JPH03236875A - Playing system using card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify laying of cables so as to reduce the cost of a playing system using cards by connecting one cable between a control device and plural intermittent control devices and between each intermittent control device and plural terminals provided below the intermittent control devices. CONSTITUTION:A pachinko playing system consists of both a control device 400 for making centralized control of a pachinko machine 100, an issuing machine 200 for card CD, a payment adjuster 300 and each terminal, and a data transmission passage 500 organically combining the control device 400 to each terminal so that an organic combination is formed. A playing machine comprises the pachinko machine 100 and a control unit 160 for making control as to a displayer and card readers and collecting working data during playing. The pachinko machine 100, the issuing machine 200, the payment adjuster 300 and the control device 400 are provided with respective card readers and card information and information of each terminal are stored in files in the memory of the control device 400. Each terminal and the control device are thus connected to each other by one cable so as to simplify laying of cable and reduce the cost of the system.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a gaming system using gaming machines such as pachinko machines, arranged balls, and slot machines, and particularly to a gaming system that allows playing with cards exchanged for money. The present invention relates to techniques that are effective for use in gaming systems that have been developed.

[Prior Art] In recent years, a card-type pachinko game system has been proposed in which the game is played using a card-shaped storage medium as an intermediary. The card system has the advantage that the player only needs to carry the card, which is a storage medium, and can reduce the effort of carrying a large number of pachinko balls that are prone to falling.

Card-based pachinko gaming systems that have been proposed in the past can be roughly divided into the following two systems.

In the first method, when a card is issued, data on the number of balls held corresponding to the purchase amount is stored on the card, pachinko is played within the range of this data on the number of balls held, and data on the number of balls held that increases or decreases during the playing process is stored on the card. (See Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-42227).

The second card method is to issue a card with only a code number recorded at the time of card purchase, store the number of balls held in a central management device, and insert the card into the card reader of the pachinko machine. This allows you to play a game by calling up the stored number of balls you have. In that case, when the card was issued, the entire purchase amount was converted into balls held, and the number of balls held was stored in the management device (Jikko Sho 61-
(See No. 32709 and Special Publication No. 17106/1983).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above-mentioned second card-type gaming system, the pachinko machines and card issuing machines at the store are managed in an integrated manner under the control of one management device, thereby making it possible to play games using code numbers. becomes possible.

However, in order to manage all pachinko machines and card issuing machines under the control of one management device, it is necessary to connect each pachinko machine and the management device with a communication cable. In that case, a method of connecting each pachinko machine and the management device on a 1:1 basis may be considered. However, in such a method, one cable must be run between each pachinko machine and the management device, which makes the cable installation work troublesome and increases the cost, as well as reducing the number of pachinko machines. If you want to increase the number of cables, there is an inconvenience that it is necessary to add new cables.

This invention was made against the above background, and its purpose is to facilitate the installation of cables connecting each terminal and the management device, reduce system costs, and increase system flexibility. The objective is to provide a gaming system that can improve the game.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention manages valuable data substantially equivalent to the amount of money or the number of balls in a management device for each identification code given to the card, Based on the identification code read from the card inserted into the gaming machine, games can be played within the range of valuable data obtained from the management device, and the operating data of the gaming machine is periodically transmitted to the management device. In a card-type gaming system that has been developed as A relay control device having an aggregate transfer means for transmitting data to the device and a buffer means for converting the communication speed is interposed, and a high-speed transmission path is provided between the management device and the relay control device, and a high-speed transmission path is provided between the relay control device and each gaming machine. In addition to connecting with a low-speed transmission line between
The relay control device is equipped with a machine number setting device and a connected terminal number setting device, and is configured to calculate a transmission address by itself at the time of system start-up and perform mutual data transmission.

[Effects] According to the above-mentioned means, it is possible to connect the management device and the plurality of relay control devices and between each relay control device and the plurality of terminals thereunder by each one cable. It is easy to install cables, reducing costs, and the flexibility of the system can be improved because additional terminals can be easily added by simply extending the cable.

In addition, since the relay control device calculates the addresses of itself and each gaming machine, the management device can learn of changes in the system configuration by comparing them with the address file, and can respond flexibly. The address calculated by the control device can be used to communicate between the management device and each terminal, and the interruption control device can give various commands to the terminal on behalf of the management device. , it becomes possible to reduce the burden on the management device.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a pachinko gaming system to which the present invention is applied.

The pachinko gaming system of this embodiment includes a pachinko machine 100 as a gaming machine, and an issuing machine as a storage medium issuing device that issues a card CD as a storage medium having local value in order to start a game in each pachinko machine. 200, a settlement machine 300 as a storage medium settlement device for settling the prize balls obtained as a result of the game and the purchase money remaining without being used for the game, and the various terminals mentioned above are centrally managed and controlled. This management device 400
0 and a data transmission line 500 that organically connects each terminal, and these constitute 5 organic combinations. This organic combination can only intervene with the card CD, and only the organic combination can operate the card and convert its valuable data. Therefore, the pachinko machine 10 which is each component of the organic combination
0, issuing machine 200, payment machine 300 and management device 4゜O
are each provided with a card reader (in this specification, a device that writes on the magnetic surface of the card is also referred to as a card reader), and the information on the card and the information on each terminal device are stored in the management device 400. It is stored in the storage device in the form of a file.

Next, before going into a detailed explanation of each component of the above-mentioned organic combination, a card used in the system of this embodiment will be explained.

The card CD used in the system of this embodiment contains information necessary for the player, such as the purchase amount AM and the date of issue (=validity date) DATE, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), for example. Issuance serial number n required when restoring a damaged card
A print display section PRT on which the following information is printed at the time of issuance is provided along the card insertion direction (longitudinal direction of the card). Therefore, there is no need to prepare in advance multiple types of cards with different amounts printed on them.

Immediately above this print display part PRT, there is a punch as a perforation forming part that records the history or state transition of the card, such as issued, revived, played, returned to zero, and settled, in the form of a perforation. A hole forming area PH is also provided along the card insertion direction.

By detecting the perforations formed on the card with a photoelectric detector, you can easily check the card's status without having to read and check the number of balls data from the management device's file using the code recorded on the magnetic surface. As a result, the burden on the card reader controller and management device required to determine the processing corresponding to the card status can be reduced.

On the other hand, at a position slightly below the center of the card, there is a magnetic recording section MG coated with a band-shaped magnetic material from the front edge to the vicinity of the center.
is provided (see FIG. 2(B)). However, the magnetic recording part MG may be formed not only in a part of the longitudinal direction of the card, but also in the form of a continuous band from one end of the card to the other, similar to the print display part PRT, or by applying a magnetic material to the entire back surface of the card. It may also be used as a magnetic recording section.

Furthermore, in the card of this embodiment, between the print display section PRT and the magnetic recording section MO, that is, in the center of the card, there is a belt-shaped roller running area RR,A that is slightly wider than the conveyance roller in the card reader. The above-mentioned magnetic recording section MG, printed display section PRT, and authenticity discrimination area TF are distributed along the longitudinal direction and contain important information used for card judgment, especially the surface of the card through contact with the conveyance roller. This prevents the information from being damaged and making the information unreadable.

Further, in the card of this embodiment, an authenticity discrimination area TF consisting of a security mark hidden in characters such as hole names printed on the surface of the card is provided below the magnetic recording section MG. That is, the rPL printed on the front of the card
The characters AZAJ are designed and printed so that the legs of each character are located at positions corresponding to the detection bit patterns B0 to B9 provided at a pitch of 3°5■, etc., as shown in Figure 2 (C). I'll keep it. And the character width is 0.5~1゜5
(2) The distance between each bit is set to 3.5 (2), and each bit's "1" or "O" is expressed by the shade of the character. Moreover,
Among the 10 bits, the fifth bit B from the left and the last bit B are determined to have the shading of the character so as to represent the parity of bits B0 to B and B5 to B. It is more preferable that the security bit hidden in this character string be formed using a special ink that can only be detected by a sensor and cannot be distinguished by the human eye.

Furthermore, on the surface of the game card of this example.

A head cleaning area HCN is provided in a band-shaped area continuous with the magnetic recording section MG, and is formed by applying a cleaning agent to remove dirt from the magnetic head. At the same time, in the card of the embodiment, in order to make it impossible to know where the magnetic recording section MG is provided, as shown in FIG.
), a magnetic layer 1 is formed by uniformly coating magnetic particles on a base material 11 made of plastic such as polyester.
A white layer 13 is formed on top of the white layer 13, and a pattern printing layer 14 is placed on top of the white layer 13, and then a heat-sensitive coloring layer 15 is formed on a part of the pattern printing layer 14 (a part corresponding to the print display section PRT), and a transparent layer 15 is formed above it. It is coated with a protective film 16. A cleaning agent of the same color as the white layer 13 is applied to the cleaning area HCN, and the protective film 16 is not coated on its surface so that it is exposed, so that the cleaning area is hardly different in color from other areas. In this way,
We are trying to improve the aesthetics. Further, a pattern printing layer 17 is formed on the back surface of the base material 11 of the card, and a protective film 18 is coated on top of the pattern printing layer 17.

In a card having the above structure in which the white layer 13 is formed on the surface of the magnetic layer 12, the magnetic layer 12 made of black magnetic particles is covered with the white layer 13, so that the image cannot be displayed. In addition to making it possible to print and provide fashionable cards, the magnetic recording section MG
It also has the function of concealing.

Furthermore, since the surface of the card is coated with a protective film 16, areas that hold important information used for card identification, such as the print display section PRT, magnetic recording section MG, and authenticity discrimination area TF, are protected. This information becomes less likely to be destroyed, improving the reliability of the card.

FIG. 2(E) shows the magnetic recording section MG provided on the card.
An example of the configuration is shown below.

The magnetic recording section MG of the card of this embodiment is composed of two tracks, of which clock data giving sampling timing is recorded in the first track TRC1. The second track TRC2 includes, from the left, a field STX containing a 4-bit start code and its parity bit.
, Company code MKC indicating the manufacturer of the card reader, Equipment code MCC indicating the model of the card reader1 Game parlor identification code DSC1Year month date data DATE, card number NO.
, a text field TXT containing the issuance command code FNC given by the card reader at the time of card issuance and the security data SDC read from the authenticity discrimination area.
, a field ETX that contains a text end code, a field LRC that contains an exclusive OR value (detection code) of the text data and the end code, and a field ST that contains a start code.
It is composed of X. Moreover, the date data DAT
E has a bit P indicating parity every 4 bits, and the first 4 bits indicate the month.
The 6th to 9th bits and the 11th bit represent the day, and the 12th to 14th bits and the 16th to 19th bit represent the last two digits of the year in binary code. It has become.

For cards with a magnetic recording section, it is generally easiest to decipher the recording format and recorded data from the date, but in the card of the above example, the order of the year, month, and day is changed, and the parity is set every 4 bits. Because bits are inserted and the correspondence between recording bits is varied, 1. Card counterfeiting becomes extremely difficult. Also, issue serial number n
is printed on the print display section PRT,
Even if the information in the magnetic recording section MG becomes unreadable due to damage to the card, the card can be restored from the file information in the management device.

Furthermore, as described above, the information recorded in the magnetic recording section of the card of this embodiment includes the identification code DSC for specifying the usable space of the card, and the date of issue for indicating the validity period of the card. Only the DATE, the card number as an identification code obtained from the issuing serial number n using an appropriate function or conversion method, and a check code for error detection are recorded, and the purchase amount and number of balls held are not recorded. . These are configured so that they can be drawn out in real time from the data file of the management device 400 according to the card number No. This makes it possible to prevent fraud due to card copying and to minimize damage caused by fraud. In other words, even if the card is copied, the damage will not be greater than the purchase amount and the number of acquired balls registered in the data file, so copying the card is a completely wasteful act.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the authenticity of the card is determined not only by the magnetic recording information recorded on the card but also by the authenticity discrimination area TF, which is difficult to forge, so that card fraud can be more reliably prevented. I can do it. In addition, since a fraudulent card can be detected immediately by checking the authenticity discrimination area TF, a fraudulent card can be discovered more quickly than by sending magnetic information to the management device 400 to determine whether the card is fraudulent. Note that perforations are now also formed in telephone cards and the like that have magnetic recording parts, but the perforations in conventional cards are provided to inform the user of the unused balance; It is not intended to be used for any kind of processing or judgment.

Next, an example of the configuration of a gaming machine that provides the original game will be explained using FIGS. 3 to 13.

The gaming machine of this embodiment is arranged in island equipment above the gaming machine main body in one-to-one correspondence with the pachinko machine 100, and is mainly used to control the display and card reader, and to control the operation data during the game. and a control unit 160 that controls collection.

The pachinko machine 100 is installed in a machine frame 101 that is fixed to the island equipment of a pachinko parlor, and a six-machine frame 101 that can be opened and closed by a hinge 102 has a lower part that can withstand the weight of the pachinko machine 100 and a ball launcher 103. A reinforcing plate 107 having an operation dial reinforcing member 107a that absorbs vibration is fixed. At the bottom of the pachinko machine 100, there is provided a ball launcher 103 that launches enclosed balls one by one into the game area, and its operation dial 104. Amount display 111 to enable the initiation procedure. Ball number display 112, purchase switch 113, interruption switch 114,
An operation panel 110 is provided that includes an end switch 115, a game status display 116, and the like. The configuration of the playing area on the front of the pachinko machine is the same as the conventional one. The purchase switch 113 is an instruction switch for converting the amount of money into game balls in units of 200 yen or the like within the amount of money the card has, assuming that the card is inserted into the card reader 800 built into the control unit 160. .

The converted game balls become the number of balls you have. The remaining amount of the card is displayed on the amount display Itllll in units of 100 yen, and the converted number of balls is displayed on the man-hour display 1.
12, the number of balls held is subtracted by one each time a game ball is fired by the ball firing device 103, and when a winning ball occurs, the number of prize balls is added and displayed. By turning on the end switch 115 whenever the player wants to end the game (including when changing the game machine), the card being used can be ejected from the control unit 160. At that time, the unit controller 190 registers the player's remaining amount and number of balls (sum of purchased balls and acquired balls) in the file of the management device 400, and then inserts the card into the slot 802a of the card reader 800. Emit more.

Furthermore, the interrupt switch 114 is a switch that is used by the player to temporarily interrupt the game for a break, even though the player does not intend to stop playing on the gaming machine that is currently being played. , the unit controller 190 once ejects a card and enters a standby state until the same card is inserted again, and does not accept cards for that event.
13 is a built-in lamp type, and when the number of balls held reaches rQJ, the lamp in the purchase switch 113 flashes.

The operation panel 110 is connected to the pachinko machine 1 as shown in FIG.
It is attached to the front panel 105 that can be opened and closed at the bottom of 00,
The operation panel 110 has a hollow shape with a triangular cross section, and its upper surface is sloped downward toward the front to make the display easy to read.
Wiring boards 12OA and 120B are arranged in parallel with the circuit boards 12OA and 120B, and on the board 12OA are an amount display 111 and a ball number display 112 made up of 7-segment LEDs, and on the board 120B are the above-mentioned switches 113 to 115 and a built-in lamp. is attached and covered with a display plate 117. A portion of the display plate 117 corresponding to the display devices 111 and 112 is a transparent window portion 117a, and the switches 113 to 1
A portion corresponding to 15 is an opening 117b (see FIG. 5). An operation button 118 is mounted within this opening 117b so as to cover the upper part of each of the switches 113 to 115. 121 is the purchase switch 113
It is a built-in lamp that is compatible with

Further, at the front end of the operation panel 110, there is provided a game status display section 116 in which a display lamp 123 is covered with a translucent Fresnel lens 119 or the like.
3 is turned on when the operation dial 104 of the batted ball launcher 103 is turned.

Furthermore, an operation button 12 with a built-in stop switch 124 is provided on the side of the operation panel 110 (on the left side in the embodiment).
5 is attached, and when this switch 124 is turned on, it is possible to give commands related to the game, such as stopping the operation of accessories arranged in the game section. The stop switch 124 is mounted on a wiring board 120C disposed in the operation panel 110, and includes a wiring group 126c extending from the wiring board 120C and a wiring group 1 extending from each of the boards 120A and 120B.
26A and 126B are pulled out to the outside, and can be connected to a pachinko machine control device 195 disposed at the bottom of the back of the pachinko machine by connectors 127A to 127C coupled to their ends.

On the other hand, the pachinko machine 100 constituting the game machine of this embodiment is configured as a closed-type game machine that circulates game balls sealed inside the machine, and has an enclosed ball circulation device 130 on the back side that circulates the enclosed balls. have.

An example of the configuration of the back side of the pachinko machine 100 is shown in FIG.

A game board in which a winning ball collection gutter 131 covering a plurality of winning ball outlet holes formed to penetrate the game board corresponding to a winning area provided in a playing area on the front side of the game board is held on a frame 106. is attached to the back of the The bottom wall of the winning ball collection gutter 131 is sloped downward toward the center to form a guide shelf 131a, and below that, as shown in FIG. 7, out pitch types 132a, first safe ball gutter 132b, and second safe ball gutter 132c A guide gutter 132 is provided which is integrally formed with the guide gutter 132 and the guide gutter 132. A photoelectric out sensor 5NS consisting of a pair of light emitters and a light receiver is installed in each part of the guide gutter 132.
1, first safe sensor 5NS2, second safe sensor 5N
S3 is installed. In addition, the guide 4i 1182 has a merging mallet part 132d that collects the balls that have flowed into each of the 5 gutter in one place.
The terminal end of the merging mallet part 132d is connected to the upstream side of a guide gutter 133 that is gently inclined to align the pachinko balls in a line, as shown in the seventh @, thereby forming an enclosed ball circulation device 130. has been done. On the upstream side of the guide gutter 133, there is a foul ball receiving port 134 (a foul ball receiving port 134) provided at the upper end of the firing rail to collect so-called foul balls that are hit along the firing rail and return toward the rail board. A foul mixing machine 133a is integrally formed, which is arranged so as to face the ball (see Fig. 9), and foul balls are merged with balls that have flown down onto a guide gutter 133 via a guide gutter 132. There is. Faul kneading machine 1
A foul sensor 5NS4 is disposed in the middle of 33a.

Then, a ball is placed opposite the lower end of the guide gutter 133.
A ball feeder 135 is swingably attached to the ball feeder 135, which separates the balls on the guide gutter 133 one by one and causes them to flow downward.

A stopper 136 is fixedly installed behind the ball feeder 135 to prevent the single ball feeder 135 from rotating more than necessary, so that when the ball feeder 135 rotates downward due to the weight of the incoming balls, its upper end surface becomes a guide channel. It is possible to prevent the ball above 133 from falling. Further, a rotatable ball leveler 137 is attached to the middle of the guide trough 133, and a sliding ball removing mechanism 138 is installed downstream.

As shown in FIG. 8, this ball extraction mechanism 138 prevents the ball from sliding in the lateral direction by a blocking piece 148 protruding from the back surface of the frame board 109 when the enclosed ball circulating device 130 is attached to the back surface of the frame board 109. This prevents him from removing the ball. Thus, the enclosed ball circulating device 130 is attached so that it can rotate as a whole at a hinge portion 139 provided on one side (the right side in FIG. 8), and rotates rearward around the hinge portion 139. When the ball is moved, the five-ball extraction mechanism 138 is slid and balls can be extracted.

Furthermore, an elastic locking piece 133a is fixed to the end of the guide gutter 133, and by engaging this with the engagement step 149 of the frame board 109, the enclosed ball circulation device 130 can be prevented from rotating. It can be fixed.

The pachinko balls separated by the ball feeder 135.

Frame board 1 arranged behind the front panel 105
One ball passes through a ball passage hole 139 (see FIG. 9) formed in 09 and flows down to the base of a firing rail 140 diagonally fixed to the front surface of the frame board. A firing rod 103a is arranged so as to face the base of this firing rail 140 (see FIG. 10). Along with this, launch rail 1
An interlocking member 141 is disposed below the base of the ball 40 and has a push-up piece 141a that is rotated in conjunction with the firing rod 103a and pushes up the ball feeder 135 upward.

Further, a concave groove is formed on the upper surface of the launch rail 140 to guide the ball, and the frame board 140 is provided with a concave groove for guiding the ball.
On the front of bracket 9 is a launch sensor 5NS5 consisting of a launch type photoelectric switch that detects a ball passing on the rail.
42, the firing sensor 5NS5 is mounted on the upper surface of the rail at a distance of one ball from the top surface of the rail, and at the upper end of the bracket 142 there is a return ball blocking wall that prevents the return ball from jumping over the sensor. 143 is provided. Further, a foul ball receiving port 134 is formed in the frame board 109 corresponding to the upper end of the firing rail 140 to guide the returning ball into the guiding gutter 132 at the rear of the frame board, and a line is formed along the lower side of this foul ball receiving port 134. The receiver is piece 14
4 is provided protrudingly.

A game board mounting portion 109a is provided at the upper end of the frame board 109, and game board positioning protrusions 145 are erected at both ends. Further, a frame engaging portion 146 having a groove in which the frame 106 for holding the game board can be engaged is formed along the upper end of the frame board 109, and as shown in FIG. By lowering the frame 106 from above along the positioning protrusion 145 and engaging the lower end with the groove of the frame engaging portion 146, the two can be coupled. Four locking tools 106a are provided on the side wall of the frame 106 to removably engage the game board, and the game board held by the frame 106 is placed on the mounting portion 109a of the frame board 109. In this state, the fastener 147 is tightened and fixed. A speaker 150 is attached to the front side (left side in FIG. 9) of the frame board 109 to generate sound effects related to the game.

On the other hand, the front panel 1 that covers the front of the frame board 109
As shown in FIG. 10, 05 is attached to the lower part of the opening bordered by the holding frame 108c inside the front frame 108 so that it can be opened and closed using one end (left end) as a fulcrum, and the firing rail 14 is mounted on the back side.
0 and is located above the launch rail frame 15.
1 is fixed thereto, and a cutout 151a is provided in the middle of this firing rail frame 151 so that the firing sensor 5NS5 can face inside the frame. Also.

A lock lever 152 is provided on the back surface of the end of the front panel 105 opposite to the hinge. A glass frame 154 is attached above the front panel 105 within the front frame 108 so as to be openable and closable. On the other hand, the front frame 108
As shown in FIG. 12, a locking tool 156 and its locking device 157 for locking the front surface to the machine frame 101 are attached to one side of the back surface opposite to the hinge portion 102.

Further, 155 is a lever for opening the glass frame 154.

A frame 106 holding a game board (see FIG. 11) and a frame board 109 are attached to the back side of this front frame 108, and a fitting protrusion 106b on the back side of the frame and a fitting protrusion 106b on the back side of the frame board are attached to the fitting receiving part 108b on the back side of the front frame. The front frame 108, the frame 106 holding the game board, and the frame board 109 are integrated by aligning the mating protrusions 109b and fixing them with five screws.

FIG. I3 shows a state in which the frame 106 and frame board 109 are attached to the back side of the front frame 108 in this way, and the winning ball collecting gutter 131 is further attached to the back side of the game board held by the frame 106. Further, a pachinko machine control device 195 is arranged below the frame board 109.

Furthermore, a game control device W158 and a relay board 159 are attached to the back surfaces of the frame 106 and the winning ball gathering gutter 131.

An embodiment of a control unit 160 configured separately from the pachinko machine 100 is shown in FIGS. 14 to 16.

The control unit 160 of this embodiment includes a status indicator 162 that shows the status of the pachinko machine on the front side of a storage frame 161, and an analog indicator 16 that includes a plurality of lamps arranged in a line.
3. It has a safe ball lamp 164 for displaying the occurrence of winning balls, a call button 165 for calling an attendant, etc. The analog display 163 is used to display the number of balls held during the game in an analog manner, and to display the stopped state and free state by simultaneous flashing and moving flashing.

In addition, a speaker 166 and a card reader 800 are built into the storage frame 161, and a card reader 80 is installed in the front of the storage frame.
0 card insertion/ejection opening 802a is exposed, and above this insertion/ejection opening 802a is a card retention indicator lamp 167 (LEDI) that indicates whether or not there is a card in the cart reader.
However, the control unit 16 is located below the card insertion/ejection opening 802a.
A card insertion indicator lamp 168 is provided to indicate whether or not a card can be inserted.

Furthermore, inside the front panel 161a of the storage frame 161 of the control unit 160, the pachinko machine 100 is stored in a management device 4.
A test switch 17 for enabling a gaming operation using a test card to be described later in a unique state separated from 00.
9 is arranged, and on the front side of the storage frame there is a bottle insertion hole 169 for enabling the switch to be turned on from the outside using a pin, and a name plate 170 that clearly indicates the machine number assigned to the pachinko machine. are provided for each.

On the inside of the front panel 161a of the control unit 160, as shown in FIG. lamp 164
Built-in lamp group L11 to L15. L21-L28. L3
1. Lamp board 172 with L32 (see FIG. 16)
and the speaker 166 and card insertion lamp 168.
A holding board 173 is attached. Further, a call switch 165a is provided behind the call button 165.

Furthermore, inside the storage frame 161, a card reader 800 is installed.
A unit controller 190 that controls the entire control unit 160, transmission means, monitor display devices 174, 175,
A unit control device 1f 180 having a card reader control device 176, a card reader control device 188, and a power supply device 177 are built in. Further, below the card reader 800, a storage box 178 for storing punched pieces produced when punching is performed by a punching device (described later) in the card reader is removably arranged. A card ejection switch (not shown) is provided on the board constituting the card reader control device 188 to instruct the card reader to forcefully eject the card.

The control unit 160 is provided with a locking tool 179a and a release lever 179b on the free end side of the front panel 161a.
It faces an opening 161b formed at the lower end of. As shown in FIG. 17, the control unit 160 is placed on the machine frame 101 of the pachinko machine 100 and the unit installation stand 24 at the same height as the machine frame 101, and at this time, the front panel 161a is arranged so as to be flush with the front frame 108 of the pachinko machine. Therefore, the opening 161b of the front panel 161 facing the release lever 179b is normally closed by the upper surface of the front frame 108,
By opening the front frame 108, the opening 161b is exposed and the release lever 179b can be operated.

This eliminates the need to provide the control unit 160 with a locking device.

Note that the unit control device 180 in the control unit 160
is connected to the control device 195 of the pachinko machine 100 via a transmission line such as an optical fiber or a coaxial cable, and to the management device 400 via a transmission controller and a local network (transmission cable), which will be described later.

The control unit 160 of the embodiment is provided with an optical fiber connector 186 and a coaxial cable connector 187 on the back side of the storage frame 161 so that data can be transmitted using any transmission path (see FIG. 20). reference).

18 to 20 show an example of an island facility on which a gaming machine consisting of the pachinko machine 10O and a control unit 160 is mounted, and a state in which the gaming machine is installed therein.

