JP7266830B2 - game machine - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a ball-enclosed game machine in which a game is played by circulating a predetermined number of game balls in a closed manner .

2. Description of the Related Art There is a game machine such as Patent Document 1 as a game machine of the enclosed ball type in the prior art.

JP 2013-081695 A

However, the gaming machine described in Patent Document 1 has room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a game machine in which the conventional game machine is improved .

The claimed invention is
"Equipped with a game board having a game area where game balls flow down, and a body frame housing the game board,
The body frame has a shooting device for shooting game balls into the game area, and a conveying path that flows down the game area, collects the game balls discharged from the game board, and transports them to the shooting position of the shooting device. with
A gaming machine that performs a game by circulating a predetermined number of game balls without paying out game balls,
The conveying path is provided with a lifting device for lifting game balls by a screw portion, and a ball polishing portion is provided near the lifting device,
The game ball contacts the ball polishing part through the opening provided in the lifting device, and the game ball is polished by the movement of the game ball accompanying the lifting,
The ball polishing unit renews the part that contacts the game ball stepwise according to a predetermined condition,
Further, a game control means capable of executing a game control that performs a lottery based on the ball entering the start hole provided on the game board and that changes and displays the symbols according to the result of the lottery,
The ball polishing unit is detachable and replaceable with respect to the game machine,
The game machine is characterized in that even when the ball polishing section is removed from the game machine, the game control means can continue the game without stopping the game control by the game control means. ”.
Further, the following means are disclosed as another invention different from the present invention for reference.
A gaming machine according to [Solution 1] includes a main control board that performs game control and outputs a control command based on the establishment of a starting condition, and a performance control based on the control command output from the main control board. a power supply board that generates various DC operating power sources based on the AC power supply; a plurality of movable accessories that are controlled by the peripheral control board and moved by an electromagnetic drive source; In a game machine equipped with
power monitoring means for monitoring the power generated by the operating power supply generated by the power supply board and outputting an operating signal when the power exceeds a predetermined specified value; and charging and discharging by the operating power supply. By doing so, auxiliary power supply means for supplying power for operation to the electromagnetic drive sources of the plurality of movable parts, and when the operation signal output from the power monitoring means is received, the auxiliary power supply means is turned on. Power supply switching means for switching from a charging state to a discharging state; intense heat effect control means for performing intense heat effect accompanied by discharging of the auxiliary power means; and monitoring the charging state of the auxiliary power means and charging when charging is completed. charging state monitoring means for outputting a completion signal; auxiliary power supply abnormality detection means for detecting whether or not the auxiliary power supply has an abnormality based on whether or not the charging completion signal is input; and the auxiliary power supply abnormality detection means. and notification means for notifying the fact that, when detecting an abnormality, the game machine.

According to the gaming machine according to [Solution Means 1], the auxiliary power means is charged by the operating power generated by the power board. The power monitoring means monitors the power generated by the power supply board and outputs an operating signal when the power from the operating power supply exceeds a predetermined specified value. The power switching means switches the auxiliary power supply means from the charging state to the discharging state upon receiving the activation signal output from the power monitoring means. Therefore, due to the discharge of the auxiliary power supply means, power for operation is supplied to the electromagnetic drive source of the plurality of movable parts, and during the intense heat production, the shortage of power for the operation power generated by the power supply board is compensated. be able to.

When the intense heat effect ends, the auxiliary power means is charged by the operating power generated by the power board. The charging state monitoring means monitors the charging state of the auxiliary power supply means, and outputs a charging completion signal when charging is completed. Further, the auxiliary power supply abnormality detecting means detects whether or not there is an abnormality in the auxiliary power supply means based on whether or not the charging completion signal is input. When the auxiliary power abnormality detecting means detects an abnormality, the notifying means notifies the effect. Therefore, the abnormality of the auxiliary power supply means can be reliably grasped, and the maintenance of the auxiliary power supply means can be performed quickly.

The gaming machine according to [Solution 2] is the gaming machine according to [Solution 1], wherein the auxiliary power abnormality detection means is based on the presence or absence of the input of the charging completion signal after the intense heat effect or when the power is turned on. , detecting whether or not there is an abnormality in the auxiliary power supply means;
It is characterized by

According to the gaming machine according to [Solution 2], when the auxiliary power source is out of order for some reason, the notification means notifies of the abnormality. Therefore, the abnormality of the auxiliary power supply means can be reliably grasped after the intense heat effect or when the power is turned on, and the maintenance of the auxiliary power supply means can be performed quickly.

The gaming machine according to [Solution 3] is the gaming machine according to [Solution 1] or [Solution 2],
The notification means is a part of a plurality of light emitting means arranged in the gaming machine,
The notification to the effect that the auxiliary power supply means is abnormal is a notification mode in which only the notification means is turned on and the remaining other light emitting means are turned off to set a power saving state.
It is characterized by
According to the gaming machine according to [Solution 3], it is possible to avoid wasting power. Abnormality of the auxiliary power supply means can be easily recognized.

According to the enclosed ball type game machine of the present invention, it is possible to improve the conventional game machine and provide a game machine which can operate for a long time while polishing the game balls used in the game.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a front view showing a pachinko machine according to one embodiment of the present invention and a fare adjustment machine provided with the pachinko machine; It is a front view of the gaming machine shown with the door frame removed. 1 is a front perspective view showing a body frame that constitutes a pachinko machine; FIG. It is a rear perspective view showing a body frame that constitutes the pachinko machine. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an upper firing device, a deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit, and a ball collecting portion; Fig. 10 is a right side view showing the upper launcher, ball feed path member and ball lifter; FIG. 4 is a perspective view looking up at the upper part of the game board from below the front of the game board showing the upper launching device and the launching area; Fig. 12 is a front view of the upper launcher (launching hammer striking position); It is a perspective view which looked at the top launcher from the front left. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the upper launcher viewed from the rear left; It is the perspective view which removes a ball feed unit cover, and shows an upper firing device looking from the back left. It is a figure which shows the open state of the upper launching device in the game machine which removes a door frame and shows. It is a right side view showing a longitudinal section of the gaming machine with the door frame removed. Figure 3 schematically shows a portion of a cross-sectional perspective view along AA of Figure 2; FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a state where the joint portion of the upper firing device with the base plate and the protruding portion of the panel holder of the game board are in contact with each other; It is a perspective view which looks at an upper firing device from the front right, and shows it. FIG. 11 is a front view of the upper firing device (launching hammer standby position); Fig. 10 is a right side view of the upper firing device (ball feed solenoid de-energized, ball feed member in holding position and return ball blocking position); FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the upper firing device cut along line BB of FIG. 10 (ball feed solenoid de-energized, ball feed member in holding position and return ball blocking position); It is a perspective view showing a ball feeding member, a ball feeding shaft, and a ball feeding sheet metal in the ball feeding device from diagonally behind. Fig. 10 is a right side view of the upper firing device (ball feed solenoid energized, ball feed member in supply and allow positions); FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the upper firing device cut along the line BB of FIG. 10 (ball feed solenoid energized, ball feed member in supply position and allow position); FIG. 4 is a longitudinally cutaway view of the body frame to show the upper firing device, the ball feed path member and the ball lifting device; It is a time chart which shows the drive timing of a ball feed solenoid and a discharge solenoid. It is a front perspective view of a ball outlet opening/closing unit. It is a back perspective view of a ball outlet opening-and-closing unit. It is a perspective view showing the relationship between the upper firing unit and the ball outlet opening and closing unit in the body frame. Fig. 10 is an external perspective view for explaining a deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. 29. It is a figure which isolate|separates and turns over a magnetic ball discharge part cover in FIG. 28, and demonstrates it. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. It is a rear view of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. It is a figure explaining the base plate of a deformed ball and magnetic ball discharge unit. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit separated into a deformed ball discharge unit and a magnetic ball discharge unit; FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining paths along which deformed balls and magnetic balls are discharged in the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. It is a figure explaining the condition where a magnetic ball is isolate|separated from a circulation route and is discharged|emitted. It is a figure explaining the state which the magnetic ball reached|attained the magnetic ball discharge|emission inclined surface. It is a front left perspective view of a ball gathering part and a ball lifting device. FIG. 3 is a front view of a ball gathering part and a ball lifting device; It is a front view which shows the state which removed the ball polishing cartridge in the ball collection part. It is a back perspective view showing a state where the case of the ball collecting portion and the cover of the ball lifting device are removed. FIG. 41 is a rear perspective view showing an enlarged sphere converging portion in FIG. 40; FIG. 42 is a further enlarged view of FIG. 41; FIG. 4 is a plan view with the case of the sphere gathering portion removed; FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view showing a state in which an upper gearbox and a lower gearbox are removed; It is a right view which shows the state which removed the cover of the ball lifting device. FIG. 46 is an enlarged view of (A) in FIG. 45; It is a figure showing the state which disassembled the screw. It is a perspective view which shows the upper part of a ball lifting device. It is a figure which shows the fitting / non-fitting state of a screw and a fitting member. It is a left view which shows the state with which the ball polishing cartridge was mounted. It is a perspective view explaining the mechanism which fixes a ball polishing cartridge. It is a perspective view which shows the state at the time of mounting|wearing with a ball polishing cartridge. It is a perspective view showing a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other. It is a left side view showing a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other. FIG. 55 is a left side view showing a state in which the left side cover of the ball polishing cartridge is removed in FIG. 54; FIG. 55 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the ball polishing cartridge. It is a perspective view which shows the state with which the ball polishing cartridge was mounted. FIG. 58 is a perspective view showing a state in which only the right outer side cover is removed in FIG. 57 for explanation; FIG. 59 is a top perspective view showing a state in which the right side cover is opened in FIG. 58; 1 is a perspective view of a ball polishing cartridge; FIG. It is a front view of a ball polishing cartridge. Fig. 2 is a side view of the ball polishing cartridge; FIG. 63 is a side view showing a state in which the left side cover is removed in FIG. 62; It is a perspective view of a ball polishing cartridge mounting part. It is a perspective view which shows the relationship between a ball polishing cartridge and a ball polishing cartridge mounting part. FIG. 40 is an enlarged view enlarging the vicinity of the ball polishing cartridge of FIG. 39; It is a side view which shows the 2nd Example in a lifting slope member. It is a perspective view which shows the 2nd Example in a lifting slope member. It is a top view which shows the state which removed the upper gearbox in a lifting device. It is a rear view which shows the state which removed the lifting part cover in the lifting apparatus. It is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the number of inserted game balls is less than a predetermined number when the game balls are enclosed in the enclosed ball type gaming machine. It is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a predetermined number of game balls are inserted when game balls are enclosed in the enclosed-ball type gaming machine. It is a schematic diagram showing the behavior of the game ball when the number of inserted game balls exceeds a predetermined number when the game balls are enclosed in the enclosed ball type gaming machine. It is a perspective view showing a state in which the game ball introduction member in the game panel is projected. It is a perspective view showing a state in which the game ball introduction member is housed in the game panel. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main part of an embodiment of a main control board provided in the enclosed-ball pachinko machine; It is a block diagram showing the main part of the ball information control board provided in the enclosed ball type pachinko machine. It is a block diagram showing each element connected to the payment machine. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing main control side power-on processing executed by the main control MPU of the main control board; FIG. FIG. 80 is a flow chart showing a continuation of the main control side power-on processing of FIG. 79; FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing main control side timer interrupt processing executed by the main control MPU; FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing a ball information control side power-on process executed by a ball information control MPU of a ball information control board; FIG. FIG. 83 is a flow chart showing a continuation of the ball information control side power-on process of FIG. 82; FIG. FIG. 84 is a flow chart showing the continuation of the power-on processing on the ball information ball yield control side following FIG. 83 ; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing ball information control power-off processing executed by the ball information control MPU of the ball information control board; FIG. It is a flow chart which shows an example of ball information control side timer interruption processing. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the ball rental process which ball information control MPU performs. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of a hit ball possible/impossible determination process performed by the ball information control MPU; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of count processing of the number of possession balls performed by the ball information control MPU; FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of ball feeding/shooting drive processing performed by the ball information control MPU; FIG. This is a continuation of the flow chart of FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of shot ball detection processing performed by the ball information control MPU; FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of the number of possession balls subtraction process performed by the ball information control MPU; FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of a lifting drive process performed by a ball information control MPU; FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the subroutine of the ball clogging alerting|reporting process which a ball information control MPU performs. It is the figure which showed the cushion and follower member which were provided in the back surface side of a door frame, and the cushion receiving plate which was provided in the top firing device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a positioning guide member arranged on the inner wall of the left side plate of the body frame; It is the figure which showed the fitting of the game board in the 2nd Example of a game machine. It is an example of a block diagram showing a game board and a body frame connected by a drawer connector. It is an example of a block diagram showing a game board and a body frame connected by a drawer connector. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional example of signal output from a sphere information control board to an external terminal board; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the embodiment of signal output from the sphere information control board to the external terminal board; 1 is a block diagram showing part of a power supply system including a power supply substrate in this embodiment; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of main parts of a power compensation circuit and a peripheral control board; FIG. (A) is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for control performed by a peripheral control MPU mounted on a peripheral control board when the game machine is powered on; 16 is a flowchart showing an example of 16 ms steady-state processing executed every 16 ms. 4 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of state-of-charge determination processing executed by a peripheral control MPU of a peripheral control board; 4 is a flowchart showing a subroutine of charging abnormality detection processing executed by a peripheral control MPU of a peripheral control board;

[Overview of gaming machines]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The game machine 1 (enclosed ball type game machine) according to the present embodiment can be installed in the current island equipment in a hall (pachinko game hall), and the game content is the same as that of a well-known game machine. However, the game machine does not use the ball supply mechanism or the ball discharge mechanism of the island facility. That is, in the enclosed ball type game machine 1 according to the present embodiment, a predetermined number of game balls made of a non-magnetic material (for example, stainless steel) are accommodated in the game machine, and the predetermined number of game balls are released into the game area by the shooting device. A game is played using game balls preliminarily enclosed in the game machine such that the game balls are collected after the game is completed, guided to the shooting device, and the game balls are circulated and used. It's like Then, game balls can be shot in accordance with the number of game balls (data on the number of balls held) based on the data on the number of rental balls input from a storage medium such as a card via a payment system or the like, and the game balls are shot. Then, the data of the number of held balls is subtracted corresponding to the number of shot game balls.

In addition, when a game ball that is launched enters a winning hole in the game area and a prize ball (game ball) is generated, the actual game ball is not paid out, and the number of prize balls is recorded in the data of the number of possession balls is added. Also, when the data of the number of held balls becomes "0", the game ball cannot be shot. In this state, when a numerical value (number of rental balls) is added to the data of the number of held balls based on the data of the amount stored in the storage medium such as the card and the data of the stored balls, it is possible to shoot the game ball again. becomes. In addition, the game balls that have been shot are collected in the game machine, sent to the shooting position again, and circulated in the game machine. That is, the gaming machine 1 according to the present embodiment is an enclosed ball type gaming machine that collects the game balls launched into the game area and supplies them to the game again.

First, the body frame 2 (FIG. 3) and the door frame 3 (FIG. 1) that constitute the gaming machine 1 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. Incidentally, the gaming machine 1 of FIG. 1 is provided with a payment machine 4 as an external device.

The game machine 1 comprises an outer frame 1a (FIG. 12) configured in a rectangular frame shape and installed on an island facility on the hall side, and a game board 5 (FIG. 2) pivotally supported by the outer frame 1a so as to be openable and closable. It is composed of a mountable body frame 2 and a door frame 3 pivotally supported on the body frame 2 so as to be openable and closable.
A decorative cover 6 is attached to the front surface of the outer frame 1a at a position below the body frame 2 and the door frame 3, and the front surface of the outer frame 1a is completely closed by the door frame 3 and the decorative cover 6. It has become. The outer frame 1a, the body frame 2, and the door frame 3 are arranged such that their upper ends are substantially aligned, and the body frame 2 is rotatable by means of a hinge 7 (Fig. 3) provided on the left side of the outer frame 1a. The body frame 2 is pivotally supported, and the body frame 2 is opened by moving the right side of the body frame 2 forward with respect to the outer frame 1a. The door frame 3 is rotatably attached to the body frame 2 with a pin, and is opened by moving the right side of the door frame 3 forward.

[Door frame 3]
The door frame 3 includes a game window 9 through which a player can visually recognize a game area 8 into which game balls are hit on the game board 5, and a game window 9 which is arranged below the game window 9 and which opens into the game area 8 based on the player's operation. It has a ball hitting handle 10 for hitting a game ball. A transparent plate 11 is attached to the game window 9 to cover the front surface (game area 8) of the game board 5 mounted on the side of the main body frame 2 in a state where the door frame 3 is closed with respect to the main body frame 2 so as to be visible. It is The ball-hitting handle 10 drives a firing solenoid 13 (see FIG. 5) of a ball-hitting device (referred to as an upper firing device 12) attached to the upper left of the main body frame 2 based on the turning operation of the player. A game ball is hit into the game area 8. - 特許庁The ball-striking handle 10 includes a microswitch (not shown) that is turned on when rotated, and a firing stop switch that is turned off by pressing the microswitch while the microswitch is on, and the ball-striking handle 10. A touch switch is provided to detect the player's contact with the hitting handle 10 via conductive plating applied to the outer peripheral surface of the handle. Top launcher 12 will be described later.

The door frame 3 and the body frame 2 can be opened from the body frame 2 by inserting a key into a key device arranged at the lower right corner of the door frame 3 and rotating the door frame 3 to one side. can be done.

[Touch panel unit 14]
The door frame 3 is provided with a horizontally long touch panel portion 14 below the game window 9 (a portion corresponding to the top plate of a known non-enclosed ball type game machine). The touch panel portion 14 displays the number of remaining points, the number of balls in the game machine, and the number of edge balls.

Here, the number of remaining points is a value corresponding to the amount of money stored in the card used in the payment machine 4, and the number of balls owned by the player is the number of balls lent to the player by lending the balls. It is the sum of the number of balls and the number of prize balls won by the player as a result of playing the game.

The touch panel portion 14 displays a ball lending button as a ball lending command input means operable by the player and a settlement button as settlement command input means operable by the player. The ball lending button is for instructing the lending of a ball for playing a game. Also, the settlement button is for ending the pachinko game and instructing settlement.

Further, on the touch panel section 14, a number-of-balls display button is displayed as a number-of-balls display command input means that can be operated by the player. Here, the number of short balls is the number of surplus balls when the number of balls held by the player is divided by the number of balls corresponding to one special prize at the time of prize exchange. The touch panel section 14 can also display a message such as, for example, "Do you want to hit only the edge ball?" A message in the form of an interactive question is displayed together with a number display button, and a YES button and a NO button are respectively displayed for the player to select and input a yes or no response.

[Body frame 2]
The body frame 2 is box-shaped and has a frame-shaped fitting frame 15 and a peripheral wall portion 16 so as to be fitted in the rectangular frame-shaped outer frame 1a (FIGS. 3 and 4). The fitting frame 15 has a rectangular housing opening 17 for fitting and housing the game board 5 on its front side. A protruding wall 18 protruding inward is integrally formed at the back of the accommodation opening 17 (FIGS. 3 and 12). The back is closed with a back cover. When the door frame 3 is closed with respect to the body frame 2, the front surface (game area 8) of the game board 5 accommodated in the body frame 2 can be seen through the game window 9 of the door frame 3. - 特許庁

A deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit housing portion 19 is formed below the housing opening portion 17, and a deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 is arranged in the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit housing portion 19. . Then, as will be described later, the discharged ball receiving box 234 that houses deformed balls and magnetic balls having a smaller diameter than the regular game balls discharged from the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 is used for the gaming machine. It can be attached and detached from the front direction.

FIG. 23 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the body frame to show the upper firing device, the ball supply path member, and the ball lifting device. As seen in FIGS. 3, 5, 6 and 23, the body frame 2 is provided with an upper launching device 12, a ball collecting portion 21, a ball lifting device 22 and a ball supply path member 24. As shown in FIG. The ball collection part 21 receives game balls that have passed through the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 and guides them to the base of the ball lifting device 22 (FIG. 5), and includes a ball polishing device and the like.

A hitting ball launching device 29 for shooting game balls toward the game area 8 is arranged on one side (left side) of the front and upper part of the body frame 2 (FIGS. 3 and 23). In addition, a ball feeding device 28 for feeding game balls arranged and stored in a guide passage (ball feeding guidance gutter 69 described later, see FIG. 11) to the firing position of the batted ball launching device 29 one by one. , so as to overlap in the front-rear direction (FIGS. 6 and 23). In this embodiment, the hitting ball launching device 29 and the ball feeding device 28 form an upper launching device 12 as an upper launching unit.

The ball-lifting device 22 uses a screw 25 driven by a ball-lifting motor 150 (see FIG. 24) in this embodiment, and the game balls that have reached the base are rotated to increase the distance between the game balls. It is opened and lifted to the upper part of the body frame 2 from below. The ball lifting device 22 is attached to the rear surface of the body frame 2 behind the upper launching device 12, and the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 is arranged above the ball feeding device 28 (FIGS. 3 and 4). 4, Fig. 23).

Between the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 and the upper part of the upper launching device 12, there is provided a ball feeder extending in the longitudinal direction for sending game balls lifted by the ball lifting device 22 to the ball feeding device 28 from above. A path member 24 is provided (FIGS. 3, 4, 23). In addition, in this embodiment, the ball supply path member 24 is formed at the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 and is gently downwardly inclined toward the front so that the lifted game balls can be pushed forward from above. It is composed of a ball sending gutter 23 to be sent out and a lifting communication gutter 65 which is formed in the rear upper part of the upper firing device 12, is connected to the ball sending gutter 23, and has a gentle downward slope toward the front. The game ball lifted by the ball lifting device 22 is sent to the ball sending gutter 23. The ball delivery gutter 23 of the ball supply path member 24 is provided with a launch standby ball detection switch 26 for detecting the presence or absence of game balls flowing down the ball delivery gutter 23 (see FIG. 6).

[Upper launcher]
FIG. 8 is a front view showing the upper launcher, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the upper launcher viewed from the front left. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the upper firing device viewed from the rear left, and FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the upper firing device viewed from the rear left with the ball feed unit cover removed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an open state of the upper launching device in the gaming machine with the door frame removed, and FIG. 13 is a right side view showing a longitudinal section of the gaming machine with the door frame removed. 14 is a diagram schematically showing a portion of a cross-sectional perspective view along AA of FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a state in which the joint portion of the upper firing device with the base plate and the projecting portion of the panel holder of the game board are in contact with each other.

The upper firing device 12 has a metal plate-like base plate 39 for fixing the upper firing device 12 to the body frame 2, and receives game balls arriving from the ball supply path member 24, and shoots the hitting ball firing device 29. A ball feeding device 28 that reliably feeds game balls one by one to a hitting ball shooting position of a hammer 30 (FIG. 8) by means of a ball feeding solenoid 31 (FIG. 11) and a ball feeding member 32, and shoots game balls toward a game area 8. and a hitting ball launcher 29 (see FIGS. 8 to 11).

The ball feeding device 28 receives a game ball arriving from the ball supply path member 24 (FIG. 6), and feeds one game ball to the firing position of the firing hammer 30 (FIG. 8) of the ball shooting device 29 by the ball feeding member 32. It is a device for reliably sending out one by one.

As shown in FIG. 9, the ball shooting device 29 includes a shooting hammer 30, a shooting solenoid 13, a rail member 33, a shooting stopper 34, a returning stopper 35, a shooting ball confirmation switch 36, an upper shooting device hinge 37 and a shooting port. 38. These members are attached to a base plate 39 (a metal plate in this embodiment) as a substrate. The firing port 38 is formed facing the tip of the firing hammer 30, and the rail member 33 is attached to this portion. The rail member 33 is a member that holds, by means of a rail portion 332, one game ball sent to the shooting position (ball hitting position) by the ball sending member 32. As shown in FIG. A game ball hit by the shooting hammer 30 is shot from the shooting port 38 to the game area 8. - 特許庁

The shot ball confirmation switch 36 is arranged with respect to the rail portion 332 of the rail member 33, and detects the presence or absence of the game ball struck by the shot hammer 30, and the game ball detection by the shot ball confirmation switch 36 is not detected. By switching, it is detected that one game ball has been shot by the shooting hammer 30. - 特許庁

As shown in FIG. 5, the game ball circulation path includes the above-mentioned deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20, ball collecting section 21, ball lifting device 22, ball supply path member 24, upper launching device 12, and game area 8. It goes through. A game ball shot from the upper shooting device 12 to a shooting area 40 (FIG. 7) of the game area 8 flows downward through the game area, passes through a prize winning opening 41 or an out opening 42, and is discharged to the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20. back to

[game board]
A game board 5 is attached to the fitting frame 15 of the body frame 2 . In this embodiment, the game board 5 has a structure in which a transparent panel plate 44 is attached to a panel holder 43, and a front structural member 45 is attached to the front surface of the panel holder 43 to fix the transparent panel plate 44 (FIG. 12). The game board 5 does not have a conventional inner rail, and the upper part of the inner peripheral surface of the front structural member 45 is used as a game ball running surface 46 (FIG. 7).

The electrical connection of the game board 5 to the body frame 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The mechanical and electrical connections between the game board 5 and the body frame 2 are made by a drawer connector. The game board 5 is provided with a game board side main drawer connector and a game board side sub drawer connector, and the main body frame 2 is provided with a main body frame side main drawer connector and a main body frame side sub drawer connector. there is By fitting the game board 5 into the main body frame 2, the game board side main drawer connector and the main body frame side main drawer connector, the game board side sub-drawer connector and the main body frame side sub-drawer connector are connected, and the game board 5 is connected. and the body frame 2 are mechanically connected and electrically connected at the same time. This enables electrical communication between the game board 5 and the main body frame 2 .

A notch 47 (FIG. 12) is formed in the upper left corner of the game board 5 in accordance with the shape of the upper firing device 12 . The notch 47 extends from the front structural member 45 to part of the transparent panel plate 44 in the game area 8 . The ejection opening 38 of the upper ejection device 12 faces the portion where the transparent panel plate 44 is cut out, and as shown in FIG. is the shooting area 40 . Therefore, a game ball hit by the firing hammer 30 of the upper firing device 12 is guided to the game ball running surface 46 of the front component 45 in the firing area 40 .

The game area 8 of the present embodiment is provided with a large number of obstacle nails (not shown) and various winning openings such as winning openings, etc., and a predetermined number of prize balls are provided according to the winning of the various winning openings. It's like In addition, since this embodiment is a closed-ball game machine, "1" is subtracted from the data of the number of held balls in accordance with the hitting of one game ball, while the number of prize balls in accordance with the winning in various prize-winning ports. is added to the data of the number of held balls, and the number of held balls corresponding to this is displayed on the touch panel section 14 .

In addition, since this is a game machine of the enclosed ball type, prize balls are not paid out, and the number of outgoing balls, the number of incoming balls, the number of differential balls, the number of held balls, etc. are not the actual number of game balls, but numerical values in the data. That is, the game balls actually used are limited to a predetermined number (for example, 50 or 75) that are circulated. The number of balls fired and counted, the number of recovered balls counted by detecting the game balls fired and recovered in the game area 8, the number of prize balls in the case of winning, the number of rental balls borrowed from the hall side, etc. The number of incoming balls, the number of outgoing balls, the number of difference balls, and the number of held balls can be obtained.

That is, the number of shot balls equals the number of collected balls as long as there is no trouble such as the game balls coming out when the door frame 3 is opened. Number of incoming balls = number of collected balls = number of fired balls, number of discharged balls = number of awarded balls (accumulated value) = number of entered balls - number of rented balls (number of replayed balls) + number of owned balls, and number of owned balls = rented balls Number of balls (or number of balls replayed) + number of balls thrown - number of balls entered, number of balls thrown - number of balls entered = number of balls held, number of balls held = number of balls rented (or number of balls played again) + number of balls held becomes. In this way, the game by the gaming machine 1 is completely performed based on the numerical values of the data. It becomes possible to reliably manage in integer units. It should be noted that the structure of the upper firing device 12, which will be described later, basically does not produce a foul ball.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the front component member 45, the panel holder, and the transparent panel plate 44 are configured as separate members, but they may be integrated by, for example, adhesion or integrally molded to form one member. can also When the front structural member 45 and the panel holder 43 are formed integrally with the transparent panel plate 44 in this manner, the front structural member 45 and the panel holder 43 have been provided with the notch 47 in the game board 5. Structural weakening of these members due to cutting of the frame structure (four sides are connected) can be suppressed.

16 is a perspective view showing the upper launching device viewed from the front right, FIG. 17 is a front view showing the upper launching device (launching hammer standby position), and FIG. 18 is a right side view showing the upper launching device. is.

[Blowing ball launcher 29]
The hitting ball launching device 29 can hit the game ball supplied from the ball feeding device 28 into the game area 8 of the game board 5 with a force corresponding to the rotating operation of the hitting handle 10 . The ball shooting device 29 includes a shooting solenoid 13 attached to the upper rear surface of a base plate 39 so that a rotary drive shaft 60 protrudes forward, and a shooting hammer 30 fixed to the rotary drive shaft 60 of the shooting solenoid 13 so as to be integrally rotatable. , a hammer tip 61 fixed to the tip of the firing hammer 30, a rail member 33 attached to the front surface of the base plate 39 with a predetermined position on the movement locus of the hammer tip 61 as the firing position, and the rail member 33 at the firing position. A launching stopper 34 for regulating counterclockwise rotation of the hammer tip 61 from the ball-hitting position where the stationary game ball can be hit, and a standby position (initial position) in the rotation operation of the launching hammer 30. A return time stopper 35 that regulates the ball, a shooting ball confirmation switch 36 for detecting the presence or absence of a game ball stopping at the shooting position, a hinge 37 for the upper shooting device, and a shooting opening facing the game area 8 and a mouth 38 (see FIGS. 8, 9, 16 and 18).

Although detailed illustration is omitted, the shooting solenoid 13 in the hitting ball shooting device 29 is such that the rotary drive shaft 60 reciprocates at a strength (speed) corresponding to the rotation operation angle of the hitting handle 10 . The shooting hammer 30 of the ball shooting device 29 has a fixed portion 301 fixed to the rotary drive shaft 60 of the shooting solenoid 13 , and extends in a gentle arc from the fixed portion 301 , the tip of which is aligned with the axis of the rotary drive shaft 60 . A rod portion 302 facing the normal direction and having the tip 61 fixed to the tip thereof, and a stopper extending to the opposite side of the rod portion 302 across the fixing portion 301 and capable of abutting against the stopper 34 at the time of firing. A contact portion 303 is provided. When the stopper contact portion 303 of the firing hammer 30 comes into contact with the firing stopper 34, the counterclockwise rotation in a front view is restricted (see FIG. 8).

A ball supply port 63 formed in a ball feeding unit base (described later) of the ball feeding device 28 is arranged directly above the rail member 33 of the hitting ball launching device 29 . The rail member 33 stops one game ball sent out from the ball supply port 63 by the ball sending operation of the ball sending member 32 of the ball sending device 28, which will be described later, at the shooting position.

The rail member 33 is formed by bending a metal plate, and includes a mounting plate portion 331 attached and fixed to the base plate 39 and a rail portion 332 formed by bending the mounting plate portion 331 forward. and (see FIG. 8). The rail portion 332 for setting the firing position has a substantially L shape inclined 45 degrees to the left when viewed from the front. (see FIG. 8). The left rail plate 333 is formed with a through hole 335 through which the tip 61 passes when the firing hammer 30 hits a ball (see FIGS. 9 and 21).

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, when viewed from the front, the portion of the right side of the ball shooting device 29 of the upper shooting device 12 extending from the vertical center to the lower end is exposed to face the game area 8. ing. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 16, a launch port decoration member 64 is provided on the right front side of the base plate 39, and the launch port decoration member 64 is attached to the base plate 39 and a ball feed unit base 67, which will be described later. ing.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 16, the launch port decoration member 64 is arranged so that the right side and the lower side face are exposed to face the play area 8, so that the right side of the launch port decoration member 64 is exposed. A ball entry prevention wall 51 is formed on the surface portion and the lower side portion to prevent the game ball hit into the game area 8 from entering the ball launching device 29 . The launch port 38 is formed in a ball entry prevention wall 51 on the right side of the launch port decoration member 64 . It has an arch shape that rises forward.

