JPS60119975A - Time data collector of play machine - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a time-based data collection device that collects various data during the operation of a game machine such as a pachinko machine on a time-by-time basis.

Conventional technology and its problems In conventional pachinko machines, etc., the number of safe balls that have entered the winning ball hole and the number of out balls are detected in units of IO and sent to the management device, as well as other signals such as out-of-supply signals. The signals are also configured to be transmitted directly to the management device. The management device calculates the difference between the number of out balls and the number of safe balls, and if the difference exceeds a predetermined value, it issues a signal to stop the operation of the pachinko machine, and calculates the cumulative number of out balls and safe balls for the day. I try to record the number of balls.

However, if you want to accurately count the number of balls in 1 lil units, or understand temporal changes such as the frequency of use by players during - days, the number of machines in the playground will be large. It is necessary to increase the memory capacity. In addition, if you want to collect data such as how many hours each pachinko machine operates per day, and the average number of balls won and balls released per hour, it is necessary to manage all the balls with one management device. This requires a great deal of effort in wiring, and the memory capacity increases exponentially, making it impractical.

On the other hand, various methods have been considered in which this data is counted and stored for each pachinko machine to manage pachinko games, etc., and to transmit this information to a management device. However, it was not possible to obtain detailed information such as hourly data or the actual operating hours of the counter. Furthermore, there was no clear indication of when to erase data once stored.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional data collection device for game machines, and it is an object of the present invention to efficiently collect and manage detailed data for each game machine in a predetermined time period. The purpose is to provide an hourly data collection device that can perform

Structure and Effects of the Invention The present invention is a data collection device that collects data on a game machine by time, and includes an operation detector that detects the operation of a game machine that plays a game using a ball, and a ball used in the game machine. a ball count detection means for detecting the passage of balls including the safe number of balls and out balls; a detection means for detecting the operating state of the game machine; a clock for outputting current time data; and a clock for outputting current time data; Time 7 A data memory having a storage area for storing data including the number of pitches and the operating state, and the operation time are accumulated for each predetermined time period based on the output of the operation detector and the output of the number of pitches detection means. data processing means for accumulating pitch detection data every predetermined time period based on the data and updating the data in the data memory, and storing the operating time of the detection means; The present invention is characterized by comprising: sending means for sending out the held data that is stored therein.

According to the present invention having such characteristics, data such as operating time, number of safe balls, and out balls can be collected for each predetermined time period.

In addition, in the event of a supply shortage or fraudulent activity, it is possible to collect data such as whether or not this occurred and the time at which it occurred.

Therefore, in a game hall where a large number of such game machines are installed, the operating status of each game machine can be grasped, making it possible to perform detailed management analysis.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the front side of a pachinko machine equipped with a data collection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the back side thereof. In these figures, a ball firing handle 1 and upper and lower prize ball trays 2 and 3 are installed below the pachinko machine, and the balls fired from the ball firing handle 1 are sent along the rail 4 of the second ball game surface. Some balls will rise and some balls will fall into any of the winning ball holes 5a to 5f.
The others are led to an out ball population of 6. - As shown in Figure 2, a supply tank 7 holding a large number of balls to be released is provided at the top of the back of the pachinko machine, and the continuous release device communicates with the bottom of the supply tank 7 to line up the balls to be released. 8 is provided, and the alignment gutter 9 is provided with a replenishment cut-off switch 10 that indicates when the replenishment tank 7 is empty of discharged bodies.

