JPH08131610A - Slot machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To attract an audience irrespective of TV programs, to enable them to watch the television while playing a game, by providing a TV picture image displaying portion as well as a television switch for operating it on the front surface of a slot machine where a display portion of a row of symbols is disposed. CONSTITUTION: A slot machine 2 has a display panel 5 and a decorative panel 6 respectively fitted into its front door 4 which is axially attached to the body 3 of the slot machine. In the display panel 5, display windows 10 through 12 respectively displaying a plurality of reels from 7 through 9 are formed and a plurality of winning lines 13 and winning line displaying portions 14 are respectively provided. Further, into the upper front face of the body 3 a decorative panel 17 to be illuminated is fitted, and into the opening thereof a liquid crystal display 18 displaying a television picture image is fitted. In the central portion of the front door 4, a plurality of stop buttons 19 through 21, a start lever 22, a credit button 23, a medal casting button 24, a medal casting opening 25, and a television operating portion 26 are respectively provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a slot machine which allows a user to watch television while playing a game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a slot machine, a plurality of reels are rotated by operating a start lever after inserting medals. When the stop button is operated, all reels are stopped. After that, the winning determination is performed by the combination of the symbols stopped on the winning line, and when the result is the winning, the number of medals corresponding to the winning combination is paid out. The combination of the symbols is, for example, "BAR"-"B".
If you are a jackpot of "AR"-"BAR" or "7"-"7"-"7", you will get a lot of medals,
Players of slot machines play games with the expectation of winning the jackpot because they are awarded with a high probability of winning and are given the right to a bonus game that can win a large number of medals.

In recent slot machines, the generation of a big hit combination is prevented from being concentrated too much, and the probability of occurrence is controlled to about 1/200 by a microcomputer. In a slot machine controlled by a microcomputer, even if you press the stop button at the right time while watching the symbols that are spinning (pressing the button), you cannot generate the big hit, let alone the small hit, and the big hit The player has learned from the information magazine of the slot machine that the next big hit hand will not occur unless a certain number of games are played immediately after the occurrence.

Further, in the game of the slot machine, since a game can be played using a large number of medals obtained as a big hit hand, most of the players who have made a big hit hand once have a long time, for example, 1-2 hours or more. I do. In such a player, the game to be played for a while immediately after the jackpot is a discarding game to a new jackpot, and when two "BAR" or "7" are occasionally lined up on the winning line, It does the above push, but it does not even push the rest.

[0005]

By the way, since the game of the slot machine is a simple operation of inserting a medal, operating the start lever and pushing three stop buttons, the conventional slot machine described above is used. A player who plays a game for a long time has a problem in that the game immediately after the jackpot is tedious. Further, in the above-mentioned conventional slot machine, since the game time is long and the slot machine has to be faced with the player during the game, it is of course that the broadcast time is 1 There was a problem that the number of players of the slot machine decreased from time before. There are slot machines without stop buttons and video type machines that move and display symbols on the CRT without using reels, but these slot machines also have the same drawbacks.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances. When desired, a television can be watched while playing a game. Furthermore, a game hall can attract customers without being affected by a television program, It is an object of the present invention to provide a slot machine with a high operating rate.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, when a player desires, a display unit for displaying a plurality of symbol strings and a start unit so that a television image can be viewed during a game. When the lever is operated, the symbol array moving means for moving a plurality of symbol arrays and whether or not the game started by the operation of the start lever is a winning prize are determined in advance, and the symbol array corresponding to the determination result is determined. A prize determination means for determining a stop position, a symbol row stop means for stopping each moving symbol row at the stop position, and an image display arranged on the front surface of the slot machine,
It is composed of a video display means for displaying a television image on the video display and a television switch for turning on / off the drive of the video display means.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the player quits the game and leaves the slot machine, the driving of the image display means is automatically stopped. Therefore, when the start signal is not output for a certain time or more, I am trying to reset the TV switch. Further, in the invention according to claim 3, in addition to the configuration according to claim 1 or 2, a tuning switch for switching a channel of a television image displayed on the video display is provided on the front surface or the side surface of the slot machine. is there.