In the island equipment of this embodiment, a plurality of supports 22 are erected on a base 21 at intervals equal to the width of the gaming machine, and 6
At a height of about 0>, a horizontal mounting table 23 is mounted on the support 22
It is fixed at . Further, above this mounting table 23, a first installation shelf 24 is located at a distance corresponding to the height of the machine frame 101, and further above that, a second installation shelf 25 is fixed with a support 22. At the same time, a top plate 26 is fixed above the second installation fence 25 so as to cover the upper end of the support column 22. Note that the front end of the above-mentioned mounting table 23 is connected to the support 2.
The first installation stand 2 is made to protrude slightly in front of the
4 is arranged so that its front end is located behind the support column 22 by the thickness of the machine frame 101.

Each pachinko machine 100 is placed together with a machine frame 101 on the mounting table 23 between the pillars 22, and the control unit 160 is placed from the first installation table 24 onto the machine frame 101 which is on the same plane as the first installation table 24. . In addition, the second installation stand 2
A transmission path (not shown) constituting a local network is extended on the top of the support 5, and a transceiver 185 is installed between each support 22 to transmit data to and from the management device 400 via the transmission path. be placed. Note that the front of the transceiver 185 is closed by an upper plate 27, and the lower part of the mounting table 22 is closed by a lower plate 28.

Further, although not shown, a 24V power line extends to the lower surface of the mounting table 22, and a 100V power line extends to the lower surface of the top plate 26. A 24V power outlet 30 is provided at a position corresponding to each gaming machine on the top surface of the mounting table 23, and a 100V power outlet 31 is provided on a crosspiece 29 on the bottom surface of the top plate 26, corresponding to each gaming machine. (See Fig. 20).

FIG. 21 shows an example of the configuration of a control system for the entire gaming machine consisting of the pachinko machine 100 and the control unit 160.

In the same figure, 188 is a card reader control device that controls each component of the card reader 800 shown in FIG. 26, such as the transport motor 807, the magnetic head 821, and the punching device 820. and.

Various switches 171, 179 and indicators 162, 163, 164 provided in the card reader control device 188, pachinko machine control device 1195, and control unit 160
, 168, and the speaker 166 is connected to the unit controller 180.
It is now controlled by.

Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the control bag fi195 of the pachinko machine 100 is connected via the optical cable 191.
is connected to the unit control device 180, to which detection signals from various sensors are input, and drive control signals for display devices and the like are output. To enable communication using optical fiber cables, an optical multiplex data link (interface ) is the unit controller 180
and the optical fiber cable 191 and at the connection between the optical fiber cable 191 and the pachinko machine control device 195 (described later).

By using the optical fiber cable 191 for data communication between the unit control device 180 and the pachinko machine control bag M195, the large number of wires that were conventionally arranged in a complicated manner on the back side of the pachinko machine can be cleaned up, and maintenance and Management is facilitated and malfunctions due to noise can be prevented.

Under the control of the pachinko machine control device 195, the control device 1 controls the amount display 111, the number of balls display 112, the purchase lamp 121, the game status display lamp 123, and the ball firing bag M103.
194 and accessory control bag [158 are placed, as well as a purchase switch 113, an interrupt switch 114, an end switch 115, and a ball detection sensor 5NSI such as an out sensor.
The signal from ~5NS5 is waveform-shaped by the pachinko machine control device [195] and is supplied to the unit control device 18o. In this embodiment, the power supply system is AC24V! = AC100V (7) Two systems are used, and AC24V is supplied to the pachinko machine 100 side, and AClooV is supplied to the control unit 160 side. Separating the power supply in this way prevents the pachinko machine control unit from being accidentally destroyed due to the influence of the power supply in pachinko parlors where there are many problems with the power supply system.

Figure 22 shows the above pachinko machine control bag! 195 configuration examples are shown.

The pachinko machine control device 195 includes a pachinko machine controller CPtJ1 consisting of a microcomputer, and a reset circuit R8Tl that monitors periodic watchdog pulses output from this controller CPUI and generates a reset signal when the pulses are interrupted. , a multiplex transmission controller equipped with a parallel-to-serial conversion means for converting parallel transmission data into serial data and a serial-to-parallel conversion means for converting serial reception data into parallel data in order to enable optical data transmission with the unit control device 180. C.N.T.
1, a photoelectric conversion port MOET connected to the optical cable 191 via the optical connector 193, a filter circuit FLT that cuts noise in detection signals from various sensors, and display data on the amount display 111 and ball number display 112. Decoders DECI and DEC2 decode the data, and drivers DRVI and DR form display drive signals based on their output.
v2, purchase lamp 121 and game status display lamp 123
, a driver D that forms a disengagement signal for the ball firing bag W1o3.
RV3.

Regarding the processing of the detection signal from the sensor in this pachinko machine control device 195, noise is simply removed from the detection signal, the signal is shaped into a constant pulse width, and then sent to the unit control device 180 as detection data of launching balls, safe balls, etc. . In other words, calculations such as the number of safe balls are not performed on the pachinko machine control device 195 side, and such calculations are performed by the unit control bag W18.
This is done on the 0 side.

In addition, pachinko machines tend to generate noise due to static electricity, etc., but the reset circuit R that monitors the watchdog pulse
Because of the presence of 5Tl, even if the pachinko machine controller CPUI goes out of control due to noise or the like, when the regular watchdog pulse disappears due to the runaway, a reset signal is generated and the CPU is initialized, so the runaway can be prevented.

The watchdog pulse can be easily generated by an interrupt from a timer counter inside the CPU.

FIG. 23 shows an example of the configuration of the unit control device 180.

The unit control device 180 provides data for controlling data transmission between the management device 400 and a unit controller 190 that collectively controls the card reader control device 188 and the pachinko machine control device 195 to enable pachinko games using cards. It is composed of a transmission controller 551, a network controller 553, etc., which establishes transmission/reception rights in the network and performs serial/parallel conversion of data under the control of the data transmission controller.

Data is exchanged between the controllers 190 and 551 and between the controllers 551 and 553 through dual port memories (RAMs) 550 and 552. this house.

The packet memory 552 is divided into a transmission data storage area and a reception data storage area, and has an adjustment function to make all transmission and reception data the same length (packetization), and a function to increase the speed of data transmission (2.5 Mbps). ) and has a buffer function to measure the

This packet memory 552 is composed of four pages each having a capacity of 256 bytes, of which page O is used for transmitting a transmission request packet, and page 1 is used for transmitting a scheduled data transmission packet. On the other hand, pages 2 and 3 are used alternately for receiving data packets. The data transmission controller 551 instructs the network controller 553 as to which page to use. The data transmission controller 551 is processing received packet data.

Even if the next packet data is sent, it will be received by another page, so all packets can be reliably received. A common reset circuit 555 is provided so that each controller 551, 553 can be initialized simultaneously.

The connection side of the network controller 553 to the management bag W400 is connected to an optical connector via a signal conversion circuit 554 and a changeover switch 542, which performs waveform shaping of received data and converts the signal υ level in order to increase the drive capability of transmitted data. 186, and also has a selector switch 542 so that it can be connected to a coaxial cable when the transmission line of the low-layer network is configured with a coaxial cable.
can be connected to a branch circuit 540 for separating and combining the transmitted signal and the received signal.

The optical connector 186 includes the optical transceiver 1 shown in FIG.
85 is connected.

Further, between the data transmission controller 551 and the network controller 553, there is a latch circuit 561 for the network controller 553 to store a data reception result in response to a request from the data transmission controller 551, and a data transmission controller 551. A latch circuit 562 that stores commands such as data transmission commands to the network controller 553, a latch circuit 563 that stores low-layer network addresses, and three LED lamps that display abnormalities in the communication control state within the unit control device 180. A monitor display 55 consisting of
A latch circuit 564 is provided to store display data for 6. A decoder 557 decodes the address given to each of the latch circuits 561 to 564 and generates a selection signal.

On the other hand, between the unit controller 190 and the card reader control device 188, there is a transceiver 571 that converts the level of transmitted and received data.
There is a multiplex transmission controller 572 that performs parallel-to-serial conversion of transmitted and received data, and a photoelectric conversion device! 573 is connected.

Furthermore, the unit controller 190 includes, via a data bus 581, a latch circuit 574 that latches display data (segment data and common data) of the amount of money and number of balls display, a purchase lamp, a game status display lamp, and control for batted ball firing. A latch circuit 575 that latches signals, an input circuit that places input signals from various switches provided in the pachinko machine 100 and control unit 160 onto the data bus 581 at predetermined timing, and latches output signals that display various lamps. an output controller 576;
A latch circuit 577 that latches audio data generated from the speaker 166 in the control unit 160 is connected.

582 is an audio synthesis LSI, 583 is a low-pass filter that cuts high frequency components to improve sound quality, and 584 is an amplifier that adjusts the volume. Among these, the audio synthesis LSI 582 stores multiple audio data in its built-in EPROM. ,
Selection signal given from unit controller 190 (
So-83) select the audio data and send the start signal S.
The audio signal is output in synchronization with T, and the output is stopped by the reset signal R.

Note that 558 is a program ROM that stores a control program for the unit controller 190, and 559 is a program ROM that stores a control program for the transmission controller 551. 585 decodes the address signal output from the unit controller 190 and stores it in the program memory 558 and unit memory 550 . Latch circuit 57
4,575.577 and a selection signal for the input/output controller 576.

As described above, the unit control device 180 controls the management device 40
0, card reader control device 188. The pachinko machine control device 195 has information exchange windows on three sides, and controls pachinko games using cards under the control of the management device 1400, as well as pachinko machine game information generated as a result of the game. It has software that periodically sends the information to the management device. Furthermore, in the unit control device 180 of this embodiment, among the display data output from the unit controller 190 to activate the amount and number of balls display, the digit select signal (common signal) is sent at intervals of, for example, 2 ms. Focusing on the periodic output, this is input to the reset circuit 555 as a watchdog pulse. Reset circuit 555
In addition to power-on reset, the device is configured to monitor this watchdog pulse and generate a reset signal when the pulse disappears.

Therefore, even if the unit controller 190 goes out of control due to noise or the like, the common signal will not be output at normal intervals when the unit controller 190 goes out of control, so the reset circuit 555 will operate and initialize the unit controller 190 and the data transmission controller 551 to prevent the out of control. Becomes avoided.

In addition, the unit controller 190 has an internal timer counter, and if an ACK (affirmative) or NAK (negative) as a response to a transmission request is not returned within a certain period of time (ex, 10 seconds), By forcibly fixing the common signal to a low or high level when a packet cannot be transmitted within a certain time (ex, 2 seconds) after receiving an ACK, or when a disturbance in the internal memory (RAM) is detected, You can now reset it yourself. Note that the above-mentioned internal memory disturbance can be solved by writing a specific code (A55A, etc.) to a predetermined address in the memory during initialization, and then
This can be easily detected by checking every millisecond using interrupt processing.

Furthermore, the unit controller 1180 of the embodiment also controls the unit controller 19 even when the data transmission controller 553 cannot transmit data within a certain period of time (5°12 seconds).
0 is initialized to prevent abnormal data from being sent to the management device 400. That is, in the embodiment, a watchdog counter area is provided in the unit memory 550, the data transmission controller 551 sets a predetermined code FF every time data is transmitted to the management device, and the unit controller 190 sets a predetermined code FF every 20m5. This counter is counted down by "1". Therefore, if the data transmission controller is unable to transmit data for 5.12 seconds or more, the unit memory 5.
Since the watchdog counter of 50 becomes rQJ, it is possible to monitor this counter and, if it reaches rQJ, determine that the data transmission controller 551 has gone down and reset itself.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a special RAM is used as the unit memory 550 in which a predetermined terminal INT rises when data is written to a predetermined address (7FE). At startup, the data transmission controller 551 writes data to the above-mentioned predetermined location to start up the terminal NT, and inputs the terminal signal to the unit controller 190 to synchronize the use of the unit memory between the controllers. Note that the specific terminal INT falls when the unit controller 190 reads data at the predetermined address.

On the other hand, synchronization with the management device W1400 at the time of system startup is performed by the data transmission controller 551. This is done by sending to.

By the way, as mentioned above, the pachinko machine control device 195 side does not calculate the number of safe balls, etc., but such calculations are performed on the unit control device 1180 side. Detection signals related to game balls, such as signals, and signals from the purchase switch 113 are input.

Based on these signals, the unit controller 1.90 calculates operating data such as the number of balls out, number of out balls, number of balls held, sales amount, etc., as well as operating information (playing status) and monitor information regarding the pachinko machine. and writes them into the transmission data area 5DA (see FIG. 24) of the unit memory 550 consisting of a dual port memory.

The operating data etc. written to the unit memory 550 are
The data is sent to the management device through data communication between the transmission controller 551 and the management device 400 . Further, data sent from the management device 400 is also temporarily written to the reception data area RDA in the unit memory 550, and the unit controller 190 reads the data to receive the data. In the unit memory 550,
There is a communication area CCA that contains commands and status information to notify the other controller that other transmitted data and received data are in memory, working areas UWA and DWA for each controller, and area C8A for synchronization between controllers. It is being

FIG. 24 shows the overall configuration of the unit memory, and Tables 1, 2, and 3 show examples of the configurations of the transmission data area SDA, reception data area RDA, and communication area OCA.

Table 1 Pachinko machine unit memory Table 3 The monitor information 1 shown in Table 1 is as shown in Table 4.
As shown in the figure below, a bit indicates that a test is being executed when the system starts up, a bit indicates that the initial value is set/not set, a bit indicates a hot code error, a bit indicates an abnormality in the local network (two bits, one for the low layer and one for the high layer). It is made up of bits and the like that indicate an abnormality in the gaming machine. . Furthermore, the monitor information 2 has a bit indicating an abnormality of the card reader, as shown in Table 5.

Furthermore, as shown in Table 6, the operation information includes bits that indicate a discontinued state, bits that indicate that the game is being suspended, bits that indicate that the game is forcibly terminated by the management device or controller based on communication abnormality or fraud detection, and bits that indicate that the game is being terminated. This consists of a bit indicating that the machine is in a free state with no players present, and the like.

Table 6 From Table 6 above, the actual state of the pachinko machine is ■Free state is 0000000000000001■
While playing, 00000000000000
10 ■ When receiving forced termination, 00000000000
00100■When interrupted, 00000000
00001000 ■ When a stop occurs, 00000
It can be seen that it is expressed as 00000010000.

25 to 30 show specific configuration examples of a pachinko machine card reader 800 provided in the control unit 160.

Box-shaped case body 801 that constitutes the card reader 800
A front cover 802 having a card holding display LEDI and a card insertion/ejection port 802a is attached to the front end of the case body 8.
On the side wall of 01 is a storage frame 161 for the control unit 160.
1-shaped brackets 803 for fixing inside are fixed at the four corners.

As shown in FIG. 26, a base plate 804 serving as a card conveyance path is disposed inside the case body 801, and support substrates 805, 806 are placed above the base plate 804 in parallel with a gap slightly wider than the thickness of the card. is ready to be installed.

The support substrate 805 is located on the side of the card insertion slot, and on it is a card insertion detection sensor 808 consisting of a motor 807 and a microswitch, a card insertion detection sensor 808 consisting of a shutter solenoid 809 and a microswitch, a shutter solenoid 8O9, and a security sensor. Reflective optical sensors 810a and 810b for code reading are attached.

In this embodiment, one of the sensors 810a and 810b (
Only one sensor (810a) is used, and the other sensor (810b) is provided as a backup so that the security code may be increased in the future.

A 20th-L shaft 811 is rotatably placed between the motor 807 and the shutter solenoid 809.
A conveyance roller 812 is provided in the center of the 0-ra 411811, and one end of the 20-ra shaft 811 is made to be able to protrude outward from the side wall 801a of the case body, and a pulley 813 is fixed to the protruding end. There is. In addition, a card position detection sensor 5 is located near the shutter solenoid 809.
A light projector 814 is attached to irradiate detection light to NS1, and a light-transmitting part 815 is formed between the 20th-ra shaft 811 and the motor 807 through which the detection light of the second position detection sensor 5NS2 can pass. There is. Furthermore, the motor 807
A floodlight 816 is attached to the side of the punch hole detection sensor 5NSp for emitting detection light, and a rotary encoder 817 is fixed to one end of the rotation shaft 807a of the motor 807. The other end projects outward from the side wall 801b of the case body 801, and a pulley 818 with a small diameter is fixed thereto.

On the other hand, a tenth-ra shaft 819 is rotatably disposed on the support substrate 806 disposed on the opposite side of the card insertion/ejection opening 802a, and a punching device whose driving means is a solenoid. ! 820 and a magnetic head 821 can be attached. For mounting the magnetic head, a through hole 8 is provided in the supporting substrate 8 (l) so that the head surface can face downward when the magnetic head is inserted downward from above.
22 is formed. Further, a conveyance roller 823 is fixed to the center of the tenth-ra shaft 819, and both ends of the shaft can protrude outside from the side wall of the case, and pulleys 824 and 825 are respectively attached. A belt 826 is wound between the pulleys 818 and 825, and a belt 827 is wound between the pulleys 824 and 813.
Further, on the lower surface of the support substrate 806, third and fourth cards are arranged. Light projectors 828 and 829 are attached to irradiate detection light onto the position detection sensors 5NS3 and 5NS4.

A first interface board 830 is arranged above the support boards 805, 806 so as to cover them, and is fixed to the side walls 801a, 801b of the case. This interface board 830 receives various control signals from the card reader controller 188 provided in the control unit 1'60, and receives read signals from the sensor and magnetic head provided on the card reader side. It is equipped with an interface circuit for passing to. Further, on the lower surface of the interface board 830, a light projector 831 is provided at a position corresponding to the light transmitting portion 815, and a speed detection sensor 832 is provided at a position corresponding to the encoder 817.

On the other hand, the base plate 804, which is disposed below the supporting substrates 805 and 806, has the conveying rollers 812 and 8
Auxiliary rollers 836 and 83 are biased upward by torsion springs 834 and 835 at positions corresponding to 23.
7 are openings 841 and 84 formed in the base plate.
It is attached so that the face is slightly exposed than 2. Also,
The base plate 804 has an auxiliary roller 83 at a position corresponding to the magnetic head 821 attached so as to face downward from the through hole 822 provided in the support substrate 806 and also biased upward by a torsion spring 836.
8 is attached so as to protrude slightly above the opening 843. Along with this, the base plate 804
Through holes 844 are formed at positions corresponding to the projectors 814, 816, 828, 829, and 831, respectively. Further, a recess 845 (see FIG. 28) is formed along the width direction at the front end of the base plate 804.
A cylindrical shielding member 846 is placed there. The shielding member 846 closes the card insertion/ejection opening 802a to prevent dust from entering.

It works to prevent cards other than cards that have a certain level of rigidity from being attached to the card due to its weight.

A second interface board 848 is attached to the bottom surface of the base plate 804 with screws, and a circuit for interfacing with the card reader controller 188 is mounted on the second interface board 848.

First to fourth position detection sensors 5NSl, 5NS are arranged to face the projectors 816, 828, 829 and 831.
2, 5NS3, 5NS4 and punch hole detection sensor'S
N Sp is attached.

Further, relief holes 849 are provided at positions corresponding to the auxiliary rollers 836, 837, and 838 to prevent contact with the rollers.

Corresponding to the cylindrical shielding member 846 placed on the front end of the base plate 804, a cavity 851, which is slightly larger than the shielding member 846, is formed at the front end of the upper support substrate 805. Support substrate 8
05, the shielding member 846 is housed in the cavity 851 so as to be vertically movable. Furthermore, an opening 853 is provided on the rear wall of the frame 852 constituting the empty space 851.
is formed, behind which the insertion detection switch 808 is arranged, and its movable contact 808a protrudes into the cavity 851 from the opening 853. The tip of this movable contact 808a is normally positioned above the shielding member 846 as shown in FIG.
When the card CD is inserted from point a, the card CD pushes up the shielding member 846 as shown in FIG.
is now turned on.

The shutter solenoid 809 mounted on the support substrate 805 is arranged facing downward as shown in FIG.
When the solenoid is in the demagnetized state, the card C passes through the insertion hole 854 provided in the support substrate 805 and engages with the recessed hole 855 formed at the corresponding position on the upper surface of the base plate 804 as shown in FIG. 29(B). -D is prevented from being inserted.

Although not particularly limited, the card reader 800 of this embodiment has a structure in which the rear wall of the case is open so that the card can be ejected to the rear so that it can also be used in a card issuing machine. ing.

FIG. 30(A) shows the mounting positional relationship of various sensors and magnetic heads in the card reader.

The insertion detection sensor 808 is disposed closest to the card insertion/ejection opening 802a, and the first position detection sensor 5NSI is disposed immediately in front of the conveyance roller. And shutter pin 8
09b is the insertion detection sensor 808 and the first position detection sensor 5
A security code reading sensor 810a is placed between the NSI and the security code reading sensor 810a.

810b is arranged almost right next to the first position detection sensor 5NSI. Further, the second position detection sensor 5NS2 is located behind the conveyance roller 812, and the third position detection sensor 5NS3 is located behind the conveyance roller 812.
is the fourth position detection sensor 5N behind the conveyance roller 823.
S4 is arranged at the innermost part of the card reader, and the first to fourth position detection sensors SNS1 to 5NS4 are arranged on the same straight line.

Furthermore, punch hole detection sensor 5NSp and punch pin PP
is arranged between the second position detection sensor 5NS2 and the transport roller 823, and the magnetic head 821 is arranged between the transport roller 823 and the third position detection sensor 5NS3.

FIG. 30(B) shows the card detection timing when the card is inserted by various sensors arranged in the positional relationship as shown in FIG. 30(A), and the timing of the control signal to the motor 807 and shutter solenoid 809. show. As can be seen from the figure, in the card reader of this embodiment, when a card is inserted, the insertion detection sensor detects the insertion of the card and drives the motor and shutter.
4, the information on the card is read in the order of security code, punch hole, and magnetic code at a predetermined timing while detecting the position of the card.

In addition, the relative distances between various sensors and punch pins are important for accurate processing such as card reading and punching, so each component must be installed with precision so that it has a predetermined positional relationship. There is.

FIG. 31 shows a specific example of the circuit configuration of the card reader control device 188 (see FIG. 21).

The card reader control device 188 includes a transceiver/<TRV that converts the level of data signals transmitted and received between the card reader controller CPU2, which is a microcomputer, and the unit control device 180, and a transceiver provided in the control unit 160. Monitor display 175 and 176
Drivers DRVII and DRV1 that form driving and signals of
2 and a driver DRV 13 that forms control signals for driving the motor 807, punching device 820, magnetic head 821, LED lamp 167, and shutter solenoid 809 in the card reader 800, and a relay that turns on and off the power supplied to the motor 807. Driver DR that drives RLY
V14, a waveform shaping circuit SMG consisting of a Schmitt trigger circuit that shapes the waveform of data read by the magnetic head in the card reader 800 and detection signals from various sensors, and latches each read data of the two tracks read by the magnetic head. Flip-flop circuits F/Fl, F/F2,
It has a built-in power-on reset circuit and a watchdog timer, and monitors the pulse periodically output from the controller CPU2 (shared with the reset pulse of latch LTI and LT2) as a watchdog pulse, and generates a reset signal when the pulse is interrupted. and a reset circuit R8T2.

Further, on/off signals from a device setting device 171 and a card ejection switch SWc provided in the control unit 160 are input to the card reader controller CPU2.

The four light emitting diodes that make up the monitor display 176 are a power-on display LED 11 that is lit while the power is on, a card-in display LED 12 that indicates that a card is in the card reader, and a card-in display LED 12 that indicates that a card is in the card reader. It is used as the OK display LED 13 that lights up when the control by the controller is executed normally, and the LED
4 is left unused so that it can be used for any other monitor display.

On the other hand, the segment type monitor display 175 has seven segments representing numbers and one dot display segment DT.
By combining these, the contents of the card reader abnormality can be displayed using codes as shown in Table 7 below. Note that the error codes in the right column of Table 7 are codes used by the card reader controller CPU 2 to notify the higher-level control device of the details of the abnormality when a corresponding abnormality occurs.

It executes driving control, card data reading, card data checking, etc., and transmits the card number and card reader control information to the unit control device.

Communication with the unit control device 180 is via serial ports TX and RX through a built-in serial communication circuit.
Do this using The output of control signals to the components constituting the card reader 800 and the input of detection signals from various sensors are performed via an interface circuit 198 as shown in FIG. 32.

Furthermore, the flip-flop FF2 that latches the magnetic data a on the track TRC2 of the magnetic recording section MG of the card is as follows:
The signal is read from the track TRCl, triggers the flip-flop FFI, and operates using the first clock b as a sampling clock. flip flop FF
1 outputs a periodic signal C by being triggered by the read clock b and reset by the pulse e output from the CPU 2.

In FIG. 32, the card reader controller 1188 and Table 7 card reader controller CPU2 operate according to the control program in the built-in ROM, and the unit controller 1i
An interface circuit 19 provided between the card and input/output components in the card reader based on instructions from 180
An example of the configuration of No. 8 is shown below.

In the figure, the symbols SMGI to 5MG5 indicate waveform shaping circuits consisting of Schmitt trigger gates, etc.
RECI and RFe5 are rectifier circuits.

MCCl and MCC2 are magnetizing current switching circuits, AMP1 to A
MP4 is an amplifier, MHDI, MHD2 is a magnetic head, M
T is motor, 5OLI, 5QL2 is solenoid, LED
I is a light emitting diode, DRV21, DRV22 are drivers, 5NSII, 5NS12, 5NSp, 5NSI~5
NS5 is a sensor. In addition, CCC is a current switching circuit for switching the rotation direction of motor HT, and VCC is a current switching circuit for switching the rotation direction of motor HT.
This is a voltage switching circuit for switching the rotation speed of the T.

A read clock signal of read data read by two magnetic heads MHDI and MHD2 corresponding to two tracks TRCl and TRC2, respectively, is sent to an amplifier AM.
After being amplified by PI and AMP3, the rectifier circuit REC
I, rectified by REC2, and further waveform shaping circuit SMGI
, 5MG3 as a square wave to the card reader control device 188. On the other hand, the card reader control device 188
The write data and write clock supplied from the magnetizing current switching circuit M pass through the waveform shaping circuits 5MG2 and 5MG4.
Input to CCl, MCC2, write data “1 $
1 110 N, the direction of the head drive current is switched to the amplifier AMP2. The signal is amplified by AMP4 and supplied to magnetic heads MHDI and MHD2.

In order to drive the motor MT, the card reader control device 18
The current switching circuit CCC changes the direction of the current flowing to the driver DRV21 based on the forward rotation signal and reverse rotation signal given from the driver DRV21 in accordance with the speed switching signal.
Switch the voltage applied to the motor by

On the other hand, security code reading sensor 5NS11 (
810a), 5NS12 (unused), punch hole detection sensor 5NSp, position detection sensors 5NS1-8NS4, and speed detection sensor 5NS5 (821) are waveform-shaped by waveform shaping circuit 5MG5 and then sent to card reader control device 188. The detection signal of the insertion detection switch 808 is noise-cut by a low-pass filter LPF, and then waveform-shaped by a waveform shaping circuit 5MG5.

FIG. 33 shows the timing of writing and reading magnetic data by the card reader control bag [188].

