, which is the number of balls that can be allocated to the number of balls that can be allocated to the number of balls that can be allocated to the number of balls that are allocated to the number of balls that can be allocated to the number of balls that are allocated to the number of balls that can be distributed In this case, the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of fees from the collected balls is specified.

  And it progresses to the step of Sf31, and as shown in FIG.31 (d), as shown in FIG.31 (d), the distribution ball number acceptance including the number of balls which can be allocated to the storage ball and the number of balls which can be allocated to the holding ball specified by the allocation number of balls specification process of Sf30 is accepted. A screen is displayed on the display unit 312, and a distributed ball number receiving process for receiving the number of balls distributed to the distribution destination (number of distributed balls) from the player is performed.

  As shown in FIG. 31 (d), the distribution ball number acceptance screen is the same as the distribution ball number acceptance screen shown in FIG. 32 (a) and FIG. 32 (h) described above. In addition, the number of balls that can be allocated for displaying the number of balls that can be allocated to the holding ball, the number of balls to be distributed for inputting the number of balls to be distributed, the selection input unit for “decision”, and the processing for interrupting the processing A “Cancel” selection input unit, a numeric keypad from 0 to 9, and an operation unit consisting of “half”, “1/4” and “fraction” keys are provided. Then, the desired number of balls to be sorted is input to the number of balls to be sorted. In the sorting ball number acceptance screen shown in FIG. 31 (d), since there are a plurality of types of balls displayed in the sortable ball number display section, "half", "1/4", "fraction" Each key is in an inactive state, and selection input of these keys is disabled.

  When the player selects and inputs the “determined” selection input unit after inputting the desired number of distributed balls to the distributed ball number input unit, in the step of Sf32 according to the selection input of the “determine”, It is determined whether or not the number of balls received by the number of balls to be sorted is less than or equal to the number of balls, and if not less than the number of balls, the process proceeds to step Sf45, and the above-described FIG. Displaying a stored ball number error screen similar to the counted ball number error screen shown to inform the player that the number of stored balls is insufficient, and a selection input part of “confirm” on the stored ball number error screen, In response to the selection input by the player, by returning to the step of Sf31, the number of sorting balls is received again. If it is desired to terminate the process, “cancel” may be selected and input on the accumulated ball number error screen.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step Sf32 that the number of balls received in the sorting ball number input unit is equal to or less than the number of balls to be stored, the process proceeds to step Sf33 and the management computer 150 is informed of the card unit 3 A storage ball distribution permission request including the device ID, the member card ID being received, and the distribution ball number received in the distribution ball number input unit is transmitted (see FIG. 28A).

  In response to the reception of the storage allocation request, the management computer 150 stores the number of storages stored in the member storage management table in association with the member card ID included in the received storage allocation request, and the received storage allocation request. Is compared with the number of balls to be sorted, and it is confirmed that the number of balls is equal to or greater than the number of balls to be sorted. If the number of stored balls is not equal to or greater than the number of distributed balls, a reply indicating that distribution is not possible including the membership card ID included in the received stored ball distribution permission request is returned.

  Then, in the above-described distribution setting screen (see FIG. 20A), it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set for the total number of distributions, and when “Yes” is set for the total number of distributions. As described above, the total number of pachinko balls distributed in the game hall during the period by summing the number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls in the distribution history corresponding to the period set as the aggregation target period (Total) is specified, and the total number of distributions (total) after adding the number of distribution balls (number of distributed storage balls) included in the received storage allocation request to the specified total distribution (total) is the total distribution limit It is determined whether or not the limit number set in the item is exceeded.

  Furthermore, in the distribution setting screen described above, it is determined whether or not “Yes” is set for the distribution source upper limit, and when “Yes” is set for the distribution source upper limit, as described above, The total number of pachinko balls distributed from the member card specified from the member card ID included in the received storage card distribution permission request that is the distribution source card during the period set as the aggregation target period (distribution source), The total number of distributions specified by specifying the total number of distributed allocations and the number of distributed storages of all distribution histories including the membership card ID included in the received storage allocation request, including the date corresponding to the period. The total number of distributions (distribution source) after adding the number of distribution balls (number of distribution storage balls) included in the received storage allocation request to the distribution source) Only it determines whether the distribution has exceeded the limit that has been set at the original upper limit of items in the setting screen.

  In any of these determinations, if any limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is not possible including the membership card ID included in the received storage allocation allocation request is returned. In the case of replying that these allocations are not possible, the difference between the total number of allocations (total) and the limit number (total) before adding the number of allocation balls (number of allocated storage balls) included in the received allocation allocation request , Calculate the total number of distributions (distribution source) before adding the number of distribution balls (number of distribution storage balls) included in the received storage allocation request, and the difference (distribution source) between these numbers. When both are positive values, the smaller difference number among these difference numbers is specified as the assignable number, and an unassignable including the specified assignable number is returned.

  On the other hand, when both “no” is set in the distribution total number limit and the distribution source upper limit limit, and “Yes” is set in the distribution total number limit and / or the distribution source upper limit limit, the limit number is set. If it is determined that the number does not exceed, a distribution permission including the membership card ID included in the received savings distribution permission request is returned.

  The control unit 328 determines whether or not the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission in step Sf34. If the reply is not possible, the control unit 328 determines “No” and proceeds to step Sf43. Similar to the limit ball number error screen shown in FIG. 32 (f), the limit ball number error screen including the display of the number of balls that can be allocated included in the received non-distributable ball is displayed to notify the player of the number of balls that can be allocated. Then, the process returns to Sf31.

  At this time, on the distribution ball number acceptance screen displayed on the display unit 312, the number of balls that can be allocated included in the received non-distributable ball number is displayed on the distributionable ball number display unit. Since the number of balls that can be distributed can be grasped on the screen for receiving the number of distributed balls, by inputting the number of balls that can be distributed again as the number of balls that can be distributed in the step of Sf31, it is possible to repeatedly and Can be avoided.

  On the other hand, if the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission, “Yes” is determined in the step of Sf34, the process proceeds to the step of Sf35, and a card insertion enabling instruction is output to the card reader / writer 327. In addition to permitting the insertion of a new card into the card insertion slot 309, a new visitor card in the case where there is no distribution destination card and a message display section for prompting the insertion of the distribution destination card shown in FIG. After a new issue acceptance screen having a new issue selection input unit for accepting an issue operation is displayed on the display unit 312, a transition is made to a monitoring state in which the steps of Sf 36 and Sf 37 are cycled, and the selection input of the new issue selection input unit is performed. And whether a new card is inserted into the card insertion slot 309 is monitored.

  If the player who is the distribution destination does not have a visitor card or membership card and the new issue selection input part is selected and input, the selection input is detected as being accepted in step Sf37. Proceeding to the step of Sf40, the number of stored balls is equal to or more than the total number of commission balls collected when the number of allocated balls (the number of allocated stored balls) and the number of allocated balls (the number of allocated stored balls) are allocated to the number of possessed balls. It is determined whether or not.

  If the total number is greater than or equal to the total number, the process proceeds to step Sf42 and the issue direct distribution process is performed. If not greater than the total number, the process returns to step Sf31 and the number of distribution balls (the number of distribution storage balls) again. Will be accepted. In this case, on the distribution ball number acceptance screen displayed on the display unit 312 at this time, only the number of balls that can be allocated is displayed on the display unit for distributionable balls, and the player The number of balls within the range of the number of balls that can be allocated can be accurately input as the number of balls to be distributed.

  In this issuance direct distribution process, the control unit 328 first retracts and holds the member card being received at the retreat position on the card insertion port 309 side of the card reader / writer 327 and performs predetermined reading in the card reader / writer 327. The visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 is moved to the position, and the card ID of the visitor card is read and temporarily stored.

