JPH04212396A - Slot machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the use convenience, to reduce the work burden of a person in charge, and to improve the customer service by constituting the machine so that a medal can be replenished automatically to a medal discharge device. CONSTITUTION:The inside of a machine body 11 is provided with a medal replenishing device 37 for replenishing a medal to a hopper 36 of a medal discharge device S4. The medal replenishing device 37 is provided with hoppers 38, 79 for containing the medals for replenishment, and a medal feeding-out mechanism 39 for feeding out the medal contained in the hopper, and when the hopper 36 of the above medal discharge device 34 becomes an empty state, the medal replenishing deuce 37 operates and executes replenishment of the medal, and when the above hopper becomes a full state, the operation of the medal supply device 37 stops and the replenishment of the medal is completed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slot machine, and more particularly to a slot machine having a structure for replenishing insufficient medals.

0002

[Prior Art] A conventional slot machine has a front panel that can be opened and closed, and a symbol display window is provided on the front panel for viewing each symbol on the three reels housed inside the machine. There is. The front panel is equipped with a start lever for starting each reel, three stop buttons for stopping each reel individually, and a medal slot for inserting medals when starting the game. . A medal discharging device equipped with a hopper for storing medals is provided inside the machine, and this medal discharging device discharges a predetermined number of medals one by one into a medal receiving tray outside the machine at the time of winning a prize or making a payment.

[0003] In recent years, such slot machines have adopted a winning format in which a large amount of medals are released to players in a short period of time. Before this type of prize winning format was adopted, 1
It is rare for the stored medals in the hopper to be exhausted while other players are playing, so the staff will open the front panel when there are no players and manually replenish the medals. Was.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in a winning format where a large amount of medals are released, the medals in the hopper may run out during the game, and in such a case,
The player must stop playing and receive medals from the staff. In addition, when the above-mentioned winning pattern occurs, the staff member must always pay attention to running out of medals, and when the medals run out, it is necessary to quickly replenish the medals, making the work complicated.

[0005] In order to avoid such a situation, it is conceivable to increase the capacity of the hopper, but in this case,
The load on the medal discharging mechanism provided in the medal discharging device becomes excessive, and the medal discharging operation may not proceed smoothly.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a slot machine that is more user-friendly, reduces the workload on staff, and improves customer service.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is provided with a medal discharging device having a medal receiving tray on the front outside of the machine and a medal storage hopper inside the machine, and communicating the medal discharging device with the medal receiving tray, This slot machine drives the medal discharging device to discharge medals in a hopper to a medal receiving tray at the time of winning or paying out, and is provided with a medal replenishing device for replenishing the hopper of the medal discharging device with medals inside the machine. The medal replenishing device includes a hopper that accommodates medals for replenishment, and a medal delivery mechanism that sends out the medals in the hopper. sensor and
A second sensor is provided to detect the upper limit value of the medal storage amount. The medal replenishing device is connected to a control section, and the control section starts the medal dispensing mechanism section of the medal replenishing device according to the detection operation of the first sensor, and starts the medal dispensing mechanism section according to the detection operation of the second sensor. to stop.

[0008]

[Operation] When the number of stored medals in the hopper of the medal discharging device decreases to the lower limit, the control section drives the medal replenishing device to automatically supply the medals in the hopper to the hopper of the medal discharging device. Therefore, even if a large amount of medals are released, a situation where the medals run out will not occur frequently.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a front view of a slot machine 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view of this slot machine 1 with a front door 10 opened.

[0010] This slot machine 1 has a large number of loaned medals inserted into the machine in advance before the start of a game and is loaned out, and each time a game is played, the loaned medals are consumed by operating a button described later. A so-called credit system is used, in which the game is run using a credit card. In addition, for a specific winning type, the game content is such that the player is required to play a special game called a bonus game, and a large amount of medals are awarded in a short period of time.

The illustrated slot machine 1 has three reels 23A, 23 each having a plurality of symbols displayed on its circumferential surface.
B, 23C are stored in the fuselage 11, and on the front of the front door 10 there are a symbol display window 25, a loan number display 26, a medal slot 27, three stop buttons 28A, 28B, 28C,
Start lever 29, game switch 30, payment switch 3
1, a selection switch 32, and a medal tray 33 are respectively arranged.

