JPH11283129A - Premium exchange processing method and premium pos terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the waiting time of all customers and to improve service by interrupting the premium exchange processing of a current user at the generation of an interruption requirement, executing the premium exchange processing of a succeeding customer, and after the end of the processing, automatically restoring and continuing the premium exchange processing of the interrupted customer. SOLUTION: When an exchange interruption requirement is generated, the execution of a premium exchange transaction main processing program 9 is interrupted, the exchange interruption requirement is analyzed and a processing program corresponding to the generated interruption requirement is executed. When the generated interruption requirement is the depression of a holding button or a stop button, a holding processing program 11 or a stop processing program 12 is executed. When the interruption of a customer in transaction processing is comparatively short, the interruption is executed, and after the end of the processing of a succeeding customer, the preceding processing can be restored. Consequently it is unnecessary for an interrupted customer to stand the last of a line again and the waiting time of succeeding customers can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a prize exchange method and a prize POS terminal in a game center such as a pachinko game or a slot machine. For example, in a pachinko game center, the payouts obtained in the game can be exchanged for prizes corresponding to the number. The transaction for exchanging the prize is a prize POS connected to the network.
This is performed using a terminal. In the present invention, when a customer who is in a prize exchange transaction at a prize POS terminal takes time to select a prize, it is necessary to temporarily suspend processing of the customer and use the prize POS terminal for another customer. It can be used for

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a pachinko game center, when a customer exchanges a prize, first, the obtained payout is put into a counting machine, a ticket receipt which records the number of balls is received, and the prize and the number of balls are exchanged by an operator at a counter. A method is used in which a ticket receipt is given to a clerk, the desired prize is offered, and the prize is exchanged. At this time, upon receiving the ticket receipt from the customer, the clerk inputs the prize POS terminal to read the data such as the number of balls, and further inputs the data of the prize desired by the customer, and executes the transaction processing of the prize exchange. Do. FIG. 3 shows an example of a system configuration of a conventional pachinko game center for performing such processing.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a network (LA).
N), 2 is a prize management server, 3-1 and 3-2 are prize P
OS terminals, 4-1 to 4-n are game machines, 5 is a supply management server, and 6 is a counter.

The replenishment management server 5 is provided for each game machine 4-1.
The management of incoming and outgoing balls of 4-n is performed, and a ball supply process is performed. The prize management server 2 manages the ticket receipt of the counter 6 and the prize exchange transaction performed by the prize POS terminals 3-1 and 3-2.

The prize POS terminals 3-1 and 3-2 notify the prize management server 2 of the transaction data when the prize transaction process is completed for each ticket receipt of the customer. The prize management server 2 manages the received transaction data in a file and displays the prize exchange transaction status to the administrator.

[0006] If the user takes too much time during the exchange of prizes, for example, hesitating to select a prize, the subsequent customers will be troubled and the service will be reduced. In such a case, conventionally, the processing of the customer is put on hold or canceled (canceled), and the process of exchanging the prize of the next customer is started.

FIG. 4 shows an outline of control of suspension or cancellation of a prize exchange transaction performed by a prize POS terminal. (1)
This is a state where a prize exchange transaction is being executed for a certain customer.

[0008] (2) is a state in which a predetermined exchange interruption requirement occurs in the state of (1) and an interrupt process is performed. The replacement interruption requirement includes operation of a command button or a control key for instructing suspension or cancellation, or occurrence of a serious error. When the occurrence of such an exchange interruption requirement is detected, an interruption process corresponding to the exchange interruption requirement is executed by interruption control. For example, when the hold button is pressed, an interrupt occurs, the hold processing of (3) is executed, and similarly, when the stop button is pressed,
The stop processing of (4) is executed.