[0009]

According to the structure of claim 1, when the start lever is operated, the symbol array is moved and displayed, and the game is started. When the player turns on the television switch, the television image is displayed on the video display. Since the video display is in the same field of view as the display, the player can watch the television while playing the game.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the player quits the game and leaves the slot machine, the start signal is not output for a certain period of time, so the television switch is reset and the image display means automatically. The drive is stopped. According to the structure of claim 3, when the channel selection switch is operated, the channel of the television image displayed on the video display is switched.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 showing the appearance of a slot machine 2 to which the present invention is applied, a front door 4 which can be opened and closed is attached to a main body 3 of the slot machine 2. A display panel 5 and a decorative panel 6 are fitted in the front door 4. The display panel 5 is formed with three reel display windows 10 to 12 that respectively display the three reels 7 to 9 inside.
In addition, the display panel 5 has a total of five winning lines 1 across the reel display windows 10 to 12, three horizontally and two diagonally.
3 is marked. On one end side of these pay lines 13, pay line display portions 14 illuminated by internal lamps are arranged according to the number of inserted medals. The decorative panel 6 is also illuminated by an internal lamp. Note that reference numeral 15 is a first display portion that displays the number of credits, and reference numeral 16 is a second display portion that displays the number of paid out medals.

A decorative panel 17 illuminated by an internal illumination lamp is fitted on the upper front surface of the main body 3. An opening is formed in the decorative panel 17, and an image display device for displaying a television image, for example, a liquid crystal display 18 having an aspect ratio of 3: 4 is fitted in the opening.
In this embodiment, the image display is a liquid crystal display, but it may be an LED display or a CRT. Although the liquid crystal display 18 is fitted in the opening of the decorative panel 17 in this embodiment, the portion corresponding to the opening may be arranged behind the transparent decorative panel 17. Furthermore, although the liquid crystal display 18 is arranged above the display panel 5 in this embodiment, it may be arranged below the display panel 5, for example.

Further, three stop buttons 19 to 19 are provided at the center of the front door 4 which is sandwiched between the display panel 5 and the decorative panel 6.
21, a start lever 22, a credit button 23, a medal insertion button 24, a medal insertion opening 25, and a television operation unit 26 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the television operating section 26 is provided with a lid 26a which can be opened and closed. When the lid 26a is opened, the three touch switches are exposed. These touch switches are a TV switch 27 for turning ON / OFF the drive of the TV receiving unit, and a tuning switch 2 for switching the TV image of the liquid crystal display 18.
8. Volume switch 2 for adjusting the volume of TV sound
9 The tuning switch 28 selects a channel for each touch, and the volume switch 29 adjusts the volume for each touch.

Since the lid 26a is normally closed, the touch switch will not be unintentionally switched during the game. A notch 26b is formed in a part of the television operating section 26, and the notch 26b is formed in the television operating section 2
The juice spilled on 6 is discharged and the lid 26
When opening a, it is easy to hang a finger on the lid 26a.
A terminal hole 30 is provided on the right side of the television operating unit 26. When a stethoscope type earphone tube is inserted into the terminal hole 30, television sound can be heard from the internal speaker.

Inside the medal slot 25, a medal detection sensor, which will be described later, is provided. When one to three medals are inserted prior to the start of the game, the operation of the start lever 22 is validated, and the winning line display unit 14 that displays the activated winning line 13 according to the number of inserted medals. Lamp (not shown) is turned on. When the credit button 23 is pressed to turn it on, the mode is switched to the credit mode.