  Then, an issuance direct distribution request including the read card ID, the membership card ID stored in the card table, the number of distributed storage balls, and the device ID of the card unit 3 is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to the receipt of the issued direct distribution request, the management computer 150 identifies the number of stored balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received issued direct distribution request, and the identified stored ball The issued direct distribution request received from the number is updated by subtracting and updating the number of distributed storage balls included in the issued direct distribution request and the number of commission balls required to transfer the distributed storage ball number to the number of possessed balls, and included in the received issued direct distribution request Corresponding to the card ID of the visitor card that is the distribution destination card, “0” is stored in the number of balls stored in the visitor saving management table, and the date and time at the time is updated and stored in the latest issue date and time.

  Then, the distribution history shows the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received issued direct distribution request, the card ID of the visitor card as the distribution destination card, and the membership card ID as the distribution source card A distribution history including “1”, the number of distributed storage balls, the number of commission balls, “0” indicating no use acceptance, and “−” indicating none in the distributed number of balls is registered in the distribution history table. After that, a direct notification of completion of direct distribution is returned.

  In response to receiving this issuance direct distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of balls stored in the card table to the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of allocated balls and the number of fees and the card ID of the temporarily stored visitor card. By transmitting the distribution issuance request including the distribution issuance request to the system controller 100, the system controller 100 performs the same processing as when the distribution issuance request is received and returns a distribution issuance completion notification.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue completion notification, the control unit 328 writes and stores “0” as the prepaid balance and the number of balls in the issued visitor card, and updates the distribution flag to “1” indicating that there is a distribution.

  Then, a reservation for use request including the membership card ID stored in the card table is transmitted to the system controller 100 to disable use of the membership card in another card unit 3, and then the card insertion slot 309. The membership card held at the standby position on the side is ejected from the card insertion slot 309 and temporarily returned. As shown in FIG. 32 (d), “When the returned membership card is taken out, The message “Card will be issued” is displayed on the display unit 312 to prompt the user to take out the ejected member card.

  When the member player removes his / her member card from the card insertion slot 309 according to the display of this message, the visitor card is immediately ejected from the card insertion slot 309 according to the removal, and FIG. 32 (c) As shown in FIG. 5, a message “Please take out the issued visitor card” is displayed on the display unit 312.

  The member player takes out the visitor card discharged to the card insertion slot 309 and hands it to another player who distributes the card, and inserts his member card through the card insertion slot 309 again.

  In response to the insertion of the membership card, the control unit 328 determines whether or not the membership card ID read from the re-inserted membership card matches the membership card ID stored in the card table. Sometimes, the card is returned to shift to an error notification state in which an error is notified to an attendant. On the other hand, when they match, the issuing direct distribution process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when a new card is inserted into the card insertion slot 309 in the monitoring state in the steps Sf36 and Sf37, the insertion of the card is detected in the step Sf36, and the process proceeds to the step Sf38. The card is moved to the storage unit 370 and retracted, and the recording information of the newly inserted card is read out to determine whether or not the newly inserted card is a membership card.

  If the newly inserted card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf39, and the member direct distribution process is performed. On the other hand, if the newly inserted card is not a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf40. Whether or not the number of stored balls is equal to or greater than the total number of commission balls that are collected when the number of allocated balls (number of allocated and stored balls) and the number of allocated balls (number of allocated and stored balls) are allocated to the number of possessed balls judge.

  If the total number is greater than or equal to the total number, the process proceeds to step Sf41 to perform the visitor direct distribution process. If the total number is not greater than or equal to the total number, the process returns to step Sf31 and the number of distribution balls (the number of distributed storage balls) ).

  In the member direct distribution process of Sf39 of this embodiment, the control unit 328 stores the device ID of the card unit 3, the member card ID (distribution destination) read from the inserted distribution destination member card, and the card table. The member direct distribution request including the member card ID (distribution source) of the distribution source member card and the number of distribution storage balls is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  Upon receiving this member direct distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction. If there is a distribution history in which the membership card ID (distribution destination) included in the received distribution request is included as a distribution destination card and the use acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance, a search is performed. .

  If it exists by the search, a reply indicating that the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received member direct distribution request is not returned is returned. In the distribution setting screen described above, it is further determined whether or not “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit, and when “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit. The pachinko ball distributed to the member card specified from the member card ID (distribution destination) included in the received member direct distribution request that becomes the distribution destination card in one day that is the period set as the aggregation target period, for example The total number (distribution destination) of the membership card ID (distribution destination) that includes the date of the day and is included in the received direct member distribution request Identifying by summing the sorting lifting piece count and distribution 貯玉 number of all of the distribution history including the divided destination card.

  The total number of distribution (distribution destination) after adding the number of distribution storage balls included in the received direct member distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is the distribution destination upper limit restriction item in the distribution setting screen. It is determined whether or not the set limit number is exceeded.

  In the determination, if the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is not possible including the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received member direct distribution request is returned. When replying that these sorts are not possible, calculate the difference between the total number of sorts (sorting destination) and the limit number (sorting destination) before adding the number of sorting pools included in the received direct member sort request. When the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as the assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned is made in the card unit 3 as shown in FIG. After the same error screen is displayed, the process returns to the step of Sf31, and the distribution ball number acceptance screen having the allocation possible number included in the non-distributable number returned to the allocation possible ball number display unit is displayed on the display unit 312. When the number of balls that can be sorted is input again as the number of balls to be sorted on the screen for receiving the number of balls to be sorted, it is possible to reliably receive direct sorting from the number of balls to be sorted.

  On the other hand, when the limit number is not exceeded and “No” is set in the distribution destination upper limit, the member saving management is associated with the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received member direct distribution request. The number of stored balls stored in the table is specified, and the distribution stored ball number included in the member direct distribution request received from the specified stored ball number is subtracted and updated.

  Then, as the distribution history, the current date and time, the device ID included in the received direct member distribution request, the member card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the member card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card ), “0” indicating non-issuance, “0” indicating the number of allocated storage balls, “0” indicating no usage acceptance, and “−” indicating “none” in the number of allocated balls and commission balls, After registering in the distribution history table, a member direct distribution completion notification including the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received member direct distribution request is returned.

  In response to the reception of the member direct distribution completion notification, the control unit 328 updates the number of balls stored in the card table to the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of distributed storage balls, and sets the distribution flag of the distribution destination member card to “1”. ”And returned from the card insertion slot 309, the member card of the distribution source temporarily retracted in the card storage unit 370 is returned to a predetermined reading position, and is displayed on the display unit 312 as shown in FIG. The message “Please take the returned card” is displayed to prompt the user to take out the returned member card, and the member direct distribution process is terminated. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  When the returned membership card of the distribution destination is inserted into another card unit 3, the number of distributed storage balls stored in the distribution history table is added to the number of stored balls and can be used.

  Next, the visitor direct distribution process of Sf41 will be described. In the visitor direct distribution process of Sf41 of this embodiment, the control unit 328, like the member-to-visitor distribution process of Sf19 described above, Visitor direct distribution including the card ID (distribution destination) read from the inserted distribution destination visitor card, the membership card ID (distribution source) of the distribution source member card stored in the card table, and the number of distribution storage balls The request is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to receiving this visitor direct distribution request, the management computer 150 determines whether or not “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction on the above-described distribution setting screen, and “Yes” is set for the continuous distribution restriction. If there is a distribution history that includes the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received visitor direct distribution request as the distribution destination card and the use acceptance data is “0” indicating non-acceptance To do.

  If it exists by the search, it returns a reply indicating that the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received visitor direct distribution request is not included, while if it does not exist by the search and the continuous distribution restriction is set to “no” In the distribution setting screen described above, it is further determined whether or not “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit, and when “Yes” is set as the distribution destination upper limit. The pachinko balls distributed to the visitor card specified from the card ID (distribution destination) included in the received visitor direct distribution request that becomes the distribution destination card in the period set as the aggregation target period, for example, one day The total number of distribution (distribution destination), including the date of the day, and the card ID (distribution) included in the received visitor direct distribution request Distribution history including distribution destination cards, and including distribution date including date information after the latest issue date and time stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID (distribution destination) Are specified by summing

  The total number of distributions (distribution destination) after adding the number of distribution storage balls included in the received visitor direct distribution request to the specified total distribution number (distribution destination) is the distribution destination upper limit item in the distribution setting screen. It is determined whether or not the set limit number is exceeded.