Among the signals in the figure, (A) to (D) are write data information, (
E) to (G) relate to write clock information, and (H)
- (J) show read data information, and (K) - (M) show signal waveforms of various parts related to read clock information. In addition, the card reader control device 1 of FIG. 31 is shown in (N) to (R) of the same figure.
At 88, the timing of each signal is indicated by the symbols a''-e.

Of these, the signals (H) and (K) are the output signals of the amplifiers AMP1 and AMP3 that constitute the interface circuit in FIG. 32, and the signals (I) and (L) are the output signals of the rectifier circuits RECI and RFe5. The signals (J) and (M) indicate the output signals of the waveform shaping circuits SMGI and 5MG3, respectively.

In this embodiment, the write method is so-called NR, which inverts the polarity when the data is "1" and maintains the previous state without inverting the polarity when the data is "OI+" or no signal.
The ZI method is adopted.

Therefore, signals indicating CPU output, write current, and magnetization state (
B), (C), and (D) are each inverted when the internal data (A) of the CPU changes from gl 0 $1 to "1".

On the other hand, when the data written in the above manner is read by the magnetic head MHD2, the output of the amplifier AMPI changes to + or - depending on the direction of magnetization when the magnetization state (D) changes, so the card reader controller C.P.
U2 outputs a signal a(N
) is at a high level, it is recognized as data “1”,
If the signal a is at a low level, it is recognized that the data is "O" (see FIG. 33(S)).

In this example, the recording density of magnetic data on the card is 4.134 bit/mm (=105 BPI) and the card transport speed is 300 mm/sec, so the pulse period of the read clock data is about 806 μs. Therefore, when writing magnetic data by the CPU 2, the period T0 of the CPU output (E) related to the write clock is output as twice the clock pulse (1°612 m5).

An example of the configuration of the card issuing machine 200 is shown in FIG. 34 and FIG. 35.

The card issuing machine 200 of this embodiment includes a bill identifying device 1210 that identifies bills for card purchase, and an issuing device 70 that prints an amount corresponding to the inserted bill and issues a card.
0, a bill dispensing device 230 for dispensing bills as change, various displays 221 to 225, and the control and management device 400 for the entire card issuing machine 200. It is configured. Corresponding to the banknote identification device 210,
The front panel 201, which can be opened and closed, has a bill insertion slot 211,
A purchase selection switch group 212 and an amount display 213 are provided. Therefore, the player must first use the banknote insertion slot 21.
When a banknote is inserted from step 1, the amount of money inserted is displayed on the amount display 213. Then, by pressing a switch corresponding to a desired purchase amount from the purchase selection switch group 212, a card corresponding to the desired purchase amount is issued from the card outlet 202 of the issuing device 700. Also.

The purchase selection switch group 212 is composed of switches each with a built-in lamp, and when a bill is inserted, there are switches that can be selected within the range of the inserted amount (three for 3,000 yen, three switches for 3,000 yen,
If the price is 5,000 yen, the corresponding built-in lamp (5) will be lit.

When a banknote is inserted through the banknote insertion slot 211 of the card issuing machine 200 and a purchase amount is determined by the purchase selection switch 212 and a balance is generated, a banknote dispensing device 230 for discharging the remaining balance stores banknotes. It is equipped with a banknote tank and is configured to discharge banknotes corresponding to the remaining amount from a banknote dispensing port 232 provided on the front panel 201.

In addition, on the front panel 201 of the card issue @ 200, there is an issuing lamp 221 indicating that the card is in a state where the card can be issued, and an issuance stop lamp 22 that indicates the state where the card cannot be issued.
2. A bill insertion indicator 223 that indicates whether or not bills can be accepted into the bill insertion slot 211, a card issue display @224 that indicates the issuing status of the card, and a bill dispensing indicator 225 that indicates the status of paying out the balance. In addition, card issuing machine 2
On the inside of the front panel 201 of the 00, there is a monitor display 206 for displaying the type of abnormality (number) in the issuing machine as a two-digit number, and a reset button for resetting the display on the monitor display 206. 207 is provided.

Furthermore, the card issuing machine 200 of this embodiment distinguishes between each of the plurality of issuing machines (several tens of machines) installed in the game parlor, and the management device f400 selects the issuing machine that has issued a specific card.
In order to be able to understand the machine number setting device 205
is provided internally, and the machine number set by this setting device 205 is sent to the management device 400, where it is used to generate a transmission address during data communication and create a data file for each issuing machine. .

On the other hand, the issuing device 1700 takes out the blank cards stocked in the card tank 701 one by one and first sends them to the card reader 800. Record the card number, identification code (store code), issue date code, check code, etc., and punch a hole at the issued punching position PH (see Figure 2) using the punch device 820 in the card reader 800. Then, the printing device 750 prints the date of issue, serial number n, and purchase price, and the card is discharged from the card issuing slot 202 provided on the front panel 201. The above issuing serial number n is determined by the management device 400, which receives a card purchase application from the card issuing machine 200, when the management device 400 receives a purchase application from a plurality of card issuing machines under its control.
The reception process sequentially determines the issuing serial number n, which is a number given to each card issuing machine, and the code obtained by performing code conversion processing such as rearranging the bits mentioned above based on this issuing serial number n. A number is recorded on the magnetic surface of the card and issued, and information regarding the card is stored in the management device 4.
It is designed to be recorded in a file within 00.

In order to make it possible to generate a card number from the issued serial number n, the control program of the management device 400 is provided with a card number generation routine and a code conversion routine. Inverse conversion and back calculation routines are provided to confirm the match with serial number n.

The card issuing machine 200 of this embodiment has a card reader 800 that records magnetic data, and a printing device that prints out the issuing serial number n, the date of issue, and the three thousand digits of the purchase price.
Leave the card on standby with two "0"s printed on it,
By printing and ejecting a thousand-digit number when the purchase switch is pressed, the apparent time required for issuance is shortened.

FIG. 36 shows an overall perspective view of an issuing device 700 with a built-in card reader, and FIG. 37 shows an example of a schematic configuration of the issuing device.

The issuing device [700 of this embodiment includes a card ejecting device 710 that takes out cards one by one from a card tank 701 containing a large number of cards whose magnetic recording section MG and print display section PRT are blank; A card reader 800 placed behind it, a card reversing device 740 placed further behind it, a printing device 750 placed below the card reader 800, and a card ejecting device 770 placed in front of it. The card issuing control device [79
It is controlled by 0. The card reader in the issuing device 700 of this embodiment may have the same structure and function as the card reader 800 for pachinko machines.

Card readers for issuing machines differ from card readers for pachinko machines in that (1) they must have a magnetic data recording function, and (2) they must have a structure that allows cards to be ejected backwards. At a certain point. Of these, regarding (1), the interface circuit 19 as shown in FIG.
8 is a waveform shaping circuit 5M that shapes the waveform of the write data signal.
G2゜5MG4 and magnetic current switching circuit MCCl, MCC2
The magnetic heads MHDI and MHD2 can not only read but also write magnetic data.
No problem. In addition, as mentioned in the explanation of the structure of the card reader 800 for pachinko machines, FIGS.
In the card reader 800 shown in the figure, the rear wall of the case is open, so that the inserted card can be ejected to the rear. Therefore, the issuing device 1700 of this embodiment
The same card reader 800 for pachinko machines can be used.

On the other hand, the card tank 701 is formed of a U-shaped frame having a space of the same size as the card, and is fixed to the upper end of the side wall 711 of the card ejecting device 1710 with a bolt. A pressing member 702 is placed on top of the card stored in the card tank 7O1 to apply a certain pressure to the card to ensure removal of the card. Notches 702a are formed on the left and right sides of this pressing member 702 so as not to be detected by a sensor 703 that detects the presence or absence of a card in the tank. Further, the blank card CD stored in the card tank 701 is inserted into the base board 711 of the card ejecting device 710 as shown in FIG.
is placed on top of the front half of the

This base substrate 711 has an opening 71 along the center line.
1a, 711b, and 711c are formed, and a first conveyance roller 712, a second conveyance roller 713, and a third conveyance roller 714 are arranged so as to slightly protrude upward from these openings. Further, a notch 711d is formed in the front end side of the base board 711 so that the operating piece 703a of the card presence detection sensor 703 can be viewed from below.

Further, a support plate 715 is disposed approximately in the upper center of the base substrate 711 in a direction perpendicular thereto, and is fixed to a side wall 716 of the card ejecting device 1710. A bracket 718 having a stopper 717 facing the base board 711 at a distance of one card is attached to the front surface of the support plate 715. Further, behind the support plate 715, a take-out motor 719 for driving the transport rollers 712 to 714 is arranged and fixed to the side wall 716.

A drive pulley 721 is connected to the rotating shaft of this take-out motor 719 via a deceleration mechanism 720.
21 and the rotation shaft 7 of the conveyance rollers 713 and 714.
Driven pulley 722 attached to the end of 13a, 714a
, 723, a timing belt 724 is wound between them. moreover.

A clutch disk 725a is attached to the rotating shaft of the second conveyance roller 713, and a second clutch disk 725b is rotatably disposed opposite to this disk 725a.

Also, the pair of clutch discs 725a.

A clutch lever 727 is swingably attached to the side wall 716 and has a roller 726 at one end that can come into contact with the outer periphery of the clutch lever 725b. And this clutch lever 727
The other end is connected to a plunger 729a of a clutch solenoid 729 via a spring 728. When the solenoid 729 is energized, the clutch lever 727 is rotated and the roller 726 is connected to the clutch disc 725a.
and the outer periphery of 725b at the same time, transmitting rotational force,
When the solenoid 729 is turned off, the rotational force is cut off. Further, a pulley 730 is fixed to the rotating shaft of the clutch disc 725b, and a belt 732 is connected between this pulley 730 and a pulley 731 fixed to one end of the rotating shaft 712a of the first conveying roller 712.
is being wound. Therefore, the rotational force of the take-out motor 719 is transmitted to the first conveyance roller 712 via the clutch mechanism (725, 726) only while the clutch solenoid 729 is energized.

Moreover, this first conveyance roller 712 has its rotation shaft 71
2a, and the top surface is normally lower than the base substrate 711, so that when the rotating shaft 712a rotates 180 degrees, it slightly protrudes upward from the opening 711a. .

In the issuing device 700 of this embodiment, when the purchase selection switch 212 is operated after inserting a bill.

The take-out motor 719 is rotated, and then the clutch solenoid 729 is turned on for a certain period of time, and the first conveyance roller 712
is rotated once.

As a result, the first conveyance roller 712 is rotated eccentrically,
Card tank 701 above this first conveyance roller 712
Push up the card inside and send it out to the rear. At this time, since the pressing member 702 is placed on the card CD and applies a constant pressure, the bottom card is separated from the group of cards in the tank due to the frictional force with the roller. Moreover,
At the rear, a stopper 717 is provided with a distance of one card from the base board 711, so that feeding of two cards is prevented.

In this way, only one card is taken out from the tank and sent out toward the rear card reader 800 by the second and third transport rollers 713 and 714, which are kept rotating while the take-out motor 719 is rotating.

Note that a running position detection sensor CPSL is disposed at the rear end of the card ejecting device 710, and is configured to detect the card that has been sent out.

Furthermore, a pressing roller 734 is provided above the third conveying roller 714 to prevent the card from floating up.

The card taken out from the tank 701 by the card taking out device 710 has the identification code, card number, etc. written in the magnetic recording section by the card reader 800, and the internal punching device W820 punches a hole at the issuing hole punching position. After the card is opened, it is delivered to the card reversing device 740 at the rear. A case 705 is arranged below the card reader 800 to store punching pieces, that is, punch waste.

A card reader control device 288 for an issuing machine, which corresponds to the control device 188 of the card reader 800 for a pachinko machine, is provided in the card issuing control device 790.

The card sent to the card reversing device 740 is first transferred to a belt 742 wound around transport rollers 741a, 741b, and 741c, and a transport roller 743a.

S is sandwiched between belt 744 wound around belt 743b.
The belt 74 is conveyed along a shaped traveling path and is wound around conveying rollers 746a, 746b, and 7460 while pushing the traveling path switching piece 745 disposed at the exit thereof as shown by the broken line A.
7 and the belt 742, and is once sent upward. When the card passes the running path switching piece 745, the switching piece 745 is rotated back from the position indicated by the broken line A to the position indicated by the solid line by the tension of the spring 745a, and the running position sensor CPS2 disposed above moves the switching piece 745 back to the position indicated by the solid line. When the end is detected, the traveling motor 706 that drives the belt 742 is reversely rotated. This causes the card to change direction and begin to be conveyed downward. The belt 74 is wound around conveyor rollers 748a, 748b, and 748c.
9 and the belt 747, the direction gradually changes and is finally sent out horizontally forward.

The belts 742 and 749 are driven by a belt 707 directly driven by the running motor 7.6 and a belt 708 interlocked therewith.

The driving force of the travel motor 706 is not transmitted to the belts 744 and 749, and the belts 744 and 749 rotate together due to frictional force as the card moves.

Note that the belt 707 is connected to a card ejecting device 770 which will be described later.
It is also wound around a pulley integrated with the transport roller 771, and the card is ejected by the driving force of the travel motor 706.

Furthermore, the rotation shaft 7°9 of the conveyance roller 748c is protruded to the side, and a knob 7 is provided at the end thereof as shown in FIG.
09a is fixed, and by turning this knob 709a by hand, it is possible to manually move the card while the travel motor 706 is stopped and remove a card that has caused a paper jam. A running position sensor CPS3 is disposed at the end of the card reversing device 740, and when this sensor detects the rear end of the card, the running motor 7.6 is stopped.

The above card is reversed! The card sent out from 740 enters printing device 750, and is first detected by traveling position sensor CPS4. Then, the transfer motor 751 in the printing device 750 is driven, and its driving force is transmitted to the transfer rollers 752a, 752b via the belt 762 and gear group 763, and the press rollers 753a, 753 disposed above the transfer rollers 752a, 752b.
53b and move the card forward. In front of the transfer rollers 752a and 752b, the transfer roller 7
54 and 755 are arranged along the travel path, and above them a print head 756 such as a thermal head is arranged so as to be movable up and down along a guide pin 757. Further, a return spring 758 is inserted around the guide pin 757.

758 is a motor for lifting and lowering the print head, and this motor 758
The rotation of is decelerated and transmitted to the driven shaft 759. A detection piece 760 having a notch is fixed to this driven shaft 759, and rotational position sensors 761a and 761b are arranged opposite the periphery of this detection piece 760. Further, although not shown, the rotational force of the elevating motor 758 is transmitted to the print head 756 via, for example, a cam fixed to the driven shaft 759 and a tappet abutted on the outer periphery of the cam, and raises and lowers the print head 756. At this time, the lifting motor 758 rotates the driven shaft 759 by 180 degrees in one operation. That is, the lifting motor 758 always stops rotating at a position where the notch of the detection piece 760 faces the sensor 761a or 761b, and the traveling position sensor CPS4 detects the card and operates the lifting motor 758. When the sensor 761a or 761b detects the notch in the detection piece 760, the rotation of the motor is stopped.

As a result, the print head 756 moves to the running position sensor CP.
It is lowered when the card is detected in S4, and when printing is completed, the lifting motor 758 is operated again to move the driven shaft 759 to 180 degrees.
By rotating the print head 756, the print head 756 is raised and stopped. A running position sensor CPS5 is disposed at the exit of the printing device 750, and when this sensor CPS5 detects the leading edge of the card, it operates the running motor 706 in the same direction as before (opposite direction) to move the transport rollers 771a,
The belt 772 wound around the belts 771b and 771c is driven, and when the sensor CPS5 detects the rear end of the card, the conveyance motor 751 in the printing device is stopped. As a result, the card sent out from the printing device 750 is quickly conveyed into the card ejecting device 770 at the front.

Card extraction device! 1770, as shown in detail in FIG. 39, conveyance rollers 773, 774a, and 774b are arranged below the belt 772, and a belt 775 is wound around the conveyance rollers 774a and 774b. Moreover, in this embodiment, only this card ejecting device has conveying rollers and their belts 772, 775 arranged in two rows to ensure reliable ejection. A card issuer 0202 is arranged in front of the conveyance path formed by the belts 772 and 775,
A traveling position sensor CPS6 is disposed immediately in front of this issuing port.

Furthermore, a travel path switching member 777 that is rotatable about a support shaft 776 is disposed between the conveyance rollers 773 and 774b. This running path switching member 777 has a spring 778.
Normally, the tip is positioned downward as shown by the broken line port in FIG. 37, and the card sent from the printing device 750 is guided toward the card issuing port 202. However,
If the card is not genuine or has a scratch that prevents it from being correctly recorded in the magnetic recording section, the card is guided to a confiscation tank 780 below by the lane switching member 777. When the card is correctly written, the switching member 777 is rotated downward as shown by the solid line in FIG. 37. Then, the card sent from the printing device 750 is guided to the card issuing port 202. Conveyance roller 774
A confiscation tank 780 is arranged below 774b, and the runway switching member 77, which is located above in the normal state, is disposed below.
Cards guided downward by 7 are confiscated in tank 7.
It is housed within 80.

The rear wall 781 of this confiscated tank 780 has a notch 781a.
is formed, and a sensor 782 is arranged so as to face this notch 781a. This sensor 782 is a light receiver, and the corresponding light emitter 783 is placed between the pair of belts 775 and set so that the detection optical axis is oblique, and detects cards entering the confiscation tank 780. Additionally, when the number of cards in the tank exceeds a certain level, the upper end of the card blocks the detection optical axis, making it possible to detect that the tank is full. Furthermore, this confiscation tank 780 is placed on a pre-door 84 diagonally arranged below it so as to be slidable in the front and rear direction,
A long hole 784 formed in the plate 784 is provided on the lower surface of the plate 784.
A guide pin 785 that engages with the plate 784 is fixed, and is always urged backward by a spring 786 stretched between the guide pin 785 and the rear end of the plate 784.

In this card ejecting device 770, when the # end of the card passes and the traveling position sensor CPS6 or the confiscated card detection sensor changes from on to off, the traveling motor 706 is turned off and the ejecting or confiscating operation is stopped.

Note that an issuing device 700 is installed above the card issuing port 202.
A card issuance display 787 is provided to show the progress status of card issuance work.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 36, the issue bag [700 of this embodiment is a
2a and 792b, and is placed on a base 793 that is slidably supported in the front and rear direction.
A power supply box 794 with a built-in auxiliary power supply is placed on the left half of the unit, and on the front of this power supply box 794 there is a counter 795 for displaying the number of issued cards, and a counter 795 for displaying the number of confiscated cards, etc. There is a spare counter 796 available.

Further, 797 is a handle used when sliding the entire issuing device placed on the fixed base 791 forward;
8 is an operation button for locking the slide mechanism.

FIG. 40 shows a card issuing machine 2 configured as described above.
An example of the configuration of the control system of No. 00 is shown.

In addition, in the same figure, 790 is a card issuing control device, 2
80 is a unit control device, and 288 is a card reader 8
The transport motor 807 and the magnetic head 8 are each component of 00.
21. Punching device! 820, etc., and the lamps indicated by symbols LMP1 to LMP5 are built into the purchase amount selection switch group 212, and the lamp corresponding to the switch that is turned on is lit. The operation buttons are illuminated from the rear.

The control system of this embodiment is roughly divided into a control system based on the unit control device 280 and a control system based on the card issuing control device 790.
However, there is a means for accepting money, a means for selecting the desired purchase amount, a communication means for transmitting valuable data to the management device and receiving and receiving a card number in place of the valuable data, a means for dispensing change coins, and an issuance processing state. The card issuance control device 790 is in charge of controlling the status display means that indicates the above-mentioned issuance bag! It is in charge of overall control of the card ejector W710, card reversing device 740, printing device 750, and card ejecting device 1770 that make up the f700, as well as the control device 288 of the card reader 800, which is responsible for checking cards and recording magnetic data. ing. Communication between the unit control device 280 and the card issue control device 790 is performed by serial communication.

On the other hand, the unit control device 280 is connectable to a low-layer network communication line 510 made of an optical cable or a coaxial cable via an optical transceiver 285 in order to send and receive data such as a card number to and from the management bag W400. There is.

In the card issuing machine 200 of this embodiment, a unit controller 280 lights up or blinks status display means including various indicators 221 to 225 provided on the front panel 201 in accordance with the card issuing procedure, so that the user can be guided through the operation procedure. In addition to teaching students about this, the system also prevents them from forgetting to eject cards or forgetting change.

That is, when the power of the card issuing machine 200 is turned on and the preparation for card issuing is completed, the unit control device 280
First, the issuance display 221 provided on the front panel 201
is turned on, and the bill insertion display 223 is made to blink to display a message prompting the insertion of a bill, thereby informing the outside that the banknote insertion is in a waiting state. When a bill is inserted into the bill insertion slot 211 in this state, the unit control device 280 causes the amount display 213 to display a number corresponding to the amount inserted,
And purchase lamp LMP1 with built-in purchase selection switch 212
~Turn on the LMP5 until it reaches the amount equivalent to the amount invested. In other words,
For 1,000 yen, use lamp LMP1 only, for 3,000 yen, use lamp LMP
If the amount is 1 to LMP3.5 thousand yen, the lamps LMP1 to LMP5 are lit to clearly indicate the operable switches.

In this state, when one of the valid purchase selection switches 212 is turned on, the bill insertion indicator 223 is turned off, the card issue indicator 224 near the card issue slot 202 is blinked, and the card is ejected. Inform the user that this will be done.

Then, when the unit controller 280 actually ejects the card from the card issuing slot 202, the unit controller 280 controls the amount display 2.
13 and purchase lamps LMP1 to LMP5 are turned off. At this time, if there is change, the bill dispensing display 225 is flashed to draw attention and the change is disbursed. Note that when there is no change, the bill payout display 225 remains off. Further, when the card is ejected, when the user pulls out the card ejected to the card issuing slot 202, the flashing of the card issuing display 224 is stopped and the light is turned off.

On the other hand, when there is change, the bill insertion display 223 is turned off after the bill dispensing indicator 230 detects the removal of change and receives a dispensing completion signal sent.

Unit control bag! Table 8 shows the state transitions of various indicators on the front panel 201 according to H.280.

Table 8 In the figure, O is lit, X is off, and Δ is blinking.

D means to display a numerical value according to the input amount, and B means to light up a lamp corresponding to the amount.

Table 8 also shows how the bill receiving state of the bill insertion slot 221 changes to 0 in each state. This indicates that the next bill cannot be inserted until the card and change are removed.

FIG. 41 shows an example of the configuration of the unit control device 280.

The unit control device 280 of the issuing machine includes a unit controller 290 that centrally controls the card reader control bag 288 and the card issuing control device 790, and a management device 40.
0, and a network controller 553 that establishes transmission/reception rights in the network and performs serial/parallel conversion of data under the control of the data transmission controller. has exactly the same configuration as the unit control device 180 of a pachinko machine. In other words, data is exchanged between each controller 290 and 551 and between 551 and 553 using dual port memory (RAM).
550 and 552. Among these, the memory 552 is divided into a transmission data storage area and a reception data storage area, and has an adjustment function for making all transmission and reception data the same length (packetization) and speeding up data transmission (2. , 5MbpS).

This packet memory 552 is composed of four pages each having a capacity of 256 bytes, of which page O is used for transmitting transmission request packets, and page 1 is used for transmitting scheduled data transmission packets. On the other hand, pages 2 and 3 are used alternately for receiving data packets. The data transmission controller 551 instructs the network controller 553 as to which page to use. Even if the data transmission controller 551 is processing received packet data, even if the next packet data is sent, it will be received by another page, so all packets can be reliably received.

A common reset circuit 555 is provided so that each controller 551, 553 can be initialized simultaneously.

An optical connector is connected to the connection side of the network controller 553 to the management device 400 via a signal conversion circuit 554 that performs waveform shaping of received data and converts the signal level in order to increase the drive capability of transmitted data, and a changeover switch 542. 186, and also has a selector switch 542 so that it can be connected to a coaxial cable when the transmission line of the low-layer network is configured with a coaxial cable.
can be connected to a branch circuit 540 for separating and combining the transmitted signal and the received signal.

An optical transceiver 185 is connected to the optical connector 186.

Further, between the data transmission controller 551 and the network controller 553, there is a latch circuit 561 for the network controller 553 to store a data reception result in response to a request from the data transmission controller 551, and a data transmission controller 551. A latch circuit 562 for storing commands such as data transmission commands for the network controller 553, a latch circuit 563 for storing low-layer network addresses, and three LED lamps for indicating abnormalities in the communication control state within the unit control device 280. A monitor display 55 consisting of
A latch circuit 564 is provided to store display data for 6. A decoder 557 decodes the address given to each of the latch circuits 561 to 564 and generates a selection signal.

On the other hand, the unit control device 280 of the issuing machine is different from the unit control device 180 of the pachinko machine.

The unit controller 290 is the card reader control device 2
The card issuing control device 7 does not communicate directly with the card issuing control device 88.
90. Therefore, a transceiver 57 is provided between the unit controller 290 and the card issuing control device 790 to convert the level of transmitted and received data.
1 is connected.

The unit controller 290 also latches a drive signal that puts input signals from the machine number setter 205 and reset switch 207 onto the data bus 581 at predetermined timing and displays various lamps such as the issuing indicator 221. an input/output controller 576, a banknote validator 210, a banknote dispenser 230, and a purchase selection switch 21.
2 to the data bus 58 at a predetermined timing.
The banknote validator 210 and the banknote dispenser 2
an input/output controller 57 that latches control signals to 30;
8 are connected.

The control signal from the unit controller 290 to the banknote validator 210 is to send 1000 banknotes that are determined to be genuine banknotes.
There is an instruction signal for distinguishing between 0 yen, 5000 yen, and 1000 yen and storing them in the safe, and an instruction signal for allowing or disabling the insertion of banknotes into the bill insertion slot.

In addition, from the banknote validator 210 to the unit controller 29
The input signals for 0 include a signal when the inserted banknote is determined to be a true 1ooo yen banknote, and a signal when the inserted banknote is determined to be a true 5ooo yen banknote.
The signal when it is determined that it is a yen bill and the inserted bill is a true 100 yen bill.
There is a signal when the banknote is determined to be a 0 yen banknote, an alarm signal that is output when the banknote is pulled out toward the banknote insertion slot after the banknote determination, and a signal that indicates that a banknote has been inserted and that the banknote is being identified. There is a signal to indicate that a banknote jam has occurred, and a signal to indicate that the banknote storage in the safe is full.

On the other hand, from the unit controller 290 to the bill dispenser 23
The control signals for 0 include an instruction signal for setting the number of banknotes to be paid out in binary code, an instruction signal for executing the payout of banknotes based on the set value of the number of banknotes, and a monitor display for displaying the result of the payout execution. There is also an instruction signal for clearing the display on the device (not shown).

In addition, from the bill dispenser 230 to the unit controller 29
The input signals for 0 include a signal that is output every time one banknote is dispensed, and an alarm signal that is output when an abnormality occurs in the device during dispensing and the dispensing operation cannot be executed.
A signal indicating that the remaining amount of bills in the bill storage section has become 20 or less, a signal indicating that a bill dispensing operation is being executed, and a signal indicating that the bill dispensing operation has been completed and the bills in the bill issuing slot have been removed. There is a signal to indicate that the

Further, the unit controller 290 includes decoders 586 and 587 and decoder drivers 588 and 589 for dynamically displaying the amount display 213 that displays the purchase amount and the monitor display 206 that displays the number indicating the type of abnormality in the issuing machine. and a data bus 581.