As will be understood with reference to FIGS. 8 and 16, the launch port 38 is positioned obliquely to the right and above the rail portion 332 in a front view. As understood from FIGS. 8 and 17, the distance between the rail portion 332 (shooting position) and the launching port 38 is short (approximately twice the diameter of the game ball P). It is possible to reliably hit the shot game ball into the game area 8 without generating a foul ball.

The shooting ball confirmation switch 36 detects the presence or absence of a game ball stopped at the shooting position, and the game ball is not detected when the game ball at the shooting position is hit by the shooting hammer 30 and shot. By switching to , it is detected that one game ball has been shot by the shooting hammer 30 .

The shot ball confirmation switch 36 consists of a transmissive photosensor, and a light projecting part and a light receiving part are arranged so as to straddle the rail part 332 that sets the shooting position. The shooting ball confirmation switch 36 is arranged with respect to the shooting position by being supported by the photo bracket 361 , and the photo bracket 361 is attached and fixed to the lower front surface of the base plate 39 .

The ball shooting device 29 includes a stopper cover 62 covering the front surface of a shooting stopper 34 capable of regulating the rotation end of the shooting hammer 30 toward the ball-striking position, and a stopper cover 62 located away from the ball-striking position of the shooting hammer 30. A return stopper 35 is provided for restricting the end of rotation (the end of rotation in the clockwise direction when viewed from the front). The surfaces of the stoppers 34 and 35 are covered with rubber so that they can absorb the impact when the firing hammer 30 comes into contact with them, and also suppress the noise caused by the contact. .

In the hitting ball launching device 29, the shooting solenoid 13 is driven by a ball information control section, which will be described later, with driving strength corresponding to the rotation operation of the hitting handle 10. The solenoid 31 is driven to perform a ball-hitting operation according to the drive timing described later (see FIG. 24). Specifically, in the ball feeding device 28 that supplies the game ball to the ball shooting device 29, when the ball feeding solenoid 31 is driven (ON), the game ball received by the ball feeding member 32 is fed to the ball shooting device 29. When the driving of the ball feed solenoid 31 is released (OFF), the ball feed member 32 receives the game ball.

In the ball shooting device 29, when the ball shooting handle 10 is operated to shoot, the firing solenoid 13 is repeatedly energized and de-energized with a voltage corresponding to the amount of operation. 8 and 17, the firing hammer 30 rotates in the firing direction (counterclockwise) from the initial position (FIG. 17) to the firing position. After hitting the stationary game ball with the mallet tip 61 (FIG. 8), it rotates clockwise and repeats the shooting operation to return to the initial position.

[Ball feeding device 28]
Next, the ball feeding device 28 will be described. 10 and 11, the ball feeding device 28 is mainly constructed as a unit, and has a ball inlet 66 connected to the front end of the ball delivery trough 23 of the ball supply path member 24 shown in FIG. It has a gutter 65 and a ball supply port 63 connected to the pumping communication gutter 65 and for supplying the game ball entered from the pumping communication gutter 65 to the ball shooting device 29, and the rear side is open. A unit base 67, a ball feed unit cover 68 that closes the rear end of the ball feed unit base 67 and has an open front, a ball feed solenoid 31 disposed below the ball feed unit base 67, and a ball feed solenoid 31. and a ball feeding member 32 that simultaneously realizes a ball feeding operation and a return ball blocking operation described later by driving the ball.

The pumping communication gutter 65 is gently slanted downward from the rear end where the ball inlet 66 is formed to the front end. The ball feeding unit base 67 is attached to the rear left side of the base plate 39, the front end of the lifting communication gutter 65 is connected to the upper right side, and the front end of the lifting communication gutter 65 is connected to the rear view. From the right side of the upper part to the center in the vertical direction, a gentle downward slope is applied to the left in the horizontal direction, and the ball feed guide gutter 69 is bent downward in the middle, and the lower end of the ball feed guide gutter 69. It has a ball supply port 63 penetrating in the longitudinal direction (see FIG. 11).

In addition, on the rear surface of the ball feed unit cover 68 facing the portion above the ball supply port 63 below the bent portion of the ball feed guide gutter 69, there is a game ball waiting in the ball feed guide gutter 69. A launch standby ball detection switch 70 for detecting the presence or absence of a ball is provided (see FIG. 10). The waiting-to-be-fired ball detection switch 70 is composed of a flat-type proximity switch that detects a game ball as a metal object by means of a change in the impedance of a detection coil of a high-frequency oscillation circuit.

The ball feed solenoid 31 of the present embodiment is composed of an electromagnet, and is disposed below the ball feed unit base 67 with the attracting portion that exerts the attracting function by excitation directed downward. Also, the ball feed member 32 is arranged under the ball feed unit base 67 adjacent to the left side of the ball feed solenoid 31 . The ball-feeding member 32 in this embodiment is moved to a permissible position where the ball-feeding solenoid 31 is energized/de-energized to allow the ball to pass through without interfering with the ball fired from the ball-hitting position by the ball-hitting operation of the ball-hitting device 29. and a return ball blocking position for blocking entry of the return ball returning from the game area 8 to the launch port 38.

[Ball feeding member 32]
The ball feeding member 32 will be described below. 18 is a right side view showing the upper firing device 12 (the ball feed solenoid 31 is de-energized, the ball feed member 32 is in the holding position and the return ball blocking position), and FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of the upper launcher 12 taken along line -B (ball feed solenoid 31 de-energized, ball feed member 32 in holding position and return ball blocking position); FIG. is a perspective view showing the ball feeding member 32, the ball feeding shaft, and the ball feeding sheet metal in FIG.

21 is a right side view showing the upper firing device 12 (the ball feed solenoid 31 is energized, and the ball feed member assumes the supply position and the allowable position), and FIG. 22 is an arrow view BB in FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the top launcher shown broken in line (ball feed solenoid 31 energized, ball feed member 32 in feed and allow positions);

As shown in FIG. 20, a shaft hole 75 extending in the left-right direction is formed in the middle of the ball feeding member 32 in the up-down direction. A ball feed shaft 76 is inserted through the shaft hole 75 with both ends protruding, and both left and right ends of the ball feed shaft 76 are supported by the ball feed unit base 67 . As a result, the ball feeding member 32 is supported so as to be rotatable in the front-rear direction with the ball feeding shaft 76 as the center of rotation.

An arm portion 77 is formed to extend rearward in the middle of the ball feed member 32, and at the lower end of the arm portion 77, as shown in FIG. A lever portion 72 is formed, and a sheet metal accommodating portion 73 is formed in the operating lever portion 72, and a ball feeding sheet metal 71 made of a metal material attracted by a magnet is accommodated in the sheet metal accommodating portion 73.

Immediately below the sheet metal accommodating portion 73, there is formed a sheet metal locking claw 78 that protrudes rearward to prevent the ball feeding sheet metal 71 from coming off. This prevents the ball feeding sheet metal 71 from dropping out of the sheet metal accommodating portion 73. - 特許庁

As shown in FIG. 20, a hooking projection 79 is formed at the end of the operating rod portion 72, and one end of the tension spring 52 shown in FIG. 19, the other end of the tension spring 52 is engaged with a spring engaging portion 53 formed on the bottom surface of the ball feeding unit base 67. As shown in FIG.

20, above the shaft hole 75 of the ball feeding member 32, a roof-shaped ball feeding portion 74 is formed integrally with the ball feeding member 32 toward the lower edge of the ball feeding port 63. there is The ball feeding portion 74 is formed in a mountain shape with the center of the upper surface rising upward, and the ball feeding port 63 formed at the lower end of the ball feeding guide gutter 69 in FIG. A ball feed guide surface 80 inclined downward toward the lower edge, and an arc convex rearward from the center, that is, toward the ball feed unit cover 68 closing the rear end of the ball feed guide gutter 69 in FIG. and a sphere retaining surface 81 which is sloped downward. A hanging piece 82 hanging downward is formed at the rear end of the ball holding surface 81 of the ball feeding portion 74 .

18, 20, and 21, the upper portion of the ball feeding member 32 in the vertical direction passes through the ball feeding unit base 67, and as shown in FIGS. A rectangular frame-shaped return ball blocking portion 83 is formed extending toward the hitting path from the center of the return ball blocking portion 83, and a rectangular shaped ball passage opening 85 is formed in the center of the return ball blocking portion 83.

As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the frame-shaped return ball blocking portion 83 integrally formed with the ball feeding member 32 is arranged adjacent to the ejection opening 38 in the direction of the ejection position. In addition, on the firing position side of the portion located on the front side of the frame of the return ball blocking portion 83, a ball stopping portion 84 is formed whose base portion is horizontal and projects toward the rail portion 332 in a triangular shape. The ball stopper 84 is arranged in front of the ball feeder 74 and above the firing position so as to face the ball feeder 74 .

Further, on the ball feeding unit cover 68, a ball guide protrusion 54 having a vertical cross-section of a "<" shape facing forward is formed at a position facing the ball feeding port 63 behind the ball feeding port 63. A forward guiding surface 55 facing the ball supply port 63 and having an arcuate concave shape is formed on the upper portion of the ball guide protrusion 54 facing forward. The lower part of the ball guide protrusion 54 is formed to be curved backward, and the space below the lower part of the ball guide protrusion 54 is provided with the ball feed member 32 in the front-rear direction around the ball feed shaft 76 as the center of rotation. In the rotating operation, the ball feeding portion 74 can be retracted. A stopper piece 56 is formed at the lower end of the ball guide protrusion 54 so as to protrude forward.

[Ball Feeding Operation and Return Ball Blocking Operation of Ball Feeding Member 32]
The ball feeding operation and return ball blocking operation by the ball feeding member 32 of the ball feeding device 28 constructed as above will be described. When the ball feed solenoid 31 is in a non-excited state, it is engaged with the locking projection 79 at the end of the operating rod portion 72 of the ball feeding member 32 and the spring locking portion 53 formed on the lower bottom surface of the ball feeding unit base 67. Due to the tensile force of the stopped tension spring 52 , the lower end of the ball feeding member 32 is drawn toward the ball feeding unit base 67 .

As shown in FIG. 18, in a normal state (when the ball-feeding solenoid 31 is in a non-excited state), the ball-feeding member 32 is in a rotational posture with the ball-feeding shaft 76 as the center of rotation. The blocking part 83 takes a rearwardly inclined posture, and in a side view from the game area 8, i.e., on the ball-hitting path from the shooting position of the ball-hitting device 29 to the ejection port 38, the ejection port 38 is immediately shot. At the position on the position direction side, the portion of the return ball blocking portion 83 positioned in front of the frame is in a posture that intersects the launch port 38, and the hitting ball passing port 85 is positioned relative to the launch port 38 on the hitting path. is shifted rearward, making it impossible for the ball to pass through the hitting ball passage opening 85 on the hitting path. That is, the return ball blocking portion 83 takes a return ball blocking position to block entry of a return ball returning from the game area 8 to the launch port 38 in this posture.

After the hitting ball is shot, the return ball blocking part 83 takes the return ball blocking position so that the game ball shot to the game area 8 is blocked from entering the launch port 38 as a return ball. Since the returning ball can be blocked, it is possible to prevent the player from losing interest in the game due to the returning ball.

Also, as shown in FIG. 19, in the normal state (when the ball-feeding solenoid 31 is in the non-excited state), the ball-feeding member 32 is such that the ball-holding surface 81 of the ball-feeding portion 74 protrudes from the ball-feeding unit cover 68 into the ball guide projection. In the space below the portion 54, the hanging piece 82 formed at the lower end of the ball feeding portion 74 abuts the stopper piece 56, and the ball feeding member 32 is in a rotating posture with the ball feeding shaft 76 as the center of rotation. , is restricted to the holding position in the ball feeding operation.

At the holding position, the ball feed guide surface 80 of the ball feed portion 74 is positioned in front of the lower end of the front guide surface 55 of the ball guide protrusion 54 and is positioned on the extension of the front guide surface 55 in the tangential direction. Also, the ball stop portion 84 approaches the ball supply port 63, the game ball P1 is caught in the gap between the lower end of the ball supply port 63 and the ball stop portion 84, and the game ball P1 stays there. becomes.

[Excitation of ball feed solenoid 31]
When the ball feed solenoid 31 is energized and excited, the ball feed sheet metal 71 is attracted upward by the electromagnet function, and the actuating rod portion 72 of the ball feed member 32 moves upward against the tensile force of the tension spring 52. The ball feeding member 32 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 19 around the ball feeding shaft 76, and as shown in FIGS. to an allowable position.

As a result, the ball stopping portion 84 moves forward from the position where it approaches the ball supply port 63, and at the same time, the ball feeding portion 74 moves forward to feed the game ball P1, which has remained at the holding position, to the shooting position (FIG. 22). reference).

As shown in FIG. 21, when the ball feed solenoid 31 is in an energized state, the rectangular frame-shaped return ball blocking portion 83 assumes an upright position in a rotational posture about the ball feed shaft 76, and the game area is 8, that is, at a position immediately on the firing position direction side of the firing port 38 in the ball-hitting path from the firing position of the batting ball launcher 29 to the firing port 38, with respect to the firing port 38 in the hitting path The hitting ball passage opening 85 is at a position that allows the ball to pass through the hitting ball passage opening 85 on the hitting path. That is, in this posture, the return ball blocking portion 83 assumes a permissive position that allows the passage of the hit ball without interfering with the hit ball that has been shot from the shooting position.

As shown in FIG. 22, when the ball feed solenoid 31 is in an energized state, the ball holding surface 81 of the ball feed portion 74 is positioned in front of the ball guide protrusion 54 of the ball feed unit cover 68 at the supply position in the ball feed operation. Then, the subsequent game ball P2 is stuck in the gap between the upper end of the ball supply port 63 and the ball holding surface 81 of the ball feeder 74, and the subsequent game ball P2 stays. By the ball feeding operation described above, the ball feeding member 32 feeds the game balls aligned and stored in the ball feeding guide gutter 69 one by one to the shooting position of the hitting ball launching device 29 .

24 is a time chart showing drive timings of the ball feeding solenoid 31 and the firing solenoid 13. As shown in FIG. The shooting solenoid 13 is turned on when a period A has passed since the ball feed solenoid 31 was turned on, and the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned off when a period B has passed since the ball feeding solenoid 13 was turned on, and the ball is fed. The firing solenoid 13 is turned off when the period C has passed since the solenoid 31 was turned off.

In this embodiment, the period A is 300 ms, the period B is 30 ms, and the period C is 50 ms. When the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned on, the ball feed member 32 feeds the shot ball to the shooting position (rail portion 332). That is, the shot ball is detected by the shot ball confirmation switch 36 . In this embodiment, it is determined that there is a ball to be launched when a game ball stopped at the launch position is detected by the ball launch confirmation switch 36 for a predetermined time period (30 ms as the period D). do.

In this way, when a game ball stopped at the shooting position is detected by the shooting ball confirmation switch 36 for a predetermined period of time, it is determined that there is a shooting ball. False counts of balls can be eliminated, increasing certainty in detecting launched balls.

Operation control is performed by the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control unit 118, which will be described later, according to the driving timing of the ball feed solenoid 31 and the shooting solenoid 13 shown in FIG. That is, when the return ball blocking portion 83 of the ball feeding member 32 is at the allowable position, the ball shooting device 29 is actuated to cause the shooting hammer 30 to perform a ball hitting operation, and a predetermined amount of time is set from the operation of the ball shooting device 29. After the specified time has elapsed (after 30 ms has elapsed), the ball feed solenoid 31 is de-energized and the return ball blocking section 83 is moved to the return ball blocking position, so that the return ball is blocked by the return ball blocking section 83. to control.

According to this, when the return ball blocking part 83 takes the allowable position, the ball is allowed to pass through without interfering with the ball fired from the shooting position. It is possible to prevent the player from feeling distrustful of hitting the ball at the target position, and to suppress the decline in interest in the game.

After the hitting ball is shot, the return ball blocking part 83 takes the return ball blocking position so that the game ball shot to the game area 8 is blocked from entering the launch port 38 as a return ball. Since the returning ball can be blocked, it is possible to prevent the player from losing interest in the game due to the returning ball.

In this embodiment, the return ball blocker 83 is integrally formed with the ball feed member 32, so that the ball is fed to the shooting position by energizing/de-energizing one electric drive source (ball feed solenoid 31). and return ball prevention can be realized at the same time. That is, when the ball feeding member 32 is at the supply position, the ball passage opening 85 is positioned on the ball-hitting path through which the game ball shot from the shooting position passes, and when it is at the holding position, it is out of the ball-hitting path. A frame-shaped return ball blocking portion 83 is formed so that a hitting ball passage opening 85 is positioned at the retracted position.

When the ball feeding member 32 takes the supply position, the return ball blocking part 83 takes the allowable position and does not interfere with the hit ball shot from the shooting position, thus preventing the game ball from being hit at the target position. It is possible to prevent the player from having a sense of distrust, and to prevent the player from losing interest in the game.

Further, when the ball feeding member 32 moves to the holding position, the return ball blocking part 83 moves to the return ball blocking position at the same time, so that the game ball shot to the game area 8 becomes a return ball and enters the launch port 38. can be blocked and the return ball can be prevented, so that the return ball can prevent the decrease in interest in the game.

In addition, the game machine described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 has a structure in which a ball is forcibly pried open the return ball prevention valve that closes the launch port, and the ball is launched or pushed out into the game area. For this reason, an electric drive source with a size and power corresponding to the hitting operation is required, and a large amount of current must be supplied to obtain the hitting force, resulting in high power consumption. be.

On the other hand, in the upper launching device 12 of this example, when the launching hammer 30 performs a ball-striking operation, the return-ball blocking portion 83 of the ball-sending member 32 is in the permissible position (striking-ball passage opening 85 and Since the launching port 38 is in line with the ball hitting path) and does not interfere with the ball, it is sufficient to provide the hitting force to hit the ball in the game area 8, so the power is small. Employing an electric drive source can sufficiently cope with this problem. For this reason, the electric drive source can be made smaller and thinner, and the power consumption required for its drive can be kept low.

Also, as shown in FIG. 24, the firing solenoid 13 is energized for a period C from the time when the firing solenoid 13 is turned on, and the tip 61 protrudes through the through hole 335 of the rail portion 332 (FIG. 9). As a result, the game ball can be prevented from being stopped on the rail portion 332, and the return ball can be prevented and the erroneous count of the shot ball can be more reliably counted.

Although the return ball blocking portion 83 of the present embodiment has a rectangular frame shape and includes a hit ball passage opening 85 in the center, the shape of the return ball blocking portion 83 is not limited to this. , strip-shaped, or rod-shaped, and the ball passage opening 85 may not be provided. That is, on the ball-hitting path from the firing position to the launching port 38, the permissible position is provided adjacent to the launching position direction of the launching port 38 and allows the passage of the hit ball without interfering with the hitting ball fired from the launching position. , and a return ball blocking position that blocks entry of a return ball returning from the game area 8 to the launch port 38.例文帳に追加

In the enclosed ball type gaming machine of the present embodiment described above, the ball lifting device 22 is positioned behind the upper launching device 12 arranged on one side of the front and upper portion of the main body frame 2 . Mounted on the rear surface, the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 is positioned above the ball feeding device 28, and between the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 and the top of the upper launcher 12, the ball lifting device 22 A ball supply path member 24 extending in the front-rear direction is provided for feeding the game balls lifted by the above to the ball feeding device 28 from above.

Since it has the above-described structure, the ball supply path member 24 is attached to the rear part of the game board 5. Various members (movable body, power transmission mechanism (for example, gear train) for driving the movable body, left and right Slide rail for guiding direction, drive motor as drive source, position detection sensor for detecting position of movable body, LED board, relay board, etc.) The game ball lifted to the upper part of the body frame 2 by the lifting device 22 can be smoothly sent to the upper launching device 12.例文帳に追加

In addition, since the ball supply path member does not interfere with various members attached to the rear part of the game board, the space formed behind the upper launching device 12 can be provided in the rear part of the game board 5. It can be allocated to the arrangement space of each member.

Also, the upper firing device 12 shown in FIG. 23 employs an electric drive source that is smaller and thinner than the conventional device for the reason described above. As shown in FIG. 23, the electric drive source (shooting solenoid 13) of the ball-hitting device can be made smaller and thinner, so that the electric drive source does not protrude behind the upper firing device 12. , a wider arrangement space 57 for each member attached to the rear part of the game board 5 can be secured accordingly.

In addition, since the upper launching device 12 of this embodiment can be rotated by the upper launching device hinge 37 and can be opened and closed with respect to the main body frame 2 (FIG. 12), when the game board is attached, the left end of the game board can be opened and closed. Since the upper firing unit can be rotated and arranged at a position out of the movement path when inserting the part, the operation of attaching the game board to the main body frame is easy.

In this case, when the upper launching device 12 is opened with respect to the main body frame 2, the ball delivery gutter 23 is provided so that the game balls do not spill even if the game balls remain in the ball delivery gutter 23. It is preferable to provide a spilled ball prevention means for blocking the ball outlet 58 of the.

An embodiment of the spilled ball prevention means (ball outlet opening/closing unit) will be described below. 25 is a front perspective view of the ball outlet opening/closing unit, and FIG. 26 is a rear perspective view of the ball outlet opening/closing unit. Also, FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the upper firing unit and the ball outlet opening/closing unit.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 23, the ball supply path member 24 is formed at the upper end of the ball lifting device 22, and includes a ball sending gutter 23 for sending the lifted game balls forward from above, and an upper firing unit. 12 and connected to the ball delivery gutter 23. When the upper firing unit 12 is closed with respect to the body frame 2, the front end of the ball delivery gutter 23 is By opening the ball outlet 58, the ball outlet 58 and the ball inlet 66 at the rear end of the lifting communication gutter 65 are communicated with each other, and the game balls can be supplied from the ball outlet 58 to the ball inlet 66.例文帳に追加

The ball feeding device of the upper firing device 12 has an opening/closing operation piece 426 for operating the opening/closing shutter 412 of the ball exit opening/closing unit 410 on the right side of the ball feeding unit cover (Fig. 27). When the upper firing device 12 is closed with respect to the body frame 2, the opening/closing operation piece 426 rotates the opening/closing crank 413 by coming into contact with the spherical contact portion 424 of the opening/closing crank 413 in the ball outlet opening/closing unit 410. The opening/closing shutter 412 can be opened by pressing the button.

[Ball exit opening/closing unit]
The ball outlet opening/closing unit 410 in the main body frame 2 of this embodiment is attached to the mounting member 407 attached to the lower surface of the ball delivery gutter 23 of the ball lifting device 22 . When the device 12 is opened, the ball outlet 58 at the front end of the ball delivery gutter 23 in the ball lifting device 22 is closed to prevent the flow of game balls from the ball lifting device 22 to the ball feeding device 28 of the upper launching device 12. It can be blocked.

The sphere outlet opening/closing unit 410 includes a shutter base 411 attached to the vertical hanging wall 408 of the mounting member 407, a plate-like opening/closing shutter 412 held by the shutter base 411 so as to be slidable in the vertical direction, and an opening/closing unit. An opening/closing crank 413 for vertically sliding the shutter 412 and an opening/closing spring 414 for biasing the opening/closing shutter 412 upward via the opening/closing crank 413 are provided.

The shutter base 411 of the ball outlet opening/closing unit 410 includes a pair of vertically extending slide grooves 415 for holding the opening/closing shutter 412 so as to be vertically slidable so as to protrude upward from the upper end of the shutter base 411; A rectangular opening 416 penetrating in the front-rear direction between the pair of slide grooves 415, and a crank disposed on the front surface of the left end in a front view and supporting the opening/closing crank 413 so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the front-rear direction. A support portion 417 and a spring locking portion 418 that locks one end (upper end) of the opening/closing spring 414 are provided. The crank support portion 417 of the shutter base 411 is arranged on the left side of the opening 416 in a front view, and the spring locking portion 418 is arranged in the vicinity of the upper left side of the left-right center in a front view.

The opening/closing shutter 412 of the ball outlet opening/closing unit 410 includes a flat shutter body 419 and a pair of sliding protrusions (not shown) that protrude from the front surface of the shutter body 419 and slide in the slide grooves 415 of the shutter base 411. ), and a laterally long rectangular drive hole 420 that is arranged between the pair of sliding protrusions and faces the opening 416 of the shutter base 411 and penetrates in the front-rear direction.

The opening/closing crank 413 of the ball outlet opening/closing unit 410 includes a shaft portion 421 supported by a crank support portion 417 of the shutter base 411 so as to be rotatable about an axis extending in the front-rear direction, and a shaft portion 421 extending from the right side outer circumference of the shaft portion 421 in the front view to the right side. A driving rod 422 that extends outward and whose tip extends to the vicinity of the center of the opening 416 in the left-right direction, and a driving rod 422 that protrudes rearward from the tip of the driving rod 422 and is slidably inserted into the drive hole 412b of the opening/closing shutter 412. a driving pin 423 extending downward from the lower outer circumference of the shaft portion 421 in a front view, and a contact portion 424 having a spherical tip; and a spring locking portion 425 that locks the (lower end).

In the ball outlet opening/closing unit 410, the opening/closing crank 413 rotates about an axis extending in the front-rear direction, thereby rotating the driving pin 423 of the opening/closing crank 413 in an arc shape in the vertical direction, and simultaneously inserting the driving pin 423. The open/close shutter 412 slides vertically through the drive hole 420 .

In the ball outlet opening/closing unit 410, when the upper firing device 12 is closed with respect to the body frame 2, the contact portion 424 of the opening/closing crank 413 contacts the opening/closing operation piece 426 of the upper firing device 12, and the contact portion 424 rotates clockwise when viewed from the front against the biasing force of the opening/closing spring 414, and the contact portion 424 and the drive pin 423 rotate clockwise when viewed from the front. , the open/close shutter 412 is lowered to open the ball outlet 58 at the front end of the ball delivery gutter 23 . In other words, the ball outlet 58 and the ball inlet 66 at the rear end of the pumping communication gutter 65 are communicated with each other, so that game balls can be supplied from the ball outlet 58 to the ball inlet 66 .

When the upper firing device 12 is opened with respect to the body frame 2 from this state, the abutment between the abutting portion 424 of the opening/closing crank 413 and the opening/closing operation piece 426 of the upper firing device 12 is released, and the opening/closing crank 413 acts as an opening/closing spring. At the same time as the opening/closing shutter 412 is rotated counterclockwise in front view by the urging force of 414, the opening/closing shutter 412 is raised to close the ball outlet 58 at the front end of the ball delivery gutter 23 (Fig. 27). ).

In this manner, the ball outlet opening/closing unit 410 can automatically open and close the ball outlet 58 at the front end of the ball delivery gutter 23 in the ball lifting device 22 in accordance with the opening and closing of the upper firing device 12 with respect to the main body frame 2. Even if the upper launching device 12 is opened while the game balls remain in the ball delivery gutter 23, the game balls can be prevented from spilling out from the ball outlet 58.例文帳に追加

[Irregular shaped ball/magnetic ball ejection unit]
FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining the magnetic ball discharge part cover separated and turned over in FIG. 28 . FIG. 30 is a plan view of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. FIG. 31 is a rear view of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining the base plate of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit. FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit separated into a deformed ball discharge unit and a magnetic ball discharge unit. FIG. 34 is a diagram for explaining the path along which the irregular-shaped balls and the magnetic balls are discharged in the irregular-shaped ball/magnetic ball discharging unit. FIG. 35 is a diagram for explaining how the magnetic spheres are separated from the circulation path and discharged. FIG. 36 is a diagram for explaining a state in which the magnetic sphere reaches the magnetic sphere ejection slope.

As shown in FIG. 28, the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharging unit 20 has a deformed ball discharging function and a magnetic ball discharging function. A deformed ball is a spherical object such as a bearing having a diameter smaller than that of a regular game ball. The deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 is a transparent resin molded product, and is arranged in the lower part of the gaming machine main body (deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit housing portion 19). It has a configuration in which the side is covered with a rear plate (ball receiving gutter base 201). At the top are various winning holes (special variable winning device, general winning port, normal variable winning device) as out balls that flowed down without winning and safe balls that entered various winning ports and flowed down the safe ball discharge route. A recovery port 202 is provided for recovering the game balls. Out balls flow into the recovery port 202 through the out port 42 (see FIGS. 2, 3, and 5). The safe balls flow into the recovery port 202 through the winning port 41 (see FIG. 5).

The circulation path in the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 communicating with the recovery port 202 is formed by meandering left and right in the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 and folding up and down. It has a detection switch 203 , a deformed ball discharging section 204 , a magnetic ball discharging section 205 , a full ball path detection switch 206 , and an appropriate ball amount detection switch 207 . The game balls flowed into the collection port 202 form a line and move along a circulation path in the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 to reach the ball gathering portion 21 connected to the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 . However, the deformed balls and magnetic balls are separated from the normal game ball circulation path in the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 and discharged outside the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 so as not to move to the ball gathering portion 21. be.

Next, the movement of the game balls collected in the collection port 202 within the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 will be described in order. The number of game balls collected in the collection port 202 is counted one by one by the collected ball detection switch 203 . A game ball that has passed through the collected ball detection switch 203 reaches a deformed ball discharge section 204 . When the difference between the number of game balls detected by the recovered ball detection switch 203 and the shot ball detection means increases, it can be detected that an abnormality has occurred in the gaming machine.

The deformed ball discharger 204 consists of a deformed ball discharger base 208 fixed to a deformed ball discharger base mounting portion 212 provided on the ball receiving gutter base 201 and two balls fixed to the deformed ball discharger base 208. Consists of deformed sphere separating shafts 209 and 210 .

As shown in FIGS. 31 and 32 , the deformed ball discharger base mounting portion 212 is a rectangular opening provided in the ball receiving gutter base 201 . As shown in FIG. 28, the irregular-shaped ball discharging part base mounting part 212 is provided at an angle to the ball receiving gutter base 201 so that the side on the recovery port 202 side is higher. As a result, the deformed ball separation shafts 209 and 210 are arranged at an angle, so that the game ball can move from the upstream side 213 (see FIG. 30) toward the downstream side 214 .

FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit separated into a deformed ball discharge unit and a magnetic ball discharge unit. FIG. 33(a) shows the deformed ball discharging portion 204. As shown in FIG. FIG. 33(b) shows the magnetic ball discharging portion 205. As shown in FIG.

The deformed ball discharging part 204 uses the difference in diameter between the legal game ball and the illegal ball to eliminate the illegal ball having a smaller diameter than the legal game ball from the circulation path in the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20. - 特許庁. As shown in FIG. 30, the deformed ball discharge section 204 includes two deformed ball separation shafts 209 and 210 having a circular cross section and arranged side by side from the upstream side 213 to the downstream side 214 of the circulation path. In order to exclude irregularly shaped balls, that is, irregular balls with a smaller diameter than regular gaming balls, from the circulation path in which regular gaming balls circulate, the gap distance between the two irregularly shaped ball separation shafts 209 and 210 is set to The deformed ball separation shaft is narrower than the diameter of the regular game ball and wider than the diameter of the regular game ball on the downstream side 214, that is, the distance between the two deformed ball separation shafts 209 and 210 gradually increases. 209 and 210 are fixed to the deformed ball discharger base 208 .

The game balls that flow down one by one to the irregular ball discharge part 204 via the recovery port 202 and the recovered ball detection switch 203 flow down while rolling across the two irregular ball separation shafts 209 and 210. do. Since the gap distance between the two deformed ball separation shafts 209 and 210 is narrower than the diameter of the normal game ball on the upstream side, the normal game ball does not drop from between the deformed ball separation shafts 209 and 210 .

On the other hand, an irregular ball, which is a deformed ball with a diameter smaller than that of the regular game ball, falls from between the two deformed ball separating shafts 209 and 210 . The dropped deformed balls are discharged from the deformed ball discharge port 216 to the outside of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 through the deformed ball discharge path 215 as shown in FIG. 33(a). The deformed ball discharge path 215 is formed by a deformed ball discharge path forming member 217 attached to the front side of the ball receiving gutter base 201 and to the lower side of the deformed ball discharge portion base 208 . The deformed ball discharge path forming member 217 is also integrally provided with a communication path 218 that guides a ball having the same diameter as a regular game ball to the magnetic ball discharge portion 205 .