[0009] In the suspension processing of (3), the prize exchange transaction of the customer is frozen at the present time, a reservation ticket is issued with a reservation ID, and the data of the transaction completed at this time is notified to the management server. The management server manages the file of the notified transaction data using the hold ID. If the customer who has been put on hold continues the prize exchange in the future, he / she will be lined up after the queue of customers performing prize exchange in the same way as at the beginning, and will give the hold ticket to the operator's clerk when his turn comes. hand over. When the clerk receives the hold ticket, the clerk inputs the hold ticket to the prize POS terminal to read the hold ID. The premium POS terminal sends this hold ID to the management server, and causes the corresponding pending transaction data to be transferred to the premium POS terminal. The prize POS terminal resumes the prize exchange transaction by regarding the transferred transaction data as having completed the transaction.

[0010] In the cancellation process (4), it is assumed that all the transaction data entered so far for the current user is canceled, and that the transaction data has not been entered from the beginning. As a result, the customer must restart the prize exchange from the beginning.

[0011]

In the conventional prize exchange processing method, if there is a lot of wasteful waiting time for exchanging prizes of the currently processed customer and the service to the subsequent customers is reduced, the suspension processing is performed. Or had to cancel. However, in the hold process, if the customer wants to continue the prize exchange afterwards, it has to be at the end of the customer's queue, and if the interruption is relatively short, the customer is It is a pity that the store side has to issue a reservation ticket every time it is interrupted, which reduces the work efficiency, and furthermore, there is a concern that the reservation ticket may be lost or tampered with unauthorized use. there were. In the case of cancellation processing, if the number of prizes exchanged so far is large, all input data of those exchanged prizes will be canceled, so the same data must be re-entered when re-executing the exchange transaction. There is a problem that the processing load is increased.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a temporary interruption by a customer during a prize exchange is often a relatively short time that can be continued after a prize exchange process for the next customer. Paying attention, when the current customer's prize exchange must be temporarily suspended, the current user's prize exchange process is interrupted by an interrupt, the next user's prize exchange process is executed, and the process is terminated. The present invention is to automatically return to the prize exchange process of the customer who was interrupted earlier and can continue the process. This interruption can occur any number of times during the present customer's prize exchange process, so that the prize exchange process of a plurality of subsequent customers can be sequentially executed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. FIG.
, 1 is a network such as a LAN.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a prize management server for managing a counter and a prize POS terminal. Reference numerals 3-1 and 3-2 denote prize POS terminals, which are used for prize exchange transactions.

Reference numerals 4-1 to 4-n denote game machines such as pachinko machines and slot machines. Reference numeral 5 denotes a replenishment management server that manages ball replenishment of the game machine 1. Reference numeral 6 denotes a counting machine that counts pachinko balls inserted by customers,
Issue a ticket receipt.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a CPU for executing a program. Reference numeral 8 denotes a memory for storing programs and data. 9 is a premium exchange transaction main processing program.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a prize exchange transaction interruption processing program. Reference numeral 11 denotes a suspension processing program. 12
Is a stop processing program.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a prize exchange transaction data file. Reference numeral 14 denotes a suspended transaction data file. The elements indicated by 1 to 6 in FIG. 1 correspond to the elements indicated by the same reference numerals in the conventional system of FIG. Also, prize POS terminal 3-1
And the prize POS terminal 3-2 have the same function and can operate in parallel. Therefore, the prize POS terminal 3-1 will be described as a representative.

The function and operation of each element of the system according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1 will be described below. When the prize POS terminal 3-1 is started up, the prize exchange transaction main processing program 9
Is started. When the ticket receipt of the customer is input to the premium POS terminal 3-1, data such as date and time, ID, and the number of balls are read from the ticket receipt. Usually, these data are recorded on the ticketing receipt as OCR characters or bar codes. Thereafter, a prize exchange transaction is possible within the range of the number of balls read. When the customer offers the prize desired by the clerk of the operator, the clerk inputs the prize data to the prize POS terminal 3-1. If a prize exchange transaction based on the input prize data is established, the prize exchange transaction main processing program 9 displays the transaction result together with the number of remaining balls on the terminal. In this way, the prize exchange is continued within the range of the number of remaining balls.