In this credit mode, up to 50 medals can be credited in advance, and the number of medals inserted and stored from the medal insertion slot is displayed on the first display section 15 as the number of credits. When this number of credits is displayed, each time the medal insertion button 24 is pressed, one medal is inserted through the medal insertion slot 25, and the number of credits displayed on the first display unit 15 Is decremented by "1". When the credit button 23 is pressed to switch from ON to OFF, the credit mode is released, and the same number of medals as the number of credits displayed on the first display section 15 is paid out to the tray 31. The number of credits displayed on the first display unit 15 does not become negative.

When the start lever 22 is operated, the three reels 7 to 9 are simultaneously rotated. When the rotation of the reels 7 to 9 shifts to the constant speed rotation after a certain period of time elapses, the stop buttons 19 to 21 can be operated. When each of the stop buttons 19 to 21 is pressed, the three reels 7 to 9 are stopped in the order in which they are pressed.

On the outer circumference of each reel 7-9, "lemon",
Symbols such as "BAR" and "7" are written at regular intervals, and when the rotation of the reels 7 to 9 is stopped, three symbols are displayed in the reel display windows 10 to 12, respectively. When the combination of the symbols displayed on the activated winning line 13 is determined to be a winning, the winning line display portion 14 is illuminated with blinking and the winning combination, for example, a big hit, a medium hit, or a small hit. A predetermined number of medals are paid out to the tray 31. The number of paid-out medals at this time is displayed on the second display unit 16. In the credit mode, instead of paying out medals to the tray 31, the payout medal count is added to the credit count displayed on the first display unit 15, and the added value is used as a new credit count. The display is updated and displayed on the display unit 15.

FIG. 3 shows an electrical configuration of the slot machine 2. Central processor unit (hereinafter,
The CPU 35 controls the slot machine 2 based on the sequence program stored in the ROM 60. The CPU 35 is connected with a television switch 27 for turning on and off the drive of the television receiving unit 36 shown by the broken line in the figure. When the television switch 27 is turned on, the tuning switch 28 and the volume switch 29 can send a signal to the CPU 35. It should be noted that the television switch 27 is used when the CPU 35 does not input a start signal or a detection signal, which will be described later, for a certain period of time.
It is turned off by the reset signal from.

The tuner circuit 37 selects a desired channel signal from the television high frequency signal and modulates it into a video intermediate frequency signal and an audio intermediate frequency signal. The video intermediate frequency signal is sent to the video intermediate frequency amplification / detection circuit 38, and the audio intermediate frequency signal is sent to the audio signal processing circuit 39. In this tuner circuit 37, every time a signal is sent from the tuning switch 28, the channel numbers in the preset range are switched by rotation.

The image intermediate frequency amplification / detection circuit 38 amplifies and detects the image intermediate frequency signal, and an NTSC system television.
The composite signal is sent to the decoder IC 40. The decoder IC 40 has a built-in circuit for Y / C separation, chroma demodulation, matrix, etc., and separates R, G, B primary color signals (hereinafter referred to as component signals) and composite sync signals separated from the TV composite signal into a liquid crystal. Send the display 18. The liquid crystal display 18 is driven by the component signal and the composite sync signal to display a television image.

The audio signal processing circuit 39 performs audio intermediate frequency detection and FM detection to generate a multiple signal containing the main audio signal from the audio intermediate frequency signal. Further, the multiplexed signal is subjected to voice multiplex demodulation to become a voice signal. Audio signal is speaker 41
Is turned into TV sound. The television sound is heard via the earphone tube, and the volume is adjusted by the volume switch 29. The signal from the volume switch 29 is sent to the audio signal processing circuit 39 via the CPU 35, and the amplification level is changed by rotation.

The CPU 35 includes the medal detection sensor 4
2 is connected. The medal detection sensor 42 detects the medals inserted from the medal insertion slot 25 one by one,
The detection signal is sent to the CPU 35 each time. CPU35
Counts the number of detection signal inputs and activates each pay line 13 according to the count value. In the credit mode, the numerical value obtained by subtracting “3” from the count value is displayed on the first display unit 15. Also, in the credit mode, every time the medal insertion button 24 is pressed, the CP
A signal having the same value as the detection signal is input to U35.