  In this determination, if the limit number is exceeded, a reply indicating that the distribution is not possible including the membership card ID (distribution source) included in the received visitor direct distribution request is returned. When replying that these sorts cannot be made, the difference between the total number of sorts (sorting destination) and the limit number (sorting destination) before adding the number of sorting storage balls included in the received visitor direct sort request is calculated. When the difference number is a positive value, the difference number is specified as the assignable number, and a reply indicating that no assignment including the specified assignable number is returned is made in the card unit 3 as shown in FIG. After the same error screen is displayed, the process returns to the step of Sf31, and the distribution ball number acceptance screen having the allocation possible number included in the non-distributable number returned to the allocation possible ball number display unit is displayed on the display unit 312. When the number of balls that can be sorted is input again as the number of balls to be sorted on the screen for receiving the number of balls to be sorted, it is possible to reliably receive direct sorting from the number of balls to be sorted.

  On the other hand, when the limit number is not exceeded and “No” is set in the distribution destination upper limit, member saving management is performed in association with the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received visitor direct distribution request. The number of stored balls stored in the table is specified, and the number of distributed storage balls included in the distribution request received from the specified number of stored balls and the number of commission balls required to shift the distributed stored ball number to the number of held balls Subtract update.

  Then, as the distribution history, the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received visitor direct distribution request, the card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the member card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card And a distribution history including “0” indicating non-issuance, “0” indicating the number of allocated storage balls, “0” indicating no use acceptance, the number of commission balls, and “-” indicating “none” in the number of allocated balls. After registering in the distribution history table, a visitor direct distribution completion notification including the membership card ID (distribution source) included in the received visitor direct distribution request is returned.

  In response to receiving the visitor direct distribution completion notice, the control unit 328 updates the distribution storage number and the commission ball number by subtracting from the number of stored balls in the card table, and indicates that the distribution flag of the distribution destination visitor card is present. 1 ”and returned from the card insertion slot 309, the distribution-source member card temporarily saved in the card storage unit 370 is returned to a predetermined reading position, and is displayed on the display unit 312 as shown in FIG. As described above, the message “Please take back the returned card” is displayed to prompt the user to take out the returned visitor visitor card, and the member-to-visitor assignment process ends. At the end of the processing, the prohibition of counting performed in S1 and the invalid operation of the payout button 311 are cancelled.

  The returned visitor visitor card is inserted into another card unit 3, so that the number of allocated storage balls stored in the distribution history table is added to the number of possessed balls and can be used.

  When the player operates the menu button 316 in the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10 described above, the main menu display operation information is received from the display control board 329 that has detected the operation of the menu button 316 from the control unit 328. , The control unit 328 determines that the menu button 316 is operated in Sb10, proceeds to Sb28, and performs a menu display process (not shown).

  In this menu display process, the control unit 328 first determines whether or not the player who is playing the game with the corresponding pachinko machine 2 is a member based on the data stored in the card table (whether the member ID is stored). If the player is not a member (if the member ID is not stored), the “table data”, “ranking”, “notification”, and “sorting” that do not include member-specific menu items are determined. A visitor main menu (see FIG. 5) including only the menu items is displayed on the display unit 312 by outputting a visitor main menu display instruction to the display control board 329, while the player is a member. The member main menu shown in FIG. 5 further including menu items “point display” and “replay” which are menu items unique to the member, It is displayed on the display unit 312 by outputting a main menu display instruction to the display control board 329.

  Each menu item displayed on the display unit 312 can be selected by the player, and if any menu item is not selected within a predetermined time, a menu display end instruction is displayed on the display control board 329. After the display of the main menu is terminated by outputting, the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10. On the other hand, if any menu item is selected within a predetermined time, it corresponds to the selected menu item. After executing the process, the process returns to the standby state of Sb2 to Sb10.

  When the “replay” menu in the main menu is selected, the replay process of Sb24 described above is executed.

  In addition, when the “device data” menu is selected, each data of today stored in the game information table is displayed. When the “ranking” menu is selected, the type of ranking, specific Specifically, a submenu screen for selecting a payout ranking, a jackpot ranking, a consecutive house ranking, etc. is displayed, and ranking data of the type selected on the submenu screen is acquired from the hall computer 140 and displayed on the display unit 312. Is displayed.

  In addition, when the “Point display” menu is selected, the number of points of the store points stored in the card table (if the store point is not stored, the store point acquisition request is sent to the management computer 150. When the “Notification” menu is selected, the notification information stored in the RAM 328b is displayed on the display unit 312. 312 is displayed.

  In addition, unlike the main menu, the display of the “counted number of balls” below the display unit 312 is always displayed below the display unit 312 so that the player can always display the number of counted balls. It can be confirmed.

  Next, the operation of the sorting apparatus 5 of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. The distribution device 5 according to the present embodiment performs the same processing as the distribution processing shown in FIG. 24 performed when the above-described distribution operation is performed in the card unit 3. Unlike the pachinko machine 2, unlike the above, since the width can be increased, as described above, the card has two card insertion slots arranged on the left and right, The card of the distribution destination can be received at an individual card insertion slot.

  Normally, as shown in FIG. 34A, a message for inserting a card is displayed on the display device 501 of the distribution device 5, and the first card insertion slot 504 on the left side toward the device is displayed. When the first insertion slot LED 506 corresponding to is flashed and lit, the insertion of the distribution source card into the first card insertion slot 504 is urged.

  A player who wants to perform distribution inserts a visitor card or a membership card that he / she owns into the first card insertion slot 504.

  In response to this card insertion, information such as the (member) card ID and the number of balls stored in the inserted card is read out by the first card reader / writer 508 corresponding to the first card insertion slot 504. Is output to the control unit 510.

  In response to this output, control unit 510 stores information read from the inserted card in a predetermined storage area of a RAM (not shown), and also inserts the (member) card ID and the number of balls (visitor card only). ), A card acceptance notification including the device ID of the distribution device is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to the reception of this card acceptance notification, the management computer 150 first determines whether or not the number of possessed balls is included in the received card acceptance notification, and if so, verifies the number of retained balls. Perform verification processing.

  Specifically, the number of balls stored in the visitor saving management table corresponding to the card ID included in the received card acceptance notification matches the number of balls included in the received card acceptance notification. Determine whether.

  If there is no match in the verification determination, the distribution device 5 sends back verification error information that the verification of the number of possessed balls is NG to the distribution device 5 that has transmitted the received card acceptance notification. The visitor card is returned.

  On the other hand, in the case of matching in the verification determination, an acceptance processing completion notification is returned, and when the received card acceptance notification does not include the number of balls, that is, when the inserted card is a membership card The number of possessed balls corresponding to the member card ID included in the received card acceptance notification and the number of stored balls are specified from each data stored corresponding to the member card ID in the member saving management table, and the member card The personal identification number stored in the member information table corresponding to the ID is further specified, and the received card reception notification of the acceptance processing completion including the number of possessed balls, the number of stored balls, the personal identification number, and the membership card ID is received. A reply is sent to the distribution device 5 of the notification transmission source.

  In response to the reception of the acceptance process completion notification, if the card ID read from the card is a member card ID, the control unit 510 determines the number of balls held, the number of stored balls, and the password included in the received acceptance process completion notification. The data is stored in a predetermined storage area of a RAM (not shown).

  Then, it is determined whether or not the number of possessed balls stored in the predetermined storage area of the RAM is 0, that is, whether or not there is a number of retained balls (Sf1).

  When the number of holding balls is 0, as in the case of the card unit 3, by performing the processing of Sf21 to Sf23 described above, the inserted card is a membership card, and direct distribution from the number of stored balls is possible. If it is not permitted, the number of balls can be increased by using the number of balls, and if direct distribution from the number of balls is permitted, the processing shown in FIG. 26 described above is performed. , Direct distribution using the number of stored balls can be carried out.

  On the other hand, in the determination in the step of Sf1, if the counted number of balls (the number of held balls) is not 0, the process proceeds to the step of Sf2- to perform a sortable ball number specifying process for specifying the number of balls that can be sorted.