When a predetermined exchange interruption requirement occurs, the execution of the prize exchange transaction main processing program 9 is interrupted, the exchange interruption requirement is analyzed, and a processing program corresponding to the type of the interruption requirement occurred. Is executed. For example, if the interruption requirement is the operation of the interrupt button or the timeout of the separate no-input time monitoring timer,
The premium exchange transaction interruption processing program 10 is called and executed. If the generated interruption requirement is an operation of the hold button or the stop button, the hold processing program 11 or the stop processing program 12 is executed.

The data of the processing state at the time of interruption of the premium exchange transaction main processing program 9 is saved at the start of the interrupt processing and restored at the end of the interrupt processing. When the prize exchange transaction interruption processing program 10 is executed, the next user's prize exchange transaction is started. When the transaction is completed, it returns to the previous customer's interrupted transaction. When the next customer transaction is completed, the transaction data is transferred to the premium management server 2 and stored in the premium exchange transaction data file 13.

Next, when the hold processing program 11 is executed, a hold ID for identifying a prize exchange transaction processed by the prize exchange transaction main processing program 9 is generated, and a hold ticket recording this hold ID is recorded. Is issued, and the premium transaction management server 2 is notified of the premium transaction exchange pending transaction data completed at the time of the interruption. Premium server 2
Manages the data by using the hold ID in the hold transaction data file 14 and, when there is a request to release the hold from the premium POS terminal 3-1, transfers the corresponding hold transaction data and restarts the transaction.

When the stop processing program 12 is executed, all the processing data is cleared and returned to the initial state. With such a configuration, if the interruption of the customer during the transaction processing can be completed in a relatively short time, an interruption is performed, and immediately after the processing of the next customer is performed, the processing immediately returns to the previous processing. Therefore, not only does the interrupted customer need not be rearranged at the end of the queue, but also the waiting time for the following customer can be reduced.

[0024]

FIG. 2 shows a flow of a prize exchange transaction process of a prize POS terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A shows the flow of a premium exchange transaction main processing program,
FIG. 2B shows the flow of a prize exchange transaction interruption processing program.

Hereinafter, the processing steps S1 to S158 in each flow will be described in order. S1: Initialize the execution environment of the premium exchange transaction processing. S2: Wait for receipt input. S when receipt is input
Execute 3. S3: The input receipt data (ID, date and time, number of balls, etc.) is read. S4: If the receipt is a hold ticket based on the ID of the read data, a hold resumption process (not shown) is performed; otherwise, S5 is executed. S5: The occurrence of the interruption requirement is detected. If the occurrence of the interruption requirement is detected, S10 to S15 are executed, and in other cases, S6 is executed. S6: A prize selection process is performed, and an exchange transaction of the input prize is executed. S7: The occurrence of the interruption requirement is detected. If the occurrence of the interruption requirement is detected, S10 to S15 are executed. In other cases, S8 is executed. S8: The operation of the end key is detected, and if the end key has not been pressed, the prize selection process of S6 is continued, and if the end key has been pressed, S9 is executed. S9: The transaction ends in response to the end key being pressed. The transaction data is transferred to the management server. S10: It is checked whether or not the generated interruption requirement corresponds to the suspension processing. If the suspension requirement corresponds to the suspension processing, S11 is executed, and in other cases, S12 is executed. S11: Cancel the prize exchange transaction for the current user,
Clear the processing data. S12: It is checked whether or not the generated interruption requirement corresponds to the reservation ticket issuance process. If so, S13 is executed, and otherwise, S14 is executed. S13: Generate a new hold ID and record it on the receipt,
It is issued as a hold ticket and notifies the prize management server of prize exchange transaction data that has been completed to date. S14: It is checked whether or not the generated interruption requirement corresponds to a prize exchange transaction interruption process. If so, S15 is executed, and otherwise, a predetermined process not shown is performed. S15: The processing steps S151 to S158 of the premium exchange transaction interruption processing program shown in FIG. 2B are executed. S151: The processing data at the time of interruption of S5 or S7 in FIG. 2A is saved to a predetermined save area. S152: The receipt of the next customer is input. S153: Data is read from the receipt. S154: A prize selection process is performed. S155: The operation of the interrupt processing release key is detected, and if the release key is pressed, the processing so far is stopped and S15
8 is executed. S156: The operation of the end key is detected, and if the end key is not pressed, the prize selection process of S154 is continued, and if the end key is pressed, S157 is executed. S157: A transaction end process is performed, and the transaction data is transferred to the premium management server, and then S158 is executed. S158: The processing data saved in S151 is restored, and the execution of the premium exchange transaction main processing program of FIG. 2A is resumed.