A regular-sized game ball that rolls down the two deformed ball separation shafts 209 and 210 falls from between the two deformed ball separation shafts 209 and 210 on the downstream side 214 and passes through the connecting path 218. It reaches the circulation path 219 formed in the magnetic ball discharge part 205 via.

The magnetic ball ejector 205 is fixed to the ball receiving gutter base 201 as shown in FIG. FIG. 33 shows a state in which the magnetic ball discharging portion 205 is removed from the ball receiving gutter base 201. As shown in FIG. The magnetic ball discharge portion 205 is formed with an inclined surface 220 connected to the communication path 218. A steeply descending falling surface 221 is connected to the downstream side of the inclined surface 220, and the extension of the inclined surface 220 is , a magnetic ball discharging ramp 222 is formed. A gap of discontinuous portion 223 is provided so that inclined surface 220 and magnetic ball discharging inclined surface 222 are not continuous. At least one of the side wall 224 and the ceiling wall 225 of the magnetic ball discharging part 205 has a magnet attached to at least one of its front surface, its back surface, or the inside thereof.

FIG. 35 shows an example in which a magnet 229 is mounted in the magnet accommodation space 230 on the back surface of the ceiling wall 225. As shown in FIG. The magnet housing space 230 is formed as a space with a rectangular cross section arranged along the back side of the ceiling wall 225 . The magnet 229 is a flat plate-shaped magnet, and is a permanent magnet having an N pole or an S pole on one side and an S pole or an N pole on the other side. The magnetic force of the magnet is not so strong that the game ball (magnetic ball 232) made of a magnetic material is attracted and its rolling is impeded. It is sufficient that the magnetic ball ejection inclined surface 222 can be reached. The attached magnet may be a permanent magnet or an electromagnet.

A regular game ball 233 flowing from the connecting path 218 rolls down the inclined surface 220 and flows down from the inclined surface 220 while rolling on the falling surface 221 . A regular non-magnetic game ball 233 falls through a discontinuous portion 223 and passes through a circulation path 219 to reach the ball gathering portion 21 connected to the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 .

On the other hand, the irregular sphere (magnetic sphere 232 ) made of a magnetic material adheres to the inner wall surface of the ceiling wall 225 due to the attractive force of the magnet 229 housed in the magnet housing space 230 , and moves along the circulation path 219 upstream of the inclined surface 220 . It rolls down from the side to the downstream side due to the action of gravity. Then, as shown in FIG. 35, the magnetic spheres 232 do not fall from the discontinuous portion 223 and reach the area of the magnetic sphere discharging slope 222 (see FIG. 28) as shown in FIG. Irregular balls made of a magnetic material that have reached the area of the magnetic ball discharge inclined surface 222 are discharged outside the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 through a magnetic ball discharge port 227 via a magnetic ball discharge path 226 (see FIG. 34). ).

A portion of the ceiling wall 225 above the magnetic ball discharging inclined surface 222 is configured as a magnetic force adjustment portion 231 . The magnetic force adjustment portion 231 is formed such that the distance between the magnet housing space 230 and the magnetic ball discharge path 226 increases toward the downstream side of the magnetic ball discharge path 226 . In FIG. 35 , the magnetic ball discharge path 226 has a curved portion, and this curved portion functions as the magnetic force adjustment section 231 . As a result, the distance between the magnetic ball 232 and the magnet 229 increases toward the downstream side of the magnetic ball discharge path 226 . Then, the magnetic force (attractive force) of the magnet 229 acting on the magnetic sphere 232 gradually decreases. As a result, the magnetic balls 232 sticking to the wall surface of the ceiling wall 225 and moving in the downstream direction are separated from the wall surface of the ceiling wall 225 and fall onto the magnetic ball discharging inclined surface 222 . Then, it is discharged from the magnetic ball discharge port 227 via the magnetic ball discharge path 226 .

The deformed balls and the irregular magnetic balls are discharged to the outside of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 through the deformed ball outlet 216 and the magnetic ball outlet 227, respectively (FIG. 34). The deformed balls or magnetic balls discharged from the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 are collected in the discharged ball receiving box 234 (see FIGS. 2, 3, and 5). In this manner, the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 can be used to remove irregular balls made of a deformed ball and a magnetic material from the regular game ball circulation path 219 . In this embodiment, the configuration can be simplified by utilizing gravity to discharge the deformed spheres and magnetic spheres to the outside of the deformed sphere/magnetic sphere discharge unit 20 . The deformed ball discharge path 215 is arranged along the side surface of the magnetic ball discharge part 205, so that the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 can be configured compactly.

The deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20 can remove the deformed ball or the illegal ball made of a magnetic material from the normal game ball circulation path 219 without stopping the game, thereby reducing the interest of the player. On the other hand, it is possible to reduce the chances of employees of the game hall being called to each game machine to deal with the problem of the game machine in order to deal with illegal balls. It should be noted that the deformed ball discharging portion 204 and the magnetic ball discharging portion 205 may be configured independently. In other words, when the deformed balls are discharged by another component in the gaming machine, the magnetic ball discharging section 205 may be configured independently.

In one embodiment of the enclosed ball type game machine of the present invention, a game board having a defined game area, a body frame in which the game board is fitted and accommodated, and a body frame disposed above the body frame, A ball shooting device for shooting game balls toward the game area, and the game balls shot by the ball shooting device are collected on the back side of the game board as enclosed balls, illegal balls are eliminated, and the ball shooting device is re-used. In order to supply to the above, a circulation path including a means for discharging deformed spheres and magnetic spheres, and the enclosed balls arrayed and stored in an array passage formed in a part of the circulation path based on the drive of an electric drive source are 1 A ball feeding device that feeds balls one by one to the firing position of the hitting ball launching device, a main control board that performs game control processing related to a pachinko game, and a main control board that is connected to enable two-way data communication, and the game control processing control of increase/decrease in the number of held balls based on the prize ball command transmitted from the main control board and information on the number of balls fired by the ball shooting device, and control of shooting game balls by the ball shooting device and a ball information control board for controlling feeding of the game balls to the shooting position by the ball feeding device, and a predetermined number of game balls are closedly circulated without paying out the game balls. The hitting ball shooting device includes a shooting rail for stopping the game ball at the shooting position, and an electric driving source to perform a ball shooting operation, and the shooting position a shooting member for shooting a game ball parked at the shooting position; and a shooting ball confirmation means for detecting the game ball parked at the shooting position. a ball detection determination means for determining that there is a ball being fired when the game ball stopped at the firing position is detected by the ball confirmation means; On the condition that the game ball is not detected by the shot ball confirming means, it is determined that the game ball stopped at the shooting position has been shot, and the number of held balls is subtracted by one. and means.

According to the above-described embodiment, when a game ball stopped at the shooting position is detected by the shooting ball confirmation means for a predetermined specified time, the shooting ball detection determination means determines that there is a shooting ball. , on the condition that the shot ball detection determination means determines that there is a shot ball, if the game ball is not detected by the shot ball confirmation means, it is determined that the game ball stopped at the shooting position has been shot, and the number of balls held is reduced by 1, when noise enters the ball confirmation means, it is possible to eliminate the erroneous ball count of the ball due to the noise. and magnetic balls can be excluded from the circulation path in which regular game balls circulate.

[Sphere gathering part 21]
FIG. 37 is a front left perspective view of the ball collecting portion and the ball lifting device, FIG. 38 is a front view of the ball collecting portion and the ball lifting device, and FIG. 39 is a state in which the ball polishing cartridge is removed from the ball collecting portion. It is a front view showing. 40 is a rear perspective view showing a state in which the case of the ball gathering portion and the cover of the ball lifting device are removed, FIG. 41 is an enlarged rear perspective view of the ball gathering portion in FIG. 40, and FIG. is a further enlarged view of FIG. 41, and FIG. 43 is a plan view with the case of the sphere gathering portion removed.

The ball gathering portion 21 (FIG. 41) has a ball feeding passage 275, a ball polishing cartridge 251, a ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 273 (FIG. 39), and a feed inlet switch 156. The ball feed passage 275 has a groove structure having walls on both sides disposed at the bottom of the entire ball collecting portion 21, and includes a ball receiving opening 275a connected to a ball outlet (not shown) of the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20, It has a ball feed port 275b that opens to a ball feed rotor 350 (described later) (FIGS. 41, 42, and 43).

The ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 273 is an opening provided in the ball collecting portion 21 for attaching and detaching the ball polishing cartridge 251 (FIG. 39). The ball polishing cartridge 251 is detachable from the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 273 from the front side of the game machine, and a ball polishing cloth 263 is provided in the portion of the ball polishing cartridge 251 facing the ball lifting device 22 described later. placed (Fig. 41). The lift entrance switch 156 is provided on the outside of one wall forming the ball feeding passage 275, and detects the presence or absence of a game ball passing through the ball feeding passage 275 (Fig. 41).

[Ball lifting device 22]
FIG. 44 is a rear perspective view with the upper and lower gearboxes removed. FIG. 45 is a right side view showing a state in which the cover of the ball lifting device is removed, and FIG. 46 is an enlarged view of part (A) in FIG. 47 is an exploded view of the screw, FIG. 48 is a perspective view of the upper part of the ball lifting device, and FIG. 49 shows the fitted and unfitted states of the screw and the fitting member. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing;

The ball lifting device 22 includes a screw 25 (FIG. 40), a ball lifting motor 150 (FIGS. 38 and 48), a lifting guide rail 282 (FIGS. 40 and 44), and an upper gearbox 356 (FIG. 37). , FIG. 40), a lower gearbox 357 (FIGS. 37 and 40), a ball feeding rotor 350 (FIG. 40), a ball feeding inclined portion 351 (FIGS. 40 and 41), and a lifting portion cover 353 ( 37), a spiral base cover 352 (FIG. 37), a lift ramp member 354 (FIG. 46), and a ball delivery trough 23 (FIGS. 44, 46, 48).

The spiral base cover 352 and the lifting section cover 353 are a cover member 368 arranged to surround the screw 25 and are made of transparent resin (acrylic resin). The spiral base cover 352 is provided with an oblique opening 281 in the portion facing the ball polishing cartridge 251 in the ball gathering portion 21 (FIG. 39).
Also, the upper surface of the cover member 368 is formed with a projection for installing the lower surface of the upper gear box 356 (FIG. 69).

The screw 25 is arranged vertically from the base to the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 inside the rectangular tubular cover member 368 . The cover member 368 is arranged so as to surround the screw 25 by assembling the spiral base cover 352 and the lifting section cover 353 . The screw 25 is composed of a screw shaft 25a, two small-pitch ridge members 25b located above and below, and four large-pitch ridge members 25c located in the center (Fig. 45). . These are fitted on the screw shaft 25a.

The small-pitch ridge member 25b is composed of a cylindrical portion 25e and a spiral ridge 25d (FIG. 45). As shown in FIG. 47, the small-pitch ridge member 25b is formed by assembling a half-split body 25bR and a half-split body 25bL, which are divided by a vertical plane including the screw shaft 25a, with the screw shaft 25a interposed therebetween. considered to be one. A pair of concave portions 25g and convex portions 25h for assembling the halves 25bR and 25bL on both sides are formed vertically on the halved cut surface of the cylindrical portion 25e. can.

The upper edges 25i of the halves 25bR and 25bL are formed with upper edge recesses 25j that open upward, and the lower edges 25k are formed with lower edge protrusions 25m that protrude downward. The upper edge concave portion 25j and the lower edge convex portion 25m connect the small pitch ridge member 25b and the large pitch ridge member 25c in the vertical direction and transmit rotation to each other.

The same applies to the large-pitch ridge member 25c, and although the same reference numerals are given and the detailed description is omitted, the pitch of the spiral ridge 25d is larger than that of the small-pitch ridge member 25b. The portions where the spiral ridges 25d of the small-pitch ridge member 25b and the helical ridges 25d of the large-pitch ridge member 25c continue are smoothly continued although the pitch changes. The large-pitch ridge member 25c is composed of a half-split body 25cR and a half-split body 25cL.

Note that the pitch is the interval between the spiral ridges 25d along the straight line. The pitch of the spiral ridges 25d of the small-pitch ridge member 25b is smaller than the pitch of the helical ridges 25d of the large-pitch ridge member 25c. For example, the pitch of the small-pitch ridge members 25b is 25 mm, and the pitch of the large-pitch ridge members 25c is 43.2 mm.

A screw shaft 25a shown in FIG. 47 is a rotating shaft of the screw 25, and as shown in FIG. spur gear) is fixed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 49, the small pitch projection member 25b at the bottom of the screw 25 has a lower edge projection 25m and a fitting recess 366a of a fitting member 366 integrally formed with the lower lifting gear 362. The screw shaft 25a and the lower lifting gear 362 are driven to rotate integrally with each other.

The ball lifting motor 150 is a motor that drives the screw 25, and is attached to the lower surface of the upper gear box 356 in the ball lifting device 22 (Figs. 38 and 48).

The upper gearbox 356 is arranged at the upper end of the ball lifting device 22, and accommodates and pivotally supports a ball lifting motor gear 358, an idle gear 359, and an upper lifting gear 360 (Figs. 40 and 44). . A ball-lifting motor gear 358 is fixed to the drive shaft of the ball-lifting motor 150 and meshes with an idle gear 359 . The idle gear 359 is a two-stage gear that integrates an upper gear with a large number of teeth and a lower gear with a small number of teeth on the lower surface thereof. It meshes with the upper lifting gear 360 . These gears are spur gears that reduce the vertical dimension of the upper gearbox. The upper lifting gear 360 is fixed to the upper end of the screw shaft 25a. With these gear arrangements, the screw 25 is driven to rotate by the ball lift motor 150 .

The lower gear box 357 is arranged from the lower end of the ball lifting device 22 to the lower end of the ball collecting portion 21, and accommodates and pivotally supports a lower lifting gear 362 and a ball feeding rotating body gear 363 (Fig. 44). The lower lifting gear 362 is fixed to the lower end of the screw shaft 25a and meshes with the ball feeding rotating body gear 363. As shown in FIG. The gear ratio between the ball feeding rotor gear 363 and the lower lifting gear 362 is 2:1.

A ball-feeding rotor 350 is fixed to a gear shaft 363 a of a ball-feeding rotor gear 363 , and the ball-feeding rotor 363 drives and rotates the ball-feeding rotor 350 . The ball feeding rotor 350 is arranged corresponding to the ball feeding port 275b of the ball feeding passage 275 in the ball gathering portion 21, and is a low columnar member. A ball engaging recess 350a is provided for receiving a ball. The ball engaging recess 350a has a depth that accommodates approximately half a playing ball (Fig. 43).

The ball feeding inclined portion 351 (FIG. 42) is a member having a slope formed around the ball feeding rotating body 350 and used to lift the game ball. The range in which the ball feeding slanted portion 351 exists is from the position of the ball feeding port 275b, which is the exit of the ball feeding passage 275 on the side of the ball feeding rotator, with respect to the rotation direction of the ball feeding rotator 350. 25 to the transfer position.

As described above, the ball feeding inclined portion 351 is arcuate along the outer periphery of the ball feeding rotating body 350 from the ball feeding port 275b to the transfer position, and is 7 mm (about 5 to 8 mm) upward from the position of the ball feeding port 275b. ) It has an inclined surface 351a rising to a high delivery position and a top inclined portion 351b projecting from the top toward the screw 25 and inclined downward. The width of the inclined surface 351a is 4 mm (approximately 3 to 5 mm), and the top inclined surface 351b is formed in a range larger than the diameter of the game ball before and after the delivery position with respect to the rotation direction of the ball feeding rotor 350.

The positional relationship in plan view between the ball feeding rotating body 350 and the screw 25 is such that the game ball dropped from the top inclined surface 351b can be received between the pitches of the spiral ridges 25d. A cover member 368 (not shown) is arranged along the outer periphery of the ball feeding inclined portion 351 up to the vicinity of the transfer position to prevent the game ball from falling from the inclined surface 351a.

A guide block 365 (FIGS. 42 and 43) is arranged on the upper surface of the lower gearbox 357 in close proximity to the lower front side of the screw 25. As shown in FIG. The guide block 365 has an arcuate spherical guide surface 365a adjacent to the spiral ridge 25d of the screw 25 and a stopper surface 365b following this. The spherical guide surface 365a is formed from the vicinity of the top inclined surface 351b to the opening 281 provided in the spiral base cover 352, and the tip thereof serves as a stopper surface 365b (FIG. 43).

Two lifting guide rails 282 are arranged adjacent to each other in parallel with the screw 25, and each have a diameter of about 5 mm and serve as a guide for linearly guiding the game ball lifted by the screw 25 upward. is a round bar-shaped guide member. The lift guide rail 282 is located on the opposite side of the ball feed rotor 350 with respect to the direction of rotation of the screw 25, and is positioned from a position corresponding to the upper end of an opening 281 (FIG. 39) obliquely provided in the spiral base cover 352. It is arranged vertically upward and its upper end is fixed to the lower surface of the upper gearbox 356 . The interval between two adjacent lifting guide rails 282 is a width (5 to 8 mm as the inner interval of the lifting guide rails 282) that a game ball (11 mm in diameter) cannot pass through.
In addition, when the game ball is lifted, it is lifted while contacting the guide rail 282, so the lift guide rail 282 has a low coefficient of friction and is guided from the game ball generated by the rotation of the screw 25. It should be rigid enough not to be deformed by the pressing force to the rail 282 . It is preferable to use stainless steel as the material.

The support member 367 is a cushion member that prevents deformation of the lifting guide rail 282 and absorbs vibration transmitted between the game ball and the lifting guide rail 282 and to the upper launching device 12. 282 in its original position, and is thick enough to fit between a cover member 368 consisting of the spiral base cover 352 and the lifting section cover 353 and the lifting guide rail 282. It is a plate-shaped block member having a flat surface on the side that contacts the cover member 368 and a concave portion on the side that supports the lifting guide rail 282 .
The lifting guide rail 282 has such rigidity that it is not deformed by the pressing force from the game ball to the guide rail 282 caused by the rotation of the screw 25, but the pressing force from the game ball is applied over a long period of time. Then, the lifting guide rail 282 is gradually deformed in the pressing direction, and the game ball may be deviated from the guidance by the lifting guide rail 282, so the deformation is restricted.

Furthermore, since the screw 25 and the lifting guide rail 282, etc., are designed to have a clearance in the part through which the game ball passes, for example, the vibration generated by driving the ball lifting motor 150 can be generated by the screw. 25 and the lifting guide rail 282, there is a possibility that abnormal noise may occur between the lifting guide rail 282 and the game ball. is enclosed, if an abnormal noise occurs in the lifting device 22, it will resonate and become louder. However, by arranging the support member 367, it is possible to absorb the vibration generated in the game machine and suppress the generation of abnormal noise.
The support members 367 are arranged between the cover member 368 and the lifting guide rail 282 in such a number that deformation of the guide rail 282 can be restricted and abnormal noise due to vibration is not generated.

The lifting slope member 354 shown in FIG. 46 is a block member having a slope formed on the lower surface of the upper gear box 356 facing the upper end of the screw 25, and the slope intersects with the path through which the game balls are raised. A game ball vertically lifted by a screw 25 is turned to a horizontal direction and guided to a ball delivery gutter 23. - 特許庁

The ball sending gutter 23 is provided at the upper end of the spiral base cover 352 and is an inclined passage for sending game balls guided from the lifting slope member 354 to the upper launching device 12 . Also, on the side surface of the ball delivery gutter 23, a ball removal member 355 for discharging game balls inside the game machine to the outside of the game machine is provided (FIGS. 44 and 48). The ball removal member 355 is a removable cover member, and can be removed from the side wall of the ball delivery gutter 23 by operating a knob at the bottom to open the opening provided in the side wall. The ball delivery gutter 23 has an oblique portion, and a ball removing member 355 is arranged on the wall on the tip side of the oblique portion (FIG. 44).

Further, a shot ball standby ball detection switch 26 for detecting the presence or absence of a game ball is arranged on the outer surface of the ball delivery gutter 23 (FIG. 45). When the shooting standby ball detection switch 26 does not detect any game balls, the screw 25 is driven and new game balls are supplied from the ball lifting device 22 to the upper shooting device 12 one by one.

[Operation of Ball Gathering Part 21 and Ball Lifting Device 22]
The game balls sent from the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20, which constitutes a part of the circulation path, pass through the ball sending passage 275 of the ball gathering portion 21 and are sent to the ball sending rotating body 350 in the ball lifting device 22. be done. On the other hand, the screw 25 is rotated via the gear trains 358, 359 and 360 by driving the ball lifting motor 150, and the ball feeding rotor 350 is rotated via the screw shaft 25a and the lower gear trains 362 and 363. Since the gear ratio between the lower lifting gear 362 and the ball feeding rotor gear 363 is 2:1, two revolutions of the screw 25 cause one revolution of the ball feeding rotor 350 . The ball feeding rotor 350 receives game balls one by one from the ball feeding passage 275 to the ball engaging recess 350a and rotates counterclockwise (FIG. 43).

After that, due to the rotation of the ball feeding rotor 350, the game ball is engaged with the ball engaging recess 350a and moves, and the remaining outer half moves along the inclined surface 351a of the ball feeding inclined portion 351, and the top inclined surface 351b is reached. Since the top inclined surface 351b is inclined downward, the game ball is sent from that position to the spiral ridge 25d of the small-pitch ridge member 25b. At this time, the game balls sent from the slightly elevated top inclined surface 351b are spaced apart from the following game balls, and are reliably separated one by one.
In addition, in order to carry out stable feeding of the game ball, it is conceivable to make the end portion of the top inclined surface 351b and the delivery position of the game ball of the small pitch ridge member 25b approximately the same height.
In addition, when the game ball is sent from the top inclined surface 351b to the small-pitch ridge member 25d, it is not limited to using the downward slope. For example, a rail may be used to guide the game ball to the small-pitch ridge member 25d. .
Also, when the step between the terminal end of the inclined surface 351a and the small pitch ridge member 25d at the bottom of the screw 25 that receives the game ball is small, the game ball can be dropped directly from the inclined surface 351a to the small pitch ridge member 25d. It is possible.

Next, the game ball moves along the ball guide surface 365a of the guide block 365 and collides with the stopper surface 365b as the small pitch ridge member 25b rotates. During this time, the game ball rises as the screw 25 rotates and reaches the lower end of the opening 281 provided in the spiral base cover 352 . In this case, the ball feed rotor 350 has the ball engaging recesses 350a at every 180 degrees as described above, and rotates at half the speed of the screw 25. A game ball is supplied to the screw 25 . Since one-half rotation of the ball-feeding rotor corresponds to one pitch of the small-pitch ridge member 25b, the game ball sent from the ball-feeding rotator 350 is always one ball between the pitches of the small-pitch ridge member 25b. delivered one by one and continuously. (Fig. 41).
That is, the game balls are prevented from being strung together in the ball lifting device 22.例文帳に追加

The ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251 is brought into contact with the ball polishing cartridge 251 through the opening 281 . That is, as the game ball is lifted by the screw 25 of the ball lifting device 22, the game ball is rubbed against the ball polishing cloth 263 through the opening 281, and the game ball is cleaned and polished (FIG. 39). By being guided obliquely upward, the area of the ball polishing cloth 263 can be effectively utilized.

After passing through the opening 281, the game ball is lifted up to the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 as the screw 25 rotates. Guided and moved in a straight line. The guide rail 282 allows the game ball lifted by the screw 25 to move in the vertical direction and restricts the movement in the horizontal direction. During this time, the movement of the game ball is relatively slowed down due to the small pitch at the lower small-pitch ridge member 25a so as not to interfere with receiving the ball from the ball-feeding rotor 350. there is In addition, since the pitch of the upper small-pitch ridge member 25b is also small, the movement of the game ball is made relatively slow, so that the ball can be delivered to the upper launcher 12 without any trouble.
On the other hand, in the intermediate portion of the screw 25, there is no particular problem even if the game ball is lifted at a high speed, so a large pitch ridge member having a large pitch is used. The number of game balls circulated in the ball lifting device 22 can be reduced. Furthermore, this can reduce the burden of the weight of the game ball on the screw 25 (FIG. 45).
Further, the term "lifting" in this embodiment is used to mean continuously carrying game balls from the bottom to the top of the gaming machine.

The game ball that has reached the upper end of the ball lifting device 22 abuts the slope of the lifting slope member 354 from below, so that the moving direction of the game ball lifted by the screw 25 changes from the vertical direction to the substantially horizontal direction. A game ball is smoothly sent from the ball lifting device 22 to the ball sending gutter 23. - 特許庁Then, the game ball fed into the ball delivery gutter 23 rolls on the gentle slope of the ball delivery gutter 23 and is delivered to the upper shooting device 12 (FIG. 46).
In this case, when the lifted game ball comes into contact with the slope portion of the lifting slope member 354, it is deviated from the guide of the lifting guide rail 282 and naturally flows down to the floor surface of the ball delivery gutter 23. , the ball pressure is not applied to the lifting guide rail 282 and the screw 25, and the ball can be fed smoothly.

When it is necessary to remove the circulating game balls from the game machine for maintenance or the like, they can be easily discharged out of the game machine by operating the ball removing member 355 provided on the outer surface of the ball delivery gutter 23 ( 37, 48).

In this embodiment, the spiral base cover 352 and the lifting section cover 353 are made of transparent resin (acrylic resin). can be easily visually confirmed without disassembly, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the spiral base cover 352 and the lifting section cover 353 may be made of opaque resin, metal, or the like.

Further, the small-pitch ridge member 25b and the large-pitch ridge member 25c are configured to be halves joined together, but they may be formed integrally in a cylindrical shape from the beginning. Furthermore, by making full use of synthetic resin molding technology, the entire screw 25, excluding the screw shaft 25a, can be integrally molded.

Further, the screw 25 and the lifting guide rail 282 are made of a material that has a good sliding property and is rigid enough not to be deformed by the pushing force from the game ball to the lifting guide rail 282 caused by the rotation of the screw 25. Preferably, it may be a metal such as aluminum or a synthetic resin. In addition, it is conceivable that the spiral ridge 25d uses a hard silicon material or the like at least in the portion that receives the game ball from the ball feeding rotating body 350. As shown in FIG. Thereby, it is possible to absorb the impact caused when the game ball falls on the spiral ridge 25d.

And, although the lifting guide rail 282 in this embodiment guides the game ball in the vertical direction with two rails, the number of rails is not limited to two. The guide on the other side may be configured such that the inner wall of the cover member 368 extends parallel to and adjacent to the lift guide rail 282 to guide the game ball.

Also, the support member 367 is arranged between the cover member 368 consisting of the spiral base cover 352 and the lifting section cover 353 and the lifting guide rail 282. Not limited to the member 368, for example, as shown in FIG. As a result, the vibration generated by the operation of a movable accessory (not shown) arranged on the game board or an electric drive source such as a motor, and the operation of the touch panel unit 14 arranged on the door frame 3 by the player. Since various vibrations that occur in the game machine, such as the vibration caused by the impact that occurs when shooting, are absorbed, situations may occur in which the game ball may come off the guide rail and be unable to be lifted, or the game ball may not be launched due to the vibration. Instability can be suppressed.

In addition, in this embodiment, game balls are continuously sent out and lifted one by one for each pitch of the spiral ridge 25d over the entire length of the screw 25, but the game balls are lifted at all pitches of the screw 25 It is not limited to this as long as it is a configuration in which the game balls are continuously lifted without being sent.

In addition, the lifting slope member 354 may have a structure in which the game ball lifted vertically by the screw 25 and the lifting guide rail 282 can be smoothly sent to the ball sending gutter 23, and is integrally formed with the upper gear box 356. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 67 and 68, the upper surface of the ball delivery path 23 may be extended onto the game ball lifting path, and a slope may be formed on the lower surface of the extended portion.

Further, the ball lifting device 22 of the present invention is configured to lift the game ball using the screw 25. However, if the game ball is lifted so as to be guided and transported vertically, the screw may be used. Various methods can be selected, such as a belt conveyor that can continuously carry game balls.

[Ball polishing device]
Next, a description will be given of a ball polishing device for cleaning and polishing game balls enclosed in a game machine. 38 described above is a front view of the ball polishing device with the ball polishing cartridge attached, and FIG. 39 described above is the ball polishing device with the ball polishing cartridge removed. FIG. 10 is a front view showing a state in which

FIG. 50 is a left side view showing a state in which the ball polishing cartridge is mounted, and FIG. 51 is a perspective view explaining a mechanism for fixing the ball polishing cartridge. FIG. 52 is a perspective view showing a state in the middle of mounting the ball polishing cartridge.

53 and 54 are diagrams showing a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other, and FIG. 53 is a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other. 54 is a left side view showing a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other, and FIG. 55 is a left side cover of the ball polishing cartridge removed in FIG. Fig. 10 is a left side view showing a state in which it is folded; 56 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the ball polishing cartridge in FIG.

Next, FIG. 57 is a perspective view showing a state in which the ball polishing cartridge is attached, and FIG. 58 is a perspective view showing a state in which the right outer side cover is removed in order to explain the inside of the right side cover in FIG. FIG. 59 is a top perspective view showing a state in which the right side cover is opened in FIG. 58. FIG. 60 is a perspective view of the ball polishing cartridge, FIG. 61 is a front view thereof, FIG. 62 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 63 is a side view of FIG. 62 with the left side cover removed.

As shown in FIGS. 38 and 50, the ball gathering portion 21 is provided in the lower portion of the ball lifting device 22, and a ball polishing cartridge 251 is attached to a ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270 which is a part of the ball gathering portion 21. As shown in FIGS. can be worn. Here, the outer side of the ball lifting device 22 is formed of a transparent plastic member, so that even if game balls are clogged in the ball lifting device 22, the clogging location can be easily visually recognized. It's like As shown in FIG. 51, the ball polishing cartridge 251 mounted on the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270 has one end supported on a shaft provided in the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270, and the other end is rotated. By hooking the other end of the ball polishing cartridge fixing lever 271 to the ball polishing cartridge fixing stopper 272 which is also provided in the ball collecting portion 21, the ball polishing cartridge 251 is pressed inward and leftward. It has a structure. In addition, in FIG. 51, both the open state and the closed state of the ball polishing cartridge fixing lever 271 are shown in order to facilitate the movement of the ball polishing cartridge fixing lever 271. As shown in FIG.

FIG. 39 is a front view showing a state in which the ball polishing cartridge 251 is removed. As shown in FIG. 39, the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270 has a ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 273 formed of a cavity into which the ball polishing cartridge 251 can be mounted. In FIG. 39, for the sake of clarity, a ball polishing cartridge fixing lever 271 and a mounting sensor 291 provided inside the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270 and visible from the ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 273, and a driving shaft 290 are shown. Description is omitted.

FIG. 66 is an enlarged view in which the vicinity of the ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 273 in FIG. 39 is enlarged. Behind the ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 273 inside the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270, below the right side surface, is coaxial with the second driving gear 257 shown in FIG. There is a drive shaft 290 that fits into one gear shaft 261, and a mounting sensor 291 with a depressible button 292 is provided above the right side face. The mounting of the ball polishing cartridge 251 is detected by pushing the button 292 of the mounting sensor 291 through a series of mounting operations of the ball polishing cartridge 251 . A specific aspect of the mounting operation will be described later.

In addition, in the innermost portion of the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270 facing the ball lifting device 22, the long side of the ball polishing cartridge 251, which will be described later, advances in the ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251 described later. An opening 281 is provided with an angle different from the direction. As a result, the direction in which the game ball is lifted and the direction in which the ball polishing cloth 263 advances are deviated from each other. It is possible to effectively use the width of 263 to clean and polish game balls.

Furthermore, the width between the long sides of the opening 281 allows at least a part of the peripheral edge of the game ball lifted by the ball lifting device 22 to protrude outside the ball lifting device 22 at the opening position. In this embodiment, the width between the long sides of the opening 281 is set to 8.4 mm for a game ball diameter of 11 mm. A game ball protrudes about 1.5 mm from the opening 281 toward the ball polishing cloth 263 .