Holes corresponding to the winning ball holes 5a to 5f are provided on the back of the pachinko machine, and the winning balls that have entered these holes are detected by safe ball sensors Ila to l which detect the number of winning balls for each hole.
The winning balls are collected in a collecting ball 12 via the lf, and are further discharged through a discharge gutter 14 via a safe ball sensor 13 that detects the total number of winning balls. Safe ball sensor lla~ll
The output of f, 13 is given to the data processing section 15. The data processing unit 15 drives the continuous discharge device 8 according to this signal to release the prize balls, and the prize balls are received in the upper tray 2 or the lower tray through the prize ball discharge gutter 16 and the ball tray openings 2a and 3a. 3
is released. In order to confirm the release of the prize ball, a prize ball confirmation sensor 17 is provided at the prize ball release [116]. Out balls that do not win are discharged to a discharge gutter 14 via an out ball sensor 18 through an out ball outlet 6. A ball launcher 19 is provided at the lower part of the back of the pachinko machine, and an operation sensor 2 is located at a position corresponding to the back of the ball launcher 1'.
0 is set. The operation sensor 20 is a ball firing handle l.
It may be a switch that operates in conjunction with the ball firing handle 1, or it may be configured using a capacitance type sensor or the like that detects when a human hand touches the ball firing handle 1. Furthermore, fraud detection sensors 21a and 21b using a Hall element IC or the like are attached to the back of the pachinko machine to detect fraud when a magnet or the like is used. The detection signal of such a sensor is processed by the data processing unit 1.
given to 5. The data processing unit 15 collects data on the operating state based on detection signals from these sensors, as will be described later, and also sends out this data based on external requests. A transmission input/output terminal of the data processing section 15 is connected to a transmission branch box 22 . In a game hall where a large number of such game machines are installed, data is collected from each game machine via a transmission line 23 and sent to a central management device 2.
Centrally managed by 4.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the data processing section 15. Safe ball sensor 1 already explained in this figure
3 and the out ball sensor 18 are connected to the input port 31a, the safe ball sensors lla to lie for each winning hole are connected to the input port 31b, and the operation sensor 20, the out-of-supply switch 10, and the fraud detection sensors 21a and 21b are input. Connected to boat 31C. Input boats 31a to 31C
waveshapes these signals and sends them to the central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as CP).
32 (referred to as U). The CPU 32 has a read-only memory (hereinafter referred to as RO) that stores control commands as a storage means.
M) 33 and various data are stored in temporary memory 1. A random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM) 34 is connected to the cPU 32. A clock 36 for inputting the current time and the output of a flip-flop 37 for changing the date (-1) are connected to the cPU 32. Given.RAM34
A back amplifier battery 38 is connected to the clock 36 and the flip-flop 37 in order to retain the data when the game machine is powered down or in a power outage. Therefore, it is preferable to configure these using a low power consumption type IC such as CMO3 IC. Furthermore, the CPU 32 includes an input/output port 39 for transmitting and receiving data from the management device 24.
is connected to the transmission branch box 22.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 show the RAM 34 for data retention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data area of . Assuming that the business hours of the amusement hall where this pachinko machine is installed is from 1 o'clock in the morning to 10 o'clock in the afternoon, and that period is divided into 6 sections every 2 hours,
As shown in FIG. 4, the operating time w'F1 to WT6 and the number of safe balls SNI to each time section numerator SI to TS6 are
An area for storing SN6 and the number of out balls ONI to ON6 is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, there is an area for storing the supply-out time SSI to SSi indicating that there are no more balls to be released in the supply tank 7, the supply-out release time SRI to SRi, and the incorrect start time WOBI to wOBi. and areas indicating their incorrect end times WOEl to WOEi are provided.

As shown in FIG. 6, the auxiliary data memory includes WTon indicating the time when the operation sensor 2o is turned on, BTI which stores the time zone classification, and WToff indicating the time when the operation sensor 2o is turned off. B indicating the time in that time zone
10 is provided, and each area is provided for the current time borrowing section n for temporarily storing the current time zone section, the number of supply outages m indicating the number of times the supply has run out, and the number of fraudulent acts t indicating the number of times fraudulent acts have been carried out. ing.

Next, the operation of this pachinko machine will be explained with reference to flowchart 1 in FIGS. 7 to 11.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an interrupt process for performing time zone division, and an interrupt is made every minute to perform the process according to this flowchart.

That is, if there is an interrupt, the clock 36 is set to 1 in step 41.
Check whether the time is between 0:00 and 11:59, and if so, write 1 to the time zone area TS and the current time zone n of the RAM 34 and end the process (Step 42). If so, proceed to step 43.

The system 43 checks whether the clock 36 is between 12:00 and 13:59. If so, 2 is written in the time zone area TS and the current time zone n of the RAM 34 in step 44, and if it is not in this time zone, the current time is similarly checked according to the time of the clock 36, and the time zone numerator S area and any number from 1 to 6 is written in the current time zone segment n, and the interrupt processing is completed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart i- showing interrupt processing for counting the number of pitches, and this interrupt processing is performed every few milliseconds. When this interrupt processing is performed, first step 4
At step 7, it is checked whether the safe ball sensor 13 has been turned on from off.

