JPH0866554A - Managing system for lending machine for ball or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce the cost of a system and to easily perform the maintenance and inspection of an island by transmitting a device number via a serial communication line and transmitting transaction data in a lending machine for ball or the like after a response is returned from the lending machine for ball or the like. CONSTITUTION: When the communication control part 15 of an island terminal exchange machine 5 transmits the device number to plural ball lending machines 4 via the serial communication line 9, the ball lending machine 4 with the device number is called by returning the response, and after that, the communication control part of a called ball lending machine 4 transmits the transaction data such as the lending amount data of a ball or the like lent from the ball lending machine 3 to the island terminal exchange 5 via the serial communication line 9. In such a case, since the serial communication line 9 connects the plural ball lending machines 4 to the island terminal exchange 5 in series, a harness working cost can be reduced, and also, only one connector is enough to possess by each of the ball lending machine 4 and the island terminal exchange 5, the cost of the connector itself can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention connects a ball lending machine for lending pachinko balls and medals for throttle machines and outputting transaction data, and a main processing unit for centrally managing transaction data by a communication line. The present invention relates to a ball rental machine management system for communicating transaction data between customers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in the case of pachinko machines, at a pachinko parlor, a plurality of amusement machines (pachinko machines) are arranged laterally and back to back (hereinafter referred to as an "island") at one end of the pachinko parlor. Machines are installed, and a ball lending machine is installed between each two adjacent game machines. And multiple ball lending machines
Each of the island edge changers is radially connected by an independent communication line arranged in a space inside the island (on the back side of the game machine). This ball lending machine stores transaction data such as received deposit data, loan amount data of lent balls, and failure data when a failure occurs in the internal memory, and transaction data from the island edge exchange machine. When the transmission command is output, the stored transaction data is transmitted to the island edge exchange machine. Then, the island end money changer calculates and records the sales totals and the number of failures of each ball lending machine and the entire island based on the received transaction data.

[0003]

However, as one game lending machine is now exclusively provided for one game machine, the ball lending provided for one island The number of machines has become much larger than before, and the cost of communication lines, especially the processing cost, has increased. Also, as a result of the increase in the number of connectors on the communication line connected to the island edge changer, the cost of the connectors themselves is also increasing. Therefore, it is desired to reduce the cost of the ball management system. In addition, as the harness that bundles the communication lines becomes very thick as it approaches the island edge exchange machine, the space inside the island is occupied by the harness, and as a result, maintenance and inspection of the amusement machines and banknote conveyor belts are performed. There is a problem that is very difficult to do.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a ball rental machine management system which can reduce the system cost and can easily perform maintenance and inspection on the island.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, a ball lending machine management system according to the present invention has a plurality of ball lending machines for outputting transaction data and a main process for centrally managing the transaction data. In the ball lending machine management system that connects the device with a communication line and communicates transaction data between the plurality of ball lending machines and the main processing device via the communication line, the communication line has a plurality of ball lending machines. Machine and the main processing unit are serially connected to each other through a serial communication line. Each of the plurality of ball lending machines has a different device number, and its own device number communicates with the main processing unit via the serial communication line. It is equipped with a communication control unit that responds when it is sent from the control unit, and the communication control unit of the main processing device transmits the device number via the serial communication line and after there is a response from the ball lending machine. Characterized in that to transmit the transaction data of the ball such rental machine.

[0006]