As a result, during the game period, a part of the peripheral portion of the game ball lifted in the ball lifting device 22 protrudes outside the ball lifting device 22 at the position of the opening 281, and the ball is polished. It becomes possible for the ball polishing cloth 263 of the cartridge 251 and the game ball to come into contact with each other. In particular, when an elastic member is provided in the ball polishing cartridge 251 so as to press the ball polishing cloth 263 against the game ball, the ball polishing cloth 263 can be brought into contact with the game ball more reliably. Reliable ball polishing is possible.

Further, even if the ball polishing cartridge 251 is removed while the game ball remains in the ball lifting device 22 in a time zone outside the game period, the width of the opening 281 is made smaller than the diameter of the game ball. With this configuration, the game balls remaining in the ball lifting device 22 do not spill down to the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 273 side of the ball polishing cartridge 251. - 特許庁

52 is a perspective view showing a state in the middle of attaching the ball polishing cartridge 251 from the state of FIG. 39. FIG. As can be seen from FIGS. 39 and 52, in this embodiment, the ball polishing cartridge 251 is inserted and attached from the front of the body frame 2. As shown in FIG.

60 is a perspective view of the ball polishing cartridge 251, FIG. 61 is a front view thereof, FIG. 62 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 63 is a side view of FIG. 62 with the left side cover removed. Here, 259 is a winding roller, 260 is a driven roller, 261 is a first gear shaft, and 262 is a second gear shaft. The second gear shaft 262 is configured to be coaxial with the driven roller 260 . Further, 268 is a game ball contact trace, and as shown in FIG. Since the angles are different with respect to the vertical direction, the game ball contact mark 268 is formed with an inclination with respect to the long side direction of the ball polishing cloth 263 .

53 and 54 are diagrams showing a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other, and FIG. 53 is a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other. FIG. 54 is a left side view showing a state in which the game ball and the ball polishing cloth of the ball polishing cartridge are pressed against each other.

As shown in FIGS. 53 and 54, the game ball is lifted by the screw 25 provided in the ball lifting device 22, and the ball lifting device 22 and the ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251 are separated. At the opposite location, the game ball contacts the ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251 through the opening 281 of the ball lifting device 22, and the game ball is lifted by the screw 25 of the ball lifting device 22. By rubbing with the ball polishing cloth 263, cleaning and ball polishing of the game ball are performed.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 53 and 54, the screw 25 in the ball lifting device 22 has different shapes in the upper portion, the lower portion, and the intermediate portion. In the upper and lower portions, the inclination angle of the spiral of the screw 25 (spiral ridge 25d in FIG. 47) is decreased to narrow the pitch. is also wide. Since it is not necessary to take time to lift the ball in the intermediate portion, the game ball can be lifted in a short period of time by increasing the inclination angle of the spiral to increase the lifting speed. It is possible to reduce the number of game balls contained in the game machine, and to reduce the number of game balls to be enclosed inside the game machine.

In addition, by narrowing the pitch interval in the lower part, the game ball is lowered in the portion facing the ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251, and the game ball and the ball polishing cloth 263 are lowered. It is possible to surely clean and polish the game ball by lengthening the contact time with the ball. Furthermore, by narrowing the pitch interval at the top, the lifting speed of the game ball at the lifting end of the ball lifting device 22 can be reduced, and the ball is sent from the ball lifting device 22 to the ball delivery gutter 23. A game ball can be sent smoothly to a ball delivery gutter 23 without causing a trouble such as ball biting at the time of delivery.

Further, as shown in FIG. 54, the ball lifting device 22 is provided with two guide rails 282 for guiding the lifting of the game ball. The distance between the two guide rails is set to the same extent as the diameter of the game ball, but adjustments are also made to make it somewhat narrower and more stable in places where the movement of the game ball being lifted may become violent. be able to. In this way, the game ball is lifted inside the ball lifting device 22 so that both sides are supported by both guide rails.

55 is a left side view showing a state in which the left side cover of the ball polishing cartridge is removed in FIG. 54. FIG. 56 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the ball polishing cartridge in FIG. Here, 259 is a take-up roller, 260 is a driven roller, and a driving force from a ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155, which will be described later, is transmitted. The winding roller 259 is rotated by the rotation of the second drive gear 257 which is configured to be coaxial with the winding roller 259, and the frictional force between the winding roller 259 and the driven roller 260 causes the ball polishing cloth to rotate. 263 is wound up.

A ball polishing cloth 263 is arranged in the portion of the ball polishing cartridge 251 facing the ball lifting device 22, and a tensioner 267 having a function of pressing the ball polishing cloth 263 is provided behind the ball polishing cloth 263. Behind the tensioner 267, two coiled ball polishing cloth holding springs 264 are provided which have a function of pressing the tensioner 267 and the ball polishing cloth 263 against the game ball. Further, behind the ball polishing cloth pressing spring 264, a spring retainer 266 for supporting the ball polishing cloth pressing spring 264 is provided. A plate spring 265 is provided on the upper portion of the ball polishing cartridge, and the plate spring 265 lightly presses the ball polishing cloth 263 to align the ball polishing cloth 263 to the portion facing the ball lifting device 22. It plays a role in aligning them before sending them in.

The ball polishing cloth 263 wound by the winding roller 259 and the driven roller 260 is stored in the ball polishing cartridge 251. In FIGS. The description of the ball polishing cloth 263 inside the ball polishing cartridge after being wound up is omitted.

FIG. 57 is a perspective view showing a state in which the ball polishing cartridge is mounted. Reference numeral 253 denotes a right side cover, which is composed of a right outer side cover 253a and a right inner side cover 253b integrated together. A second drive gear case 258 covers a second drive gear 257 which will be described later. FIG. 58 is a perspective view showing a state in which only the right outer side cover 253a is removed from the right side cover 253 in FIG. It is a feed motor and serves as a drive source for winding the ball polishing cloth 263 in the ball polishing cartridge 251 . In addition, a hinge 255 that engages with the hinge receiving portion 254 is provided at the far end of the right side cover 253, and the right side cover 253 is rotatable about the hinge 255 as a fulcrum. In this embodiment, ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155 comprises a stepping motor. A specific driving mode of the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155 will be described later.

59 is a top perspective view showing a state in which the right side cover 253 is opened in FIG. 58. The right side cover 253 is rotatable about a hinge 255 engaged with the hinge receiving portion 254 as a fulcrum. . Between the right outer side cover 253 a and the right inner side cover 253 b of the right side cover 253 , a first (not shown) is coaxial with the rotary shaft of the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155 and rotated by the drive of the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155 . A drive gear is provided, and in this embodiment a 16-tooth gear is used. Similarly, between the right outer side cover 253a and the right inner side cover 253b, there is also provided a second drive gear that is coaxial with the drive shaft 290 and meshes with the first drive gear, and has 32 teeth in this embodiment. gear is used.

Next, the mounting operation and mounting detection of the ball polishing cartridge 251 will be described. 64 is a perspective view of the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270, and FIG. 65 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the ball polishing cartridge 251 and the ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270. FIG. The ball polishing cartridge mounting portion 270 is configured such that the right side cover 253 is rotated about the hinge 255 so that the ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 273 spreads about the hinge portion (direction A in FIG. 64). there is

In this state, as shown in FIG. 65, the ball polishing cartridge 251 is inserted into the ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 273 from the front direction. During insertion, the right side cover 253 rotates to widen the ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 273, so that the drive shaft 290 and the mounting sensor 291 do not interfere with the insertion. After inserting the ball polishing cartridge 251, rotate the ball polishing cartridge 251 in the direction opposite to A in FIG. 271 is engaged with the ball polishing cartridge fixing stop 272, the drive shaft 290 is engaged with the first gear shaft 261 of the ball polishing cartridge 251, the button 292 of the mounting sensor 291 is pushed in, and the ball polishing cartridge 251 is locked. Attachment is detected.

When the button 292 of the mounting sensor 291 is pushed in while the game machine is powered on, it is detected that the ball polishing cartridge 251 is normally mounted and no notification is given, but the power is turned on. In spite of this, when the button 292 of the mounting sensor 291 is not pushed in, it is reported that the ball polishing cartridge 251 is not normally mounted. As a form of notification, a display device (not shown), which is usually provided in the gaming machine and which displays effects according to the game mode, can be used to display that the ball polishing cartridge 251 is not installed. . In addition, as another mode of notification, a decorative lamp for presentation or a dedicated lamp indicating the mounting state of the ball polishing cartridge 251 can be lit or blinked in a predetermined manner to notify.

In addition, in the closed-ball type gaming machine as in the present embodiment, since the game is played by circulating the game balls enclosed in the gaming machine, the game can be continued for a very long time without cleaning the game balls. Then, dirt accumulates on the game balls, and there is a possibility that the game balls roll poorly. Therefore, it is preferable to clean the game balls with a ball polishing device at some point in the course of the circulation path of the game balls. However, since the game can not be played without the ball polishing device, even if it is detected that the ball polishing cartridge is not installed, the game can be continued with only a notification by the display device or lamp. can.

Also, the playing time of the player is accumulated and measured by a measuring means (not shown) based on the detection by the touch switch 87 provided on the handle. In this embodiment, the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155 is advanced by one step each time the accumulated measurement time by the measuring means reaches one minute. In this embodiment, the take-up roller 259 has a diameter of 25 mm. is 1/2, the feed amount of the ball polishing cloth 263 per step is 0.11 mm (=78.5/360/2).

In this embodiment, the ball polishing cartridge 251 is pressed down and fixed by hooking the lever to the stopper. method can also be used.
Further, in this embodiment, the coiled ball polishing cloth pressing spring 264 is used as means for pressing the ball polishing cloth 263 against the game ball, but the pressing means is not limited to this, and other means may be used. Shaped springs or other elastic members can also be used.

In this embodiment, the ball polishing cartridge 251 is arranged at the bottom of the game machine, but the arrangement position of the ball polishing cartridge 251 is not limited to this position. can also be placed. In that case, the opening provided in the portion facing the ball polishing cartridge 251 in the ball lifting device 22 may also be changed to a location corresponding to the arrangement position of the ball polishing cartridge 251 .

Further, in this embodiment, the ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251 is different from the direction of lifting the game ball by the ball lifting device 22 and the winding direction of the ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251. is conveyed in the vertical direction, and the direction of lifting the game ball of the ball lifting device 22 in the portion facing the ball polishing cloth 263 is conveyed in a direction inclined from the vertical direction. Not limited to this, the direction in which the game balls are conveyed by the ball lifting device 22 may be set in the vertical direction, and the direction in which the ball polishing cloth 263 of the ball polishing cartridge 251 is conveyed may be inclined from the vertical direction, or both may be inclined. Various methods such as direction can be selected.

In this embodiment, a pushable button 292 is provided as the mounting sensor 291 of the ball polishing cartridge 251, and the mounting of the ball polishing cartridge 251 is detected by pushing the button 292 by the mounting operation of the ball polishing cartridge 251. However, the mounted sensor 291 is not limited to these sensors, and other types of sensors such as optical sensors and magnetic sensors can also be used.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the mounting sensor 291 detects that the ball polishing cartridge 251 is not correctly mounted, the game can be continued only by giving a notification. When it is detected that the ball polishing cartridge 251 is not correctly installed, it is possible to prevent the game from being played.

[Enclosing operation of game ball]
Next, a description will be given of the operation of enclosing a predetermined number of game balls in the enclosed-ball type gaming machine, such as when a new enclosed-ball type gaming machine is installed, or when a dirty game ball is removed and cleaned. do. The inclusion operation is performed in a state in which the enclosed ball type game machine is not powered on. Therefore, the ball lifting device 22 in the enclosed ball type game machine and various sensors are not operating.

In the enclosed ball type game machine, a game ball is shot into a game area by a shooting device, and after rolling in the game area, either wins a winning device or is recovered from an outlet 42, and the recovered game ball is The balls are transported to the launching device again, and the launching device launches them into the game area again to play the game. That is, a circulation path for game balls is formed as a whole.
The introduction of the game ball in the enclosing operation can be performed by putting the game ball into this circulation path, and in this embodiment, the game ball is introduced from the out port 42 . As a result, there is no need to separately provide an inclusion port for enclosing game balls in the enclosed-ball type gaming machine, and the configuration of the enclosed-ball type gaming machine can be simplified. Further, instead of the out port 42, the game ball may be introduced from the prize winning port 41 of the prize winning device. Since the game balls entering the winning port 41 of the winning device are also combined with the game balls entering the out port 42 and then transported to the launching device, the game balls are released from the winning port 41 of the winning device. is introduced, the game ball can be put into the circulation path in the same way as when the game ball is introduced into the out port 42.例文帳に追加In either case, when introducing the game ball, care must be taken not to hit the nail with the game ball, hands, etc. When a game ball is introduced into the out port 42, a game ball introduction member 427, which will be described later, can be provided to prevent the game ball from hitting a nail at the time of insertion. Note that the out port 42 and the prize winning port 41 correspond to game ball collection ports.

FIG. 71 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the number of game balls is less than the predetermined number when game balls are enclosed in the enclosed ball type gaming machine. As described above, when the game ball is enclosed, the ball lifting device 22 is not driven because the enclosed ball type gaming machine is not yet powered on. Therefore, the game balls thrown in from the out port 42 or the prize winning port 41 enter from the collection port 202, pass through the deformed ball/magnetic ball discharge unit 20, and then are aligned with the front side of the ball lifting device 22 as the head.

FIG. 72 shows a state in which more game balls are thrown in from the state of FIG. 71 and a predetermined number of game balls is reached. As shown in FIG. 72, when a predetermined number of game balls are enclosed, the game ball 233 that was last inserted is the discontinuous part 223 where the magnetic ball discharge path 226 and the normal game ball path diverge. and is configured to block the discontinuity 223 .

FIG. 73 shows a state in which more game balls are thrown in from the state of FIG. 72 and game balls exceeding a predetermined number have been thrown. As described above, when a predetermined number of game balls are inserted, the last inserted game ball 233 blocks the discontinuous portion 223. It becomes a game ball 235 that exceeds the limit and cannot enter the path of the regular game ball 233 from the discontinuous portion 223, and is guided from the magnetic ball discharge path 226 to the magnetic ball discharge chestnut 227 and collected.

In this embodiment, the discontinuous portion 223 through which the regular game balls 233 are guided when a predetermined number of game balls are enclosed in the magnetic ball discharge section is blocked, and the game balls of a predetermined number or more are ejected as magnetic balls. Although it is configured to be collected in the discharge section, similarly in the irregular ball discharge path, when a predetermined number of game balls are enclosed, the path through which the regular game balls 233 are guided is blocked and collected in the irregular ball discharge section. You can also make

In addition, in order to improve the efficiency of throwing game balls into the out port 42, a game ball introduction member 427 is provided on the rail portion of the front structural member 45 located at the lower edge of the out port 42 (Fig. 74, Fig. 75). Because of the structure in which the game ball is poured toward the out port 42 when the game ball is placed on the upper surface of the game ball introduction member 427, the game ball can be efficiently enclosed. Also, the game ball can be thrown in without hitting a nearby nail.

FIG. 74 is a perspective view showing a state in which the game ball introduction member 427 is projected. The game ball introduction member 427 can be protruded by opening the door frame 3 and sliding it forward.

FIG. 75 is a perspective view showing a state in which the game ball introduction member 427 is stored. From the state of FIG. 74, the game ball introduction member 427 can be retracted by pushing it in, so that the game is not hindered.

In this embodiment, the game ball introduction member 427 is manually slidable to advance and retreat. Various methods can be selected, such as automatically moving back and forth by opening and closing 3.

In this embodiment, the upper firing device 12 is attached and fixed to the upper left side of the body frame 2 . Therefore, when fitting the game board 5 into the main body frame 2 for installation of a new machine or the like, the top launching device 12 must be avoided. However, since the upper firing device 12 is arranged on the same surface where the game board 5 is fitted, it is highly difficult to handle when fitting the game board 5, and when fitting the game board 5, the game board 5 is erroneously inserted. There is a possibility that the upper launching device 12 and the game board 5 may be damaged by colliding with the upper launching device 12 . In order to prevent such a problem, a positioning guide member 450 that plays a role of positioning when fitting the game board 5 into the body frame 2 is arranged on the body frame 2 .

Next, the positioning guide member will be explained. As shown in FIG. 97, a positioning guide member is arranged on the inner wall of the left side plate of the body frame 2 . This member is a member that positions and guides the game board 5 when it is fitted into the main body frame 2, and is rotatably supported by a hinge so that it can rotate about 90 degrees. . Further, since the game board 5 is biased by a biasing member such as a spring, when the game board 5 is not fitted into the main body frame 2, the part where the left side lower end of the game board 5 and the front left lower end are aligned is the front face. Facing to the side. Also, a floor surface is formed for aligning the left end of the lower surface of the game board 5 . Further, in order to stabilize the fitting, the positioning guide member 450 without a floor surface may be arranged above the positioning guide member 450 with a floor surface.

As shown in FIG. 98A, the game board 5 is fitted into the main body frame 2 by aligning the lower left end of the front surface, the lower end of the side surface, and the left end of the lower surface of the game board 5 with the positioning guide members 450, respectively. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 98(B), the game board 5 is rotated toward the main body frame 2 with the positioning guide member as a fulcrum, and is fitted into the main body frame 2 as shown in FIG. 98(C). conduct. By doing so, the positioning guide member 450 presses the front left lower end portion of the game board 5 toward the main body frame 2 side when the game board 5 is fitted, so that the positional relationship between the game board 5 and the main body frame 2 is fixed without looseness. A launching port 38 of the upper launching device 12 and a launching area 40 of the game board 5 are fixed so as to be flush with each other, and a game ball becomes an obstacle when running between the launching port 38 and the game area 8.例文帳に追加No bumps or the like occur, and stable firing can be performed.

Also, the game board 5 is positioned on the main body frame 2 by aligning the game board 5 with the positioning guide member 450 provided on the inner side wall of the main body frame 2 . After that, by fitting the game board 5 into the main body frame 2, the positioning guide member 450 rotates according to the fitting operation of the game board 5, so that it serves as a guide for pulling the game board 5 into the fitting position of the main body frame 2, thereby playing the game. Since the board 5 can be fitted into the body frame 2 without erroneously colliding with the upper launching device 12, the possibility of damaging the upper launching device 12 and the game board 5 due to collision is minimized. be able to.

Next, the outline of the control of the gaming machine 1 and the fare adjustment machine 4 as an external device arranged adjacent to one side thereof will be described. FIG. 76 is a block diagram showing the essential parts of an embodiment of a main control board equipped with an RTC, which is installed in an enclosed-ball game machine. The control of the game machine 1 is roughly divided into a main board group and a peripheral board group. lamp, body frame lamp, door frame lamp, sound). The main board group consists of a main control board 100 and a sphere information control board 110 , and the peripheral board group consists of a peripheral control board 130 .

[Main control board 100]
The main control board 100 controls pachinko games. The main control board 100 and a sphere information control board 110, which will be described later, are connected so as to be capable of two-way data communication. As shown in FIG. 76, the main control board 100, which controls the progress of the game, has a main control MPU 101, which is a microprocessor containing a ROM for storing various processing programs and various commands, a RAM for temporarily storing data, and the like. , a main control I/O port 102 as an input/output device (I/O device), a main control input circuit 103 to which detection signals from various detection switches are input, and a main control solenoid for driving various solenoids. It has a drive circuit 104 and a RAM clear switch 105 for completely erasing information stored in a RAM built in the main control MPU 101 (hereinafter referred to as "main control built-in RAM").

The main control MPU 101 has a built-in ROM (hereinafter referred to as "main control built-in ROM") and a main control built-in RAM, as well as a watchdog timer for monitoring its operation (system) and a functions are also built in. In addition, the main control MPU 101 has a built-in non-volatile memory, and this non-volatile RAM contains a unique code for identifying an individual by the manufacturer that manufactured the main control MPU 101 (a code that only exists in the world). ) is stored in advance. Since the ID code assigned once is stored in a non-volatile RAM, it cannot be rewritten using an external device. The main control MPU 101 can retrieve the ID code from the nonvolatile RAM and refer to it.

[RTC control unit]
Further, the main control MPU 101 of the embodiment has an external real time clock (hereinafter referred to as "RTC") 107 capable of acquiring time information as time information acquisition means. Although not shown, the RTC 107 includes register circuits, clock input circuits, clock output circuits, interrupt output circuits, data input/output circuits, and control circuits.

The RTC 107 has a clock/calendar function. The clock/calendar function is a function for keeping time by counting years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. Moreover, you may use what counts to a day of the week as needed. The RTC control unit 106 is provided with an RTC 107 and a battery 108 for driving the RTC 107 . By providing the battery 108, the RTC 107 does not interrupt the clocking and calendar functions even when the power supply board (not shown) is turned off.

The battery 108 may be a primary battery (for example, a button battery) or a rechargeable secondary battery, thereby avoiding the need to arrange a backup power source and complicating the configuration of the main control board 100. can be done. Note that the battery 108 is also used as a backup power source for the RAM 109 .

The main control MPU 101 has the function of specifying the year/month/day/hour/minute/second (calendar information and time information) by providing the RTC 107 . The main control MPU 101 of the main control board 100 acquires time information (hour/minute/second) from the RTC 107 when the game machine is powered on.

An upper start hole detection switch 90 for detecting a game ball that has entered an upper start hole (not shown) arranged in the game area 8 of the game board 5, and a lower start hole (not shown) for detecting a game ball that has entered a prize. The detection signals from the lower starting hole detection switch 91 and the general winning hole detection switch 93 that detects a game ball that has won a general winning hole (not shown) are first input to the main control input circuit 103, and the main control I / It is input to the main control MPU 101 via the O port 102 .

In addition, a gate switch 92 that detects game balls that have passed through a gate (not shown), a general winning hole detection switch 94 that detects game balls that have won a general winning hole (not shown), a large winning hole (not shown) First, a detection signal from the count switch 98 for detecting a winning game ball is input to the main control input circuit 103 through the panel relay terminal board 140 attached to the game board 5, and is sent to the main control I/O port. 102 to the main control MPU 101 .

Based on these detection signals, the main control MPU 101 outputs a control signal from the main control I/O port 102 to the main control solenoid drive circuit 104, thereby causing the starting solenoid 96 and the main control solenoid 96 via the panel relay terminal board 140 to A drive signal is output to the winning opening solenoid 97, and from the main control I/O port 102, the panel relay terminal board 140, and the function display board 141, the upper special pattern display 142, the lower special pattern display 143, the upper special A drive signal is output to the symbol memory display 144, the lower special symbol memory display 145, the normal symbol display 146, the normal symbol memory display 147, the game state display 148, and the round display 149.

In addition, the main control MPU 101 serially transmits various information (game information) related to the game and various commands related to the prize balls according to the prize winning to the ball information control board 110. Various commands related to the state of the machine 1 are received in a serial manner. In addition, the main control MPU 101 transmits various commands regarding the control of game effects and various commands regarding the state of the gaming machine 1 to the peripheral control board 130 . When the peripheral control board 130 receives the control command transmitted from the main control board 100, the peripheral control board 130 displays various effects according to the received control command (for example, a decorative pattern for notifying the result of the judgment on the display panel of the liquid crystal display device 1400). It performs control related to the variable display of the row, the production display accompanying this, the operation of the lamp, the sound, the movable decorative accessory for production, etc.).

[Sphere information control board 110]
FIG. 77 is a block diagram showing the main part of the ball information control board 110 mainly installed in the enclosed ball type game machine. The ball information control board 110 includes a ball information control unit 118 that performs various controls related to the management of held balls, the ball lifting device 22, the launch solenoid 13, the ball feed solenoid 31, the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155, and the like. Further, the main control board 100 and the sphere information control board 110 are connected so as to enable two-way data communication.

[Ball information control unit 118]
As shown in FIG. 77, the ball information control unit 118 includes a ball information control MPU 111, which is a microprocessor containing a ROM for storing various processing programs and various commands, a RAM for temporarily storing data, etc.; a ball information control I/O port 112 as an O-device; an external watchdog timer 116 (hereinafter referred to as "external WDT 116") for monitoring whether the ball information control MPU 111 is operating normally; , a ball-lifting motor drive circuit 114 for outputting drive signals to the ball-lifting motor 150 of the ball-lifting device 22 for lifting the ball, and a ball-information control input circuit to which detection signals from various detection switches are input. 113, a CR unit input/output circuit 115 for exchanging various signals with the payment machine 4, and a ball polishing ribbon feed motor drive circuit 119 for outputting a drive signal to the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155. there is The ball information control MPU 111 has built-in ROM (hereinafter referred to as "ball information control built-in ROM") and RAM (hereinafter referred to as "ball information control built-in RAM"). It also has built-in functions to prevent it.

The ball information control MPU 111 receives various information (game information) about games and various commands about prize balls from the main control board 100 in a serial manner via the ball information control I/O port 112, and receives them from the main control board 100. The operation signal (detection signal) of the RAM clear switch 105 is input via the ball information control I/O port 112 .

Detection signals from the door frame open switch 131 for detecting opening of the door frame 3 with respect to the main body frame 2 and the main body frame open switch 132 for detecting opening of the main body frame 2 with respect to the outer frame are first input to the ball information control input circuit 113. and input to the ball information control MPU 111 via the ball information control I/O port 112 . Further, a touch detection signal (ON signal) from the touch switch 87 for detecting whether or not the palm or fingers are in contact with the ball hitting handle 10 is input to the ball information control board 110 via the handle relay terminal plate 123. The detection signal is input to the ball information control MPU 111 via the ball information control I/O port 112 .

In addition, the ball information control MPU 111 is connected to the firing solenoid 13 through the firing solenoid drive circuit 120, is connected to the ball feeding solenoid 31 through the ball feeding solenoid drive circuit 122, and is connected to the firing solenoid 13 according to the control output from the ball information control MPU 111. And the ball feed solenoid 31 is driven. In addition, launch standby ball detection switches 26, 70, launch ball confirmation switch 36, recovered ball detection switch 203, ball path full tank detection switch 206, ball appropriate amount detection switch 207, presence or absence of game balls supplied to ball lifting device 22 , a lifting motor sensor (photosensor) 157 for detecting the number of revolutions of the ball lifting motor 150, and a ball polishing cartridge containing a ball polishing cloth ribbon are installed. A detection signal from the cassette detection switch 158 for detecting is input to the ball information control input circuit 113 via the sensor relay board 124, and is input to the ball information control MPU 111 via the ball information control I/O port 112. there is The ball information control MPU 111 sends drive signals for driving the ball lifting motor 150, the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155, the launch solenoid 13 and the ball feed solenoid 31 to each drive element via the ball information control I/O port 112. output to

Also, the touch panel unit 14 is connected to the ball information control MPU 111 so as to be able to display by control output from the ball information control I/O port 112 . In addition to relaying electrical connections between the main control board 100 and the external terminal board 133, the sphere information control board 110 also connects the door frame open switch 131, the body frame open switch 132, and the external terminal board 133. It relays electrical connections between The external terminal board 133 is electrically connected to a hall computer installed in the game hall (hall).

A detection signal from a touch switch 87 for detecting whether or not the palm or finger is in contact with the ball hitting handle 10, and a shooting stop switch 86 for detecting whether or not the shooting of the game ball is forcibly stopped by the player's will. is input to the ball information control input circuit 113 via the handle relay terminal board 123 . Further, when the fare adjustment machine 4 and the ball information control board 110 are electrically connected, the signal is input to the CR unit input/output circuit 115 as a CR connection signal.

DC power supplies of +24 V, +12 V, and +5.2 V are supplied to the sphere information control board 110 from a power supply board (not shown). DC power supplies of +24 V, +12 V, and +5.2 V are supplied to the main control board 100 via the sphere information control board 110 .

The power failure monitoring circuit 117 compares and monitors the voltage V1 based on +24V and the reference voltage, and the voltage V2 based on +12V and the reference voltage, respectively. When it becomes lower than the voltage, a power failure warning signal is output as a power failure warning. The power failure warning signal output from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 is supplied to the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110 and also to the main control MPU 101 . Although not shown, the power failure warning signal is also input to the peripheral control board 130 .

[Electrical connection between game board 5 and main body frame 2]
The electrical connection of the game board 5 to the body frame 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 99 is a block diagram showing a game board and a body frame connected using a drawer connector. The mechanical and electrical connections between the game board 5 and the body frame 2 are made by a drawer connector. The game board 5 is provided with a game board side main drawer connector and a game board side sub drawer connector, and the main body frame 2 is provided with a main body frame side main drawer connector and a main body frame side sub drawer connector. there is By fitting the game board 5 into the main body frame 2, the game board side main drawer connector and the main body frame side main drawer connector, the game board side sub-drawer connector and the main body frame side sub-drawer connector are connected, and the game board 5 is connected. and the body frame 2 are mechanically connected and electrically connected at the same time. This enables electrical communication between the game board 5 and the main body frame 2 .

[Authentication of main control board 100 and sphere information control board 110]
When electrical communication can be performed between the game board 5 and the main body frame 2 as described above, mutual authentication between the main control board 100 and the ball information control board 110 is performed when power is turned on. The authentication function of the main control board 100 and the sphere information control board 110 will be explained using FIG.

Although it has been described that the ID code is stored in advance in the main control MPU 101 of the main control board 100, the ID code is also stored in the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110 in advance. Hereinafter, the ID code pre-stored in the main control MPU 101 will be referred to as the first MPU identification number, and the ID code pre-stored in the ball information control MPU 111 will be referred to as the second MPU identification number.

The main control board 100 and the sphere information control board 110 in this embodiment are capable of two-way data communication. It is configured to be able to determine whether or not there is. Details will be described below.

The main control board 100 includes at least a main control MPU 101. In the main control MPU 101, a first MPU identification number storage section 101a storing a pre-stored first MPU identification number and a second MPU identification number are appropriate. and a main encryption communication unit 160 that encrypts information sent to the ball information control MPU 111 and decrypts information sent from the ball information control MPU 111, Further, the first authentication unit 162 has a second MPU identification number storage unit 161 that stores the second MPU identification number.

The ball information control board 110 includes at least a ball information control MPU 111. In the ball information control MPU 111, a second MPU identification number storage unit 111a storing a second MPU identification number stored in advance and a first MPU identification number are stored. A second authentication unit 167 that performs authentication processing to see if it is proper, and a sphere information encryption communication unit 165 that encrypts information sent to the main control MPU 101 and decrypts information sent from the main control MPU 101. Further, the second authentication unit 167 has a first MPU identification number storage unit 166 that stores the first MPU identification number.

When the gaming machine is powered on, the first MPU identification number stored in the first MPU identification number storage unit 101a is encrypted by the main encryption communication unit 160 through two-way communication between the main control board 100 and the ball information control board 110. The second MPU identification number from the ball information control MPU 111 is encrypted by the ball information encryption communication unit 165 and then sent to the main encryption communication unit 160 .

Next, the main control MPU 101 uses the main encryption communication unit 160 to decrypt the second MPU identification number transmitted from the ball information control MPU 111 from the ball information encryption communication unit 165, and The sphere information control MPU 111 decrypts the first MPU identification number transmitted from the main control MPU 101 using the sphere information encryption communication unit 165 and then stores it in the second MPU identification number storage unit 161 . Stored in the 1MPU identification number storage unit 166 .

Next, the main control MPU 101 performs authentication processing in the first authentication section 162 based on the second MPU identification number stored in the second MPU identification number storage section 161, and determines whether the second MPU identification number is proper. do.

On the other hand, the ball information control MPU 111 performs authentication processing in the second authentication unit 167 based on the first MPU identification number stored in the first MPU identification number storage unit 166, and the first MPU identification number is correct. to judge whether

If it is determined that the main control MPU 101 and ball control MPU 111 are proper based on the results of authentication by the first authentication unit 162 and the second authentication unit 167, respectively, when the main control side power is turned on in FIG. Processing and ball information control side power-on processing in FIG. 82 are permitted to start, and the game can be started. The start of the control-side power-on processing is not permitted, and the game cannot be played.

With these configurations, mutual authentication processing is performed between the main control MPU 101 and the ball information control MPU 111, and if the authentication processing is not properly performed, the game is not played. It is possible to effectively deter fraudulent acts such as replacing the main control MPU 101 and the ball information control MPU 111 with counterfeit chips.

