JPH08336634A - Game machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To facilitate resetting in the case where ball-shooting control has failed while a ball adjusting handle is fixed, so that a game machine can be made to malfunction as little as possible. CONSTITUTION: If a microcomputer 30 for controlling the driving of a ball shooting motor 17 has run away and the motor 17 being driven by a motor driving part 66 has failed, this failure is detected by an error circuit part 67, and a reset signal is output to the microcomputer 30. The error circuit part 67 may detect the failure based on the excited state of the coil of the motor 17 or by detecting that a current for driving the motor 17 has become excessive.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gaming machine typified by a pachinko gaming machine, a coin gaming machine, etc., and in particular, repels a hitting ball by using a driving force of an electric drive source such as a ball hitting motor. The present invention relates to a gaming machine that uses a ball striking device and has a control circuit that performs ball striking control based on the state of ball striking adjustment operation means that adjusts the resilience of the ball striking the ball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a gaming machine such as an electric pachinko gaming machine is known in which a ball is shot by the rotation of an electric drive source such as a ball driving motor. In such a gaming machine, the rotation of the ball striking motor is controlled by a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as "microcomputer") on a circuit board.

By the way, the microcomputer is vulnerable to static electricity noise and may run away frequently. Once the microcomputer starts to run out of control, it is necessary to reset it to return it to the initial state. For resetting, for example, there is a method in which the power supply to the control circuit is once turned off and then turned on again, or a dedicated reset switch provided in advance on the substrate is pushed. However, when such a method is used, it is necessary to open the front of the pachinko machine to turn off the power, or to bother to push the reset switch. During that time, the player cannot play the game, which is a major cause of hindering the interest of the game.

One proposal for solving such a problem is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-31721 (the title of the invention is "Pachinko ball launching device"). According to the technology described in this publication, the limit switch detects that the microcomputer has runaway and the player has stopped the game and released the ball from the ball adjusting handle to return the ball to the original position. Then, the reset signal is supplied to the microcomputer. In response to this reset signal, the microcomputer returns to normal operation as when the power was turned on. With such a configuration, it is said that the player can reset the microcomputer only by a simple operation of releasing the ball adjusting handle and returning the ball adjusting handle to the original position.

[0005]

However, the device disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-31721 still has the following problems. When a player plays a game for a long time with a ball game machine installed in the game hall,
A player inserts a foreign object such as a coin or a match stick into the ball-striking handle for performing the ball-striking operation, fixes the ball-striking ball in the operating state, and ejects the ball without grasping the ball-hiting ball at all. May play games. Even if the microcomputer runs out of control while playing such a game, the hitting ball operation handle is fixed, so that the technique of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-31721 cannot reset the microcomputer. As a result, not only is there a possibility that malfunction will occur because the ball striking device operates due to the microcomputer in a runaway state, but overcurrent will occur in the ball striking motor as a result of abnormal operation of the ball striking device, and the ball striking motor will be damaged. There is a fear.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to control a hitting ball while a hitting ball adjusting handle or other hitting ball adjusting operation means is fixed. An object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine capable of preventing malfunction even if an abnormality occurs in the game machine.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the electric drive source such as the ball striking motor from being damaged even if the ball striking control operation means is fixed and an abnormality occurs in the ball striking control. It is to provide a game machine that can be prevented as much as possible.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine that uses a ball striking device that repels a ball by utilizing a driving force of an electric drive source, which is operated by a player. Thereby, a ball striking and adjusting means for adjusting the resilience of the ball by the ball striking device, a control means for outputting a drive signal for controlling the drive of the electric drive source, and a response means for responding to the drive signal. Drive means for driving the electric drive source, and abnormality detecting means for detecting abnormality in ball striking control. The abnormality detecting means detects abnormality in the excitation state of the driving means and causes the control means to detect the abnormality. It is characterized by supplying a reset signal.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gaming machine that uses a ball striking device that repels a ball by utilizing the driving force of an electric drive source, and the ball striking device is operated by a player. Ball adjusting operation means for adjusting the resilience of the ball, a control means for outputting a drive signal for controlling the drive of the electric drive source, and the electric drive source in response to the drive signal. Characterized in that it includes a driving means for driving the driving means and an abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality in the ball hitting control, and the abnormality detecting means detects an overcurrent of the driving means and supplies a reset signal to the control means. And

[0010]

In the invention described in claim 1, when an abnormality occurs in the excitation state of the drive means, the abnormality detection means supplies a reset signal to the control means, so that the control means is reset.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when an overcurrent flows through the drive means, the abnormality detection means supplies a reset signal to the control means, so that the control means is reset.