The above-described flow is merely an example, and various modifications can be made in accordance with the operation method such as the service method for the customer.

[0027]

According to the present invention, it is possible to take appropriate measures such as issuing or canceling a reservation ticket for interruption processing in accordance with the situation where interruption is required, thereby achieving both work efficiency and service. . In particular, interrupt processing can be executed easily, and it is not necessary to issue a reservation ticket, which greatly helps to improve work efficiency, eliminates troubles such as loss or falsification, and furthermore, customers can use prizes with peace of mind. The user can make a selection, thereby shortening the waiting time and improving the service of not only the interrupted customer but also the entire customer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a prize exchange transaction process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional premium exchange transaction processing system.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a conventional premium exchange transaction control by a premium POS terminal.

[Description of Signs] 1: Network 2: Premium management server 3-1, 3-2: Premium POS service 4-1 to 4-n: Game machine 5: Supply management server 6: Counter 7: CPU 8: Memory 9: Premium exchange transaction main processing program 10: Premium exchange transaction interrupt processing program 11: Hold processing program 12: Cancellation processing program 13: Premium exchange transaction data file 14: Reserve transaction data file

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takatoshi Takemoto 3-12-9, Higashi-Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Inside Ace Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiromasa Ogawa 3--12, Higashi-Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo No. 9 Inside Ace Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Nakamura 3-12-9 Higashi Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo Inside Ace Denki Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A premium POS of a system in which at least a management server and a premium POS terminal are connected to a network.
A prize exchange processing method for performing a prize exchange transaction with a customer via a terminal, wherein an interrupt process for performing a prize exchange transaction is provided for a main process for processing a prize exchange transaction, and When a predetermined interruption requirement occurs during the processing of the prize exchange transaction by the main processing, the prize exchange transaction by the main processing is interrupted and the prize exchange transaction for another customer is started by the interruption processing. A process of returning to the processing of the premium exchange transaction by the interrupted main processing upon completion of the processing of the premium exchange transaction for the other customer. 2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a holding process for holding a prize exchange transaction being processed, and executing the holding process when a predetermined interruption factor occurs during the processing of the prize exchange transaction for a certain customer. Then, the prize exchange transaction being processed is put on hold, a hold ticket is issued to the customer, and the hold server terminates the hold process by notifying the management server of the hold transaction data,
A prize exchange processing method characterized by reading the reserved transaction data from the management server when the reserved ticket is read thereafter, and resuming the reserved premium exchange transaction. 3. A main processing means for processing a prize exchange transaction, and an interrupt processing means for executing another prize exchange transaction which is executed according to a predetermined interruption requirement generated during the processing of the main processing means. Prize PO characterized by having
S terminal. 4. The suspension according to claim 3, further comprising suspending the processing of the prize exchange transaction in accordance with occurrence of a predetermined interruption requirement, issuing a suspension ticket, and notifying the management server of the suspended transaction data. A premium POS terminal comprising processing means.