JPH1099532A - Game ball counting system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] There is a case where duplicated counting paper is exchanged for a prize repeatedly. SOLUTION: A unique inquiry number is recorded on a counting sheet 17 on the counting device 10 side, and when the same inquiry number is input on the confirmation device 30 side, the exchange of prizes for this inquiry number has already been performed. It can be confirmed whether or not the replacement has been performed, and the overlapping exchange can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a game ball counting system, and more particularly to a game ball counting system for counting game balls in a pachinko hall.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a pachinko hall, a game ball counting device is installed at an end of a so-called island where a game machine is installed. This game ball counting device has a hopper for throwing game balls carried by a player, and when game balls are thrown into the hopper, the number is counted and the counting result is printed on a predetermined roll of paper. And discharge. The player brings the discharged counting paper to the prize exchange and receives prizes corresponding to the counted number of game balls.

[0003]

When the above-mentioned conventional game ball counting apparatus is used, if a player copies the discharged counting paper, the prize exchange pays out the prize in duplicate. There was a problem that there is. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a game ball counting system that is not exchanged for a premium.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a counting means for counting game balls and outputting predetermined confirmation information associated with the counting result on a predetermined sheet. And confirmation means for inputting the confirmation information printed on the sheet and detecting the presence or absence of the duplicate exchange.

[0005] In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, the counting means outputs predetermined confirmation information associated with the counting result on a sheet. Instead of seeing and exchanging prizes, the presence / absence of duplicate exchange can be confirmed by inputting confirmation information to the confirmation means, so prize exchange may be performed only when there is no duplicate exchange. The confirmation information issued by the counting means only needs to be input to the confirmation means so that the presence or absence of the duplicate exchange can be recognized. As an example, the counting unit issues a unique inquiry number corresponding to the counting result, and when the confirmation unit connected to the counting unit inputs the inquiry number, the counting unit is notified of the inquiry number. On the means side, when the same inquiry number is notified twice or more, it is possible to notify that it is an overlapping exchange.

In this case, the number of counting means and confirmation means does not necessarily have to be one by one, but a network is formed, and any confirmation means communicates with the counting means which issued the confirmation information to exchange prizes. It should just be possible to notify that there was. Also, the counting means and the confirmation means do not necessarily need to notify each other. For example, the counting means issues a unique inquiry number while corresponding to the counting result, and the confirmation means inputs the inquiry number and stores the common or individual storage. It is determined whether the same inquiry number is recorded by referring to the area. Normally, the inquiry number is newly recorded because it is not recorded.However, once the prize is exchanged, the inquiry number is recorded, so it is assumed that the inquiry number is recorded for the second and subsequent prize exchanges. You will not be able to receive duplicate exchanges.

In this case as well, the number of counting means and confirmation means does not necessarily have to be one, and if the device number of the counting means is added to the confirmation information, the confirmation information becomes unique. It is sufficient that the confirmation information once input through the network only by the confirmation means can be referred to from any confirmation means. In addition, by making sure that the counting result does not appear directly in the confirmation information,
At the prize exchange, it is necessary to input confirmation information without fail, which further reduces the possibility of duplicate exchange. However, the data may be encrypted and included, and when input to the confirmation means, the code may be decrypted and the counting result may be read.

[0008]

As described above, according to the present invention, the checking information is added by the counting means, and the presence or absence of the duplicate exchange is determined by preparing the confirmation means, so that the duplicate exchange is reliably prevented. Can be provided.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a counter constituting a game ball counting system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram.
FIG. 3 shows a counting sheet formed by the counting machine.

In the figure, a counting device 10 has a hopper 12 and a printer 13 adjacent to each other on the upper surface of a substantially thin box-shaped main body 11, and has an operation switch 14 and a display 15 at a portion near the front surface of the upper surface. Have. Also, the main body 1
1 and a return device 16 for returning extra balls is provided. The counting device 10 includes an operation unit 21 corresponding to the operation switch 14 illustrated in FIG. 2, a counting unit 22 corresponding to a not-shown counting unit disposed below the hopper 12,
A launch unit 23 corresponding to the printer 13;
, A return unit 25 corresponding to the return unit 16, and a control unit 26 for controlling these units.

[0011] Counting sheet 1 ejected from printer 13
7 is shown in FIG. 3, in which a hole name 17a, a count value 17b obtained by counting game balls, a bar code 17c displaying an inquiry number as a bar code, and a date and time 17d are recorded. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the counting device 10 with a focus on the control of the control unit 26. In step 102, it is determined whether or not a counting start operation has been performed. The control unit 26 causes the counting unit 22 to execute a counting process in step 104. When the counting process is started, it is determined in step 106 whether or not an operation for terminating the counting is performed, and the counting process is continued until the counting is completed. The operation of starting counting may be detected by an operation of putting game balls into the hopper 12, and the operation of finishing counting may be performed by detecting a state in which there are no game balls in the hopper 12.