As described above, when it is determined that the mutual authentication result is proper in the authentication process performed mutually between the main control MPU 101 and the ball information control MPU 111, the main control side power-on process and the diagram of FIG. 82 ball information control side power-on processing is permitted to start. In other words, the game board 5 is normally attached to the main body frame 2 on the condition that the result of mutual authentication in the authentication process performed mutually between the main control MPU 101 and the ball information control MPU 111 is determined to be appropriate. The existence of the game board 5 is guaranteed.

[Combination authentication of main frame and game board]
100 to 102, the maker authentication process executing means relating to the combination of the main body frame 2 and the game board 5 will be described.
When a game machine such as pachinko or pachislot is delivered to a game hall (game hall) or replaced, it is necessary to apply and obtain permission each time. It is obligatory to apply as a set of a frame body including the main body frame 2 and the door frame 3 as a set of game machines. Therefore, even if the main body frame is common to each manufacturer, the combination of the main body frame and the game board must be the combination that has been applied for.

Further, even if the game board 5 and the main body frame 2 and the door frame 3 are applied as a set of a game machine, the main body frame in this embodiment has a structure common to each manufacturer, so that different combinations of main bodies can be applied. Even if the game board is fitted into the frame, it is not possible to judge whether it is a wrong combination just by looking at it. is difficult to grasp and manage. This embodiment presents a specific solution for solving the above problems.

First, a specific implementation method for authenticating whether or not the combination of the game board 5 and the frame body including the body frame 2 and the door frame 3 is the requested combination will be described.

In addition to the aforementioned first MPU identification number and second MPU identification number used to authenticate whether the MPU is genuine or not, the main control MPU 101 on the main control board 100 also contains the manufacturer information and model number of the game board. Game board maker identification information necessary for recognition is stored in advance, and frame maker identification information is stored in the ball information control MPU 111 in the ball information control board 110 in advance.

In addition, the game board 5 stores different game board maker identification information for each individual game board 5, and can be recognized separately by the difference in the character string of the identification information. In addition, different frame maker identification information is stored for each individual body frame 2, and it is possible to recognize them separately by the difference in the character string of the identification information.

Next, the interrelationship between the terms of the present invention and the present embodiment will be presented. The main control board 100 corresponds to the first control board, the sphere information control board 110 corresponds to the second control board, the main control MPU 101 corresponds to the first MPU, and the sphere information control MPU 111 corresponds to the second MPU.

Two-way data communication is possible between the main control board 100 and the ball information control board 110 in this embodiment. By performing combination authentication processing in , it is possible to determine whether or not the game board and the main body frame are a legitimate combination. Details will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 100, the main control board 100 includes at least a main control MPU 101, and in the main control MPU 101, a game board maker identification information storage section 4101 storing pre-stored game board maker identification information, a frame maker A first authentication unit 162 that authenticates whether the identification information is correct, and a main encryption communication unit that encrypts information sent to the ball information control MPU 111 and decrypts information sent from the ball information control MPU 111. 160, and the first authentication unit 162 further includes a frame maker identification information storage unit 4112 for storing frame maker identification information.

The ball information control board 110 includes at least a ball information control MPU 111. In the ball information control MPU 111, a frame maker identification information storage unit 4112 storing pre-stored frame maker identification information and a game board maker identification information is stored properly. A second authentication unit 167 that performs authentication processing as to whether the Further, the second authentication unit 167 has a game board manufacturer identification information storage unit 4101 for storing game board manufacturer identification information.

When the game board 5 is fitted into the main body frame 2 and the game machine is powered on, two-way communication between the main control board 100 and the ball information control board 110 allows the game board maker identification from the game board maker identification information storage section 4101. After the information is encrypted by the main encryption communication unit 160, it is transmitted to the ball information encryption communication unit 165, and the frame manufacturer identification information from the frame manufacturer identification information storage unit 4112 is encrypted by the ball information encryption communication unit 165. It is transmitted to the main encryption communication unit 160 .

Next, the main control MPU 101 uses the main encryption communication unit 160 to decrypt the frame maker identification information transmitted from the ball information encryption communication unit 165 from the ball information control MPU 111, and Stored in the manufacturer identification information storage unit 4112, the ball information control MPU 111 decrypts the game board manufacturer identification information transmitted from the main control MPU 101 using the ball information encryption communication unit 165, and then stores it in the second authentication unit 167 Stored in the game board manufacturer identification information storage unit 4101 .

After that, the main control MPU 101 performs authentication processing in the first authentication unit 162 based on the frame maker identification information stored in the frame maker identification information storage unit 4112, and determines whether the frame maker identification information is proper. do.

Then, the ball information control MPU 111 carries out authentication processing in the second authentication section 167 based on the game board manufacturer identification information stored in the game board manufacturer identification information storage section 4101, and confirms that the game board manufacturer identification information is proper. determine if there is

When it is determined that the game board 5 and the main body frame 2 are a proper combination at the time of application based on the results of authentication by the first authentication unit 162 and the second authentication unit 167, the game is started. is possible, and if it is determined that it is not proper, it becomes impossible to start the game.

With these configurations, the authentication process is performed between the main control MPU 101 and the ball information control MPU 111, and if the authentication process is not properly performed, the game is not played. It is possible to effectively prevent the game from being started with a combination different from the set of gaming machines that was applied for by mistakenly fitting the game board into a frame different from the one at the time of application. Become.

Furthermore, the result of the authentication process performed between the main control MPU 101 and the ball information control MPU 111 is transmitted to the hall computer installed in the game hall via the external terminal board 133. , by outputting an error signal from the external terminal board 133 to the hall computer when it is determined that the combination of the game board maker identification information and the frame maker identification information is abnormal, the game board 5, the main body frame 2, the door frame 3 combination abnormality can be accurately grasped.

[Information output from conventional external terminal board]
Next, how information is conventionally output and managed from the external terminal board 133 to the hall computer will be described with reference to FIG. As the game progresses, various signals are transmitted from the ball information control board 110 to the external terminal board 133, and by transmitting the signals to the hall computer installed in the game hall, all installed in the game hall. It is a system that manages the gaming machines of Specifically, in addition to a door frame opening signal and a main body frame opening signal, a prize ball number information output signal indicating the number of prize balls for the player, and a 15-round jackpot from the main control board 100 via the ball information control board 110. In addition to the information output signal and the jackpot information output signal such as the 2-round jackpot information output signal, the probability fluctuation information output signal, the special pattern display information output signal, the normal pattern display information output signal, the time saving medium information output signal, and the start It is configured to output a game information signal such as a winning prize information output signal to the external terminal board 133 .

As described above, as information output from the ball information control board 110, a signal such as 15-round jackpot information is transmitted to the external terminal board 133, and then output from the external terminal board 133 to the hall computer. However, the signal is transmitted after the game process is started.

In the authentication process of this embodiment, the timing for outputting the result of the above-described authentication process from the external terminal plate 133 to the hall computer is when the power is turned on after the game board is fitted into the body frame (see step S20 in FIG. 79). ). Therefore, it is possible to use the output line for outputting to the external terminal board 133 during the game as the output line for outputting the result of the authentication process.

Conventionally, the ball information control board 110 and the external terminal board 133 are directly connected. , a code for identifying the manufacturer of the game machine, a code for identifying the model name of the game machine, and various information such as MPU specific information are output to the external terminal board, and then output from the external terminal board to the hall computer. In this configuration, the various information transmitted from the sphere information control board 110 is directly output to the external terminal board.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, in addition to the code for identifying the manufacturer of the gaming machine, the code for identifying the model name of the gaming machine, and the MPU-specific information, the above-described authentication information related to authentication is output as an authentication information output signal, which will be described later. It is configured to output to the hall computer through the external terminal board 133 .

[Information output from the external terminal board of this embodiment]
In this embodiment, a changeover circuit switch is provided between the ball information control board 110 and the external terminal board 133 to select either a 15-round jackpot information output signal or an authentication information output signal for transmitting MPU-specific information, authentication results, etc. is provided (FIG. 102). This pulse width changing circuit C1 has a switching circuit switch of two circuits of a normally open contact and a normally closed contact inside. A normally open contact and a normally closed contact are switch-controlled at a time to select either the 15-round jackpot information output signal or the authentication information output signal.

A 15-round jackpot information output signal transmitted from the ball information control board 110 is output through LINE1. During the game, the ball information control board 110 is switched to output to the external terminal plate 133 through LINE3 after being connected to a connection point, which is a contact point with LINE2, which will be described later, through the normally closed contact of the pulse width changing circuit C1. It is controlled by the control signal S1.

Also, the authentication information output signal from the sphere information control board 110 is output through LINE2. When the game machine is powered on and enters the authentication process in the above-described main control side power-on process and ball information control side power-on process, each contact is switched by a switching control signal S1 from the ball information control board 110. , the normally closed contact is open and the normally open contact is closed. Then, the pulse width of the authentication information output signal including the MPU-specific information and the authentication result is changed by the memory PMC provided in the pulse width changing circuit C1 through LINE2 (described later). After that, it is output to the external terminal board 133 from LINE3 connected to the connection point which is the contact point of LINE1 and LINE2, and then to the hall computer.

Before being output to the external terminal board 133, the MPU-specific information and the authentication signal are converted, for example, into 1-bit 125 ms (millisecond) width pulses (equivalent to 8 bps) by the memory PMC provided in the pulse width changing circuit C1. ), the pulse is widened to a pulse width that can be reliably received by the hall computer. When these pieces of information are sent by serial transmission, for example, in a form in which one frame consists of a total of 10 bits consisting of 1 start bit, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit, MPU-specific information, game board Assuming that the manufacturer identification information and the frame manufacturer identification information are 4 bytes, and the authentication result is 1 byte, a total of 5 bytes of data and 1 bit each of the start bit and the stop bit are added to each byte data, resulting in a 50-bit signal. is sent. Assuming that the pulse width of one bit is 125 ms, it takes 125 ms×50 bits=6.25 s to send out all the bits.

With the configuration described above, the signal for outputting the authentication information output signal and the signal for outputting the jackpot information can be output by switching between the normally open contact and the normally closed contact. Therefore, output can be performed without adding a terminal dedicated to H.133.

In this embodiment, the terminal for transmitting the 15-round jackpot information output signal during the game is used as the terminal for outputting the authentication information output signal only when the power is turned on, but this is just one embodiment. is. During power-on processing, output terminals other than the 15-round jackpot information output signal do not output signals, so that various terminals can be selected and used.

[Payment machine 4]
FIG. 78 is a block diagram mainly showing each element connected to the payment machine 4. As shown in FIG. The fare adjustment machine 4 and the sphere information control board 110 are connected so as to be capable of bi-directional data communication. The control unit of the fare adjustment machine 4 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input/output interface, a communication interface and the like (not shown).

The payment machine 4 is connected to input signals for operation of the ball lending button and payment button provided on the touch panel section 14 of the enclosed ball gaming machine 1 through an interface, for example. Also, the remaining number display section and the operable notification lamp provided on the touch panel section 14 of the enclosed ball type game machine 1 are connected so as to be able to display by the control output from the payment machine 4 . Further, the payment machine 4 is provided with a card processing machine 402 behind the card insertion slot in FIG.

[Card 403]
The card 403 used in the embodiment is composed of, for example, a magnetic card or an IC card, and is issued by a card issuing machine (not shown) and provided to the player upon payment of a predetermined amount by the player. FIG. 78 shows the data structure stored in the card 403. As shown in FIG.

The card 403 has an ID storage unit 404 that stores an ID number (hereinafter simply referred to as an ID) as identification information individually given to the card 403, and an amount equivalent to the amount paid when purchasing the card 403. A remaining number storage unit 305 that stores the number of remaining points as valuable value information, and a number of held balls storage unit 406 that stores the number of held balls acquired by the player as a result of playing a game (the number of held balls in a game machine). is set. When the card 403 is issued, the ID is stored in the ID storage unit 404, and the remaining points corresponding to the amount paid when purchasing the card 403 is stored in the remaining points storage unit 405 (for example, the amount paid is 5000 yen). If so, "5000" is stored as the remaining score, but "0" is stored in the ball possession storage unit 406 as the initial value of the number of possession balls.

The card processor 402 is conventionally known, and includes a card sensor for detecting the card 403, a card reader/writer for reading data stored in the card 403 and writing data to the card 403, and a card reader/writer for reading data from the card 403. A card conveying means for feeding the card 403 to the writing position and ejecting the card 403 to the card insertion slot is provided. When the card 403 is inserted into the card slot, the card processing machine 402 sends the card 403 to a predetermined data reading/writing position, and the card reader/writer reads the stored data, that is, the ID, the number of remaining credits, and the number of cards held. The number of balls is read and output to the adjustment machine 4.例文帳に追加Also, in response to a write command from the payment machine 4, the ID, the number of remaining points, and the number of balls held are written (stored) in each of the aforementioned storage units.

The settlement machine 4 stores the ID, the number of remaining points, and the number of balls in the RAM read from the card 403 through the card processing machine 402 .

[Ball rental with card 403]
After reading the data on the card 403, the fare adjustment machine 4 displays the remaining points stored in the RAM on the remaining points display section. When the card 403 can be used, the adjustment machine 4 lends the ball according to the operation of the lending ball button. In this ball lending operation, for example, 125 balls (the unit price of a ball is 4 yen) are lent per operation of the ball lending button. In addition, when the number of balls held is less than 125, the total number of balls held is regarded as the number of balls lent. The payment machine 4 transmits the number of rental balls to the ball information control board 110 . In addition, the payment machine 4 multiplies the set unit price of balls by the number of rental balls to obtain the price for the ball rental, and subtracts the obtained price (the price corresponding to the ball rental is the remaining frequency) from the current residual frequency. In addition, when there is a number of balls in possession and the number of balls in possession is used to lend the balls, the number of rental balls is subtracted from the current number of balls in possession. The fare adjustment machine 4 displays this result on the remaining points display section. Also, the remaining points are written in the remaining points storage section 405 of the card 403 .

[Play start]
When the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110 receives the number of rental balls transmitted from the payment machine 4 , it adds the number to the number of balls held in the game machine, and displays the addition result on the touch panel section 14 . The upper launching device 12 is enabled to shoot, and the game is ready for play.

[During play]
When the player operates the hitting handle 10, the hitting ball launching device 29 is activated, and when the game ball at the ball shooting position is hit into the game area 8 by the shooting hammer 30, this is detected by the shooting ball confirmation switch 36. Based on this, the hitting of each game ball into the game area 8 is detected. Then, the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110 sequentially "1" from the game machine possession ball number data stored in the game machine possession ball number storage area according to the hitting detection of each game ball. is subtracted, and the number of held balls is displayed on the touch panel section 14 .

On the other hand, the main control MPU 101 of the main control board 100 includes a gate switch 92 arranged in a gate (not shown) that allows game balls to pass through on the 5th surface of the game board, and a normal winning opening (not shown). General winning opening detection switches 93 and 94 arranged for, a count switch 98 arranged for a large winning opening (not shown), and a starting opening (not shown) serving as an upper starting opening Based on the detection signals from the upper and lower starting port detection switches 90 and 91, processing related to the game is performed, and commands and signals as processing results are sent to the ball information control board 110, the peripheral control board 130, and the upper and lower special symbols. Output to the display devices 142, 143, the upper and lower special pattern storage displays 144, 145, the normal pattern display 146, the normal pattern storage display 147, the starting solenoid 96, the big win solenoid 97, and the like.

When the game ball launched by the upper launching device 12 enters various winning openings (starting winning opening, large winning opening, etc.) in the game area 8, the game ball is detected by various winning detection switches provided for each winning opening. It is detected by (upper start opening detection switch 90, lower start opening detection switch 91, general winning opening detection switch 93, general winning opening detection switch 94, count switch 98).

The main control MPU 101 responds to detection signals from detection switches (general winning opening detection switches 93, 94, count switch 98, upper and lower starting opening detection switches 90, 91) provided for each winning opening. , outputs a prize ball command for designating the number of prize balls set according to the prize winning opening in which the game ball has won to the ball information control board 110 as necessary.

Furthermore, the main control MPU 101 periodically outputs a game state signal (status) indicating the type of the current game state to the peripheral control board 130 . The game state is, for example, a lottery for winning or losing due to the winning of the starting opening and the starting opening, and performing a variable display of special symbols based on the lottery result to stop the symbols, and the lottery result is a hit. In the case of a type 1 pachinko machine that shifts to a special game state (jackpot game state) in the case of normal game state (the probability of winning by lottery is normal probability, and the time of variable display of normal symbols is normal), time saving Game state (normal pattern variable display time is shorter than usual, information output signal during time saving), jackpot game state (jackpot information output signal for 15 rounds or jackpot information output signal for 2 rounds), high probability game State (state where the probability of winning by lottery is higher than usual, information output signal during probability fluctuation), during special design fluctuation (special design display information output signal), state with hold based on start winning prize (start winning prize information output signal) and the like.

Note that the peripheral control board 130 controls the liquid crystal display device 1400, the accessory decoration board (not shown), the board decoration board (not shown), and the frame decoration board (not shown) based on commands output from the main control board 100. (not shown) to control the lighting display of various decorative LEDs, control the sound (voice, sound, sound effect, etc.) output from a speaker (not shown), and control the liquid crystal display The pattern displayed by the device 1400 is controlled.

The ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110 displays the shooting solenoid 13, the ball feeding solenoid 31, the ball lifting motor 150, the ball polishing ribbon feeding motor 155, and the number of balls held on the touch panel 14 based on various input signals. and output a signal to the payment machine 4 .

The ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110 receives the game state signal and prize ball command output from the main control board 100 .

In response to receiving such a prize ball command, the ball information control MPU 111 stores the value of the number of prize balls preset for each winning hole in the game machine ball number data stored in the game machine ball number storage area. is added and displayed on the touch panel section 14 .

[End of game, payment]
After that, when the player operates the settlement button to end the game, the settlement machine 4 transmits a game end command to the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110 .

When the settlement machine 4 transmits a game end command to the ball information control MPU 111 in response to the operation of the settlement button, the ball information control MPU 111 receives the game end command sent from the settlement machine 4, and the ball information control is performed. The MPU 111 transmits “end possible” to the payment machine 4 . Next, the ball information control MPU 111 stops the shooting solenoid 13 and the ball feeding solenoid 31 to stop the game. The current number of balls in the game machine stored in the storage area for the number of balls in the game machine is transmitted to the settlement machine 4.例文帳に追加

When the processing of the settlement machine 4 corresponding to the number of balls in the gaming machine transmitted from the ball information control MPU 111 is completed, the settlement machine 4 transmits the processing end, so the ball information control MPU 111 receives the processing end. Then, the area for storing the number of balls in the game machine in the RAM is cleared to 0, and the process ends.

On the other hand, after the settlement machine 4 receives a response of "finished" as a reply about the end state to the game end command, the ball information control MPU 111 transmits the number of balls in the game machine to the settlement machine 4, so that the settlement machine 4 starts playing the game. When the number of balls held in the machine is received, the received number of balls held in the game machine is added to the number of balls held in the payment machine stored in the RAM when the card is inserted, and the addition result is stored as the number of balls held in the payment machine. As a result, all the number of balls held as a result of the game played by the player is stored as the number of balls held in the payout machine. Then, the processing end is transmitted to the ball information control MPU 111, the number of balls held in the payment machine is written in the number of balls held in the card 403, the card 403 is ejected from the card slot, and the processing ends. As a result, the card 403 rewritten by adding the number of balls possessed by the gaming machine as a game result is returned to the player.

[Various control processing of the main control board]
First, various control processes performed by the main control board 100 shown in FIG. 76 according to the progress of the game of the gaming machine 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 79 to 81. FIG. 79 is a flow chart showing the main control side power-on processing executed by the main control MPU 101 of the main control board 100, FIG. 80 is a flow chart showing the continuation of the main control side power-on processing of FIG. 79, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing main control side timer interrupt processing executed by the main control MPU 101. FIG.

[Processing when main control side power is turned on]
When the gaming machine 1 is powered on, the main control MPU 101 of the main control board 100 (hereinafter simply referred to as main control MPU) performs main control side power-on processing as shown in FIGS. When this main-control-side power-on process is started, the main control MPU sets a stack pointer (step S10). The stack pointer indicates, for example, an address stacked on the stack to temporarily store the contents of a storage element (register) in use, or a temporary return address of this routine when returning to this routine after terminating a subroutine. It indicates the address stacked on the stack for storage, and the stack pointer advances each time the stack is stacked. In step S10, an initial address is set in the stack pointer, and from this initial address, contents of registers, a return address, etc. are stacked on the stack.
Then, the stack pointer returns to the initial address by sequentially reading from the last stacked stack to the first stacked stack.

After step S10, wait timer processing 1 is performed (step S12), and it is determined whether or not a power failure warning signal has been input (step S14). The voltage does not rise immediately after the power is turned on until it reaches the predetermined voltage. On the other hand, when there is a power failure or momentary power failure (a phenomenon in which the power supply is suddenly suspended), the voltage drops, and when it becomes lower than the power failure warning voltage, the power failure warning is sent from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 of the ball information control board 110. A signal is output and input to the main control MPU. Similarly, when the voltage becomes smaller than the blackout warning voltage during the period from when the power is turned on until it rises to a predetermined voltage, a blackout warning signal is input from the blackout monitoring circuit 117 of the ball information control board 110 .

Therefore, the wait timer process 1 in step S12 is a process for waiting until the voltage becomes larger than the blackout warning voltage after the power is turned on and is stabilized. ms) is set. The decision in step S14 is made based on the power failure warning signal from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 of the ball information control board 110. FIG. After the power is turned on, when the voltage becomes higher than the power failure warning voltage and stabilizes, the power failure warning signal from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 is no longer output, and the main control MPU proceeds to step S16.

After proceeding to step S16, the main control MPU determines whether or not the RAM clear switch 105 (FIG. 76) is operated (step S16). This determination is made based on whether or not the RAM clear switch 105 of the main control board 100 is operated and the operation signal (detection signal) is input to the main control MPU. When the detection signal is input, it is determined that the RAM clear switch 105 is operated, and when the detection signal is not input, it is determined that the RAM clear switch 105 is not operated.

When it is determined in step S16 that the RAM clear switch 105 has been operated, the RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG is set to 1 (step S18), and the process proceeds to step S30. When it is determined that the operation has not been performed, the value 0 is set to the RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG (step S19), and the process proceeds to step S20.

This RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG is stored in the RAM built in the main control MPU 101 (hereinafter referred to as "main control built-in RAM"), the game related to the game such as probability fluctuation, unpaid prize balls, etc. This is a flag indicating whether or not to erase information, and is set to a value of 1 when game information is erased and a value of 0 when game information is not erased. The value of the RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG set in steps S18 and S19 is stored in the general-purpose storage element (general-purpose register) of the main control MPU.

Proceeding to step S20, combination authentication processing is executed to determine whether or not the combination of the main control MPU 101 and the ball information control MPU 111 is proper. The frame maker identification information output from the ball information control board is stored in the frame maker identification information storage unit 4112 of the main control MPU 101, and it is authenticated whether proper frame maker identification information is output. If the authentication is properly performed, the process proceeds to step S30, while if it is determined that the authentication is not proper, an abnormality is reported using a speaker, a liquid crystal display device, or the like.

After shifting to step S30, the main control MPU performs wait timer processing 2 (step S30). In this wait timer process 2, the system waits until the liquid crystal control section of the peripheral control board 130 performs drawing control of the liquid crystal display device (not shown) is activated (booted). In this embodiment, 2 seconds (s) is set as the time until booting (boot timer).

After step S30, it is determined whether or not the RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG is 0 (step S32). As described above, the RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG is set to a value of 1 when the game information is erased, and is set to a value of 0 when the game information is not erased. If it is determined in step S32 that the RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG is 0, that is, if the game information is not to be erased, a checksum is calculated (step S34). This checksum is calculated by regarding the game information stored in the main control built-in RAM as numerical values and calculating the total.

Following step S34, whether or not the calculated checksum value (sum value) matches the checksum value (sum value) stored in the main control side power-off processing (at power-off) described later. It is determined whether or not (step S36). If they match, it is determined whether or not the backup flag BK-FLG is 1 (step S38). This backup flag BK-FLG stores backup information such as game information, checksum value (sum value) and backup flag BK-FLG value in the main control built-in RAM in the main control side power failure processing described later. It is set to a value of 1 when the main-control-side power-off process has been completed normally, and set to a value of 0 when the main-control-side power-off process has not been completed normally.

When the backup flag BK-FLG is 1 in step S38, that is, when the main control side power failure processing is normally completed, the work area of the main control built-in RAM is set as when the power is restored (step S40). In this setting, in addition to setting the value 0 to the backup flag BK-FLG, the power recovery information is read from the ROM built in the main control MPU (hereinafter referred to as "main control built-in ROM"), and this power recovery The hour information is set in the work area of the main control built-in RAM. In addition, "recovery of power" refers to the state in which the power is turned on after the power has been cut off, the state in which the power is restored after a power failure or momentary power failure, and the state in which the high frequency radiation is detected and reset. It also includes the state after which it has returned.

After step S40, power-on command creation processing is performed (step S42). In this power-on command generation process, game information is read from the backup information, and various commands corresponding to this game information are stored in a predetermined storage area of the main control built-in RAM.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S32 that the RAM clear notification flag RCL-FLG is not 0 (is 1), that is, when game information is erased, or if the checksum value (sum value) matches in step S36 If not, or if it is determined in step S38 that the backup flag BK-FLG is not 1 (is 0), that is, if the main control side power failure processing has not been completed normally, the main control built-in RAM All areas are cleared (step S44). Specifically, the value 0 is written into the main control built-in RAM (a predetermined value may be read from the main control built-in ROM and set as the initial value). Also, the initial value determination random number for determining the initial value of the random number for determining the big hit is determined when the game information is erased by operating the RAM clear switch 105, when the sum values do not match, or when the RAM clear switch 105 is operated. When the main control side power failure processing is not normally completed, the unique ID code preliminarily stored in the nonvolatile RAM of the main control MPU is taken out, and the random number for judging the jackpot is updated based on the taken out ID code. An initial value derivation process is executed to always derive the same fixed value from the fixed numerical range of the counter, and this fixed value is set as the initial value.

Following step S44, the work area of the main control built-in RAM is set as initial setting (step S46). For this setting, the initial information is read from the main control built-in ROM and this initial information is set in the work area of the main control built-in RAM.

Following step S46, RAM clear notification and test command creation processing are performed (step S48). In this RAM clear notification and test command creation processing, a power-on command classified as power-on is created for notifying that the main control built-in RAM has been cleared and initial settings have been performed. Test commands classified into test-related items for performing inspection are created and stored as transmission information in the transmission information storage area of the main control built-in RAM.

After step S42 or step S48, interrupt initialization is performed (step S50). This setting is to set the interrupt period when the main control side timer interrupt processing, which will be described later, is performed. In this embodiment, it is set to 4 ms.

After step S50, interrupt permission setting is performed. (Step S52). With this setting, the main control side timer interrupt processing is repeatedly performed at the interrupt period set at step S50, that is, every 4 ms. The processing of steps S10 to S52 is referred to as "main control side power-on processing".

Following step S52, a value A is set in the watchdog timer clear register WCL (step S54). The watchdog timer is cleared by setting value A, value B and value C in this watchdog timer clear register WCL in this order.

After step S54, it is determined whether or not a power failure warning signal has been input (step S56). As described above, when the power supply of the pachinko machine 1 is cut off, power failure or momentary power failure occurs, when the voltage becomes equal to or lower than the power failure notice voltage, the power failure notice signal is generated as a power failure notice by the power failure monitoring circuit of the ball information control board 110. input from 117. The determination in step S56 is made based on this power failure warning signal.

If there is no input of the power failure warning signal in step S56, a non-hit-lose random number update process is performed (step S58). In this non-win/lose random number update process, for example, the reach determination random number, the variable display pattern random number, the big hit symbol initial value determination random number, and the small winning symbol initial value determination random number are updated. In this way, in the non-hit-lose random number update process, the random numbers that are not related to the hit-lose determination (big hit determination) are updated. In addition, the random number for normal symbol hit determination, the random number for normal symbol hit determination initial value determination, the normal symbol variation display pattern random number, etc. are also updated by this non-hit-lose random number update process.

Following step S58, the process returns to step S54 to set the value A in the watchdog timer clear register WCL. In step S56, it is determined whether or not a power failure warning signal has been input. For example, non-hit-lose random number update processing is performed in step S58, and steps S54 to S58 are repeatedly performed. The processing of steps S54 to S58 is called "main control side main loop processing".

On the other hand, when the power failure warning signal is input in step S56, interrupt prohibition is set (step S60). With this setting, the main control side timer interrupt processing, which will be described later, is not performed, preventing writing to the main control built-in RAM and protecting the game information from being rewritten.

Following step S60, the starting opening solenoid 96, the big winning opening solenoid 97, the upper special symbol display 142, the lower special symbol display 143, the upper special symbol storage display 144, and the lower special symbol storage display shown in FIG. 145, the normal symbol display 146, the normal symbol memory display 147, the game state display 148, the round display 149, etc. are stopped (step S62).

Following step S62, a checksum is calculated and the calculated value is stored (step S64). This checksum is calculated by considering the game information in the work area of the main control built-in RAM, excluding the storage area for the checksum value (sum value) and the value of the backup flag BK-FLG, as numerical values.

Following step S64, the backup flag BK-FLG is set to 1 (step S66). This completes the storage of the backup information.

Following step S66, clear setting of the watchdog timer is performed (step S68). This clear setting is performed by sequentially setting the value A, the value B, and the value C in the watchdog timer clear register WCL, as described above.

Following step S68, a loop process is entered in which a state in which nothing is executed is repeated. The processing of steps S60 to S68 and the loop processing are referred to as "main control side power failure processing". In this loop processing, since the value A, the value B, and the value C are not sequentially set in the watchdog timer clear register WCL, the watchdog timer is not cleared. Therefore, the watchdog timer times out and outputs a time-out signal, and the time-out signal resets the main control MPU, after which the main control MPU performs the main control side power-on processing from the beginning again.

The game machine 1 (main control MPU 101) is reset when a power failure or momentary power failure occurs, and the main control side power-on processing is performed when power is restored thereafter.

In step S36, it is checked whether or not the backup information stored in the main control built-in RAM is normal, and in step S38, it is checked whether or not the main control side power failure processing has been completed normally. inspecting. In this way, by double-checking the backup information stored in the main control built-in RAM, it is inspected whether or not the backup information has been stored illegally.

[Main control side timer interrupt processing]
Next, main control side timer interrupt processing will be described. This main-control-side timer interrupt processing is repeatedly performed for each interrupt period (4 ms in this embodiment) set in the main-control-side power-on processing shown in FIGS. 79 and 80 .

When the main control side timer interrupt processing is started, the main control MPU of the main control board 100 sets a value B in the watchdog timer clear register WCL as shown in FIG. 81 (step S70). At this time, in the watchdog timer clear register WCL, the value B is set following the value A set in step S54 of the main control side main loop processing.

After step S70, the interrupt flag is cleared (step S72). The interrupt period is initialized by clearing the interrupt flag, and the next interrupt period is counted from the initial value.

After step S72, switch input processing is performed (step S74). In this switch input process, various signals input to the input terminal of the main control I/O port 102 are read and stored as input information in the input information storage area of the main control built-in RAM.

Subsequent to step S74, timer subtraction processing is performed (step S76). In this timer subtraction process, for example, the time during which the upper special symbol indicator 142 and the lower special symbol indicator 143 are lit according to the variable display pattern determined by the special symbol and special electric auditors control process to be described later, the normal symbol to be described later and In addition to the time when the normal symbol display 146 is lit according to the normal symbol variation display pattern determined by the normal electric accessory control process, the ball information control board 110 transmits various commands sent by the main control board 100 (main control MPU). Time management such as ACK signal input judgment time set as a judgment condition when judging whether or not the ball information main ACK signal indicating that the reception has been normally received is input is performed. Specifically, when the variation time of the variation display pattern or the normal symbol variation display pattern is 5 seconds, the timer interrupt cycle is set to 4 ms, so each time this timer subtraction process is performed, the variation time is subtracted by 4 ms. When the subtraction result becomes 0, the fluctuation time of the fluctuation display pattern or the normal symbol fluctuation display pattern is accurately measured.