In that case, the process proceeds to step 48, where the number of safe balls SNn for that time period is incremented, and if not, the process proceeds to step 49, where it is checked whether or not the out ball sensor 18 is turned on. If this is on, step 5
At 0, the out ball number ONn area is incremented and the process ends.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the interrupt processing when the 'C command is given from the management device 24 via the transmission branch box 22. If there is a transmission/reception interrupt, it is checked in step 51 whether it is a clock cent command,
In that case, the current time included in the command is set in the clock 36 and the process ends (step 52). If such time setting is performed, for example, once every morning, it is possible to eliminate the time difference between the hour hands of each game machine. If the command is not a clock cent command in step 51, the process advances to step 53 to check whether the command is a data transmission command.

Also, if it is a data transmission command in step 53, check whether it is your own pachinko machine number (step 54), and only if it is your own number, in step 55 all the data in the RAM 34, that is, the operating time WT is sent. , the number of safe balls SN, the number of out balls ON, the out-of-supply time data SS/SR, the incorrect start time WOB, and the incorrect end time WOE are transmitted, and this processing is completed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing processing when changing the date. When the clock 36 outputs a date change output at midnight, the flip-flop 37 is set. As described above, since the clock 36 and the flip-flop 37 are supplied with power from the battery 38, they remain in operation even when the power to the pachinko machine is stopped, so that the flip-flop 37 can be used as a cent.

Next, FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of this pachinko machine. In this figure, when the power is turned on, first, in step 6o, it is checked whether the flip-flop 37 is set or not. When the power is turned on for the first time after changing the date, the date has changed and the RAM
34 is cleared, the flip-flop 37 is reset, and initial processing is performed (routine 61). Furthermore, if the flip-flop 37 is not set, it is assumed that there has been a temporary power outage, so initial processing different from routine 61 is performed without resetting or clearing these (routine 62). The process then proceeds to step 63 to check whether the operation sensor 20 is turned on. If this does not turn on, the process proceeds to step 64 to check whether the operating sensor 20 has changed from on to off. If the operating sensor 20 does not change, it is checked in steps 66 and 67 whether the supply out switch 10 has been activated, and further it is checked in steps 68 and 69 whether the fraud detection sensor 21 has been activated. If the fraud detection sensor 21 is not operating, step 6
Returning to step 3, the loop of steps 63-69 is repeated until signals are applied from these sensors.

If the player now rotates the ball firing handle 1 to start hitting a ball, the operation sensor 20 changes from off to on. If so, proceed to step 7o from step 63 (, PU
32 refers to the time on the clock 36 and calculates that time as RΔM34.
, and writes the value of the time zone segment n at that time into the time zone segment area BTI of the time when the operating sensor ν·20 is turned on. The process then proceeds to step 66 and repeats the same process. Next, when the player stops operating the steering wheel, the operation sensor 20 is turned off. In this case, the CPU 32 exits the loop of steps 63 to 69 and proceeds to step 71, where the CPU 32 refers to the clock 36 and writes the current time into the operating sensor off time WToff, and at the same time writes the time zone segment n into the time zone segment area BT2. Write the value of . Then, the process proceeds to step 72 and the time zone divisions B T2 , B
Check whether the difference in Tl is O. If this is 0, the pachinko machine was operated during the time belonging to the same time zone and has finished operating, so the process proceeds to step 73 and starts from the off time WToff of the operation sensor 20.
A value obtained by subtracting the on time WTon of is added to the operating time W T n area to store new operating time data. On the other hand, if the difference between Br3 and BTIO is 0 in step 72, it is checked in step 74 whether this difference is 1. If this is not 1, it means that the pachinko machine has been used for a long time and it is determined that there is some kind of abnormality, so in routine 75, ζ abnormality processing is performed and the process ends. If this is 1, the process proceeds to step 76 to find the operating time belonging to the current time segment. This is done by subtracting the first time (2×n+8:00) belonging to that time zone from the time WToff when the operation was turned off, and adding it to the operating time WTn area as the operating time belonging to that time zone, and then proceeding to step 77. Then, the operating time belonging to the time zone immediately before that time zone is calculated. This is the operating time of the operating time area WTn-1 of the previous time slot n-1, with the value obtained by subtracting the time WT on when the operating sensor 20 was turned on from the time when the time zone segment was changed as the operating time. Rewrite the value. Then, proceed to step 7B and set the operating sensor on time W.
Ton, off time WToff and respective time zone classification BTI
, clear the data of Br3. If they belong to the same time zone segment, the operating time is calculated in step 73 and immediately cleared, and the process proceeds to step 66. In this way, the operating time belonging to each time segment is sequentially rewritten based on the operation of the operating sensor 20, and the number of safe balls belonging to each time segment, the number of out balls, and the number of balls belonging to each time segment are rewritten based on the interrupt for counting the number of balls shown in FIG. By integrating the number of balls, it is possible to obtain data divided by time as shown in Fig. 12. Further, when the supply out switch 10 changes from off to on, the process proceeds to step 79 via step 66 and writes the current time to the supply out time SSm, and when the supply out switch 10 changes from on to off, Proceeding to step 80 via step 67, the current time is written to the supply outage release time SRm and the number of supply outages m is incremented. Similarly, when the fraud detection sensor 21 changes from off to on, the process advances to step 81 via step 68, and the current time is written to the fraud start time WOBt, and when the fraud detection sensor 21 changes from on to off. In step 82 via step 69, the current time is set to the incorrect end time W.
At the same time, the number of fraudulent acts t is incremented. In this way, detection data on the state of the pachinko machine can be obtained as shown in FIG. The data thus obtained is sent out based on a data sending command given from the management device 24, as shown in FIG. Therefore, if all the pachinko machines installed in the amusement park are connected by the transmission line 23, the management bag W24 can collect data on all the pachinko machines, which can be useful for business analysis.

