JPS63294881A - Card type ball rental apparatus - 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 (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a card-type ball rental IT in which game media such as pachinko balls can be rented using cards.

(Prior Art) Card-type ball lending devices have already been developed in which pachinko balls and other game media are lent using cards in order to facilitate cash management in pachinko parlors and the like. JP-A-61-143085 discloses a ball lending system including such a ball lending device and a card issuing device.

This system uses a magnetic card with predetermined information magnetically recorded on it to lend out balls.When the specified amount of money is inserted, a ticket issuing machine issues the magnetic card, and when a valid magnetic card is inserted, a certain amount of money is issued. The machine is equipped with a ball lending machine that discharges a number of pachinko balls, etc., and the ticket issuing machine and ball lending machine are managed and controlled by a computer.

However, in this system, since magnetic cards are relatively expensive, it is economically disadvantageous to use magnetic cards as ball rental cards that need to be issued in large numbers for a certain amount of money at pachinko parlors and the like. Therefore, it is desired to form a ball rental card using a material that is cheaper than a magnetic card and that allows necessary information to be recorded by a method other than magnetic recording.

However, when attempting to record and number information on cards using a visually visible recording method using cards made of inexpensive materials other than magnetic cards, it becomes easy for cards to be counterfeited or altered by copying or the like. It is required to reliably prevent such cards from being used illegally, and no ball lending device that can fully satisfy the above requirements using inexpensive cards other than magnetic cards has yet to be developed. It wasn't.

(Purpose of the Invention) In view of the above circumstances, the present invention uses a ball rental card with information displayed in a barcode on thermal paper, which is cheaper than a magnetic card.
By dispensing balls according to the insertion of the ball lending card, it is much more economical than conventional devices of this type, and even though the recording on the card is visible, it is possible to To provide a card-type ball lending device that can sufficiently prevent unauthorized use due to forgery.

(Structure of the Invention) As shown in the explanatory diagram of the structure of FIG. A card-type ball lending device that discharges a predetermined amount of game media such as pachinko balls by a discharge means A provided in a ball lending machine 20 when a card 1 is inserted into a ball lending device 1!20, A display detection means B optically detects a display pre-applied to the ball lending card 1, a marking means C attaching a discoloration mark by heating to a predetermined location of the inserted ball lending card 1, and a marking means C which detects the presence or absence of this mark. A mark detection means that optically detects, a reading means E that reads the bar code, and an inspection that determines whether or not the ball rental card 1 is a regular ball rental card 1 based on the outputs of each of the detection means B, D and the reading means E. The device is provided with a means F and a control means G for controlling the ejecting means so as to eject the game medium only when the inspection means F determines that it is a regular ball rental card 1.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to pachinko ball rental at a pachinko parlor will be described based on the drawings from FIG. 2 onwards.

Figure 2 shows an outline of the entire ball rental system.
, ball rental machines 20 installed between each pachinko machine and at other multiple locations, payment machines 30 installed at multiple locations within the store, tally 1131 and transfer machines 32, 33, and 34 that control these. have. Computers are used for the aggregation machine 31 and the transfer machines 32, 33, 34, the aggregation machine 31 works as a host computer, and the transfer machines 32, 33, 34 operate a plurality of ticket issuing machines 10 and each island. It is provided for each of a plurality of ball lending machines 20 and a plurality of payment machines 30, and processes signals from these terminals (ticket issuing machine, ball lending machine, and payment machine) and performs processing between the terminals and aggregation l.
It is designed to relay signals to and from ll31. Further, each terminal is also provided with a control circuit including a microcomputer and the like. Then, the above-mentioned ball lending machine '20 and the M'm system for this (the above-mentioned tally machine 3
The ball lending device of the present invention is constituted by the 1° transfer device 33 and the control circuit within the ball lending device 20.

The ticket issuing machine 10 issues a ball lending card 1 on which predetermined information and a bar code are thermally printed on thermal paper when prescribed coins are inserted. The device identifies the currency, and if it is the specified currency, outputs a ticket issuance request signal to the totaling machine 31 via the transfer device 32, and in response to the ticket issuing command signal sent back from the totaling machine 31, supplies thermal paper, The ball lending card 1 is created and issued by performing processes such as thermal printing and cutting into predetermined dimensions.

Further, when the collector 31 receives the ticket issuing request signal for the ticket issuing machine 10, it stores predetermined registration data in the memory 35 in the totaling machine 31 and then outputs a ticket issuing command signal. ing. In this case, the month, day, hour, minute, and second of the issue of the Tama Rental Card are used as a secret code that distinguishes each Tama Rental Card, and this secret code, the ticket issuing machine number, and the used balance of the Tama Rental Card (at this point, the issued amount) is stored in the memory 35 as registration data.