  In this allocatable ball number specifying process, it is determined whether or not the direct allocation permission from the number of stored balls is set based on the allocation setting information stored in the ROM of the control unit 510, and the direct allocation permission is determined. If the card is not set, the number of held balls is specified as the number of balls that can be allocated, while if direct allocation permission is set and the received card is a membership card, the number of stored balls is held. The total number obtained by adding the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of fees from the number of stored balls to the number of balls in the case of distribution to the number of balls is specified as the number of balls that can be distributed.

  Then, the process proceeds to the step of Sf2, and as shown in FIG. 34 (b), as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 34 (e), a distribution ball number acceptance screen including the integrated distribution possible ball number (at the time of direct distribution permission) specified in the Sf <b> 2-possible ball distribution specification process is displayed on the display device 501. Then, the number of balls to be distributed to the distribution destination (number of balls to be distributed) is received from the player.

  Since the distribution ball number acceptance screen of this embodiment is the same as the distribution ball number acceptance screen (FIG. 32A, FIG. 32H) in the card unit 3, description thereof is omitted here.

  Further, when the player inputs a desired number of balls to be allocated to the allocation ball number input unit and then selects and inputs a “decision” selection input unit, the step of Sf4 is performed according to the selection input of the “decision” In this case, it is determined whether or not the number of balls to be allocated received at the number of balls to be allocated is equal to or less than the number of balls, and if it is not less than the number of balls to be allocated, that is, the number of balls to be allocated to the number of balls to be allocated Is insufficient, the process proceeds to step Sf25 and the processing of steps Sf25 to Sf29 is performed, so that the received card is a member card and direct distribution from the number of stored balls is permitted. When the number of stored balls is equal to or greater than the total of the shortage and the number of fee balls corresponding to the shortage, and the player confirms acceptance of the use of the stored balls for the shortage (Sf28). ') Only for the lack of automatic vibration However, if these conditions are not satisfied, the process proceeds to step Sf29 to display the counted ball count error screen similar to that shown in FIG. Informing the player that the number of finished balls is insufficient, and in response to the selection input part of “Confirm” on the counted number of balls error screen being selected and input by the player, step Sf2- By returning to (2), the number of balls that can be sorted is specified again, and the number of balls to be sorted is received (Sf2). If it is desired to end the process, “cancel” may be selected and input on the counted ball number error screen.

  On the other hand, if it is equal to or less than the number of holding balls, the process proceeds to step Sf5, and as shown in FIG. 28 (a), the management computer 150 is notified of the device ID of the distribution device 5 and the ( Member) Same as in the case of the card unit 3 described above, by transmitting a distribution permission request including the card ID and the distribution ball number received in the distribution ball number input unit (in this case, the distribution ball number). In addition, it is determined whether or not the distribution total limit or the distribution source upper limit limit is met, according to whether or not the distribution total limit or the distribution source upper limit limit are set. If this is not the case, or if the distribution total limit or the distribution source upper limit is not set, a distribution permission is returned from the management computer 150. In receiving these distribution permission requests, unlike the case of the distribution permission request from the card unit 3, the number of balls is already verified when the card is received. Will not be updated.

  In step Sf6, the control unit 510 determines whether or not the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission. If the distribution is impossible, the control unit 510 determines “No” in the step Sf6 and determines that the response is Sf24. By proceeding to the step, and performing the limited ball number error screen display, the display unit 501 can display and distribute the limited ball number error screen including the display of the number of balls that can be distributed, as in FIG. 32 (f). After notifying the player of the number of balls, the process returns to the step of Sf2.

  At this time, on the sorting ball number acceptance screen displayed on the display device 501 in the sorting ball number acceptance process of Sf2, the number of balls that can be sorted and included in the received non-sortable number is displayed on the sortable ball number display unit. Since the player can grasp the number of balls that can be allocated on the distribution ball number acceptance screen, the player can input the number of balls that can be allocated again as the number of balls to be distributed in step Sf2. It is possible to avoid repeated and limit ball number error.

  On the other hand, when the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission, it is determined as “Yes” in the step of Sf6, and the process proceeds to the step of Sf7. As shown in FIG. A display device 501 has a display unit 501 having a display unit, a message display unit for prompting insertion of a distribution destination card, and a new issue selection input unit for accepting an operation for newly issuing a visitor card when there is no distribution destination card. The second insertion slot LED 507 blinks, and the second insertion slot LED 507 urges the insertion of the distribution destination card into the corresponding second card insertion slot 505, and then cycles through the steps Sf8 and Sf9. To monitor whether the new issue selection input part is selected or whether a new card is inserted into the second card insertion slot 505. To.

  When the player who is the distribution destination does not have a visitor card or membership card, it is only necessary to select and input a new issue selection input section. When the new issue selection input section is selected and input, When the selection input is detected as being accepted in step Sf8, the process proceeds to step Sf10 and it is determined whether or not the card being accepted is a member card. If the card is not a member card, that is, the card being accepted is a visitor card. If it is, the process proceeds to Sf11 to perform the visitor issue distribution process. On the other hand, if the accepted card is a member card, the process proceeds to Sf12 to perform the member issue distribution process.

  In the visitor issuance distribution process of Sf11, the control unit 510 moves the visitor card stored in the card storage unit (not shown) of the second card reader / writer 509 to a predetermined reading position, and the card of the visitor card The ID is read and temporarily stored.

  Then, an issuance distribution request including the read card ID (distribution destination), the card ID (distribution source) of the visitor card being received by the first card reader / writer 508, the number of distributed balls, and the device ID is managed by the management computer. 150 is transmitted.

  In response to reception of this issue distribution request, the management computer 150 specifies the number of possessed balls stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the card ID (distribution source) included in the received issue distribution request. The number of assigned balls included in the issued distribution request received from the number of held balls is subtracted and updated.

  Then, as the distribution history, the current date and time, the device ID included in the received distribution request, the card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card are issued A distribution history including “1” indicating “no”, “0” indicating no use acceptance, “−” indicating no use acceptance, and “-” indicating none in the distribution storage ball number and the commission ball number is registered in the distribution history table. After that, the issue distribution completion notification is returned.

  In response to receiving this issuance distribution completion notification, the control unit 510 updates the number of balls stored in the distribution source visitor card to the number of balls allocated by subtracting the number of distribution balls, and then from the distribution destination visitor card. A distribution issue request including the read card ID is transmitted to the system controller 100.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue request, the system controller 100 sets “0” to the prepaid balance stored in the visitor card table in association with the card ID included in the received distribution issue request, and the latest issue date and time Is updated and stored in the “status”, and a distribution issue completion notification is returned.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue completion notification, control unit 510 writes and stores “0” as the prepaid balance and the number of balls in the issued visitor card, and updates the distribution flag to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. In addition, the distribution source visitor card is ejected and returned from the first card insertion slot 504, and the distribution destination visitor card is ejected and issued from the second card insertion slot 505, and is displayed on the display device 501 as shown in FIG. As shown, the message “Please take out the card” is displayed, and the first insertion port LED 506 and the second insertion port LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to prompt the user to remove the ejected visitor card. The visitor issue distribution process ends.

  These issued visitor cards are inserted into the other card unit 3 as described above, so that the number of distributed balls is added to the number of balls and is displayed on the display unit 312 as counted balls. By displaying, the number of possessed balls can be paid out by operating the payout button 311.

  In addition, in the member issuance distribution process of Sf12, the control unit 510 moves the visitor card stored in the card storage unit (not shown) of the second card reader / writer 509 to a predetermined reading position, and the visitor card The card ID of the card is read and temporarily stored.

  Then, an issuance distribution request including the read card ID (distribution destination), the member card ID (distribution source) of the member card being accepted by the first card reader / writer 508, the number of balls to be distributed, and the device ID is managed. Send to computer 150.

  In response to receiving this issue distribution request, the management computer 150 identifies the number of possessed balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received issue distribution request, The number of allocated balls included in the issued distribution request received from the specified number of held balls is subtracted and updated.

