JPH0545352Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) The invention relates to a card-type thin ball rental machine, and more specifically, when a card is inserted, pachinko balls can be rented within the usage range of the card. At the same time, the game balance is displayed subtracted according to the number of pachinko balls lent out, and the display unit continues to display the card balance at the time of insertion for the time required until the ball lending operation,
The present invention also relates to a card-type thin ball lending machine that displays the current card balance for a while (predetermined time) after the ball lending operation and after the card is withdrawn, and further displays the initial state with characters and symbols other than 0.

(Conventional technology) Conventional thin ball lending machines accept 100 and 500 yen coins or 1000 yen coins.
Pachinko balls were rented out by inserting yen bills. For this reason, pachinko parlors have to deal with troubles that arise from the complicated mechanism of the thin ball lending machines mentioned above, manage various types of large amounts of money, aggregate money, and prevent crime, all of which require great effort and burden. I was getting used to it.

Against this background, in recent years, a card-type ball lending system has emerged that alleviates the drawbacks of the conventional system by borrowing pachinko balls using a card that allows a certain amount of balls (1,000 yen worth) to be borrowed in advance.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, although it has become possible to borrow pachinko balls using a card for a fixed number of balls in advance with the ball lending machine of the above system, the following problems have not been solved. It was empty.

If the card used to borrow pachinko balls is not equipped with a mechanism to display the balance, the usage range (balance) of the card depends on the customer's memory, which is extremely inconvenient (unfriendly). When inserting a card, it was impossible to determine which card was a used card.

Previously disclosed Utility Model Application No. 62-192770, Utility Model Application No. 62
For ball lending machines that can display the balance, such as No. 040673, if a certain amount (100 yen/time) has been borrowed, the display will show the number with 1 subtracted (subtraction -
1) After that, the display becomes "0" (initial state), so the balance is only displayed for a moment, and the display immediately changes to the initial state, so it is not possible to check the balance, and it is not possible to check the balance in conjunction with other states. Since 0 was displayed uniformly, it was very difficult to grasp the current status of the cards. In other words, when a customer makes a series of purchases, the conventional model displays the initial state of 0 each time, and if the balance is displayed as "0", it is assumed that there is no balance left, which is confusing.

Furthermore, when the balance cannot be checked or the balance on the inserted card is "0", it will be displayed as 0, but even when the card data cannot be read due to wrinkles or dirt on the card, it will also be displayed as "0". Because there is
Both the customer and the store staff were unable to make that decision.

Therefore, the present invention solves the various problems mentioned above, and
As soon as the card is inserted, the data is read and the balance is displayed, the balance status of the ball lending machine is maintained, and even when making continuous purchases, the balance can be checked without returning to the initial state each time.

In addition, after the ball lending operation ends and the card is withdrawn, the balance will be displayed for a while (predetermined time) and the balance can be checked.Furthermore, if the inserted card balance is 0, it will be displayed as 0. ”
is displayed, and if a defective card that cannot be read is inserted, a predetermined initial state display (``--'') with characters other than 0 is continued to make it possible to make a determination. To provide a completely new card-type thin ball lending machine with a game balance display.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is equipped with a card reader consisting of a drive motor, a transport mechanism, a card detection sensor, and a magnetic reading head, and also includes A pachinko game machine stand comprising a microcomputer that controls a series of operations, the microcomputer being connected to a central processing unit that centrally controls a plurality of ball lending machines from the outside, and a display section on the front part of the ball lending machine. In the thin card-type ball lending machine installed between the two, a first sensor is installed to detect the insertion and withdrawal of a magnetic card, and a first sensor is installed to detect the magnetic card to control the rotation stop of the drive motor. A second sensor is installed, and a third sensor is installed to detect the presence or absence of a card at the deepest part of the magnetic card conveyance path in order to control the stop of the drive motor. means for reading the data on the magnetic card and verifying the card; means for calculating the card balance; display means for continuously displaying the card balance at the time of insertion on the display section for the time required until the ball lending operation; A thin card-type card type with play balance display, characterized by comprising means for displaying the current card balance for a predetermined period of time after the card is pulled out after operation, and means for displaying the initial state with a character symbol other than 0. It was used as a ball rental machine.

