JPH06314366A - Cash collection control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the increase of the time and labor needed for rearrangement of equipments like the game machines, etc., without deteriorating the cash collecting reliability. CONSTITUTION:A housing 13 of a game machine 10 or a money exchanging machine, etc., which includes a coin number identifier 11 includes a counter memory 15 which counts the through-in signals transmitted from the identifier 11. The count value of the memory 15 is given to a connector 19 and then stored in a handy unit 21. Then the count value is read out of the unit 21 by a totalizing device 26 and displayed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

The present invention relates to a dedicated coin or coin,
Alternatively, regarding a collection management system that counts the number of input items such as banknotes, for example, a gaming machine installed in a game facility such as a game center or an amusement park, a game facility entrance, a station ticket gate, etc. It is used in automatic ticket vending machines, coin lockers installed in station premises and amusement facilities, various vending machines, and all devices that handle dedicated coins and coins, and a system that handles a plurality of these devices collectively.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when collecting proceeds from a game center, a staff member of the game center collects cash from each game machine and hands the collected cash to a person in charge of collecting money. . However, this method has low reliability with respect to the amount of money collected, and the situation in which the actual amount of sales does not match the amount of money collected tends to occur. Therefore, conventionally, a system for centrally managing the sales in the game center has been proposed. .

In this system, a computer for counting is provided in the management department of the game center, and each of the computer and the game machine is connected by a communication line. When coins such as 100-yen coins are inserted into the game machine, a signal indicating the insertion is sent from the game machine to the computer. Therefore, it is possible to count the money put in on the computer side, so at the time of collecting money, by comparing the amount of money collected by the computer with the amount collected from the game machine, the reliability of the amount of money collected can be improved. I am raising.

[0004]

On the other hand, since game machines that continue to be popular and game machines that are temporarily popular are mixedly installed in the game center, the game machines are frequently rearranged. Will need to be done. Therefore, in the case of using the above system, since the communication line is connected to each game machine, it is necessary to change the wiring route of the communication line when changing the arrangement of the game machine. There was a problem that the time and effort required for it increased.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to reduce the time and effort required when rearranging devices such as gaming machines without lowering the reliability of the amount of money collected. It is to provide a system for managing the number of inputs that can prevent an increase.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a collection management system of the present invention is a system for counting input objects such as dedicated coins, coins and bills.
A loading number identifying device that detects loading of more than one type of loading object and sends a loading signal to a loading output provided for each type of loading object when the loading object is loaded. A counter memory provided inside a frame of a device provided with a throw-in number identifying device, for counting the throw-in signal, a connector to which the count value of the counter memory is led, and the above-mentioned connector led via this connector. It is configured to include a handy unit that stores a count value and a totaling device that reads the count value stored in the handy unit and displays the read count value.

[0007]

The number of objects to be thrown into the throwing number identifying machine is stored as a count value in the counter memory, and the stored count value is stored in the handy unit via the connector. Then, the count value stored in the handy unit is read and displayed by the totaling device.
In other words, the number of inserted objects such as coins inserted in a machine such as a gaming machine or a money changer is displayed on the totaling device without passing through a communication line.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical construction of an embodiment of the collection management system of the present invention.

The collection management system of the present invention is roughly composed of a gaming machine 10 into which an object 14 such as coins or game coins is inserted, a handy unit 21, and a totaling device 26.

The gaming machine 10 is composed of a throwing-in number identifying machine 11, a game machine section 12, and a counter memory 15. The counter memory 15 further includes a memory 16, a control section 17, and a clock section 18. It is composed of blocks. These input number identification machine 11, game machine section 1
2 and each block of the counter memory 15 are provided inside the frame 13 of the game machine 10. Further, the handy unit 21 is composed of four blocks of a control unit 22, a card reader 23, a memory card 24, and a switch 25.

Next, the connection relationship between these blocks will be described.

The number-of-inputs identification machine 1 into which the object 14 is introduced
The input output 111 of 1 is given to the game machine section 12 and the control section 17, and the memory 16 and the clock section 18 are bidirectionally connected to the control section 17. In addition, the control unit 1
7 and the connector 19 are bidirectionally connected by a communication line defined as RS-485.

The connector 20 and the control unit 22 are RS
-485 communication line 31 bidirectionally connected, the control unit 22 through the card reader 23, the memory card 24
And is bidirectionally connected. Further, the output from the switch 25 is given to the control unit 22. And the control unit 22
Is bidirectionally connected to the aggregation device 26 through a communication line 32 defined as RS-232.

Next, the structure of each block will be described.

The input number identifying device 11 is 10 yen, 50 yen, 1
It is a device for detecting five kinds of objects 14 to be inserted, coins of 00 yen and 500 yen and coins for play. In addition, the input output 111 is 1 for each of the five types of the input objects 14.
It is composed of a set of signal lines (that is, a total of 5 sets). Therefore, when an arbitrary object 14 is thrown in, the throwing number identification device 11 sends a throwing signal to the throwing output 111 corresponding to the type of the thrown object 14.