  Then, as the distribution history, the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received distribution request, the card ID (distribution destination) as the distribution destination card, and the member card ID (distribution source) as the distribution source card, A distribution history including “1” indicating issuance, “0” indicating the number of balls to be distributed, “0” indicating that there is no use acceptance, and “-” indicating “none” is included in the number of distribution storage balls and commission balls is registered in the distribution history table. After that, the issue distribution completion notification is returned.

  In response to receiving this issuance distribution completion notification, control unit 510 transmits a distribution issuance request including the card ID read from the distribution destination visitor card to system controller 100.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue request, the system controller 100 sets “0” to the prepaid balance stored in the visitor card table in association with the card ID included in the received distribution issue request, and the latest issue date and time Is updated and stored in the “status”, and a distribution issue completion notification is returned.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue completion notification, control unit 510 writes and stores “0” as the prepaid balance and the number of balls in the issued visitor card, and updates the distribution flag to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. 34, the distribution source member card is discharged from the first card insertion slot 504 and returned, and the visitor card of the distribution destination is discharged from the second card insertion slot 505 and issued to the display device 501 as shown in FIG. As shown, the message “Please take out the card” is displayed, and the first insertion port LED 506 and the second insertion port LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to prompt the user to remove the ejected visitor card. Ends the issue distribution process for members.

  On the other hand, if a new card has been inserted into the second card insertion slot 505 in the monitoring state at the steps Sf8 and Sf9, the insertion of the card is detected at the step Sf9 and the process proceeds to the step Sf14. The recording information of the card inserted into the second card insertion slot 505 is read out, and it is determined whether or not the newly inserted card is a membership card.

  If the inserted card is a membership card, the process proceeds to step Sf15. Further, it is determined whether the distribution source card received by the first card reader / writer 508 before the insertion of the card is a membership card. If the distribution source card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf16 to execute a member-to-member distribution process in which the distribution source card is a member card and the distribution destination card is also a member card. If the distribution card received before the card is inserted is not a membership card, the process proceeds to step Sf17, where the distribution card is a visitor card and the distribution card is a membership card. To implement.

  On the other hand, if the inserted card is a visitor card, the process proceeds to step Sf18. Further, whether or not the distribution source card received by the first card reader / writer 508 before the card is inserted is a membership card. If the distribution source card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf19 to execute a member-to-visitor distribution process in which the distribution source card is a member card and the distribution destination card is a visitor card. If the distribution source card received before the card is inserted is not a membership card, the process proceeds to step Sf20, where the distribution card is a visitor card and the distribution destination card is also a visitor card. Perform the distribution process.

  The member-to-member distribution process of Sf16 performed in these distribution devices 5 is almost the same as the member-to-member distribution process in the card unit 3, but when the distribution completion notification is received from the management computer 150, the control unit 510 After changing the distribution flag of the distribution-destination member card to “1” indicating the distribution, the distribution-source member card is ejected from the first card insertion slot 504 and returned, and the distribution destination is determined from the second card insertion slot 505. The member card is discharged and returned, and a message “Please take out the card” is displayed on the display device 501 as shown in FIG. 34 (d), and the first insertion port LED 506 and the second insertion port are displayed. The LED 507 is lit in a blinking manner to prompt the removal of each discharged card, and the member-to-member distribution process ends.

  The visitor-member distribution process of Sf17 performed in the distribution device 5 is almost the same as the visitor-member distribution process in the card unit 3, but when the distribution completion notification is received from the management computer 150, the control unit 510 After changing the distribution flag of the distribution-destination member card to “1” indicating that there is distribution, the visitor card of the distribution source in which the number of distributed balls is subtracted from the number of held balls is discharged from the first card insertion port 504. At the same time, the member card of the distribution destination is discharged from the second card insertion slot 505 and returned, and a message “Please take out the card” is displayed on the display device 501 as shown in FIG. In addition, the first insertion slot LED 506 and the second insertion slot LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to take out the ejected cards. The prompt, to end the visitor-to-member distribution processing.

  In addition, the member-to-visitor distribution process of Sf19 performed in the distribution device 5 is almost the same as the member-to-visitor distribution process in the card unit 3, but when the distribution completion notification is received from the management computer 150, the control unit 510 After the distribution flag of the distribution destination visitor card is changed to “1” indicating the distribution, the distribution source member card is discharged and returned from the first card insertion slot 504 and distributed from the second card insertion slot 505. The previous visitor card is ejected and returned, and a message “Please remove the card” is displayed on the display device 501 as shown in FIG. 34 (d), and the first insertion port LED 506 and the second insertion are displayed. The LED 507 is lit in a blinking manner to prompt the user to take out each of the ejected cards. To end the.

  The visitor-to-visitor distribution process of Sf20 performed in the distribution apparatus 5 is substantially the same as the visitor-to-visitor distribution process in the card unit 3, but the control unit 510 receives the distribution completion notification from the management computer 150. After the distribution flag of the distribution destination visitor card is changed to “1” indicating that distribution is performed, the distribution source visitor card in which the distribution ball number is subtracted and updated from the number of held balls is ejected from the first card insertion port 504. At the same time, the visitor card of the distribution destination is ejected from the second card insertion slot 505 and returned, and a message “Please take out the card” is displayed on the display device 501 as shown in FIG. In addition, the first insertion port LED 506 and the second insertion port LED 507 are flashed and lit. It prompted the removal of the card, to end the visitor-to-member distribution processing.

  The member card or visitor card of the distribution destination issued or returned in this way is inserted into the card unit 3, and the number of distributed balls is added to the number of balls, so Numbers can be used for payout.

  Further, the distribution device 5 of the present embodiment also performs each process for direct distribution from the number of stored balls, which consists of steps Sf30 to Sf41 shown in FIG.

  Among these steps Sf30 to Sf41, the processing contents other than the member direct distribution process of Sf39, the visitor direct distribution process of Sf41, and the issue direct distribution process of Sf42 are the same as the card unit 3, so here Description is omitted. In the above description of these processes, the card unit 3 is assigned to the distribution device 5, the control unit 328 is assigned to the control unit 510, the display unit 312 is assigned to the display device 501, and the card reader / writer 327 and the card insertion in step Sf35. The port 309 is replaced with the second card reader / writer 509 and the second card insertion port 505.

  In the issue direct distribution process of Sf42, the control unit 510 first moves a visitor card stored in a card storage unit (not shown) to a predetermined reading position in the second card reader / writer 509, and the card ID of the visitor card Is read and temporarily stored.

  Then, an issuance direct distribution request including the read card ID, the member card ID of the member card being received by the first card reader / writer 508, the number of distribution storage balls, and the apparatus ID of the distribution apparatus 5 is sent to the management computer 150. Send.

  In response to the receipt of the issued direct distribution request, the management computer 150 identifies the number of stored balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received issued direct distribution request, and the identified stored ball The issued direct distribution request received from the number is updated by subtracting and updating the number of distributed storage balls included in the issued direct distribution request and the number of commission balls required to transfer the distributed storage ball number to the number of possessed balls, and included in the received issued direct distribution request Corresponding to the card ID of the visitor card that is the distribution destination card, “0” is stored in the number of balls stored in the visitor saving management table, and the date and time at the time is updated and stored in the latest issue date and time.

  Then, the distribution history shows the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received issued direct distribution request, the card ID of the visitor card as the distribution destination card, and the membership card ID as the distribution source card A distribution history including “1”, the number of distributed storage balls, the number of commission balls, “0” indicating no use acceptance, and “−” indicating none in the distributed number of balls is registered in the distribution history table. After that, a direct notification of completion of direct distribution is returned.

  In response to receiving this issuance direct distribution completion notification, the control unit 510 transmits a distribution issuance request including the card ID of the temporarily stored visitor card to the system controller 100, so that the system controller 100 can perform the above-described distribution issuance. Performs the same processing as when receiving the request and returns a distribution issue completion notification.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue completion notification, control unit 510 writes and stores “0” as the prepaid balance and the number of balls in the issued visitor card, and updates the distribution flag to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. 34, the distribution source member card is discharged from the first card insertion slot 504 and returned, and the visitor card of the distribution destination is discharged from the second card insertion slot 505 and issued to the display device 501 as shown in FIG. As shown, the message “Please take out the card” is displayed and the first insertion slot LED 506 and the second insertion slot LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to remove the ejected member card and visitor card. Promptly, and finishes the issuing direct distribution process.