In the ball lending machine management system according to the present invention, when the communication control unit of the main processing device transmits a device number to a plurality of ball lending machines via a serial communication line, the ball lending machine having the device numbers is sent. When the machine responds, the communication control unit of the called ball rental machine sends transaction data such as the loan amount data of the ball loaned by the ball rental machine to the serial communication line. To the main processor via. In this case, since the serial communication line serially connects the plurality of ball lending machines and the main processing device, compared to a communication line that radially connects each of the plurality of ball lending machines to the main processing device, Since the harness processing cost can be reduced and each of the ball lending machine and the main processing device has only one connector,
The number of connectors used is also small, so that the cost of the connectors themselves can be reduced. In addition, as the harness of the communication line becomes thinner, the space for the harness becomes smaller and the maintenance and inspection of the ball lending machine management system can be performed easily.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a ball rental machine management system 1 to which the present invention is applied has a plurality of amusement machines 3, which are arranged laterally and back to back on both sides of an island 2.
3 ... and a ball lending machine (ball rental machine) installed between two adjacent amusement machines 3, 3 and 4, and an island end money changer installed at one end of the island 2 ( .. and a pair of belts 6, 6 for transferring bills, which are arranged between the game machines 3 and 3 facing each other. In addition, the belts 6, 6 ... Compose one conveyor belt as a whole, and each of them is one of the two ball lending machines 4, 4 arranged on the upstream side (right side in the figure) and facing each other. Independently controlled by one. Further, a motor (not shown) for conveying banknotes is arranged in each of the connecting portions 7, 7 ... Of the adjacent belts 6, 6, and each belt 6,
.., which are detection sensors for detecting whether or not a banknote is being conveyed, are arranged in the middle of 6. Below the belts 6, 6 ..., Communication lines that serially connect all the ball lending machines 4, 4 ... And the island edge changer 5 (see Fig. 2)
9 are provided.

In the ball rental machine management system 1, the ball rental machine 4
Stores transaction data such as deposit data of banknotes and coins deposited at the time of ball lending, lending amount data of lent balls, and failure data when a failure occurs in an internal memory. Then, when the transaction data transmission command is output from the island end money changer 5 via the communication line 9, the ball lending machine 4 transfers the stored transaction data to the island end money changer 5 via the communication line 9. After the transmission, the island end money changer 5 calculates and records the sales total and the number of failures of each ball lending machine 4 and the island 2 based on the received transaction data.

Next, the configuration of the ball rental machine management system 1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 2, the island edge money changing machine 5 controls the display of the CPU 11 for collecting sales and calculating and recording the number of failures, the display unit 12 for displaying the conveyance status of banknotes, and the display unit 12. All the ball lending machines 4 by the display control unit 13, the banknote processing unit 14 that stores the banknotes conveyed by the belt 6 and the banknotes inserted into itself in a banknote safe (not shown), and the communication line 9 via the connector 15a. , 4 ... Serially connected to the ball lending machines 4, 4 ... To control the communication with the ball lending machines 4, 4 ... And coins carried by the belt 6 and coins inserted into the coin not shown. And a coin processing unit 16 to be stored in the safe. Further, each unit except the display unit 12 and the CPU 11 are connected by a bus line 17, and the display control unit 13 and the display unit 12 are connected by a dedicated line.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ball lending machine 4 includes a CPU 21 for performing bill identification control and communication control, a ROM 22 for storing operation programs of the CPU 21, and a RAM 23 for temporarily storing transaction data and the like. An I / O unit 24 as an interface circuit for performing serial / parallel conversion of various data input / output between various drivers to be described later and the CPU 21 is provided. Also, ball rental machine 4
Has a connector 25 for external connection. Between the I / O unit 24 and the connector 25, a communication driver 26 that transmits and receives transaction data to and from the island end money changer 5, the rotation control of the above-described bill transport motor, and a detection signal of the photo interrupter 8 are provided. Is provided with a control driver 27 for reading the device number, the device numbering lines 28, 28 ... Consisting of six lines, and an opposing ball lending device for communicating with the opposing ball lending device 4. The communication lines 29, 29 are connected. The device number assignment lines 28, 28 ... Read the assigned device numbers, and the connector 2
It is pre-wired in an external connector (not shown) connected to 5.

Further, the ball lending machine 4 includes a ball payout unit 31 for paying out balls, and a bill processing unit 32 for discriminating inserted banknotes and for controlling the carry-out of the inserted banknotes to the belt 6. The coin processing unit 33 is provided between the I / O unit 24 and the coin processing unit 33 for performing the identification of the inserted coins, the coin unloading control for unloading the inserted coins to the coin transport belt (not shown), and the like. The control drivers 35 to 37 are provided.
In addition, the ball lending machine 4 includes a 7-segment LED 38 that displays the amount of the inserted bills and coins and the details of the failure, and the ball lending machine 4.
LED 39 that indicates whether or not the operation has been performed and the lending status, and both L
The display driver 40 is provided between the EDs 38 and 39 and the I / O unit 24.