When the operation of terminating the counting is performed, the control unit 26 codes the counting result in step 108, and
At 10, an inquiry number is generated, and at step 112, a launching process is executed via the launching unit 23. In this embodiment, the count value 17b is printed. However, the count result may be coded and the count result may not be displayed directly on the count sheet 17. In this way, since the inquiry number is always input to the confirmation device 30 to be described later at the prize exchange, it is possible to prevent a situation in which only the count value 17b is viewed and not input.

Although the encoding is merely changed from the decimal representation to the hexadecimal representation, it may be more highly encoded to include the meaning of encryption. The inquiry number is determined to be unique by including the hall specific symbol, the coded counting result, the device number of the counting device 10, the issue date and time, and the issue time, and is stamped out on the count sheet 17. I have. For convenience of input, a barcode 17c displayed as a barcode is printed on the counting paper 17, but in order to prevent the barcode 17c from being input due to fading or the like, character information that can be manually input is used. It is also possible to print the inquiry number.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows an external perspective view of the checking device, and FIG. 6 shows a block diagram. The confirmation device 30 includes a main body 31, a keyboard 32, and a barcode reader 33. The internal configurations thereof include a keyboard input unit 41 that accommodates the keyboard 32 and a barcode reader input unit that accommodates the barcode reader 33. 42
A display unit 43 for controlling the display on the front of the main body 31; a recording unit 44 for accumulating the inquiry numbers in the main body 31; and a control unit 45 for controlling these collectively. Have been.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the counting device 10 with a focus on the control of the control unit 45. At step 202, the bar code 17c of the inquiry number is read via the bar code reader input unit 42. Or if there is an inquiry number as character information, the keyboard input unit 41
It is determined whether the inquiry number has been input manually from the keyboard 32 via the. Then, if the inquiry number is input in any of the cases, in step 206, a symbol representing the hole is poured out from the inquiry number, and it is determined whether the hole belongs to the hole. If the hole belongs to the hole, the process described later is continued. If the hole belongs to a different hole, the process ends without continuing the process described later.

Next, at step 208, a search is made to see if the inquiry number has already been recorded in the recording section 44. Normally, since the counting sheet 17 is not a copied one, the inquiry number generated uniquely cannot be recorded even if the past record is viewed. For the first time, the inquiry number is recorded in the recording unit 44. After the recording, in step 214, the counting result coded into the inquiry number and recorded is decoded (hexadecimal display is changed to decimal display), and step 21 is performed.
At 6, the display unit 43 displays the counting result including the symbol of the counting device 10 and the date and time.

However, if the counting sheet 17 is a duplicate, the recording section 44 is searched in step 208 to find out that it has already been recorded. Although the counting result is decoded, a warning is displayed in step 222 together with the counting result. In either case, the counting result is displayed in order to prevent the correct counting value from being lost due to the blurring of the counting value 17b and to prevent errors.

As described above, by using the game ball counting system of the present embodiment, the unique inquiry number is recorded on the counting paper 17 on the counting device 10 side, and the same inquiry number is recorded on the confirmation device 30 side. By inputting the number, it can be confirmed whether or not the prize has been exchanged for this inquiry number, and it is possible to prevent duplicate exchange. In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is effective when the number of the confirmation devices 30 is one. However, when the copy of the counting paper 17 is carried to the separate confirmation devices 30 when there are a plurality of the confirmation devices 30, There may be cases where duplicate exchanges can be made.

FIG. 8 shows a game ball counting system when a plurality of confirmation devices 30 are connected via a network. A common recording unit 46 is installed in any one of the confirmation devices 30. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the confirmation device 30 with a focus on the control of the control unit 45. This flowchart is performed by the common recording unit 46.
Irrespective of whether or not they have
Are performed through the determination of step 320, the processing of steps 322 to 332 is executed, but the processing not having the common recording unit 46 is skipped.

All of the confirmation devices 30 execute the processing of steps 302 to 308, and step 3
02 keyboard 32 or barcode reader 33
If it is determined in step 3 that the inquiry number has been entered, step 3
At 04, an inquiry is transmitted within the network for the inquiry number. When the inquiry is transmitted, the process waits at step 306 until a reply is received. When the inquiry is transmitted in the network, the confirmation device 30 having the common recording unit 46 determines in step 320 that there is a common recording unit, and determines in the next step 322 whether the inquiry has been received. Step 324 if an inquiry has been received
To search whether the inquiry number is recorded in the common recording unit 46.

