JPH09308295A - Playing machine stepping motor control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stepping motor control apparatus for momentarily stopping a stepping motor without generation of heat. SOLUTION: This apparatus controls a stepping motor for driving and stopping operation thereof by supplying a drive pulse generated by a pulse generating means and a stop signal generated by a stop signal generating means to the stepping motor. In this case, a control means is structured to simultaneously drop each phase coil 57, 58, 59, 60 of the stepping motor to the reference potential or simultaneously terminate such coil.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a controller for a stepping motor used in a gaming machine such as a slot machine or a pachinko machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a stepping motor control device for supplying a driving pulse to a stepping motor of a multi-phase excitation system, which has been used as a mechanical driving source for a gaming machine, to drive or stop control, stops driving When this happens, the motor rotation is stopped instantaneously, so the same effect as an electromagnetic brake is exerted by supplying stop pulses of the same polarity to all the phases of the stepping motor being driven at the same time to excite all the phases at the same time. It is known (for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-32145). In this known technique, a stepping motor is used as a drive source for a rotating reel of a slot machine.

[0003]

As described above, if all the phases of the stepping motor are excited at the same time in order to stop the rotary drive instantaneously, the motor will generate heat during the stop control. That is, heat is inevitable from the motor as long as all phases of the motor are excited at the same time. Of course,
If the calorific value is not large, heat dissipation effect in the game machine (air cooling)
As a result, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect on the gaming machine. However, when the spinning / stopping is frequently repeated like the reel of the slot machine, the heat generated from the motor is also repeated so much, so that the heat easily accumulates in the gaming machine. Therefore, it is necessary to provide some kind of heat dissipation or cooling means in the gaming machine, which complicates the structure of the gaming machine, increases the number of parts, increases the labor of assembly, and causes a problem of high cost.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a stepping motor control device for a gaming machine, which can instantly stop the stepping motor without generating the above-mentioned heat generation.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a stepping motor for driving a driven body in a gaming machine, a pulse generating means for generating a pulse for driving the stepping motor, and a drive from the pulse generating means. In a stepping motor control device for a gaming machine, comprising: a control unit that controls driving by supplying a pulse to a stepping motor; and a stop signal generation unit that supplies a stop signal of the stepping motor to the control unit, wherein the control unit is According to the stop signal from the stop signal generating means, each phase coil of the stepping motor is simultaneously dropped to the reference potential or short-circuited simultaneously.

[0006]

In the stepping motor control device for gaming machine according to the present invention, the control means simultaneously drops the respective phase coils of the stepping motor to the reference potential or short-circuits them simultaneously according to the stop signal from the stop signal generating means. With this configuration, no current flows in the stepping motor, so that the stepping motor can be instantaneously stopped without generating heat from the stepping motor.

Further, even if it is frequently rotated and stopped like a reel of a slot machine, heat is not generated from the motor, so that heat is less likely to stay in the game machine, and some kind of heat dissipation or cooling means should be provided in the game machine. Is unnecessary, the structure of the gaming machine, the number of parts, and the labor of assembling can be omitted, and the cost can be suppressed.

[0008]

1 is a block diagram of a stepping motor controller for a gaming machine according to the present invention. The control unit has a microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) 20 as a main constituent element. The microcomputer 20 includes a CPU 21 that performs a control operation according to a preset program, a ROM 23 and a RAM 24 that are storage means. The CPU 21 has
A clock pulse generation circuit 25 for generating a reference clock pulse and a frequency divider 26, and an I / O port 22 for transmitting and receiving signals between an actuator described later are connected.

As an actuator whose operation is controlled by a control signal from the microcomputer 20, there are stepping motors 31, 32, 33 for rotating and driving the reels 34, 35, 36, which are driven by the reel drive circuit 3, as described later. To be done. The reel drive circuit 3 is connected to the CPU 21 via the I / O port 22 of the microcomputer 20. Further, as a main input signal generating means for generating an input signal necessary for the microcomputer 20 to generate a control signal,
A start switch (not shown) that detects the operation of the start lever 1 operated by the player, and a button operation signal generation circuit that generates a button operation signal corresponding to each of the reel stop buttons 37, 38, 39 when pressed ( (Drawing omitted)
There is also a CPU 21 through the I / O port 22
It is connected to the.