  On the other hand, if there is a new card inserted into the second card insertion slot 505 in the monitoring state in the steps Sf36 and Sf37, the insertion of the card is detected in the step Sf36 and the process proceeds to the step Sf38. The recording information of the newly inserted card is read, and it is determined whether or not the newly inserted card is a membership card.

  If the newly inserted card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf39, and the member direct distribution process is performed. On the other hand, if the newly inserted card is not a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf40. Whether or not the number of stored balls is equal to or greater than the total number of commission balls that are collected when the number of allocated balls (number of allocated and stored balls) and the number of allocated balls (number of allocated and stored balls) are allocated to the number of possessed balls judge.

  If the total number is greater than or equal to the total number, the process proceeds to step Sf41 to perform the visitor direct distribution process. If the total number is not greater than or equal to the total number, the process returns to step Sf31 and the number of distribution balls (the number of distributed storage balls) ).

  In the member direct distribution process of Sf39 of the present embodiment, the control unit 510 includes the device ID of the distribution device 5, the member card ID (distribution destination) read from the inserted member card of the distribution destination, and the first card reader / writer. In 508, a member direct distribution request including the member card ID (distribution source) of the distribution source member card being accepted and the number of distribution storage balls is transmitted to the management computer 150.

  In response to receiving this member direct distribution request, the management computer 150 performs the above-described processing related to the continuous distribution restriction and the processing related to the distribution destination upper limit restriction according to the setting contents on the distribution setting screen. In the case where the distribution impossible is returned, if the restriction is not met or the restriction is not set, it is stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received member direct distribution request. The number of stored balls is specified, the number of allocated balls included in the member direct distribution request received from the identified number of stored balls is subtracted and updated, and the distribution history is registered in the distribution history table, and then the received member direct distribution request The member direct distribution completion notification including the member card ID (distribution source) included in the message is returned.

  Upon receiving this member direct distribution completion notification, control unit 510 changes the distribution flag of the distribution-destination member card to “1” indicating that there is distribution, and then transfers the distribution source member card from first card insertion slot 504. At the same time as discharging and returning, the member card of the distribution destination is discharged and returned from the second card insertion slot 505 and returned to the display unit 501 as shown in FIG. 34 (d). In addition to displaying a message, the first insertion slot LED 506 and the second insertion slot LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to prompt the user to take out each of the ejected cards, and the member direct distribution process ends.

  Also, in the visitor direct distribution process of Sf41 of the present embodiment, the control unit 510, the device ID of the distribution device 5, the card ID (distribution destination) read from the inserted visitor visitor card, and the first card reader The writer 508 transmits a visitor direct distribution request including the member card ID (distribution source) of the member card that is the distribution source being received to the management computer 150 and the number of distribution storage balls.

  In response to receiving the visitor direct distribution request, the management computer 150 performs the above-described processing related to the continuous distribution restriction and the processing related to the distribution destination upper limit restriction according to the setting content on the distribution setting screen. In the case where no distribution is returned, if the restriction is not met or the restriction is not set, it is stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID (distribution source) included in the received visitor direct distribution request. The number of stored balls is specified, and the number of distributed storage balls included in the distribution request received from the specified number of stored balls is subtracted and updated, and the number of commission balls required to transfer the number of distributed storage balls to the number of possessed balls After registering the distribution history in the distribution history table, the membership card ID included in the visitor direct distribution request received It returns the member direct distribution completion notification including the distribution source).

  In response to receiving the visitor direct distribution completion notification, the control unit 510 changes the distribution flag of the distribution destination visitor card to “1” indicating the distribution is present, and then transmits the distribution source member card from the first card insertion slot 504. At the same time, the visitor card of the distribution destination is ejected and returned from the second card insertion slot 505 and returned to the display device 501 as shown in FIG. 34 (d). While displaying a message, the first insertion port LED 506 and the second insertion port LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to prompt the user to take out each of the ejected cards, and the visitor direct distribution process ends.

  Further, the distribution device 5 of the present embodiment also performs each process for performing the automatic distribution of the shortage, which includes the steps Sf50 to Sf59 shown in FIG.

  That is, in the step of Sf50, first, the management computer 150 receives the device ID of the distribution device, the member card ID being received by the first card reader / writer 508, and the holding ball received by the distribution ball number input unit. An integrated distribution permission request including a distribution ball number larger than the number is transmitted (see FIG. 28A).

  In response to the reception of the integrated distribution permission request, the management computer 150 specifies the number of stored balls and the number of balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received integrated distribution permission request. In addition, the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of balls from the number of balls to be distributed included in the received integrated distribution permission request is specified as the number of shortage balls, and the number of stored balls is the number of shortage balls and the number of balls of the shortage number Make sure that it is equal to or more than the total number of fees required when changing to the number of balls you have. When the number of stored balls is not equal to or greater than the total number of shortage balls and commission balls, a reply indicating that the member card ID included in the received integrated ball distribution permission request is not distributed is returned.

  Then, as described above, according to the setting contents on the distribution setting screen, the above-described processing related to the total number of distributions and the processing related to the distribution source upper limit restriction are performed, and if the restriction is satisfied, the distribution impossible is returned. If it does not correspond to the above, or if no restriction is set, a distribution permission including the membership card ID included in the received integrated distribution permission request is returned.

  In step Sf51, the control unit 510 determines whether the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission. If the reply is not possible, the control unit 510 determines “No” and proceeds to step Sf59. Similar to the limit ball number error screen shown in FIG. 32 (f), the limit ball number error screen including the display of the number of balls that can be allocated included in the received non-distributable ball is displayed to notify the player of the number of balls that can be allocated. Thereafter, the process returns to the step of Sf21- which is A in FIG.

  On the other hand, if the reply from the management computer 150 is a distribution permission, “Yes” is determined in the step of Sf51 and the process proceeds to the step of Sf52, and a new issue acceptance screen shown in FIG. 501 and the second insertion port LED 507 in a blinking state, and the second insertion port LED 507 prompts the insertion of the distribution destination card into the corresponding second card insertion port 505, and then the step of Sf8 and the step of Sf9 In the monitoring state that circulates the card, it is monitored whether there is a selection input from the new issue selection input unit or whether a new card is inserted into the second card insertion slot 505.

  If the player who is the distribution destination does not have a visitor card or membership card and the new issue selection input section is selected and input, the selection input is detected as being accepted at step Sf54. Proceeding to step Sf58, automatic issue insufficient distribution processing with visitor card issue is performed.

  In this issuance-deficient automatic distribution process, the control unit 510 moves a visitor card stored in a card storage unit (not shown) to a predetermined reading position in the second card reader / writer 509 and reads the card ID of the visitor card. Is temporarily stored.

  Then, the number of balls to be allocated is the number of balls to be allocated, and the shortage of balls that is the difference between the number of balls to be allocated and the number of balls to be received is specified as the number of balls to be allocated and stored. Management computer for an insufficiently issued automatic distribution request including the member card ID of the member card (distribution source) being received by the one card reader / writer 508, the specified number of allocated balls and allocated storage balls, and the device ID of the distribution device 150 is transmitted.

  In response to receiving this issuance insufficient automatic distribution request, the management computer 150 determines the number of balls and the number of accumulated balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received issuance automatic distribution request. The number of assigned balls included in the issued shortage automatic allocation request received from the specified number of held balls is subtracted and updated, that is, “0”, and is included in the issued shortage automatic distribution request received from the specified number of stored balls The card ID of the visitor card that becomes the distribution destination card included in the issued direct distribution request while subtracting and updating the number of distribution storage balls and the number of commission balls required to transfer the distribution storage number to the number of possessions “0” is stored in the number of possessed balls stored in the visitor saving management table in association with the date and the current date and time are updated and stored in the latest issue date and time.