In this embodiment, the ACK signal input determination time is set to 100 ms. Each time this timer subtraction process is performed, the ACK signal input determination time is subtracted by 4 ms, and the subtraction result becomes 0, thereby accurately measuring the ACK signal input determination time. These various times and the ACK signal input determination time are stored as time management information in the time management information storage area of the main control built-in RAM.

Following step S76, win-lose random number update processing is performed (step S78). In this win/lose random number update process, the above-described random number for judging a big win, random number for a big win design, and random number for a small win design are updated. In addition to these random numbers, the random number for determining the initial value for the jackpot symbol, which is updated in the non-win/lose random number update process of step S58 in the main control side power-on process (main control side main process) shown in FIG. And the random number for determining the initial value for the small winning symbol is also updated. These big hit symbol initial value determination random numbers and small winning symbol initial value determination random numbers are updated in the main control side main processing and this main control side timer interrupt processing, respectively, thereby enhancing the randomness. . On the other hand, since the random number for judging the big hit, the random number for the big hit pattern, and the random number for the small hit pattern are random numbers related to the judgment of winning (big hit judgment), each counter is updated only each time this random number update process is performed. counts up. For example, the counter that updates the random number for judging a big hit is, as described above, an initial value update type counter that has a predetermined fixed numerical range ranging from the minimum value to the maximum value (in this embodiment, the minimum value is It is updated within the value 32767) as 0 to the maximum value, and the range from the minimum value to the maximum value is counted up by adding 1 each time this main control side timer interrupt processing is performed. The random number for determining the initial value for judging a big win is counted up to the maximum value (value 32767), and then the random number for determining the initial value for judging a big hit is counted up from the minimum value (value 0). When a counter for updating the random number for judging a big win finishes counting up the range from the minimum value to the maximum value of the random number for judging a big win, the random number for determining the initial value for judging a big win is updated by the random number updating process. At this time, the updated value is always the same from the fixed value range of the counter that the main control MPU retrieves the ID code from its built-in non-volatile RAM and updates the jackpot determination random number based on the retrieved ID code. An initial value derivation process for deriving a fixed value of is executed, and this derived fixed value is set as an initial value. That is, the initial value determination random number for judging a big hit is always overwritten with the same fixed value derived based on the ID code by executing the initial value deriving process as the initial value. Incidentally, the above-described normal symbol hit determination random number and normal symbol hit determination initial value determination random number are also updated by this win/lose random number update process. The normal symbol hit determination random number and the like are the same as the above-described method for updating the big hit determination random number, and the description thereof is omitted.

Following step S78, prize ball control processing is performed (step S80). In this prize ball control process, input information is read from the above-described input information storage area, and based on this input information, a prize ball command for transmission to the ball information control board 110 is created, and the main control board 100 and the ball information are generated. A self-check command for checking the connection state between the boards with the control board 110 is created. Then, the created prize ball command and self-check command are transmitted to the ball information control board 110 as main ball information serial data. For example, when one game ball enters the big winning hole, a prize ball command representing 15 balls as the number of prize balls is created and transmitted to the ball information control board 110, or this prize ball command is transmitted to the ball information control board. When the ball information main ACK signal, which informs that the ball information control board 110 has completed reception normally, is not input within a predetermined time, a self-check command for checking the connection state between the main control board 100 and the ball information control board 110 is created. It is transmitted to the sphere information control board 110 .

After step S80, frame command reception processing is performed (step S82). The sphere information control board 110 transmits various 1-byte (8-bit) commands divided into status indications. In the frame command reception process of step S82, when these various commands are normally received as the ball information main serial data, the information to notify the ball information control board 110 to that effect is stored as output information in the output information storage area of the main control built-in RAM. Remember. Also, the command normally received as ball information main serial data is shaped into a 2-byte (16-bit) command and stored as transmission information in the transmission information storage area described above.

Following step S82, fraud detection processing is performed (step S84). In this fraudulent act detection process, an abnormal state regarding prize balls is checked. For example, when the input information is read out from the above-described input information storage area, and the detection signal from the count switch 98 is input in the non-jackpot game state (when the game ball enters the big winning hole), etc. A prize-winning abnormal display command classified as a notification display as an abnormal state is created and stored as transmission information in the transmission information storage area described above.

Following step S84, a special symbol and special electric accessory control process is performed (step S86). In this special symbol and special electric role product control process, the value of the counter for updating the above-mentioned big hit determination random number is taken out and it is determined whether or not it matches the big hit determination value stored in advance in the main control built-in ROM (big hit It is determined whether or not to generate a game state (referred to as "special lottery")), and the value of the counter for updating the random number for the big hit pattern is taken out and used as the probability variable hit determination value stored in advance in the main control built-in ROM. It determines whether or not they match (determines whether or not to generate probability variation). Here, "probability change" means that the probability of winning a big hit changes to a high probability (probability variable time) set higher than the normal time (low probability). In this embodiment, as the range of the above-described jackpot determination value (jackpot determination range), a value of 32668 to a value of 32767 is set for a low probability. ~ value 32767 is set and read from the probability variation time determination table. Thus, in the special symbol and special electric accessory control process of step S86, whether or not the value of the counter for updating the big hit determination random number and the big hit determination value stored in advance in the main control built-in ROM match. When judging whether or not, it is determined whether or not the value of the counter for updating the big-hit judging random number is included in the big-hit judging range.

When these determination results are from the upper starting port detection switch 90, various commands related to the special figure 1 tuning effect are created, and when the lottery results are from the lower starting port detection switch 91, special Various commands related to FIG. 2 tuning performance are created and stored as transmission information in the transmission information storage area, and the upper special symbol indicator 142 or the lower special symbol indicator 143 is lit according to the determined special symbol fluctuation display pattern. The output of the lighting signal to the upper special symbol display device 142 or the lower special symbol display device 143 is set, and stored as the output information in the output information storage area described above.

In addition, depending on the game state to be generated, for example, when it becomes a big win game state, various commands classified as related to the big win are created and stored as transmission information in the transmission information storage area, or the opening and closing member is opened and closed. Setting the output of the drive signal to the winning opening solenoid 97 and storing it as output information in the output information storage area, or when the number of times (round) that the big winning opening changes from the closed state to the open state is two times, the round is displayed. The output of the lighting signal to the 2nd round display lamp of the device 149 is set so as to light the 2nd round display lamp of the device 149, and is stored as output information in the output information storage area. The output of a lighting signal to the 15th round display lamp is set so as to light the 15th round display lamp, and the output information is stored in the output information storage area, or the presence or absence of probability variation is lit in a predetermined color. The output of the lighting signal to the indicator 148 is set and stored as output information in the output information storage area.

Following step S86, a normal symbol and normal electric accessory control process is performed (step S88). In this normal symbol and normal electric accessary product control process, the input information is read from the above-described input information storage area, and the gate winning process is performed based on this input information. In this gate winning process, it is determined from the input information whether or not the detection signal from the gate switch 92 has been input to the input terminal. Based on the result of this determination, when the detection signal is input to the input terminal, the value of the counter for updating the random number for determining per normal symbol is extracted as gate information, and the gate information storage area of the main control built-in RAM is extracted. memorize to

Following step S88, port output processing is performed (step S90). In this port output process, output information is read from the output information storage area from the output terminal of the main control I/O port 102, and various signals are output based on this output information. For example, when various commands from the ball information control board 110 are successfully received from the output terminal of the main control I/O port 102 based on the output information, the main ball information ACK signal is output to the ball information control board 110. , When in the jackpot game state, it outputs a drive signal to the big winning opening solenoid 97 for opening and closing the opening and closing member of the big winning opening, and outputs a driving signal to the starting opening solenoid 96 for opening and closing the movable piece. In addition, 15 rounds jackpot information output signal, 2 rounds jackpot information output signal, probability fluctuation information output signal, special pattern display information output signal, normal pattern display information output signal, time saving medium information output information, start winning prize information output signal Various information (game information) signals related to the game such as are outputted to the ball information control board 110 .

Following step S90, peripheral control board command transmission processing is performed (step S92). In this peripheral control board command transmission process, the transmission information is read from the transmission information storage area described above, and this transmission information is transmitted to the peripheral control board 130 as main peripheral serial data. This transmission information includes various commands that are classified into special figure 1 tuning effect related, various commands that are classified into special figure 2 tuning effect related, and are classified into jackpot related Various commands that are classified as power on, various commands that are classified as being related to general map synchronization effects, various commands that are classified as being related to normal electric role effects, various commands that are classified as notification display, status display Various commands classified, various commands classified into test-related commands, and various commands classified into others are stored. One packet of the main circumferential serial data is composed of 3 bytes.

Specifically, the main peripheral serial data includes a status indicating a command type having a storage capacity of 1 byte (8 bits), a mode indicating a variation of an effect having a storage capacity of 1 byte (8 bits), and a status and a sum value calculated by considering the mode as a numerical value, and this sum value is created at the time of transmission. Incidentally, the processing of steps S74 to S92 will be referred to as "game control processing".

Following step S92, a value C is set in the watchdog timer clear register WCL (step S94). By setting the value C in the watchdog timer clear register WCL in step S94, the value C is set in the watchdog timer clear register WCL following the value B set in step S70. As a result, the value A, the value B, and the value C are sequentially set in the watchdog timer clear register WCL, and the watchdog timer is cleared.

After step S94, the register is switched (restored) (step S96), and this routine ends. Here, when the main control side timer interrupt processing, which is this routine, is started, the main control MPU stacks the contents of the general-purpose register on the stack and saves it. This prevents destruction of the contents of the general-purpose registers used in the main processing on the main control side. In step S96, the contents saved in the stack are read and written to the original register. It should be noted that the main control MPU sets interrupt permission after returning in step S96.

[Various control processing of ball information control board]
Next, various control processes performed by the ball information control board 110 shown in FIG. 77 will be described with reference to FIGS. 81 to 86. FIG. FIG. 82 is a flowchart showing the ball information control side power-on processing executed by the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110. FIG. 83 is a flowchart showing the continuation of the ball information control side power-on processing of FIG. FIG. 84 is a flow chart showing the continuation of the ball information control side power-on processing following FIG. 83, and FIG. FIG. 86 is a flowchart showing an example of ball information control side timer interrupt processing.

[Processing when ball information control side power is turned on]
When the pachinko gaming machine 1 is powered on, the ball information control MPU 111 (hereinafter simply referred to as the ball information control MPU) of the ball information control unit 118 in the ball information control board 110, as shown in FIGS. Execute processing when power is turned on on the ball information control side. When the ball information control side power-on process is started, the ball information control MPU sets the interrupt mode (step S500). This interrupt mode sets the priority of interrupts of the ball information control MPU. In the present embodiment, the ball information control unit timer interrupt processing, which will be described later, is set to have the highest priority.

Following step S500, input/output setting (input/output setting of I/O) is performed (step S502). In this I/O input/output setting, the input/output setting of the I/O port of the ball information control MPU is performed.

Following step S502, output of a power failure clear signal to the power failure monitoring circuit 117 shown in FIG. 77 is started (step S504). The power failure monitoring circuit 117 is composed of a voltage comparison circuit and a D-type flip-flop IC. The voltage comparison circuit compares +24V with the reference voltage or compares +12V with the reference voltage, and outputs the comparison results. The result of this comparison is input to the PR terminal, which is the preset terminal of the D-type flip-flop, with logic HI when no power failure or momentary power failure has occurred. The logic becomes LOW and is input to the PR terminal, which is the preset terminal of the D-type flip-flop. In step S504, output of a power failure clear signal to the CLR terminal, which is the clear terminal of the D-type flip-flop, is started. This power failure clear signal is input to the clear terminal via the ball information control I/O port 112 of the ball information control unit 118 with its logic set to LOW. As a result, the sphere information control MPU can release the latched state of the D-type flip-flop, and inverts the logic input to the PR terminal, which is the preset terminal of the D-type flip-flop, until the latched state is set. Then, it is possible to output from the 1Q terminal which is an output terminal, and the signal from the 1Q terminal can be monitored.

After step S504, wait timer processing 1 is performed (step S506), and it is determined whether or not a power failure warning signal has been input (step S508). The voltage does not rise immediately after the power is turned on until it reaches the predetermined voltage. On the other hand, when a power failure or momentary power failure occurs (a phenomenon in which the supply of power suddenly stops temporarily), the voltage drops, and when it becomes smaller than the power failure warning voltage, a power failure warning signal is input from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 as a power failure warning. Similarly, when the voltage becomes smaller than the power failure warning voltage after the power is turned on until it rises to a predetermined voltage, a power failure warning signal is input from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 . Therefore, the wait timer process 1 in step S506 is a process for waiting until the voltage becomes larger than the blackout warning voltage after the power is turned on and stabilized. ms) is set. It is determined in step S508 whether or not the power failure warning signal has been input. This determination is made based on the signal output from the 1Q terminal, which is the output terminal of the D-type flip-flop, as the power failure warning signal.

Following step S508, output of the power failure clear signal to the CLR terminal, which is the clear terminal of the D-type flip-flop, is stopped (step S510). By stopping the output of the power failure clear signal, the logic becomes HI through the ball information control I/O port 112 and is input to the CLR terminal which is a clear terminal. This allows the sphere information control MPU to set the D-type flip-flop to the latch state. When the D-type flip-flop latches the state in which the logic LOW is input to the PR terminal, which is a preset terminal, it outputs a power failure warning signal from the 1Q terminal, which is an output terminal.

Following step S510, it is determined whether or not the RAM clear switch 105 has been operated (step S512). This determination is made based on whether or not the RAM clear switch 105 of the main control board 100 is operated and the operation signal (detection signal) is input to the ball information control MPU. When the detection signal is input, it is determined that the RAM clear switch 105 is operated, and when the detection signal is not input, it is determined that the RAM clear switch 105 is not operated.

If it is determined in step S512 that the RAM clear switch 105 has been operated, the ball information RAM clear flag is set to 1 (step S514), and the process proceeds to step S518. If it is determined that the ball information RAM is not cleared, the value 0 is set in the ball information RAM clear (step S516), and the process proceeds to step S518.

This ball information RAM clear flag is stored in a RAM built into the ball information control MPU (hereinafter referred to as "ball information control built-in RAM"), for example, various flags and various information storage areas. It is a flag indicating whether or not to erase various ball information stored therein, and is set to a value of 1 when the ball information is to be erased, and to a value of 0 when the ball information is not to be erased. The ball information RAM clear flags set in steps S514 and S516 are stored in the general storage element (general purpose register) of the ball information control MPU.

Following step S514 or step S516, a setting is made to permit access to the ball information control built-in RAM (step S518). This setting enables access to the ball information control built-in RAM, and enables, for example, writing (storing) or reading of ball information.

Following step S518, a stack pointer is set (step S520). The stack pointer indicates, for example, an address stacked on the stack to temporarily store the contents of a storage element (register) in use, or a temporary return address of this routine when returning to this routine after terminating a subroutine. It indicates the address stacked on the stack for storage, and the stack pointer advances each time the stack is stacked. At step S520, the initial address is set in the stack pointer, and from this initial address, the register contents, the return address, etc. are stacked on the stack. Then, the stack pointer returns to the initial address by sequentially reading from the last stacked stack to the first stacked stack.

After step S520, when the process proceeds to step S521, combination authentication processing is executed to determine whether or not the combination of the ball information control MPU 111 and the main control MPU 101 is proper. The game board maker identification information output from the main control board 100 is stored in the game board maker identification information storage unit 4101 of the ball information control MPU 111, and it is authenticated whether proper game board maker identification information is output. If the authentication is properly performed, the process proceeds to step S527, while if it is determined that the authentication is not proper, an abnormality is reported using a speaker, a liquid crystal display device, or the like.

After step S521, the ball information control MPU proceeds to step S527. In step S527, it is determined whether or not the ball information RAM clear flag is 0 (step S527). As described above, the ball information RAM clear flag is set to the value 1 when the ball information is erased, and to the value 0 when the ball information is not erased.

When the ball information RAM clear flag is 0 in step S527, that is, when the ball information is not erased, a checksum is calculated (step S528). This checksum is calculated by regarding the ball information stored in the ball information control built-in RAM as numerical values and calculating the total.

Following step S528, it is determined whether or not the calculated checksum value matches the checksum value stored in the ball information control unit power-off process (at power-off), which will be described later (step S530). ). If they match, it is determined whether or not the ball information backup flag is 1 (step S532). This ball information backup flag is a flag indicating whether or not ball information backup information such as ball information and a checksum value has been stored in the internal RAM for ball information control in the ball information control unit power-off processing described later. A value of 1 is set when the ball information control unit power failure processing is normally completed, and a value of 0 is set when the ball information control unit power failure processing is not normally completed.

When the ball information backup flag is 1 in step S532, that is, when the ball information control unit power-off processing is normally completed, the work area of the ball information control built-in RAM is set as when the power is restored (step S534). In addition to setting the ball information backup flag to a value of 0, this setting also reads power recovery information from the ROM built into the ball information control MPU (hereinafter referred to as "ball information control built-in ROM"). The power recovery information is set in the work area of the ball information control built-in RAM. As a result, information used for various processes is set based on various flags, various information stored in various information storage areas, etc., which are the aforementioned ball information backup information stored in the internal ball information control RAM. . Note that "recovery of power" includes not only the state in which the power is turned on after the power has been cut off, but also the state in which the power has been restored after a power failure or momentary power failure.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S527 that the ball information RAM clear flag is not 0 (is 1), or if the checksum values do not match in step S530, or if the ball information backup flag is set to a value of 1 in step S532. When it is determined that the value is not 1 (the value is 0), that is, when the power-off process of the ball information control section has not ended normally, the entire area of the ball information control built-in RAM is cleared (step S536). As a result, the ball information backup information stored in the internal ball information control RAM is cleared.

Following step S536, the work area of the ball information control built-in RAM is set as initial setting (step S538). For this setting, the initial information is read from the ball information control built-in ROM and this initial information is set in the work area of the ball information control built-in RAM.

After step S534 or step S538, interrupt initialization is performed (step S540). This setting is for setting an interrupt period when the ball information control unit timer interrupt process, which will be described later, is performed. In this embodiment, it is set to 2 ms.

After step S540, interrupt permission setting is performed (step S542). With this setting, the ball information control unit timer interrupt processing is repeatedly performed at the interrupt period set at step S540, that is, every 2 ms.

After step S542, it is determined whether or not a power failure warning signal has been input (step S544). As described above, when the power of the pachinko game machine 1 is turned off, or when a power failure or momentary power failure occurs, a power failure warning signal is input from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 as a power failure warning when the voltage becomes equal to or lower than the power failure warning voltage. The determination in step S540 is made based on this power failure warning signal.

If there is no power failure warning signal input in step S544, it is determined whether or not the 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is 1 (step S546). This 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is a flag that counts 2 ms in the ball information control unit timer interrupt processing that is processed every 2 ms, which will be described later. set respectively.

If it is determined in step S546 that the 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is 0, that is, if 2 ms has not elapsed, the process returns to step S544 to determine whether or not a power failure warning signal has been input.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S546 that the 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG has a value of 1, that is, if 2 ms has elapsed, the 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is set to a value of 0 (step S547), and the process proceeds to step S550. , outputs an external WDT clear signal to the external watchdog timer (external WDT) 116 (turns ON, step S550). The external WDT 116 monitors the operation (system) of the ball information control MPU. When the external WDT clear signal is not stopped during the clear signal release time, a reset signal is sent to the ball information control MPU and the ball information control I/O port 112. is output to reset (regularly diagnose whether the ball information control MPU system is running out of control).

Following step S550, port output processing is performed (step S552). In this port output process, various kinds of information are read out from the output information storage area of the ball information control built-in RAM, and various signals are output from the output terminal of the ball information control I/O port 112 based on the various kinds of information.

In the output information storage area, for example, ball information main ACK information that tells that various commands related to prize balls from the main control board 100 (prize ball command and self-check command) have been normally received, and ball information to the ball lifting device 22 Various information such as drive information for performing drive control is stored, and when a prize ball command from the main control board 100 is normally received from the output terminal of the ball information control I/O port 112 based on this output information It outputs a ball information main ACK signal to the main control board 100 and outputs a drive signal to the firing solenoid 13 .

Following step S552, port input processing is performed (step S554). In this port input process, various signals input to the input terminal of the ball information control I/O port 112 are read and stored as input information in the input information storage area of the internal ball information control RAM. For example, door frame open switch 131, body frame open switch 132, launch standby ball detection switches 26, 70, launch ball confirmation switch 36, recovered ball detection switch 203, ball path full tank detection switch 206, ball proper amount detection switch 207, Lifting entrance switch 156, lifting motor sensor (photosensor) 157, cassette detection switch 158, firing stop switch 86, touch switch 87, BRQ signal, BRDY signal and CR connection signal from payment machine 4, command transmission processing described later Main ball information ACK signal and the like from the main control board 100 that informs that the main control board 100 has received the various commands sent in , respectively, are read and stored as input information in the input information storage area.

After step S554, timer update processing is performed (step S556). Various determination times are stored as time management information in the time management information storage area of the ball information control built-in RAM. In the timer update process, it is determined whether or not the timer values of various timers have been set, and if the timer values have been set, the timer values are decremented by one. For example, if "1000" is set in the timer as a value corresponding to 2 seconds (2000ms), the timer interrupt cycle is set to 2ms. When the subtraction result becomes 0, the time is up and the time is accurately measured.

Subsequent to step S556, fare adjustment machine communication processing is performed (step S558). In the fare adjustment machine communication process, input information is read from the above-described input information storage area, and based on this input information, whether or not various signals (BRQ signal, BRDY signal, and CR connection signal) from the fare adjustment machine 4 are input. judge. Based on various signals from the payment machine 4, the ball information control MPU exchanges various signals with the payment machine 4. For example, when the ball information control MPU receives the number of rental balls transmitted from the payment machine 4, it adds the number of rental balls to the data of the number of owned balls in the game machine.

Following step S558, command reception processing is performed (step S560). In this command reception process, various commands related to prize balls (prize ball command and self-check command) from the main control board 100 are received. When these various commands are normally received, the ball information main ACK information to that effect is stored in the output information storage area described above. On the other hand, when various commands cannot be received normally, a connection is made to notify that there is an abnormality in the connection between the main control board 100 and the sphere information control board 110 (abnormality has occurred in various command signals). Abnormality information is stored in the state information storage area described above.

Following step S560, command analysis processing is performed (step S562). In this command analysis process, the command received in step S562 is analyzed, and the analyzed command is stored as received command information in the received command information storage area of the internal ball information control RAM.

Following step S562, main operation setting processing is performed (step S564). In this main operation setting process, the ball information control MPU sets the operations of the launch solenoid 13, the ball feed solenoid 31, the ball lifting device 22 (ball lifting motor 150), the ball polishing ribbon feed motor 155, and the like. In addition, the ball information control MPU sequentially "1" from the game machine possession ball number data stored in the game machine possession ball number storage area in response to the hitting detection of game balls one by one based on the ball detection of the launch ball confirmation switch 36. " is subtracted. Further, when a prize ball command is stored in the received command information storage area, the number of prize balls corresponding to this prize ball command is added to the game machine possession ball number data stored in the game machine possession ball number storage area.

Following step S564, LED display data creation processing is performed (step S566). In this LED display data creation process, for example, the game machine possessed ball number data stored in the game machine possessed ball number storage area described above is read out, display data for displaying the number of possessed balls on the touch panel unit 14 is created, and the LED is displayed. It is stored in the output information storage area described above as display information.

Following step S566, command transmission processing is performed (step S568). In this command transmission process, various kinds of information are read out from the above-described state information storage area, and based on the various kinds of information, various commands classified into state displays are created and transmitted to the main control board 100 .

Following step S568, the output of the external WDT clear signal to the external watchdog timer (external WDT) 116 is stopped (turned OFF, step S570). This clears the external WDT 116 and prevents the ball information control MPU and the ball information control I/O port 112 from being reset. Further, when the output of the external WDT clear signal is stopped, the external WDT 116 starts counting the clear signal release time.

After step S570, the process returns to step S544 to determine whether or not a power failure warning signal has been input. When the 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is 1, that is, when 2 ms has elapsed, the 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is set to 0 in step S547, and the external WDT 4120c is sent to the external WDT 4120c in step S550. A WDT clear signal is output (ON), port output processing is performed in step S552, port input processing is performed in step S554, timer update processing is performed in step S556, fare adjustment machine communication processing is performed in step S558, and fare adjustment machine communication processing is performed in step S560. Command reception processing is performed, command analysis processing is performed in step S562, main operation setting processing is performed in step S564, LED display data creation processing is performed in step S566, command transmission processing is performed in step S568, and external WDT 116 is performed in step S570. Then, the output of the external WDT clear signal is stopped (OFF), and steps S544 to S570 are repeated. The processing of steps S544 to S570 is called "ball information control main processing".

On the other hand, when a power failure warning signal is input in step S544, interrupt prohibition is set (step S572). With this setting, the ball information control unit timer interrupt processing, which will be described later, is not performed, and writing to the ball information control built-in RAM is prevented, thereby protecting the rewriting of the ball information described above.

Following step S572, a power failure clear signal is output to the CLR terminal, which is the clear terminal of the D-type flip-flop of the power failure monitoring circuit 117, via the ball information control I/O port 112 (step S574). As a result, the D-type flip-flop can release the latched state by outputting the power failure clear signal.

Following step S574, the output of the drive signal to the firing solenoid 13 is stopped (step S576). As a result, the launch of the game ball is stopped. After step S576, the drive signal output to the ball feed solenoid 31 is stopped (step S578). As a result, the feeding of game balls to the ball shooting device 29 side is stopped.

Following step S578, the external WDT clear signal is output to the external WDT 116 to stop the output (ON/OFF, step S580). This clears the external WDT 116 . Following step S580, a checksum is calculated and the calculated value is stored (step S582). This checksum is calculated by considering the ball information in the work area of the ball information control built-in RAM, excluding the storage area for the checksum value calculated in step S528 and the value of the ball information backup flag HBK-FLG, as numerical values. do. Following step S582, the ball information backup flag is set to 1 (step S584). This completes the storage of the ball information backup information. Following step S584, prohibition of access to the ball information control built-in RAM is set (step S586). By this setting, access to the internal ball information control RAM is prohibited and writing and reading are disabled, and the ball information backup information stored in the internal ball information control RAM is protected.

Following step S586, a loop process is entered in which nothing is repeated. In this loop processing, the clear signal to the external WDT 116 is not turned ON/OFF. Therefore, the external WDT 116 outputs a reset signal to the ball information control MPU and the ball information control I/O port 112 to reset them. After that, the ball information control MPU performs the ball information control side power-on processing from the beginning again. The processing of steps S572 to S586 and the loop processing are referred to as "ball information control power failure processing".

The game machine 1 (ball information control MPU) is reset when there is a power failure or momentary power failure, and after the power is restored, the ball information control side power-on processing is performed.

In step S530, it is checked whether or not the ball information backup information stored in the ball information control built-in RAM is normal. Subsequently, in step S532, the ball information control unit power-off process is normally terminated. It is inspecting whether or not In this way, by double checking the ball information backup information stored in the internal ball information control RAM, it is checked whether or not the ball information backup information has been stored by fraud.

[Timer interrupt processing on ball information control side]
Next, the ball information control side timer interrupt processing will be described. This ball information control side timer interrupt processing is repeatedly performed for each interrupt period (2 ms in this embodiment) set in step S540 of the ball information control side power-on processing shown in FIG.

When the ball information control side timer interrupt processing is started, the ball information control MPU of the ball information control unit 118 in the ball information control board 110 disables the timer interrupt as shown in FIG. saving) is performed (step S590). Here, the general-purpose storage element (general-purpose register) used in the above-described ball information control unit main processing is switched to the auxiliary register. By using this auxiliary register in the ball information control side timer interrupt processing, the value of the general-purpose register is not overwritten. This prevents destruction of the contents of general-purpose registers used in the main processing on the ball information control side.

Following step S590, the 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is set to 1 (step S592). This 2 ms elapsed flag HT-FLG is a flag that counts 2 ms each time this ball information control unit timer interrupt processing is performed, that is, every 2 ms. are set respectively. After step S592, the register is switched (restored) (step S594). For this return, the auxiliary register used in the ball information control side timer interrupt processing is switched to a general-purpose storage element (general-purpose register). By using this general-purpose register in the ball information control side main processing, the value of the auxiliary register is not overwritten. This prevents destruction of the contents of the auxiliary register used in the ball information control section timer interrupt processing. Following step S594, interrupt permission is set (step S596), and this routine ends.

[Each process executed in the ball information control main process]
Next, each process executed by the ball information control MPU of the ball information control board 110 every 2 ms in the ball information control main process of FIG. 84 will be described. First, the ball lending process will be described, followed by the ball hitting determination process, the number of possessed balls counting process, the ball feeding/shooting drive process, the launched ball detection process, and the number of possessed balls subtraction process. It should be noted that the hit ball possible/impossible determination process, the number-of-balls-counting process, the ball feeding/shooting drive process, the ball-fired detection process, the number-of-balls subtraction process, and the lifting drive process are one of the main operation setting processes in step S564. , and executed in the order of hit ball possible/impossible determination processing, possessed ball number count processing, ball feeding/shooting drive processing, shot ball detection processing, possessed ball count subtraction processing, and lifting drive processing.

When the player inserts the card 403 into the card slot, the payment machine 4 detects the insertion of the card 403 and the data stored in the card 403 is read through the card processing machine 402 . That is, the ID stored in the ID storage unit 404 of the card 403 in FIG. are stored in predetermined storage areas (ID storage area, remaining score storage area, pitch count storage area).

Next, the payment machine 4 determines whether the inserted card 403 is usable or not. In this embodiment, when the read remaining count is 0 and the read number of balls is 0, it is determined that the card 403 is unusable, and the card 403 is ejected from the card slot. Therefore, when it is determined that the card 403 cannot be used, each of the following processing of the number of held balls counting process, the ball feeding/shooting drive process, and the number of held balls subtraction process is not executed.

On the other hand, if the read remaining score is not 0, or if the read remaining score is 0 but the read number of balls in possession is not 0, the payment machine 4 determines that the card is usable, and the ball information The card usable information is transmitted to the control board 110 .

When the player presses the ball lending button to play a game, an operation signal of the ball lending button is input to the payment machine 4 . In response to the operation signal of the ball rental button, the fare adjustment machine 4 performs ball rental processing, for example, transmits a prescribed number of rental balls to the ball information control MPU of the ball information control board 110, and then from the ball information control MPU It waits until it receives the ball lending end sent.

[Ball rental processing]
Here, the ball lending process executed by the ball information control MPU will be described. FIG. 87 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of ball rental processing performed by the ball information control MPU. Note that the ball rental process is executed as one of the fare adjustment machine communication processes of step S558 which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process.

When starting the ball rental process, the ball information control MPU determines whether or not the card usable information transmitted from the payment machine 4 is received (step S600). In step S600, when the card usable information transmitted from the payment machine 4 is received, the process proceeds to step S601, and the number of held balls counter (gaming machine holding counter) which is a part of the storage area set in the built-in RAM is displayed. number of balls storage area) is cleared to 0 (step S601), and the process proceeds to step S602. On the other hand, in step S600, if the card usable information transmitted from the payment machine 4 is not received, the process proceeds directly to step S602. The initial value of the number-of-balls-counter is set to "0" by the power-recovery setting in the RAM work area in step S534.

When proceeding to step S602, the ball information control MPU determines whether or not the number of rental balls transmitted from the payment machine 4 is received (step S602). In step S602, when the number of rental balls transmitted from the payment machine 4 is received, the process proceeds to step S603, the received number of rental balls is added to the value of the counter for the number of owned balls (step S603), The end of rental is transmitted to the adjustment machine 4 (step S604), and the ball rental processing subroutine is exited.

On the other hand, if the number of rental balls transmitted from the payment machine 4 is not received in step S602, the process does not proceed to steps S603 and S604, and the subroutine of the direct ball rental processing is exited.

In this way, the card availability information is transmitted to the sphere information control board 110 only when a new usable card 303 is inserted into the payment machine 4 . Further, the number of rented balls is transmitted to the ball information control MPU only when an operation signal of the ball rent button is input to the payment machine 4 after the card usable information is received. Then, when the number of rental balls is received, the number of rental balls is added and stored to the value of the number-of-balls counter for the first time.

