JPH0431279B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a card-type inter-machine ball lending machine that is installed between gaming machines and allows pachinko balls and other game media to be lent by card. It is.

(Prior Art) In order to facilitate cash management in pachinko parlors, etc., card-type ball lending machines have already been developed that allow pachinko balls and other game media to be lent using cards. Publication No. 143085/1985 discloses a ball lending system including such a ball lending machine and a card issuing machine. This system consists of a ticket issuing machine that issues ball rental cards with predetermined information recorded, a ball rental machine that discharges a predetermined number of game media when a valid ball rental card is inserted, and a computer that comprehensively manages these devices. It consists of

The above-mentioned ball lending machine in such a ball lending system includes a conveying means for loading and unloading the card between the card slot and the inside of the ball lending machine main body, a reading means for reading information recorded on the card, and a pachinko machine. It is equipped with a means for ejecting balls, etc., and a control means for controlling these, and when a ball lending card is inserted, it is checked whether it is valid or not, and if it is valid, the game medium is ejected, and Once this process is completed, the ball lending card is returned through the slot.

By the way, among these ball lending machines, inter-machine ball lending machines, which are installed between multiple game machines installed in parallel, have come to be shared by players on both sides of the machine. However, in conventional inter-machine ball lending machines of this type, there is only one card slot, so for example, during the processing of cards inserted by a player at one of the machines until they are returned. There is a possibility that trouble may occur due to a dispute over the slots, such as a player on the other side of the game machine attempting to insert a different card into the same slot.

In addition, to avoid such troubles,
Although it is conceivable to install two ball lending machines side by side between the game machines, this would require a large interval between the game machines, which would impair economic efficiency and would not meet practical requirements. In addition, it has been considered that two card slots are provided for the left side game machine and one for the right side game machine, and only one pachinko ball outlet is provided (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 170279/1983) )
However, even if two card slots are provided in this way, after a player on one side inserts a card into one card slot, and before the pachinko balls are taken out, the other player Therefore, if another card is inserted into the other slot, it is not clear which player the ejected pachinko balls belong to, causing problems such as scrambles over the pachinko balls. Problems remain.

(Purpose of the Invention) In view of the above circumstances, the present invention prevents troubles due to card slots from being exchanged while allowing one ball lending machine to be shared by both sides of the game machines, and allows players on both sides to borrow balls. To provide a card-type inter-machine ball lending machine that allows cards to be used appropriately.

(Structure of the Invention) The present invention is provided between a plurality of game machines installed in parallel, and discharges a predetermined number of game media when a valid ball rental card on which predetermined information is recorded is inserted. In a card-type inter-machine ball lending machine, two ball lending card slots are separately provided on the front of the ball lending machine, one for one side of the game machine and the other for the other side. Insert the ball rental card into the location corresponding to each ball rental card slot inside the main unit,
A transport means for carrying out the play and a reading means for reading the information recorded on the ball rental card are provided, a play medium ejection mechanism is provided at a predetermined location in the ball rental machine body, and the above-mentioned ball rental card is inserted into one of the ball rental card slots. The conveyance means and reading means and the play medium ejecting means correspond to the slot so that when a ball rental card is inserted, each operation of loading the card, reading information, ejecting the play medium, and ejecting the card are carried out in sequence. The ball lending control that operates the ball lending control is carried out, and from the start of card loading by this ball lending control until the completion of the play medium ejection and card ejection operations, the conveying means and reader corresponding to the other ball lending card slot are operated. It is equipped with a control means for stopping the operation of the means.

With this configuration, the ball lending machine main body and the play media ejection mechanism are shared between the play machines on both sides.
The card slots are provided individually to avoid conflicts between card slots, and while a ball lending card is being inserted into one card slot and the ball lending process is being performed, the other card slot cannot be used. Use will be prohibited.

(Example) An example in which the present invention is applied to pachinko ball rental at a pachinko parlor will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of a ball lending system including an inter-machine ball lending machine 1 of the present invention. In this figure, a plurality of pachinko game machines 2 are installed in parallel on each island in the store. Between the game machines 2, there is a ball rental machine 1.
is equipped with. The internal control circuit of the inter-machine ball lending machine 1 is electrically connected to the tallying machine 4 via the transfer machine 3, so that various information can be exchanged with the tallying machine 4. . In addition, although not shown, a ticket issuing machine that issues a ball lending card according to the input of money, a settlement machine for producing the balance of ball lending cards, etc. are provided, and communication is also performed between these and the tally machine 4. It's starting to become easier.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the ball rental card 5. The ball rental card 5 shown in this figure is formed using thermal paper, and predetermined information for card verification, such as the month, day, hour, minute, and second of issue of the ball rental card, ticket issuing machine number, etc., is contained in a bar code 6. In addition to being recorded, a remaining number indicator 7 consisting of a striped pattern or the like is attached to indicate the remaining number of doses for each use. 7 is thermally printed. Then, at the stage of ticket issuance, the above-mentioned predetermined information is stored in the tabulation machine 4 as registered data. Further, the remaining number display 7 is designed so that it is erased one by one with a black mark 8 each time it is used when lending balls, which will be described later.