The game machine section 12 includes a circuit board on which a game program as a game machine is mounted, a CRT display section,
Also, it is a block whose main part is an input device such as a lever for moving an image, and executes main functions of the gaming machine 10. In addition, of the five sets of input outputs 111, corresponding to the input output 111 to which the input signal is transmitted,
The number of times the game can be played is set.

As shown in FIG. 3, the memory 16 stores a unit management area 41 in which data for identifying the counter memory 15 from other counter memories is stored, and various data necessary for controlling internal operations. The internal control management area 42 and a data area 43 capable of storing the number of input objects 14 in 100 days.

The data area 43 is divided into five areas corresponding to the type of the article to be loaded 14, and each of the divided areas is further divided in order to store the number of inputs per hour. ing. That is, the memory 16 is configured to store the number of inputs for each type of the input object 14 for each time width of one hour.

The control unit 17 is a block for controlling the function of the counter memory 15, and is provided corresponding to the input output 111 when the input signal is sent to any one of the input outputs 111. The count value stored in the data area is updated. And handy unit 21
When there is a request to send data from, the count value in the memory 16 is sent to the connector 19.

Further, the clock section 18 is constructed so that the time can be adjusted by an instruction from the control section 17. When the control unit 17 sends a time instruction request, the time data at that time is sent to the control unit 17.

Further, the connector 19 is attached through the frame 13 so that the connector 20 can be connected from the outside without opening the lid of the frame 13.

The control unit 22 also controls the memory card 24 to store the count value sent from the counter memory 15 and guided through the connectors 19 and 20, and the control for giving an operation instruction to the counter memory 15. It is a block to do.

The card reader 23 is used for the memory card 2
4 and the control unit 22, it is an interface for enabling the reading of data or the writing of data.

As shown in FIG. 2, the memory card 24 has a memory card ID area 4 in which data for identifying the memory card 24 from other memory cards is stored.
4, a control command area 45 in which data for control is stored, a unit management information area 46 in which data necessary for managing the counter memory 15 is stored, and a count value sent from the counter memory 15 are stored. It is configured by a data area 47 for executing.

The switch 25 includes connectors 19 and 20.
When the handy unit 21 is connected to the counter memory 15 by way of the switch, it serves as a switch for giving an instruction to start the operation of the handy unit 21 to the control unit 22.

The totalizing device 26 is a computer including an input device such as a keyboard, a display device, and a printer, and is connected to the handy unit 21 brought back together with the collected money. The block is a block for reading the count value stored in the memory card 24 via the control unit 22, printing the read data, and totalizing and displaying the count value.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the counter memory 15, and FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the totalizing device 26. While referring to the figure as necessary,
The operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

First, the handy unit 21 is initialized.

That is, by connecting the totalizing device 26 and the handy unit 21, the totalizing device 26 is provided in the management areas 44 to 46 provided in the memory card 24.
By using, the necessary data (including data for setting the time in a clock unit (not shown) provided in the handy unit 21) is stored.

Next, the counter memory 15 is initialized, that is, the handy unit 21 is connected to the counter memory 15 via the connectors 19 and 20. Then, predetermined data is sent from the handy unit 21 side to the control unit 17, and the sent data is stored in the management areas 41 and 42 in the memory 16. Further, the handy unit 21 sends out data indicating the time and sets the time of the clock unit 18 via the control unit 17.

When these initial settings are completed, the counter memory 15 and the handy unit 21 can operate.

In order to play a game with the gaming machine 10, when a 100-yen coin, for example, is inserted into the inserted-number discriminating machine 11 as the object 14 to be inserted, it corresponds to the 100-yen coin of the five sets of output 111. A closing signal is sent to the closing output 111.

Therefore, when the control unit 17 detects that a closing signal is sent to the closing output 111, the clock unit 18
The time is read from (steps S11, S1
4) Calculate which time zone the read time is included in (step S15). Then, after that, the address in the memory 16 is calculated based on the calculation result, and the count value of the counter provided at the calculated address is incremented by 1 (step S16).

The counter memory 15 repeats the above operation every time the object 14 is loaded into the loading number identification machine 11.
Therefore, in the data area 43 of the memory 16, the load 1
The number of charges per hour is stored as a count value for each of the four types.

At the time of collecting money, the handy unit 21 brought by the person in charge of collecting money is connected to the counter memory 15. When the switch 25 is operated in this state, the handy unit 21 sends the time data indicated by the clock unit provided therein to the control unit 17 in order to correct the error of the clock unit 18. Therefore, the control unit 17
The sent time is set in the clock unit 18, and the error generated in the clock unit 18 is corrected.

When the correction of the time is completed, the handy unit 21 outputs a count value sending command to the control unit 17. Therefore, the control unit 17
Of the count values stored in the data area 43 of the memory 16, for the period corresponding to the amount of money to be collected, the count value for each time zone of 1 hour is sent to the handy unit 21 for each type of the input object ( Steps S11 to S13).
These count values are stored in the data area 47 of the memory card 24 via the control unit 22 and the card reader 23.

The handy unit 21 in which the count value is stored in the memory card 24 by the above operation is the gaming machine 10.
It is brought back to the sales office together with the cash that is the input object 14 collected from. The handy unit 21 is connected to the communication line 3
It is connected to the totalizing device 26 via 2.

