gaming machines

Abstract

To provide a game machine capable of preventing components of a board case or the like from being damaged.SOLUTION: In a game machine, a cover section (cover section 420) may abut on a specific member when a specific member (front door 20) and a board case interfere each other on a route (position B2 or the like) in which the board case (control board case 400) is rotated from a storage position to a development position, or in the development position (position B3 or the like), and a range of a rotational angle of the board case in which the board case interferes with the specific member and the cover section in a second position can abut on the specific member is wider than a range of a rotational angle of the board case in which the board case interferes with the specific member and the cover section in a first position can abut on the specific member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 16

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to gaming machines, and more particularly to slot machines. [Background technology]

[0002] Among gaming machines such as slot machines, there are medal-less slot machines that do not use actual medals. For example, see Patent Document 1. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-116297 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Such medal-less slot machines are provided with a control board that implements a CPU (main control CPU) that controls the progress of the game and a CPU (medal number control CPU) that manages electronic information indicating the number of medals stored in the gaming machine. A typical control board is protected by a board case, but some board cases are movable so that the backside can be checked. Such board cases may collide with other components during movement, and there is a risk of damage from such collisions.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and provides an amusement machine that can prevent damage to components such as the circuit board case. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the present invention, a specific board and a board case for storing the specific board are provided, and the board case is configured to be rotatable between a storage position and an expanded position by rotating about a first rotation axis, and to be rotatable between a storage position and an expanded position by rotating about a second rotation axis.closed position and open position and a cover portion configured to be rotatable between the When the board case is in the storage position, the cover portion does not come into contact with a specific member regardless of whether the cover portion is in the closed position or the open position, On a path along which the base plate case rotates from the storage position to the deployed position or at the deployed position, The specific member When the cover portion comes into contact with the specific member, the cover portion may come into contact with the specific member. The open position The range of rotation angles of the board case in which the cover portion in the position can come into contact with the specific member is such that the board case and the specific member interfere with each other. The closed position The range of rotation angles of the board case is wider than the range of rotation angles of the board case in which the cover part in The closed position from The open position When the rotation of the lever is performed, the lever rotates in a direction approaching the specific member, The board case and the specific member interfere with each other. The open position When the cover portion in the position contacts the specific member, the cover portion The open position from The closed position A gaming machine is provided that can rotate toward the [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, a gaming machine is provided that can prevent damage to components such as the circuit board case. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a front view of the gaming machine. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a hand area II enclosed by a dashed line in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a view showing the back side of the front door. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the gaming machine 10 without the front door. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the symbols on the reels in a planar form. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the types of symbols on the reels. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the electrical configuration of the gaming machine. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the gaming machine. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the main flow relating to the progress of the game. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the main flow relating to the progress of the game. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the main flow relating to the progress of the game. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a main flow relating to medal number control. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a control board case installed along the rear side wall. [Figure 14] FIG. 14(a) is a perspective view showing a state in which the cover portion of the control board case is in a closed position, and FIG. 14(b) is a perspective view showing a state in which the cover portion of the control board case is in an open position. [Figure 15] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a path of rotation from position B1 to position B3 when the cover of the control board case is closed. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a path of rotation from position C1 to position C3 when the cover of the control board case is in the open state. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a front view (view from the front side) of the main board. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a rear view (view from the back side) of the main board. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the main board taken along the dashed line A in FIGS. [Figure 20] FIG. 20(a) is a view of the main board from the front side, showing the state in which the jig JG is inserted into both the CPU101 and the CPU301, and FIG. 20(b) is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the CPU in this state. [Figure 21]Figure 21(a) is a diagram showing the state in which jig JG is inserted into CPU101 and CPU301 whose longitudinal directions are parallel, and Figure 21(b) is a diagram showing the state in which jig JG is inserted into CPU101 and CPU301 whose longitudinal directions intersect at 45 degrees. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all drawings, similar components are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted where appropriate. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, "front," "rear," "left," "right," "upper," and "lower" refer to the gaming machine 10 as viewed from the front side (player side) as shown in FIG. 1. In addition, in the following description, "advantage (degree of advantage)" refers to an advantage for the player, and further refers to an advantage in terms of acquiring medals (gaming media), excluding so-called premium images and other presentation aspects, unless otherwise specified.

[0010] <Features of the present invention> Before describing the details of the gaming machine 10 in this embodiment, the features of the invention (present invention) described in this embodiment will be described. In addition, when explaining the features, the configuration in parentheses is an example of the configuration of this embodiment corresponding to the immediately preceding configuration, and the configuration may be described in parentheses for the same purpose in the explanation of the gaming machine 10 that follows this explanation.

