JPH07284553A - Symbol identification device for playing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To identify the in the kinds of symbol string in a short time. CONSTITUTION:Light shielding bands 17a, 17b, and 17c having the semi-circle length are provided on the 1st to the 3rd reel 5a-5c. When each reel is rotated, photo sensors 20a, 20b, and 20c detect the transit of the front and back ends of the light shielding band. In response to this, reset signal generation circuits 24a, 24b, and 24c generate two reset signals while the reel rotates once. Address ranges R1, R2, and R3 of each reel on a pattern table 32 are made correspond to the two reference positions decided by the front and back ends of each light shielding band to set two address areas R1a, R1b, R3a, R3b. The symbol code corresponding to the semi-circle symbol arrangement of each reel is stored. The driving pulse rotating stepping motors 10a, 10b, and 10c is counted by counters 26a, 26b, and 26c. The count value of the counter is reset by a reset pulse.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gaming machine using a symbol array, and more particularly to a symbol identifying device for surely identifying the types of symbols forming the symbol array in a short time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A slot machine is known as a game machine using a symbol array. In a slot machine, for example, a plurality of types of symbols are arranged on each of three reels at a fixed pitch, and all reels are simultaneously rotated at the start of the game. Then, when these reels stop, the symbols appearing in the display window can be combined for each reel according to a predetermined pay line, and a medal payout can be received when the combination corresponds to a win.

Most of recent slot machines drive each reel by directly connecting each reel to a drive shaft of a stepping motor. Since the stepping motor rotates at an equal angle every time a drive pulse is input, the rotation angle of the motor can be uniquely obtained if the number of input drive pulses is known. However, in a stepping motor, a step-out phenomenon may occur in which the correspondence between the number of drive pulses input and the rotation angle may change. In this case, the rotation angle of the motor cannot be determined from the number of drive pulses. .

In order to deal with such a situation, a signal piece is provided at the reference position of the reel, and the passage of this signal piece is photoelectrically detected and a reset pulse is obtained every time the reel makes one rotation. One rotation of the reel corresponds to one rotation of the stepping motor, and the count value of the counter (counting means) is reset for each rotation. Therefore, the counter counts the number of drive pulses within one rotation of the stepping motor, and the count value provides the rotation angle within one rotation of the stepping motor.
Further, since the arrangement pitch of the symbols on the reels and the types of the symbols are known in advance, based on the count value of the counter when the stepping motor is stopped, the symbols stopped on a specific position, for example, on the pay line. The type of can be identified.

For such symbol identification processing,
A symbol table (symbol information) defined for each type of symbol is used for each reel in a pattern table memory (storage means). Addresses are assigned to the symbol codes according to the order of arrangement,
Moreover, these addresses are associated with the count value of the counter. Therefore, the address is determined based on the count value of the counter when the reel is stopped, and if the pattern table is compared based on this address, the type of the symbol stopped on the pay line can be known.

[0006]

However, in the conventional slot machines, since the reset signal is obtained every time the reel makes one rotation as described above, the counter outputs the drive pulse based on one rotation of the reel. We are counting. Correspondingly, the symbol code for one rotation of the reel must be sequentially arranged along with the address in the pattern table. Therefore, after the count value of the counter is specified, when the pattern tables are compared based on the count value, the symbol code to which a specific address is assigned is searched from the array of symbol codes for one reel. It has to be indispensable and has a drawback that the search processing time is long.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and a symbol identifying device for a gaming machine capable of retrieving a predetermined symbol code from a picture table in which symbol codes are arranged in a short time. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sets a plurality of reference positions in a symbol array in which a plurality of types of symbols are arrayed, and allows each reference position to pass when the symbol array moves. A plurality of reset signals are obtained by detection, and the count value of the counting means is reset by each reset signal. Then, a plurality of types of symbol information are prepared in correspondence with each reference position in the storage means constituting the design table, and the symbol identification means
Corresponding ones are selected from a plurality of types of symbol information for each reference position, and the symbol type is identified by comparison with the count value of the counting means.

[0009]

When the symbol array is moved, the signals obtained in synchronization with it are counted by the counting means. A reset signal is generated from the reset signal generation means each time a plurality of reference positions of the symbol array is passed, and the count value of the counting means is reset each time each reset signal is generated. The signals generated in synchronization with the movement of the symbol string up to the position are counted. The symbol identification means selects predetermined symbol information from the storage means according to which reference position of the symbol array has been passed to reset the counting means, and searches the symbol type by comparing with the count value of the counting means. .

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 2 showing the appearance of a slot machine using the present invention, a front door 2 is pivotally mounted on the front surface of a main body 1 of the slot machine, and a vertically long symbol display window 3 is provided on its panel display 2a. Are three in parallel. Through each symbol display window 3, the first to third reels 5a to 5c
You can observe 3 symbols each.