Table 9 shows an example of the error number displayed on the monitor display 206, its contents, and processing.

In Table 9 above, if an error marked with * occurs, the system will be reset as a system down. Also, if the error display is blinking, after error recovery processing,
Indicates that you need to press the reset button.

Note that 585 decodes the address signal output from the unit controller 290 and stores it in the program memory 55.
8 and unit memory 550. Input/output controller 596
, 598, decoders 586, 587, and decoder drivers 588, 889.

Furthermore, in the unit control device 280 of this embodiment, 2 ms of the display data output from the unit controller 290 to drive the amount display 213 is
A digit select signal (common signal) that is periodically output at intervals such as is inputted to the reset circuit 555 as a watchdog pulse. Reset circuit 55
In addition to power-on reset, 5 monitors this watchdog pulse and when the pulse disappears, each controller 290
．． Generates a reset signal for 551 and 553.

As described above, the unit control device 280 controls the management device 40
0. Card issuing control device! It has a window for information exchange in two directions of 29o, and performs control for issuing cards under the control of the management unit [400]. It has software that periodically sends data to the management device.

Data is sent and received to and from the management device via a unit memory 550, similar to a pachinko machine.

The configuration of the unit memory 550 is exactly the same as that of a pachinko machine (see Fig. 24), and the transmission data area SDA
, a reception data area RDA, and a shared data area CDA that contains commands and status information for informing the controller of the other party that transmission data and reception data are in the memory.

Tables 10 and 11 show the unit memory 550, respectively.
Sending data area SDA and receiving data area R within
An example of the configuration of DA is shown. The configuration of the communication area CCA is exactly the same as that of the unit memory of a pachinko machine (Table 3
reference).

Table 0 The hot codes shown in Table 10 above indicate that the management device 400 uses the unit memory 550 when the system starts up.
For example, write the code 010101...01 in the transmission area.

It is sent to the management device periodically to prevent R due to noise such as static electricity.
It is possible to check for damage to AM data and quickly detect abnormalities in transmitted data.

Note that the monitor information 1 shown in Table 10 above is as shown in Table 1.
As shown in Figure 2, a bit indicates that a test is being executed at system start-up, a bit indicates initial value setting/unspecified, a bit indicates a hot code error, and a bit indicates an abnormality in the local network (transmission cable 500) (low layer and It consists of a 2-bit (for high-rise), a bit indicating an abnormality in the issuing machine, etc.

In addition, as shown in Table 12, monitor information 2 includes a bit that indicates an abnormality in the card reader, a bit that indicates the presence or absence of a card, a bit that indicates the state in the bill tank, a bit that indicates a bill jam, and a bit that indicates forced withdrawal of the bill. It consists of a bit, a bit that indicates the state inside the banknote tank of the balance dispenser, a bit that indicates an abnormality of the balance dispenser, and the like.

FIGS. 42 to 44 show configuration examples of the payment machine 300 described above.

The payment machine 300 of this embodiment has a built-in card reader that reads the card number recorded on the magnetic recording section of the inserted card CD and checks the code. A card settlement device 310 that collects the amount of money, a balance payout device 321.32.5 that refunds the amount equivalent to the unused amount that remains unused for the card, and a receipt that prints the number of balls acquired by playing the game. It is comprised of a printer 330 that issues a message, various displays 303, 304, 341, 342, a unit control device 350 that controls the entire payment machine 300, and the like.

This payment machine 300 has a top panel 301 that can be rotated in the vertical direction, and corresponds to the card payment device 310 described above.
The front end of the top panel 301 has a card insertion slot 302, and the top of the top panel 301 has a ball number display 303 that displays the number of winning balls (number of balls you have) and an amount display that displays the unused amount. 304 is provided. Furthermore, the payment machine 300 of this embodiment has a flat top surface so that it can be used as a counter installed in a pachinko parlor, and is provided with two sets of ball number display 303 and amount display 304, one of which is One is slanted forward so that it is easy for the player to read, and the other is slanted back so that it is easy for the staff inside the counter to read it. Moreover, the upper parts of the ball number display 303 and the amount display 304 are covered with a transparent plate such as a glass plate. In addition, on the rear fabric of the upper surface of the upper panel 3o1, the display of the above display is rQJ.
A display reset switch 305 is provided to clear the display. When a player first inserts a card into the card insertion slot 302, the card reader 800 in the payment machine 300 reads the card number recorded on the magnetic surface of the card CD, sends it to the management device 400, and sends data regarding the card. Uke is taken. Then, the amount display 304 displays the unused amount, the number of balls display 303 displays the number of balls acquired, and the printer 330 issues a receipt with the unspent amount, number of balls acquired, history data, etc. printed. Further, the card inserted into the card reader is punched at a predetermined position 11PH by a punching device.

After a punch hole (accompanied hole) is formed in the card, the card is discharged into the internal card collection tank 314.

In this embodiment, the card reader of the payment machine does not require a recording head, but it is equipped with a recording head to erase the data on the magnetic surface of the card that has already been paid and then eject it, so that the card number can be recorded. make it impossible to decipher the conversion method of
It may also be designed to prevent card forgery.

As the card reader, the card reader 800 (see Fig. 25) of the pachinko machine 100 is used as is.
Like a card reader for an issuing machine, cards can be ejected to the rear, and a card collection tank 314 is arranged behind the card reader. The printer 330 pulls out a blank sheet stocked in a roll, prints the date of issue, the number of balls acquired, the unused balance, and the card history, etc. on the surface of the sheet, and prints it on the recess 301a of the top panel 301. 2. At the same time, money corresponding to the unused amount is paid out from the balance payout device. The balance dispensing device includes a bill dispenser 321 that dispenses banknotes and a coin dispenser 325 that dispenses 100 yen coins. 32
A coin dispensing port 326 is provided corresponding to No. 5. In addition, in settlement, since a fraction of less than 1000 yen is generated as unused money, the coin dispensing device 325 is composed of a coin dispensing port 325 that dispenses coins in units of <100 yen as described above.
is required.

Furthermore, on the top surface of the top panel 301 of the payment machine 300, there is a payment in progress lamp 341 that indicates that card payment is in progress.
, a payment stop lamp 342 is provided to indicate a state in which card payment is disabled.

Also, inside the front panel 306, which can be opened and closed, there is a 42nd
As shown in Figure (B), a monitor display 343 that displays an error in the payment machine such as a shortage of banknotes using an error number, and a reset switch 351 that resets the display of this monitor display 343 are installed at the game parlor. A machine number setter 352 is provided to distinguish each of the plurality of payment machines so that the management device 1400 can identify the payment machine that has made the payment for a particular card, and a machine number setter 352 is used to distinguish between each of the plurality of payment machines so that the management device 1400 can identify the payment machine that has made the payment for a particular card. Coin extraction switch 35 for ejecting coins
3, and a print changeover switch 354 for giving an instruction as to whether history data is to be printed on the receipt issued by the printer 330.

The machine number set by the machine number setting device 352 is sent to the management device 400, and is used to generate a transmission address for data communication and to create a data file for each payment machine.

As shown in FIG. 43, the card payment device 310 includes a card reader 800 and an auxiliary conveyance device 3 disposed behind the card reader 800.
11, a card payment control device 312 that controls the card reader 800 and the auxiliary transport device 311 according to instructions from the unit control device 350, a power supply device 313 for these devices, and a card collection tank 314 arranged behind the auxiliary transport bag w311. It is composed of

Note that the card collection tank 314 is connected to the card payment device 3.
It is designed to be removably inserted into a vertically elongated tank storage frame 316 fixed to a frame 315 of No. 10. In addition, two counters 31 are provided on the side of the frame 315.
7 and 318, one of which displays the number of collected cards. The other counter is unused.

The auxiliary conveyance device 311 includes conveyance rollers 361 and 362,
A pair of upper and lower conveyor belts 363, 36 wound around them
4, and a transport motor 3 that drives the lower transport belt 364.
65, and are arranged so that the card ejected from the rear end of the card reader 800 is sandwiched between a pair of belts 363 and 364 and transferred toward the recovery tank 314 at the rear.

Although not shown in FIG. 43, the card collection tank 3
14 indicates that the card has been ejected into the tank, or -
A card sensor 319 is provided to detect when the card is full (see No. 46@).

However, in this example, the settlement f! 300 enters the card confiscation mode only when the most significant digit of the machine number setter 352 is set to "9", and the card inserted for payment is guided to the card collection tank and confiscated after payment. At other times, the card is ejected to the front and returned to the player after payment.

Moreover, the payment machine 300 of this embodiment can constitute a counter provided in a prize exchange corner of a pachinko parlor by arranging a plurality of them as shown in FIG. 44 and combining them with the corner unit 50 and the card collection machine 900. is now possible.

In other words, the main body of the payment machine 300 is designed so that the top panel 301 is approximately 1 meter above the floor, and the top surface is substantially flat, so it can be used as a workbench for exchanging prizes, etc. .

Note that the card collection machine 900 has a card insertion slot 905 on the front.
and a prize payout port 906, and a built-in card reader (not shown) for reading the inserted card, and a CRT display #l191° as a game device for providing games using used cards is placed on the top surface. There is.

FIG. 45 shows examples of print formats of receipts printed out in two print modes set by the print changeover switch 354.

Among them, (A) is an example of the format of a receipt when printing only the payment data is specified by the print changeover switch 354, and shows the pachinko parlor's hall name HA L L,
The issuing serial number n of the card, the settlement date and reception time TIME, the settlement amount AMs, the number of settlement balls CNT, and the message MSG are printed.

On the other hand, FIG. 45(B) shows an example of the format of a receipt when history data printing is specified by the printing selector switch 354. In addition to the payment data in FIG. 45(A), the purchase amount AMi at the time of card issuance is shown. , history data in the card file (unused amount of money and number of balls held at each time the card status changed during the game) CRR are printed.

In addition, in the payment machine of the above embodiment, the card collection mode is set by setting the most significant digit of the machine number setting device 352 to "9", and in other cases, the card is ejected forward after payment. By checking the card status at the time of payment, if the amount used is "O" and the entire purchase amount is refunded, the card is discharged to the collection tank 314 at the rear after the unused amount is refunded. It can also be controlled by software. This makes it possible to avoid abuse of purchasing cards only for the game when a system is configured in which a game is played using cards that have already been paid for at a collection machine.

FIG. 46 shows a configuration example of a control system for the payment machine 300 configured as described above.

The control system of this embodiment can be roughly divided into unit control bags! The control system is divided into a control system based on 350 and a control system based on card payment control device f312.
0 is a banknote and coin dispenser 321, 325, various indicators 303, 304, 341 to 343, and a printer 33.
0 control and accepting inputs from various switches 351 to 354, 305, card payment control device 312
is in charge of overall control of the auxiliary conveyance device 311, the counter 317 as means for counting and displaying collected cards, and the control device 388 of the card reader 800 that checks cards and reads magnetic data. Communication between the unit control device 350 and the issue control device 312 is performed by serial communication.

On the other hand, the unit control device 350 is connectable to a low-layer network communication line 510 made of an optical cable or coaxial cable via an optical transceiver 185 in order to send and receive data such as a card number to and from the management device 4oO. There is.

FIG. 47 shows the configuration of the unit control device 350 of the payment machine 300. This unit control bag! ! The composition of 35O is
A unit controller 390, which is almost the same as the unit controller 1280 of the issuance unit 1200 shown in FIG. It is composed of a data transmission controller 551 that controls data transmission, and a network controller 553 that establishes transmission/reception rights in the network and converts data from serial to parallel under the control of the data transmission controller. It has exactly the same configuration as the unit control device 180 of . That is,
Each controller 390 and 551 questions and 551 and 553
Data is received and passed between dual port memory (RA).
M) 550 and 552. Among these, the memory 552 is divided into a transmission data storage area and a reception data storage area, and has an adjustment function for making all transmission and reception data the same length (packetization) and speeding up data transmission (2. ,5Mbps)
It has a buffer function to measure the

This packet memory 552 is composed of four pages each having a capacity of 256 bytes, of which page O is used for transmitting a transmission request packet, and page 1 is used for transmitting a scheduled data transmission packet. On the other hand, pages 2 and 3 are used alternately for receiving data packets. The data transmission controller 551 instructs the network controller 553 as to which page to use. Even if the data transmission controller 551 is processing received packet data, even if the next packet data is sent, it will be received by another page, so all packets can be reliably received.

A common reset circuit 555 is provided so that each controller 551, 553 can be initialized simultaneously.

An optical connector is connected to the connection side of the network controller 553 to the management device 400 via a signal conversion circuit 554 that performs waveform shaping of received data and converts the signal level in order to increase the drive capability of transmitted data, and a changeover switch 542. 186, and also has a selector switch 542 so that it can be connected to a coaxial cable when the transmission line of the low-layer network is configured with a coaxial cable.
can be connected to a branch circuit 540 for separating and combining the transmitted signal and the received signal.

An optical transceiver 185 is connected to the optical connector 186.

Further, between the data transmission controller 551 and the network controller 553, there is a latch circuit 561 for the network controller 553 to store a data reception result in response to a request from the data transmission controller 551, and a data transmission controller 551. A latch circuit 562 that stores commands such as data transmission commands to the network controller 553, a latch circuit 563 that stores low-layer network addresses, and three LED lamps that display abnormalities in the communication control state within the unit control device 350. A monitor display 55 consisting of
A latch circuit 564 is provided to store display data for 6. A decoder 557 decodes the address given to each of the latch circuits 561 to 564 and generates a selection signal.

On the other hand, the unit controller 350 of the payment machine differs from the unit control device 180 of the pachinko machine in that the unit controller 390 does not communicate directly with the card reader control device 388, but communicates via the card payment control device 312. It is. Therefore, the unit controller 39
A transceiver 571 that converts the level of transmitted and received data is connected between the card payment control device 312 and the card payment control device 312 .

The unit controller 390 also includes a pitch count display 3.
03 reset switch 305 and machine number setting device 352,
The input signals from the reset switch 351, coin extraction switch 353, and print changeover switch 354 of the monitor display 343 are placed on the data bus 581 at a predetermined timing, and the drive signals of the settlement-in-progress stone tool 341 and the settlement cancellation indicator 342 are latched. and an input/output controller 576.

Bill dispenser 321. Coin dispenser 325 and printer 3
The input signal from 30 is sent to data bus 5 at a predetermined timing.
81, and the bill dispenser 321 and the bill dispenser 32.
5 and an input/output controller 578 that latches control signals to the printer 330.

Control signals from the unit controller 390 to the banknote dispenser 321 include an instruction signal for setting the number of banknotes to be paid out in binary code, an instruction signal for executing banknote payout based on the set value of the number of banknotes, and a payout execution result. There is an instruction signal for clearing the display on a monitor display (not shown) for displaying.

Also, from the bill dispenser 230 to the unit controller 39
The input signals for 0 include a signal that is output each time a bill is dispensed, an alarm signal that is output when an abnormality occurs in the device during dispensing and the dispensing operation cannot be executed, and a signal that is output when the dispensing operation cannot be executed. A signal indicating that the remaining amount is 20 or less, a signal indicating that the bill dispensing operation is in progress, and a signal indicating that the bill dispensing operation has ended and the bill has been removed from the bill issuing slot. There is a signal for this.

On the other hand, from the unit controller 390 to the coin dispenser 32
The control signal for the coin dispensing motor 5 is a vertical movement signal for the coin dispensing motor, and while this drive signal is output, coins are continuously ejected one by one.

And from the coin dispenser 325 to the unit controller 39
For 0, there is a coin detection signal that is output every time one coin is paid out, and a signal that indicates that the remaining amount in the coin storage tank is low. In addition, the unit controller 39
The control signal from 0 to the printer 330 includes print data,
There are an 8-bit data signal that gives a vapor cut command after printing, a print command, etc., a signal that instructs the start of capturing this data signal, and a printer initialization signal. Input signals from the printer 330 to the unit controller 390 include an error signal indicating a printing abnormality, a signal indicating that printing paper is out, and a signal indicating that a printing operation is in progress.

Furthermore, the unit controller 390 dynamically displays a number of balls display 303 that displays the number of balls paid, an amount display 304 that displays the amount paid, and a monitor display 343 that displays a number indicating the type of error in the payment machine. Decoder 586a for.

586b, 587 and decoder drivers 588, 589 are connected via a data bus 581.

Table 14 shows an example of the error number displayed on the monitor display 343, its contents, and treatment.

In the same table, if an error with a wooden mark occurs, the system will be reset and the system will go down. Further, if the error display is blinking, it indicates that it is necessary to press the reset button after error recovery processing.

Table 14 Note that 585 decodes the address signal output from the unit controller 390 and stores it in the program memory 55.
8 and unit memory 550. Input/output controller 596
, 598, decoders 586, 587, and decoder drivers 588, 889.

Furthermore, in the unit control device 350 of this embodiment, 2 ms of the display data output from the unit controller 390 to drive the amount display 304 is
A digit select signal (common signal) that is periodically output at intervals such as is inputted to the reset circuit 555 as a watchdog pulse. Reset circuit 55
In addition to power-on reset, 5 monitors this watchdog pulse and when the pulse disappears, each controller 390
．． Generates a reset signal for 551 and 553.

As described above, the unit control device 350 controls the management device 14
00, it has a window for information exchange in two directions of the card payment control device 1312, and performs control for issuing cards under the control of the management device 400, as well as payment processing that occurs as a result of payment processing. It has software that periodically sends operating data on the machine to the management device.

The unit controller 390 of the payment machine 300 executes payment processing by controlling the above components, checking the card number, receiving and displaying card data, etc.
Collects operating data and sends it to the transmission data area SDA in the unit memory 550 consisting of dual port memory.
write to. The operating data written in the unit memory 550 is sent to the management device through data communication between the data transmission controller 551 and the management device 400 via a transmission cable. Data sent from the management device is also first written to the reception data area RDA in the unit memory 550, and the unit controller 390 reads this to receive the data.

The unit memory 550 has a shared data area C that contains commands and status information to notify the other party's controller that transmitted data and received data are in the memory.
A DA is provided.

Tables 15 and 16 show the unit memory 550, respectively.
Sending data area SDA and receiving data area R within
An example of the configuration of DA is shown. The configuration of the communication area CCA is exactly the same as that of the unit memory of a pachinko machine (family 3).
reference).

Table 15 As shown in Table 16, this embodiment also receives card history data, prints this on a receipt together with time data, and then outputs it, thereby informing the player that the payment data is highly reliable. You can make an impression. However, the maximum history data contained in the card file is 20.
This is the data up to the time.

As shown in Table 17, monitor information 1 shown in Table 15 includes a bit indicating that a test is being executed at system start-up, a bit indicating initial value setting/unsetting, a bit indicating a hot code error, and a bit indicating a local network. It is made up of bits (two bits, one for low-rise and one for high-rise) indicating an abnormality in the transmission cable 500, a bit indicating an error in the payment machine, etc.

Table 17 In addition, as shown in Table 18, monitor information 2 includes bits that indicate paper out, bits that indicate a printer error, bits that indicate a card reader error, bits that indicate the state inside the card tank, and coins in the coin dispenser. A bit indicating the presence or absence of a coin dispenser, a bit indicating an abnormality in the coin dispenser, a bit indicating the state inside the bill tank of the bill dispenser, a bit indicating an abnormality in the bill dispenser, etc.

Table 18 Next, the pachinko machine 100, card issuing machine 200, and payment machine 300 configured as described above are controlled in an integrated manner, and operating data is collected in real time to monitor the operating status of all terminals and prevent power outages. Even if a failure occurs, the original data state can be immediately restored upon recovery, allowing each part of the system to resume operation, making it possible to aggregate the data necessary for the management of the game parlor, and to maintain the same qualifications even if the card is damaged. The management device 400 that issues a revival card will be explained.

FIG. 48 shows the specific configuration of the management device 400, and FIG.
Figure 9 shows the system configuration of the management device.

The management device f400 is a minicomputer class central processing unit C.
Main memory device M- consisting of PU and semiconductor memory (RAM)
It is composed of a mask control device 401 storing MEM, a transmission control device SCC, etc., a floppy disk storage device 1402 as an auxiliary storage device provided above the master control device 401, a hard disk storage device 403, and a personal computer 410. has been done. The personal computer 410 also has a CRT display device i411 for displaying messages and collected data, a console 412 for an operator to give instructions and setting data, a built-in CPU and a timer TMR (including a calendar), and a master A local processing bag connected to the central processing unit in the control device 401 via a communication line and an interrupt line! 41
3, and a printer 414 for printing collected data and the like.

Serial communication control devices 406a and 406b are used to connect the local processing device 413 and the central processing unit 1CPU.
is provided within the master control device 1401. Among these, the communication control device 406a is used for normal communication and also for communication control device! 406b is used for interrupt communication in case of emergency.

The printer 414 includes a buffer that temporarily stores data to be printed in order to improve the throughput of the management device 1400.

Furthermore, this management device 400 includes a restoration card that has the same qualifications as the damaged card and a test card that can start up the pachinko machine while being disconnected from the system, as unique to the pachinko gaming system. Occurs in the issuing card issuing device 700 or pachinko machine"
Stop” etc.

A box 420 containing an auxiliary printer 408 that prints emergency information generated by the system in real time, and an auxiliary power supply device 409 are included in the mask control bag! ! It is provided adjacent to 401. The card issuing device 700 and the auxiliary printer 408 are communication control devices 406c and 406, respectively.
d to the central processing unit CPU. Further, the card issuing device 700 has exactly the same configuration as the card issuing device 700 for the issuing machine 200 shown in FIG. 36. 202 is the card issuing port.

The auxiliary power supply device 409 powers up the main storage device M-M when a power outage occurs.
The management device can be operated for at least 10 minutes in order to transfer and protect the operating data of all terminals and the data of all issued cards, which are volatilely held in the EM, to the hard disk storage device 403. Back up like this.

Further, in FIG. 49, the symbol SCC is the network 5
This is a transmission control device for enabling data transmission between terminals via 00.

Note that in this embodiment, mainly the pachinko machine 100
and card issuing machine 200, payment machine 300 and management device 4
00 will be described, but the present invention can be extended to a system in which an in-store broadcasting device, a prize exchange device, a vending machine, etc. are also placed under the control of the management device 1400. In particular, the prize exchange device may easily adopt a system in which a card can be directly exchanged for a prize without passing through the payment machine 300.

Furthermore, the console 412 constituting the management device 400 also has a unique key configuration most suitable for the pachinko gaming system of this embodiment.

FIG. 50 shows an example of the configuration of the console 412.

FIG. 2B shows the top surface of the console, that is, the panel surface, and FIG. 1A shows the back surface of the console.

In FIG. 50, 421 is an opening switch for instructing each terminal of the system to start business, and 422 is a closing switch for instructing end of business, after the opening switch 421 is turned on.

Cards can be used at each terminal until the closing switch 422 is turned on. Further, 423 is a system termination switch for storing the operating data of all terminals in the floppy disk storage device 402 after business hours and instructing the management device to stop control, and 424 is for instructing restoration processing of a damaged card. It is a card resurrection switch.

In addition, the above-mentioned opening switch 421, closing switch 422,
The four switches, system termination switch 423 and card recovery switch 424, are particularly important switches for this system, and are intended to prevent them from being easily operated while the system is in operation.

A key switch 42 provided behind it (above in the figure)
0, and the switches 421 to 424 cannot be turned on unless the key switch 420 is turned on.

425, 426, and 427 are the same type of numeric keypad, return key, and delete key as those provided on the console of a normal personal computer or the like.

On the other hand, 428 is a display menu switch that gives commands to display card-related data and operation data of each terminal on the screen of CRT display device 411, and 429 is a CRT clear switch that requests deletion of data displayed on the CRT display device. It is. Further, 430 is a print menu switch that gives a command to print data related to the card, operating data of each terminal, etc. by the printer 414. 432
433 is a setting switch for requesting settings such as the number of strokes and the stopping mode of the pachinko machine, and 433 indicates that the set number of prize balls have been paid out and the game has stopped, that is, the game cannot be continued. The cancellation release switch 434 is used to issue a command to cancel the pachinko machine's suspension state, and is used to forcefully terminate terminals of each type at the end of business hours, or to disable normal control or data collection due to abnormalities in the communication network, etc. 435 is a forced termination switch for forcibly shutting down all terminals when the situation occurs, or forcibly stopping a specific terminal when cheating by a player is discovered. 439 is a date and time setting switch.

Furthermore, the console 412 of the embodiment is provided with a buzzer 440 that generates a sound to alert the operator in the event of an emergency situation such as pachinko being stopped, and a buzzer stop switch 436 that instructs to stop the sound. It is being

Reference numerals 431a and 431b are backup switches prepared in anticipation of future expansion of the functions of the management device 400, and can be used, for example, as switches for instructing the printer 414 to interrupt printing.

Among the above switches, the switches 421 to 424 and 432 to 436 are shown with double frames in the figure.

These switches have built-in lamps, and when these switches are turned on, the built-in lamps are lit while the corresponding process is being executed or the state continues. However, the buzzer stop switch 43
The lamp in 6 is linked to the buzzer, is lit while the buzzer is sounding, and is turned off when the stop switch 436 is pressed.

Furthermore, the console 412 of this embodiment has a test card switch 437 on its back for giving a test card issuing command, and when the system is introduced, the exchange rate of purchased balls, the store code, the total number of terminals, and the number of winning balls. A built-in switch 438 is provided for instructing setting values such as the number of prize balls per piece and changing the setting values. These switches 437 and 438, unlike other switches1, are switches that are rarely used and only need to be known to a specific person (such as the manager of an amusement arcade), so they are placed on the back of the console. It is set in.

Here, the above test card will be mentioned.

As is clear from the configuration already explained, in the gaming system of this embodiment, all terminal machines (pachinko machine, card issuing machine, payment machine) are under the control of the management device, and can be operated by exchanging card numbers, etc. The terminal is now in a state where it cannot operate on its own. However,
Since pachinko machines are frequently used, balls often get jammed or accessories such as so-called tulips break down, and it is necessary to adjust the nails in the game area to adjust the ball payout rate. In that case, a trial shot will be performed after repair or nail adjustment, but in this embodiment, the test switch 179 in the control unit 160 of each pachinko machine described above is turned on, and the special nail issued by the management device is turned on. When a test card is inserted through the card insertion/ejection port 802a of the control unit 160, a certain number of balls are given to the pachinko machine so that the game operation can be performed independently.

As a result, there is no need to start up the entire system for trial use during non-business hours. Also.

During business hours, trial play can be performed without damaging the operating data during gaming.

In addition, in the embodiment, the card issuing device provided in the management device 400! 700 is the same as that used in the first issuing machine 200, and has a built-in card tank 701 stocked with blank cards and a card reader 800, but an external Alternatively, a method may be adopted in which a blank card is inserted, a code is recorded on the magnetic surface, and the card is ejected. In that case, card tank 7
01 can be omitted. Furthermore, since the test card and revival card issued by the management device E400 do not necessarily have to clearly indicate the date of use, serial number of issue, etc. like other general cards, the printing device W750 may be omitted.