(Function) Therefore, when each sensor detects a magnetic card and turns ON, the first sensor detects the insertion and withdrawal of the magnetic card, and the second sensor controls the rotation stop of the drive motor that conveys the magnetic card. The third sensor detects the presence or absence of a card at the farthest end of the magnetic card transport path in order to measure the timing from the stop of the drive motor and the start of returning the magnetic card to the printing operation. After the first and second sensors are turned ON, the data on the magnetic card is read by the magnetic head, and the microcomputer exchanges and verifies the specified data with the central processing unit, and sends the card from the central processing unit to the microcomputer. The balance information is provided, and the card balance display at the time of insertion continues to be displayed on the front display of the card-type ball lending machine for the time required until the ball lending operation, and the calculation of the central processing unit is continued for a predetermined period of time after the ball lending operation and after the card is removed. Displays the current card balance as a result, and displays 0 if the card balance is 0,
In the case of an initial state or a card failure, instead of displaying the confusing initial state of the card balance of 0, display it with a character symbol other than 0, and print the current card balance display at a predetermined position on the magnetic card. At the same time, the magnetic card must be returned.

(Example) Next, an example of the present invention will be described based on drawings and a flowchart, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this example.

Figure 1 shows the width of 40 mm installed between pachinko machines.
This is a card-type thin ball lending machine 4 (hereinafter referred to as the ball lending machine), which includes a magnetic card insertion slot 40 at the top, an LED-type balance display section 41 provided below, and a pachinko ball lending slot 42 at the bottom. It consists of

Next, the configuration of the card reader section will be explained using FIGS. 2 to 6.

A conveyance belt 8, which is a conveyance mechanism provided via a drive motor 6 and a deceleration unit 7, which conveys the magnetic card C from the magnetic card insertion slot 40 of the conveyance path 1, and feed rollers 8a, 8b, along the conveyance direction. A first sensor 51 and a second sensor 52 are installed at predetermined positions and are card detection sensors for notifying the microcomputer 91 of the detection of the magnetic card C.
A third sensor 53, a magnetic reading head 2 for reading the magnetic information of the magnetic card C, a plastic pressing roller 2a for bringing the magnetic card C into close contact with the magnetic reading head 2, and a magnetic card C for reading the remaining power, etc. It consists of a printing mechanism 3 for visual display.

More specifically, the conveyance path 1 for the magnetic card C is formed by making two upper and lower guide plates 10 and 11 face each other at an interval slightly wider than the thickness of the magnetic card C, and a notch in the surface of the lower guide plate 11 is formed in the conveyance path 1. The magnetic reading head 2 is exposed from the hole 12, and the passage port 13 of the thermal head 31 attached to the lower surface of the tip of the print head 30 of the printing mechanism 3 is closed on the upper guide plate 10 surface, and the thermal head 31 is attached to the lower guide plate 11 surface. The thermal head pressing location on the surface of the lower guide plate 11 is made to protrude to the same height as the exposed part of the magnetic reading head 2 to form a protrusion 14.

The printing mechanism 3 has a thermal head 3 at its tip.
One end 33 of the L-shaped solenoid lever 33 is installed so that the core rod 35, which is installed upright on the back of the print head 30 having the print head 1, can move up and down in the direction of the guide plates 10 and 11.
The solenoid lever 33 is loosely fitted into the hole opened in the hole through a coil spring 34, and an E ring 36 is fixed to the end of the core rod 35 to prevent the solenoid lever 33 from falling out of the hole. The other end 33b of the mold solenoid lever 33 is provided so as to be interlocked with the solenoid 32, and converts the horizontal reciprocating motion of the solenoid 32 into vertical motion of the print head 30.

Note that 33c is a tension spring that assists the return of the L-shaped solenoid lever 33.

The magnetic reading section A is composed of a magnetic reading head 2 and a pressure roller 2a that brings the magnetic card C into close contact with the magnetic reading head 2. Pivotally supported by the support 21, and the support 21
The rear end is fixed to the fixed shaft 18 on the surface of the upper guide plate 10, and a spring 22 is provided between the support 21 and the fixed shaft 18, and the spring force causes the magnetic card C to be magnetized via the pressing roller 2a. It is configured to be pressed against the reading head 2 and brought into close contact.