[0011] The present invention provides A specific board (main board 100), a board case (control board case 400) for accommodating a specific board; Equipped with The board case is The device is configured to be rotatable between a stored position and an deployed position by rotating about a first rotation axis (axis Z2), The cover portion (cover portion 420) is configured to be rotatable between a first position (closed position) and a second position (open position) by rotating about a second rotation axis (axis X3), When the specific member (front door 20) and the board case interfere with each other on the path of rotation of the board case from the storage position to the deployment position (position B2, position C2) or at the deployment position (position B3, position C3), the cover portion (cover portion 420) may come into contact with the specific member. the range of rotation angles of the substrate case in which the substrate case and the specific member interfere with each other and the cover portion in the second position can come into contact with the specific member is wider than the range of rotation angles of the substrate case in which the substrate case and the specific member interfere with each other and the cover portion in the first position can come into contact with the specific member; When the cover part rotates from the first position to the second position, it rotates in a direction approaching the specific member, and when the board case and the specific member interfere with each other and the cover part at the second position comes into contact with the specific member, the cover part can rotate from the second position toward the first position. This is a gaming machine characterized by the above.

[0012] As described above, the gaming machine according to the present invention is configured so that the cover part is more likely to collide with the specific component when it is in the second position than when it is in the first position, so that the area that is damaged by interference when the cover part is in the second position can be limited to the cover part. Furthermore, when the cover part in the second position comes into contact with the specific component, it rotates in a direction away from the specific component, thereby alleviating some of the force generated by interference and enhancing the effect of preventing damage. Therefore, damage to other parts of the board case or to the specific board can be prevented.

[0013] The gaming machine 10 having the above-mentioned features will be specifically described based on the following embodiment.

[0014] <Structure of gaming machine 10> First, the structure of the gaming machine 10 will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 6. Figure 1 is a front view of the gaming machine 10, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the hand area II enclosed by a dashed line in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a view showing the back side of the front door 20, Figure 4 is a view showing the front of the gaming machine 10 excluding the front door 20, Figure 5 is a view showing the arrangement of the symbols on the reels 65 in a planar form, and Figure 6 is a view showing the types of symbols on the reels 65.

[0015] The gaming machine 10 includes a rectangular parallelepiped outer frame 90 with an open front, a front door 20 pivotally supported on the left edge side (around axis Z1) of the outer frame 90 so as to be rotatable open and closed, and a gaming machine main body 60. More specifically, three hinge portions 96 (96a, 96b, 96c) are provided on the left edge side of the outer frame 90, and the front door 20 is pivotally supported by the upper hinge portion 96a and the lower hinge portion 96c, and the gaming machine main body 60 is pivotally supported by the upper hinge portion 96a and the middle hinge portion 96b. 4, the outer frame 90 has an opening formed by a left side wall 90a, a right side wall 90b, a top plate 90c, and a bottom plate 90d, and the rear portion of the opening is shielded by a rear side wall 90e, which will be described later. Note that a power supply unit 91, a main board 100, etc., which will be described later, are installed in a lower space III, which is indicated by hatching in FIG.

[0016] Therefore, in other words, the gaming machine 10 comprises a housing (outer frame 90) having an opening on the front side, and a front door (front door 20) that is rotatably supported on an axis relative to the housing and is configured to be rotatable between an open position in which the opening is open and a closed position in which the opening is closed.

[0017] As shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2, the front side of the front door 20 is provided with an upper panel 21, a lower panel 22, a bet button 23, a menu selection button 24, a status display LED 25, a start lever 26, a stop button 27, a medal number display LED 28, a settlement button 32, a medal count button 33, a door lock 34, a decorative LED 36, and a speaker vent 38. In particular, the gaming machine 10 according to this embodiment is a so-called medal-less slot machine in which games can be played without using actual medals. Therefore, the gaming machine 10 does not have the structures required for using actual medals, such as a medal insertion slot and a medal ejection slot, which are standard features of conventional slot machines that use actual medals. In the following description, medals do not refer to the actual medals that have been used in the past, but rather to those treated as electronic information.

[0018] In addition, as shown in Figure 3, on the back side of the front door 20, there are provided a decorative LED board 41, a status display LED board 42, a stop button board 43, a start lever sensor 44, a bet button board 45, a menu selection button board 46, a setting change device 48, a speaker 49, a medal number display LED board 50, and a medal count button board 51.

