Game machine

Abstract

To provide a game machine that has simpler wires and is more compact than before.SOLUTION: A game machine 100 has simpler wires and is more compact than conventional machines having voltage dividing circuits since it has a D / A converter 28 for converting digital output from a CPU 26 to analog output for controlling multiple stepping motors 22A to 22E.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a gaming machine that controls or drives electrical components using a computer.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as this type of gaming machine, there is known one in which the operation and output of the control target or drive target change depending on the voltage difference. And in the conventional gaming machine, the voltage applied to the electrical component is changed by a voltage dividing circuit having a plurality of switches that are turned on and off by a computer and a plurality of resistors (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

[0206] )

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the above-described conventional gaming machine, the wiring becomes complicated and the circuit becomes bulky, which has been a problem. In contrast, there has been a demand for the development of a gaming machine with simpler and more compact wiring than before.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The invention of Feature 1 made to solve the above problems is a gaming machine that operates a drive unit using a D / A converter.

Effects of the Invention

[0006] In the gaming machine of the above invention, since the drive unit is operated using a D / A converter, the wiring becomes simpler and the gaming machine becomes more compact than those provided with the conventional voltage dividing circuit.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007] [Figure 1] Front view of a gaming machine according to one embodiment of the present disclosure [Figure 2] Front view of the game board [Figure 3] Front view of the game board with the moving parts performing the effects. [Figure 4] Front view of the game board with the moving parts performing the effects. [Figure 5] Front view of the movable part [Figure 6] Front view of the movable part [Figure 7] Rear view of the second movable part [Figure 8] Conceptual diagram of the drive board [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Hereinafter, a pachinko game machine 100 (corresponding to "game machine" in the claims; hereinafter simply referred to as "game machine 100") according to one embodiment of this disclosure will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 8. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, "right" and "left" refer to the "right" and "left" when viewing the game machine 100 from the front.

[0009] The gaming machine 100 is equipped with a game board 40 shown in Figure 2 on the rear surface of the front frame 91 of the game frame 90 shown in Figure 1. The game board 40 has a game area R1 on its front where game balls flow down, and the game area R1 is visible through the glass window 91W of the front frame 91. The game area R1 is equipped with a display window 40W that penetrates the game board 40 from front to back, and around it are a normal prize entry opening 10, a start prize entry opening 11, 12, a big prize entry opening 13, a start gate 14, an out opening 15, etc.

[0010] The starting gate 14 is located in the area to the right of the presentation window 40W within the game area R1 and is structured to allow the game ball to pass through. The starting prize entry point 12 is located to the right of the presentation window 40W and below the starting gate 14 and is normally closed by a rotating door 12T that rotates in the left-right direction. The large prize entry point 13 is located in the lower left of the game area R1 and is normally closed by a rotating door 13T that rotates in the front-back direction. The other starting prize entry point 11 and the multiple regular prize entry points 10 are pocket structures that open on the upper surface of a projection that protrudes from the front of the game board 40. Furthermore, the starting prize entry point 11 is located approximately in the center in the left-right direction within the lower area of ​​the game area R1, and the multiple regular prize entry points 10 are distributed in the left-right direction within the lower area.

[0011] To play the game, the player operates the operating handle 92 (see Figure 1) located on the lower right front of the front frame 91. This causes the game balls in the upper tray (not shown) on the front of the front frame 91 to be launched into the game area R1. When a game ball enters any of the prize slots 10-13, multiple game balls are dispensed into the upper tray as prize balls. When a game ball passes through the start gate 14, a win / loss determination called a "normal win" is performed. If it is a win (referred to as a "normal win"), the rotating door 12T opens for a predetermined period, allowing game balls to enter the start prize slot 12. Furthermore, when a game ball enters either the start prize slots 11 or 12, a win / loss determination called a "special win" is performed. If it is a win (referred to as a "jackpot" or "special win"), the rotating door 13T opens for a predetermined period and a predetermined number of times, executing a jackpot game in which game balls can enter the large prize slot 13. Furthermore, the jackpot includes both jackpots with special features, such as entering a probability variation state where the probability of winning a jackpot increases after the jackpot game is played, or extending the time the rotating door 12T of the starting entry point 12 is open during a regular win, and jackpots without any special features.

[0012] The results of the general and special pattern judgments described above are announced with a visual effect. To perform this visual effect and announcement, a display device 16 and a movable mechanism 20 are provided on the rear of the game board 40, as shown in Figure 3, and these are visible through the visual effect window 40W.

