JP3604642B2 - Bill transporter in amusement arcade - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a bill transport device in a game arcade, and relates to a device for stopping transport of bills when a bill jam occurs and displaying a bill jam location.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The banknote transport device in the conventional game arcade, when the banknote sent out from the banknote receiving machine, during the end of the endless belt constituting the outlet of the banknote receiving machine or the transport device, or at the entrance of the stacker, etc. However, a stop instruction has been issued to all the motors constituting the bill transport device.
[0003]
As means for solving this, a means for providing a bill retention detecting device and stopping only the motor upstream of the bill retention occurrence point has been considered, but in the related art, a controller is provided for each motor to control the motors. (JP-A-9-225121). As a means for detecting bill storage, there is known a means in which transmission sensors are provided at intervals shorter than the long side dimension of the bill (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-144645).
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
A banknote transport device in a conventional amusement arcade, when a banknote sent out from a banknote receiving machine is jammed at an exit portion of the banknote receiving machine, in the middle of a transport belt forming a transport device, or at an entrance of a stacker, etc. Since the stop instruction has been issued to all the motors that constitute the apparatus, all bill accepting machines (ball lending machines or medal lending machines) cannot be used until the bills are removed, which inconveniences customers. There was a problem that sales decreased.
[0005]
In addition, even in a bill transporting device that is provided with a bill retention detecting device and stops only the motor upstream from the bill retention location, the cost is high because a controller is provided for each motor to control the motors. In addition, maintenance and inspection become complicated, and there is a problem that the transport path cannot be controlled during the maintenance and inspection.
[0006]
Further, since the transmission type sensors are provided at intervals shorter than the long side dimension of the banknotes as means for detecting the jamming of the banknotes, a large number of transmission type sensors are required in the entire banknote transport device, which complicates the structure and increases the cost. There was a problem of becoming.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to provide a bill transfer device in a game arcade that can significantly reduce costs and can manage a bill transfer path even during maintenance and inspection of a bill identification unit. And
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The banknote transport device of the present invention includes a plurality of gaming machines and banknote receiving machines arranged side by side to form a gaming machine row, a plurality of banknote transport units for pinching and transporting banknotes by endless belts, and a stacker at an end. In the island part of the game arcade where is installed, the bill accepting machine is composed of a bill identifying unit, a bill accepting unit, a bill transporting motor control unit, and a display unit, and each bill accepting machine is connected in parallel by a communication line and a system control unit. And a bill detecting device is installed in each bill transport unit, a current loop including the bill detecting device is formed, and two adjacent bill discriminating portions are connected to the current loop. When the accumulation is detected, it is transmitted to the system control unit, and the system control unit displays the bill accumulation position, stops all the unit motors upstream from the position where the bill accumulation has occurred, and sets the downstream unit. Use the motor is operated, characterized by being adapted to convey the downstream of the bill to the stacker.
[0009]
The bill transport device of the present invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that a CPU capable of performing identification of inserted bills and control of a bill transport motor is installed in the bill receiving machine. I do.
[0010]
In the bill transporting device according to the present invention described in claim 3, the adjacent current loops are connected to the same bill identifying unit , and after the upstream bill detecting device detects passage of the bill, the bill is downstream within a predetermined time. The banknote detection device on the side does not detect the banknote, so that the banknote retention can be detected.
[0011]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the bill transfer device according to the present invention, wherein an input device for assigning an ID to the bill identifying unit is provided outside.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a bill conveying device in a gaming machine row of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a bill detecting device, and FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing connection of a CPU. The present invention is a bill transfer device in a game arcade, and the game arcade is configured by alternately arranging a plurality of gaming machines (pachinko machines or slot machines) and bill accepting machines 1 to form a gaming machine row. In addition, the banknote receiving machine 1 is arranged in two rows back to back to form a management system commonly called “island”.
[0013]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a bill transporting device in a gaming machine row, which is configured by a bill receiving machine 1, a bill transporting path 2, a stacker 3, and a system control unit 4. The bill accepting machine 1 includes a bill recognizing unit 12, a bill accepting unit 14, a bill transport motor control unit 13, and a display 16, and is connected to an input device 11 for assigning an ID. The bill transport path 2 is composed of an endless belt 6 driven by a main motor 8 and a plurality of endless belts 7 driven by a unit motor 9, and sandwiches and transports bills. The bill transport unit 10 is a unit configuring the bill transport path 2 and includes a unit motor 9, an endless belt 7, and a bill transport motor control unit 13. Each bill transport unit 10 includes a bill detecting device 21. Is provided. However, the banknote transport path 2 only needs to be able to be driven or stopped for each banknote transport unit 10, and is not limited to this configuration.