To explain the conveyance mechanism that grips and conveys the magnetic card C, the conveyor belt 8 is endlessly attached to a drive shaft 80 and a driven shaft 81 to which the rotation of the drive motor 6 is transmitted via the deceleration unit 7. The upper surface faces the conveyance path 1 from the cutout groove 11a on the surface of the lower guide plate 11.

Further, the feed rollers 8a and 8b are attached to a rotating shaft 16, and a pair of supports 17 are attached to both sides of the rotating shaft 16. The rear end of the support 17 is fixed to a fixed shaft 18 on the surface of the upper guide plate 10, and a spring 19 is provided between the support 17 and the fixed shaft so that the support 17 faces the conveyance path 1 through the notch hole 10a by the force of the spring. The feed rollers 8a and 8b are pushed down as shown.

A microcomputer 91 of a card reader provided in the ball lending machine 4 is connected to a central processing unit 90 that centrally controls a plurality of ball lending machines from the outside, and each sensor 51, 52, 53 is wired to the microcomputer 91. A first sensor 51 is configured to detect and notify insertion and withdrawal of the magnetic card C.
and a second motor set to detect the passage of the magnetic card C in order to control the rotation stop of the drive motor 6.
a sensor 52, a third sensor 53 for detecting the presence or absence of a card at the innermost part of the magnetic card transport path in order to measure the timing from the stop of the drive motor 6 and the start of return of the magnetic card C to the printing operation; 1
The magnetic head 2 automatically reads data from the magnetic card after the sensor 51 and the second sensor 52 are turned on.
Then, predetermined data is exchanged and collated between the microcomputer 91 and the central processing unit 90, card balance information is provided from the central processing unit 90 to the microcomputer 91, and the third sensor 53 is turned on. From now on, the front LED of ball lending machine 4
The display unit 41 continues to display the card balance at the time of insertion for the time required until the ball lending operation, and for a while (predetermined time) after the ball lending operation and after the card is removed, the current card balance, which is the calculation result of the central processing unit, is displayed. A microcomputer 91 controls a series of operations of displaying the current card balance and printing the current card balance display on the magnetic card C at a predetermined position while returning the magnetic card C.
and a central processing unit 90.

Now, the operation of the card reader will be explained next. When the magnetic card C is manually inserted from the magnetic card insertion slot 40, the light from the first sensor 51 is blocked, and the magnetic card C is inserted further back.

Next, when the light from the second sensor 52 is blocked, the second sensor 52 is turned on, the drive motor 6 rotates, and the magnetic card C is transferred to the lower guide plate 11 via the deceleration unit 7.
Both sides of the conveyor belt 8 facing the conveyance path 1 through the notched groove 11a in the surface and the rotating shaft 16 are attached to a pair of supports 17, and the rear end of the supporter 17 is fixed to the surface of the upper guide plate 10. It is fixed to the shaft 18 and a spring 19 is provided between the support 17 and the fixed shaft 18, and the spring 19 is pushed down from the notch hole 10a to be exposed to the conveyance path 1 with the fixed shaft 18 as a fulcrum. While being conveyed, the magnetic head C is pressed against the magnetic head 2 by the pressing roller 2a, and the required information of the magnetic head C is read.

Since the pressing roller 2a is made of plastic (non-elastic material), unlike the conventional case where an elastic material such as rubber is used, it is possible for the card reader to remain unused for a long time. Even when the pressing roller 2a is not attached to the surface of the magnetic head 2, the surface of the pressing roller 2a made of an elastic material generates frictional heat due to friction with the magnetic card C.
It will not melt and adhere to the magnetic head 2, causing serious troubles such as poor magnetic reading, and will not put an unnecessary load on the drive motor 6, shortening its lifespan.

Further, the rear end of the support 21 is fixed to the fixed shaft 18 on the upper guide plate 10 surface, and a spring 22 is provided between the support 21 and the fixed shaft 18, and the spring force is used to push the pressure roller 2a through the The magnetic card C is pressed against the magnetic reading head 2 so that it comes into close contact with the magnetic reading head 2, but since the two parallel supports 21 are pressed independently by spring force, for example, the magnetic head 2 may be attached diagonally. Even if the magnetic card C is bent, the magnetic card C can be pressed along the reading surface of the magnetic head 2 which is curved in this way, and the followability is improved.

