JPS5985A - Poker machine - 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 The present invention generally relates to a poker machine (also referred to as a fruit machine or slot machine), and more particularly to a poker machine whose safety is enhanced by an improved door switch.

The mechanism of a poker machine is usually housed in a cabinet with a door to provide access.

This door is normally locked to prevent unauthorized activity.

It is in the interest of the owner to be able to monitor the opening of a poker machine's door. This monitoring not only prevents money from being removed from the poker machine without permission, but also allows you to see how often servicing or repairs are being performed.

Traditional poker machines were equipped with a door-activated microswitch. These switches are used for poker
It is used to add to counters internal to the machine or to remote counters, and is also used as a device to trigger alarm systems and send signals to computerized monitoring and recording systems.

For such a system to work properly, the door switch must be intact. This is a weakness in that the door switch or its connecting circuit cannot open the door without an appropriate signal.

The invention works by providing a transmitter in the cabinet and a receiver in the C-door (and vice versa), sending a continuous code signal to the transmitter, and monitoring the signal sent back by the receiver. This alleviates the above-mentioned problems. These two signals match while the door is closed, but no longer match when the door is open.

Although it is possible for those skilled in the art to remove the receiver and its solar ring from the door and relocate it inside the cabinet adjacent to the transmitter, this is physically difficult and such placement is If you touch it, it is expected to record this, so it cannot be permanently fixed.

To prevent the use of signal generators from misleading signal monitors, it is desirable to use time-varying signals to make synchronization of the generators difficult.

In particular, the time-varying signal may have pseudo-characteristics.

According to the invention, there is provided a cabinet including a control unit arranged to emit a time-varying signal, said cabinet including a door lockable in a closed position, said cabinet and door having a control unit configured to emit a radiation medium. transmitting means for transmitting the signal emitted by the control unit through the control unit; and receiving means for receiving the transmitted signal and emitting an outgoing signal in response thereto; The means and the receiving means are arranged such that the transmitted signal is received by the receiving means when the door is in the closed position, and the transmitted signal is not received by the receiving means when the door is not in the closed position. and said output signal is sent to said control unit and compared with said time-varying signal to provide a poker machine adapted to detect opening and closing of a door.

The means of transmission and means of reception may be of any suitable form;
For example, it may be of the inductive type or of the optical type; in the preferred embodiment of the invention, an optical type device is used.

The signal to be sent may be in analog form or in digital form such as binary or ternary, but is preferably in the form of pseudo-binary random numbers.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, one of the transmitting means and the receiving means is mounted on the door, the use of the transmitting means and the receiving means being taken up in the cabinet, and when the door is in the closed position the transmitting means and the receiving means are adjacent and coincident, and there is a signal path between them, and the transmitting and receiving means are not coincident when the door is not in the closed position;
No such signal path exists.

In another embodiment of the invention, the transmitting means and the receiving means are both mounted in the cabinet, such that the transmitted signal is reflected by the face of the door towards said receiving means when the door is closed. There is. It is also possible to arrange the transmitting and receiving means in the door and to provide the reflective surface in the cabinet.

In various forms of the invention, the control unit includes:
Door blockage is not confirmed unless a predetermined number of consecutive bits of a binary random number is received. In one form of the invention, the predetermined number is 1
, 10 and -C.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a poker machine with the door closed.
FIG. 2 also shows the same machine with the door open, and the mechanism of the poker machine is as shown in these figures.

The poker machine has a door lock (1), a door switch signal transmitter (2) located on the inside edge of the door, and a door switch signal transmitter (2) located adjacent to the transmitter (2) when the door is closed. A signal receiver (
3) is provided. A light emitting diode is used as a transmitting element, and this diode is controlled by a control unit (4) consisting of a microprocessor. Similarly, a photovoltaic cell is used as a cooperating receiving element (3), and the signals received by the photovoltaic cell are monitored by a control unit (4).

Figure 3 shows the transmitter (2a, 2b) and receiver (3) when the door is closed (solid line) and when the door is open.
) indicates the relative position of As shown in this figure, when the door is closed, the light (5a) from the light emitting diode is directly projected onto the photocell, forming a strong signal path. On the other hand, when the door is open, the light (5b) from the light emitting diode is not projected toward the photocell, so the signal path formed is weak. Thus, a suitable discriminator in the receiver circuit will accept strong signals while rejecting weak signals when the door is closed. Such a discrimination device is well known in the electronics field, so a detailed explanation will be omitted. The action of the door switch (2, 3) is enhanced by using an optical device with a lens 44 that narrows the beam angle and the entry angle. This is because these devices rapidly reduce the signal transmission effectiveness when the door is moved from the closed position.

Figures 4 and 5 show the signal flow path when the poker machine door is closed and opened.

When the door is closed, the control unit (4) comprising a microprocessor executes a code generation routine.
The pseudo-binary random number signal (6) emitted by 7) is transmitted by a door switch transmitter (2a) consisting of a light emitting diode and received by a photovoltaic receiver (3). The signal (6) from the code generator (7) is then compared with the signal (8) from the receiver (3) in a signal comparator (9) introduced at the hardware or software stage. The signal obtained from the comparison, i.e., the program variable number (13), is monitored by a real-time execution routine (10) in the microprocessor of the control unit (4), and subsequently the control unit responds to this by setting the counter (11). ) or activates an alarm when a signal mismatch occurs.When the door is closed (see Figure 4), the received signal (8) is emitted by the code generator. signal (
6), so no discrepancy occurs.