When issuing a resurrection card, the punching device f807 punches the card at a predetermined position 1! It is designed to punch a hole in PH2 (resurrection hole).

As mentioned above, the terminals 100, 200.3 of this embodiment
00 are all under the management of the management device 1400, and cannot operate independently unless the management device 400 is activated. Therefore, when the system is started up, the management device 400 gives setting values to all the terminals to initialize them. Furthermore, prior to this initialization, in order to enable data transmission, the machine number is collected from each terminal and a transmission address is formed for each terminal.

While the system is in operation, operating data of all terminals is collected in real time and stored in the main memory M-MEM.

In other words, since the number of terminals under the management of the management device 1f400 is large, the response will be slow if all control is performed by the management device, so a distributed processing method is adopted in which some processing is entrusted to the unit control device of the terminal. Then, data from all terminals was collected through regular data collection, and the operating status was monitored.

Furthermore, when data is collected at regular intervals, the amount of data handled by the management device 400 becomes enormous. Therefore, in this embodiment, these data are organized by file management to facilitate handling.

Figure 51 shows the main memory M where data files are set.
-The configuration of MEM is shown in Table 19, and the function and save location of each file are shown.

Among the files in the main storage device FM-MEM, files FLI to FL5, excluding the transmission address file FL6, are transferred to the hard disk HDD (auxiliary) storage device 400 in the event of a power outage.
will be saved. In addition, data files related to terminal machines, that is, pachinko machine file (hereinafter referred to as P machine file) FL2, issuing machine file FL3, and payment machine file FL4, are stored on the floppy disk FDD (auxiliary storage device [402]) as daily report files at the end of business hours. and used for monthly operation data aggregation.

Furthermore, the setting value file FL5 and the transmission address file FL6 are stored on the hard disk HHD at system startup.
The data is loaded into the main memory M-MEM, and any changes are saved to the hard disk HHD.

Note that the setting value file is loaded into a common data area CDA provided in the main storage device M-MEM.

This common data area CDA is the central processing unit CPU.
In addition to the setting file FL5, the system mode, the latest card issuing serial number, a power outage flag, a random number for creating a card number, etc. are stored here.

Table 19 Next, each file shown in Table 19 will be explained in more detail.

The setting value file FL5 in the same table is set according to the characteristics and configuration of the system, such as the exchange rate of purchased balls, store code, number of terminals, number of prize balls, number of balls stopped, etc., which are stored in advance on the hard disk by input from the console at the time of system installation. This is a setting value that changes depending on the This setting value file is loaded from the hard disk HDD into the main storage device at the start of normal business operations. Further, the setting value file FL5 can be updated from the console 412 by pressing the built-in switch 438 when replacing the pachinko machine.

Table 20 shows an example of the configuration of the setting value file FL5.

In the same table, the purchased ball exchange rate is the unit of purchase amount (
For example, 200 yen), it is the number of rental balls, that is, the initial number of balls held, and the number of NAUs is the network adapter unit (communication control device) installed at the connection part between the high- and low-layer networks as a data transmission system.
is the total number of

In the above file, each N
The type and number of terminals connected under each AU are set. Further, the number of prize balls from a certain Pachinko machine to a certain Pachinko machine is set in the table indicated by the symbol j. Two types of prize balls can be set for each machine. Moreover, as shown by j=1 to Y, in this embodiment, all pachinko machines in the game parlor are
Pachinko machines are divided into groups, and the number of prize balls for each can be set separately for the main and sub prize balls.6 However, consecutive machine numbers are given to pachinko machines with the same setting value.
The target range is specified by the first number and the last number.

Furthermore, the number of stops and the stop mode are set in the table indicated by k. Here, the stop mode refers to the method (arithmetic formula) for calculating the number of balls to be played.For example, there is a mode in which the ball is simply called off when the number of prize balls to be paid out reaches the number to be played, or a mode in which the number of prize balls to be paid out There is a mode in which the game stops when the number of batted balls subtracted from the number of batted balls reaches the number of hits. Although not particularly limited, in this embodiment, the number of stops and the stop mode can be set independently for each group, as shown by =1-Z.

Table 21 shows an example of the configuration of the transmission address file FL6 used for data transmission.

In Table 21, the type flag is a flag to indicate the type of terminal, and "1" indicates a pachinko machine, "2" indicates a card issuing machine, "4" indicates a payment machine, and rol indicates the terminal type. Indicates the presence of each. The NAU status indicates the state of the NAU, and as shown in Table 22, bit B is set to “
1” is set, the token bus is abnormal.

Also, if bit B is set to ``1'', it indicates that the ``opening code'' packet has already been received, and if bit B0 is set to II II, then NA
Each indicates that U is normal.

Table 21 Table 22 The unit number and serial number are the numbers and serial numbers of terminals made with the exception of r4J and "9", and the unit number is under one NAU (Network Adapter Unit) regardless of the type of terminal. The channel number is the address of each terminal as seen from the management device, that is, the number that becomes the address on the high-layer network, which will be described later. However, in the system of the embodiment, the number of pachinko machines connected under one NAU is 64 or less.

As mentioned above, the NAU number and machine number are set using the setting switch (
171, 205, 305, 561), and in the case of pachinko parlors, the machine number of the pachinko machine is a consecutive number that is customarily given with numbers excluding "4" and "9". Here, the fact that ``14'' and ``9'' are not used means that octal representation is possible. Therefore, using the conversion table shown in Table 23, the machine number expressed in decimal notation is expressed only as numbers 0 to 7. According to this, for example, the machine number r258J is written as r247J.

If this is expressed in binary code using the binary coded octal system, it becomes ``rolo・100・111''.

This code indicates r167J in decimal notation, and as a result, the pachinko machine machine numbers without "4" and "9" become consecutive serial numbers. On the other hand, in order to keep the address on the low-layer network to 8 bits, the lower 8 bits of the above code are taken, and this is regarded as the code "rlo10-0111" expressed in binary coded octal notation, and this is expressed as HEXA.

It becomes rA7HJ. Furthermore, in addition to pachinko machines, terminals such as issuing machines and payment machines are also connected under one NAU, and in order to give them 8-bit unit numbers,
The number of pachinko machines under one NAU is limited to 64,
The above code rA7HJ and code r3FHJ (corresponding to 64 in decimal number) are ANDed to obtain r27HJ. Performing logical product with r3FHJ means calculating the remainder after dividing by 64. In this embodiment, this is used as the unit number. Then, the NAU number is added to the beginning of this unit number, resulting in rNAU number + number unit number channel number. This method enables efficient address processing that matches the characteristics of microcomputers that process data using only binary notation, which is customary in pachinko parlors that have machine numbers that do not use "4" and "9". becomes possible.

The above transmission address file is created by input from the console when the system is installed, but NAU itself also creates an address file (unit table) for the units under its control based on input from the machine number setter when the system is started up. and is held in memory.
After the line test, the management device makes a unit table request to the NAU, compares it with the response data, and if it does not match, it is automatically changed (described later). Also, the transmission address file is set to the built-in switch 4 on the back of the console.
It can also be changed by 38.

In addition, consecutive serial numbers starting from "1" are given to each type of NAU, issuing machine, and payment machine as machine numbers.
For AUs and payment machines, their machine numbers are used as they are as addresses (unit numbers), and for 1-issue machines, the machine number plus r128J is used as the address (unit number) on the lower layer network. This is to avoid address duplication when a pachinko machine and an issuing machine with the same machine number coexist under the same NAU. Duplication of addresses between the pachinko machine and the payment machine is avoided by not having both machines coexist under the same NAU.

Furthermore, the issuing machine and the payment machine can be placed under the same NAU (because "machine number + 128" is used as the address of the issuing machine).

Further, the address of the NAU 530 on the high-level network uses the NAU number set by the setting device 544, and the address of the NAU on the low-level network uses the r255J fixed address. Also.

The address of the management device is rQJ.

Table 24 shows an example of the configuration of the card file FLI.

The card file FLI contains information for each card.

- Information indicating the current status of the card specified by the card number,
In this embodiment, it will be referred to as card text below. As shown in Table 25 below, the card status here refers to a bit that indicates a free status that is not used for gaming, a bit that indicates that the game is in progress, a bit that indicates that the card is temporarily away from the gaming machine, and a bit that indicates that the card is already in the suspended state. A bit that indicates that the card has been settled at the settlement machine, a bit that indicates that both the number of balls and the balance of the card are zero, a bit that indicates that the card has been discontinued at least once in the past, and a forced termination. The card is made up of bits that indicate that the card was used in a pachinko machine that has been restored, bits that indicate that the card has been revived, etc.

In Table 24, the card number is the number obtained from the issuing serial number n using the function f (n), and the number of balls held, the amount of money, and the card status are the issuing serial number n and the card status.Meanwhile, returning to Table 24, A location terminal serial number indicating the location of the terminal where the card currently exists and a location terminal number are registered in the card file FLI. As a custom in pachinko machine parlors, the numbers "r4J and r9" are not used as machine numbers, so two types of terminal numbers are generated: one for the back and one for the front.

In addition, in Table 24, the i counter indicates the number of actions the card has taken, that is, the number of times the card has been ejected from the system, which is an organic combination. number, number of balls, amount,
Card information such as time, or history of the card, is recorded. Statistically speaking, most players play on less than 20 pachinko machines a day, so in this embodiment, card history is recorded up to 20 times at most. however,
If the number of times exceeds 20, it is recorded by updating the table indicated by 1=20. Note that in the above case, the i counter does not count game interruptions.

In other words, each card information is recorded in a new area at the time of suspension, but when the game end switch is turned on after the suspension is canceled, the counter is not updated and the card information is recorded in the same area overlappingly, so that the value of the i counter is changed to the actual game. It matches the number of units.

Here, the card status, action, and registration of FLI card information in the card file will be explained using FIG. 52.

First, when a cart is issued in the card issuing machine 200, the card is ejected and the card shifts from an unissued (blank) state SSO to a free state SS1. Then, when the card is inserted into a desired pachinko machine 100, the game state shifts to gaming state SS2. When the number of balls and the amount of money on the card become zero due to the game, the card is ejected and the state shifts to zero return state SS3. Also, during the game, the interrupt switch 11
When 5 is pressed, the card is ejected and the suspended state SS4
By re-inserting the same card, the game state returns to SS.
Return to 2 6 Then, when the end switch 114 is pressed to end the game during the game, the card is ejected and the game moves to the free state jliss1.

Even when the CPU forcefully terminates the game or the game stops, the card is ejected and the game status moves from the game state SS2 to the free state SS1. When the card in the free state is brought to the payment machine 300 and payment processing is performed, an invalid mark is attached to the card, the card is collected, and the process moves to the payment completed state SS5. In the system of this embodiment, it is also possible to take the card in the suspended state SS4 and go directly to the payment machine 300 and perform payment processing without returning to the pachinko machine, and in that case, it is possible to move from the suspended state SS4 to the completed payment state SS5. .

In the above state transition diagram, the arrows indicating the transition direction with O attached are actions that involve recording card information in the card file FL3. In addition, the code indicated by XXH in each block represents the corresponding state in hexadecimal digits using the code indicating the card state in Table 25 (
HEXA expression).

Next, Table 26 shows an example of the configuration of the P machine file FL2.

In the same table, the items from 1 machine number to card status are the data held in the transmission data area shown in Table 1, and these are sampled once per second by the management device 400 and registered in the file. be done. In addition, the number of main prize balls, the number of sub-prize balls, the number of batting balls, and the batting mode are as follows:
When the system is started up, it is registered in the P machine file FL2 based on the setting value file FL5 shown in Table 20.

*Total capacity 64X506-=32384=approximately 32 Total byte capacity 64X50=3200=3.2 Total byte capacity 64X
10=640=0.64 The data marked with 0 in the byte table 26 means data that will be saved on the floppy disk as a daily report file when the system is terminated.

Further, monitor information 1 and 2 in the pachinko machine file are shown in Tables 4 and 5, and operation information is shown in Table 6.

Next, Tables 27 and 28 show the issuing machine file FL3 and the payment machine file FL4, respectively. The data items shown in Table 27 are the data held in the sending data area of the issuing machine shown in Table 10, Further, the data items shown in Table 28 each match the data held in the transmission data area shown in Table 15. These are sampled by the management device once per second.

In Tables 26 and 27, data marked with 0 in the save column is data that is saved on the floppy disk FDD at the end of business hours.

Further, monitor information 1 and 2 in the issuing machine file are shown in Tables 12 and 13, and monitor information 1 and 2 in the payment machine file are shown in Tables 17 and 18.

Furthermore, the operating information of the issuing machine and the operating information of the payment machine are 000.
0 0000 0000 0001 indicates that it is in operation.

Next, a card issuing machine 100, a pachinko machine 200, and a pachinko machine 200 as terminals configured as described above. A data transmission path (local area network) that organically connects the payment machine 300 and the management device 400 that centrally controls these terminals to enable data transmission and card operation will be described.

FIG. 53(A) shows a configuration example of a pachinko gaming system using a hierarchical data transmission path.

In other words, 100 to 1000 terminals are grouped into groups of 20 to 40 units, such as island equipment at a game store, and each group of terminals is connected to a token that circulates at high speed on a ring-shaped transmission path. A network adapter unit (hereinafter referred to as NAU) is connected to a token-passing low-layer network (token bus) 510 in which a node (terminal device) that receives a packet indicating a transmission right has the right to send and receive data in the form of a packet. ) 530.

A plurality of NAUs 530 that control each low layer network (token bus) 510 are connected to the CSMA/CD
(Carrier 5ence Multiple
Access with Co11ision
The management device 400 is connected to the management device 400 via a high-rise network 520 using the Detect method.

The low layer network 510 has a transmission speed of 2.5 Mbps (megabits per second), the high layer network 520 is controlled to have a transmission speed of 10 Mbps, and the NAU 530 absorbs the difference in transmission speed between the two. It acts as a buffer to enable smooth data transmission. In other words.

The NAU 530 has a data relay function between different networks and a data logical collection and distribution function. in this way,
The reason for the hierarchical configuration of the data transmission path 500 is that when 500 or more terminals are connected to one management device and you try to collect regular data from each terminal every second, the host computer directly communicates with all the terminal units. In the communication system, the burden on the host computer becomes too large, and although CheapNet has a fast transmission speed of 10 Mbps,
Since the controller LSI is expensive, it would be too expensive to connect the terminal unit directly. In addition, the transmission speed is too slow to collect data once per second using only the token bus. Moreover, in the system of the present embodiment, both the transmission lines constituting the high-rise network 510 and the transmission lines constituting the low-level network 520 are configured so that either coaxial cables or optical fiber cables can be used.

In Fig. 53 (A), the symbol P indicates a pachinko machine, the symbol H indicates a card issuing machine, and the symbol S indicates a payment machine. be.

Each of the terminals P, H, and S is connected to a branch line branched from the network 510. Control units 160, 250 and 350 of each terminal are connected to the terminal end of each branch line. In FIG. 53(A), the symbol U indicates the unit control device of each terminal.

As can be seen from the figure, 25 NAUs are placed in the high-level network facing the management device, and 23 pachinko machines, payment machines, and issuing machines are placed in the low-level network facing the NAU. .

In addition, the low-layer network consists of one issuing machine and 22 pachinko machines.
There is a form (■) with a machine, and a form (■) with 10 issuing machines and 5 payment machines. In this way, since there is at least one issuing machine in each low-layer network, in this embodiment, the NA
The U530 is installed inside the issuing machine 200. The reason why 10 issuing machines and 5 payment machines are provided is to enable one issuing machine or one payment machine to be arranged in a row in one place.

Figure 53 (B) shows an example of a network configuration when using a coaxial cable as a transmission path, and Figure 53 (C
) show examples of network configurations when using optical fiber cables as transmission paths.

When using a coaxial cable as a transmission path, each NAU
530 are connected to the high-rise network cable 515 in parallel form by the T-shaped connector 505, and each unit (terminal) Hl, Pl, P2゜...P2□ is also connected in parallel form by the T-shaped connector 505. It is connected to the low layer network cable 525.

On the other hand, when using an optical fiber cable as a transmission path, the management device 400 is provided with a multichannel optical transceiver 502 that has a photoelectric conversion function, a transmission data distribution function, and a reception data multiplexing function, and the NAU 530 is equipped with a multichannel optical transceiver 502 that has a photoelectric conversion function, a transmission data distribution function, and a reception data multiplexing function. Each is provided with an optical transceiver 507 that performs photoelectric conversion.

Each optical transceiver 507 and multichannel optical transceiver 502 are connected by two-core optical fiber cables 512, respectively. In addition, NAU530 and unit H
,,P engineering,P2. . . . P2□ is provided with an optical transceiver 508 for performing token bus type data communication in a low layer network, and connected by a two-core optical fiber cable 522. Each of the above optical transceivers 5
08 has a photoelectric conversion function for transmitted and received data as well as a branching and switching function for optical signals.

In addition, each of the optical transceivers 507 and 508 and the NAU5
30 or unit H work put P2t...P
2□ is connected by a coaxial cable. The above-mentioned high-rise network 510 and low-level network 520
Although data transmission and reception both use a packet switching method, the format of the packets differs on each network.

That is, the packet on the high-rise network 510 is 1
1010...1011 synchronization signal consisting of 64 bits called preamble, destination address, source address, bucket type field (unused), 48
It consists of a data field of ~1500 bytes and an error correction code CRC. Further, although not particularly limited, data on the high-rise network is transmitted in Manchester code.

On the other hand, data is transmitted and received on the low layer network (token bus) 520 using five types of packets, each having a different field configuration and function. The five types of packets are a token packet for granting transmission rights, and a free buffer interrogation packet for determining whether the other party can receive the data.

These are data packets for transmitting data, and "ACK" and "NAK" packets for acknowledgment and negative acknowledgment to the sender. Each packet has a different length, but has a common bit pattern at the beginning indicating the beginning of the packet called an alert burst.

In addition to the alert burst, the data packet has an address field indicating the source and destination, a field indicating the length of the data, a data field, and a field containing an error correction code. Note that data is transmitted on this low layer network 520 using an RZ (Return to Zero) code.

Table 29 below lists the packets used on the high layer network, and Table 30 lists the packets used on the low layer network.

Note that the hard ACK in Table 30 is an ACK issued by the network controller in hardware, and is not a response in which the unit controller or data transmission controller is involved in software.

Table 29 Table 30 FIG. 54 (A) shows an example of the circuit configuration of the NAU (network adapter unit) 530 that buffers data transmission between the low layer network 510 and the high layer network 520, and FIG. An example of the configuration of a unit body incorporating it is shown below.

The NAU 530 in this example is connected to the lower layer network 510.
A low-layer network controller 533 that establishes transmission/reception rights in the C8MA and performs serial/parallel conversion of data;
/CD system high-rise network controller 537 that establishes transmission/reception rights and performs serial/parallel conversion of data, and a data transmission controller 535 that controls data transfer between these network controllers 533 and 537. . Among the above controllers, the low layer network controller 533 is
It is composed of a communication LSI dedicated to token passing, and the high-level network controller 537 and data transmission controller 535 are composed of general-purpose microcomputers. And these controllers 533 and 5
35 and between 535 and 537, there is a buffer packet memory 53 for absorbing the difference in data transmission speed between the low layer network 510 and the high layer network 520.
4 and a data memory 536 are connected to each other.

The packet memory 534 and data memory 536 are configured by dual port memories and have a transmit data area and a receive data area. In addition to the transmission/reception data area, the data memory 536 has a regular data area for storing regular data collected from units, a unit table area for storing unit transmission addresses on the low-layer network, and a working area for the data transmission controller 535. ing. The scheduled data area includes the transmission data area for all units (see Tables 1, 10, and 15).
The unit table area has the same structure as the transmission address file of the management device. In addition, the low layer network controller 533
A transceiver 508 is connected to perform waveform shaping and level conversion of transmitted and received data signals.

Moreover, as mentioned above, this transceiver 508
A branch that separates and combines the transmission signal and the reception signal via the changeover switch 542 so that the transmission line of the low-layer network can be configured with a coaxial cable or an optical fiber cable. circuit 54
0 and an optical connector 186. A coaxial cable connector 187 is connected to the branch circuit 540.

Similarly, a transceiver 507 that performs waveform shaping and level conversion of transmitted and received data signals is connected to the high-level network controller 537.

Moreover, as mentioned above, this transceiver 507
A branch circuit 541 separates and combines the transmit signal and the receive signal via a changeover switch 543 so that the transmission line of the low-layer network can be configured with a coaxial cable or an optical fiber cable. and an optical connector 186. Branch circuit 5
41 is connected to a coaxial cable connector 187.

Furthermore, the NAU 530 of this embodiment has a plurality of N
A NAU number setter 544 sets a number to distinguish AUs from each other, and a minimum number setter 544 sets the minimum number of pachinko machines or payment machines among the terminals existing on the low layer network 510 under the control of each NAU 530. A machine number setting device 545, a number setting device 546 for setting the number of pachinko machines or payment machines existing on the low layer network under its control, a setting device 547 for setting the minimum machine number and the number of connected machines for issuing machines, 548 and a setting device 549 for setting the type of NAU.

The NAU type here indicates that the terminal configuration is a combination of an issuing machine and a pachinko machine, or a combination of an issuing machine and a payment machine. The setting values of each setter 561 to 563 are input to the data transmission controller 535 in the NAU 530 via the buffer gate 538, and the NAU number is used to form the transmission address of each NAU in the high-rise network 520. Furthermore, the transmission address of each terminal in the low layer network 510 is formed by the minimum number and the number of terminals.

In FIG. 54(A), 531 is a program memory that stores a control program for the data transmission controller 535, and 532 is a system bus that connects each controller 535, 537 and memories 531, 534, 536.

A board on which the circuit of the above configuration is mounted is built into the NATJ unit main body 539 shown in FIG. 54(B).

The front and rear walls of this unit body 539 are provided with the aforementioned high-rise and low-layer network optical fiber cable compatible connectors 186 and high-rise and low-rise network coaxial cable compatible connectors 187, respectively. moreover,
The various setting devices 545 are provided on the upper surface of the unit main body 539.
~549 are provided. The NAU number setter 544 is provided on a board inside the case.

Note that 501 is a power switch, 502 is a power-on lamp, 503 is a power fuse, and 504 is a power connector.

In the local network (FIG. 53) with a hierarchical structure in which a high-level network and a low-level network are connected via the NAU 530 as described above, the management device 400 conducts line tests and settings for each terminal through each NAU 530 at system start-up. Along with setting the value,
While the system is running, the NAU530 is connected to the low layer network 5.
10 to collect operating data from the terminals P, H, and S once per second and store it in its own memory.

Then, the accumulated data is stored in a data file in the management device 400 from each NAU 530 via the high-rise network 520 once per second in response to a request from the management device 400.

As described above, the communication network has a hierarchical configuration using the NAU 530 as a buffer, and the high-level network 520 is connected to the low-level network 510 at a transmission rate of 2.5 Mbps.
Since it is designed to have twice the transmission speed, 100~
Even in a system with 1000 terminals, Table 1, Table 10. A large amount of operation data as shown in Table 15 can be collected to the management device once per second.

Table 31 shows that in the data transmission system, the management device 400 and the NAU 530 questions are connected to the management device 400 and the pachinko machine 100° card issuing machine 200 via the NAU 530.
, unit controllers 190, 290 of the payment machine 300
, 390 are shown.

In the table, the unit refers to the control unit of each terminal machine (pachinko machine, card issuing machine, payment machine). In addition, the "unit table request" packet is a packet used by the management device to confirm the connection and address of the units connected to each NAU when the system is started up. Connection is confirmed. The address information in the packet is compared with the value in the unit table file, and if they do not match, the data is changed to the data in the packet. For units whose connection cannot be confirmed, confirmation is made again using the subsequent initial value setting packet.

Furthermore, the 5'card-in''~pa-interruptionend'' packet listed in Table 31 is a packet specific to the pachinko machine 100, and among these packets, the ``card-in'' packet is used to control the card in the control unit 160 of the pachinko machine. This is a packet for requesting information (card text) regarding the card from the unit side to the management device 400 when the card is inserted.

Here, the card text is text containing four pieces of information: card number, number of balls held, amount (unused amount), and card status. Furthermore, the "return to zero" packet is used to send a card text from the control unit 160 of the pachinko machine to the management device 1400 when both the number of balls held and the amount of money on the card become zero during a game with the pachinko machine. This is a packet of

On the other hand, the packet 'Suspension Ended' is generated when the player presses the suspend switch 114, receives the card, leaves the pachinko machine, and then inserts the card into the payment machine to make payment without returning to the pachinko machine where the game was suspended. This packet is used by the management device to issue a command to cancel the suspended state of the pachinko machine.This allows the player to pay the bill without having to go back to the suspended pachinko machine and press the game end switch 115. be able to do it.

Further, the "Card Purchase" packet listed in Table 31 is a packet specific to the card issuing machine 200, in which a bill is inserted into the bill insertion slot 211 of the issuing machine and the purchase selection switch 200 is used.
12 is turned on, the unit control device 280 requests the management device 400 for the card number and issuing serial number regarding the card.

In the system of this embodiment, the card issuing machine 200
Before inserting banknotes into the bank, you must reserve your card number, etc.
In order to make advance preparations so that the amount can be printed and issued when the bill is actually inserted, the card issuing machine 200 sends a "Card Purchase" packet with "O" in the card amount field. When this happens, the management device 1400 determines that the packet is an issuance reservation packet, determines the issuance serial number and card number, secures an area for the card in the card file, and sends an ACK packet containing the issuance serial number and card number. is returned to the card issuing machine. On the other hand, when a banknote is inserted, the card issuing machine sends a "card purchase" packet to the management device in which the actual purchase amount is entered in the card amount column. Then, the management device looks at the card number column, determines that the card has been reserved for issue, searches the cart file, writes data such as the purchase amount and issue time in the data area of the card, and then sends an ACK packet. It is to be returned to the issuing machine.

The “Card Settlement'' and a-Card Settlement Completed” packets depicted in Table 31 are packets specific to the card settlement machine 300, and are sent to the unit control device 350 when a card is inserted into the card slot 302 of the settlement machine. management device 400
This is a packet for sending the card number related to the card and requesting the unused amount, number of balls, and history of the card.

In addition, the "Card Settlement Completed" packet is a packet to notify the management device fi400 that the card settlement has been completed, and when the management device receives this packet, the card status of the card in the card file is changed to "Settled". '' and write the data at the time of payment in the 1=20 column of history data. When the management device 400 sends an "ACK" packet to the payment machine 300 in response to this "card payment completed" packet, the card payment process is completed, and the next card can be inserted into the payment machine.