In this way, the information on the magnetic card C is read, and the magnetic card C is further conveyed while being held between the conveyor belt 8 and a feed roller 8b configured similarly to the above-described feed roller 8a. The magnetic card C is the third sensor 53
When it reaches , the drive motor 6 stops.

Next, the following explanation will be given based on the flowchart of FIG. 8 showing the printing operation.

As a result of reading the magnetic information with the magnetic head 2, if the magnetic card C is a proper card, the central processing unit 90
The drive motor 6 is turned ON again by the signal from , and rotates in the reverse direction, the third sensor 53 is turned OFF, the timer is turned ON, and the drive motor 6 is turned OFF.
The solenoid 32 turns ON and the thermal head 3
1 comes into contact with the magnetic head C surface, and the thermal head 3
1 turns ON and printing of the remaining power on the line starts. After that, when the timer turns OFF, the thermal head 31 turns OFF, the solenoid 32 turns OFF, and the thermal head 31 separates from the magnetic head C surface and no remaining power is left. The degree display printing is completed, the drive motor 6 is turned on again, and finally the magnetic card C passes the second sensor 52, and the drive motor 6 is turned off.
The magnetic card C can be manually pulled out.

In addition, when printing the remaining power display, the print head 30 is connected via a coil spring 34 to a hole in an end 33a of an L-shaped solenoid lever 33 whose one end is linked to a solenoid 32 and moves up and down in the direction of the guide plates 10 and 11. Therefore, when the solenoid lever 33 is operated in the horizontal direction, the coil spring 34 starts to be compressed from the time when the print head 30 falls vertically and comes into contact with the magnetic card C in the first action, and the print head 30 As the magnetic card C continues to fall, the repulsive force of the coil spring 34 at this time lightly presses the magnetic card C, correcting the deformation caused by the conveying posture of the magnetic card C (oblique insertion, etc.) and distortion, and in the next second action, the coil Print head 30 biased by spring 34
The thermal head 31 at the tip strongly contacts the surface of the magnetic card C to completely fix the magnetic card C while producing uniform and high-quality printing, producing a pressing action of the second action. Of course, mistakes such as not printing will not occur.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of the microcomputer of the card reader installed in the card-type ball lending machine. 91 is a ROM 92 in which a program is written by a microcomputer, a RAM 93 for storing various data, a magnetic head 2, a drive motor 6, a thermal head 36, a thermal solenoid 3
2. Consists of input and output from the first sensor 51, second sensor 52, and third sensor 53. In addition, an I/O port is provided between each input, and data bus 94 and address bus 95 communicate between microcomputer 91 and ROM92-ROM93. The data is transmitted from the communication interface 97 to the central processing unit 90, and data is exchanged.

Furthermore, the ROM 93 is the battery backup circuit 9.
8, all data is retained during power outage.

Now, the ball lending machine 4 equipped with a card reader for controlling a series of operations of the magnetic card C performs the following operations according to the program shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the card type thin ball lending machine 4, and trouble routines and other detailed subroutines are omitted.

The magnetic card C does not store monetary information that may be tampered with (the central processing unit 90
When the magnetic card C is lent out, the magnetic card C with the previous day's date and the "code" and "card number" for excluding magnetic cards C from other stores are stored, and first the magnetic card C is The computer 91 requests the central processing unit 90 for the "cipher" of the day, and in response to the response from the central processing unit 90, the microcomputer 91 requests the "cipher" for the day.
(Steps n1-2) and standby.
When the first sensor 51 and then the second sensor 52 sequentially confirm that the magnetic card C has been inserted into the insertion slot 40, the drive motor 6 is activated and transports the magnetic card C further into the slot. During the process, the magnetic reading head 2 reads the card number,
Read data such as "cipher".

When the third sensor 53 senses the transported magnetic card C, the drive motor 6 is stopped.

Next, the "cipher" read by the magnetic reading head 2 is stored and checked in the microcomputer 91 (step n9).

If the magnetic card C is inappropriate, a return operation is performed immediately and a display to that effect is displayed, but if it is correct, the microcomputer 9
1 sends a "card number" to the central processing unit 100 in order to obtain balance information from the central processing unit 100 (steps n10-11).