A start signal generator 44 is connected to the CPU 35, and the start signal generator 44 is activated by the first detection signal. When the start lever 22 is operated, the start signal generator 44 sends a start signal to the CPU 35. The CPU 35 sends a start signal to the reel drive controller 45 (see FIG. 4) and activates the sampling circuit 46.

In FIG. 4, the reel drive controller 45 supplies drive pulses to the pulse motors 48 to 50 to drive them and rotate the reels 7 to 9 all at once. While the reels 7 to 9 are rotating, the photo sensors 52 to 54 are provided with the notches 51.
The rotation position detection signal is output to the reel drive control unit 45 every time the rotation position detection signal is detected. The reel drive control unit 45 creates each rotational position data of the reels 7 to 9 from the rotational position detection signal and the number of drive pulses supplied to the pulse motors 48 to 50, and sends this to the CPU 35. As a result, the CPU 35
Can specify each symbol of each reel 7 to 9 on the pay line 13.

The sampling circuit 46 randomly samples one numerical value from a sequence of numbers within a predetermined range and sends it to the winning determination section 55 via the CPU 35. The winning determination unit 55 determines the stop positions of the reels 7 to 9 and the number of paid-out medals for the executed game based on the sent numerical values. Therefore, the symbol combination table 56 is connected to the winning determination section 55.

In the symbol combination table 56, all numerical values in a sequence of numbers within a predetermined range are divided into four groups with different payout medals, for example, a big hit group, a medium hit group, a small hit group, and a lose group, and stored. The stop position data of the reels 7 to 9 and the payout medal number data for each group are stored for each numerical value for each group. The number of each numerical value distributed to each group is determined based on the medal payout probability (payout rate). The winning determination unit 55 sends the stop position data and the payout medal number data to the CPU 35. CPU35
Sends the stop position data to the reel drive control unit 45 and writes the payout medal number data in the RAM 43.

When the rotation of each reel 7-9 shifts to the constant speed rotation, the CPU 35 enables the operation of the three stop buttons 19-21 via the reel drive control section 45. After that, when the stop buttons 19 to 21 are sequentially pressed from the left, for example, the reel drive control unit 45 receives the stop signal of the reel 7, the stop signal of the reel 8, and the stop signal of the reel 9 finally. Is output. The reel drive control unit 45 determines each pulse motor 4 based on each stop signal.
The driving of 8 to 50 is stopped, and the reels 7 to 9 are sequentially stopped from the left side.

At the time of this stop, the reel drive controller 45 further adjusts the stop positions of the reels 7 to 9 based on the stop position data. The adjustment of the stop position is performed by shifting the stop positions of the symbols by several positions back and forth within a range in which the deceleration speed until the spinning reels 7 to 9 are completely stopped can be seen uniformly by the player. . As a result, all reels 7-9
When the winning is stopped, the winning determination section 5 is placed on the winning line 13.
The combination of symbols determined in 5 can be displayed. The combination of these symbols is confirmed by the CPU 35 after all the reels 7 to 9 are stopped.

After this confirmation, the CPU 35 sends the payout medal number data recorded in the RAM 43 to the payout control unit 57. The payout control unit 57 drives the medal payout device 58 to pay out the medals stored therein to the tray 31.
In the credit mode, the CPU 35 is RA
The payout control unit 57 determines the payout medal number recorded in M43.
It is added to the number of stored medals displayed on the first display unit 15 without being sent to the user, and the added value is displayed on the first display unit 15 as the number of credits. At this time, the value after addition is 50
When the value exceeds 50, the remaining number of data exceeding 50 is sent to the payout controller 57, the medal payout device 58 is driven, and the medals are paid out to the tray 31. Reference numeral 61 is a clock pulse generator, and the CPU 35 determines the timing of various controls based on the clock pulse.