The “line monitor check” packet in Table 31 is a packet to confirm the recovery of the NAU when the NAU is determined to be abnormal based on the regular data, and is sent periodically (every 30 seconds) until the NAU recovers. ACK from
Recovery is confirmed upon reception of the packet, and the operation data of all units under the control of the NAU is transmitted using a "unit recovery data" packet to recover the NAU and units. In addition, the "unit monitor check" packet is a packet to confirm the recovery of the unit when the unit is determined to be abnormal based on regular data, and is sent periodically until recovery, and when an ACK packet is received from the NAU. to confirm recovery. The NAU that receives this packet executes a connection check with the network controller of the relevant unit, and if the connection is confirmed, the AC
Send K packet to the management device.

Furthermore, in Table 31, "A CK '" and "N
The packet AK''' is sent to the management device 400, network adapter unit 530, and each terminal 100.20.
This is a packet between 0.30'O and used to respond to the other party when receiving a transmission request to the effect that the request has been accepted or to the effect that the request cannot be accepted. When "ACK" is returned, requested data such as card text may be added.

Note that the packet codes 80H and 8 shown in Table 31
1H, . . . are expressed in hexadecimal notation, and it goes without saying that the code is an example and is not limited to this.

FIG. 55(A) shows the basic configuration of packets transmitted and received between the management device 1400 and the NAU 530 via the high-rise network 520, and FIG. 55(B) shows the basic structure of the packets transmitted and received between the management device 400 and each unit. Packets sent and received between (
55 (excluding command packets that do not require ACK) on the high-rise network 520;
C) shows the basic configuration of packets transmitted and received between the NAU 530 and each unit via the low layer network 510.

In FIG. 55, HHD indicates a packet head used in the high layer network 520, and LHD indicates a packet head used in the low layer network 510.

By the way, in the system of this embodiment, communication control by the NAU 530 can be roughly divided into control that simply mediates communication and auxiliary control that acts as a substitute for controlling the management device. Among these, auxiliary control refers to communication control for information exchange that the management device would normally have to do directly with the unit, entrusted to the NAU, and the NAU exchanges information with the unit. This includes information not related to card data, such as store opening codes, regular data collection, etc. With this approach, the management device only needs to communicate with 25 NAUs, and the NAUs only need to communicate with 25 NAUs.
Since it is only necessary to communicate with three units, the burden on the management device is greatly reduced.

On the other hand, during mediation control, the NAU 530 may simply remove or add packet heads to transmitted and received packets.

In other words, a packet in the format shown in FIG. 55(B) transmitted from the management device 400 to the unit is
530, the high-layer packet head HHD is removed and the packet is sent onto the low-layer network 510, and the packet sent and received from each unit to the management device 1400 using only the low-layer packet head LHD is sent to the LHD at the NAU 530.
A high-rise packet head HHD was added to the head of the 55th
The high-rise network 52 as a packet in the format shown in Figure (B)
sent out on 0.

Note that Table 32 describes the definitions of the unique data laid out in the head portion of each packet.

56 to 61, the above-mentioned high-rise network 510
An example of the format of a typical packet transmitted and received between the management device 400 and the NAU 530 is shown above.

In the "line test" packet shown in FIG. 56(A), the transmission data field includes the date code, identification code (parlor code), and the pachinko machine and issuing machine belonging to the destination NAU 530.
Please include the number of payment machines and the minimum machine number for each machine. Then, the NAU 530 stores the date code and the identification code, compares it with the number calculated based on the setting values of the machine number setting switch 562, etc., and sends the information to the management device 400 as shown in FIG. 56(B). It returns an “ACK” packet like this. In addition, when the NAU 530 receives a "line test" packet from the management device, it sets the unit number setting device and number setting device 544 to 548 for all units under its control.
Packet head L for low-layer network using the transmission address calculated in advance based on the setting value by
A "line test" packet with only the HD attached is formed and sent to the second unit one after another while updating the address.

Then, an "ACK" containing the unit number, serial number, and channel number is received from each unit, and based on the received data, a unit table as a transmission address file is created and stored.

FIG. 57 (A) shows the structure of the "unit table request" packet from the management device 400 to the NAU 530, and FIG. 57 (B) shows the structure of the "ACK" packet that is the response. When a packet is received, it returns an 'ACK' packet containing the NAU number, NAU status, and data about all units in the unit table.

FIGS. 58(A) and 58(B) show the structure of an "initial value setting" packet sent from the management device 40o to the pachinko machine 100 and a response "ACK" packet on the high-rise network. In the data column of this packet, initial values such as the purchase ball rate and the number of prize balls required for operation of the pachinko machine are entered and transmitted.

Note that FIG. 58(A) is an "initial value setting" packet for the pachinko machine, and the "initial value setting" packet for the issuing machine 200 and the payment machine 300 (illustrator ILL8):
In the data field, enter the year, month, date, identification code, and hot code before sending.

Further, FIGS. 59(A) and 59(B) show the structure of the "regular data request" packet for the pachinko machine and its response packet among the "regular data request" packets for the unit.

In the response packet to the scheduled data request shown in FIG. 59(B), the operation data of all pachinko machines belonging to one NAU 530 are concatenated under the packet head LHD, * The head and data indicated by 1 are related to the first pachinko machine, and the head and data indicated by 2 are related to the second pachinko machine.
Data for all pachinko machines follows in the same manner.

In addition, the data column of the response packet (not shown) for a regular data request to the issuing machine 200 or the payment machine 300 contains all the data in the transmission data area of all the issuing machines (see Table 10) or the transmission data of all the payment machines. Area (see table 15)
Enter all the data in the file and send.

FIG. 60 shows an example of the configuration of various command packets without data and their response packets sent from the management device 400 to the payment machine 3°O.

In the packet type column PACKET$TYPE in the same figure,
Code 90H (opening code), 91H (closing code),
95H (forced termination request), 96H (forced termination cancellation), 8
Either CH (line monitor check) or BIH (restart) code is entered. Further, among the above-mentioned "forced termination request", "forced termination cancellation", and "'restart" packets, the type packet (one that targets the entire unit) is provided with a field in which a code indicating the type of unit is entered.

61 (A) to (C) show a card-in packet, its acknowledgment packet “ACK” and its negative acknowledgment packet “NAK” that are sent to the management device when a card is inserted into a pachinko machine. 5 shows the format of a packet on a high-rise network 510.

In the data column of the "Packard In" transmission packet, the card text in which only the card number is entered is read from the unit memory and sent.On the other hand, in the data column of the response "ACK" packet, the data related to the card read from the card file of the management device is sent. The card text is included in the data. Moreover, the card status within this card text indicates the card status after being updated.

In addition, the transmitted and received packets when the suspension switch is turned on, the transmitted and received packets when the suspension card is inserted, the transmitted and received packets when the payment switch is turned on, and "return"
Or, the structure of the transmitted/received packet when "stop" occurs is the same as the "card-in" packet and its response packet in FIG. 61, and the packet type column has the corresponding packet code A2H, AIH, A3H, A4H or A5H The only difference is that the text is entered in the data field, and the card text in the data field contains different data for each card. In particular, in the "Card-in" packet, the "Number of balls", "Amount" and "Card status" columns of the card text are rQJ, whereas in other packets of the same type, these columns also have information about the card. It is designed to enter the data to be sent.

62 and 63 show typical examples of the format of packets transmitted and received between the pachinko machine 100 and the NAU 530 via the low-layer network 520.

Of these, FIG. 62 shows an example of the structure of a "regular data transmission" packet, and FIGS. 63(A) and (B) show an example of the structure of a transmission/reception packet of "per unit recovery data".

Among these, the "regular data transmission" packet contains the transmission of the unit memory of the relevant pachinko machine and all data in the data area, and the management device receives this data and stores it in the relevant pachinko machine in the P machine file. Update the data. On the other hand, the 'unit recovery data' packet contains all the data in the P machine file of the management device and the date, identification code, and hot code read from the setting value file.
It is sent in accordance with the configuration of the data area of the unit memory. However, for the received data packet head and card text that overlap with the transmitted data area of the unit memory, duplicate transmission is omitted and the unit controller side copies them from the transmitted data area to the received data area.

The response packet to the above packet is configured to include all data in the transmission data area and send it.

64 to 66 show typical examples of the format of packets transmitted and received between the card issuing machine 200 and the NAU 530 in the low layer network 520.

Of these, FIGS. 64(A) to (C) show the "Card Purchase" packet requesting the management device to reserve a card, its response packet "A CK", and the negative response "NA".
An example of the configuration of K'' is shown below.

In the data field of the "Card Purchase" packet when making a reservation for card issuance, only the issuance acceptance number m indicating the number of issued cards in the relevant issuing machine is entered, and the card amount, card number, and issuance serial number are not included. Send as rQJ.

On the other hand, the data column of the response "ACK" packet contains the issuing serial numbers n for all issuing machines determined from the issuing acceptance number m in the management device and the card number calculated from this issuing serial number n. The last “
The "Checksum" column contains the sum of the values from the issuing machine number to the issuing acceptance number as a check code.

On the other hand, when a banknote is inserted into the issuing machine and the purchase amount is determined, the structure of the "card purchase" and its response packet sent from the issuing machine to the management device is exactly the same as the packet shown in FIG. The only difference is that the actual purchase amount is entered in the card amount field, and the number already determined at the time of reservation is entered in the card number and issuing serial number fields.

Further, FIG. 65 shows an example of the structure of a "regular data transmission" packet, and FIGS. 66(A) and (B) show an example of the structure of a "unit recovery data" transmission/reception packet.

Among these, the "regular data transmission" packet contains all the data in the transmission data area of the unit memory of the issuing machine, and the management device receives this data and stores the data of the issuing machine in the issuing machine file. Update data. However, among the transmitted data, the card amount and issuance acceptance number are data that are not used by the management device, so even if they are transmitted, they are not registered in the file.

On the other hand, in the "unit recovery data" packet, all data in the issuing device file of the management device and the date, identification code, and hot code read from the setting value file are set to match the configuration of the data area of the unit memory 550. I'll send it to you. However, for the receive data packet head and card text that overlap with the transmit data area of the unit memory, duplicate transmission is omitted, and the unit controller 29
On the 0 side, the data is copied from the transmission data area to the reception data area. The data indicated by *4 in the received data is written in the received data area in the unit memory. The response packet to the above packet is configured to include only all the data in the transmission data area and send it.

67 to 70 show typical examples of formats of packets transmitted and received between the card payment machine 300 and the management device 400 on the low-layer network 520. Of these, FIGS. 67(A) to 67(C) show configuration examples of a "card payment" packet that requests the management device to perform card payment, and its response packets "ACK" and "NAK."

At the time of card payment, only the card number read by the card reader of the payment machine is sent in the data field of the "card payment" packet. On the other hand, in the data field of the response "ACK" packet, data of the card read out by searching the card file using the issuing serial number n calculated backward from the card number in the management device is inserted and sent.

On the other hand, when the payment machine 300 completes payment processing such as refunding unused money or issuing a receipt with the number of balls printed on it, the configuration of the "Pacard payment completed" and its response packet is sent from the payment machine 300 to the management device 400. Shown in FIG. 68.

Only the card number is entered in the data field of the sending packet. No data field is needed in the response packet.

Furthermore, Fig. 69 shows “regular data transmission” from the payment machine.
An example of the structure of the packet is also shown in FIG. 70(A).

(B) shows an example of the structure of a transmission/reception packet of "unit recovery data" regarding the payment machine.

Among these, the "regular data transmission" packet contains all the data in the transmission data area of the unit memory of the payment machine, and the management device receives this data and stores it in the payment machine file. Update data. However, since the card number of the transmitted data is data that is not used by the management device, it is not registered in the file even if it is transmitted.

On the other hand, the 'unit recovery data' packet includes all the data in the payment machine file of the management device 400, the date, identification code, and hot code read from the setting value file in the configuration of the data area of the unit memory 550. I'll match it and send it to you.

However, for the received data packet head and hot code that overlap with the transmitted data area of the unit memory, duplicate transmission is omitted and the unit controller 390 side copies the received data area from the transmitted data area. The data indicated by *6 in the received data is written in the received data area of the unit memory 500. The response packet to the above-mentioned "Parunit recovery data" packet is configured to include all data in the transmission data area and send it.

Note that the packets shown in FIGS. 55 to 70 are as follows:
It is not the entire packet that is originally carried on the network, but only the main part, and in addition to the above packet, there is a header section that includes an alert burst to discover the beginning of the data, synchronization data, a source address field that indicates the transmission source, etc. , a count section that indicates the length of data, and a check code section for error detection. These are automatically generated and added by the network controller 553 in the unit control device of each terminal.

Furthermore, the part "PADDING" added to the end of each packet in FIGS. 56 to 61 is a dummy data field added to adjust the length of the packet data to a predetermined length.

Next, FIGS. 71 and 72 show the control procedure of the data transmission controller 535 in the NAU 530, which is located between the two networks 510 and 520 and acts as an intermediary for data transmission, and the procedure of low-layer network abnormality detection processing using a timer interrupt. Explain using.

When the NAU 530 is powered on and a reset pulse is supplied, the data transmission controller 535 begins the initialization process shown in FIG. 71.

Then, first, the N
AU number setting device 544, minimum machine number setting device 545 for pachinko machines or payment machines. Connectable number of pachinko machines or payment machines setting device 546, minimum issuing machine number setting device 547, number of connecting issuing machines setting device 548, and NAU type setting device 54
9 is read (steps 81 to S6). Then, based on the machine number and number read in step S1, the machine number, address (unit number), serial number and The channel number is calculated by the method described above (step S7).

After that, initial value data is given to the network controllers 533 and 537 to initialize them (step S8).
), write the machine number, serial number, and channel number calculated in step S7 above to the monitor table (regular data storage area) in the data memory 536, and write the NAU
The type of each unit (pachinko machine, issuing machine) is determined and written from the setting value of the type setting device, and other operating data is cleared in rQJ (step S9).

Then, write the NAU number, type name of each unit, unit number 1 serial number, and channel number to the unit table (transmission address storage area) in the data memory 536, and write the NAU status and each bit of monitor information 1 in the unit table. It is cleared to "O" (step 510).

Next, the data transmission controller 535 waits for a packet to be sent from the master control device 401 of the management device (step 5ll), and when the packet is received, the data transmission controller 535 determines whether the packet is a "line test" or a "unit table request". It is determined whether or not (step S12.513).

And the received packet is ``unit table request''
If it is determined that this is the case, the process moves from step S13 to step S814, and an "ACK" packet containing the unit table data read from the data memory 536 is sent to the management device, and then a one-second timer for timer interrupt is activated. After setting and starting a timer interrupt, the process returns to step Sll and waits for reception of the next packet (step 515).

On the other hand, if the received packet is a "line test", the process moves from step S12 to 321, where an "ACK" packet is first sent to the management device, and then the set value of the machine number setter 546, 548 is changed. , the number of units connected to the NAU is set in a counter or the like (step S21, 522).

Next, a ``line test'' packet is sent to each unit under its own control using the address calculated in step S7, and a timer is set (steps S23 and 524).
). Then, check the timer and if an "ACK" packet is returned from each unit within a predetermined period of time, monitor information about the corresponding unit in the monitor table will be displayed.
Clear the token bus error bit B6 of '0' to '0' (
Steps S25-527). In addition, “AC
If the K j+ packet is not returned, the token bus abnormality bit B6 of the monitor information code is set to "1" (step 828). Then, the above step S2
For all units, by subtracting (-1) the counter set in step 2 and determining whether it has become rQJ.
“Line test” Determine whether or not packet transmission has finished,
If the process has not been completed yet, the process returns to step S23 to send the packet to the next unit, and if the process has finished for all units, the process returns to step Sll to wait for reception of a "unit table request" packet.

Furthermore, if the packet received in step Sll is neither a "line test" nor a "unit table request", it is determined in step S16 whether or not it is a registered packet other than the above, and if YES, the received packet is After executing the process corresponding to the packet, the process returns to step Sll and waits for reception of the next packet (step 517).

Note that the NAU processing corresponding to each received packet may be a simple intermediary process (removal or addition of a packet head) for data transmission between the management device and the unit, or an auxiliary process of transmitting command packets to each unit on behalf of the management device. Since these will gradually become clear in the following explanation of the flow of the entire system, we will omit the explanation here.

On the other hand, when an interrupt signal is received every second from the interrupt timer set in step 515, the data transmission controller 535 of the NAU starts the low-layer network abnormality detection process shown in FIG. 72, and first performs step S3. S5
After setting the number of connected units read in in the counter, it is determined whether regular data has been received from each unit within the past 3 seconds (steps S31, 532). If the reception is received, the process jumps to step S34, and if the reception is not received, the token bus abnormality bit B6 of the monitor information 1 in the column of the unit in the regular data storage area of the data memory 536 is set to rl in step S33.
After setting it to J, the process moves to step S33. and,
The counter counted in step S31 is subtracted and "O
'', it is determined whether the check for all units has been completed. If the check has not been completed, the process returns to step S32 and the above procedure is repeated. by this,
It is possible to detect a communication abnormality in a low-layer network and to embody it in the monitor information 1.

Next, the operation of the pachinko gaming system that conducts business while transmitting data between the management device and each terminal using each packet shown in Table 31 will be explained.

FIG. 73 shows the flow of procedures for initializing each terminal and testing the network line by the management device 400.

When the system is powered on, the management device 4°O
First, the central processing unit 1CPU clears all files FLI to FL6 in the main memory M-MEM, and then creates a file (framework) (step 52501). On the other hand, the local processing device 413 first uses the CRT display device 41
After displaying the initial screen on 1, the central processing unit is notified of the date and time (steps 51501 and 51502).

The central processing unit determines whether there is a power outage file or not, and if there is no power outage file, it reads the initial setting values such as the number of terminals, the number of balls awarded, and the number of batted balls from the hard disk (auxiliary storage device l) setting value file and stores them in the main memory. In addition to initializing each file, a random number for calculating a card number from the card issuing serial number is generated (steps 52502 to 52504).

Then, when a line test request command is sent from the local processing device, the NAU in the transmission address file is
Start line test using address (step 51)
503, 52505). That is, high-rise network 5
20 to send a "line test" packet to each NAU 530. At this time, the local processing device displays the message "Line test in progress" on the CRT display 411 and waits for a response with the line test result (step 51504).
).

The "line test" packet is transmitted with the date and identification code (store number) added to the packet head.

On the other hand, when the power is turned on, the NAU 530 first reads the setting values (NAU number, minimum unit number, number of terminals, etc.) from the NAU number setters 544 to 549, calculates the network transmission address of each terminal, and creates a unit table. Then, the transmission address of each unit (terminal) and NAU itself is recognized, and the monitor table containing the operation data of each unit is cleared (step 535).
01-53504). When the NAU receives a "line test" packet from the management device, it sends an "ACK" packet containing the transmission address it calculated itself in the unit table.
”Return packet (steps 53505.53506)
. The address calculated by the NAU based on the setting value read from the setting device is sent to the management device 400 in step 52503.
NAU loaded from the data in the settings file FLI
It should match the address. Mutual communication becomes possible because each party recognizes the same address.

In addition, when the management bag M400 receives the "ACK" packet from the NAU 530, it can be recognized that there is no abnormality in the line with the corresponding NAU, and the above procedure (steps 52505 to 52506) can be performed based on the number of NAUs. By repeating this, the check for all lines is completed,
Thereafter, the process moves to unit table request processing (FIG. 74).

On the other hand, unit control devices 180, 280.3 of each terminal
50, when the power is turned on, the data transmission controller 551 in the unit first clears all data areas of the unit memory 550, and then writes data to a predetermined location r27FFJ in the unit memory (step 54).
501, 54502). Then, a predetermined terminal INT of the unit memory rises to a high level. The unit controllers 190, 290, 390 of each terminal are as follows.

After the power is turned on, the internal memory, registers, and I10 port are initialized, and when the rising edge of the initialization signal INT from the unit memory is detected, the set value (
machine number), calculate the lower order of the serial number and channel number, and then write it to the transmission data area of the unit memory (steps 55501 to 55504).
. When the data transmission controller 551 reads it, the unit address is recognized on the unit side (step 54503). This enables data transmission between the NAU 530 and each terminal using the token bus.

Thereafter, the NAU 530 sends a "Pal line test" packet to each unit (terminal) with the data (date and identification code) already received from the management device 1400 added, and the data transmission controller 551 on the unit side receives it. When received, it writes the received date and identification code into the unit memory, and then sends an "ACK" packet to the NAU 530 (steps 54504 and 54505).
. When the unit controller receives the date and identification code via the unit memory, it waits to receive the initial value (steps 55505 and 55506). Also, when NAtJ receives "ACK" from the data transmission controller 551, it sends a "line test" to the next unit, repeats this for all units, completes the line test of the low layer network 510, and sends a unit table request. The system waits (steps 53507 to 53509).

FIG. 74 shows the unit table request and subsequent line test processing procedure.

When the above-mentioned initialization processing is completed, the management bag @400 starts the unit table request processing and requests the central processing unit CP.
U sends a ``unit table request'' packet to each NAU 530 (step 52511), then the NAU 530 receives the packet and sends a PACKE
"A CK '" to T$TYPEIN (=08H)
Next to the head section containing the , machine number, serial number, channel number, and monitor information 1) are added for the number of units.' A CK
”Send packet (step 53511.535
12).

When the central processing unit CPU receives this unit table, it compares it with the addresses in the transmission address file FLZ, adds any unregistered ones, saves the transmission address file on the hard disk, and then sends it from each terminal. It examines the received monitor information l, sends the line test results to the local processing device, and waits for a command (steps S2512 to S52514).

When the local processing unit 413 receives the line test result and there is no abnormal terminal, it immediately sends an initial value setting command to the central processing unit. On the other hand, if there is an abnormal terminal, the abnormal terminal is displayed on the screen of the CRT display device 411, waits for the store opening switch on the console to be turned on, and when a store opening request is received, an initial value setting command is issued. is sent to the central processing unit (steps 31511 to S15
13).

When the initial value setting command is received, the central processing unit [cP
U is the main storage MEM setting value file FLI
Read the initial value of each unit from The "initial value setting" packet containing the value and hot code is sent (steps 52515 and 52516).

Then, the NAU 530 receives the packet and removes the high-level network head.

It transmits an "initial value setting" packet to each unit via the low-layer network, and upon receiving a hard ACK (response signal) from the network controller of each unit, transmits an "ACK" packet to the management device (steps 53513~ 53515).Central processing unit C
When the PU confirms the reception of "ACK" from all units, it transmits an initial value transmission completion message to the local processing device i413 and waits for a store opening request command to be sent (steps 52517, 52518). The local processing device that receives the completion of initial value transmission displays a store opening request message on the screen of the CRT display device and then waits for the store opening switch to be turned on (steps 51514 and 51515).

On the other hand, on the low layer network 510 side, when the designated unit receives the packet transmitted from the NAU 530, it writes an initial value setting command to the command register CR2 in the unit memory (170°270.370), and writes the received data The received initial value is written in the area (step 54511). And unit controller 1
90゜290.390 reads the command in the unit memory and confirms reception of the initial value, copies the packet head part of the receive data area to the transmit data area to create a transmit head, and also receives the hot code. After copying from the area to the transmission area and changing the initial value unset bit of monitor information 1 to 10'' (already set), when there is an initial value request from the card reader, a function containing the initial value is returned ( Steps 55511-5
5514). On the other hand, the data transmission controller 551 indicates that the initial value unset bit of the monitor information l has been set to "O".
sets a fixed timer and starts transmitting fixed data (step 54512).

FIG. 75 shows a procedure for periodically collecting operating data from each terminal after initial value setting.

When the transmission controller 551 in the unit control device 180, 280° 350 of each terminal confirms the fixed time, for example every second, by an interrupt from its own timer, the transmission data area in the unit memory 170° 270, 370 The operating data written in the SDA is read out, put into a ``periodic data transmission'' packet, placed on the low layer network 510, and sent to the NAU 530 (steps 54521 to 54523).The NAU 530 receives the periodic data from each unit. When it receives this, it checks the write flag to see if the monitor table that stores the operating data for each unit, which is formed in its own memory, is in a writable state, waits until the flag becomes rQJ, and then writes the unit. The table is updated with the received scheduled data (steps 53521 to 53523).This is to prevent data from being rewritten during scheduled data transmission to the management device 400.The scheduled data collected by NAtJ530 is The unit controllers 190, 290, and 390 suck up the operation data of the terminal in real time and sequentially store the data in the unit memory 170,
270 and 370.

Furthermore, when regular data cannot be collected three times in a row, the token bus abnormality bit of monitor information 1 is set to 111'' (step 83528).

On the other hand, on the management device 400 side, the central processing unit CPU checks the scheduled time every second by an interrupt from its own timer, starts scheduled data request processing, and
30 (S2521, 52522). Specified NAU 530
When it received the packet, it set the write flag and then put the data in the monitor table.” A CK
”Send the packet and reset the write flag (steps 53524 to 53527).
When 0 is received, the monitor information is checked, and if there is an abnormal terminal, it is notified to the local processing unit and the unit abnormality is displayed on the screen of the CRT display device.
The operation data in each unit file is rewritten with regular data (steps 52523 to 52525).

FIG. 76 shows the flow of store opening processing after initial values are set for each terminal by the management device 400.

When the opening switch 421 on the console 412 of the management device 400 is turned on after the preparation process such as the line test and initial value setting is completed, the local processing device 413 transmits a store opening request command to the central processing unit 1cPU.

Then, the central processing unit forms a "store opening code" packet and sends it to each NAU 530 (step 51531,
52531). When the NAU 530 receives the packet, it sends an "ACK'" packet to the management device, removes the high-layer network head from the received packet, and sends a "store opening code" packet to each unit via the low-layer network. Send (steps 53531 to 535
33).

The management device 400 receives “ACK” from all NAUs 530.
”, the mode is changed to business, the process shifts to normal business processing, and a response is returned to the local processing device (step 52532).Then, the local processing device changes the mode to business and returns a response to the local processing device (step 52532). A normal display is performed to display messages, names of operable switches on the console, and operation methods (step S1532).

On the other hand, when the data transmission controller 551 of each terminal receives the "opening code" packet transmitted from the NAU 530, each unit control device 180, 280, 35
The "opening code" is written in the command register CR2 of the unit memory 170゜270.370 in 0, and when the unit controllers 190, 290 and 390 read this, the card reader control device F188, 28
8,388, permits card acceptance and issuance, sets the banknote validator 210 of the card issuing machine to a state in which banknote reception is enabled, and displays 164.221 on the outside of each terminal.
, 341 to inform the player that the terminal is in operation (step 54).
531-84533゜Step 55531-85533
).

FIG. 77 shows the procedure of card issuing processing by the card issuing machine 200.

The unit controller 290 of the card issuing machine 200 is
Once the initialization is processed, the issuance reservation process starts even before the purchased banknotes are actually inserted into the issuing machine, and the amount is r
A command requesting transmission of a "Card Purchase" packet with QJ is written to the command register CRI of the unit memory 550.

The issuance acceptance number in the transmission data area is updated (step 55541). Then, the data transmission controller 55
1 is the issuance acceptance number, which is given to each issuing machine as a number indicating the order of acceptance. A "card purchase" packet (=O) for card purchase reservation is formed and transmitted to the NAU 530 (step 54541). When the NAU receives this packet, it adds a high-layer packet head and sends it to the management device (step 53541). Then, the central processing unit CPU checks whether the card number in the packet is "O" or not, then reads the number of issuances from the file of the issuing machine that sent the packet, compares it with the issuance acceptance number, and processes the reservation. If it is determined that it is a purchase packet, the issuing serial number and card number are calculated, a card file is created, and an "ACK" packet containing the card number is sent to NAU (steps 52541 to 52544). The issuing serial number is This is the sum of the number of issuances from all issuing machines.