  Then, as the distribution history, issue the date and time at that time, the device ID included in the received automatic insufficient distribution request, the card ID of the visitor card as the distribution destination card, and the membership card ID as the distribution source card. After registering a distribution history including “1” indicating “number of holding balls”, “number of allocated storage balls”, “number of handling balls”, and “0” indicating non-use acceptance in the distribution history table, an issue distribution completion notification is issued. Send back.

  In response to receiving this issuance distribution completion notification, the control unit 510 distributes the number of balls in the card table to the number of balls obtained by subtracting the number of balls in the distribution table and subtracts the number of stored balls in the card table and the number of balls in the handling fee. The system controller 100 performs the same processing as when the distribution issue request is received by sending the distribution issue request including the card ID of the visitor card temporarily stored to the system controller 100. And return a distribution issuance completion notification.

  In response to receiving this distribution issue completion notification, control unit 510 writes and stores “0” as the prepaid balance and the number of balls in the issued visitor card, and updates the distribution flag to “1” indicating that there is a distribution. 34, the distribution source member card is discharged from the first card insertion slot 504 and returned, and the visitor card of the distribution destination is discharged from the second card insertion slot 505 and issued to the display device 501 as shown in FIG. As shown, the message “Please take out the card” is displayed and the first insertion slot LED 506 and the second insertion slot LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to remove the ejected member card and visitor card. Promptly, and terminates the issuance-deficient automatic distribution process.

  On the other hand, if there is a new card inserted into the second card insertion slot 505 in the monitoring state at the steps Sf53 and Sf54, the insertion of the card is detected at the step Sf53 and the process proceeds to the step Sf55. The recording information of the newly inserted card is read, and it is determined whether or not the newly inserted card is a membership card.

  If the newly inserted card is a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf56 to execute the member shortage automatic distribution process. On the other hand, if the newly inserted card is not a member card, the process proceeds to step Sf57. Implement automatic visitor shortage distribution process.

  In the member shortage automatic distribution process of Sf56 of the present embodiment, the control unit 510 sets the number of possessed balls specified from the member card ID of the member card being accepted as the number of retained balls, and the received number of allocated balls and The number of insufficient balls, which is the difference from the number, is specified as the number of allocated storage balls, the device ID of the distribution device 5, the member card ID (distribution destination) read from the inserted distribution destination member card, and the first card A member shortage automatic distribution request including the member card ID (distribution source) of the member card (distribution source) being received by the reader / writer 508, the specified number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls is transmitted to the management computer 150. To do.

  In response to the reception of the member shortage automatic distribution request, the management computer 150 performs the above-described processing related to the continuous distribution restriction and the processing related to the distribution destination upper limit restriction. If not applicable or no limit is set, specify the number of balls held and the number of balls stored in the member savings management table in association with the member card ID included in the received member shortage automatic distribution request. , Subtracting and updating the number of allocated balls included in the member shortage automatic distribution request received from the specified number of held balls, that is, “0”, and the distribution storage balls included in the member insufficient automatic distribution request received from the specified number of stored balls The number of fees and the number of commission balls required to shift the number of allocated storage balls to the number of possessed balls is updated by subtraction, and the distribution history is stored in the distribution history table. After registering in Le, it returns a distribution completion notification including the membership card ID (distribution source) that is included in the membership lack Auto-sort requests received.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notice, control unit 510 updates the distribution flag of the distribution-destination member card to “1” indicating that distribution is present, and then discharges the distribution-source member card from first card insertion slot 504. At the same time, the member card of the distribution destination is discharged from the second card insertion slot 505 and returned, and a message “Please take out the card” is displayed on the display device 501 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the first insertion slot LED 506 and the second insertion slot LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to prompt the user to take out each of the ejected cards, and the member shortage automatic sorting process is terminated.

  The returned membership card of the distribution destination can be used by inserting the number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls stored in the distribution history table by adding them to the other card unit 3. It becomes.

  Further, in the visitor shortage automatic distribution process of Sf57, the control unit 510 sets the number of balls that have been identified from the member card ID of the member card being accepted as the number of balls to be distributed, The number of balls deficient, which is the difference between the numbers, is specified as the number of balls to be sorted, the device ID of the sorting device 5, the card ID (sorting destination) read from the visitor card of the sorting destination inserted, and the first card reader / writer 508. And transmits a visitor shortage automatic distribution request to the management computer 150 including the member card ID (distribution source) of the member card (distribution source) being received, and the specified number of allocated coins and the number of allocated storage balls.

  In response to receiving this visitor shortage automatic distribution request, the management computer 150 performs the above-described processing related to the continuous distribution restriction and the processing related to the distribution destination upper limit restriction. If not applicable or no limit is set, specify the number of balls and the number of balls stored in the member saving management table in association with the member card ID included in the received visitor shortage automatic distribution request. , Subtracting and updating the number of assigned balls included in the visitor shortage automatic distribution request received from the specified number of held balls, that is, “0”, and the distribution storage balls included in the visitor shortage automatic distribution request received from the specified number of stored balls Subtracting and updating the number of fees and the number of commission balls required to shift the number of allocated and stored balls to the number of possessed balls, and the distribution history After registering the distribution history table, and returns a distribution completion notification including the membership card ID (distribution source) that is included in the visitor lack Auto-sort requests received.

  In response to receiving the distribution completion notification, control unit 510 updates the distribution flag of the distribution destination visitor card to “1” indicating the distribution, and then discharges the distribution source member card from first card insertion slot 504. At the same time, the visitor card of the distribution destination is ejected from the second card insertion slot 505 and returned, and a message “Please take out the card” is displayed on the display device 501 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the first insertion slot LED 506 and the second insertion slot LED 507 are lit in a blinking manner to prompt the removal of each discharged card, and the visitor shortage automatic distribution process is terminated.

  The returned visitor visitor card is inserted into the other card unit 3 so that the number of allocated balls and the number of allocated storage balls stored in the distribution history table are added to the number of balls and can be used. It becomes.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the distribution is performed by receiving a visitor card, which is a game recording medium that can be owned by a general player, or by issuing a visitor card, Even a general player who is not able to receive these distributions can easily and accurately carry out such distribution, and also distribute from the number of stored balls that will be the number of game media owned before the day Whether to allow or not can be set according to the business form of the game hall.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, when allocating from the number of stored balls (the number of game media owned before the day), the number of balls held (the number of game media owned on the day) or the number of balls counted (the game media owned on the day of distribution) Number), the player is informed that the number of possessed balls or the number of counted balls is present, so that the player can know from the number of accumulated balls without knowing that the number of possessed balls or the counted number of balls exists. For example, it is possible to avoid unnecessarily collecting fees.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, even if the number of balls to be distributed is larger than the number of balls in possession, if the permission for direct distribution is set, the acceptance of the number of balls to be distributed is valid, Since the shortage can be automatically distributed from the stored balls, the player does not need to perform separate distribution operations in order to perform the distribution from the number of stored balls for the shortage. Since each card unit 3 and each distribution device 5 stores distribution setting information, each card unit 3 and distribution device 5 can determine whether or not permission for direct distribution is set. The number of assigned balls is the number of possessed balls even though the non-permission is set on the distribution setting screen of the management computer 150 that is the distribution setting means. In the case where there are too many, the distribution operation is received wastefully as in the case where the allowance is set, and further, a distribution request for requesting distribution from the number of stored balls according to the acceptance of the distribution operation is wastefully transmitted and managed. It is possible to avoid the occurrence of errors in the computer 150, the card unit 3, and the distribution device 5.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the allocation of the deficiency from the number of stored balls is performed, the confirmation acceptance screen shown in FIG. Since it is received from the player, the player can select execution / non-execution of the distribution from the shortage of stored balls for each distribution.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the distribution ball number acceptance screen shown in FIG. 32 (a) is displayed and the distribution ball number is received. Therefore, the player distributes the desired number of balls (the number of game media). Since the number of balls that can be distributed according to the setting contents set on the distribution setting screen of the management computer 150 serving as the distribution setting means is notified, the player refers to the number of balls that can be distributed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of inconveniences such as errors due to receiving an inappropriate number of balls.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the allocation from the number of stored balls to the number of possessed balls is made, the number of commission balls is not subtracted from the number of balls allocated to the number of possessed balls. Separately, since it is subtracted from the number of balls of the allocation source, it is possible to accurately allocate the number of balls desired by the player receiving the allocation.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the number of balls to be distributed (number of game media) that can be distributed in a predetermined period of time, for example, one day can be limited. For example, occurrence of a decrease in sales can be avoided.