Therefore, the count value, the data indicating the identification of the counter memory 15, the date and time data, etc. stored in the memory card 24 are read by the totaling device 26 (steps S21, S22). Further, the collected amount is input using the input device (steps S21 and S23).

When the number-of-inputs identifying machine 11 is operated without inserting the object 14 for maintenance of the gaming machine 10, this number of operations causes a difference between the count value and the amount of money collected. Therefore, in order to correct this difference, the number of operations during maintenance is input (steps S21 and S24).

Based on the data input by the above operation, the totaling device 26 causes the data file showing the sales by game center, the data file showing the sales by type of the gaming machine 10, the data file showing the daily sales, and The data files necessary for collecting other data are updated (step S25).

Then, based on the various updated data files, a list showing sales for each time period, a monitor list showing the total amount of collected money, a daily sales report by model, a daily sales report by area, etc. are displayed. (Steps S26, S
27). The printing is also performed (steps S26 and S2).
8). In other words, these lists show the exact amount of sales (collected amount) in the game center and collate with the collected amount.

A game machine 1 to be arranged in each game center
When an index for model selection of 0 is needed, according to various data files based on count values collected over a long period, monthly sales by time zone, sales by model, sales trends throughout the year, etc. Various graphs are displayed on the display device (steps S26 and S29).

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the counter memory 15 has been described in the case of being provided inside the frame 13 of the gaming machine 10, but it is provided inside a game center or an amusement park. It can be configured inside a frame such as a money changer, a ticket vending machine, or a vending machine that sells other products, and further inside a general device equipped with a number-of-inputs identification machine. It can be configured.

The number-of-insertion-identifier 11 has been described as having a structure for detecting the insertion of the dedicated coin and the insertion of five kinds of the objects 14 of four kinds of coins of 10 to 500 yen. The configuration can be similarly applied to, for example, a configuration in which only the insertion of 100-yen coins is detected, or a configuration in which the insertion of 500-yen coins and bills as used in a money changer is detected.

The gaming machine has been described as applied to the configuration in which one insertion number identifying machine 11 is provided in one frame 13, but as shown in FIG. In addition to allowing two to five persons to play the game independently of each other, two to five players can play the game in association with each other. 11e and five game consoles 12a-1
The same can be applied to the case of a gaming machine provided with 2e (at this time, five throwing number identification machines 1
The input outputs 1a to 11e are connected to the counter memory 15).

Further, as a structure similar to that shown in FIG. 6, in order to allow 2 to 4 players to play the game independently of each other or in association with each other, one frame corresponds to the number of playable players. It can be similarly applied to a gaming machine provided with a number-of-inputs identification machine and a game machine section.

When the gaming machine is configured to pay out the number of coins or the like according to the game result, as shown in FIG. An output 121f indicating the number of coins paid out by the game machine section 12f and a counter memory 15f are provided. The counter memory 15f stores both the number of inserted coins and the number of paid-out coins, and the difference between them. Further, when this configuration is used, the operation of the totaling device 26 is an operation in which the number of inserted coins and the number of paid-out coins are individually aggregated and displayed, and the difference is displayed (10f is a gaming machine,
13f shows the frame).

Regarding the mounting position of the connector 19, a case has been described in which the connector 20 can be connected from the outside without opening the lid of the frame 13, but the connector 19 is provided inside the frame 13. It is possible to have a different configuration. At this time, handy unit 2
When 1 is connected to the counter memory 15, the lid of the frame 13 is opened.

[0050]

In the collection management system according to the present invention, a counter memory for counting the input signal sent by the input number identification machine is provided inside the frame of the equipment provided with the input number identification machine. It guides the counted value to the connector. Then, the count value guided to the connector is stored in the handy unit, and the count value stored in the handy unit is read out and displayed by using the counting device. Therefore, the number of inserted objects such as coins thrown into a gaming machine or a money changer will be displayed on the counting device without going through a communication line, leading to a decrease in the reliability of the amount of money collected. It is possible to prevent an increase in time and effort required when rearranging devices such as gaming machines.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embodiment of a collection management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing allocation of data in a memory card.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing allocation of data in a memory.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a counter memory.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the tallying device.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration when the present invention is applied to a game machine having a configuration different from that of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration when the present invention is applied to a gaming machine configured to pay out coins and the like.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Gaming Machine 11 Input Number Identification Machine 13 Frame 14 Object to be Inserted 15 Counter Memory 19 Connector 21 Handy Unit 26 Totaling Device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A collection management system that counts objects to be inserted such as dedicated coins, coins, and bills, and detects the insertion of one or more kinds of the objects, and when the objects are inserted, A throwing number identifying device that sends a throwing signal to a throwing output provided corresponding to each type of the throwing object, and a throwing signal of the throwing signal provided inside the frame of the equipment provided with the throwing number identifying device. A counter memory for counting, a connector to which the count value of the counter memory is led, a handy unit for storing the count value led via the connector, and a reading of the count value stored in the handy unit. And a totalizing device for displaying the read count value, and a collection management system.