By the way, in this slot machine 2, the probability of a big hit is low, and it is suppressed to, for example, 1/200, and the reel 9 has a big hit symbol such as "BA".
Only one "R" is arranged. For this reason, the winning determination unit 55 is a big hit, for example, "BAR"-"BAR" -BA
When it is determined to be “R” and the reels 7 and 8 display “BAR” on the pay line 13, the timing of pressing the stop button 21 is immediately after “BAR” has passed through the reel display window 12, Even if the stop position is adjusted, "BAR" of the reel 9 may not be displayed on the pay line 13. At this time, no medals are paid out.

Since a large number of medals are paid out in a big hit,
When the above-mentioned case occurs, there occurs a problem that the medal payout rate of the slot machine 2 is greatly changed. Therefore, when the winning determination unit 55 determines that it is a big hit, the CP
In U35, not only the medal payout number data but also the stop position data is written in the RAM 43. After the stop of all reels 7 to 9, when the stop position data is read from the RAM 43 when the combination of these symbols is confirmed, the data of the RAM 43 is saved. Then, in the next game, the CPU 35 stops sampling, causes the reel drive control unit 45 to perform stop control of the reels 7 to 9 based on the stop position data of the RAM 43, and tries again to generate a big hit. This attempt is made until a big hit occurs. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the attempt to generate the big hit is continued, but the attempt to generate the big hit may be made every two or three games.

The operation of the slot machine 2 thus constructed will be described. Press the credit button 23,
When 20 medals are inserted from the medal insertion slot 25, first, the center pay line 13, the upper and lower two pay lines 13, and the two diagonal pay lines 13 are activated.
All the winning line display parts 14 are illuminated by the lamps behind. Then, the credit amount “17” is displayed on the first display unit 15.

After that, when the start lever 22 is operated, the reels 7 to 9 are simultaneously rotated to start the game. When the rotation of the reels 7 to 9 reaches the constant speed rotation, the stop buttons 19 to 21 can be operated. After that, when the stop buttons 19 to 21 are pressed, the reel drive control unit 45 adjusts the stop position while rotating the reels 7 to 7 that are rotating.
9 is stopped at each stop position determined by the winning determination section 55. As a result, three symbols are displayed in the reel display windows 10-12.

The CPU 35 determines whether or not there is a winning for the combination of the symbols on the five winning lines 13. When it is determined that the combinations of all the symbols are lost, one game ends. When the medal insertion button 24 is pressed three times and the start lever 22 is operated, the next game is started, and the reels 7 to 9 are simultaneously rotated. When the stop buttons 19 to 21 are pressed, the reels 7 to 9 are stopped and three symbols are displayed in the reel display windows 10 to 12, respectively.

If the combination of symbols on one of the five pay lines 13 is determined to be a medium hit, the CPU 35 reads out the data of the number of medals to be paid out, for example, "10" from the RAM 43, and The number of paid-out medals "10" is displayed on the 2nd display, and the number of credits "24" is displayed on the first display. Hereinafter, the same operation is repeated, and the game continues for several minutes or ten minutes.

At this time, when there is a TV program desired by the player, the lid 26a is opened and the TV switch 27 is opened.
Touch to turn it on. As a result, the television receiving unit 36 is driven and the television image is displayed on the liquid crystal display 18. When the television image is not the image of the desired channel, the channel selection switch 28 is touched to switch the display on the liquid crystal display 18 to the television image of the desired channel.

If you want to listen to TV sound while watching TV images, borrow an earphone tube from the hall,
Insert one end with the sponge into the ear and the other end into the terminal hole 30. At this time, the volume of the television sound is adjusted by repeatedly touching the volume switch 29. After this, the lid 2
When 6a is closed, the TV switch 27 and the tuning switch 2
You never touch 8. It should be noted that it is convenient to display the channel number in the corner of the television image for several seconds when selecting a channel.

After that, the player can watch the television image while playing the game. In the slot machine 2, a player sits on a chair and plays a game,
Is in the same field of view as the reel display windows 10 to 12, the medal insertion button 24, the start lever 22 and the stop buttons 19 to 21, so there is no problem in game operation.