[Possible/impossible judgment processing]
Next, a description will be given of the hit ball possible/impossible determination process executed by the ball information control MPU. FIG. 88 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of a hit ball possible/impossible determination process performed by the ball information control MPU. It should be noted that the hit ball possible/impossible determination process is executed as one process of the main operation setting process of step S564 which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process.

When the ball information control MPU starts the hitting ball possibility determination process, it determines whether or not the number of possession balls is 0, that is, whether or not the value of the number counter of the number of possession balls is 0 (step S710). In step S710, if it is determined that the value of the counter for the number of balls held is not 0, that is, if it is determined as NO in step S710, the process proceeds to step S711. ) is on, that is, whether or not there is a waiting ball in the ball feeding device 28 (step S711).

In step S711, if it is determined that the ball detection switch 70 (see FIG. 10) is on, the fireable flag is set to 1 (fireable) (step S712). exits the subroutine of On the other hand, if it is determined in step S710 that the value of the counter for the number of balls held is 0, and if it is determined in step S711 that the firing standby ball detection switch 70 is not ON (OFF), The possible flag is set to 0 (no shooting) (step S713), and the subroutine of the hitting ball possible/impossible determination process is exited.

In this way, when the value of the number-of-balls counter is not 0 and there is a waiting ball in the ball feeding device 28, the firing solenoid 13 and the ball feeding solenoid 31 can be driven, and substantially the game area 8 of the game balls It is in a playable state in which it is possible to drive into. Further, when the value of the counter of the number of held balls is 0, or when there is no standby ball in the ball feeding device 28, the firing solenoid 13 cannot be driven, and the game ball is substantially hit into the game area 8. is in a state where it is impossible to play. At the same time, the ball feed solenoid 31 cannot be driven.

[Number of possession balls count processing]
Next, assuming that the game is substantially enabled, the process of counting the number of possessed balls corresponding to the ball information processing during the game will be described. FIG. 89 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of count processing for the number of possession balls performed by the ball information control MPU. It should be noted that the number-of-balls-counting process is executed as one of the main operation setting processes in step S564, which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process.

When the ball information control MPU starts the number-of-balls counting process, it determines whether or not there is a prize ball command analyzed in the command analysis process of step S562 (step S720). That is, it is determined whether or not there is a prize ball command stored in the received command information storage area. If there is a prize ball command stored, step S720 is determined to be present, and the number of prize balls corresponding to the prize ball command stored in the received command information storage area is added and stored to the value of the ball number counter (step S722). ), exiting the subroutine for counting the number of balls in possession. On the other hand, if no winning ball command is stored, it is determined that step S720 is not executed, and the subroutine of the number-of-balls-counting process is exited.

For example, when a prize is won in a winning slot set to the number of prize balls set to "4", the number of prize balls "4" is added and stored to the value of the number counter of the number of prize balls, for example, the number of prize balls is "15". When a prize is won in the winning hole (large winning hole) set to , the number of winning balls "15" is added and stored to the value of the number-of-balls-counter.

[Ball sending/shooting drive processing]
Next, the ball feeding/shooting driving process will be described. 90 and 91 are flow charts showing an example of a subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting driving process performed by the ball information control MPU. The ball feeding/shooting driving process is executed as one process of the main operation setting process of step S564 which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process.

24 is a time chart showing drive timings of the ball feeding solenoid 31 and the firing solenoid 13. As shown in FIG. The shooting solenoid 13 is turned on when a period A has passed since the ball feed solenoid 31 was turned on, and the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned off when a period B has passed since the ball feeding solenoid 13 was turned on, and the ball is fed. The firing solenoid 13 is turned off when the period C has passed since the solenoid 31 was turned off.

In this embodiment, the period A is 300 ms, the period B is 30 ms, and the period C is 50 ms. When the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned on, the ball feed member 32 feeds the shot ball to the shooting position (rail portion 332). That is, the shot ball is detected by the shot ball confirmation switch 36 . In this embodiment, it is determined that there is a ball to be launched when a game ball stopped at the launch position is detected by the ball launch confirmation switch 36 for a predetermined time period (30 ms as the period D). do.

In this way, when a game ball stopped at the shooting position is detected by the shooting ball confirmation switch 36 for a predetermined period of time, it is determined that there is a shooting ball. False counts of balls can be eliminated, increasing certainty in detecting launched balls.

When the shooting solenoid 13 is turned on, the game ball stopped at the shooting position is shot into the game area 8 by the shooting hammer 30, and the shooting ball confirmation switch 36 is turned off. This reduces the number of balls held by -1.

When the ball feeding/shooting drive process is started, the ball information control MPU first determines whether or not the shootable flag is 1 (shootable) (step S730). When it is determined that the ball can be shot in the above-described process for determining whether the ball can be hit, the flag that can be shot is set to 1 (can be shot). If it is determined in step S730 that the shootable flag is not 1 (fireable), that is, if the shootable flag is 0 (fireable), the subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting driving process is exited. In this case, no substantial ball feeding/shooting drive processing is executed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S730 that the firing flag is 1 (fireable), the process moves to step S731, and it is determined whether or not the processing flag is 0 (step S731).

Here, the processing flag is a flag for identifying whether the ball information control MPU branches to any of the processes in the ball feeding/shooting drive process described later. This is a flag for identifying the state, "0" means initial setting, and "1" defines the period from when the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned on until when the firing solenoid 13 is turned on. It defines the period from when the firing solenoid 13 is turned on at "2" until the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned off, and at "3" after the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned off, the firing solenoid 13 is turned off. It stipulates the period until

The value of the processing flag is set to 0 at the time when the ball feeding/shooting drive processing is started. Therefore, YES is determined in step S731, and the process advances to step S732 to set a timer value corresponding to period A (see FIG. 24, 300 ms) in the timer (step S732), and turn on the ball feed solenoid 31 (step S733). , the process flag is set to 1 (step S734), and the subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting drive process is exited. Note that the timer value set in the timer is decremented by 1 every 2 ms in the timer updating process of step S556 in FIG.

The next processing cycle of the ball feeding/shooting drive processing is 2 ms later. As a result of setting the processing flag to 1, in the ball feed/shooting drive processing of the next period, it is determined YES in step S730, NO in step S731, and the process proceeds to step S735. In step S735, it is determined whether or not the value of the processing flag is 1 (step S735). In this case, since the processing flag is set to 1, YES is determined in step S735, and the process proceeds to step S736 to determine whether or not the timer has expired (step S736). If the timer has not timed out, NO is determined in step S736, and the subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting driving process is exited.

Thereafter, until the timer that sets the period A expires, based on the value 1 of the processing flag, step S730 is determined to be YES, step S731 is determined to be NO, step S735 is determined to be YES, and step The processing routine for determining NO in S736 is repeated.

Then, when the timer times out, YES is determined in step S736, and assuming that period A has elapsed, the process advances to step S737 to set a timer value corresponding to period B (see FIG. 26, 30 ms) to the timer. (Step S737), the firing solenoid 13 is turned on (step S738), the processing flag is set to 2 (step S739), and the subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting drive processing is exited.

As a result of setting the processing flag to 2, in the ball feed/shooting drive processing of the next period, step S730 is determined as YES, step S731 is determined as NO, step S735 is determined as NO, and the process proceeds to step S740. . In step S740, it is determined whether or not the value of the processing flag is 2 (step S740). In this case, since 2 is set in the processing flag, YES is determined in step S740, and the process proceeds to step S741 to determine whether or not the timer has expired (step S741). If the timer has not timed out, NO is determined in step S741, and the subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting driving process is exited.

Thereafter, until the timer that sets the period B expires, based on the value 2 of the processing flag, step S730 is determined to be YES, step S731 is determined to be NO, step S735 is determined to be NO, and step YES is determined in S740, and the processing routine of determining NO in step S741 is repeated.

When the timer times out, YES is determined in step S741, and assuming that period B has elapsed, the process advances to step S742 to set a timer value corresponding to period C (see FIG. 24, 50 ms) to the timer. (Step S742), the ball feed solenoid 31 is turned off (step S743), the process flag is set to 3 (step S744), and the ball feed/fire driving process subroutine is exited.

As a result of setting the processing flag to 3, in the ball feed/shooting drive process of the next period, step S730 is determined as YES, step S731 is determined as NO, step S735 is determined as NO, and step S740 is determined as NO. Then, the process proceeds to step S745. At step S745, it is determined whether or not the timer has expired (step S745). If the timer has not timed out, NO is determined in step S745, and the subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting driving process is exited.

Thereafter, until the timer that sets the period C expires, based on the value 3 of the processing flag, step S730 is determined to be YES, step S731 is determined to be NO, step S735 is determined to be NO, and step The processing routine for determining NO in S740 and determining NO in step S745 is repeated.

Then, when the timer times out, step S745 is determined to be YES, and assuming that the period C has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S746, turns off the firing solenoid 13 (step S746), and sets 0 to the processing flag. The initial value is restored (step S747), and the subroutine of the ball feeding/shooting driving process is exited.

[Projection ball detection process]
Next, the shot ball detection processing will be described. FIG. 92 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of shot ball detection processing performed by the ball information control MPU. The shot ball detection process is executed as one process of the main operation setting process of step S564 which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process.

When starting the shot ball detection process, the ball information control MPU first determines whether or not the shot ball confirmation switch 36 is on (step S750). As described above, when the ball-feeding solenoid 31 is turned on, the ball-feeding member 32 feeds the ball to the firing position (rail portion 332). That is, the shot ball is detected by the shot ball confirmation switch 36 .

If it is determined that the shot ball confirmation switch 36 is ON, the value of the timer counter, which is a counter for measuring the ON state time, is incremented by 1 (step S751), and the process proceeds to step S753.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the ball launch confirmation switch 36 is not on, that is, if the ball launch confirmation switch 36 is off, the clock counter is set to 0 (step S752), and the process proceeds to step S753.

After proceeding to step S753, it is determined whether or not the value of the clock counter has reached a predetermined specified time D (30 ms in this example) (step S753). If the value of the timer counter has not reached the predetermined specified time D, NO is determined in step S753, and the subroutine of the shot ball detection processing is exited.

Since the shot ball detection process is executed every 2 ms, when the game ball stopped at the shot position by the shot ball confirmation switch 36 continues to be detected for a predetermined time D, the timing counter is reset every 2 ms. The value is incremented by one, and the value of the time counter reaches a predetermined specified time D (in this example, 30 ms, count value 15). In this case, YES is determined in step S753, it is assumed that the ball has been detected, the ball-ball detection flag is set to 1 (detected) (step S754), and the ball-ball detection processing subroutine is exited.

On the other hand, when noise enters the shot ball confirmation switch 36, the shot ball confirmation switch 36 is momentarily turned on, but then the shot ball confirmation switch 36 is turned off. Therefore, since the value of the time counter is set to 0 in response to the turning off of the ball confirmation switch 36, the value of the time counter is set for a predetermined time D (in this example, 30 ms, count value 15). never reach.

In this way, when a game ball stopped at the shooting position is detected by the shooting ball confirmation switch 36 for a predetermined period of time, it is determined that there is a shooting ball. False counts of balls can be eliminated, increasing certainty in detecting launched balls.

[Possession number subtraction processing]
Next, the number-of-balls subtraction process will be described. FIG. 93 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of the number-of-held-balls subtraction process performed by the ball information control MPU. It should be noted that the possession ball number subtraction process is executed as one of the main operation setting processes in step S564 which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process.

When the ball information control MPU starts the number-of-balls subtraction process, first, it determines whether or not the ball-fired detection flag is 1 (detected) (step S760). If it is determined that the shot ball detection flag is not 1 (detected), that is, if NO is determined in step S760, the subroutine for the number of possession balls subtraction process is exited. In this case, the number of possession balls is not subtracted.

If it is determined in step S760 that the ball-fired detection flag is 1 (detected), that is, if it is determined YES in step S760, the process proceeds to step S761 to determine whether the ball-fired confirmation switch 36 is off. It is determined whether or not (step S761). If it is determined in step S761 that the shot ball confirmation switch 36 is not off, that is, if it is determined NO in step S761, the subroutine for the number of possession balls subtraction process is exited.

As described above, when the shooting solenoid 13 is turned on, the game ball stopped at the shooting position is shot into the game area 8 by the shooting hammer 30, and the shooting ball confirmation switch 36 is turned off. This reduces the number of balls held by -1. In step S761, if it is determined that the fired ball confirmation switch 36 is off, that is, if it is determined as YES in step S761, the value of the number of held balls counter is decremented by 1 (step S762), and the fired ball detection flag is set. 0 (no detection) is set (step S763), and the subroutine for the number of possession balls subtraction processing is exited.

In this way, when a game ball stopped at the shooting position is detected by the shooting ball confirmation switch 36 for a predetermined time, it is determined that there is a shooting ball. On the condition that the game ball is not detected by the shot ball confirmation switch 36, it is determined that the game ball stopped at the shooting position has been shot, and the number of held balls is reduced by one. 36, erroneous ball counts due to noise can be eliminated, and the certainty of ball detection can be increased.

[Ball lifting drive process]
Next, the lift drive process will be described. FIG. 94 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of the lifting drive process performed by the ball information control MPU. The lifting drive process is executed as one of the main operation setting processes in step S564 which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process.

When starting the lifting drive process, the ball information control MPU first determines whether or not the launch standby ball detection switch 26 is on (step S770). If it is determined in step S770 that the ball detection switch 26 waiting to be fired is off, that is, if it is determined NO in step S770, the flow advances to step S771 to determine whether or not the entrance switch 156 is on. (Step S771). In step S771, if it is determined that the entrance switch 156 is ON, that is, if it is determined as YES in step S771, the ball lifting motor 150 is driven (step S772), and the subroutine of the lifting driving process is executed. through.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S770 that the ball detection switch 26 on standby for firing is ON, that is, if it is determined YES in step S770, the ball lifting motor 150 is stopped (step S773), and the lifting driving process is started. Exit subroutine.
Further, when it is determined in step S771 that the entrance switch 156 is off, that is, when it is determined as NO in step S771, the ball lifting motor 150 is stopped (step S773), and the lifting driving process is started. Exit subroutine.

In this way, when no game ball is detected by the launch standby ball detection switch 26, it is determined that the necessary number of game balls in the ball supply path member 24 is not satisfied, and the ball feed entrance switch 156 is operated to When a game ball waiting in line is detected in the 275, on condition that it is determined that there is a game ball, the ball lifting motor is driven, and the ball supply path member 24 is detected by the ball detection switch 26 waiting for launch. On the condition that the game balls waiting in line are detected, the ball lifting device 22 is stopped to stop the lifting of the game balls. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of ball clogging. Thereby, since it is the structure which lifts a game ball, a game ball can be sent to the ball supply path member 24 just enough.

In addition, compared to the game ball shooting cycle of the ball shooting device 29 and the ball sending cycle of the ball feeding device 28 in the upper shooting unit 12, the ball lifting device 22 to the ball supply path member 24 The delivery cycle of the ball is set to be short. In this embodiment, the game ball shooting cycle of the hitting ball launching device 29 and the game ball feeding cycle of the ball feeding device 28 are 600 ms (100 shots are fired per minute), and the ball feeding path member by the ball lifting device 22 24 is 384 ms.
As a result, during the game, the upper shooting unit 12 is operated to launch the game ball into the game area by the ball shooting device 29 and feed the game ball to the shooting position by the ball feeding device 28. However, the game ball is launched. In addition, since the cycle of sending the game balls to the ball supply path member 24 by the ball lifting device 22 is shorter than the cycle of sending the game balls to the shooting position, the game balls are on standby before being lifted by the transfer entrance switch 156. When the state in which the number of game balls in the ball supply path member 24 is sufficient is maintained, the game balls in the ball supply path member 24 are no longer detected by the ball detection switch 26 waiting to be fired while the game balls are being driven. Then, the ball lifting device 22 is driven to start lifting the game ball, and the game ball is sent to the ball supply path member 24 at a faster pace than the game ball hitting pace, and before long the ball is waiting to be fired. When the detection switch 26 detects the game balls waiting in line in the ball supply path member 24, the ball lifting device 22 stops driving and the game balls are stopped from being lifted. In other words, the ball lifting operation of the ball lifting device 22 is performed intermittently during the game, so that the occurrence of ball clogging can be suppressed, and the game ball can be lifted efficiently and stably. To efficiently supply a stable number of game balls to an upper launching unit.

In this embodiment, the game ball shooting cycle of the hitting ball launching device 29 and the game ball feeding cycle of the ball feeding device 28 are 600 ms (100 shots are fired per minute), and the ball feeding device 22 Although the delivery cycle of the game balls to the path member 24 is set to 384 ms, the method is not limited to this, and the launch cycle of the game balls, the ball delivery cycle, and the delivery cycle of the game balls to the ball supply route member 24. are 600 ms from each other.

[Ball clogging notification process]
Next, ball clogging notification processing will be described. FIG. 95 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of ball clogging notification processing performed by the ball information control MPU. The ball clogging notification process is executed as one process of the main operation setting process of step S564 which is executed every 2 ms in the ball information control main process. Also, the ball clogging notification process is performed after the hit ball possible/impossible determination process shown in FIG. 88 . It should be noted that the ball waiting to be fired detection switch 26 corresponds to the first ball waiting to be fired detection means, and the ball waiting to be fired detection switch 70 is equivalent to the ball waiting to be fired detection means.

When the ball jam notification process is started, the ball information control MPU 111 first determines whether or not the ball detection switch 26 waiting to be fired is turned on (step S780). If it is determined in step S780 that the ball detecting switch 26 waiting to be fired is ON, that is, if it is determined YES in step S780, the ball lifting motor 150 is stopped (step S782), and the process proceeds to step S786 to wait for firing. It is determined whether or not the ball detection switch is on (step S786). If it is determined in step S786 that the ball detection switch 70 waiting to be fired is off, i.e., if it is determined NO in step S786, the abnormality detection flag is set to 1 (step S788), and the notification means is turned on. (Step S789) The subroutine of the ball clogging notification process is exited.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S786 that the ball detection switch 70 is on, that is, if YES is determined in step S786, the process proceeds to step S787, in which it is determined whether or not the abnormality detection flag is 1 ( step S787). If the abnormality detection flag is determined to be 1 in step S787, that is, if the determination in step S787 is YES, the abnormality detection flag is cleared to 0 (step S790), the abnormality notification means is turned off (step S792), and the recovery notification means is turned on (step S794), and the subroutine of the ball clogging notification process is exited.

Further, if it is determined in step S780 that the ball detection switch 26 waiting to be fired is off, that is, if it is determined NO in step S780, the ball lifting motor 150 is driven (step S784), and the abnormality detection flag is set to It is determined whether or not it is 1 (step S787). If it is determined that the abnormality detection flag is 0 in step S787, that is, if it is determined as NO in step S787, the subroutine of the ball clogging notification process is exited.

In this way, the ball supply path member 24 and the ball feeding device 28 are provided with sensors for detecting game balls, the game balls in the ball supply path member 24 are detected, and the game balls in the ball feeding device 28 are detected. It is determined that an abnormal state is caused by clogged balls on the condition that clogging does not occur, and an abnormality notification means (not shown in particular, but for example, notifying the clogging of balls on the touch panel part 14) notifies. As a result, for example, it is possible to reliably notify the staff of the game hall that the ball jam has occurred.

In addition, since the upper launcher 12 of this embodiment can be rotated by the upper launcher hinge 37 and can be opened and closed with respect to the main body frame 2 (FIG. 12), the clerk who receives the notification of the jammed ball can After the door frame 3 is opened, the state of the upper firing device 12 can be grasped immediately, and ball clogging can be easily eliminated. When the ball clogging is eliminated, the abnormality detection flag is cleared to 0, and the abnormality notification means is stopped. After that, by the recovery notification means (for example, the touch panel unit 14 displays to the extent that the staff of the game hall can recognize that the ball clogged state has been recovered (for example, 5 seconds to 10 seconds)). It can be recognized that ball clogging has been eliminated.

Also, the position of the launch standby ball detection switch 70 is set so as to detect a game ball near the launch position on the path of the ball feeder 28, but it detects a game ball passing through the path of the ball feeder 28. Various placement positions can be selected as long as the placement allows for

[Power board]
As shown in FIGS. 99 and 100, a power supply board 851 for generating various DC operating power supplies based on alternating current (AC) 24 volts (24V) supplied from a pachinko island facility (not shown) is installed in the game machine. It is provided in the body frame 2 of 1.

By the way, in recent pachinko game machines, the game board 5 is provided with an extremely large number of movable accessories for effects, thereby providing the player with gorgeous effects and powerful and attractive effects. The number of roles tends to increase. A motor or a solenoid is usually used as a drive source for these performance movable accessories. Therefore, power consumption is increasing as the number of movable accessories for presentation increases, and the capacity of the power supply substrate 851 is becoming insufficient. However, although it is not impossible to increase the capacity of the power supply board 851 any more, it is desirable to avoid increasing the capacity in consideration of the recent ecological trend.

Such an effect in which a plurality of movable accessories for effect are superimposed and move violently is intensely exciting for the player, and the degree of expectation for a so-called big win is high. In addition, the effect in which a plurality of movable accessories move together is more expected when the effect is instantaneous rather than the effect is performed over a long period of time. On the other hand, momentarily moving a plurality of movable accessories together or, for example, driving a heavy movable accessory at high speed (hereafter referred to as intense heat effect) will momentarily increase power consumption. For this reason, there is a possibility that electric power will be insufficient when the intense heat effect is performed.

The intense heat production described above is a production in which there is a risk that the maximum power that cannot be covered by the power generated by the power supply board may be insufficient. It is conceivable to supplement the power shortage with electric power. It should be noted that the intense heat effect is a effect that accompanies the discharge of electric power accumulated in the auxiliary power supply means.

Therefore, it becomes necessary to charge the auxiliary power supply means in order to store electric power in the auxiliary power supply means after the intense heat effect is completed. In addition, the intense heat effect is usually set to have a low appearance rate. However, since the appearance rate is based on calculations, it is conceivable that some players continuously apply the intense heat effect while the auxiliary power means is being charged.

Therefore, the invention according to the embodiment described below relates to the invention related to a gaming machine that monitors whether or not power is accumulated in the auxiliary power supply means after the intense heat effect.

[Power supply board of the embodiment]
FIG. 103 is a block diagram showing part of a power supply system including the power supply board 851 in this embodiment. The power board 851 is electrically connected to a power cord, and the plug of this power cord is inserted into the power outlet of the pachinko island facility. When a power switch (not shown) is operated, the power supplied from the pachinko island equipment is supplied to the power board 851, and the game machine 1 can be powered on.

As shown in FIG. 103, the power supply board 851 includes a full-wave rectifying circuit 851a, a power factor improving circuit 851b, a smoothing circuit 851c, a +5.2V generating circuit 851d, a +5.25V generating circuit 851e, a +12V generating circuit 851f, and a +24V generating circuit. A circuit 851g and a power compensation circuit 853 are provided.

The full-wave rectifier circuit 851a full-wave rectifies the AC 24 volts (AC24V) supplied from the pachinko island facility and supplies it to the power factor correction circuit 851b. The power factor correction circuit 851b improves the power factor of the full-wave rectified power to produce DC +37V (DC+37V, hereinafter referred to as "+37V") and supplies it to the smoothing circuit 851c.

The smoothing circuit 851c removes the input +37V ripple and smoothes the +37V to form a +5.2V generation circuit 851d, a +5.25V generation circuit 851e, a +12V generation circuit 851f, a +24V generation circuit 851g, and a sphere information control board. 110, a power compensation circuit 853 and a sub-drawer relay board 1108, respectively. A power supply system to which +37V is applied and supplied becomes a +37V power supply line.

The +5.2V generating circuit 851d generates DC +5.2V (DC+5.2V, hereinafter referred to as "+5.2V") from the +37V supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c. A power supply system to which this +5.2V is applied and supplied becomes a +5.2V power supply line.

The +5.25V generating circuit 851e generates DC +5.25V (DC +5.25V, hereinafter referred to as "+5.25V") from +37V supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c. The power supply system to which this +5.25V is applied becomes the +5.25V power supply line.

The +12V generating circuit 851f generates DC +12V (DC+12V, hereinafter referred to as "+12V") from the +37V supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c. A power supply system to which this +12V is applied and supplied becomes a +12V power supply line.

The +24V generating circuit 851g generates DC +24V (DC+24V, hereinafter referred to as "+24V") from +37V supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c. A power supply system to which this +24V is applied and supplied becomes a +24V power supply line.

The power compensation circuit 853 monitors the operating power generated by the power supply board 851, that is, the current value of +37V supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c in this example, and detects when the current value exceeds a predetermined specified value. In other words, the power supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c is accumulated and monitored, and if the monitored power exceeds a predetermined specified value, the power shortage is compensated for by the accumulated power. It is a thing. Also, the power compensation circuit 853 monitors the charging state of an auxiliary power supply circuit 855, which will be described later, and outputs a charging completion signal when charging is completed.

The voltage generated by the +5.2V generating circuit 851d, the +12V generating circuit 851f, and the +24V generating circuit 851g, and the +37V voltage are supplied to the sphere information control board 110 to generate the +5.25V generating circuit 851e, the +12V generating circuit 851f, and the +37V voltage. And the voltage generated by the +24V generating circuit 851g and the +37V voltage are supplied to the sub-drawer relay board 1108 . The AC 24V supplied from the pachinko island facility is supplied not only to the full-wave rectifier circuit 851a but also to the CR unit terminal board via the power supply board 851.

The secondary drawer relay board 1108 supplies the operating voltages of +5.25 V, +12 V, +24 V, and +37 V generated by the power supply board 851 and the charging completion signal output from the power compensation circuit 853 to the peripheral control board 130 . .

The power supply board 851 also includes capacitors BC0 and BC1. Capacitor BC0 is a backup power supply for RAM (main control built-in RAM) built in main control MPU 101 of main control board 100, and capacitor BC1 is a ball information control MPU 111 of ball information control section 118 in ball information control board 110. It is a backup power supply for the built-in RAM (withdrawal control built-in RAM).

As a result, when power from the +5.2V generating circuit 851d is no longer supplied to the main control board 100, the charge charged in the capacitor BC0 is supplied to the main control board 100 as the main VBB. . Therefore, the memory content is held by applying the main VBB to the power supply terminal of the main control built-in RAM.

Also, when the power from the +5.2V generating circuit 851d is no longer supplied to the sphere information control board 110, the charge charged in the capacitor BC1 is supplied to the sphere information control board 110 as VBB. there is Therefore, the memory content is held by applying VBB to the power supply terminal of the ball information control built-in RAM.

As shown in FIG. 103, the ball information control unit 118 has a power failure monitoring circuit 117 that monitors signs of power failure or momentary power failure of +12V and +24V supplied from the power board 851 . When this power failure monitoring circuit 117 detects a sign of power failure or momentary power failure of +12V and +24V, it outputs a power failure warning signal as a power failure warning to the main control MPU 101 of the main control board 100, the ball information control MPU 111 of the ball information control board 110, and the peripheral control. Output to MPU 4150a. The power outage warning signal is used to cause each MPU to execute a power failure process (FIGS. 80, 84 to 85) for backing up the memory contents of the RAM of the main control MPU 101 and the memory contents of the RAM of the ball information control MPU 111. belongs to.

Three kinds of voltages of +5.2 V, +12 V and +24 V generated by the power board 851 are supplied to the sphere information control board 110 . The voltage of +37V is used as the operating voltage 13 of the firing solenoid 13, and the voltage of +24V is used as the operating voltage of the ball feed solenoid 31. Three voltages of +5.2 V, +12 V, and +24 V, the main VBB that is the backup power supply for the main control MPU 101, and the power failure warning signal output from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 are stored in the main drawer as shown in FIG. It is supplied to the relay board 1107 .

The main drawer relay board 1107 supplies the +5.2V, +12V, +24V and main VBB voltages supplied from the sphere information control board 110 and the power failure warning signal output from the power failure monitoring circuit 117 to the main control board 100. ing. Also, this blackout warning signal is supplied to the peripheral control board 130 via the main control board 100, and can be input to the peripheral control MPU 4150a.

Of the four voltages of +5.25V, +12V, +24V and +37V supplied to the peripheral control board 130, three voltages of +5.25V, +12V and +24V are supplied to the lamp drive board (Fig. (not shown)), and various signals such as a lighting signal, a blinking signal, and a gradation lighting signal are output from the lamp driving circuit to various decorative substrates of the game board 5. A voltage is supplied to a drive source drive circuit (not shown) on a motor drive board (not shown), and a drive signal is output from the drive source drive circuit to an electric drive source such as a motor or solenoid of the game board 5. .

Two of the four voltages, +24 V and +37 V, are supplied to the liquid crystal display device 1400 (FIG. 76). The liquid crystal display device 1400 includes a liquid crystal module whose drawing is controlled, and a backlight power supply for the backlight of the liquid crystal module. +24V is supplied to the liquid crystal module and +37V is supplied to the backlight power supply. It is

[Peripheral control board]
FIG. 104 is a block diagram of main parts of the power compensation circuit 853 and the peripheral control board 130. As shown in FIG. Peripheral control board 130, as shown in FIG. and a liquid crystal control unit 4160 for performing drawing control.

[Peripheral control unit]
As shown in FIG. 104, the peripheral control unit 4150 that controls performance includes a peripheral control MPU 4150a as a microprocessor, a peripheral control ROM 4150b that stores various processing programs, various commands, and various schedulers, and a sound source that performs high-quality performance. It is provided with an IC 4150c and a sound ROM 4150d in which sound information such as music and sound effects referred to by the sound source IC 4150c is stored.

The peripheral control MPU 4150a has a plurality of built-in parallel I/O ports, serial I/O ports, and the like. The game board side light emission data for outputting lighting signals, blinking signals or gradation lighting signals to the plurality of provided LEDs is transmitted from the lamp driving board serial I/O port to the lamp driving board (not shown). This outputs a drive signal to an electrical drive source such as a motor or solenoid that lights or blinks the lamps 5000 or operates various movable bodies (a plurality of movable accessories for production) provided on the game board 5. The game board side motor drive data for playing is transmitted from the serial I / O port for the motor drive board to the motor drive board (not shown), and the dial drive motor provided on the door frame 3 is sent to the electric drive source. Door-side motor drive data for outputting a drive signal, and door-side light emission data for outputting a lighting signal, a blinking signal, or a gradation lighting signal for a plurality of LEDs or the like provided on each decorative substrate of the door frame 3. , from the serial I/O port for the frame decoration drive amplifier board to the frame peripheral relay terminal plate (not shown), and then through the peripheral door relay terminal plate (not shown) to the frame. In addition to transmitting to the decoration drive amplifier board (not shown), it outputs a control signal (sound command) for extracting sound information from the sound ROM 4150d to the sound source IC 4150c and outputs sound from the speaker 6000.

[LCD controller]
As shown in FIG. 104, the liquid crystal control unit 4160 that controls drawing of the liquid crystal display device 1400 includes a liquid crystal control ROM 4160b that stores various processing programs, various commands, and various data, and a VDP (Video a display processor) 4160c, a character ROM 4160d for storing various data of the screen displayed on the liquid crystal display device 1400, and a character RAM 4160e to which various data stored in the character ROM 4160d are transferred and copied. ing.

The liquid crystal control ROM 4160b stores control data (display commands) from the peripheral control unit 4150, schedule data corresponding to the control data (display commands), control data (display commands) and A plurality of corresponding nonresident area transfer schedule data and the like are stored.

The schedule data is configured by arranging screen data that defines the configuration of the screen in time series, and defines the order of the screens to be rendered on the liquid crystal display device 1400 . The non-resident area transfer schedule data is constructed by arranging non-resident area transfer data in chronological order, which defines the order when various data stored in the character ROM 4160d are transferred to the non-resident area of the character RAM 4160e. This non-resident area transfer data prescribes the order of transferring various data from character ROM 4160d to the non-resident area of character RAM 4160e for screen data drawn on liquid crystal display device 1400 in accordance with the progress of schedule data.