[0014]
Each bill validator 12 has a CPU 15, which is connected in parallel by a communication line 5 and further connected to a system controller 4. The CPU 15 is provided so as to straddle the bill validating unit 12 and the bill transporting motor control unit 13, and can perform identification of inserted bills and control of the unit motor 9. Accordingly, identification of the inserted bill and management of the unit motor 9 are performed by one CPU 15.
[0015]
In addition, the system control unit 4 can determine the number of the bill accepting machine 1 by assigning a serial number to the bill identifying unit 12 from the upstream by the input device 11 for assigning an ID. For example, by assigning IDs to 1, 2,..., N in the order from the most upstream banknote discriminating unit 12 and allocating ID (n + 1) to the system control unit 4, the number of banknote accepting machines 1 becomes n. You can see that it is composed.
[0016]
Further, by providing the input device 11 that performs the allocation of ID to the bill discriminating unit 12 to the outside, the input device 11 holds the ID information, even when replacing the banknote recognition unit 12 during maintenance, ID No need to reset.
[0017]
Next, the operation will be described. When the bill discriminating unit 12 determines that the inserted bill is appropriate, the bill transport motor control unit 13 drives the unit motor 9 to accept the bill, and each bill transport unit 10 The banknotes are conveyed to the stacker 3 while detecting the passage of the banknotes by the banknote detector 21 installed in the stacker. In this case, if the passage of the bill is not detected by the next bill detecting device 21 installed downstream within a certain time after the passage of the bill by the upstream bill detecting device 21 is detected, Upon judging the occurrence, the bill discriminating unit 12 transmits the bill to the system control unit 4 together with the assigned ID. The system control unit 4 that has received the transmission can identify the location where the bill accumulation has occurred by using the ID, and displays the location on the display 16 provided in the bill accepting machine 1, as well as the unit motor 9 upstream from the location where the bill accumulation has occurred. Is stopped. On the other hand, since the unit motor 9 downstream of the place where the bill accumulation has occurred is driven, the bill accepting machine 1 installed downstream can accept bills, and the ball lending machine (or medal lending machine) 17 Can be used.
[0018]
Next, the bill retention detecting means will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The bill detecting device 21 includes a light emitting diode 24 and a phototransistor 25 and forms a current loop 27. The adjacent current loops 27 are connected to the same bill validator 12 via a photocoupler. While the bill is passing through the slit 26 provided between the light emitting diode 24 and the phototransistor 25, the phototransistor 25 is turned off, and no current flows through the current loop 27. Therefore, the phototransistor 25 of the photocoupler 23 is also turned off, and the passage of the bill is detected in the bill recognition unit 12. The bill conveyance time (one span time) between the adjacent bill detection devices 21 is obtained by the distance / conveyance speed between the bill detection devices. If the banknote is not detected by the downstream banknote detection device 21 within the time (the time obtained by adding the margin time to one span time), it can be determined that the banknote has accumulated. When the upstream banknote detection device 21 detects the passage of a banknote , the downstream banknote recognition unit 12 suspends the sending of the banknote, waits for the banknote to pass, and accepts the banknote. Of the banknotes due to the collision of the banknotes can be prevented. The bill detecting device 21 is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment, and any other optical, magnetic, or mechanical detecting device may be used.
[0019]
The current loop 27 is connected to the two bill validators 12 via the photocoupler 23. Therefore, in the case of a state of detaching the one of the banknote recognition unit 12 for maintenance or the like, since the other of the banknote recognition unit 12 is connected, the banknote identification unit 12 is the system controller 4 detects the banknote , It is possible to manage the bill conveyance state.
[0020]
Further, by adopting a polling / selecting method as a communication method for connecting each bill identification unit 12 and the system control unit 4, the system control unit 4 confirms the state of each bill identification unit 12 and performs one operation by maintenance or the like. When the banknote recognition unit 12 of the unit is removed, there is no response from the banknote recognition unit 12, which indicates that the banknote recognition unit 12 has been removed. In addition, by intercepting the communication, the other banknote identification unit 12 also knows that the banknote identification unit 12 has been removed, and the other banknote identification unit 12 can manage the transport state of the banknote.