Next, the operation of the ball lending machine 4 will be described in detail. When the ball lending machine 4 is powered on, the CPU 21 is applied to each of the device numbering lines 28, 28 ,. The voltage is detected, and the device number and the later-described priority order corresponding to each applied voltage are stored in the RAM 23.
As a result, the ball lending machine 4 recognizes its own device number, and among the other ball lending machines 4 facing each other, the priority, that is, the conveyance priority for controlling the belt 6 and the banknotes on the belt 6. Recognize who has the carry-out banknote carry-out priority (hereinafter, both priority are collectively referred to simply as “priority”).

Next, the CPU 21 outputs an H (high) level confirmation signal to the opposing ball rental machine communication line 29 to check whether or not the opposing ball rental machine 4 is installed. That is, when the L (low) signal is output via the opposing ball rental machine communication line 29, the ball rental machine 4 has the opponent ball rental machine 4 installed and has priority. Recognize not. On the contrary, when the H signal is output, it is recognized that the opponent ball lending machine 4 is installed and has priority. H signal and L
If none of the signals is transmitted, it is recognized that the opponent ball lending machine 4 is not installed. In this case, the opposing ball rental machine communication line 29 has a high impedance.

Next, bills and coins are inserted, and the bill processing unit 32 and the coin processing unit 33 respectively identify the bills and coins, and when they are determined to be proper, the bills and coins are temporarily held inside and the CPU 21 Output payment data to. Next, the CPU 21 stores the deposit data in the RAM 23.
In addition, the deposit data is output to the 7-segment LED 38 through the display driver 40, and the deposit amount is displayed on the 7-segment LED 38. Next, CPU2
1 outputs ball payout data to the ball payout unit 31 via the control driver 35 to cause the ball payout unit 31 to pay out balls for the inserted amount, and the RAM 23 for lending amount data according to the payout. To memorize.

After that, the CPU 21 issues a bill carry-out command to the bill processing unit 32 to carry out the received bill to the belt 6, and outputs a motor start signal via the control driver 27 to rotate the belt 6.

In this case, when the bills are simultaneously received by the opposing ball lending machine 4, the bill insertion data are output to each other via the opposing ball lending machine communication line 29, and the priority (in this case, the bill unloading) is output. One ball lending machine 4 that has priority)
First sends the bill to the belt 6, and the other ball lending machine 4
When one of the ball lending machines 4 outputs the banknote carry-out permission data via the opposing ball lending machine communication line 29, the banknote is carried out to the belt 6. As a result, it is possible to prevent a plurality of banknotes from overlapping the belt 6.

The above-mentioned priority will be described more specifically. When the ball lending machine 4 having the priority is removed from the island 2 due to a failure or the like, the other ball lending machine 4 The priority is passed so that the conveyance control of the belt 6 is not hindered. Then, when another ball lending machine 4 or a repaired ball lending machine 4 is attached to the removed part,
The priority is passed again to the newly installed ball lending machine 4.

Further, the CPU 21 monitors the banknote passage signals output from the upstream and downstream photointerrupters 8 respectively, and when the banknote passage signal is output,
The bill passage data is stored in the RAM 23. In this case, when the banknote passage signal is output from the photo interrupter 8 on the upstream side, the CPU 21 of the ball lending machine 4 on the side having the priority right (conveyance priority right in this case) drives the belt 6. As a result of controlling the control driver 27, the belt 6 does not operate when the banknote is not conveyed, and the operation time of the belt 6 is shortened by that much, and power saving can be achieved. When the banknote passage signal from the photo interrupter 8 is output for a predetermined time or longer, the CPU 21 determines that the banknotes are overlapped and causes the RAM 23 to store the failure data. Further, when a banknote passage signal is output from the photo interrupter 8 on the upstream side while receiving banknotes, the CPU 21 temporarily holds the received banknotes by the banknote processing unit 32 in order to prevent banknotes from overlapping. The hold data is stored in the RAM 23, and then, when the banknote passage signal is output from the photo interrupter 8 on the downstream side, the banknote processing unit 32 is controlled so as to carry out the received banknote to the belt 6.