The panel display portion 2a has three pay lines horizontally and two pay lines diagonally, and the number of pay lines to be activated is determined according to the number of coins inserted from the coin slot 6. . Further, reference numeral 7 indicates a start lever for activating the reels 5a to 5c after inserting a coin,
Reference numerals 8a to 8c denote stop buttons operated when stopping the rotating reels 5a to 5c for each reel.

In FIG. 1 showing the main part of the first reel 5a, the first reel 5a fixed to the drive shaft 11a of the stepping motor 10a includes a reel main body 12 and a mounting plate 13 screwed thereto. It comprises a symbol sheet 14 attached to the outer periphery of the reel body 12.

The reel body 12 includes a frame body 12a integrally formed with the bridge portion 16 in plastic, and a frame body 12 integrally formed in plastic with the light shielding band 17a.
b, and these frame bodies 12a and 12b are integrally connected by a connecting rod 18. The symbol sheet 14 is made of a flexible plastic sheet or the like, and symbol marks are arranged at a constant pitch on the surface thereof.

The mounting plate 13 is screwed to the reel body 12, the drive shaft 11a of the stepping motor 10a is inserted into the hole 13a of the mounting plate 13, and then the set screw 19 is tightened, so that the first reel 5a drives the drive shaft. The first reel 5a is fixed to the drive shaft 11a and is rotated integrally with the drive shaft 11a. Since the drive shaft 11a, the hole 13a, and the bridge portion 16 and the protruding portion of the mounting plate 13 are each formed with a flat portion, they are always fixed at a constant angular position.

The light shielding band 17a is formed inside the right reel body 12b over a half circumference. The photo sensor 20a is provided so as to straddle the rotation path of the light shielding band 17a, and the passage of the light shielding band 17a is photoelectrically detected by the photo sensor 20a. Since the reel 5a is rotated counterclockwise by the stepping motor 10a, the photoelectric signal from the photo sensor 20a is transferred to the front edge 17 of the light-shielding band 17a.
It rises when f passes, and falls when the trailing edge 17r passes.

Since the light-shielding band 17a is set to have a length of a half circumference in the circumferential direction as described above, the reel 5
When a is rotated halfway from an arbitrary position, the photo sensor 20a detects the front edge 17f or the rear edge 17r of the light-shielding band 17a.
Detect the passage of.

An index S is engraved at a position having a fixed relationship with the position of the light-shielding band 17a, for example, the position of the trailing edge 17r. Attached. As a result, the rotational position of the drive shaft 11a, the angular position of the light-shielding band 17a, and the arrangement position of the symbol marks on the symbol sheet 14 have a constant relative relationship with each other, and the photosensor 20a
Will detect the passage of two reference positions of the reel 5a every time the passage of the leading edge 17f and the trailing edge 17r is detected. The second reel 5b and the third reel 5c are different only in the type and arrangement order of the symbol marks arranged on the symbol sheet, and other structures are as follows.
The structure of the first reel 5a is exactly the same.

FIG. 3 shows a circuit configuration of the slot machine, and a portion surrounded by a broken line X is composed of a microcomputer. Stepping motors 10a, 10b, 10c for driving the first to third reels 5a-5c are connected to a microprocessor unit (hereinafter referred to as MPU) 23 via drivers 22a, 22b, 22c. Light-shielding bands 17a, 17b integrated with each reel,
Photosensors 20a, 2 for detecting passage of 17c
Reset signal generation circuits 24a and 24 are provided at 0b and 20c.
b and 24c are connected.

The reset signal generating circuits 24a to 24c are
Differentiating circuit for discriminating and detecting changes in photoelectric signals from the corresponding photosensors 20a to 20c, that is, rising and falling of the photoelectric signals, and different data corresponding to positive and negative of the differential output. And an encoder that outputs a signal including the signal. The signal output is supplied to the MPU 23 as a reset signal.

The MPU 23 has a clock pulse generation circuit 2
Driver 2 based on the clock pulse supplied from
Drive pulses are output to 2a to 22c. Driver 22a
Counters 26a, 26b, and 26c are provided to count the number of drive pulses supplied to .about.22c, respectively. The stepping motors 10a to 10c are drivers 2
Each time a drive pulse is input to 2a to 22c, it rotates by a unit step angle, and each reel rotates integrally with this,
As a result, the counters 26a to 26c count the drive pulses generated in synchronization with the rotation of the reel. The count values of these counters 26a to 26c are MPU2 when the driving of the stepping motors 10a to 10c is stopped.
It is fed back to 3. Also, each counter 26a-
26c has a reset terminal, and when a reset pulse is supplied from the MPU 23, the count value of the counter is reset to "0".