Upon receiving “ACK”, the NAU removes the high-level packet head from the packet and sends it to the unit controller 28 of the issuer.
0 (step 53542). The data transmission controller 551 in the unit control device receives the “ACK”
, the unit controller 290 is notified of this via the unit memory (step 54542).
). Then, the unit controller sends the "card issuing" function containing the card number to the card issuing device 2.
Send to 700. In response to this, the card issuing device takes out one card from the card tank and sends it to the card reader 800.
, the card number is recorded in the magnetic recording section, and the card waits (step 55542).

After that, when a banknote is actually inserted into the banknote insertion slot 211 of the issuing machine 200, the single banknote validator 210 identifies this, notifies the unit controller 290, and lights up the lamp in the purchase selection switch 212 to prompt selection. At the same time, the input amount is displayed on the amount display 213. Then, when one of the purchase selection switches 212 is turned on and the purchase amount is specified, the unit controller 290 confirms the amount and sends a "card purchase" command to the command register CRI in the unit memory 550.
The purchase amount of the card is written in the transmission data area (step 55543).

Next, the data transmission controller 551 reads this, forms a ``card purchase'' packet, enters the purchase amount and reserved card number, and sends it to the NAU 530.
The NAU 530 attaches a high-level network head to this and transmits it to the management device 400 (step 54543,
53543). When the management device 400 receives this "Card Purchase" packet, it checks the card number, purchase amount, and issuing serial number in the packet, and if it determines that it is an actual card purchase, the amount is stored in the card file searched using the issuing serial number. After writing "ACK I+ packet" (steps 52545 to 52547).

This "A CK" packet is once received by the NAU 530, the head for the high-level network is removed, and sent to the low-level network 510, where it is sent to the designated issuing device 20.
0 data transmission controller 551 (steps 53544, 54544). Then, the transmission controller 551 connects the AC via the unit memory 550.
The reception of K is notified to the unit controller 290. After that, the unit controller operates the card issuing device 700
An issue function containing the purchase amount is sent to (step 55544). Then, the purchase amount is printed on the waiting card and the card is ejected. Also, if there is change at this time, the unit controller 290 sends the remaining money dispenser 230
In addition to giving a change payout command, the lamps L1 to L5 in the purchase selection switch are turned off, the display on the amount display 213 is cleared to rQJ, and monetary data such as the deposited amount in the transmission data area is updated ( Step 555
45,55546).

As mentioned above, when issuing a card, a reservation is made in advance for issuing a card, the card number is recorded and the card is placed on standby, and when bills are actually inserted, only the purchase amount is printed and ejected. The waiting time can be significantly reduced.

FIG. 78 shows the procedure from when the card CD is inserted into the pachinko machine lOO to start the game until the game actually starts.

When a card CD is inserted from the outside into the card insertion/ejection slot 802a of the control unit 180 on the top of the pachinko machine, the card reader 800 reads the information recorded on the punch hole and the magnetic surface of the card, and indicates whether the payment has been made or the card is returned to zero. For other cards, the date and identification code (
If the date or code does not match, the card is ejected as is, and if they match, the card number is transferred to the unit controller 190.

Then, the 5 unit controller 190 receives the card number and stores it in the command register C in the unit memory 550.
Writes a command indicating that the card has been inserted into the RI and the card number in the transmission data area, and requests the transmission of a "card-in" packet (step 55551).
). The data transmission controller 551 has a "card-in" code in the head section, and sends a packet containing the card number in the data section to the NAU 530 via the low layer network.
and when NAU 530 receives it.

A management device 40 with a head for high-rise network attached to its head.
0 (steps 54551, 53551).

When the management device 400 receives the card number from the NAU 530, it calculates the issued serial number n from the card number and reads the data of the corresponding card from the card file FL3 in the main storage device M-MEM (step 52551-82).
553). Then, if the card number in the file and the received card number are checked and the card numbers do not match, or if the card status in the card file is checked and it is determined that it is not appropriate to start the game (
(in the case of a cleared card, etc.), ``'N'' is a response refusal signal.
Send AK″′ packet (steps 52554-5
2556), the NAU 530 receives the packet, removes the head section for the high-level network, and sends it to the low-level network 510, and the data transmission controller 551 of the designated unit receives the "NAK" and sends it to the unit memory 550. A command indicating that the response has been rejected is written to command register CR2 in the
3552, 54552). The unit controller 190 reads this, confirms the response refusal, and then reads the card reader 8.
The card is ejected from 00 (step 55552).

On the other hand, when the central processing unit confirms that the card is valid, the card file FLI and the P machine file FL are
2 (Table 24, Table 26) is updated.

In other words, the card status is changed from ``free status flno'' to ``playing''.
Updated to , and also the terminal where the card is located (pachinko machine)
After writing the machine number and card number in the corresponding table, the card text (amount, number of balls held, etc.) is attached and an "ACK" packet is sent as a response signal (step 52).
557, 52558).

When the designated NAU 530 receives this packet,
When the head section for the high-level network is removed and sent to the low-level network 510, and the data transmission controller 551 of the designated unit receives this, a command "card in" is entered in the command register CR2 in the unit memory 550, and the command is received. Enter card text in the data area (steps 53553-54553).

Then, when the unit controller 190 reads the command in the unit memory 550 and confirms that there is a response, it starts the game control while keeping the card in the card reader 800 and transfers the data to the transmission data area SDA of the unit memory 550. In addition to changing the operation information in "Playing", the man-hour display 112 and the amount display 111 display the number of balls held by the card and the amount, and if the amount is not zero, the purchase possible indicator lamp 121 is turned on. to display the purchase status (steps 55553 and 55554)
.

FIG. 79 shows the interruption switch 1 of the pachinko machine 100 during the game.
14 is turned on.

When the interrupt switch 115 is pressed, the unit controller 190 stops the game control and then stores the unit memory 5.
The card status of the card text contained in the transmission data area No. 50 is changed to "suspended", and a command "suspension switch on" is written in the command register CRI of the shared data area (step 55561). Then, the data transmission controller 551 reads this, forms an "interrupt switch" packet, puts the card text in the data part, and sends it to the NAU 530 (step 54561). The head is attached to the head and sent to the management device 400 (step 53561).

When the management device 400 receives it, it calculates the issuing serial number n from the card number in the card text, reads the card file FL1 in the main storage device M-MEM, and calculates the location machine number in the file and the machine number in the packet. collate and
If the machine numbers do not match, or if the card status in the file is not in progress or interrupted, a NAK is transmitted (steps 52561-82566). On the other hand, if the machine numbers match and the card status is in the game, update the data of the corresponding card and then send "ACK" as a response signal.
"Add card text to packet and send (steps 52567.52568). NAU 530" N
When receiving "A K" or "ACK", the head for the high layer network is removed and sent onto the low layer network 510 (steps 53562 and 53563).

Then, the data transmission controller 551 of the unit control device 180 as the transmission destination responds with this 'NAK' or 'AC
K” packet is received and a NAK or ACK is placed in the command register CR2 in the unit memory 550.
In the case of CK, cart text is further written in the reception data area (step 54562.S4!563). When the unit controller 190 confirms the NAK reception, it returns the card state to the original "playing" state and restarts the game control (step 85562). When the reception of ACK is confirmed, after ejecting the card from the card reader 800, the operation information in the transmission data area SDA of the unit memory is changed to "suspended", and the purchase information set in the pachinko machine 100 is changed. The lamp 121 built in the switch 113 is turned off, and the display status of the game status display lamp 123 etc. is changed to an interrupted display (flashing) (steps 55563 and 55).
564).

Next, as shown in FIG.
The processing procedure when D is inserted is shown.

The procedure in this case is almost the same as the procedure in the case of card-in shown in FIG. That is, the processing steps 85571 to 52571 that notify that a card has been inserted from the pachinko machine to the management device 400 correspond to the processing steps 55551 to 52551 in FIG.
55573 indicates processing steps 52552 to 5 in FIG.
5553, and the transmission processing steps 52572 to 55572 of the negative response 'NAK' correspond to the processing steps 52552 to 55552 in FIG. 78, respectively.

The difference is that a "suspended card-in" packet is used instead of a "card-in" packet as a transmission packet, and if the card number is different from the one before the interruption when the card is inserted, the card reader 800 immediately sends the card and that the P machine file FL2 is not updated on the management device 400 side. This is because the P machine file has already been updated when the interrupt switch was turned on. Note that the card file FLI updates the card status from "suspended" to "playing".

Further, the display state of the game state display lamp 123 is changed to a game in progress display (lit).

FIG. 81 shows the procedure of the game end process when the game end switch 115 is pressed in the pachinko machine 100.

The procedure in this case is substantially the same as the processing procedure when the interruption switch is turned on in FIG. 79.

That is, when the end switch 115 provided at the bottom of the pachinko machine 100 is pressed, the unit controller 1
90 detects this and rewrites the card status of the card text in the unit memory 550 from "playing" to "free", and also sends a command to the command register CR1 in the unit memory 550 indicating that the end switch has been turned on. Write (step 85581).

Data transmission controller 551 reads this, inserts the card text, forms a "termination switch" packet, and sends it to NAU 530 via lower layer network 510 (step 54581). When the NAU 530 receives the packet, it attaches a head for the high-rise network and sends it to the management device 400 (step 5358).
1), after that, the interrupt switch 11 of the pachinko machine 100
5 is turned on (step 52 in Fig. 79)
561-52568), "ACK" is returned to the unit control device 180 (steps 52581-52588), the card is ejected from the card reader 800 (step 55583), and the information regarding the pachinko machine in the unit memory 550 is The operation information is changed to "free state (customer waiting state)". Further, the displays on the number of balls display 111 and the amount display 112 are cleared to rQJ, and the lamp 121 indicating purchase possible and the status display lamp 123 in the purchase switch are turned off.

FIG. 82 shows the processing procedure when both the number of balls held and the amount of money become zero during a game (referred to as return to zero).

When the unit controller 190 of the pachinko machine detects the occurrence of zero return, it stops firing the ball, changes the card status in the unit memory 550 to "zero return", and writes a zero return generation command to the command register CRI (step 55591). Then, the data transmission controller 551
forms a "return to zero" packet, contains the card text in the transmission data area of the unit memory, and transmits it to the NAU 530 (step 54591). When the NAU 530 receives this "return to zero" packet, it adds a high-layer packet head and sends it to the management device 400 (step 53591).
). When the management device receives a "return to zero" packet, it calculates the issuing serial number from the card number in the packet, uses the issuing serial number to read the file of the card from the file in the main storage device M-MEM, and determines the card status. Check the location terminal number and check the card status is "Playing"
If not, or if the machine numbers do not match, a NAK is transmitted (steps 52591 to 52595).

On the other hand, if the card status is correct and the machine numbers match, update the number of balls, amount, card status (playing → return to zero), location terminal machine number in the card file, and write the card history data. Send ACK (step 5259
6-52598).

Upon receiving the ACK, the NAU 530 removes the high-layer packet head and sends it to the designated unit (step 53).
593). When the data transmission controller 551 of the unit receives the "ACK" packet, it writes the ACK reception command to the command register CR2 of the unit memory 550 and the card text to the reception data area (step 54593). Then, the unit controller 190 confirms the ACK reception and sends the card reader 80
After instructing 0 to drill the return hole and eject the card, change the operation information in the transmission data area SDA to "rfree", and set the number of balls held and the amount display to zero. , purchase lamp 121 and game status display lamp 123
and changes the status display on the analog display 163 to a display indicating "free" (steps 55593, 55594).

FIG. 83 shows that during the game, the unit controller 190
The processing procedure will be described when it is determined that the number of prize balls ejected, etc. reaches the number of hits according to the initially set stopping mode, and the game is in a stopping state. The processing in this case is almost the same as the zero return processing procedure shown in FIG.

That is, processing steps 55601 to 82601 for notifying the management device 400 that a processing factor (stopping) has occurred on the pachinko machine 100 side correspond to processing steps 55591 to 32591 in FIG. File update and response "ACK" transmission processing steps 52602 to 52609 correspond to processing steps 52592 to 52598 in FIG. 82. The difference is that the unit controller 190 indicates that an abort has occurred.
If it is determined that the
Enter a command to change the card status to discontinued (step 55601), use a "discontinued" packet for transmission (step 84601), and after confirming the ACK, change the card status to discontinued. is set to "Cancelled" instead of "Free", and the purchase ready lamp 121 is turned off to clear the display of the number of cancellations and amount to zero, and the status display lamp 123 and analog display 16 are turned off.
The point is to display (blink) the number 3 as a stop.

In addition, the card reader 800 disables the acceptance of the next card after the card is ejected, and the management device updates the card file and changes the operation information in the pachinko machine file to "discontinued" (step 32606).
The interrupt message of the stop table is displayed on the T display device 411, and the stop information is printed by the printer 408 (step 52608). Also, card file FLI
Similarly to the update of , the fact that the status of the pachinko machine has changed to "discontinued" is registered in the P machine file FL2 (step 526
07).

FIG. 84 shows the procedure of card payment processing in the payment machine 300. When a card CD is inserted into the card reader 800 of the payment machine 300, the information recorded on the magnetic surface of the card is read, the date and identification code are checked, and if they match, the card number is sent to the unit controller 390. Forward. The unit controller 390 writes “card payment” to the command register CRI in the unit memory 550.
A message is written and the card number is written in the transmission data area (step 55611). Then, the data transmission controller 551 reads it, forms a Packard payment request packet, includes the card number, and transmits it on the lower layer network 510 (step 84611).
. Then, the NAU 530 receives it, attaches a high-level network head to the head of the packet, and sends it to the management device 400.
(Step 53611). When the management device 400 receives the packet, it calculates the issuing serial number (n) from the card number and uses the card file FL based on it.
I, read the corresponding card text (card information), and check the card status (step 5261
1-52614). Here, if the card status is not appropriate, for example, if the payment has already been made or if the card is in a zero state (both the balance and the amount are zero), "N" indicating the refusal of payment will be displayed.
AK” packet is formed and transmitted (step 8261
5). Then, the NAU 530 receives it, removes the high-level network head, and transmits it to the unit controller 350 of the requesting payment machine 300 (step 53612).
. Then, the data transmission controller 551 receives it and registers the command register CR in the unit memory 550.
2, the unit controller 390 reads and confirms it, and ejects the card from the card reader 800 (steps 54612 and 5561).
2).

On the other hand, if the management device 400 determines in the above processing step 82614 that the card status is appropriate,
It sends an "ACK" packet, which is a response signal, and sends it with payment data read from the card file (number of balls held and unused amount), card history, payment reception time, etc., and the NAU 530 sends it to the high-rise network from the packet. The head is removed and transmitted to the unit controller 350 (steps 52616, 53613). Then, the data transmission controller 551 receives it and writes ACK to the command register CR2 in the unit memory 550, and writes the received data such as payment data to the reception data area RDA (step 84613), and the unit controller 390 reads it. After confirming that there is an affirmative response, the ball number display 303 displays the number of balls held (including acquired balls), the amount display 304 displays the unused amount, and the printer 330 prints payment data, etc. A receipt (prize exchange ticket) with the details printed thereon is issued, and if there is unused money, the unused balance is discharged from the banknote dispenser 321 and coin dispenser 325 (steps 55614 to 55616).

After that, the unit controller 390 reads the card reader 8
A punch hole is punched in the card held in 00 to eject it as a cleared card, and a command indicating "settlement completed" is sent to the command register CRI of the unit memory 550.
Also, the card text is written in the transmission data area (step 85617). Then, the data transmission controller 551 reads this, forms a "payment completion" packet, and transmits it, and the NAU 530 adds a high-rise network head to the beginning of the packet and sends it to the management device 400 (steps 54614, 53614).

The management device 400 that has received the "Payment completed" packet calculates the issued serial number n again from the card number in the packet, searches the card file FLI based on it, reads the card data, checks the card status, and checks the card status. When the status is “suspended”, the pachinko machine 100 executes the suspension termination process shown in FIG. 85, changes the card status to “settled”, and updates the card history, then “
ACK” packet to the NAU 530 (steps 52618 to 52621).

When the NAU receives "ACK", it removes the high-rise packet head and sends it to the unit controller 350 of the payment machine. When the transmission controller 551 receives this, it notifies the unit controller 390 via the unit memory 550, and the unit controller " After confirming the reception of "ACK", the next card can be accepted (step 536).
15-55618).

As mentioned above, in response to a card payment request from the payment machine 300, the management device 400 sends 'glaze calculation data, and when the payment is completed, the management device is again notified of the completion of payment, and at that point, the payment is made for the first time. Since we handle processed items, even if an accident such as a power outage occurs during the payment process at payment machine 3OO, the payment data will remain on the FL card file.
It is maintained during power outage, and payment processing can be continued quickly after the power is restored. Thereby, there is no risk of any disadvantage to the players, and the reliability of the system is improved. Moreover, in the above embodiment, history data is also printed on the payment receipt (prize exchange ticket), so the credibility of the printed payment data (number of balls held) is increased, increasing confidence in the system. You will be able to do it.

FIG. 85 shows an interruption cancellation processing procedure accompanying the above-described card payment processing.

That is, in the system of this embodiment, the game is interrupted by the above-mentioned interruption process (see FIG. 79), and the interrupted pachinko machine 100 that is refusing to accept other cards is released from the interruption machine. When the card is inserted into the payment machine 300 and the payment process is performed, the interruption is canceled by a command from the management device 400.

The suspended card is inserted into the payment machine, and the payment machine 300 and the management bag! Payment processing (
(see FIG. 84) is executed, and the management device 400
When confirmed, it transmits a "suspension end" packet to the corresponding suspended pachinko machine 100 based on the card information (step 52622). This packet is once NA
It is received by the U530, and after the high-rise network head is removed, it is transmitted to the unit controller 180 of the corresponding pachinko machine 100 (step 53621
). When the data transmission controller 551 receives this packet, a command "end of suspension" is written to the command register CR2 in the unit memory 550, and when the unit controller 190 reads and confirms this, the card reader 800 can accept the card. At the same time, the operation information regarding the pachinko machine in the unit memory 550 is changed from "suspended" to "free state" (steps 54621, 55621, 55622).
. In addition, the man-hour display 111 and the amount display 112 on the front of the pachinko machine are cleared to rQJ, the lamp 168 indicating whether or not a card can be inserted is blinked, and the analog display 163 is set to the customer waiting state (scrolling). (Steps 55623 to 55625).

On the other hand, after the NAU 530 transmits the ``Paper Suspension End'' packet from the management device 400 to the unit control device 180,
When receiving a hard ACK from the network controller, it transmits an "ACK" packet as a response signal to the management device 400, and when the management device 400 receives this,
Change the operation information in the P machine file FLZ from "suspended" to "free state" (steps 53622 to 5262
4).

FIG. 86 shows a procedure for cancellation cancellation processing based on a cancellation cancellation command from the console 412 of the management device 400.

When the cancellation release switch 433 on the console 412 is turned on, the local processing unit 413 is activated by the central processing unit CPU.
Send a stop table data request command to (step 5163
1) Then, the central processing unit searches the P@file FLI and sends the machine number of the discontinued batinko machines, and the local processing unit displays a list of discontinued machines on the screen of the CRT display device 411. (Steps 52631, 52632°51632). While viewing this, the operator inputs the machine number of the pachinko machine he wishes to cancel using the numeric keypad 425 on the console 412, and the local processing device sends a cancellation cancellation command to the central processing unit (step 51).
633). Then, the central processing unit CPU receives the command, determines whether or not all units are specified, and sends a ``Cancellation Cancellation'' packet containing the serial number and channel number along with the unit number by the communication control unit SCC of the management device. The information is sent to all pachinko machines or to a designated pachinko machine (step 52633).

When the designated NAU 530 receives the packet, it removes the head section for the high-level network and sends it onto the low-level network 510, and the data transmission controller 551 of the unit control device 180 that received the packet stores it in the unit memory 550. command register C
Write a “cancel cancellation” command to R2 (step 52
634, 53631, 54631). When the unit controller 190 of the pachinko machine reads this and confirms that the cancellation cancellation command has been entered, it changes the pachinko machine operating information in the transmission data area of the unit memory to "free".

After clearing the stop calculation register in the transmission data area to zero, and changing the analog display 163 and card insertion lamp 168 to the customer waiting display, the card reader 80
0, a command is given to permit card acceptance (steps 55631 to 55634).

On the other hand, when the NAU 530 that has received the 'cancel cancellation' packet receives a hard ACK from the network controller of the unit control device 180, it sends a response packet ''AC'.
Step 536 to send “K” to the management device 400.
32,53633), when the management device receives this, P
After changing the operating information in the machine file FL2 to "free state", the result is notified to the local processing device (steps 52635 to 52637). Then, the local processing device 1413 changes the status display at the end of the stop table data on the CRT display screen from "stop" indicating "stop" to "empty" indicating "free" (step 51634).

FIG. 87 shows a processing procedure when the terminal is forcibly terminated from the management device 400 side.

Business operations at game parlors end when they close, but conventionally, notices of the closure of the business have been made through in-store announcements and staff. However, there are players who purchase balls just before the end of the game, and players who are using the pachinko machine 100 that is in good condition to play the balls are reluctant to stop playing, making it difficult to end the game on time. there were.

In the system of this embodiment, operation can be stopped for each type of terminal by operating the force termination switch 434 on the console 412 and selecting one type. By stopping the issuance of cards by the issuing machine 200, stopping the operation of all pachinko machines at the closing time of the business, and stopping the operation of the payment machine 300 after the last player has finished paying, the business ends smoothly. can be done.

In this case, when the forced termination switch 434 is turned on, the local processing device 413 displays a forced termination menu on the screen of the CRT display device 411 (step 81641).
), and when the type of terminal to be terminated is selected using the numeric keypad 425 according to this menu, a display prompting the input of the forced termination machine number is displayed (step 51642). In this example, the type of each terminal (pachinko machine, card issuing machine,
It is now possible to terminate each device at the same time for each type (payment machine), or to terminate only one specific terminal.Here, enter "0" or the machine number to specify batch termination for each type from the console. Then, a forced termination command is sent to the central processing unit CPU (step 51643).
).

When the central processing unit CPU receives this command, it first determines whether or not all machines are specified, and if all machines are specified, it sequentially reads the pachinko machine file FL2, checks the operation information, and indicates whether it is "playing" or "suspended." ”, the number of the card being played or suspended is read out and the issuing serial number is calculated backwards (steps 82641 to 52).
644). Then, using that issuing serial number, rewrite the number of balls and amount in the card file to the data in the pachinko machine file, and change the card status to "free" (
Step 82645). After executing this on all units, send a “'forced termination” packet to the NAU530 (
Step 52646).

When the NAU 530 receives this packet, it removes the high-level network head and sends a "forced termination" packet to all pachinko machines, and when it receives a hard ACK from the network controller, it sends a response signal to the management device 400. 'ACK' is returned (step 536
41,53642). When the management device receives the ACK,
Send the results to the local processing device (step 5264)
7,52648). Then, the local processing device
The status display of the display data on the display screen is changed from "Empty" indicating "R Free" to "Pass Strong" indicating the forced termination state (Step 51644).

On the other hand, the unit control device 180.280,3 of each terminal that received the "forced termination" packet from the NAU530
50, the data transmission controller 551 writes a forced termination request command to the command register CR2 in the unit memory 550, and the unit controller 19
When 0 reads this, it first clears the card text in the transmission data area in the unit memory and changes the operation information to forced termination (steps 54641, 85641).
). Then, after stopping the detection of the sensor and the firing motor, and turning off all the lamps to stop the game control, a command is given to eject the card from the card reader 800, and no more cards can be accepted (step 55642. 556
43).

In addition, in the system of the embodiment, it is possible to enter the machine number of a specific pachinko machine without specifying all machines using the numeric keypad 425 to forcefully terminate the machine. In this case, the central processing unit It is determined that the pachinko machine has failed (specific machine specified), and the process immediately moves to step 52646, where it sends a ``forced termination'' packet to the specified pachinko machine (see broken line).

When the ACK is returned from the NAU 530, the process moves from step 52647 to step 52642, where the relevant pachinko machine file is read for the first time, the operation information is checked, and the card file is read only when the game is in progress or interrupted. Update and step 52645-526
48 and sends the result to the local processing device 413.

FIG. 88 shows the procedure for forcibly terminating the issuing machine or the payment machine.

In this case, when the forced termination switch 434 is turned on, the local processing device 413 displays a forced termination menu on the screen of the CRT display device 411 (step 51651).
), and when the type of terminal to be terminated is selected using the numeric keypad 425 according to this menu, a display prompting the input of the forced termination machine number is displayed (step S1652). In this embodiment, it is possible to terminate the electronics simultaneously for each type of terminal machine (pachinko machine, card issuing machine, payment machine), or to terminate only one specific terminal machine. When rQJ or machine number that specifies batch termination for each type is input from the console, a forced termination command is sent to the central processing unit CPU (step 5165).
3).

When the central processing unit CPU receives this command, it first determines whether all devices are specified, and if all devices are specified, it is sent to all NAUs, and if a specific terminal is specified, it is sent to the specified issuing machine or payment machine. A "forced termination" packet is sent to (step 52651). And AC from NAU 530
When K is received, if all terminals are specified, the operation information in the file of the terminal is changed to "forced termination" immediately, or if a specific terminal is specified, the result is sent to the local processing device (step 52652). , 52653).

On the other hand, card issuing machine 2, which received the ``6 forced termination'' packet,
At 00, the operating bit of the operating information in the unit memory 550 is cleared (step 55651), and
The issue stop lamp 222 is turned on (S5652).

In addition, if the forced termination is for the payment machine 300, when the payment machine receives the packet, it clears the in-operation bit of the operating information in the unit memory, turns on the payment abort lamp 342, and causes the card reader 800 to (steps 55652, 5)
5653).

Furthermore, in the transmission system of this embodiment, the management device 40
There is also a "forced termination release" packet for transmitting a command to cancel the operation stoppage of a terminal during forced termination from the 0 side.
There are different types.

FIG. 89 shows a procedure for forced termination cancellation processing common to pachinko machines, issuing machines, and payment machines.

The procedure in this case is almost the same as the procedure for the forced termination process shown in FIG. That is, the management device 4
console 41 while looking at the CRT display device 411 of 00.
When the forced termination release switch 435 is turned on from step 2, the local processing device 413 displays a forced termination release menu (step 51661). While looking at this screen, use the numeric keypad to select the type (pachinko machine, issuing machine, or payment machine).
When specified, a command is sent from the local processing device to the central processing unit CPU to request data of the unit that is being forcibly terminated (step 31662).