[0013] Specifically, a box-shaped support base (not shown) is fixed to the rear of the game board 40, and the display screen 16G of the display device 16, which is mounted on the front of the rear wall of the support base, is visible to the front through the performance window 40W. When a special symbol judgment is made, for example, as shown in Figure 2, the special symbols 17A, 17B, and 17C, which are arranged horizontally, are displayed in a roulette-like manner in the vertical direction, and then stop and are displayed in the order of, for example, the left special symbol 17A, the right special symbol 17C, and the center special symbol 17C. The combination of these three special symbols 17A, 17B, and 17C indicates whether or not it is a jackpot, and whether or not there is a bonus. In addition, along with the judgment notification by the special symbols 17A, 17B, and 17C, a character 17D related to the game is also displayed on the display screen 16G. The result of the regular symbol judgment is indicated, for example, by a small display on the edge of the display screen 16G, or by the lighting of multiple LEDs provided on the game board 40.

[0014] Figures 5 to 7 show the first and second movable parts 20A and 20B detached from the support base. These first and second movable parts 20A and 20B are housed within the support base and positioned between the display device 16 and the game board 40. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the first movable part 20A has a plurality of movable members 21A and 21B and a first drive mechanism 23A that drives them. The movable members 21A and 21B represent, for example, the head of the hero in the performance image, with movable member 21B representing the lower jaw of the head and movable member 21A representing the rest of the head. Normally, the movable members 21A and 21B are separated vertically and wait behind the upper and lower edges of the performance window 40W. During performance, the movable members 21A and 21B move vertically so as to approach each other and combine as shown in Figure 5 to form the profile of the hero's head. At that time, the movable member 21A and the movable member 21B tilt, forming a profile view with the mouth closed and a profile view with the mouth open, as shown in Figure 3.

[0015] As shown in Figure 7, the second movable part 20B has a movable member 21C and a second drive mechanism 23B that drives it. The second movable part 20B is superimposed in front of the first movable part 20A. The movable member 21C represents the sword used by the hero. As shown in Figure 3, the movable member 21C is normally positioned behind the left edge of the performance window 40W in a vertically extended state, and as shown in Figure 4, it extends to a horizontally leftward position in the performance window 40W during performances. At this time, in the first movable part 20A, the movable member 21B that forms the lower jaw is retracted behind the lower edge of the performance window 40W, and the left edge of the movable member 21A that forms the rest of the face is hidden by the movable member 21C. As a result, the left half of the hero's face appears to be hidden by the sword. The control of the game, including the determination of wins and losses and the dispensing of prize balls, is performed by the main control board 97 (see Figure 8), while the control of the effects provided by the display device 16 and the movable mechanism 20 is performed by the sub-control board 98 (see Figure 8). The main control board 97 and the sub-control board 98 are located on the rear surface of the support base.

[0016] To perform the operations described above, the first drive mechanism 23A is equipped with, for example, a plurality of stepping motors 22A to 22D as a drive source, and the second drive mechanism 23B is equipped with, for example, a stepping motor 22E as a drive source. These stepping motors 22A to 22E are driven by a plurality of drive ICs 24A to 24E (see Figure 8) on a drive board 99 provided on the rear surface of the support base.

[0017] Specifically, the plurality of stepping motors 22A to 22E are, for example, bipolar stepping motors and are driven by a constant current by the plurality of drive ICs 24A to 24E. The constant current for the constant current drive is controlled by an analog voltage value applied to a reference terminal 25R of each of the drive ICs 24A to 24E. Further, the amount of rotation from the current position of the rotors of the stepping motors 22A to 22D (hereinafter simply referred to as "the amount of rotation of the stepping motors 22A to 22D") is controlled by parallel digital signals applied to a plurality of rotation control terminals 25A of the plurality of drive ICs. And each command of the constant current and the amount of rotation for driving the stepping motors 22A to 22D is output from the CPU 26 on the sub-control board 98.

[0018] In the present embodiment, for simplification of the wiring between the sub-control board 98 and the drive board 99, the CPU 26 and the plurality of drive ICs 24A to 24E are connected via a relay circuit 27 and a D / A converter 28 mounted on the drive board 99.

[0019] The relay circuit 27 has a plurality of digital output parts 27B corresponding to the plurality of drive ICs 24A to 24E and a digital input part 27A corresponding in common to those plurality of digital output parts 27B. Further, the plurality of digital output parts 27B of the relay circuit 27 are connected to the respective plurality of rotation control terminals 25A of the plurality of drive ICs 24A to 24E, and the digital input part 27A of the relay circuit 27 is connected to the CPU 26. And the CPU 26 combines the commands of the amount of rotation of each of the plurality of stepping motors 22A to 22D into serial data and applies the serial data to the digital input part 27A of the relay circuit 27, and the relay circuit 27 divides the serial data for each of the stepping motors 22A to 22D and applies the serial data to the corresponding drive ICs 24A to 24E as parallel data.