Next, the communication operation between the island edge money changing machine 5 and the ball lending machine 4 will be described.

The communication control unit 15 of the island end money changer 5 calls the ball lending machine 4 one by one at a predetermined time by the so-called polling / selecting method to transmit transaction data. This communication method uses half-duplex serial communication.
Communication is performed at a communication speed of 600 BPS, and text format data composed of predetermined bit length data is delivered to the opponent ball lending machine 4 by the shake hand method.

Specifically, the communication control section 15 transmits the device number of the ball lending machine 4 to be called to all the ball lending machines 4 via the communication line 9. And all ball rental machines 4
The output device number is read, and the ball lending machine 4 having the same device number responds to the island end currency exchange machine 5. Next, the communication control unit 15 confirms with the ball lending machine 4 that has received a response whether or not it has transaction data. If the customer does not have the transaction data, the communication is terminated after transmitting the transmission end data, and the communication is similarly performed to the next ball lending machine 4.

If the transaction control unit 15 has transaction data, it transmits a transaction data transmission command. Ball rental machine 4
When receiving the transaction data transmission command, the payment data, the loan amount data, the failure data, which are stored in the RAM 23,
Transaction data such as bill holding data and bill passing data is transmitted to the communication control unit 15. Communication controller 15
When the transaction data is received, transmits the transmission end data to the ball lending machine 4 and ends the communication. After that, the communication control unit 15 repeats the above process for all the ball lending machines 4 in the island 2.

On the other hand, the communication control unit 15 retries up to two times if there is no response even after 3 mSec has passed since the device number was transmitted. If there is no response after three transmissions, the communication control unit 15 sends the communication error data indicating that there is a communication error and the device number data to the CP.
The data is output to U21, and the CPU 21 outputs the data to the display control unit 13 and causes the display unit 12 to display the communication error and its device number.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the communication line 9 provided inside the island 2 serially connects the plurality of inter-lens ball lending machines 4 and the island edge changer 5. Compared to a case where each of the plurality of inter-lens ball rental machines 4 is radially connected to the island edge changer 5, since the number of communication lines 9 is one, it is possible to reduce the harness processing cost. The number of connectors 15a connected to the island end money changer 5 is also 1
Since it is sufficient, the cost of the connector can be reduced. Moreover, since the harness of the communication line 9 becomes thin,
Therefore, a sufficient internal space can be secured on the island 2, and the game machine 3 and the belt 6 can be easily maintained and inspected.

Further, for example, as compared with a system in which a dedicated controller is installed for each of a plurality of ball lending machines 4 and communication is performed with the island edge currency exchange machine 5, the control software incorporated in the dedicated controller is It is not necessary and the design cost can be reduced accordingly, and the number of devices arranged inside the island 2 is reduced, so that maintenance and inspection can be easily performed.

Although the pachinko ball lending machine management system has been described in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to a medal machine management system for a throttle machine.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the serial communication line is serially connected between each of the plurality of ball lending machines and the main processing device, the harness processing of the serial communication line is performed. The cost can be reduced. Further, the number of connectors connected to the main processing device is reduced, and the cost of the connectors themselves can be reduced accordingly. Furthermore, since the harness of the communication line becomes thinner, the space for it will be reduced, making it easier to maintain and inspect the ball rental machine management system, and it is also possible to install other devices as much as the space is reduced. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a ball rental machine management system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a ball management system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a ball lending machine according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Ball rental machine management system 4 Ball rental machine 5 Island edge money changer 9 Communication line 15 Communication control unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of ball lending machines for outputting transaction data and a main processing unit for centrally managing the transaction data are connected by a communication line, and the plurality of ball lending machines are connected through the communication line. In the ball lending machine management system for communicating the transaction data with the main processing device, the communication line includes a serial communication line in which the plurality of ball lending machines and the main processing device are serially connected, Each of the plurality of ball lending machines has a different device number, and a communication control unit that responds when its own device number is transmitted from the communication control unit of the main processing device via the serial communication line. The communication control unit of the main processing device transmits the device number via the serial communication line, and after the ball lending machine responds, the transaction data of the ball lending machine is sent. A ball rental machine management system characterized by transmitting data.