Then, the central processing unit searches the files of each unit, finds the unit that is being forcibly terminated, and sends the data (steps 52661, 52662).The local processing unit displays the data on the CRT display, so
While looking at the screen, use the numeric keypad to specify all units (“O”) or input the unit number to send a forced termination cancellation command (
Step 81663.51664). Then, the central processing unit first determines whether or not all units are specified, and if all units are specified, it sends a ``forced termination cancel'' packet to all NAU530s, and if a specific unit is specified, it sends a ``forced termination cancellation'' packet to the specified unit. (Steps 52663, 52664).The "forced termination cancellation" packet is sent to the data transmission controller 55.
1 to the unit controllers 190, 290, 390, and an "ACK" packet is transmitted to the management device (steps 53661, 54661, 53662).

When the management device receives an ACK, it immediately changes the operating information in the unit file if all machines are specified, or if a specific machine is specified, it changes the operation information in the unit file to ``free'' (pachinko machines) or ``in operation'' (issuing machines, payment machines). (step 52665,
52666), then jumps to step 52667 and reports the result to the local processing unit (step 51).
665)・On the other hand, the unit side that received the “1 Forced Termination Release” packet stores the operating information in the unit memory 550 as “
After changing the state to "free" or "in operation", the status display lamp 123 of the pachinko machine is turned on, the analog display 163 is changed to the customer waiting display, and the card reader 800 is enabled to accept the card (step 55
661 to 55663), and in the card issuing machine 200, the bill validator 210 is enabled to accept purchased bills, and the issuing lamp 241 is turned on. moreover.

In the payment machine 300, the payment in progress lamp 341 is turned on to enable the card reader 800 to accept the card.

Figure 90 shows what happens when an abnormality occurs, such as when the terminal's power is accidentally cut off, when the unit controller 190, 290, or 390 becomes unable to control the terminal, or when a low-layer network cable is disconnected. The procedure for unit down detection processing is shown.

When a unit goes down, scheduled data is not sent, so if the NAU530 does not receive scheduled data within 3 seconds, it will detect a timeout, determine that the unit is down, and display the token bus error in monitor information 1 of the unit in the monitor table. Set the bit to “1” (step 53
671, 53672), and then the central processing unit CPU of the management device 400 sends a "periodic data request" packet by a timer interrupt (step 52671), and upon receiving it, sends an "ACK'" packet containing the unit table. Send (step 53673゜53674)
. When the central processing unit receives the "ACK", it first checks the monitor information for each unit in the packet, and if there is an abnormality, prints out the occurrence of the unit abnormality and the details of the abnormality using the printer 408,
A command is sent to the local display device 413 to interrupt display of unit abnormality (steps 52672 to 52674).
.

Then, the local display M413 displays an interrupt message notifying the unit abnormality at a predetermined position (line 19) on the screen being displayed (step 51671).

On the other hand, after instructing the display of unit abnormality, the central processing unit clears or changes the operation information of the unit file to "free", sets the card status in the card file to "free", and sets the number of balls in the P machine file. , saves the amount in the card file, forms a "unit check" packet, and sends it to the NAU 530 (step 52675,
32676). When the NAU 530 receives this packet, it removes the high-rise head and sends a ``unit check'' packet to each unit (step 83675).

If the unit to which the packet was sent is down or a low-layer network error occurs, the hard ACK from the network controller will not be returned to the NAU 530, so the NAU 530 will send an "ACK" or "ACK" depending on the presence or absence of the hard ACK. N A K ” packet is sent to the management device (steps 53676 and 53677)
).

FIG. 91 shows a procedure for unit recovery processing when the unit or the low-layer network whose communication with the NAU 530 is interrupted is recovered.

Step 5267 of the unit down detection process in FIG.
While periodically sending "Unit Check" packets in step 52677, the unit recovers as the unit is powered on or connected to the lower layer network, and when it confirms receipt of ACK from the NAU in step 52677, the central The processing device reads the file of the unit and sends a ``Unit Recovery Data'' packet containing the operating data of the unit immediately before the failure to the NAU 530 (Steps 52681 and 52682).

NAU53 that received the “U unit recovery data” packet
0 copies the recovery data in the packet into the monitor table, and then sends the "unit recovery data" packet with the high-rise network packet head removed to the recovered unit (steps 53681, 53682).

Then, the data transmission controller 551 of the unit writes a "unit recovery" command to the command register CR2 in the unit memory 550 and recovery data to the reception data area, and notifies the unit controller 190, 290 or 390 of the reception of the packet (step 8
4681).

When the unit controller confirms the reception of the ``unit recovery data'' packet, it copies the packet head to the transmission data area, and in the pachinko machine 100, after transmitting the date and identification code to the card reader, the ``unit recovery data'' is sent via the unit memory. A request is made to the data transmission controller to send an "ACK" packet (steps 55681, 55682).
The NAU adds a high-layer head to the beginning of the packet and sends "ACK" to the management device (steps 54682 and 53683).

The central processing unit fcPU of the management bag Wt400 accepts 'ACK'.
”, it forms a ``restart'' packet and sends it to the NAU 530 (steps 52683.526
84).

This packet is sent from the NAU 530 to the unit controller 190.290 via the data transmission controller 551.
, 390, the unit controller restores the display lamp, man-hour, amount display, etc. to the state before the downtime (steps 53684, 54683, 55
683). The pachinko machine then sends a "reload" command to the card reader (step 8568).
4). Then, if there is a card inside, the card reader 800 re-reads the magnetic data, etc., and transmits the card number to the unit controller 190. Thereafter, the unit controller executes the same process as in the card-in case of FIG. 78, transmits the card number, and receives and receives the corresponding card text.

Note that when the NAU 530 receives the "restart" packet in step 53684, it confirms the hard ACK from the unit's network controller.
''' Send to packet management device (step 8368
5).

Figure 92 shows that when the NAU530 power supply is accidentally cut off or the high-rise network cable is cut,
The procedure for detecting and recovering when the system goes down is shown.

When the NAU 530 goes down, the central processing unit CPU does not return an ACK to the "periodic data request" packet from the management device 400 due to a timer interrupt.
It is detected that U is down, and the local processing unit 413
and an emergency print command to the printer 408 (steps 52691 to 52694).
. Then, the local processing device 413 displays an interrupt message informing that the NAU is down at a predetermined position on the screen of the C, RT display device 411, and also displays an interrupt message on the screen of the C, RT display device 411.
08 prints on paper that the NAU is down.

Thereafter, the central processing unit sends a "line monitor check" packet to the NAU (step 82695). While repeating the above procedure every second due to a timer interrupt, the staff member sees the interrupt display and the emergency printout and presses N.
When the NAU recovers after checking the AU and high-level network, a "line monitor check" packet is received by the NAU and its ACK is sent to the management device (steps 53691 and 53692). As a result, the central processing unit confirms the ACK and learns that the NAU has recovered, and sends an interrupt display command to the local processing unit 413 and the printer 4.
Send an emergency print command to 08 (step 52696~
52698). Then, the local processing device 1413
An interrupt message notifying that the NAU has been recovered is displayed at a predetermined position on the screen of the RT display device 411, and the printer 408 prints on paper that the NAU has been recovered.

On the other hand, on the unit side, when a transmission cause occurs due to an external action or the like and a transmission request is made to the data transmission controller 551 via the command register CRI of the unit memory 550, the data transmission controller forms a corresponding packet. It is transmitted to the NAU 530 (step 8469). At this time, if the NAU is down, the network controller 553 detects unsuccessful transmission and writes a note to that effect in the packet memory 552.

As a result, the data transmission controller learns that the transmission was unsuccessful (step 54692), returns to step 84691, and repeats transmitting the same packet again. However, when the NAU is not down, the data transmission controller learns of the successful transmission and notifies the unit controllers 190, 290, 390 of the successful transmission via the unit memory 550 (step 54693), but when the NAU is down. In this case, no matter how long the transmission success is not returned, the unit controller detects that the timer set after the transmission request (step 85692) has timed out and learns that the transmission was unsuccessful (step 356).
93). As a result, the unit controller stops outputting the watchdog pulse (step 55694).
. As a result, the external reset circuit 555 generates a reset signal, and the unit controller and other controllers 551, 553 in the unit control devices 180, 280, 350 are all reset, and control operations are stopped.

Thereafter, when the NAU recovers, the NAU 530 and the central processing unit each detect that the unit is down and execute a unit recovery process (FIG. 90, 9th construction diagram). After initialization, the unit receives a "unit recovery" packet and returns to the state before it went down.

FIG. 93 shows the processing procedure when the closing switch 422 and then the system ending switch 423 are turned on.

When the closing switch 422 on the console 412 is turned on, the local processing device 413 sends a closing request command to the central processing unit CPU (step 51701).

When the central processing unit receives this command, it sequentially reads the P machine files from the main memory, checks whether the operating information is "playing", and if there is no pachinko machine in play, the AC
Send K to the local processing unit, and send a "U Closed" packet to all NAUs (steps 52701 to 527o).
4). When the local processing unit receives the ACK, it waits for the system termination switch 423 to be turned on, and when it is turned on, the local processing unit transmits a system termination request command to the central processing unit (steps 51703 and 517).
04).

On the other hand, when the central processing unit that sent the "close" packet in step 52704 receives "'ACK" from the NAU 530, it receives a system termination command from the local processing unit (steps 52704, 52705).

When the central processing unit receives this command, it creates a daily report file consisting of one day's business data, saves it on the hard disk HDD, erases the power outage save file from the hard disk, and then sends system termination message data (step 52706). ~52708). The local processing device receives this and displays a message instructing to turn off the power on the system termination screen (step 51705).

NAU53 that received the "Closed" packet from the management device
0 sends a ``closed'' packet with the high-rise head removed to each unit (steps 83701.54701);
When the unit receives the packet, it turns off the indicator lamp indicating that it is in operation.

A command is given to the card reader to refuse to accept or issue a card (steps 55701 and 557).
02).

FIG. 94 shows the processing procedure of the management device 400 when a power outage occurs.

When a power outage occurs, the power is switched and the central processing unit C
The PU operates with backup from the auxiliary power supply device 409, first stops collecting periodic data from each unit, and transmits to the local processing device 413 that a power outage countermeasure is being taken (steps 52711 and 52712). Then, the local processing device displays a power outage message on the CRT display device 1411 (step 51711). On the other hand, the central processing unit reads the P machine file and checks the operating information, and if the operating information is "playing", it calculates the issuing serial number from the card number in the P machine file and uses that to search the card file. and rewrites the card status to "free" (steps 52713 to 52715), then rewrites the operation information in the P machine file to "free", and then rewrites the data in the common data area (setting value file,
(including power outage flag), card file, P machine file,
Issue machine file, payment machine file on hard disk HD
D, and sends the result (“closed”) to the local processing device before the system goes down (step 5271).
6-52718).

The local processing device that receives the "Closed" message from the central processing device displays a closing message on the CRT display device (step 51712).

FIG. 95 shows the procedure for starting up the system after the power outage occurs.

When the power is restored from the power outage and the system is powered on again, in the management device 400, the central processing unit cpU first clears all files FL1 to FL6 in the main storage device M-MEM, and then clears the files (framework). (Step 5)
2721).

On the other hand, the local processing device 413 first uses the CRT display device 4.
After displaying the initial screen on 11, the date and time are transmitted to the central processing unit (step 51721, S1722). Then, the central processing unit looks at the power outage flag and determines whether there is a power outage file, and if there is a power outage file, it reads the power outage file from the hard disk (auxiliary memory bag! 1) and loads it into the main memory, and also loads it into the main memory. is informed that the power is being started up (step 5272).
2 to 52724), then the local processing device is a CRT
A response is received after displaying the message "Power supply starting up" on the display 411 (step 51723).

Further, after reading the power outage file, the central processing unit CPU transmits a "unit recovery data" packet to each NAU 530 using the high-rise network 520 (step 527).
25).

On the other hand, when the power is turned on, NAU530 first
Reads the setting values (NAU number, minimum number, number of terminals, etc.) from the AU number setters 544 to 549, calculates the network transmission address of each terminal, creates a unit table, and sets each unit (terminal) and NAU itself. The transmission address of each unit is recognized, and the unit table containing the operation data of each unit is cleared (step 537).
21-53724). When the NAU receives the "unit recovery data" packet from the management device, the NAU puts the recovery data in the packet into the monitor table, removes the high-rise head, and puts the recovery data in the data section. Send the packet to each unit (steps 53725 to 53726).

In addition, the unit control device 180.280.3 of each terminal
50, when the power is turned on, the data transmission controller 551 in the unit first clears all data areas of the unit memory 550, and then writes data to a predetermined location r27FFJ in the unit memory (step 54721, 54722>. Then, a predetermined terminal INT of the unit memory rises to a high level. After the power is turned on, the unit controllers 190, 290, and 390 of each terminal initialize the internal memory, registers, and I10 port, and read data from the unit memory. Initialize signal INT
The set value (machine number) is read from the machine number setter at the rising edge of , and after calculating the lower order of the serial number and channel number, it is written into the transmission data area of the unit memory (steps 55721 to 55724). When the data transmission controller 551 reads it, the unit address is recognized on the unit side (step 5472).
3). This allows NAU530 to use the token bus.
Data transmission between the terminal and each terminal becomes possible.

After that, when the NAU 530 sends a "unit recovery data" packet containing the recovery data already received from the management device 400 to each unit (terminal),
The data transmission controller HO-5551 of the unit writes the "unit recovery" command to the command register CR2 in the unit memory and the recovery data to the reception data area, and the unit controllers 190, 2 write the recovery data to the reception data area.
90 or 390 (step 54724);
When the unit controller confirms the reception of the “unit recovery data” packet, it copies the packet head to the transmission data area, and the pachinko machine sends the date and identification code to the card reader, and then sends an “ACK” message via the unit memory. ” is sent to the data transmission controller (steps 55725, 55726). The data transmission controller sends the "A CK" packet to the NAU, and the NAU adds a high-layer head to the beginning of the packet and sends the "A CK" packet to the NAU.
CK” to the management device (step 54725
．． 53727).

When the central processing unit of the management device receives the "ACK", it forms a "restart" packet and sends it to the NAU 530 (steps 52726, 52728).

When this packet is transmitted from the NAU 530 to the unit controller via the data transmission controller 551 (step 83728), the unit controller restores the display lamps, number of balls, amount display, etc. to the state before the failure (step 55727). ). The pachinko machine then sends a "reload" command to the card reader (step 85728). Then, if there is a card inside, the card reader 800 re-reads the magnetic data etc. and sends the card number to the unit controller 1.
It will be sent to 90. Thereafter, the unit controller executes the same process as in the card-in case of FIG. 78, sends the card number, and receives and receives the card text.

Note that when the NAU 530 receives the "restart" packet in step 83684 and confirms the hard ACK from the network controller of the unit, it returns "ACK".
″Send the packet to the management device (step 53729
).

In the above embodiment, a backup auxiliary power source is provided only in the management device, and operation data of the pachinko machine is periodically collected, so that the pachinko machine or the data relay means interposed between the pachinko machine and the management device goes down. Then, if the recovery occurs, the management device sends the recovery data to the terminal and then gives a command to start again, and the terminal that has been given the restart command temporarily ejects the card to the card reading device and reads it again. However, the pachinko machine is equipped with a memory to store its own operating data and an auxiliary power supply for backing up that memory, so that in the event of a power outage, only that memory is backed up and the operating data is saved. You may also do so.

Further, the above embodiment is applied to a gaming system in which only the card number is recorded on the card as a storage medium, and the purchase amount and number of balls are stored in the storage device of the management device in correspondence with the card number. Although the invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and can also be applied to a system in which a game is made possible using a card that records the purchase amount or the number of man-hours.

Further, the card issuing machine and the payment machine do not necessarily need to be connected to the management device via a transmission medium, and may issue cards or perform payment based on their own judgment.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention manages valuable data substantially equivalent to the amount of money or the number of balls in a management device for each identification code given to a card, and when the card is inserted into a gaming machine. A card type machine that enables gaming within the range of valuable data obtained from the management device based on the identification code read from the card, and periodically transmits operation data of the gaming machine to the management device. In the gaming system, between the management device and each gaming machine, there is a distribution providing means that distributes and transmits data from the management device to multiple gaming machines, and an aggregation unit that aggregates data from each gaming machine and transmits it to the management device. A relay control device having a transfer means and a buffer means for converting the communication speed is interposed, and a high-speed transmission path is used between the management device and the relay control device, and a low-speed transmission path is used between the relay control device and each gaming machine. In addition to connecting via a transmission path, the relay control device is equipped with a device number setting device and a device for setting the number of connected terminals, so that it can calculate the transmission address by itself when the system is started up and perform data transmission between them. Since I configured it,
Because it is possible to connect the management device and multiple relay control devices and between each relay control device and the multiple terminals under it with a single cable, cable installation is easy. In addition to reducing costs, the flexibility of the system can also be improved because additional terminals can be easily added by simply extending the cable.

In addition, since the relay control device calculates the addresses of itself and each gaming machine, the management device can learn of changes in the system configuration by comparing them with the address file, and can respond flexibly. The address calculated by the control device can be used to communicate between the management device and each terminal, and the interruption control device can give various commands to the terminal on behalf of the management device. This has the effect of reducing the burden on the management device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of a pachinko gaming system to which the present invention is applied, and FIGS. 2 (A) and (B) are front views showing an example of a card used in the system according to the present invention. Internal configuration diagram, Figure 2 (C) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the authenticity identification area in the card, Figure 2 (D) is a sectional view showing an example of the cross-sectional structure of the card, Figure 2 (E) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the magnetic recording section in the card, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing an example of the overall configuration of the pachinko machine that constitutes the gaming system, and Figures 4 (A) and (B) are the front side of the pachinko machine. Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the operation panel; Figure 6 is a perspective view of the internal configuration of the operation panel; Figure 7 is a side view of the back of the pachinko machine. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the enclosed ball circulation device installed in a pachinko machine; FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing details of the base of the ball launch rail; FIG. 10 The figure is a perspective view showing the front panel of the pachinko machine in an open state; FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a frame board that includes a frame that holds a game board and a launch rail coupled to the frame; FIG. 12 13 is a rear perspective view showing an example of the structure of the back of the pachinko machine; FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an example of the structure of the pachinko machine control unit; FIG. 15 16 is a perspective view showing the structure of the front panel of the control unit. FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the mounting positional relationship between the pachinko machine and the control unit. Figure 18 is a perspective view showing the framework of the island equipment where the pachinko machine is installed, Figure 19 is a perspective view showing the pachinko machine and control unit installed on the island equipment, and Figure 20 is the back view of the island equipment. A perspective view, FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing the control system of the entire pachinko machine, FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of a pachinko machine control device, and FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the pachinko machine control unit. Figure 24 is a memory map showing the area configuration of the unit memory, Figure 25 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a card reader for a pachinko machine, Figure 26 is an exploded perspective view of the card reader, and Figure 27 is a card reader. FIGS. 28A and 28B are cross-sectional side views showing details of the card insertion portion of the card reader, and FIGS. 29A and 29B are exploded perspective views showing details of the card insertion portion of the card reader.
30(A) is a cross-sectional side view showing details of the shutter portion at the entrance of the card reader, and FIG. FIG. 30(B) is a sensor detection timing chart when a card is inserted; FIG. 31 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of a card reader control device; FIG. 32 is a block diagram showing an interface circuit of the card reader; The figure is a timing chart showing the data reading and writing timing of the card reader, FIG. 34 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a card issuing machine used in the gaming system according to the present invention, and FIG. 35 is a front panel of the issuing machine. FIG. 36 is a perspective view of the card issuing device installed in the issuing machine; FIG. 37 is a schematic configuration diagram of the card issuing device; FIG. 38 is a perspective view showing the opened state;
FIG. 39 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a card ejecting device constituting the card issuing device, FIG. 39 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the card ejecting device also constituting the card issuing device, and FIG. 41 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a unit control device of a card issuing machine; FIG. 42(A) is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a payment machine; FIG.
FIG. 43 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of a card payment device constituting the payment machine. Figure 44 is a perspective view of a pachinko parlor counter constructed using the payment machine of this embodiment, and Figures 45 (A) and (B).
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the structure of a receipt issued by a payment machine. FIG. 46 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device of the payment machine; FIG. 47 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the unit control device of the payment machine; FIG. 48 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the entire management device; 49th
The figure is a block diagram showing an example of the system configuration of the management device itself. FIG. 50 shows an example of the configuration of the console of the management device. (A) is a plan view, (B) is a rear view, and FIG. A memory map showing an example of the configuration of files in the device; Figure 52 is an explanatory diagram showing state transitions of cards in the gaming system of the present invention; Figure 53(A) is the configuration of the transmission system in the gaming system of the present invention. A block diagram showing an example. Figure 53 (B) is a block diagram showing the connection method of the transmission system when the transmission line is composed of optical cables. Figure 53 (CC) is a block diagram showing the transmission system when the transmission route is composed of coaxial cables. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection method. Fig. 54 (A) is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a NAU (network adapter unit) that controls data transfer on the network, Fig. 54 (B) is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the NAU, and Fig. 55 (A) ), (B) is a management device on a high-rise network -N
A configuration diagram showing the packet structure between AUs and between the management device and the unit, FIG. 55(C) shows the packet structure between the management device and the unit on the low layer network
Configuration diagrams showing the packet structure between AUs and between the management device and the unit, FIGS. 56 to 61 show examples of the structure of packets transmitted and received on the high-rise network. FIGS. 56(A) and 56(B) are configuration diagrams of a "line test" packet and its response "ACK" packet. Figures 57 (A) and (B) are configuration diagrams of a "unit table request" packet and its response packet, Figure 58 (A),
(B) is a configuration diagram of the "initial (I! setting") packet and its response packet; FIGS. Figures 60 (A) and (B) are configuration diagrams of "various command" packets and their response "ACK" packets, Figure 61 (A),
(B) and (C) are Packardin "packets and their responses"
ACK” and negative response “NAK” packets. Figure 62 is a diagram of the “periodic data transmission” packet from a pachinko machine to NAU. Figures 63 (A) and (B) are pachinko packets on a low-layer network. A configuration diagram of the “unit recovery data” for the machine and its response packet. Figures 64 (A), (B), and (C) are the “Card Purchase” packet and its response between the issuing machine and the NAU on the low-layer network. A configuration diagram of an “ACK” packet and a negative response “NAK” packet. Figure 65 is a configuration diagram of a “periodic data transmission” packet from the issuing device to the NAU. Figures 66 (A) and (B) are A configuration diagram of the “unit recovery data” packet and its response “ACK” packet for the issuing machine, FIG. 67 (A),
(B) and (C) are block diagrams of the “card payment” packet sent to the payment machine on the low-layer network, its response “ACK” and negative response “NAK” packet; Fig. 68 (A), (B), (C) also shows the “Card payment completed” packet and its response “ACK” and negative response “
NAK” packet configuration diagram, Figure 69 shows the NAK packet from the payment machine.
Figure 70 (A) and (B) are diagrams showing the configuration of the "unit recovery data" packet and its response "ACK" packet for the payment machine. Flowchart showing the control procedure for data transmission in the data transmission controller. FIG. 72 is a flowchart showing the control procedure for token path abnormality detection by timer interrupt in NAU. FIG. 73 is a flowchart showing the procedure for initializing the entire system. Figure 74 is a system flowchart showing the procedure from the management device requesting a unit table to setting initial values for the unit, Figure 75 is a system flowchart showing the procedure for periodic data collection from each terminal by the management device, and Figure 76 is the management device. FIG. 77 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure for the device to issue a store opening command to each terminal; FIG. Figure 79 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when a card is inserted into a pachinko machine during play, Figure 79 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when the pachinko machine interrupt switch is turned on during play, and Figure 80 81 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when a card is inserted into a pachinko machine during play; FIG. Figure 83 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when the number of balls held and the amount of the card become zero during a game; Figure 83 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when a stop occurs during the game; Fig. 84 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when a card is inserted into the payment machine, Fig. 85 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure to end the interruption when the suspended card is paid at the payment machine, and Fig. 86 87 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when a cancellation cancellation command is input from the console of the management device; FIG. Figure 88 is a system flowchart showing the processing procedure when a forced termination command is entered from the console of the management device to the issuing machine or the payment machine, and Figure 89 shows the processing procedure when canceling the termination of a terminal that is being forcibly terminated. System Flowchart FIG. 90 is a system flowchart showing a detection processing procedure when a unit goes down. Figure 91 is a system flowchart showing the unit recovery processing procedure in which the management device restores the data of the terminal when the down unit recovers, and Figure 92 shows the case where it is detected that the NAU is down and then the NAU recovers. Figure 93 is a system flowchart showing the data recovery processing procedure for each terminal, Figure 93 is a system flowchart showing the system termination processing procedure from the management device's closing command to each terminal, and Figure 94 is the processing when a power outage is detected. System Flowchart Showing Procedures FIG. 95 is a system flowchart showing the steps of system startup processing after recovery from power outage. 100...Pachinko machine, 110...Operation panel, 113...Purchase switch, 114...Interrupt switch, 115...End switch, 130...
Ball shield ring device, 160... Control unit, 180...
... Unit control device, 188 ... Card reader control device, 195 ... Pachinko machine control bag opening, 190.
...Unit controller, 200...Card issuing machine, 700...Card issuing device, 71O...
Card ejecting device, 740...Card reversing device, 75
0...Printing device, 770...Card extraction device,
300...Payment machine, 400...Management device, 55
0...Unit memory, 551...Data transmission controller, 553...Network controller, 800...Card reader, 802...Card insertion/ejection opening, 807...Transportation motor , 809...
Shutter solenoid, 820...Figure 2 (B) 2 (C) Figure 1 m side -→ BeB+atBsB4BiasByam811I1 Japanese Seal - III Seal 0o 1 (D) (A) Figure (B) (A) 846 28 Fig. 29 (B) 84ko09 (B) (Q) L) OuJ L lj-tsuichi Σ ZQ Low Oae ψ (A) Fig. 4 (B) Fig. 51 Fig. 60 (A) (B) Various Command packet CK Figure 61 (A) "'Card-in' packet configuration" Management device ← NAU (Card No.) NAU ← Control unit (Card No.) Figure 61 (B) "'Card-in' packet configuration (affirmative response)" ” Management device → NAU (ACK ten card text) NAU → Control unit (ACK ten card text) Figure 61 (C) ““Card in” packet configuration (negative response)” Management device → NAU (NAK) NAU → Control unit (NAK) (A) Figure “Card purchase” packet (at the time of issuance reservation) (B) Figure 6 (A) Figure “Unit recovery data” packet (B) (A) Figure “Card payment completed” Packet (B) (A) Figure U unit recovery data” Packet (B)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Valuable data substantially equivalent to the amount of money or the number of balls is managed in the management device for each identification code given to the card, and the above is based on the identification code read from the card inserted into the pachinko machine. In a card-type gaming system that allows games to be played within the range of valuable data obtained from a management device, a relay control device is interposed between the management device and each pachinko machine, and the relay control device and the relay control device are interposed between the management device and each pachinko machine. A CSMA/CD high-speed network is connected to the machine, and a low-layer token bus network is used between the relay control device and each pachinko machine, and data is exchanged between the management device and the pachinko machine using a packet exchange method. A card-type game system characterized by being configured to perform communication.