JPH0255064B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to pachinko gaming machines, and particularly to an operation recognition device that can recognize the operating status of each gaming machine.

Conventionally, various devices have been proposed that automatically collect and manage various data for each pachinko machine. A pachinko gaming machine that can centrally recognize whether or not a machine is in operation has not yet been realized, and therefore, it is necessary to accurately set the number of stops for one player. There were problems such as the inability to Therefore, the present applicant previously filed a patent application (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-41585) for a pachinko game machine that allows the operating status of each game machine at any given time to be recognized.

The gaming machine according to the above patent application has an operation recognition device that recognizes that the gaming machine is not in operation if no pachinko balls are hit into the gaming machine within a preset time. This is what I did.

However, after playing a game for a certain period of time, a player may take a short break and leave the game machine for a short period of time. Therefore, according to the gaming machine according to the above patent application, when the time set by the timer elapses while the player is taking a short break, the operation recognition device recognizes that the gaming machine is not in operation, Based on this recognition signal, there were cases where the machine was recognized as temporarily out of operation even though it was still in use.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pachinko gaming machine in which an operation recognition device can continuously recognize that the gaming machine is in operation when a player takes a short break. be.

A feature of the present invention is that the function of a timer for determining whether or not a pachinko ball has been hit into a game machine within a preset predetermined time can be arbitrarily stopped by operating a timer stop switch. The object of the present invention is to enable the operation recognition device to continuously recognize that the system is in operation.

According to the present invention having such features, when a player leaves the game machine for a short break, the timer function is stopped by operating the timer stop switch, and the operation recognition device indicates that the game machine is in operation. Since it is possible to continuously recognize that the game machine is inside, the game hall manager can determine that there are still players at the game machine, and then take appropriate measures to rent the machine. becomes possible.

The present invention will be explained below with reference to illustrated embodiments.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a game machine 20 that is made to look similar to a conventional pachinko game machine has first to fourteenth safe holes arranged at appropriate positions, and , an out hole 15 is arranged into which a ball that does not enter any of these safe holes should enter. Each of these safe holes and out holes is provided with a detection device that is activated when a pachinko ball passes through these holes, and the output signal of each detection device is introduced to the controller 21. At the bottom of the game machine 20, there is a saucer 22 for storing pachinko balls to be shot into the machine, and a firing handle 23 next to it.As is well known, when the handle 23 is rotated, the balls are attached to the back side The motor 24 is operated to flip the balls rolling from the tray 22 one by one, and flip the balls up along the guide rail 25.
A shutter 26 is provided in the ball passage between the saucer 22 and the ball launcher including the motor 24.
The shutter 26 is controlled by the controller 21, for example, by activating an electromagnet. A prize ball ejecting device 27 is provided on the back side of the game machine 20, and pachinko balls are supplied to the prize ball ejecting device 27 from a ball distribution channel (not shown) through an introduction pipe 28. Introductory tube 28
A stopper 70 is provided near the exit of the introduction pipe 28 to open and close the exit of the introduction pipe 28 when the game machine 20 is opened and closed. The prize ball discharging device 27 is driven via the controller 21 when the detection device of the safe hole outputs a detection signal, and the prize balls issued from the prize ball discharging device 27 are discharged into the tray 22 and returned to the gaming machine 20. When the tray 22 is filled with pachinko balls, the pachinko balls overflowing from the tray introduction port 71 are guided to the guide trough 29 and collected in the lower tray 30 through the opening 31.

The balls that have passed through each of the safe holes and the out holes are collectively discharged to the outside from the discharge pipe 32. A data display section 3 is provided on the front of the gaming machine 20.
3 is provided, and data such as ball input and ball output from the controller 21 is displayed numerically. At the top of the game machine 20 is a prize ball display device 3.
4 and a stop display device 35 are provided, which are driven by the display device controller 21.

Next, the configuration of the ball launcher section will be explained. In FIG. 3, the pachinko balls rolling in a row from the receiving tray 22 are transferred from the passage outlet 37 to the balance 5.
It is designed to fall onto one arm 55a of 5.
The balance 55 is provided at the end of the other arm and is balanced by a weight 56, and is normally in a horizontal position, but when a pachinko ball falls onto the other arm 55a, it is centered around the spindle 57. It rotates clockwise in the figure, guides the pachinko balls that have fallen onto the balance 55 to a ball launcher, and drives the balls into the pachinko machine using a hammer 58 driven by the motor 24. . Said passage outlet 37
A board 36 is fixed to the board 36, and a reed switch 60 is fixed to the board 36. On the other hand, the balance 55
A magnet 61 is fixed to one arm 55a of the balance 55 when there are no pachinko balls between the tray 22 and the ball launcher.
rotates counterclockwise as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The reed switch 60 is activated. That is, the reed switch 60 serves as a detection switch that detects the presence or absence of balls to be hit into the pachinko game machine.