In this embodiment, the safe ball sensor 1 is used as shown in FIG.
Although the number of safe balls is incremented by the detection signal No. 3 and the number of safe balls is accumulated, it goes without saying that the safe balls that have entered each winning ball hole can be individually accumulated.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to divide the play time into a plurality of time periods, obtain desired data for each time period, and sequentially transmit the data to a central management device. This makes it possible to understand data efficiently.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pachinko machine according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the back side thereof, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of a data processing section 15, and FIG. Figures 5 and 6 are memory maps of the RAM 34, Figure 7 is a time zone division interrupt process, Figure 8 is a ball count interrupt process, Figure 9 is a flowchart showing transmission/reception interrupt processing, and Figure 1O. 11 is a flowchart showing the date change, FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of this pachinko machine,
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of data corresponding to each time segment, and FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of time detection data. 5a~5f, ----- Winning ball sensor 7---------
-Replenishment tank 8--One continuous discharge device 10--
--Issei cut-off switch 11 a -11e, 13-
1-----Safe ball sensor 1 5-----11 Data processing section 18-----Out ball sensor 21 a
, 2 l b----- Fraud detection sensor 22----
---Transmission branch ponox 24--Management device 32-
------~-CPU 33-----ROM 34--
---RAM 36-----・One clock 37-----
---Frisop Flop 38--Battery patent applicant
Representative of Tateishi Electric Co., Ltd. Patent attorney Yoshiki Okamoto (1 other person) Figure 1] Figure 2 9b C1 11o11b8 竞, 2321a15) 17 1d) Odd diameter. Until 11 11e ゛・, 214 6, L 18 mm 328 "″'-] 91 m-" Heat Figure 9 Figure 10

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) An operation detector that detects the operation of a game machine that plays a game using balls; a ball number detection means that detects the number of safe balls used in the game machine and the passage of balls including out balls; A detection means for detecting the operating state of the game machine, a clock for outputting current time data, and a data memory having a storage fa area for storing data including the operating time, number of balls, and operating state for each predetermined time period. , integrating the operating time for each predetermined time period based on the output of the operation detector, and integrating the ball count detection data for each predetermined time period based on the output of the pitch count detection means to store the data in the data memory. It is characterized by comprising a data processing means for updating data and storing the operating time of the detection means, and a sending means for sending the retained data stored in the data memory based on a transmission request from the outside. A time-based data collection device for game machines. (2) The hourly data collection device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein the operation detector provides a detection method based on the operation of a ball firing means of the game machine. (3) The time-based data collection device for a game machine according to claim 1, wherein the detection means is a detector that detects an out-of-supply indicating that there are no more prize balls to be ejected. (4) The time-based data collection device for game machines according to claim 1, wherein the detection means is a fraud detection means for detecting fraud.