[0019] In order to open the front door 20, a door key (not shown) must be inserted into the door lock 34 to unlock a locking mechanism (not shown) that locks the front door 20 to the outer frame 90. When the front door 20 is opened, the lower space III below the gaming machine main body 60 can be seen as shown in Fig. 4. In this embodiment, a door-opening sensor (not shown) for determining whether the front door 20 is open is provided on the right edge of the outer frame 90.

[0020] The setting change device 48 provided on the rear side of the front door 20 is a device for performing a setting change process for changing a setting value and a setting confirmation process for confirming a setting value that has already been set, and is configured to include a setting key switch 48a, a setting change switch 48b, a setting display LED 48c, and a setting key cover 48d. Details of the setting change process and the setting confirmation process will be described later. The setting display LED 48c is an LED that displays the setting value being changed in the setting change process and displays the setting value that has already been set in the setting confirmation process, and in this embodiment is configured as a 7-segment display. The setting key cover 48d is a cover that covers the setting key switch 48a, and by sliding it, a setting key (not shown) can be inserted into the setting key switch 48a to operate it. Note that Fig. 3 illustrates the state in which the setting key cover 48d covers the setting key switch 48a. Here, the setting value is a different ball payout rate that indicates the expected value of the number of medals paid out relative to the number of medals used in the game, and in this embodiment, there are six levels from 1 to 6. The larger the setting value that is set, the higher the ball payout rate tends to be, and similarly in this embodiment, the ball payout rate increases as the setting value increases from 1 to 6. In the following explanation, a setting value of 1 will be referred to as setting value 1, and similarly a setting value of 2 will be referred to as setting value 2, a setting value of 3 as setting value 3, a setting value of 4 as setting value 4, a setting value of 5 as setting value 5, and a setting value of 6 as setting value 6.

[0021] The front door 20 has an upper panel 21 and a lower panel 22 on the front side. Since the upper panel 21 is made of a transparent material, a player positioned in front of the gaming machine 10 can see the gaming machine main body 60 located on the back side of the upper panel 21 through the upper panel 21. The lower panel 22 has the model name of the gaming machine 10 and characters related to the model written on its surface, and the model name and other information written on it are made easier to see by lighting up a backlight (not shown) installed at the rear.

[0022] The gaming machine main body 60 also includes the main components that control the games played by the gaming machine 10, and specifically, as shown in Figure 4, a performance display area 62 is formed at the upper front part, and a reel frame 64 is formed at the lower front part.

[0023] The effect display area 62 is a display screen of the effect display device 63 built into the gaming machine main body 60, and can display effects and information related to games on the gaming machine 10. Note that the effect display device 63 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display type display device, and the effects displayed in the effect display area 62 are linked to the audio output from the speaker 49 and the illumination of the decorative LEDs 36, thereby suitably stimulating the player's interest.

[0024] The reel frame 64 is a window frame formed on the front side of the reels 65 (65L, 65C, 65R) built into the gaming machine main body 60, and is divided into an internal area and an external area. The internal area of ​​the reel frame 64 is formed from a hollow or transparent material, and each part of the reels 65 can be seen through the internal area. The external area of ​​the reel frame 64 is formed from an opaque material (including a translucent material or a colored transparent material), making it difficult to see the reels 65 through the external area.

[0025] Here, reel 65 is made up of reel 65L, reel 65C, and reel 65R, and these reels are configured to be rotatable by a stepping motor. When reel 65 in this embodiment rotates, reel 65 rotates from top to bottom in principle, and the direction in which reel 65 rotates from top to bottom is sometimes referred to as the "forward direction," and the direction in which reel 65 rotates from bottom to top is sometimes referred to as the "reverse direction." Each of the reels 65 is provided with a plurality of types of symbols, and when the reels 65 are rotated, the symbols displayed on the reels 65 change, and when the rotating reels 65 are stopped, the symbols are displayed stationary. 5, the outer periphery of each reel 65 is divided into 21 equal parts, and each part has one symbol. In the following description, the parts arranged on reel 65L may be referred to as LZ00 to LZ20, the parts arranged on reel 65C as CZ00 to CZ20, and the parts arranged on reel 65R as RZ00 to RZ20.