3 to 8 show an embodiment of the structure of the inter-machine ball rental machine 1. FIG. On the front of the ball lending machine main body 10 in this inter-machine ball lending machine 1, there are two ball lending card slots 11, 1 for one side of the game machine and the other side for the game machine.
2 are arranged one above the other. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, each card slot 11,
Projecting walls 13 and 14 projecting forward are provided on each of the different sides of the card slot 12, and in the figure, projecting walls 13 and 14 are provided on the right side and below of the first card slot 11 located above. Projecting walls 13 and 1 are provided on the left side of the second card slot 12, respectively.
4 is provided. And these protruding walls 13,
14, the first card slot 11 is hidden from the players on the right side game machine and used by the players on the left side game machine, while the second card slot 12 is hidden from the players on the left side game machine. The cards are hidden from the players on the right side game machine and are made available for use by the players on the right side game machine.

Furthermore, a display section 15 is provided on the front of the ball lending machine main body 10 to display the remaining number of balls to be used to the player (see FIG. 4). This display section 15 is provided with a predetermined number of light emitting display bodies 16 using LEDs etc. arranged vertically, and indicators 17 and 18 using LEDs etc. are provided on both the upper and lower sides of the light emitting display bodies 16. indicates the remaining number of cards to be used, and depending on which of the indicators 17 and 18 is lit, the slot 11 or 1 is used for card usage.
2.

Inside the ball lending machine main body 10, there are
As shown in the figure, a first reader 20 and a second reader 30, which perform processing such as reading a ball lending card, are provided at locations corresponding to the respective card slots 11 and 12, respectively. Each of the above-mentioned readers 20 and 30 has a conveying means constituted by conveying rollers 22 and 32 driven by motors 21 and 31, respectively, and a ball rental card 5 is inserted into the card slots 11 and 12.
start sensors 23, 33 that detect this when inserted into the ball rental card, barcode sensors 24, 34 that read the barcode 6 of the ball rental card 5, mark sensors 25, 35 that detect the mark 8, It includes a thermal head (not shown) for attaching a mark 8 to the lending card 5.

Further, the ball rental machine main body 10 is provided with a mechanism 40 for discharging pachinko balls P. This ejection mechanism 40
, a ball passage 41 that guides pachinko balls P supplied from a supply section (not shown), and a ball feeding device 42 that is installed in this ball passage 41 and allows the pachinko balls P to pass through while counting them in response to a discharge command signal. , a ball tank 43 communicating with the lower part of the ball passage 41, and a ball take-out part 44 provided in front of the ball tank 43.
In the ball passage 41 above the ball feeding device 42,
A ball path sensor 45 is provided to check whether the pachinko balls P are being correctly supplied to the ball path 41. The ball tank 43 is also equipped with a detection device 46 that checks whether or not the pachinko balls P are staying in the ball tank 43.

The detection device 46 has a structure as shown in FIG. In other words, the lower plate 4 of the ball tank 43
3a is inclined downward toward the front and has a notch in its front part, and a detection member 47 is installed in this part. This detection member 47 has an intermediate portion pivoted on a shaft 47a, a plate 47b at the front facing the bottom front notch of the ball tank 43, and a weight 47c at the rear. When P does not exist, the above weight 4
7c, it is maintained in a substantially horizontal state as shown by a solid line, and when pachinko balls P accumulate in the ball tank 43, the front part is pushed down and becomes an inclined state as shown by a two-dot chain line. Then, behind the detection member 47, when the detection member 47 is in a horizontal state,
A ball tank sensor 48 that is OFF and ON when in the tilted state is provided, and these constitute a detection device 46. According to this detection device 46, the ball tank sensor 48 detects that the pachinko balls P are sent into the tank 43 by the operation of the ball feeding device 42 until the pachinko balls P are taken out by operating the ball takeout section 44. turns on. The ball take-out section 44 has a structure that communicates with the ball tank 43 when the movable cylinder 44a thereof is pushed upward, so that the pachinko balls P can be taken out.