[0020] Alternatively, the relay circuit 27 may be omitted, and the CPU 26 and the multiple rotation control terminals 25A of each of the multiple drive ICs 24A to 24E may be connected in parallel. Alternatively, the relay circuit 27 may be provided with multiple (for example, four) digital input sections 27A corresponding to multiple (for example, four) drive ICs 24A to 24E, and the CPU 26 may output multiple (for example, four) serial signals corresponding to the drive ICs 24A to 24E to the relay circuit 27, and the relay circuit 27 may convert each of these serial signals into parallel signals corresponding to the multiple rotation control terminals 25A of each drive IC 24A to 24E and output them to the drive ICs 24A to 24E.

[0021] The D / A converter 28 has multiple analog output sections 28B and a digital input section 28A that corresponds to all of these analog output sections 28B. The analog output sections 28B of the D / A converter 28 are connected to the reference terminals 25R of multiple drive ICs 24A to 24E, and the digital input section 28A of the D / A converter 28 is connected to the CPU 26. The CPU 26 then aggregates the constant current commands for each of the multiple stepping motors 22A to 22D into serial data and sends it to the digital input section 28A of the D / A converter 28. The D / A converter 28 then separates this serial data for each stepping motor 22A to 22D and sends it to the corresponding drive ICs 24A to 24E.

[0022] Alternatively, the D / A converter 28 may be provided with multiple (for example, four) digital input sections 28A corresponding to multiple (for example, four) drive ICs 24A to 24E. The CPU 26 outputs digital signals related to constant current commands corresponding to the multiple drive ICs 24A to 24E in parallel to the D / A converter 28, and the D / A converter 28 converts each of these digital signals into analog signals and outputs them to the respective reference terminals 25R of each drive IC 24A to 24E.

[0023] This concludes the explanation of the configuration of the gaming machine 100 of this embodiment. The gaming machine 100 of this embodiment provides the following advantages. Specifically, since the gaming machine 100 of this embodiment is equipped with a D / A converter 28 that converts the digital output from the CPU 26 to an analog output in order to control a plurality of stepping motors 22A to 22E, the wiring is simpler and the gaming machine 100 is more compact than conventional machines equipped with a voltage divider circuit.

[0024] Here, the D / A converter 28 may have multiple digital input units 28A corresponding to multiple analog output units 28B, but in this embodiment, it has a digital input unit 28A that is common to all of the multiple analog output units 28B, and the multiple digital inputs corresponding to the analog outputs from the multiple analog output units 28B are combined into serial data and received by the digital input unit 28A, thus simplifying the circuit between the CPU 26 and the D / A converter 28.

[0025] Furthermore, a relay circuit 27 is provided between the CPU 26 and the multiple drive ICs 24A to 24E that drive the multiple stepping motors 22A to 22E. This relay circuit 27 has multiple digital output units 27B corresponding to the multiple drive ICs 24A to 24E, and a digital input unit 27A that corresponds to all of these multiple digital output units 27B. As a result, the CPU 26 only needs to combine the multiple digital inputs corresponding to the digital outputs from the multiple digital output units 27B into serial data and output it to the digital input unit 27A. This also simplifies the cables and makes the gaming machine more compact.

[0026] In the pachinko game machine 100 of this embodiment, the D / A converter 28 was used for controlling electrical components, but the D / A converter 28 may also be used to drive electrical components. Specifically, the analog voltage output by the D / A converter 28 based on a command from the CPU 26 may be used to drive, for example, solenoids, DC motors, or light-emitting elements.

[0027] <Note> The following describes the features of the group of inventions extracted from the embodiments described above, showing their effects and other aspects as necessary. For ease of understanding, corresponding configurations in the embodiments will be indicated in parentheses as appropriate, but the invention is not limited to these specific configurations.

[0028] [Feature 1] A gaming machine comprising a computer and a D / A converter that converts the digital output from the computer to an analog output in order to control or drive electrical components.

[0029] In the gaming machine described in Feature 1, a D / A converter is included to convert the digital output from the computer into an analog output in order to control or drive electrical components. This simplifies the wiring and makes the gaming machine more compact compared to conventional machines equipped with voltage divider circuits.

[0030] [Feature 2] The gaming machine according to feature 1, wherein the D / A converter has multiple analog output sections, and outputs separate analog voltages from these analog output sections to control or drive multiple electrical components.