Fig. 3 shows the ball lending card 1 created and issued by the above-mentioned ticketing*io, and the thermal paper forming this ball lending card 1 has a background pattern based on a predetermined color printed in color in advance. ing. A barcode 2 encrypting the specific information is thermally printed on this thermal paper. The information to be used as this barcode is the secret code and ticketing vA number of the registered data. In addition, there is a lot of enthusiasm for the descriptions (not shown), which include store numbers and dates of issue, etc., expressed in numbers and letters. moreover.

A balance display 3 with a striped pattern or the like for each balance used on the ball lending card 1 is also thermally printed. This balance display 3 is designed to be erased with a thermally printed black mark 4 one by one each time it is used when lending balls, which will be described later.
This mark 4 is used to indicate the remaining amount to the user and to check that the paper is thermal paper.

Figure 4 shows the structure of the ball lending machine 20, and this ball lending machine 11
20 is provided with a pachinko ball discharging means A comprising an actuator 21 that operates in response to a ball lending command signal, a ball ejection counter 22, etc. A ball lending card receiving section 23 is provided which includes a transmission sensor 24 for detecting the insertion of a ball lending card and ball lending card conveying means such as a feed belt 25b driven by a motor 25a. The ball rental card receiving section 23 is equipped with a color sensor 26 that detects the basic color of the background pattern of the ball lending card 1, a barcode sensor 27, and the balance display section of the ball lending card 1 is painted black by thermal printing. A thermal head 28 that marks the mark, and a sensor 29 that detects the balance display and the mark.
These constitute the display detection means B, the mark means c1, the mark detection means and the reading means E among the means shown in FIG.

That is, in this embodiment, the force sensor 26 and the sensor 29 constitute a display detection means B that detects the display (display of the background pattern color and balance display) attached to the ball rental card 1 in advance, and the sensor 29 Furthermore, a mark detection means is configured,
Further, the thermal head 28 constitutes a marking means C, and the barcode sensor 27 constitutes a reading means E. In addition, the ItlJ III system for the ball lending machine 20, that is, the control circuit inside the ball lending machine, the transfer machine 33, and the totaling machine 31 are the inspection means F and 1l of each means shown in FIG.
It constitutes JWJ means G.

In addition, ball rental! On the front side of 1120, a balance display lamp, an alarm lamp (not shown), etc. are provided.

Further, although the specific structure of the payment machine 30 is not shown, this R11 machine 3o is also equipped with a ball rental card receiving section and an optical detection means provided therein in the same way as the ball rental machine 20, and the pachinko ball Instead of the discharging means, a mechanism is provided for discharging the balance in response to a settlement command signal.

The control operation for lending balls by the ball lending device of this embodiment will be specifically explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 5. When a ball lending card is inserted into the ball lending machine 2o (step S1), the card itself is first inspected by the iqm circuit of the ball lending machine 20 in steps 82 to s6. That is, based on the detection of the color of the background pattern by the color sensor 26 and the detection of the balance display by the sensor 29 (step 82), it is checked whether the card has a background pattern of a predetermined color and a balance display (step 82). 8
3). If the determination result is YES, a mark 4 is added by the thermal head 8 to black out one balance display (step S4), this mark 4 is detected by the sensor 29 (step S5), and based on this detection, By determining whether or not the mark 4 has actually been attached (step Ss), it is checked whether the card is actually made of thermal paper.

If the determination result in step S3 or step 88''r'' is NO due to forgery of the card, the card is ejected as is (step S7).

The determination results of step S3 and step S6 are both Y.
If it is ES, the barcode 2 is read by the barcode sensor 27 (step S8), and the signal and the ball loan request command are transmitted (step S9). The tabulation machine 31 that receives these signals checks the contents of the barcode 2 and the balance used in steps 810 to St3. That is, the contents of the barcode 2 are compared with the registered data (step Sw+), and based on this it is determined whether the card is being registered (step 511). If the card is being registered, the card is stored in the memory 35. The used balance of the card is checked, and it is determined whether there is a used balance (steps St+, Sn). If the card is not being registered or there is no remaining amount, a ball lending disallowance command is sent to the ball lending machine 20 (step 514), and the card is ejected accordingly. Also, if the card is being registered and there is a balance remaining, the memory 3
The usage balance stored in step 5 is subtracted by an amount corresponding to one pachinko ball discharge unit and is rewritten (step 51).
s), and a ball lending permission command is transmitted to the ball lending machine 20 that made the ball lending request (step 516).

In response to this signal, the ball lending machine 20 operates the ball ejecting actuator 21 to perform control to eject a predetermined amount of pachinko balls (step 517).