The signal flow in Figure 5 is similar to that in Figure 4, but
The light (5) sent when the door is open is transmitted by the photocell (3).
) and therefore the C comparator (9) displays a discrepancy. This discrepancy is due to the microphone
Jt? This will indicate that the door is open.

According to particular embodiments of the invention, various functions may be added to the comparator and the code generator at the hardware or software level, but these functions may be implemented to avoid complicating the electronic circuitry and to In order to increase the functionality of the control unit, it is preferable to implement it at the software stage.

The control unit's microprocessor program enters a real-time execution routine every 20111 seconds.

This routine then generates the next bit of a pseudo-binary random number that is transmitted via the door switch transmitter and compared to the signal received by the door switch receiver.

In order to detect the open/closed status of the poker machine door, the real-time execution program calls a door interrogation routine which consists of the following steps: (a) start the door interrogation routine; (b) 1 seed stored in temporary storage. (5e
ed), that is, test the value of the 8-bit word, and if the temporary storage is 10, proceed to 1 culm (d), otherwise proceed to step (C); (C) Obtain a new seed value from the seed generator and proceed to step (Return to b>; (d) Shift the rightmost bit of the temporary storage area to the door switch transmitter, and shift all bits of the temporary storage area one position to the right; (e) Shift the bit value from the door switch receiver. Read; ([) Compare the transmitted bit and the received bit, if both bits match, proceed to step (h), otherwise proceed to step (0); (g) 1 - Door open flag ] to clear the "door blockage flag" and proceed to step (work); (h) If the door open flag is set, proceed to step 1 of the method; otherwise proceed to step <t>; ( 1) Send to the door blockage flag; (j) If the door blockage flag is 10 or less, process (!
, ), otherwise proceed to the next step; (k) Set the door blocked flag and clear the door open flag; (k) This completes the "door switch question" and the execution routine returns to the door open state. Check the flag to read the door status. The door open flag is Cera if the door is open]
If the door is blocked, it will be cleared.

Step (b) of this sequence assumes that the temporary storage already contains a seed value. This assumption is reasonable since the seed value from a previous call to this routine typically remains. For the first invocation of this routine, the temporary storage may be filled with any suitable value (e.g. using a seed generator) or O (in this case a new value in step (b) during the first invocation of the routine). is initialized to (obtains).

Step (C) in the above order includes obtaining the seed J from the seed generator. The seed generator is 82
It consists of 8 bit words that are added consecutively every 5 microseconds. As is clear from the above description, the pseudo-binary random number is obtained by taking a seed value other than O, shifting this seed appropriately, and simultaneously shifting the rightmost bit to the door switch transmitter. The seed is shifted right on each call to the door interrogation routine until the seed's content is O, at which time it is replaced by the new seed obtained. If the bits sent do not match, the door open flag is set, and if there is a match of 10 consecutive bits, the door open bit is cleared.

Once the door interrogation routine is complete, the execution routine performs the necessary functions such as adding to a counter, activating an alarm, and communicating information to the control and monitoring system via the door open flag.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a typical poker machine with the door closed; FIG. 2 shows the poker machine of FIG. 1 with the door open and the transmitter and receiver of the door switch of the invention. Figure 3 shows the relative positions of the transmitter and receiver in Figure 2 in the door closed position and open position, Figure 4 shows the signal flow when the door is closed. Figure 5 shows the flow of signals when the door is open. (1) Door lock, (2) Transmission means, (3
)...receiving means, (4)...control unit. Patent Applicant: Ainsworth Nominees Biti Limited, 匈7. Procedural Amendment: Mr. Commissioner of the Patent Office, 1, Indication of Case: Japanese Patent Application No. 58-81589, 2, Title of Invention: Poker Machine 3, Person Making Amendment Case. Relationship between Patent applicant name Ainsworth Nominees Biti Ltd. 4, Agent 6, Number of inventions increased by amendment No change 7, Subject of amendment Specification (detailed description of the invention) 8, Contents of amendment Attachment 8. Contents of the amendment (1) In the specification, in the first line of page 12, the statement "If temporary storage area = 0..." has been replaced with "[If temporary storage tfi〆O...]" and correct it.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1) a cabinet including a control unit arranged to emit a time-varying signal, the cabinet including a door lockable in a closed position, the cabinet and the door being arranged to emit a radiating medium; a transmitting means adapted to transmit a signal emitted by said control unit via said control unit; and a receiving means adapted to receive said transmitted signal and emit an output signal in response thereto; The transmitting means and the receiving means are arranged such that the transmitted signal is received by the receiving means when the door is in the closed position, and the transmitted signal is received by the receiving means when the door is not in the closed position. said output signal is sent to said control unit and compared with said time-varying signal to detect opening or closing of said door. 2) A poker machine according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting means and said receiving means are comprised of optical devices. 3) A poker machine as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the blocking of the door is not detected unless the transmitted signal is continuously received by the receiving means for a predetermined period of time. 4) A poker machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmitted signal is a digital signal. 5) Poker according to claim 4, wherein blocking of the door is not detected unless a predetermined number of consecutive bits of the transmitted signal are received by the receiving means.
machine. 6) Claim 5, wherein the predetermined number is 10.
Poker machine as described in section. 7) A poker machine according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the digital signal is comprised of pseudo binary random numbers. 8) One of the transmitting means and the receiving means is disposed on the door, the transmitting means and the receiving means are disposed on the cabinet, and the doj!
When the door is in the closed position, the transmitting means and the receiving means are adjacent to each other and correspond to each other, and a signal path is formed between the two means, and when the door is not in the closed position, the transmitting means and the receiving means 8. A poker machine according to claim 1, wherein the receiving means are not aligned with each other so that no straight signal path is formed between said means.