[0031] In the gaming machine of Feature 2, the D / A converter has multiple analog output sections, and outputs separate analog voltages from these analog output sections to control or drive multiple electrical components. This simplifies the wiring of circuits that previously used multiple voltage divider circuits to control or drive multiple electrical components, resulting in a more compact gaming machine.

[0032] [Feature 3] The gaming machine according to claim 2, wherein the D / A converter has a digital input section that corresponds to a plurality of analog output sections in common, and the plurality of digital inputs corresponding to the analog outputs from the plurality of analog output sections are combined into serial data and received by the digital input section.

[0033] A D / A converter may have multiple digital inputs corresponding to multiple analog output sections, but as in the gaming machine described in Feature 3, it may also have a digital input that corresponds to multiple analog output sections in common, and the multiple digital inputs corresponding to the analog outputs from the multiple analog output sections are combined into serial data and received by the digital input section. Such a configuration simplifies the circuit between the computer and the D / A converter.

[0034] [Feature 4] A gaming machine according to any one of features 1 to 3, comprising: a plurality of stepping motors for moving a movable member; a plurality of drive ICs for constant current driving the plurality of stepping motors; a reference terminal provided on each of the plurality of drive ICs for receiving an analog signal from the D / A converter for instructing the constant current for the constant current driving; and a rotation control terminal provided on each of the plurality of drive ICs for receiving a digital signal from the computer for instructing the rotation position of the stepping motor.

[0035] As an example of a system that converts digital output from a computer to analog output using a D / A converter to control electrical components, as shown in Feature 4, it includes multiple stepping motors that move a movable member and multiple drive ICs that drive the multiple stepping motors with a constant current. Analog signals to instruct the constant current for constant current driving are supplied from the D / A converter to the reference terminals of these multiple drive ICs. In addition, digital signals are supplied from the computer to the rotation control terminals of the drive ICs to instruct the rotation position of the stepping motors.

[0036] [Feature 5] The gaming machine according to feature 4, wherein a relay circuit is provided between the computer and the plurality of drive ICs, the relay circuit has a plurality of digital output units corresponding to the plurality of drive ICs and a digital input unit that corresponds to the plurality of digital output units in common, and the plurality of digital inputs corresponding to the digital outputs from the plurality of digital output units are aggregated into serial data and received by the digital input unit.

[0037] In the configuration of Feature 5, the relay circuit provided between the computer and the multiple drive ICs has multiple digital output sections corresponding to the multiple drive ICs, and a digital input section that corresponds to all of these multiple digital output sections. The computer only needs to combine the multiple digital inputs corresponding to the digital outputs from the multiple digital output sections into serial data and output it to the digital input section, thus simplifying the cables and making the gaming machine more compact.

[0038] [Feature 6] A gaming machine that uses a D / A converter to operate its drive unit.

[0039] In the gaming machine described in Feature 6, a D / A converter is used to operate the drive unit, resulting in simpler wiring and a more compact gaming machine compared to those equipped with conventional voltage divider circuits.

[0040] [Correspondence between the components of the above feature group and each part in the embodiment] Computer: CPU 26; Electrical components: Stepping motors 22A~22E, movable parts 21A~21C

[0041] While this specification and drawings disclose specific examples of the technology included in the claims, the technology described in the claims is not limited to these specific examples, but also includes various modifications and changes to these examples, as well as parts of the examples taken individually. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0042] 20 Movable parts 21A~21C Movable parts 22A~22E Stepping motor (electrical component) 24A~24E Drive IC 25A rotation control terminal 25R Reference Terminal 26 CPUs (Computers) 27 Relay Circuit 27A Digital Input Section 27B Digital Output Section 28 D / A Converters 28A Digital Input Section 28B Analog Output Section 100 Pachinko gaming machines

Claims

1. A gaming machine comprising a computer and a plurality of drive ICs for driving a plurality of electrical components based on output data from the computer, a relay circuit is provided between the computer and the plurality of drive ICs; The relay circuit has a plurality of digital output sections corresponding to the plurality of drive ICs and a digital input section corresponding in common to the plurality of digital output sections, and the gaming machine receives a plurality of digital inputs corresponding to the digital outputs from the plurality of digital output sections as serial data at the digital input section.

2. A gaming machine comprising a computer and a plurality of drive ICs for driving a plurality of electrical components based on output data from the computer, A gaming machine having a relay circuit that converts serial data output by the computer into parallel data for each of the plurality of drive ICs and applies the parallel data.

3. An amusement machine as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of electrical components are a plurality of stepping motors.

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