[0012]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall front view showing a pachinko gaming machine as an example of the gaming machine according to the present invention. Note that the gaming machine is not limited to a pachinko gaming machine, and may be any gaming machine as long as the ball is fired and a ball is played, for example, a coin gaming machine.

The gaming machine 1 is provided with a hitting ball adjusting handle 11 at the lower right corner thereof. When the player rotates the ball adjusting handle 11, the pachinko balls are driven one by one into the game area formed on the front surface of the game board section 2. A frame lamp 13 is provided around the game board unit 2.

A glass frame 3 having left and right speakers 6 for generating sound effects is mounted on the game board portion 2 of the game machine 1, and a front frame 4 is provided below the glass frame 3 as a game machine. It is installed so that it can be opened and closed.

The front frame 4 includes the glass frame 3 and the front frame 4.
There is provided a key 5 for locking the opening and closing, and an upper plate 7 for storing prize balls is further provided in the central portion. A lower plate 8 is provided below the upper plate 7, and by operating the upper plate ball pulling lever 12, the prize balls stored in the upper plate 7 flow down to the lower plate 8 and are stored therein. The prize balls in the lower plate 8 are designed to flow downward by operating the lower plate ball pulling lever 9. In the figure, 10 is an ashtray.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part for explaining the structure of the ball-hit ball adjusting handle. When the player holds the handle portion 14 and rotates the operation portion 15, the rotating body B2
6 rotates, and the wire 27 transmits the rotation of the rotating body B26 to the rotating body A25. The operation unit 15 is urged toward the stop position, and when the player releases the operation unit 15, the operation unit 15 automatically returns to the stop position.

The ball striking force adjusting gear 19 is concentrically fitted to the rotating body A25, and the rotational force of the rotating body A25 is transmitted to the ball striking force adjusting gear 19 side. The hitting force adjusting gear 19 is engaged with teeth formed on the outer peripheral surface of the hitting spring unit 21, and as the hitting force adjusting gear 19 rotates,
The amount of torsional deformation of the spring 23 changes. And the operation unit 1
As the turning operation amount of 5 increases, the torsional deformation amount of the spring 23 also increases, and the restoring force of the spring 23 increases. The operating plate of the ball striking spring unit 21 is provided integrally with the swing shaft of the ball striking rod 18, and the operating pin provided at the tip of the operating plate rotates the cam 20 which is rotated by the rotational force of the ball striking motor 17.
The ball hits the spring unit 21 by being pushed down by
The operating plate of turns. Then, at the moment when the contact of the cam 20 for pushing down the operating pin with the operating pin is released, the spring 2
The restoring force of 3 causes the operating plate to return to its original posture. As the operating plate swings in this manner, the hitting rod 18 swings integrally with the operating plate. That is, the pushing force of the cam 20 causes the batting rod 18 to swing back and forth in the direction opposite to the driving direction, and the restoring force of the spring 23 causes the batting rod 18 to swing in the driving direction. And the pachinko ball is fired.

As described above, the restoring force of the spring 23 is adjusted in accordance with the amount of turning operation of the operating portion 15, so that the swinging force of the ball striking rod 18 in the driving direction is also adjusted and the pachinko ball is moved. The resilience of is adjusted.

A touch switch 16 is provided on the operation unit 15.
Is fixedly provided, and when the player touches the touch switch 16, the touch detection signal is sent to the circuit housing portion 2.
4 is input. The circuit housing portion 24 is provided with various circuits described later, and controls the operation of the ball hitting motor 17 based on the touch detection signal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the hitting board 65 provided in the circuit housing portion 24 of FIG. Hitting board 65
Is a touch circuit section 28, a lamp circuit section 29, a microcomputer 30 as a hitting ball adjusting control means, a motor driving section 66 as a hitting ball driving means for driving and controlling the hitting ball motor 17, and an abnormality in hitting ball control. And an error circuit section 67 as an abnormality detecting means for detecting the. The hitting board 65 is further
It receives AC24V from a commercial power supply and receives a voltage of 5V, for example, from the touch circuit unit 28, the microcomputer 30, the lamp circuit unit 29
And a power supply circuit unit 31 which supplies the error circuit unit 67 with a voltage of 30 V to the motor drive unit 66.