Peripheral control MPU 4150a of peripheral control unit 4150 extracts the top screen data of the schedule data corresponding to the control data (display command) from liquid crystal control ROM 4160b and outputs it to VDP 4160c. It is extracted from the control ROM 4160b and output to the VDP 4160c. In this way, the peripheral control MPU 4150a extracts the screen data arranged in time series in the schedule data one by one from the top screen data from the liquid crystal control ROM 4160b and outputs the extracted screen data to the VDP 4160c.

When the screen data output from the peripheral control MPU 4150a is input, the VDP 4160c extracts sprite data from the character RAM 4160e based on the input screen data to generate drawing data to be displayed on the liquid crystal display device 1400. The generated drawing data is output to the liquid crystal display device 1400 . Also, when the VDP 4160c does not accept the screen data from the peripheral control MPU 4150a, it outputs an execution signal to that effect to the peripheral control MPU 4150a.

[Power compensation circuit]
A power compensation circuit 853 is connected to the +37V supply line supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c shown in FIG. Also, the output of the power compensation circuit 853 is connected to the +12V supply line created by the +12V creation circuit 851f. Further, as shown in FIG. 104, the power compensation circuit 853 monitors the charging state of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856, which will be described later, and outputs a charging completion signal when charging is completed. The charging completion signal output from the charging state monitoring circuit 858 is configured to be transmitted to the peripheral control board 130 via the interface circuit 859 shown in FIG. 104 and the secondary drawer relay board 110 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 104, the power compensation circuit 853 mainly includes a power monitoring circuit 854, a power supply switching circuit 855, an auxiliary power supply circuit 856, a timer circuit 857, and a state of charge monitoring circuit 858. The power monitoring circuit 854 monitors the current value of the power supplied to the +37V supply line. installed in the

As shown in FIG. 104, the +37V supply line of the power board 851 is configured, and this +37V power supply line is connected to the sphere information control board 110 and the sub-drawer via the power monitoring circuit 854. It reaches the relay board 1108 . As shown in FIG. 103, the operating voltages of +5.25 V, +12 V, +24 V, and +37 V generated by the power board 851 are supplied to the peripheral control board 130 via the sub-drawer relay board 1108 .

In this example, the voltage monitoring circuit 854 monitors the current value of the +37V power supply line supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c, and outputs an operation signal when the current value exceeds a predetermined specified value. It is configured as follows. In other words, it monitors the power from the operating power supply (+37V) generated by the power supply board 851, and outputs an operating signal when the power exceeds a predetermined specified value. By configuring in this manner, it is possible to recognize that the peripheral control board 130 is in a state of using too much power and running short of power.

The auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is composed of, for example, a battery, and is charged with an operating power source of +37V and discharged to provide an electromagnetic drive source (drive motors 5501 to 5501 in FIG. 104) for a plurality of movable parts through a +12V supply line. 5505 and a drive solenoid 5600) for operation.

In this embodiment, between the power monitoring circuit 854 and the auxiliary power supply circuit 856, a power supply switching circuit 855 that selects either the DC +12V produced by the +12V production circuit 851f or the voltage charged by the auxiliary power supply circuit 856. is provided (Fig. 104).

The power supply switching circuit 855 has a switching circuit switch of two circuits of a normally closed contact and a normally open contact inside. terminal is connected. A charging state monitoring circuit 858 is connected between the + terminal and the - terminal of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 . Therefore, in a normal state (a state in which there is no power shortage), +37 V is applied between the + terminal and the - terminal through the +37 V supply line, the input line L1, and the charging state monitoring circuit 858, and the device is in the charging state.

A charging state monitoring circuit 858 monitors the charging state of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856, and outputs a charging completion signal when charging is completed. The charging state monitoring circuit 858 has a microcomputer (not shown) that monitors charging voltage and charging current.

Also, the + terminal of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 and the output line L2 connected to the +12V supply line are connected through the normally open contact of the power supply switching circuit 855 . Further, the power switching circuit 855 has a switching signal input terminal (not shown). A signal output from the timer circuit 855 is inputted to a switching signal input terminal of the power supply switching circuit 855 .

The timer circuit 857 measures the time corresponding to the discharge time by the auxiliary power circuit 856 , and the activation signal output from the power monitor circuit 854 is input to the timer circuit 857 . When the timer circuit 857 receives the activation signal output from the power monitoring circuit 854, the timer circuit 857 turns on the signal output and starts timing. turn it back off.

[Operation of Power Compensation Circuit 853, State of Charge Monitoring Circuit 858]
When the game machine 1 is powered on, charging of the auxiliary power supply circuit 855 (constituted by a battery) is started through the charging state monitoring circuit 858 . A charging state monitoring circuit 858 receives the battery charging voltage and monitors the battery charging voltage. That is, the charging state monitoring circuit 858 detects whether the battery charging voltage has reached the saturation voltage. If the battery charge voltage has not reached the saturation voltage, continue monitoring the battery charge voltage.

Then, the state-of-charge monitoring circuit 858 monitors the battery charging current when the battery charging voltage reaches the saturation voltage. Note that the battery charging current gradually decreases as the charging time elapses. That is, the state-of-charge monitoring circuit 858 monitors the battery charging voltage until the battery charging voltage reaches the saturation voltage, and monitors the battery charging current after the battery charging voltage reaches the saturation voltage. Then, when the charging state monitoring circuit 858 detects that the battery charging current has decreased to a predetermined level of current, it determines that the charging operation is completed and outputs a charging completion signal.

In this manner, the charge state monitoring circuit 858 monitors the charge state of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856, and outputs the charge completion signal when the charge is completed. Therefore, whether or not power is stored in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 can be reliably determined, and reliability is high. In addition, there is no need to guarantee the state of charge during shipment. Here, the charging completion signal indicates that the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 has enough electric power to operate the plurality of electromagnetic drive sources for the plurality of movable accessories to be operated during the intense heat production, which will be described later. It means that there is In addition, as will be described later, the peripheral control MPU 4150a determines whether to perform an intense heat effect or to perform an alternative effect with low power consumption without discharging the auxiliary power means, depending on whether or not there is a charge completion signal.

[About intense heat production]
The current value of the power supplied to the peripheral control board 130 is produced by various production devices (lamps 5000, liquid crystal display device 1400, speaker 6000, drive motors 5501 to 5505, drive solenoid 5600) connected to the peripheral control board 130. changes based on the execution of

That is, for example, if the control command (fluctuation pattern command) output from the main control board 100 is a command that specifies a specific ready-to-win effect, or a command that instructs the effect of starting a big hit, the lottery pattern The display panel of the liquid crystal display device 1400 displaying is not only a specific effect in which a special character or the like appears, but also an extremely large number of lamps and the like arranged on the door frame 3, the game board 5, and the like. A drive motor 5501 to raise expectations for a so-called big hit with a light emission effect by the LED group, a loud sound from the speaker 6000 arranged in the door frame 3 and the main body frame 2, and a super heat for the player. 5505, the drive solenoid 5600 is driven together to produce an effect in which a plurality of movable accessories overlap and move violently.

Such a production in which a plurality of movable parts move together (hereinafter referred to as an intense heat production) is more expected if the production period is momentary rather than a sluggish long production. becomes overflowing. On the other hand, if a plurality of movable accessories are momentarily operated together or, for example, if a heavy movable accessory is driven at high speed, the power consumption increases momentarily.

When the above-mentioned intense heat production (the production in which a plurality of movable accessories work together or the production in which a heavy movable accessory is driven at high speed) is executed, the intense heat is compared to before the execution of the intense heat production. The value of the current flowing through the +37V supply line also increases according to the execution content of the performance. Therefore, the current value of the power supplied to the peripheral control board 130 is set within a predetermined specified range (predetermined value in the power monitoring circuit 854) according to the content of the intense heat effect by the execution of the intense heat effect. It will change beyond. This causes the power monitoring circuit 854 to output an activation signal.

The activation signal output from the power monitoring circuit 854 is input to the timer circuit 857 . When the timer circuit 857 receives the activation signal output from the power supply monitoring circuit 854, the timer circuit 857 turns on the signal output, starts timing, and measures the time corresponding to the discharge time. switch the signal output back to off.

In the power supply switching circuit 855, each contact is switched by inputting the ON signal output from the timer circuit, the normally closed contact is in the open state (indicated by arrow a in FIG. 104), and the normally open contact is in the closed state. (indicated by arrow a in FIG. 104).

Then, the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 switches from the charging state to the discharging state. That is, the + terminal of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 and the input line L1 connected to the +37V supply line are cut off, and at the same time, the + terminal of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 and the output line L2 connected to the +12V supply line are conducted. Then, the power stored in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is supplied to the +12V supply line through the output line L2.

Therefore, due to the discharge of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856, the power supply (+12 V) for operation is supplied to the electromagnetic drive sources (drive motors 5501 to 5505, drive solenoid 5600) of the plurality of movable parts, and during the intense heat production, It is possible to make up for the lack of power of the operating power supply generated by the power supply board 851 .

On the other hand, the timer circuit 857 starts timing when the activation signal is input, and when the time corresponding to the discharge time is measured, the timer circuit 857 times out and turns off the signal output. By turning off the signal output from the timer circuit 857, each contact is switched, the normally closed contact returns to the closed state (indicated by arrow b in FIG. 104), and the normally open contact returns to the open state (indicated by the arrow b in FIG. 104). b).

Then, the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 switches from the discharging state to the charging state again. That is, the + terminal of the auxiliary power circuit 856 and the input line L1 connected to the +37V supply line are connected, and at the same time, the + terminal of the auxiliary power circuit 856 and the output line L2 connected to the +12V supply line are cut off. be done. Therefore, charging of the auxiliary power supply circuit 855 (constituted by a battery) is started through the charge state monitoring circuit 858 .

In addition, the peripheral control MPU 4150a of the peripheral control board 130 ends the intense heat effect and returns to the normal effect state, so that the current value of the +37V power supply line supplied from the smoothing circuit 851c is predetermined. When the power is lower than the specified value, the power monitoring circuit 854 stops outputting the actuation signal.

In this embodiment, the power supply board 851 is configured to include the power compensation circuit 853 . Therefore, the power generated by the operating power supply can be monitored on the power supply board 851 . Moreover, since it is completely unnecessary to install the power compensation circuit 853 each time the game board 5 is manufactured, it is possible to contribute to the reduction of the manufacturing cost of the game board.

[Each processing by the peripheral control MPU 4150a]
Next, processing executed by the peripheral control MPU 4150a mounted on the peripheral control board 130 will be described. FIG. 105(A) is a flow chart showing a processing procedure for control performed by the peripheral control MPU 4150a mounted on the peripheral control board 130 when the gaming machine 1 is powered on.

As shown in FIG. 105A, when power supply to the gaming machine 1 is started, the peripheral control MPU 4150a performs initial setting processing (step A501). This initial setting process includes a process of clearing the RAM of the peripheral control MPU 4150a mounted on the peripheral control board 130, and the like. Note that interrupts are disabled during this initial setting process, and interrupts are enabled after the initial setting process. When the initial setting process (step A501) ends, a loop process for monitoring whether or not the 16 ms elapsed flag T has been set is started (step A502).

In this embodiment, the peripheral control MPU 4150a generates an interrupt every 2 ms, and executes steady processing for 2 ms. In the 2 ms steady process, a process of counting up the 16 ms progress monitoring counter (adding 1 to the 16 ms progress monitoring counter) is executed. The flag T is set, and the 16 ms elapsed monitoring counter is reset (set to 0).

Thus, the 16 ms elapsed flag T is set (set) to "1" every 16 ms in the 2 ms steady process, and is normally set (reset) to "0". When the 16 ms elapsed flag is set in step A502 (16 ms elapsed flag T is "1"), the 16 ms elapsed flag is reset (step A503), and then 16 ms steady processing is performed (step A504).

In this 16 ms steady process, based on the command received from the main control board 100, the liquid crystal display device 1400, the LEDs arranged on the game board 5, the lamps provided on the door frame 3, the speaker (not shown), etc. The process to control is executed. When the 16 ms steady process ends, the process returns to step A502 again, and the above-described steps A503 to A504 are repeated each time the 16 ms elapsed flag T is set, that is, every 16 ms. On the other hand, when the 16 ms elapsed flag T is not set in step A502 (16 ms elapsed flag T is "0"), loop processing is performed until the 16 ms elapsed flag T is set.

FIG. 105B is a flowchart showing an example of a 16ms steady process executed every 16ms in the peripheral control main process. In the 16ms steady process, the peripheral control MPU 4150a executes the process of steps A511 to A516. In the command analysis process of step A511, the command received from the main control board 100 is analyzed. In the effect control process of step A512, based on having received a command (first variation pattern command, second variation pattern command) instructing the execution of the variation display transmitted from the main control board 100 related to the liquid crystal display device 1400 Control processing and control processing for driving a movable decoration unit (not shown) are executed.

Further, in the sound control process of step A513, control process related to the speaker is executed. In the lamp control processing of step A514, control processing related to the LEDs/lamps provided in the gaming machine 1 is executed. In the information output process of step A515, a process of transmitting lighting signals for LEDs and lamps to a lamp drive board (not shown) is executed. In the random number update process of step A516, the process of updating the random numbers used for various settings in the effect control process (step A512) is executed.

Note that the processing of steps A511 to A516 in the 16 ms steady processing is completed within 16 ms. Even if it takes 16 ms or more from the start of the 16 ms steady process to the end of the 16 ms steady process, the 16 ms steady process is started immediately after 16 ms has passed since the start of the 16 ms steady process (command from the analysis process) is not executed. That is, when 16 ms has elapsed during execution of the 16 ms steady process, only the 16 ms elapsed flag is set, and after the 16 ms steady process is completed, when it is determined that the 16 ms elapsed flag is set in step A502, the 16 ms steady process is executed. to start.

Further, in this embodiment, the random number updating process (step A516) is executed in the 16 ms steady process to update various random numbers, but the timing of updating the various random numbers is limited to this. It is not something that can be done. For example, the various random numbers may be updated in one or both of the loop processing and the 16 ms steady processing in the peripheral control main processing.

As previously described, power is first stored in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 of the power compensation circuit 853 . Thus, the extreme heat effect of this example is a effect in which the power produced by the power supply board 851 does not cover the maximum power shortage, and the power accumulated in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 compensates for the power shortage. . That is, the intense heat effect of this example is a effect accompanied by discharging the electric power accumulated in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 .

Therefore, it becomes necessary to charge the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 for a predetermined period in order to accumulate power in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 after the intense heat effect is completed. In addition, the intense heat effect is usually set to have a low appearance rate. However, since the appearance rate is purely based on calculation, it is conceivable that there may be some players who continuously win.

In this embodiment, after the end of the intense heat effect, until the charging completion signal is input, that is, during the charging period, a power saving effect is prepared as a separate effect in place of the intense heat effect. In other words, during the charging period, instead of the intense heat effect, a different effect with low power consumption without discharge of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is performed. In the performance performed during the charging period, for example, the movable accessory is put out of operation, and the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is charged.

[Charging state determination process]
FIG. 106 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of state-of-charge determination processing executed by the peripheral control MPU 4150a of the peripheral control board 130. As shown in FIG. In addition, charge state determination processing is performed as one process of the production|presentation control processes which peripheral control MPU4150a performs for every predetermined|prescribed processing period (for example, 16 ms).

When the peripheral control MPU 4150a (hereinafter simply referred to as the peripheral control MPU) starts the charge state determination process, it first determines whether or not there is an input of a charge completion signal (step A600). If it is determined in step A600 that the charge completion signal has not been input, the process proceeds to step A601, and it is determined whether or not the intense heat effect has ended (step A601). In step A601, when it is determined that the intense heat effect has not ended, that is, when the intense heat effect is being performed, the subroutine of the charge state determination process is exited and the process returns to the main routine of the effect control process. Here, the extreme heat effect is a effect accompanied by discharge of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856, as understood from the previous description.

On the other hand, in step A601, when it is determined that the intense heat effect has ended, the process proceeds to step A602, the execution of the intense heat effect is disabled (step A602), the process proceeds to step A603, and power consumption is higher than that of the intense heat effect. It is possible to execute an alternative effect for power saving with low power (step A603). Here, the power-saving alternative effect that consumes less power than the intense heat effect is, for example, some or all of the drive motors 5501 to 5505 and the drive solenoid 5600 as electromagnetic drive sources for the plurality of movable parts. It is a production that does not drive the In other words, during the charging period, instead of the intense heat effect, another effect (alternative effect) with low power consumption without discharge of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is performed.

It should be noted that the effect developed on the display panel of the liquid crystal display device 1400 is closely related to the reach fluctuation state of the lottery pattern displayed on the display panel and the jackpot notification state, and the degree of interest and attention of the player. is very high. Therefore, even during the charging time, the luminance and brightness of the display panel of the liquid crystal display device 1400 are not lowered, and the performance information provided from the display panel is not affected when the player progresses the game. We are careful not to reduce the interest.

In addition, the intense heat effect is usually set to have a low appearance rate. However, since the appearance rate is purely based on calculation, it is conceivable that there may be some players who continuously win. In this embodiment, during a predetermined period after the end of the intense heat effect, that is, during the charging period (until the charging completion signal is input), a different effect for power saving is performed instead of the intense heat effect, in other words, , another effect with low power consumption that does not involve discharging of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is prepared. Therefore, the charging of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is not hindered by the presentation.

In addition to not driving some or all of the drive motors 5501 to 5505 and the drive solenoid 5600 (deactivating the movable accessory), the volume of the sound generated from the speaker 6000 is lowered, or the door frame 3 or the game board 5 or the like may be controlled to reduce the amount of light emitted by the lamps or the LED group. When reducing the amount of light emitted by the lamps or the LED group (when shifting to a power saving state), the lamps or the LED group may be dimmed or part of the lamps or the LED group may be turned off.

Then, the peripheral control MPU proceeds to step A604 and sets a timer value in the monitoring timer (step A604). This timer value is a value corresponding to the time for monitoring whether or not there is an input of the charge completion signal that should be output from the charge state monitoring circuit 858 that monitors the charge state of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 . Further, the timer flag is set to "1 (starting)" (step A05), the subroutine of the charge state determination process is exited, and the main routine of the effect control process is returned to.

When the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is charging normally, the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 enters a charging state after the lapse of a predetermined charging time after the end of the intense heat effect, and sufficient electric power is accumulated. A charging completion signal is output from a charging state monitoring circuit 858 that monitors the charging state of the circuit 856, and the charging completion signal is input to the peripheral control MPU.

On the other hand, if the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is out of order due to some abnormality, the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 will not enter the charging state even after the predetermined charging time has elapsed, and the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 will remain in the charging state. A charging completion signal is not output from the charging state monitoring circuit 858 that monitors . In such a case, a power-saving presentation, in other words, another presentation with low power consumption that does not involve discharging of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is performed, thereby avoiding a situation such as a power failure due to a power drop. Further, steps A604 and A605 are provided in order to perform charging abnormality detection processing (to be described later) for detecting such an abnormality in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 .

On the other hand, if the peripheral control MPU determines in step A600 that a charging completion signal has been input, that is, if the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is normally charging, the predetermined charging time elapses. , the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is in a charging state and sufficient power is accumulated. Therefore, execution of intense heat effect is enabled (step A606). Then, the subroutine of the charge completion signal determination process is exited and the process returns to the present routine of the effect control process.

Thus, in this embodiment, returning from the power saving state to the normal state (cancellation of the power saving state) is performed as control for returning to the normal state when it is determined in step A600 that the charging completion signal has been input. there is

[Charging abnormality detection process]
FIG. 107 is a flow chart showing a subroutine of charging abnormality detection processing executed by the peripheral control MPU 4150a of the peripheral control board 130. As shown in FIG. In addition, charge abnormality detection processing is performed as one process of the production|presentation control processes which peripheral control MPU4150a performs for every predetermined|prescribed processing period (for example, 16 ms).

The peripheral control MPU 4150a (hereinafter simply referred to as the peripheral control MPU), when starting the charging abnormality detection process, first determines whether or not the timer flag is "1 (starting)" (step A610). When step A605 of the state-of-charge determination process described above is executed at the end of the intense heat effect, the timer flag is set to "1 (starting)". When it is determined that the timer flag is not "1 (during activation)", the subroutine of the charge abnormality detection process is exited and the main routine of the effect control process is returned to.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step A610 that the timer flag is "1 (starting)", the process advances to step A611 to determine whether or not a charging completion signal has been input (step A611). If it is determined in step A611 that there is an input of the charge completion signal, the process proceeds to step A612 to set the timer flag to "0 (stop)" (step A612). In this case, it can be determined that the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 is normally charging based on the input of the charge completion signal.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step A611 that the charge completion signal has not been input, the process advances to step A613 to determine whether or not the timer value of the monitoring timer is "0 (time up)" (step A613). ). If it is determined in step A613 that the timer value of the monitoring timer is not "0 (time up)", that is, the monitoring time for monitoring whether or not there is an input of the charge completion signal has elapsed. If not, it exits the subroutine of the charge abnormality detection process and returns to the present routine of the effect control process. As a result of the timer value being set in the monitoring timer, the peripheral control MPU determines NO in step A613 until the timer value of the monitoring timer becomes zero.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the charge completion signal has not been input during the monitoring time for monitoring whether or not the charge completion signal has been input, the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 has failed for some reason. I judge. In this case, during the monitoring time, the intense heat effect is not performed at all, and only the alternative effect is performed, albeit with a certain frequency. The peripheral control MPU determines YES in step A610, performs step A611, determines YES in step A613, proceeds to step A614, and notifies the charging abnormality (step A614). Then, the subroutine of the charge abnormality detection process is exited and the process returns to the present routine of the effect control process.

As for the notification means for maintenance that notifies the charging abnormality, there is a mode in which charging abnormality is notified by entering a power saving state in which only LEDs that are used for production or dedicated LEDs are left and decorative LEDs are turned off. do. Considering that there is some abnormality in the electric power system, it is possible to avoid wasting electric power. In addition, by turning off the lights while leaving only a part of the lights, it is possible to make the charging abnormality easy to understand. Therefore, an abnormality in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 can be reliably detected, and maintenance of the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 can be performed quickly.

For example, a charging abnormality notification mode is set in which only the decorative lamp arranged in the upper right portion of the door frame 3 (see FIG. 1) is turned on, and the other decorative lamps arranged on the door frame 3 are turned off in a power saving state. can be exemplified. In this way, it is easy for staff members who are patrolling the hall to visually recognize that there is a charging abnormality. An error signal may be output from the external terminal board 133 to inform the hall computer of the charging abnormality.

In the above-described embodiment, it is determined whether or not there is an input of the charge completion signal after the intense heat effect. In the initial setting process of A501, it may be determined whether or not there is an input of the charge completion signal. In this case as well, if it is determined that the charging completion signal has not been input for the monitoring time, the charging abnormality is notified. In this way, when the power is turned on, an abnormality in the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 can be reliably detected. Therefore, the auxiliary power supply circuit 856 can be maintained before the start of the game, and the player can be saved.

1 Game Machine 1a Outer Frame 2 Body Frame 3 Door Frame 4 Checkout Machine 5 Game Board 6 Decorative Cover 7 Hinge 8 Game Area 9 Game Window 10 Ball-Battering Handle 11 Transparent Plate 12 Upper Launch Device (Upper Launch Unit)
13 Launch Solenoid 14 Touch Panel Part 15 Fitting Frame 16 Peripheral Wall Part 17 Accommodating Opening 18 Overhanging Wall 19 Irregular Ball/Magnetic Ball Discharge Unit Accommodating Part 20 Irregular Shape/Magnetic Ball Discharging Unit 21 Ball Collecting Part 22 Ball Lifting Device 23 Ball Delivery gutter 24 Ball supply path member 25 Screw 25a Screw shaft 25b Small-pitch rib member 25bL Half-divided body 25bR Half-divided body 25c Large-pitch rib member 25cL Half-divided body 25cR Half-divided body 25d Spiral rib 25e Cylindrical part 25g Recess 25h Protrusion 25i Upper edge 25j Upper edge recess 25k Lower edge 25m Lower edge protrusion 26 Shooting standby ball detection switch 28 Ball feeding device 29 Hitting ball launching device 30 Launching hammer (shooting member)
301 fixed portion 302 rod portion 303 stopper contact portion 31 ball feed solenoid 32 ball feed member 33 rail member 331 mounting plate portion 332 rail portion 333 left rail plate 334 right rail plate 335 through hole 34 stopper during launch 35 stopper during return 36 launch Ball Confirmation Switch 361 Photo Bracket 37 Upper Launch Device Hinge 38 Launch Port 39 Base Plate 39a Contact Part 40 Launch Area 41 Winning Port 42 Out Port 43 Panel Holder 44 Transparent Panel Board 45 Front Component 46 Game Ball Running Surface 47 Notch 48 Protruding Part 49 Fixing Tool 50 Screw Receiving Member 51 Ball Entrance Prevention Wall 52 Tension Spring 53 Spring Locking Part 54 Ball Guide Protrusion 55 Front Guiding Surface 56 Stopper Piece 57 Arrangement Space 58 Ball Exit 60 Rotation Drive Shaft 61 Hammer Tip 62 Stopper Cover 63 Ball supply port 64 Launch port decoration member 65 Lifting communication gutter 66 Ball inlet 67 Ball feed unit base 68 Ball feed unit cover 69 Ball feed guidance gutter 70 Launch standby ball detection switch 71 Ball feed sheet metal 72 Actuating lever 73 Sheet metal housing Part 74 Ball Feeding Part 75 Shaft Hole 76 Ball Feeding Shaft 77 Arm Part 78 Sheet Metal Locking Claw 79 Locking Protrusion 80 Ball Feeding Guiding Surface 81 Ball Holding Surface 82 Hanging Piece 83 Return Ball Blocking Part 84 Ball Stopper 85 Hit Ball Passing Hole 86 Firing stop switch 87 touch switch 90 upper starting opening detection switch 91 lower starting opening detection switch 92 gate switch 93 general winning opening detection switch 94 general winning opening detection switch 96 starting opening solenoid 97 big winning opening solenoid 98 count switch 100 main control board 101 Main control MPU
101a First MPU identification number storage unit 102 Main control I/O port 103 Main control input circuit 104 Main control solenoid drive circuit 105 RAM clear switch 106 RTC control unit 107 RTC
108 Battery 109 RAM
110 ball information control board 111 ball information control MPU
111a Second MPU identification number storage unit 112 Ball information control I/O port 113 Ball information control input circuit 114 Ball lifting motor drive circuit 115 CR unit input/output circuit 116 External WDT
117 power failure monitoring circuit 118 ball information control unit 119 ball polishing ribbon feed motor drive circuit 120 firing solenoid drive circuit 122 ball feed solenoid drive circuit 123 handle relay terminal board 124 sensor relay board 130 peripheral control board 131 door frame open switch 132 body frame open Switch 133 External terminal board 140 Panel relay terminal board 141 Function display board 142 Upper special symbol display 143 Lower special symbol display 144 Upper special symbol storage display 145 Lower special symbol storage display 146 Normal symbol display 147 Normal symbol storage display Device 148 Game state indicator 149 Round indicator 150 Ball lifting motor 155 Ball polishing ribbon feed motor 156 Lifting entrance switch 157 Lifting motor sensor 158 Cassette detection switch 160 Main encryption communication unit 161 Second MPU identification number storage unit 162 First Authentication unit 165 Ball information encryption communication unit 166 First MPU identification number storage unit 167 Second authentication unit 201 Ball receiving gutter base 202 Recovery port 203 Recovered ball detection switch 204 Irregular ball discharge unit 205 Magnetic ball discharge unit 206 Ball path full tank detection switch 207 Irregular ball discharge part base 209 Irregular ball separation shaft 210 Irregular ball separation shaft 212 Irregular ball discharge part base mounting part 213 Upstream side 214 Downstream side 215 Irregular ball discharge path 216 Irregular ball outlet 217 Irregular ball discharge Path forming member 218 Connection path 219 Circulation path 220 Inclined surface 221 Falling surface 222 Magnetic ball discharge inclined surface 223 Discontinued part 224 Side wall 225 Ceiling wall 226 Magnetic ball discharge path 227 Magnetic ball discharge port 228 Magnetic ball discharge part cover 229 Magnet 230 Magnet Storage space 231 Magnetic force adjustment unit 232 Magnetic ball 233 Regular game ball 234 Discharge ball receiving box 251 Ball polishing cartridge 252 Left side cover 253 Right side cover 253a Right outer side cover 253b Right inner side cover 254 Hinge receiving part 255 Hinge 258 Second Drive gear case 259 Winding roller 260 Driven roller 261 First gear shaft 262 Second gear shaft 263 Ball polishing cloth 264 Ball polishing cloth pressing spring 265 Plate spring 266 Spring pressing member 267 Tensioner 268 Game ball contact mark 270 Ball polishing cartridge installation Portion 271 Ball polishing cartridge fixing lever 272 Ball polishing cartridge fixing stopper 273 Ball polishing cartridge mounting opening 275 Ball feeding passage 275a Ball receiving opening 275b Ball feeding opening 281 Opening 282 Lifting guide rail 290 Drive shaft 291 Mounting sensor 292 Button 350 Ball Feed rotator 350a Ball engagement concave portion 351 Ball feed inclined portion 351a Inclined surface 351b Top inclined surface 352 Spiral base cover 353 Lifting section cover 354 Lifting slope member 355 Ball removing member 356 Upper gearbox 357 Lower gearbox 358 Ball lifting Motor gear 359 Idle gear 360 Upper lifting gear 362 Lower lifting gear 363 Ball feed rotor gear 363a Gear shaft 365 Guide block 365a Ball guide surface 365b Stopper surface 366 Fitting member 366a Fitting concave portion 367 Support member 368 Cover member 402 Card processing Machine 403 Card 404 ID storage unit 405 Remaining score storage unit 406 Ball number storage unit 407 Mounting member 408 Hanging wall 410 Ball outlet opening/closing unit 411 Shutter base 412 Opening/closing shutter 413 Opening/closing crank 414 Opening/closing spring 415 Slide groove 416 Opening 417 Crank Supporting portion 418 Spring locking portion 419 Shutter main body 420 Drive hole 421 Shaft portion 422 Driving rod 423 Driving pin 424 Contacting portion 425 Spring locking portion 426 Opening/closing operation piece 427 Game ball introduction member 450 Positioning guide member 500 Following member 851 Power supply board 851a Full-wave rectifier circuit 851b Power factor correction circuit 851c Smoothing circuit 851d +5.2V creation circuit 851e +5.25V creation circuit 851f +12V creation circuit 851g +24V creation circuit 853 Power compensation circuit 854 Power monitoring circuit 855 Power supply switching circuit 856 Auxiliary power supply circuit 857 timer circuit 858 charging state monitoring circuit 859 interface circuit 1107 main drawer relay board 1108 sub-drawer relay board 1400 liquid crystal display device 4101 game board maker identification information storage section 4112 frame maker identification information storage section 4150 peripheral control section 4150a peripheral control MPU
4150b Peripheral control ROM
4150c sound source IC
4150d Sound ROM
4160 liquid crystal control unit 4160b liquid crystal control ROM
4160c VDP
4160d Character ROM
4160e Character RAM
5000 lamps 5501 drive motor 5502 drive motor 5503 drive motor 5504 drive motor 5505 drive motor 5600 drive solenoid 6000 speaker C1 pulse width changing circuit S1 switching control signal

Claims (1)

A game board having a game area in which game balls flow down, and a body frame containing the game board,
The body frame has a shooting device for shooting game balls into the game area, and a conveying path that flows down the game area, collects the game balls discharged from the game board, and transports them to the shooting position of the shooting device. with
A gaming machine that performs a game by circulating a predetermined number of game balls without paying out game balls,
The conveying path is provided with a lifting device for lifting game balls by a screw portion, and a ball polishing portion is provided near the lifting device,
The game ball contacts the ball polishing part through the opening provided in the lifting device, and the game ball is polished by the movement of the game ball accompanying the lifting,
The ball polishing unit renews the part that contacts the game ball stepwise according to a predetermined condition,
Further, a game control means capable of executing a game control that performs a lottery based on the ball entering the start hole provided on the game board and that changes and displays the symbols according to the result of the lottery,
The ball polishing unit is detachable and replaceable with respect to the game machine,
The game machine is characterized in that even when the ball polishing section is removed from the game machine, the game control means can continue the game without stopping the game control by the game control means.

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