Figure 9 shows the control system of the inter-machine ball lending machine 1.
In this figure, a control unit (ECU) 50 as a control means included in the inter-machine ball lending machine 1 is shown.
, signals from each start sensor 23, 33, each barcode sensor 24, 34, and each mark sensor 25, 35 of the first reader 20 and second reader 30, a signal from the ball path sensor 45, and a signal from the ball tank Signal from sensor 45 and ball tank sensor 4
The signal from 8 is input. From this control unit 50, each reader 20, 30
control signals for the card transport motors 21 and 31, control signals for the marking thermal heads included in each reader 20 and 30, and the display unit 15.
A control signal for the ball feeding device 42 and a control signal for the ball feeding device 42 are respectively output.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of ball lending control by the control unit 50. In this flowchart, when started, initial settings are first made in step _S1 , and then it is checked in step _S2 whether the ball path sensor 45 is ON or OFF. If the ball passage sensor 45 is ON (a state in which ball lending is possible), it is checked in step _S3 whether the start sensor 23 of the first leader 20 is ON or OFF, and if it is OFF, the start sensor 23 of the first leader 20 is checked in step _S4 . Check whether the start sensor 33 of the reader 30 is ON or OFF. When both start sensors 23 and 33 are OFF, that is, when no ball rental card is inserted into either of the card slots 11 or 12, the process returns to step _S2 .

When it is determined in step _S3 that the start sensor 23 is turned on, the display unit 1 is turned on in step _S5 .
Light up and display the indicator 17 above 5, and proceed to step S ₆
Set flag F to 1, and at step _S7 ,
Using the first reader 20, the motor 21 is driven to carry in the ball rental card 5, the barcode sensor 24 reads the barcode 6, and the mark sensor 25 reads the mark 8, and starts at step _S4 . When it is determined that the sensor 33 is turned on, the indicator 18 on the lower side of the display section ₁₅ is lit and displayed in step S8, and the flag F is turned on in step _S9 .
is set to 0, and at step _S10 , the same process as step _S7 is performed using the second reader 30.

Next, in step _S11 , based on the reading of the barcode 6, the contents of the barcode 6 are analyzed and compared with the information stored in the aggregation machine 4, and the process proceeds to step _S12 .
Then, it is determined whether or not there was an error in reading the barcode 6 based on the results of the above analysis and verification. Here, if the ball rental card is forged or tampered with, it is judged as an error, and if there is an error, the card is returned (step _S13 ) and then the process returns to step _S2 .

If it is determined in step _S12 that there is no error, the remaining number (remaining number of ball credits) is calculated based on the reading of mark 8 in step _S14 , and in step _S15 , the display 16 of the display section 15 is Displays the number of remaining lights that will be lit for only a few minutes. Next, in step _S16 , the above flag F is checked, and if flag F is 1, the step S16 is performed.
At _S17 , the first reader 20 marks the next marking position of the remaining number display 7 of the ball rental card 5 and returns the ball rental card 5,
Moreover, if the above flag F is 0, in step _S18 ,
The second reader 30 performs the same process as in step _S17 .

Next, in step _S19 , the ball feeding device 42 of the ball discharging mechanism is operated to feed the pachinko balls P into the ball tank 43, and then in step _S20 , the process continues until the ball tank sensor 48 turns OFF (the pachinko balls P are removed). After waiting until it is determined in step _S21 that the ball rental card 5 has been removed from the card slot, the display section 15 is turned off in step _S22 . After completing the processing up to step _S22 , the process returns to step _S2 .

According to the inter-machine ball lending machine 1 of this embodiment as described above, the ball discharging mechanism is shared by the gaming machines 2 on both sides, but the card slots 11 and 12 are used for one gaming machine and the other. Two slots are provided, one for the side game machine, and the other is for the side play machine, so it is possible to avoid conflicts over the card slots. In particular, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, if protruding walls 13 and 14 are provided on different sides of both card slots 11 and 12, players at one game machine can Insert the ball lending card 5 into the slot 11,
It is guaranteed that the player on the other side will insert a card into the second card slot 12, and a scramble for the card slot can be more reliably avoided.

Then, by control as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 10, when the ball lending card 5 is inserted from one card slot, the operations from the start of card loading based on detection by the start sensor to card loading and pachinko ball discharge are performed. Until this is completed, the use of the pachinko ball rental card through the other card slot is effectively prohibited, so players on both sides may duplicate the use of the ball rental card, leading to a scramble for the ejected pachinko balls. Trouble can definitely be avoided.