The touch circuit section 28 includes the touch switch 16
Based on the touch detection signal from the touch switch 16
It is for detecting whether or not the player's hand is touching and giving a detection signal to that effect to the microcomputer 30. The error circuit section 67 detects a runaway of the microcomputer by detecting an abnormality in the current for driving the motor 17 and an abnormality in the excitation of the coil of the motor 17, as described later, and gives a reset signal to the microcomputer 30. It is for. The microcomputer 30 is reset by a reset signal from the error circuit unit 67, and based on the signal from the touch circuit unit 28, when the operator touches the touch switch 16, the motor drive unit 66 is controlled to control the motor 17. Is rotated, and otherwise, the motor drive unit 66 is controlled to stop the motor 17. Microcomputer 3
When the motor 17 is rotating, 0 gives a lamp output to the lamp circuit unit 29 to turn on the lamp 33.

FIG. 4A shows details of the touch circuit section 28. The touch circuit unit 28 includes resistors 34, 35, 38,
39, 41 and 42, a capacitor 36, a Zener diode 37, a variable resistor 40, and NOR circuits 43 and 44 forming a flip-flop.
The touch circuit section 28 further includes a launcher switch 68, which is a normally-closed contact provided in the handle section 14. As described above, when the player releases the operation unit 15, the operation unit 15 automatically returns to the stop position and presses the launcher switch 68. As a result, the contacts are opened and the power supply circuit section is turned off. Since power is supplied from the power supply circuit section 31 to each circuit section in the hitting board 65 shown in FIG. 3, the hitting operation is stopped by pressing the launcher switch 68 and opening the contact. Launcher switch 6
Capacitor 45 is connected to the wiring from 8 to the power supply circuit section.
Is connected.

A clock signal having a duty ratio of about 50% is applied from the microcomputer 30 to one end of the resistor 41 and the connection point of the resistor 38 and the variable resistor 40. Touch circuit part 2
Although 8 is already known, its operation will be briefly described below.

The NOR gates 43 and 44 forming the flip-flop are formed of, for example, CMOS, and when the operator touches the touch switch 16, the noise due to static electricity or the like charged by the operator is directly generated by the touch switch 16. The NOR gates 43 and 44 may be destroyed. The resistors 34 and 35, the capacitor 36, and the Zener diode 37 remove such noise components, and the NOR gate 43 formed of CMOS.
And to protect 44.

The set terminal of the flip-flop composed of the NOR circuits 43 and 44 is an input on the side of the NOR circuit 43, and the reset terminal is an input on the side of the NOR circuit 44.

Variable resistor 40 is preset such that the input voltage to NOR gate 43 is higher than the input voltage to NOR gate 44. Consider a case where the operator's hand is not touching the touch switch in this state.

At this time, from the microcomputer to the touch circuit unit 28
When the clock signal given to
The current does not flow to the side of the capacitor 36. If we consider NOR gates 43 and 44 to be of equal capacitance, the output of NOR gate 43 will first be low because the voltage at the input of NOR gate 43 is higher than the voltage at the input to NOR gate 44. Then, the signal output from the NOR gate 44 to the microcomputer becomes high level. Immediately thereafter, the output of the NOR gate 44 becomes low level, and the signal to the microcomputer also becomes low level. That is, when one pulse of the clock signal is given, first N
The output of this flip-flop is set by the OR gate 43 and immediately reset by the NOR gate 44. The signal output from this flip-flop at this time is a pulse train with a duty ratio of about 10:90.

Consider a case where the operator is touching the touch switch with his / her hand. In this case, when a clock signal is input from the microcomputer, the current charges the capacitor 36. Therefore, the time when the set terminal of the flip-flop composed of the NOR circuits 43 and 44 becomes high level is delayed. At this time, if the value of the capacitor 36 is selected so that the voltage waveform of the reset terminal becomes high level before the set terminal becomes high level, the output of the flip-flop is first reset and then set. The order of setting and resetting is opposite to that when the player is not touching the touch switch. As a result, the output of the flip-flop has a larger duty ratio.
For example, in this embodiment, the duty ratio in this case is 50%.
It is a degree.

On the side of the microcomputer that receives the output of this flip-flop, the output of the flip-flop is smoothed, and if the smoothed voltage is higher than a predetermined threshold value, the operator touches the touch switch with his / her hand. If it is lower than the threshold value, it is determined that the operator has not touched the touch switch.

Next, the error circuit section 67 will be described with reference to FIG. The error circuit section 67 includes a resistor 4
6, 47 and 48, a capacitor 49, and an IC 50, which is a comparator, for detecting an overcurrent flowing in the motor, and a circuit element other than the above. It is divided into a circuit section that detects an abnormality in ball-hit control by detecting the.