After the various checks mentioned above, if there is no balance on the magnetic card C, "0" is displayed on the LED display section 41 on the front of the ball lending machine 4 (steps n12 to
13) and the magnetic card C will be returned.

If there is a balance, the balance of the magnetic card C at the time of insertion is displayed on the LED balance display section 41 on the front of the ball lending machine 4, and then the pachinko lending process is carried out, for example, the ball rental for one cycle of 100 yen/play is performed. When the counting is completed, the balance display section 41 displays the number from which 1 has been subtracted (steps n14 to n16).

On the other hand, in order to return the magnetic head C to the customer, the drive motor 6 starts rotating in reverse, and as a result, the third sensor 53 turns OFF, and starts detecting the print position.
After confirming that a predetermined portion of the magnetic card C has come to the printing position, the drive motor 6 is stopped, and the thermal head 31 of the printing mechanism 3 performs printing.

Subsequently, the drive motor 6 is activated and the second sensor 52 is activated.
When the magnetic card C is no longer detected, the drive motor 6
to stop.

The first sensor 5 indicates that the magnetic card C has been pulled out.
1, the balance continues to be displayed until, for example, 3 seconds later, and then in this embodiment, "--" is displayed, that is, the initial state is displayed (steps n17 to n28).

The present invention is as explained above, and the reason why the display time is set to 3 seconds in this embodiment is because we believe that this is the appropriate amount of time required to check the balance, but this can be set arbitrarily. It is configurable.

(Effects of the invention) As explained above, this invention reads the magnetic card data as soon as the magnetic card is inserted, verifies the data, and if the card is valid, the balance is transferred to the central processing unit. The card balance at the time of insertion is displayed on the balance display section of the card-type ball lending machine for the time required until the end of the ball lending operation, and the balance subtracted from the end of the ball lending operation is subtracted from the balance when the magnetic card is withdrawn (the magnetic card is removed). It continues to be displayed until 1 sensor is OFF).
In addition, the current card balance will be displayed for a preset time after withdrawal, allowing you to check the balance. Also, if the inserted card balance is 0, "0" will be displayed, and if the inserted card is a defective card that cannot be read. To provide a card-type thin ball lending machine with a strikingly new game balance display device, which displays a character symbol other than 0 and continues to display the initial state to make it possible to identify the inserted state. It was possible to do this, customers did not have to rely on their own memories, both customers and staff were freed from the confusion of reading displays, and it became possible to entertain customers without any trouble, achieving the initial purpose. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a card-type thin ball lending machine with a game balance display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a card reader inside the ball lending machine, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the card reader. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the conveying state of the magnetic card, FIGS. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the operating state of the thermal printing mechanism, and FIG.
The figure is a front view of a magnetic card on which the remaining number of points is visually printed, FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a printing routine, FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a card reader, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a card-type thin ball lending machine. 1... Conveyance path, 2... Magnetic reading head, 2a
...Press roller, 3...Printing mechanism, 31...Thermal head, 4...Card type thin ball lending machine, 40...
... Magnetic card insertion slot, 41 ... Balance display section, 51
...First sensor, 52...Second sensor, 53...
Third sensor, 6... Drive motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It is equipped with a card reader consisting of a drive motor, a transport mechanism, a card detection sensor, and a magnetic reading head, and a microcomputer that controls a series of operations from insertion of the magnetic card to return. A thin card-type ball lending machine installed between pachinko game machines, which is connected to a central processing unit that centrally controls the machine from the outside and has a display on the front part of the ball lending machine, allows insertion and withdrawal of magnetic cards. a first sensor installed to detect the magnetic card, a second sensor installed to detect the magnetic card to control the rotation stop of the drive motor, and a magnetic card transport path to control the rotation stop of the drive motor. and a third sensor installed to detect the presence or absence of a card at the innermost part of the card, and after the second sensor is turned on, a magnetic head reads the data on the magnetic card and verifies the card, and calculates the card balance. means, display means that continues to display the card balance at the time of insertion on the display section for the time required until the ball lending operation, and means for displaying the current card balance for a predetermined period of time after the ball lending operation and after the card is withdrawn; A card-type thin ball lending machine with a play balance display, characterized by comprising means for displaying an initial state with a character symbol other than 0.