When the game is repeated and the reels 7 and 8 are stopped, "BAR"-"BA" is displayed on the pay line 13.
When "R" is aligned, a sound effect is output from a game speaker (not shown), so that the player shifts his line of sight from the liquid crystal display 18 to the reel display window 12 when pressing the last stop button 21 even while watching a television image. Thus, the reel 9 can be stopped by focusing attention on the game.

When the stop button 21 is pressed and "BAR"-"BAR"-"BAR" are lined up on the pay line 13, the CPU 35 adds the number of paid-out medals to the number of credits on the first display section 15, and the number of credits. To update. After that, the CPU 35 switches the above-mentioned normal game mode to the bonus game mode. In this bonus game mode, the winning probability is increased and most games win. Therefore, the added value of the number of credits and the number of paid-out medals exceeds “50”, so that the medals are paid out to the receiving tray 31 and the receiving tray 31 is filled with medals when the bonus game ends. When the bonus game ends, the CPU 35 returns from the bonus game mode to the normal game mode. After this, the player plays the game aiming for a new big hit.

When the player quits the game and leaves the slot machine 2 with the television switch 27 turned on, a reset pulse is output from the CPU 35 to the reset circuit 27a after about 3 minutes, and the television switch 27 is turned off. When the television switch 27 is turned off, the driving of the television receiving unit 36 is automatically turned off, so that the television image on the liquid crystal display 18 can be automatically turned off.

In the above embodiment, the aspect ratio is 3: 4.
The TV image was displayed on the liquid crystal display 18 of
Video images and cable TV images may be displayed. Further, when displaying EDTV and HDTV television images, video images and cable television images, a liquid crystal display having an aspect ratio of 9:16 may be used.

In this embodiment, the present invention has been described with a slot machine with a stop button, but the same effect can be obtained by applying the present invention to a slot machine with an auto-stop mechanism and a video type slot machine for moving and displaying reels on a CRT. Obtainable. In the slot machine of this embodiment, the reels are arranged in three rows, but the reels may be arranged in N rows (an integer satisfying N> 3).

[0046]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the television switch is turned on, the television image is displayed on the video display provided on the front surface of the slot machine. You can watch TV while playing games when you want.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the television switch is turned on when the start lever is not operated for a certain time or longer.
Since the FF is performed, the television image can be automatically turned off when the player quits the game and leaves the slot machine.

In the invention according to claim 3, since the tuning switch is provided on the front surface or the side surface of the slot machine, the player operates the switch to display the television image of the desired channel on the video display. You can

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slot machine embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an operation unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an electrical configuration of a slot machine.

FIG. 4 is a diagram that captures FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 slot machine 7-9 reel 10-12 reel display window 18 liquid crystal display 22 start lever 27 TV switch 27a reset circuit 28 tuning switch 36 TV receiving unit 45 reel drive control unit 48-50 pulse motor 55 winning award determination unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display section for displaying a plurality of symbol rows in which various symbols are arranged at regular intervals, and a symbol row moving means for moving the plurality of symbol rows by a start signal output by operating a start lever. The game is started by operating the start lever, and it is determined in advance whether or not there is a prize, and the winning determination means for determining the stop position of each symbol row corresponding to the determination result, and the winning determination means for each moving symbol row. In a slot machine provided with a symbol row stopping means for stopping at a determined stop position, a video display provided on the front of the slot machine in which the display section is arranged, and a video display for displaying a television image on the video display. And a television switch which is provided on the front surface or the side surface of the slot machine and which turns on / off the drive of the video display means. Slot machine to be. 2. The slot machine according to claim 1, wherein the television switch is reset when a start signal is not output for a certain period of time or longer. 3. The slot machine according to claim 1, wherein a slot selection switch for switching a channel of a television image displayed on the video display is provided on a front surface or a side surface of the slot machine. Slot machine to do.