A current for driving the motor is given to the resistor 46 from the motor driving section 66, and the amount of the current is converted into a voltage value by the resistor 46 and the capacitor 49 and given to one input of the IC 50. A reference voltage obtained by voltage division by the resistors 47 and 48 is input to the other input of the IC 50. When the current from the motor drive unit is large, the input voltage applied to the IC 50 is low. Therefore, when this voltage is lower than the reference voltage, it is determined that an overcurrent is flowing in the motor. At this time, the IC 50 sets its output to the low level. The microcomputer resets itself when the voltage at its reset terminal changes from high level to low level.

On the other hand, the operation for detecting whether the excitation state of the motor coil is abnormal is performed as follows. The voltage of the coil is input to the input on the side of the diode 52 from the motor drive unit. In a normal state, this voltage changes so that, for example, +30 V and the ground potential are alternately and periodically taken. For example, when this voltage becomes +30 V, the capacitor 53 is charged from the power supply voltage of 5 V through the resistor 51. When the coil voltage drops to the ground potential, a current flows through the diode 52 and the capacitor 53 is discharged. Therefore, in a normal state, the capacitor 53 regularly repeats charging and discharging. The other end of the capacitor 53 has a PNP
It is connected to the base electrode of the transistor 54. If the values of the resistor 51 and the capacitor 53 are selected so that the transistor 54 does not turn off even when the capacitor 53 is fully charged, the transistor 54 is always on under normal conditions. The contacts of the capacitor 55 and the resistor 57 on the right side of the transistor 54 are 5V on the left side of the transistor 54.
The voltage connected to the power supply and applied to the NOR circuit 59 via the resistor 56 becomes high level.

NOR circuits 59 and 63, diode 60, resistors 58, 61 and 62, and capacitor 64.
And constitute an oscillation circuit, and do not oscillate when the input to the NOR circuit 59 is at a high level.
Since the output from the oscillation circuit is always at the high level, the microcomputer is not reset by the output from the oscillation circuit as long as it is operating normally.

On the other hand, consider a case where the microcomputer runs away and an abnormality occurs in ball-hitting control. For example, consider a case where the coil voltage is fixed at +30 V as a result of the abnormality. In this case, the capacitor 53 is charged by the 5V power source through the resistor 51, and the transistor 54 is turned off. No current is supplied to the right side of the transistor 54, and the input voltage to the NOR circuit 59 becomes low level. NOR circuit 59
When the input voltage to the low level is low level, the oscillation circuit including the NOR circuits 59 and 63 outputs a pulsed signal which periodically takes a high level and a low level. Therefore, the microcomputer is reset every time this signal becomes low level. The resistors 61 and 62 and the diode 60 are for shortening the low-level reset pulse output from the oscillator circuit. Further, the diode 69 is for preventing the reset signal (low level) output from other circuits from being adversely affected when the output of the NOR circuit 63 is high.

Next, consider the case where the coil voltage is fixed to the ground. In this case, when the capacitor 53 is completely discharged, the base current of the transistor 54 disappears and the transistor 54 becomes non-conductive. NO
The input voltage to the R circuit 59 becomes low level, + 30V
The reset pulse is repeatedly generated by the oscillation circuit as in the case where the coil voltage is fixed at.

As already described, when the player releases the operating unit 15, the operating unit 15 automatically returns to the stop position and presses the launcher switch 68, so that the contact point of the launcher switch 68 changes. Open to turn off the power circuit. Therefore, as long as the operation unit 15 is in a normal state, when the operator removes the seat from the front of the game machine and releases the hand from the operation unit 15, the game automatically stops. However, if the operation unit 15 is fixed with, for example, a coin, even if the player releases his / her hand from the operation unit 15, the operation unit 15 does not return to the stop position and the contact of the launcher switch 68 does not open. , The power supply circuit is not turned off. If an abnormality occurs in the excitation state of the coil of the motor 17 in this state, the conventional device cannot return to the normal state. In addition, even if the motor 17 is stopped and the microcomputer 17 is reset by setting the input to the reset terminal of the microcomputer to a low level, the motor 17 is stopped again due to an abnormality. Cannot reset the microcomputer again because the reset terminal of the microcomputer is already at the low level. As a result, the abnormal ball-hitting control cannot be stopped, and the abnormal ball-hitting control may continue until the operator or the like notices.