If the inquiry number has not yet been recorded, the inquiry number is newly recorded in the common recording unit 46, and the count result and the like are restored from the inquiry number in step 330. A reply is sent to the source confirmation device 30 via the network. Since the sender's confirmation device 30 has been waiting for this reply in step 306, when the reply is received, the counting result is displayed in step 308. However, in the case where the copied counting sheet 17 is used even though the prize has already been exchanged, the confirmation device 30 having the common recording unit 46 responds to the inquiry with the inquiry number in the recording unit 46. In order to find out, it is determined in step 326 that there is an inquiry number, and
At 32, the counting result is notified together with the warning.

In this way, a plurality of confirmation devices 30
Can be prevented from being exchanged even when the device is installed. In this embodiment, a plurality of confirmation devices 30
However, although it is effective, it can not always be effectively eliminated when the counting paper 17 is completely forged.
That is, for the checking device 30, the counting device 1
This is because it is not known whether 0 has issued the counting paper 17 or not. On the other hand, FIG.
This shows a game ball counting system in which a plurality of counting devices 10 are connected to a network together with 0, and each of the counting devices 10 includes a recording unit 27 that records an issuance history. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the counting device 10 with a focus on the control of the control unit 26. The operation of the confirmation device 30 is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this case, since none of the confirmation devices 30 includes the common recording unit 46, only Steps 302 to 308 are substantially executed.

When the counting device 10 determines that the operation of starting counting has been performed in the same manner as in step 102 in the flowchart of FIG.
In step 404, the same process as in step 2 is executed as a counting and launching process. However, the difference from the flowchart of FIG. 4 is that the inquiry number generated in step 406 is recorded in the recording unit 27. That is, the counting device 10 issues the counting paper 17 and records the inquiry number including various information in the recording unit 27 to hold the issuance history.

On the other hand, when the inquiry number is input on the confirmation device 30 side, the inquiry is transmitted in step 304 as described above, and the process stands by until a reply is received in step 306. When an inquiry is transmitted in the network, the counting device 10 checks whether or not the inquiry is related to its own issuing history from the symbol of the counting device 10 in the inquiry number, and if the inquiry number is addressed to itself. Receive the inquiry. When the inquiry is received, the process proceeds to step 412 through step 410 to search whether or not the history of the inquiry is recorded in the recording unit 27. put it here,
The difference from the conventional one is that the inquiry number is normally recorded at the time of issuance, and that there is no inquiry number or that there is an inquiry in the past, which is abnormal.

If there are no abnormalities, a record indicating that there has been an inquiry for the inquiry number is recorded in the recording unit 27 in step 416, and in step 418
Then, the counting result is notified to the network. Therefore, the confirmation device 30 receives the reply addressed to itself, and displays the reply in step 308. On the other hand, if there is no inquiry number when searching the recording unit 27 or if a history of inquiries in the past is recorded, it is determined in step 414 that there is an abnormality, and the counting device 10 determines in step 420
To notify the network of the warning and the counting result.
Then, since the confirmation device 30 also receives a warning together with the counting result, these are displayed at step 308 to prompt a predetermined process.

In this way, since the confirmation device 30 can reliably determine that the counting sheet has been issued by any of the counting devices 10, it is possible to further prevent fraud. As a further development, a computer serving as a server is installed in the network, the issuance history of the counting device 10 is stored in a recording unit (shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 10) of this computer, 30 may send an inquiry to the computer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a counting device of a game ball counting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the counting device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a counting sheet.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the counting device.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a confirmation device of the game ball counting system.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the confirmation device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the confirmation device.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a game ball counting system according to a modification.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the confirmation device in the modification.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a game ball counting system according to another modification.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the counting device in the modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Counter 17 ... Counting paper 17b ... Count value 17c ... Bar code 21 ... Operation part 22 ... Counter part 23 ... Striking part 24 ... Display part 25 ... Return part 26 ... Control part 27 ... Recording part 30 ... Confirmation device 41 ... Keyboard input unit 42 Barcode reader input unit 43 Display unit 44 Recording unit 45 Control unit 46 Recording unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A counting means for counting game balls and outputting predetermined confirmation information associated with the counting result on a predetermined sheet, and inputting the confirmation information discharged on the sheet to perform overlapping exchange. A game ball counting system comprising: a confirmation means for detecting presence / absence.