The symbol display window 25 is connected to each reel 23A, 2.
The patterns on the peripheral surfaces of 3B and 23C are displayed in alignment along a plurality of stop lines L. The rotation state of each reel 23A, 23B, 23C can be seen through this symbol display window 25, and when the reel 23A, 23B, 23C is stopped,
You can easily check how the symbols on each reel 23A, 23B, 23C are lined up on the plurality of stop lines L.

The starting lever 29 has three reels 23A.
, for starting 23B and 23C all at once, 3
The stop buttons 28A, 28B, 28C correspond to the reel 2.
This is for stopping 3A, 23B, and 23C individually. Near the upper end of the front door 22, a cover plate 41 that can be opened and closed is provided for replenishing medals as described later.

The medal insertion slot 27 is a place where one or more medals are inserted when playing a game or when lending medals, and the medal receiving tray 33 accommodates medals released when medals are distributed or settled. . The loan number display 26 digitally displays the number of medals loaned to the slot machine 1. It is also possible to provide an acceptance slot for a prepaid card for a slot machine in the machine body 11, and when a prepaid card is inserted into the acceptance slot, the number of medals corresponding to the monetary value of the prepaid card is displayed on the lending number display 26. .

The game switch 30 instructs the user to use the loaned medals when playing the game, and is pressed a number of times depending on the amount of medals consumed. Selection switch 32
is a changeover switch for selecting whether to play the game by inserting medals from the medal slot 27 or to play the game by consuming loaned medals. The settlement switch 31 settles the loaned medals and transfers the number of medals to be returned to the medal tray 33.
release to.

Inside the machine body 11, a medal discharging device 34 is installed which stores a large number of medals and discharges the number of medals one by one into a medal tray 33 when a prize is won. This medal discharging device 34 includes a medal discharging mechanism 35 for discharging medals one by one as needed, and a hopper 36 for storing medals mounted on the medal discharging mechanism 35.

This slot machine 1 is provided with a medal replenishing device 37 in the machine body 11 above the medal discharging device 34 in preparation for paying out a large amount of medals. This medal replenishing device 37 includes a hopper 38 and an auxiliary hopper 79 that accommodate medals for replenishment, and a medal discharging device 34 that sends the medals stored in the hopper 38 one by one to the medal discharging device 34 in an operation that will be described later. It is equipped with a sending mechanism 39 and a chute 40 for guiding the medals from the medal sending mechanism 39 to the hopper 36 of the medal releasing device 34.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of the medal supply device 37 seen from the left side of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 shows the medal supply device 37 and the hopper 3.
6 as viewed from the front. The hopper 36 is provided with a first sensor 42 that detects the lower limit of the medal storage amount, that is, the replenishment start position, and a second sensor 43 that detects the upper limit of the medal storage amount, that is, the replenishment stop position. be.

When the hopper 36 is made of synthetic resin, each of the first and second sensors 42 and 43 is constituted by, for example, a pair of metal rods, and detects electrical continuity between the metal rods due to the medal. do. Further, if the hoppers 36 are made of metal, each of the hoppers 36 is constructed with a single metal rod insulated from the hoppers 36, and electrical continuity between the hoppers 36 and the metal rods due to the medals is detected. These sensors 42,4
In response to the detection output No. 3, the operation of replenishing the medal replenishing device 37 to the medal discharging device 34 is started or stopped.

The hopper 38 of the medal replenishing device 37 also has five position sensors 4 having the same structure as the sensors 42 and 43.
4, 45, 46, 47, and 48 are provided. The on (conducting) state and off (blocking) state of these position sensors 44 to 48 are determined by five indicator lamps 49, 50, 51, 52, and 53 (Fig. 6
(shown in ) is notified to the outside by turning on and off the light. In other words, the remaining amount of medals in the hopper 38 is
It can be confirmed externally without opening 0.

[0021] The medal replenishing device 37 has a mounting board 54.
A take-out mechanism 55 that is attached to the top and takes out the medals stored in the hopper 38 one by one; a take-out mechanism 56 that guides the medals from the take-out mechanism 55 to a delivery port 57 opened in the mounting board 54; and each mechanism 55. , 56, and a power mechanism 58 such as a motor and a deceleration mechanism, and each of these mechanisms constitutes a medal sending mechanism 39.