The program ROM 27 controls the processing of the MPU 23 in accordance with the progress of the game, and controls the stopping of the stepping motors 10a to 10c as described later.
The random value sampling circuit 28 samples a random value from randomly generated random values at the timing when the start lever 7 is operated. The probability table 29 is
The range of the generated random number is divided according to the payout rate. The random number value sampled as described above is the value of the winning division or the value corresponding to the loss. Is determined.

The stop symbol determination circuit 30 determines a combination of symbols so that a winning or a loss corresponding to the determination result of the winning table 29 is made. That is, for example, when the sampled random number value corresponds to a big hit such as a jackpot, the reels 5a to 5c are arranged so that the symbols constituting the big hit are arranged on the activated pay line P. Control the stop position of.

The picture table 32 is composed of a ROM and is divided into _three address ranges R ₁ , R ₂ and R ₃ corresponding to the first to third reels 5a to 5c, and these address ranges R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ are each further R _1a , R _1b ,
The address area is divided into R _2a , R _2b , R _3a , and R _3b . In these address areas, symbol codes obtained by coding symbol marks are stored in the order of addresses according to the arrangement of each reel.

At the head address of the address area R _1a , a symbol code representing a symbol mark passing on the pay line P when the front edge 17f of the light-shielding band 17a of the first reel 5a passes the photo sensor 20a. Is stored in the address area R _1b.
A symbol code representing a symbol mark passing on the pay line P at the time when the trailing edge 17r of a passes through the photo sensor 20a is stored. Since the leading edge 17f corresponds to one reference position of the reel 5a and the trailing edge 17r corresponds to the other reference position of the reel 5a, the address range R ₁ of the picture table 32 corresponds to the type of reference position. Then, two types of symbol code arrays are prepared.

When all the reels 5a to 5c are stopped, the winning determination circuit 33 confirms whether or not the combination of the symbol marks on the winning line P corresponds to the winning. For this reason, the winning determination circuit 33 is connected to a winning table 34 in which a combination of symbol codes corresponding to winning and the coin payout amount data corresponding to the winning are stored. As a result of the winning determination, the payout control circuit 35 operates according to a command from the MPU 23 when a winning is obtained in the game, and pays out the number of coins corresponding to the winning through the hopper device 36.

The operation of the slot machine is as follows. Prior to the start of the game, the number of activated winning lines is determined according to the number of coins inserted from the coin insertion slot 6, and the start lever 7 is unlocked.
When the start lever 7 is operated, the first to third reels 5a
.About.5c start rotating all at once, and the symbol mark moves with the rotation of the reel.

At the same time, the random value sampling circuit 2
A specific random number value is sampled by 8. This random number value is compared with the probability table 29, and the type of winning (including loss) of the started game is set.

By the time the first to third reels 5a to 5c are activated and the rotation thereof reaches a half rotation, the rising or falling of the photoelectric signal is detected from each of the photosensors 20a to 20c. This detection signal is used as a reset signal by the reset pulse generation circuit 24a.
The counters 26 that are input to the PU 23 and further correspond to each
The count values of a to 26c are reset to "0".

Further, the stepping motor 10a
When the rotation of 10 to 10c is continued, the counter 26a to
26c counts the number of drive pulses, and is reset to "0" every half rotation.

In this way, each time the count value of the counters 26a to 26c is reset, the counters 26a to 26c are reset.
Based on the count value in
The symbol mark passing through the pay line P is monitored while referring to 2. And in this embodiment, the reels 5a-5
If any of c is rotated a half turn, the photo sensors 20a to 20
A reset signal is obtained by the rising or falling of the photoelectric signal from c.

At the time of searching for this symbol code, it is identified which reference position of the reel 5a has passed the reset signal that resets the counter 26a immediately before that. That is, is the count value of the counter 26a after reset by the rising edge of the photoelectric signal,
Alternatively, it is identified whether or not it has been reset at the fall of the photoelectric signal. Then, when the count value is after reset by the rise of the photoelectric signal, the symbol code data in the address region R _1a is compared, and the symbol code written in the address corresponding to the count value is fetched. Further, when it is after reset by the fall of the photoelectric signal, the symbol code data in the address region R _1b is fetched.

Then, for example, when the stop button 8a is operated, the stop symbol determination circuit 30 operates based on the operation timing, and the stepping motor 10 is operated so that the scheduled winning is obtained by the probability table 29.
Control the stop of a. Therefore, based on the count value of the counter 26a, the symbol code stored in the address range R ₁ of the picture table 32 is referred to determine the symbol mark of the first reel 5a to be stopped on the pay line P, which is satisfied. So that the stepping motor 10a
Are driven and controlled.