  In the above description of the present embodiment, an example in which the aggregation target period is 1 day has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, 3 days are set as the aggregation target period. If there is a case, in the calculation of the total number of distributions (total), the total number of distributions (distribution source), and the total number of distributions (distribution destinations), the distribution includes the dates corresponding to the three most recent days including that day, which is the target period The history may be the target of aggregation, and if one week is set for these aggregation target periods, for example, the total number of distributions (total), the total number of distributions (distribution source), and the total number of distributions (distribution destinations) In that case, the distribution history including the date corresponding to one week including the current day, which is the target period, may be set as the target of aggregation. In other words, the aggregation method includes the date information corresponding to the target period of aggregation. Sorting Gravel and may be used as the aggregate of the subject.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the distribution history can be confirmed in the hall computer (game information management device).

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and modifications and additions within the scope of the present invention are included in the present invention. It is.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the card unit 3 having only one card insertion slot 309 is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a card unit 3 ″ shown in FIG. Similar to the distribution device 5, the distribution card has two card insertion slots, and the distribution destination card is received in a card insertion slot different from the card insertion slot that is accepting the distribution source card. A card may be issued.

  Moreover, in the said Example, when a banknote is received in the state in which the card is not inserted in the card unit, the visitor card is always issued and the prepaid balance is recorded, but the present invention is limited to this. For example, if a low-value bill of 1000 yen is accepted, a visitor card is issued by letting all the pachinko balls equivalent to the 1000 yen be paid out from the corresponding pachinko machine 2 You may not make it.

  In the case where these visitor cards are not issued, it is considered that there is a counted number of balls in a state where the visitor card is not being accepted, and the counted number of balls is used for distribution. May issue a visitor card at the time of the distribution process, and the issued visitor card may be used as a distribution source card. In the unit management table of the management computer 150, as shown in the present embodiment, each card If the number of balls that have been counted is stored and managed in association with the device ID of the unit 3, the number of balls to be sorted is calculated from the number of balls that have been counted in the unit management table without issuing a visitor card during the sorting process. The distribution history including the card ID of the distribution destination card may be registered in the distribution history. In this case, since the management computer 150 manages the counted number of balls as the number of owned game media in association with the device ID as each owned game medium number specifying information, the device ID is owned by the game medium. It corresponds to number specific information.

  Moreover, in the said Example, in the visitor issue distribution process in the card unit 3, the visitor card being accepted is used as the visitor card of the distribution destination, and the visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 is used as the distribution source card. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is not limited to this, and the visitor card that is being accepted can be received as in the case of the issuance distribution process for members without performing these replacements. As a distribution source card, the visitor card stored in the card storage unit 370 is set as a distribution destination card, the visitor card being accepted is ejected, a distribution destination visitor card is issued, and the distribution source visitor is again issued. You may make it accept a card.

  In the embodiment, the card reader / writer 327 of the card unit 3 is stored in the card storage unit 370 in a state where the card being received is retracted to the card insertion port 309 side without being ejected from the card insertion port 309. The visitor card being moved is moved to a predetermined reading position so that the visitor card can be read out. This is because the visitor card to be issued is issued when the visitor card for distribution is issued. In order to read the card ID of the card, the card being accepted is not ejected from the card insertion slot 309, and the card is held inside until the visitor card issued and the data update storage are completed. Can avoid the inconvenience associated with these discharges. Et preferred, the present invention this is not limited, may be a card reader-writer does not have a function to retract the card in these accepted the card insertion port side.

  In the above embodiment, the management computer 150 also manages the members. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the management of these members is performed on individual computers. Anyway.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, as the number of saving balls of the member, the number of holding balls acquired on the day and the number of saving balls acquired on the day are individually illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this. However, the number of balls acquired on the day may be managed as the number of stored balls in a unified manner.

  Further, in the above embodiment, in order to make the visitor card repeatedly used also subject to the restriction on the total number of distribution sources and the total number of distribution destinations, the latest issue date is managed, and the total number of distribution of each visitor card (distribution source) Although the total number of distributions (distribution destinations) can be accurately counted, the present invention is not limited to this, and these visitor cards are not subject to the total number of distribution sources or the total number of distribution destinations. May be.

  Moreover, in the said Example, determination whether the number of balls to be distributed is in the range of the number of balls is performed in each card unit 3 or the distribution apparatus 5 side, and the number of balls to be distributed is the number of balls in the determination. Registration is made to the distribution history that is distributed in response to the distribution request received on the condition that it is within the range, and this is done in a distributed manner. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the determination of whether or not the number of balls to be distributed is within the range of the number of balls is managed. The computer 150 may be integrated.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, a fee is collected when the number of stored balls is shifted to the number of possessed balls. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the fee may not be collected. . Further, the fee for transferring the number of stored balls to the number of held balls in the distribution may be different from the fee for shifting from the normal number of stored balls to the number of held balls without distribution.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the total number of distributed balls and the number of distributed storage balls is used as the total number of distributions in various restrictions, but the present invention is not limited to this, for example, from the number of stored balls In the case of direct allocation from the number of pooled balls, the total of only the number of sorted pooled balls is set. If the allocation is based on the number of balls, if the allocation is based on the total number of allocated balls, the determination is performed based on the total number of allocated balls and the limited number. If so, the determination may be made on the basis of the total number of distributed holding balls and the number of distributed storage balls and the limit number.

2 Pachinko machine 3 Card unit 5 Sorting device 100 System controller 102 CPU
105 Storage Device 106 Input Device 107 Display Device 109 Communication Unit 140 Hall Computer 150 Management Computer 152 CPU
155 Storage device 156 Input device 157 Display device 170 Free gift exchange POS terminal 309 Card insertion slot 312 Display unit 314 Transparent touch panel 315 IR light receiving unit 321 Bill recognition unit 327 Card reader / writer 328 Control unit 334 Communication unit 335 Return path 337 Discharge flow path 338 Storage unit 340 Counting / fraction dispensing unit 341 Control board 344 Connecting rod 345 Input unit 347 Counting channel 350 Control unit 353 Discharging motor 355 Counting operation unit 356 Count sensor 370 Card storage unit 508 First card reader / writer 509 Second card reader / writer 510 control unit

Claims (1)

A recording medium that is issued to a general player different from the member player registered as a member, and in which non-recording medium identification information that can specify the number of game media owned by the general player in the game of the day is recorded is capable of accepting a membership recording medium body, a recording medium reading means for reading the recording medium identification information recorded on the non-member for a recording medium with receiving,
A recording medium issuing unit having a recording medium storage unit for storing the non-member recording medium, and capable of issuing the non-member recording medium stored in the recording medium storage unit;
Recording medium identification information transmitting means for transmitting the recording medium identification information read by the recording medium reading means;
Use processing means for performing processing for using the number of game media possessed on the day specified from the recording medium identification information for the game;
A gaming device provided corresponding to the gaming machine;
A management device connected to the gaming device for data communication;
A gaming system comprising:
The gaming device is:
And information capable of specifying the sorting number game medium is at least a part of this number of days owned game media, among the non-member for a recording medium having stored in the recording medium reservoir, issued as a game recording medium for distribution destination Transmitting means for transmitting the recording medium identification information of the allocation destination read by the recording medium reading means from the non-member recording medium;
With
The management device
Storage processing means for performing processing for storing the number of distribution game media in association with the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination transmitted from the gaming device;
The recording medium identification transmitted from the recording medium identification information transmitting means of the other gaming device when the non-member recording medium issued as the game recording medium of the distribution destination is received by the other gaming device If the information is the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination, the number of game media can be used within the range of the number of distribution game media stored in association with the recording medium identification information of the distribution destination. Enabling processing means for executing the enabling processing for
A gaming system comprising:

Images