As shown in FIG. 5, the take-out mechanism 55 has a plurality of circular holes 65 formed in a circle in the first rotary plate 64, and one medal stored in the hopper 38 is inserted into each circular hole 65.
It has a structure that captures each item one by one. Guide members 66 and 67 for moving medals fitted into the circular hole 65 toward the extracting mechanism 56 are arranged along the path through which the rotary plate 64 rotates through the circular hole 65 .

Guide members 66, 6 are removed from the extraction mechanism 55.
The medal 68 detached by step 7 moves to the ejection mechanism 56. It goes without saying that the structure of the lower surface of the rotating plate 64 is devised so that the rotation of the rotating plate 64 is not inhibited by the presence of the guide members 66 and 67.

The lead-out mechanism 56 includes a second rotary plate 69, and a plurality of claw pieces 70 are provided on the circumferential surface of the second rotary plate 69, which are curved toward the downstream side in the rotational direction A3. An opening 71 for receiving one medal 68 is formed between adjacent claw pieces 70.

The rotating plates 64 and 69 are connected to the power mechanism 58.
When the medal 68 is sent out from the rotary plate 64, the opening 71 between the claw pieces 70 faces the medal 68, and the medal 68 is drawn into the opening 71 by the claw pieces 70. The medal 68 in the opening 71 is locked by the hook-shaped portion near the tip of the claw piece 70 so as not to escape, and is led to the medal delivery port 57 by making a half turn.

The rotary plate 69 is positioned so that each opening 71 passes above the medal delivery port 57, and therefore the medals 68 in the openings 71 are supported on the mounting board 54 and moved half a circle. , the medal reaches the medal delivery port 57 and falls downward. The chute 40 is connected directly below the medal delivery port 57, and the fallen medals 68 are passed through the chute 40 to the hopper 3 of the medal discharging device 34.
It is accommodated in 6.

A microswitch 73 for detecting the delivery of the medal 68 is provided near the second rotary plate 69, and the medal 68 in the opening 71 pushes the tip of the lever 74 and swings. At this time, the base end of the lever 74 turns on the microswitch 73, and a signal for confirming the feeding operation and counting the number of sheets to be fed is generated.

A stopper 75 for preventing the medals 68 from turning around is provided near the medal delivery port 57, ie, at a position upstream of the medal delivery port 57 in the rotational direction of the rotary plate 69. Such a medal sending mechanism 39
The configuration is the same for the medal discharging mechanism 35 of the medal discharging device 34.

FIG. 6 shows the structure of the lid plate 41. As shown in FIG. When the cover plate 41 is opened, a medal supply port 59 provided in the front door 10 opens. The cover plate 41 is rotatably pivoted to the front door 10 at its lower end. The cover plate 41 has side walls 60 and 61 erected integrally with the cover plate 41, and when the cover plate 41 is tilted by unlocking the lock 62 and pulling it out toward the front in the direction of arrow A1, the aircraft A chute 63 is configured to incline inwardly. The medals thrown into the chute 63 in bulk are transferred to the auxiliary hopper 7 as shown by arrow A2 in Figure 3.
9 into the hopper 38.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the slot machine 1. As shown in FIG. For example, the control unit 77 configured with a microprocessor etc. includes the above-mentioned start lever 29, stop buttons 28A, 28B, 28C, and sensors 42-
48, a microswitch 73, etc. are connected, and a control signal is taken into the control section 77. The control unit 77 also includes rotational drive motors 78A, 78B, and 78C provided for each reel 23A, 23B, and 23C, a power mechanism (not shown) for the medal discharging device 34, and a medal replenishing device 37.
A power mechanism 58, display lamps 49 to 53, etc. are connected, and these are controlled in series by a control section 77.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the control procedure of the medal replenishment operation by the control section 77. If a large amount of medals are distributed to players in a short period of time, the medal dispensing device 3
The amount of medals stored in the No. 4 hopper 36 is below the position of the first sensor 42. At this time, the first sensor 42 transitions from the on state to the off state, so when the control unit 77 checks the output of the first sensor 42 in step 1 (indicated by "ST1" in the figure) of FIG. Judgment 2 is “YES”
Then, in the next step 3, the control unit 77 drives the medal replenishing device 37 to send out the medals stored in the hopper 38 to the medal discharging device 34 to replenish the medals.