In this way, when the regular ball lending card 1 is inserted into the ball lending machine 20, a certain amount of pachinko balls are ejected. Although the ball rental card 1 printed by visible heat printing is used, the above steps 82 to 82
Various inspections at So will sufficiently prevent fraudulent use of counterfeit cards. In other words, if a counterfeit card is used that does not have a background pattern of a predetermined color or a pattern indicating a predetermined balance display, the card will be rejected in the first stage inspection at steps 82 and 83. For example, if a counterfeit card that has been copied in color is used, even if it passes the first stage inspection, the mark 4 will not be attached even if the thermal head 28 is activated unless it is thermal paper, so step S6 will be eliminated in the second stage of inspection. Furthermore, if the code of the ball rental card is tampered with, step S4. It will be eliminated by inspection. In this case, if the registered data and the contents of barcode 2 include the month, day, hour, minute, and second of issue as secret data, it will be possible to distinguish each ball lending card individually, and the card number This makes it more difficult to decipher the code, and there is less risk that a card with a tampered barcode 2 will be compared with the registration data of another card, making it easier to identify counterfeits. This makes prevention even more effective. Moreover, since the balance used is checked by the value stored and rewritten in the memory 35 of the tally machine 31 without relying on the display on the ball lending card 1, the balance can be managed without fail.

Further, the balance used is settled by the settlement 1130, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, by a process similar to the operation 1310 for lending balls. In other words, steps 821-
Processing such as card inspection by S29, and tally machine 3
The processing of verification, balance confirmation, etc. in steps 830-834 in step 1 is similar to steps 81-S9 and steps S10-814 in FIG. Then, if it is determined through these inspections that the card is a regular ball rental card and that there is a balance, the balance stored in the memory 35 is cleared in the aggregation machine 31 (step 535).
and send balance signal and settlement permission command (step 5)
36) and receives the signal [130], the process of abolishing the ball lending card 1 (step 837) is carried out, and the process of paying out the coins in the balance (step 53) is carried out.
6) is performed.

In this way, even at the time of payment, the prevention of unauthorized use due to forgery of the ball lending card and the management of other ball lending cards are ensured.

In addition, the specific configuration of each detection means provided in the ball lending device,
The specific method of inspecting the ball rental card itself based on the output of each detection means, the specific contents of the registered data and barcode for card verification, etc. may be changed as appropriate without changing the gist of the present invention. do not have.

Further, in the above embodiment, a case where the ball rental device of the present invention is applied to a pachinko ball rental system in a pachinko parlor is shown, but the present invention can also be applied to the rental of other similar game media. It is.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the ball lending device of the present invention as described above, since a ball lending card made of thermal paper on which a predetermined notation and a bar code are thermally printed is used, it is different from the conventional ball lending device made of a magnetic card. Compared to cards, the cost of the cards is reduced, and the economic efficiency can be greatly improved in a ball lending system using this type of cards, which are issued in large numbers for each predetermined amount of money. Moreover,
When renting out game media according to the insertion of a card into a ball lending machine, identification of the display attached to the ball lending card in advance, processing for attaching a discoloration mark due to heating to the ball lending card, and detection of the mark We carry out strict inspections of the ball rental cards by identifying whether or not they are thermal paper based on the 2019 standard and checking the contents of the barcode, so we can confirm that the records on the ball rental cards are made by visible thermal printing. However, it is possible to sufficiently prevent unauthorized use of counterfeit cards.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an overall view of a ball lending system showing an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a ball lending card, and Fig. 4 is a ball lending machine. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams showing the structure of tIIltllll! It is a flowchart showing the work by l.j. 1... Ball rental card, 2... Barcode, 20...
Ball lending machine, A...discharge means, B...display detection means, C
... mark means, D ... mark detection means, E ...
Barcode reading means, F... inspection means, G...
Control means, 26...Color sensor, 27...Barcode sensor, 28...Thermal head, 29...Sensor, 30...Tallying machine. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Using a ball rental card with designated items written on heat-sensitive paper and a bar code for specific information thermally printed, an ejection means installed in the ball rental machine is used when a regular ball rental card is inserted into the ball rental machine. A card-type ball rental device configured to eject a predetermined amount of game media such as pachinko balls with a mark means for attaching a discoloration mark by heating to a predetermined location on a lending card; a mark detection means for optically detecting the presence or absence of the mark; a reading means for reading the barcode; and an output of each of the above detection means and reading means. an inspection means for determining whether or not the ball rental card is a regular ball rental card based on the inspection means; and an ejection means that controls the ejection means to discharge the game medium only when it is determined by the inspection means that the ball rental card is a regular ball rental card. A card-type ball lending device characterized by comprising a control means for controlling the ball.