Next, an example of the control system of the present invention will be explained. In FIG. 4, the part surrounded by the two-dot chain line shows the part of the controller 21 described above, and the controller 21 includes a central processing unit 40 and counters 41 corresponding to each of the safe holes and out holes. and,
It includes a ROM 43, a prize ball device drive circuit 44, an operation recognition device 46, and a confirmation circuit 50 for confirming the presence or absence of a ball in the ball firing device section and the presence or absence of a handle operation. The central processing unit 40 has each counter 41
It has an order storage circuit 52 that sequentially stores the count signals sent from the storage circuit 52, and processes the count signals stored in the storage circuit 52 in order. A detection signal from the ball detection switch constituted by the reed switch 60 is applied to the confirmation circuit 50. Further, reference numeral 23 is the above-mentioned firing handle, and the ball ejected by this handle 23 enters either the safe hole or the out hole. Each of these safe holes and out holes is provided with a detection switch 54 that outputs one pulse signal each time one ball enters, and each of these detection switches 54 sends a detection signal to the respective switch. It is adapted to be added to a correspondingly provided counter 41. When any one of these counters 41 performs a counting operation, a signal is applied to the confirmation circuit 50.

The central processing unit 40 stores each safe hole counter 41
A drive signal is output to the prize ball device drive circuit 44 based on a signal from the prize ball device drive circuit 44, and the prize ball ejecting device 2
7 is driven, the prize ball display device 34 is also driven to display that the prize ball has been ejected. A timer stop switch 62 is also connected to the central processing unit 40 . The timer stop switch 62 is a switch for arbitrarily stopping the operation of a timer for determining the operating state of each pachinko game machine. In addition, the central processing unit tallies the number of balls in and out at each gaming machine,
It can have various functions such as determining whether to stop or controlling accessories.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. In the embodiment of the present invention, the ROM 43
The program is programmed to perform the following operations.

As shown in FIG. 5, when a ball is present in the ball launcher section, the balance 55 rotates clockwise in FIG. 3, and the reed switch 60, which is a ball detection switch, is turned on. , the confirmation circuit 50 is activated and outputs a customer presence signal. On the other hand, if there is no ball in the ball launcher section, the balance 55 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 3, the magnet 61 approaches the reed switch 60, and the reed switch 60 is turned on. Based on this, it is then determined whether the total amount of deposits has been counted, and if there is no count, it is further determined whether the timer stop switch 62 is on, and if the stop switch 62 is off, the customer service signal is turned off. , the operation of the recognition device 46 is stopped or it is recognized that it is not operating. Furthermore, if the stop switch 62 is on, the timer will operate for a preset time, and the customer service signal will be on while the timer is operating. Although the game machine recognizes that it is in operation, when the timer setting time elapses and the timer stops operating, the original switch 6 is turned on again.
The operation is repeated starting from the ON or OFF determination operation of 0. In this way, the ball detection switch 60
When the following three conditions are met: the total number of balls has not been counted for a predetermined period of time, and the timer stop switch is off, the customer service signal is turned off and the recognition device 46 stops operating or the recognition device 46 stops operating. The device 46 recognizes that the gaming machine is not in operation. After that, when a ball is sent into the ball launcher section again, the ball detection switch 60 is turned off, and the customer signal is turned on as the balls are counted, and it can be determined that the customer has changed. .

The timer stop switch 62 is used, for example, when a player wants to take a short break, to display that the player is present even if a predetermined time has elapsed during the short break. Therefore, it is desirable that the timer stop switch 62 be operated by the game hall manager upon receiving a report from the player. Additionally, if the customer wants to turn on the timer stop switch after a short break, the clerk will turn on the timer stop switch.
It is possible to automatically release the timer stop switch when it is turned off or when even one ball is counted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a front view showing an example of a game machine used in the present invention together with an outline of the signal transmission system, Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear view of the same game machine, and Fig. 3 is a front view of the ball launcher section of the above game machine. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a signal transmission system used in the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of the present invention. 1 to 14...safe hole, 15...out hole, 20...
Pachinko game machine, 21...controller, 20...central processing unit, 41...counter, 46...operation recognition device, 55...balance, 60...ball detection switch (reed switch), 61...magnet, 62...timer stop switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A counter for counting pachinko balls hit into a game machine, a timer set in advance to a predetermined time, and an operation of counting pachinko balls by the counter performed within the set time of the timer. Operation recognition that recognizes that the game machine is in operation, and recognizes that the game machine has stopped operating when the counter does not count pachinko balls within the set time of the timer. and a timer stop switch which is operable at will and which allows the operation recognition device to continue recognizing that the gaming machine is in operation by stopping the function of the timer. A pachinko game machine. 2. The operation recognition device stops operation when the counter does not count pachinko balls within the set time of the timer, and displays that the game machine is not operating. Claim 1. The pachinko gaming device described.