Similarly, the second reel 5b and the third reel 5c
Also, based on the operation timings of the stop buttons 8b and 8c and the data from the probability table 29, the count values of the counters 26b and 26c are compared with the data in the respective address areas R _2a , R _2b , R _3a and R _3b . While contrasting
The driving of the stepping motors 10b to 10c is controlled so as to stop a predetermined symbol mark on the pay line P.

As described above, the stepping motor 10
a to 10c are stop-controlled, and the first to third reels 5a to 5 are
When c is stopped, the counters 26a to 26c are reached at that time.
The pattern table 32 is referred to again from the count value of 1, and the winning symbol determination circuit 33 confirms the combination of the symbol marks stopped on the winning line P. When a winning is obtained, the coins of the number corresponding to the winning are paid out through the payout control circuit 35 and the hopper device 36, and one game ends.

As described above, since two kinds of symbol code arrays are stored in the pattern table 32 corresponding to different kinds of reset signals due to rising and falling of the photoelectric signal, the symbols are counted from the count values of the counters 26a to 26b. The processing time when searching for a code can be shortened.

Further, the stepping motors 10a to 10c
Since the reset signal is obtained when the
-After starting the third reels 5a to 5c, it is sufficient to provide a waiting time for half a reel rotation, which is also advantageous in efficiently operating the slot machine.

Another embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 4 shows an example in which a fan-shaped light-shielding band 42 is fixed to a drive shaft 41 of a stepping motor 40. A rotor 43 composed of a permanent magnet is also fixed to the drive shaft 41, and these are inserted into an exterior case 45 holding a stator 44 composed of a winding core and a coil. A support cylinder 47 fitted into the outer case 45 is fixed to the base plate 46, and a photosensor 48 is attached to the inner wall of the support cylinder 47.

The light emitting and receiving portions of the photo sensor 48 are arranged so as to sandwich the rotating surface of the light shielding band 42, and the light shielding band 42 is disposed.
Photoelectrically detect the passage of. The photoelectric signal from the photo sensor 48 is supplied to the reset signal generating circuit 49 having the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment. Therefore, the reset signal generating circuit 49 outputs different reset signals at the rising and falling edges of the photoelectric signal from the photo sensor 48, respectively.
The symbol code can be efficiently searched using the pattern table 32 shown in FIG. In this way, by incorporating the light-shielding band 42 in the stepping motor 40, there is no possibility of damaging the light-shielding band 42 during the assembly work of the slot machine reel.

If the opening angle of the light-shielding band 42 is 180 °, a reset signal is obtained every half rotation of the drive shaft 41, but the opening angle is not necessarily limited to 180 °. Further, instead of the fan-shaped light-shielding band 42, a light-shielding disc provided with arc-shaped slits may be fixed to the drive shaft 41 to obtain the same function.

The above description is based on the embodiment in which the electric signal supplied to the reset signal generating means is photoelectrically taken out by using the photosensor. However, the drive shaft of the stepping motor or the rotation thereof is performed integrally therewith. The passage of the signal member fixed to the reel may be taken out as an electric signal by using a magnetic sensor, a proximity sensor or the like, and a reset signal may be generated based on the electric signal thus taken out.

[0041]

As described above, according to the gaming machine symbol discriminating apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of reference positions provided in the symbol row are provided in the storage means for storing the symbol information corresponding to the arrangement of the symbols. Since a plurality of types of symbol information are stored in correspondence with the above, the count value of the counting means is reset every time the symbol array is moved and the passage of a plurality of reference positions is detected, and a predetermined symbol is set for each reference position. By selecting the information, it becomes possible to quickly search for the type of symbol, and it is possible to perform the symbol identification processing in a shorter time than the conventional device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a slot machine reel using the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of a slot machine using the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a slot machine using the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment of the reset signal generating means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5a-5c 1st-3rd reel 10a Stepping motor 12 Reel body 17a-17c Light-shielding band 20a-20c Photosensor 23 MPU (microprocessor unit) 24a-24c Reset signal generation circuit 26a-26c Counter 32 Picture table

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing predetermined symbol information corresponding to each symbol and a signal obtained in synchronization with the movement of the symbol sequence, according to an arrangement order of a plurality of symbols constituting the symbol sequence. Counting means for counting,
Reset signal generation means for detecting that the reference position of the symbol row has passed when the symbol row is moved, and for generating a reset signal for resetting the count value of the counting means,
A gaming machine symbol identification device, comprising: an identification device that identifies a symbol type by comparing predetermined symbol information stored in the storage device based on a count value of the counting device. A reset signal is generated from the reset signal generating means each time a position is set and a passage of each reference position is detected when the symbol array is moved, and a plurality of types of storage signals corresponding to the plurality of reference positions are stored in the storage means. A game in which predetermined symbol information is stored, and the identification means selects and compares the symbol information corresponding to the type of the reference position from a plurality of types of predetermined symbol information stored in the storage means. Machine symbol identification device.