When the medals are sufficiently replenished, the amount of medals stored in the hopper 36 of the medal discharging device 34 reaches the position of the second sensor 42 . At this time, the second sensor 43 transitions from the off state to the on state, so when the control unit 77 checks the output of the second sensor 43 in step 4,
When the determination in step 5 is "YES", the control unit 77 stops driving the medal replenishing device 37 in the next step 6, and ends the replenishment operation.

If the supply of medals is insufficient, the amount of medals stored in the hopper 36 of the medal discharging device 34 will not reach the position of the second sensor 42, and the determination in step 5 will be "N".
O”. In this case, proceed to step 7 and check whether the medal supply device 37 is operating normally. If it is determined to be normal in step 8, return to step 3 and continue driving the medal supply device 37. If it is determined that there is an abnormality, the process proceeds to step 8 and the drive of the medal replenishing device 37 is stopped.

FIG. 9 shows the details of step 7, that is, the procedure for checking whether the operation of the medal replenishing device 37 is normal or not. The output of microswitch 73 is being checked.

If the medals are normally sent out from the medal supply device 37, the determination in step 10 is "YES".
Therefore, the control unit 77 starts an internal timer in step 11.

In the next step 12, it is determined whether or not the measured value T of the timer has exceeded the judgment value TH. If the judgment is "NO", the next step of the microswitch 73 is activated again in step 13. Check the output. If the determination in step 14 is "YES", it is determined that the medal replenishing device 37 is normally dispensing coins (step 15), and the process moves to the next procedure.

If the measured value T of the timer exceeds the judgment value TH, step 12 becomes "YES", and the medal supply device 37 is not feeding out coins normally, that is, the coin supply device 37 is jammed with coins. It is determined that a state of
The process moves to abnormality processing (stopping the drive of the medal replenishing device 37).

When the replenishment medals are consumed, the position sensors 44 to 48 of the hopper 38 of the medal replenishment device 37 are sequentially turned off starting from the upper position, and the control unit 77
turns off the corresponding display lamps 49 to 53 one after another. The staff member checks whether the indicator lamps 49 to 53 are on or off, opens the cover plate 41 if necessary, and closes the supply device 3.
Supply medals to 7.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the coin replenishing device 37
This is an example in which the medals are completely stored inside the fuselage 11, and the medal replenishment port does not appear at the upper end of the front door 10 as in the first embodiment. Therefore, in this embodiment, after opening the front door 10, the lid plate 41 of the medal replenishing device 37 is opened to replenish medals.

[0040]

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention is provided with a medal replenishing device for replenishing medals to the medal discharging device inside the aircraft, and when the amount of medals stored in the medal discharging device approaches an empty state, the medal supplying device releases the medals. Since the replenishment of medals is performed automatically, the player does not have to interrupt the game to replenish medals, and customer service can be improved. In addition, the staff member does not have to constantly pay attention to running out of medals or frequently replenish medals, which greatly reduces the workload. Furthermore, since no excessive load is applied to the medal discharging mechanism of the medal discharging device, there is no problem in the medal discharging operation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a slot machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the slot machine with the front door opened.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the medal supply device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of a medal supply device and a medal discharge device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the medal feeding mechanism of the medal replenishing device.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the vicinity of the lid plate of the medal replenishing device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the slot machine.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of a medal replenishment operation by the control unit.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for checking the operating state of the medal replenishing device by the control unit.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing another embodiment of the invention.

11 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 10 with the front door opened; FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Slot machine 11 Aircraft 34 Medal release device 35 Medal release mechanism 36 Hopper 38 Hopper 39 Medal sending mechanism 41 Lid body 42 First sensor 43 Second sensor

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A medal discharging device is provided with a medal receiving tray on the front outside of the machine, and a medal storing hopper inside the machine, and the medal discharging device is communicated with the medal receiving tray,
In a slot machine that drives the medal discharging device to discharge medals in a hopper to a medal receiving tray at the time of winning or payment, a medal replenishing device for replenishing the hopper of the medal discharging device with medals is installed in the machine, and the medal supplying device The device includes a hopper that accommodates medals for replenishment, and a medal delivery mechanism that sends out the medals in the hopper. A sensor and a second sensor that detects an upper limit value of the amount of medals stored are provided, and the medal replenishing device starts a medal sending mechanism section of the medal replenishing device by the detection operation of the first sensor, and The slot machine is connected to a control section that stops the medal sending mechanism section based on the detection operation of the second sensor.