However, in the above-described gaming machine of the present invention, when the motor 17 as an example of the electric drive source is not operating, the firing device switch 68 as an example of the operation state detecting means is ON. Since the coil voltage from the motor drive unit is fixed to the ground, the reset signal is periodically output to the microcomputer (at the timing when the oscillation circuit described above outputs a low level in this embodiment). Also, in the same manner, the launcher switch 68
When is on, when the error circuit section 67 detects an abnormality in the excitation state of the coil of the motor 17, the reset signal can be repeatedly generated and given to the microcomputer. Operation unit 15
Even if abnormalities occur repeatedly in the ball-hit control with the coins being fixed with coins, etc., the microcomputer can be reliably reset each time to return to the normal ball-hit control state. . Also, the player operates the operation unit 1 as usual.
Even if the excitation state of the coil of the motor becomes abnormal while operating 5, the microcomputer can be reset immediately without performing any resetting operation by hand. It is possible to return the ball hitting control to the normal level without even knowing that it has occurred, and there is also an effect that the interest of the game is not diminished.

As described above, in the gaming machine according to this embodiment, the abnormality is detected when the drive current of the motor becomes excessive and when the excitation state of the coil of the motor becomes abnormal, and the microcomputer detects it. A reset pulse is supplied to it. Therefore, even if the microcomputer goes out of control and the operation of the motor becomes abnormal, the microcomputer can be automatically reset to return to normal operation. Also, when the drive current of the motor becomes excessive, it is detected and the microcomputer is automatically reset, so that the motor can be prevented from being damaged by the overcurrent.
Further, the detection of this abnormal state can be detected even when the hitting ball operation handle is fixed by a coin or the like in a state where the launcher switch 68 is turned on. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that it is impossible to cancel the hit ball control even if an abnormality occurs in the hitting ball control with the hitting ball operation handle being fixed as in the conventional case. In addition, when an abnormality in the excited state of the motor is detected, a reset pulse is repeatedly given to the microcomputer as long as the launcher switch is on. For example, when the microcomputer is reset by setting the reset signal to the low level only once, when the next abnormality occurs, the reset signal is already at the low level, so the microcomputer cannot be reset. . However, by repeatedly applying the reset pulse as in the present embodiment, there is an effect that the microcomputer can be surely reset even if an abnormality occurs after the reset.

In the above embodiment, the ball striking motor is shown as the electric driving source, but the electric driving source is not limited to the motor and may be a solenoid, a rotary solenoid or the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the ball striking handle which is rotationally operated as the ball striking adjustment operating means is shown, but the ball striking adjustment operating means is not limited to such a rotating operation, but a sliding operation or a button operation. Alternatively, the hitting force may be changed by touch operation.

[0041]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, when an abnormality occurs in the excitation state of the drive means,
The abnormality detecting means detects this abnormality and supplies a reset signal to the control means, whereby the control means is reset. The operation of the drive means is also returned to the initial state by the control means. Since this abnormality is detected irrespective of the state of the ball striking and adjusting means, even if the ball striking control is abnormal while the ball striking and adjusting means is fixed, malfunction can be prevented as much as possible.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when an overcurrent flows through the drive means, the abnormality detection means detects the overcurrent and supplies a reset signal to the control means, so that the control means is reset. It The operation of the drive means is also returned to the initial state by the control means. This abnormality detection is performed regardless of the state of the hitting ball adjusting operation means. for that reason,
Even if the control means runs out of control while the hitting ball adjusting operation means is fixed, it is possible to prevent the electric drive source from being damaged by the overcurrent flowing through the drive means.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a main part for explaining an internal structure of a hitting ball operation handle.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing various circuits provided on a hit ball substrate.

FIG. 4A is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of a touch circuit unit, and FIG. 4B is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of an error circuit unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 1 is a game machine, 11 is a ball hitting adjustment handle, 17 is a ball hitting motor, 28 is a touch circuit section, 30 is a microcomputer, 65 is a ball hitting board, 66 is a motor drive section, and 67 is an error circuit section.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gaming machine that uses a ball striking device that repels a ball striking it by using a driving force of an electric drive source, and the resilience of the ball striking the ball by the ball striking device when operated by a player. Ball hitting adjusting operation means for adjusting, a control means for outputting a drive signal for controlling the drive of the electric drive source, a drive means for driving the electric drive source in response to the drive signal, An abnormality detecting unit for detecting an abnormality in ball hitting control, wherein the abnormality detecting unit detects an abnormality in an excitation state of the driving unit and supplies a reset signal to the control unit. . 2. A gaming machine that uses a ball striking device that repels a ball striking it by using the driving force of an electric drive source, and the resilience of the ball striking the ball by the ball striking device when operated by a player. Ball hitting adjusting operation means for adjusting, a control means for outputting a drive signal for controlling the drive of the electric drive source, a drive means for driving the electric drive source in response to the drive signal, An abnormality detecting means for detecting an abnormality in hitting ball control, wherein the abnormality detecting means detects an overcurrent of the driving means and supplies a reset signal to the control means.