[0021]
For example, in FIG. 1, when removed for maintenance of the bill identifying portion BV3, the bill detector ACT2 detects bill passage, since the banknote recognition unit BV2 originates a detection of the bill, the bill identifying portion BV4 banknote identification unit It can be seen that the vehicle reaches ACT4 after two span times from BV2 to the bill validator BV4. Therefore, if the ACT 4 does not detect a bill after the elapse of two span times, it is known that bills have accumulated, and the BV 4 transmits to the system control unit 4 together with the assigned ID.
[0022]
FIG. 3 shows the connection of the CPU, and it is preferable to use a twisted pair line because the communication line is excellent in noise resistance, but the present invention is not limited to this.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
The banknote transport device of the present invention has the following effects from the above configuration. In contrast to claim 1 in which the controller for controlling the motor is installed in all the bill transporting motors constituting the bill transporting device as in the prior art, the system control as in the present invention is performed. By performing the motor control by the unit, it is not necessary to provide a controller for each banknote transport motor, and the cost can be clearly reduced.
[0024]
In addition, when bill accumulation occurs in the bill transport device, only the motor for the unit upstream of the bill accumulation location is stopped, so that a ball lending machine or a medal lending machine closer to the stacker from the bill accumulation location. Since it can be used, it is possible to minimize inconvenience to customers and prevent a decrease in sales.
Further, by connecting two bill validators to one current loop, even when one bill validator is removed for maintenance or the like, the transport state of bills is managed via the other bill validator. it can. In addition, when the bill is passing through the bill transport path in the current loop, by temporarily stopping the delivery of the bill in the downstream bill identification unit , it is possible to prevent occurrence of bill accumulation. Therefore, the suspension of the ball lending machine or the medal lending machine is reduced, so that the trouble of the customer is reduced and the decrease in the sales can be prevented.
[0025]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the single CPU installed in the bill accepting machine has the bill recognizing function and the control function of the unit motor. Reduction can be measured.
[0026]
In claim 3, since the bills can be detected by the bills not passing between the adjacent bill detecting devices within a certain period of time, the banknotes can be detected. Therefore, by providing one bill detecting device for each bill transporting unit, each unit is provided. It is possible to control the motor for use. Therefore, unlike the related art, it is not necessary to install the bill detecting devices at intervals shorter than the long side dimension of the bill, so that the structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
[0027]
According to claim 4, since the input device for assigning the ID to the bill validator is installed outside, even when the bill validator is replaced, the input device retains the ID information. It is not necessary to perform maintenance and maintenance is easy.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a bill transport device in a game arcade of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the bill detecting device of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the connection of the CPU of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 banknote receiving machine 2 banknote transport path 3 stacker 4 system control unit 5 communication line 6 endless belt 7 endless belt 8 main motor 9 unit motor 10 banknote transport unit 11 input device 12 banknote identification unit 13 banknote motor control unit 14 banknote Receiving unit 15 CPU
16 Display 17 Ball lending machine (or medal lending machine)
21 Bill detecting device 23 Photo coupler 24 Light emitting diode 25 Photo transistor 26 Slit 27 Current loop

Claims (4)

A game arcade in which a plurality of gaming machines and bill accepting machines are arranged side by side to form a gaming machine row, a plurality of bill transporting units for pinching and transporting bills by an endless belt, and a stacker installed at an end. In the unit, the bill accepting machine is composed of a bill discriminating unit, a bill accepting unit, a bill transport motor control unit, and a display unit, and each bill accepting machine is connected in parallel by a communication line and connected to a system control unit. A bill detecting device is installed in the bill transporting unit, a current loop including the bill detecting device is formed, and two adjacent bill identifying units are connected to the current loop. The system control unit displays the bill retention position, stops all the unit motors upstream from the location where the bill retention has occurred, activates the downstream unit motors, Paper money transport device, characterized in that the banknotes of the flow to be conveyed to the stacker. The bill transfer device according to claim 1, wherein a CPU capable of identifying inserted bills and controlling a bill transfer motor is installed in the bill receiving machine. The adjacent current loop is connected to the same bill validator , and after the upstream bill detecting device detects passage of the bill, the downstream bill detecting device does not detect the bill within a certain period of time. The bill transport device according to claim 1, wherein the bill transport device is capable of detecting the bill. 4. The bill transport device according to claim 1, wherein an input device for assigning an ID to the bill recognition unit is provided outside. 5.

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