That is, for example, when one of the players inserts a valid ball rental card 5 into the first card slot 11, steps _S5 to _S7 are executed following step _S3 , and further steps _S11 and _{S12 are} executed. , step through S ₁₄ ~ S ₁₆
By executing _S17 , processing such as loading, reading, and returning the ball lending card 5 is performed using the first reader 20, and further steps _S19 to _S22 are executed to perform processing for ball lending. will be carried out. While these processes are being performed, even if the other player tries to insert the ball rental card 5 into the second card slot 12, the signal from the start sensor 33 and the second Since the reader 30 is not operated, the insertion and use of the ball lending card from the second card slot 12 is prevented, and the receiver of the ejected pachinko balls P is not confused. In particular, in this embodiment, steps S ₂₀ and S ₂₁
Then, it is also checked whether the player has taken out the pachinko balls P and the ball rental card 5, and when all these operations are completed, the process returns to step _S2 and the use of the ball rental card 5 is resumed. returned to a possible state. Therefore, a situation where another card is inserted before the ball lending process is completed, causing trouble, can be reliably prevented.

In addition, in the above-described ball lending process, the remaining number of ball lending cards 5 according to usage is checked by storing the remaining number in the totaling machine 4 and communicating with this totaling machine 4. It is also possible to compare the value based on the reading of the mark 8 on the ball lending card 5 with the value stored in the tally machine 4 for more accurate calculation. Further, in the above embodiment, the ball rental card 5 is formed of thermal paper, which is cheaper than a magnetic card,
A bar code 6, remaining number display 7, mark 8, etc. are attached to this, and in order to apply this, each reader 20, 30 in the ball lending machine has a bar code sensor 24, which is an optical reading means. 34 and mark sensors 25, 35 are provided, but when forming a ball rental card with a magnetic card, each of the above-mentioned readers 2
0 and 30 may be provided with magnetic reading means. Further, the ball lending machine to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a ball lending machine for pachinko balls, and may of course be one that lends out game media other than pachinko balls, such as medals, in response to card insertion. be.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the inter-machine ball lending machine of the present invention is equipped with two card slots, one for the game machine on one side and the other for the game machine on the other side, and also allows balls to be rented from one card slot. When a card is inserted, processing is performed so that each operation of loading the card, reading information, and ejecting the card by the conveying means and reading means corresponding to the input slot, and ejecting the game medium by the play medium ejecting mechanism, Additionally, during this process, the operation of the conveying means and reading means corresponding to the other input slot is stopped, so troubles such as conflicts with the input slot and ejected game media are prevented, and ball lending is prevented. Cards can be used smoothly. Furthermore, since the play medium ejecting mechanism is shared, it can be incorporated between play machines in a sufficiently compact manner.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a ball lending system including the inter-machine ball lending machine of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a ball lending card, and Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the inter-machine ball lending machine. 4 is a front view of the same, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same, FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of the card slot portion, FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the same, and FIG. 8 is the structure of the ball ejection portion. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the control system, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart of ball lending control. 1... Inter-machine ball rental machine, 5... Ball rental card, 10...
...Ball rental machine body, 11, 12...Card slot, 2
0,30...Reader, 21,31...Motor, 2
2, 32... Conveyance roller, 24, 34... Barcode sensor, 25, 35... Mark sensor, 40
. . . Amusement hall (pachinko ball) ejection mechanism, 50 . . . Control unit (control means).

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A card-type inter-machine ball installed between multiple gaming machines installed in parallel, which discharges a predetermined game medium when a valid ball rental card with predetermined information recorded is inserted. In the ball rental machine, two ball rental card slots are separately provided on the front of the ball rental machine main body, one for the game machine on one side and one for the other side, and each of the above ball rental cards can be inserted inside the ball rental machine main body. A conveyance means for carrying in and out the ball rental card and a reading means for reading information recorded on the ball rental card are provided at the locations corresponding to the openings, and a play medium ejection mechanism is installed at a predetermined location in the ball rental machine body. In addition, when the ball rental card is inserted into either one of the ball rental card slots, the respective operations of loading the card, reading information, carrying out the card, and ejecting the game medium are performed in sequence in the slot. Carry out ball lending control by operating the corresponding conveyance means and reading means and the play medium ejection mechanism, and from the start of card loading by this ball lending control until the completion of card ejection and game medium ejection operations. A card-type inter-machine ball rental machine characterized by comprising a control means for stopping the operation of the conveying means and the reading means corresponding to the other ball rental card slot.