In the block diagram of FIG. 1, when the player operates the start lever 1, the CPU 21 causes the I / O.
Input pulses as shown in FIG. 3 are supplied to the reel drive circuit 3 via the port 22. In response to this, the reel drive circuit 3 supplies drive pulses to the stepping motors 31, 32, 33. Further, when the reels 34, 35, 36 reach a constant speed rotation as described later and the player presses the reel stop buttons 37, 38, 39, respectively,
The stop signal due to this pressing is transmitted via the I / O port 22 to C
It is input to the PU 21. This stop signal is also supplied to each stepping motor 31, 32, 33 through the reel drive circuit to stop each stepping motor.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the reel drive circuit 3 of the embodiment, and shows a configuration for driving and stopping one stepping motor. Each stepping motor 31, 32,
33 is driven by a 1-2 phase excitation system, and a sensor means (not shown) for detecting the rotational position of the reel is built in each stepping motor. For example, when a base voltage is applied to the transistor 51 as an A-phase input (a predetermined voltage, for example, a pulse input of DC + 5V), a current flows from the collector of the transistor 51 to the emitter and drops to the ground. As a result, the power supply voltage + V (for example, D
C + 30V) is the A phase coil 57 of the stepping motor
Then, the coil 57 is excited. Conversely, phase A is OF
At F, the base voltage is not applied to the transistor 51, and no current flows from the collector to the emitter.
The power supply voltage + V is not applied to the A-phase coil 57 of the stepping motor, and no current flows in the coil 57.

The drive pulse is, as will be described later with reference to FIG.
Since the phase, the B phase, the inverted A phase (denoted as A'phase), and the inverted B phase (denoted as B'phase) are 90 ° out of phase with each other, this excitation operation is performed for each 4 By sequentially performing the phases, the stepping motor is driven, and the reels 34, 35, 36 are rotationally driven.

When the stepping motor is stopped and controlled,
Conventionally, as described above, all four phases are excited at the same time and stopped, but in the case of this embodiment, in the circuit of FIG.
When the motor stop signal is input from 1, a voltage is first applied to the base of the transistor 56, so that no current flows from the emitter to the collector.

At the same time, a voltage is applied to the bases of the transistors 51 to 55, and a current flows from the collector to the emitter of each of the transistors 51 to 55, so that each of the coils 57 to 60.
Both ends of will fall to the ground. As a result, the same action as the electromagnetic brake works in the stepping motor, and the motor is stopped (at t0 in FIG. 3).

FIG. 3 shows an input pulse supplied from the CPU 21 to the reel drive circuit 3 via the I / O port 22, and
In the waveform diagram of the drive pulse supplied to the respective stepping motors 31, 32, 33 by the reel drive circuit 3 in response to the input pulse, the drive pulse is A phase, B phase, A'phase, B '.
The phase is shifted by 90 °. It should be noted that in FIG. 3, each reel 3
FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram when 4, 35 and 36 are rotated at a constant speed. This is because when the frequency of the input pulse becomes a constant frequency, the reels 34, 35, 36 rotate at a constant speed, but the frequency of the input pulse gradually increases in a predetermined time until then.

As described above, in this embodiment, both ends of each phase coil of the motor are simultaneously grounded when the rotation of the stepping motor is stopped, so that heat is generated from the motor when the rotation is stopped as in the prior art. The motor can be stopped quickly without occurring.

Instead of dropping both ends of the coils 57 to 60 of each phase of the stepping motor to the ground, both ends of the coils 57 to 60 of each phase may be short-circuited all at once. The stepping motor is preferably a hybrid type or a PM type. Further, the number of phases of the stepping motor is not limited to two, and may be four, five, and the excitation method is not limited to 1-2 phase excitation, 1 phase excitation, 2 phase excitation, 3 phase excitation, 4 phases. Phase excitation, 5-phase excitation, double 1-2 phase excitation, 3-4 phase excitation, etc. may be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a stepping motor control unit for a gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic diagram of the reel drive circuit 3 of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram of a drive sequence in the embodiment of the invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... Reel drive circuit, 20 ... Microcomputer, 2
1 ... CPU, 22 ... I / O port, 31, 32, 33 ...
Stepping motor, 34, 35, 36 ... Reel, 3
7, 38, 39 ... Stop button, 51, 52, 53,
54, 55, 56 ... Transistors, 56, 57, 58,
59 ... Coil.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stepping motor for driving a driven body in a gaming machine, pulse generating means for generating a pulse for driving the stepping motor, and drive pulses from the pulse generating means are supplied to the stepping motor. A stepping motor control device for a gaming machine, comprising: a control means for controlling driving by means of the above; and a stop signal generation means for supplying a stop signal for the stepping motor to the control means, A stepping motor control device for a gaming machine, which is configured to simultaneously drop each phase coil of the stepping motor to a reference potential or short-circuit simultaneously according to a stop signal from the.