[0026] Next, the types of symbols depicted on the outer periphery of each reel 65 will be described with reference to FIG. The symbol shown in Figure 6(a) is a blue symbol resembling the number "7," and will be referred to as the "blue 7 symbol" in the following description. The blue 7 symbol is arranged on LZ18, CZ18, and RZ18, and can be said to be a symbol that has been arranged on each of the reels 65 in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls (to be described later) (depending on the timing of operation of the stop button 27, it may be impossible to stop the symbol on an active line). The symbol shown in Figure 6(b) is a red symbol resembling the number "7," and will be referred to as the "red 7 symbol" in the following explanation. The red 7 symbol is arranged in LZ10, CZ10, and RZ10, and like the "blue 7 symbol," it can be said to be a symbol arranged in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls on each of the reels 65. The symbol shown in Figure 6(c) is a symbol marked "BAR" and will be referred to as the "BAR symbol" in the following description. The BAR symbol is arranged on LZ03, CZ03, RZ03, etc., and, like the "Blue 7 symbol" described above, can be said to be a symbol arranged on each of the reels 65 in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls. The symbol shown in Figure 6(d) is a symbol labeled "REPLAY," which means a replay, and will be referred to as a "replay symbol" in the following explanation. Note that the replay symbol is arranged on LZ04, CZ01, RZ02, etc., and can be said to be a symbol that is not arranged in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls on each reel 65 (i.e., a symbol that can be stopped on an active line regardless of the operation timing of the stop button 27). The symbol shown in Figure 6(e) is a symbol that resembles a bell, and will be referred to as a "bell symbol" in the following explanation. Note that the bell symbol is arranged on LZ00, CZ02, RZ01, etc., and, like the "replay symbol," can be said to be a symbol that is not arranged in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls on each reel 65. The symbol shown in Figure 6(f) is a symbol that resembles a cherry, and will be referred to as the "cherry symbol" in the following explanation. Note that the cherry symbol is arranged on LZ02, CZ08, RZ00, etc., and, like the "blue 7 symbol" mentioned above, can be said to be a symbol arranged on each reel 65 in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls. The symbol shown in Figure 6(g) is a symbol that resembles a watermelon, and will be referred to as the "watermelon symbol" in the following explanation. The watermelon symbol is arranged on LZ01, CZ00, RZ11, etc., and, like the "blue 7 symbol" mentioned above, can be said to be a symbol that is arranged on each reel 65 in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls. The symbol shown in Figure 6(h) is labeled "BLANK" and will be referred to as a "blank symbol" in the following description. Note that the blank symbols are arranged on LZ07, CZ05, RZ05, etc., and like the "Blue 7 symbol" above, they can be said to be symbols arranged on each reel 65 in excess of the maximum number of reel pulls.

[0027] Each reel 65 is provided with a detection piece (not shown) that moves with the rotation of the reel at a position (a position upstream in the forward direction by the amount of movement in a brake control state, which will be described later) that corresponds to the reference position (in this embodiment, LZ00, CZ00, RZ00), and is also provided with a reel sensor 66 that does not move with the rotation of the reel and detects the detection piece. Specifically, a reel sensor 66L is provided for reel 65L, a reel sensor 66C is provided for reel 65C, and a reel sensor 66R is provided for reel 65R, and these sensors are configured to be able to detect when each of the reels 65 has reached the reference position.

[0028] Furthermore, reel illumination boards 67 (67L, 67C, 67R) are provided inside the reels 65, and the LEDs mounted on the reel illumination boards 67 light up to make it easier to see the symbols displayed on the reels 65. In other words, the LEDs mounted on the reel illumination boards 67 function as backlights for the symbols displayed on the reels 65.

[0029] The start lever 26 can be operated by a player to trigger the start of a game. Here, the player's operation of the start lever 26 means tilting the start lever 26, which is initially positioned approximately perpendicular to the front door 20, in either direction. The start lever sensor 44 can detect whether the start lever 26 is in the on state or the off state. More specifically, the start lever sensor 44 detects the start lever 26 that is approximately perpendicular to the front door 20 as being in the off state, and detects the start lever 26 that is tilted in either direction as being in the on state.

[0030] In this embodiment, if the number of medals used in the game (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "number of bets", and this number is stored in the RAM 102, which will be described later) is one or less, the game will not start even if the start lever 26 is operated. That is, in this embodiment, the game can be started only when the number of bets is the maximum number (three in this embodiment) or two. Therefore, in order to reach the maximum number of bets, it is necessary to increase the number of bets by deducting the medals stored in the medal number control board 300 of the gaming machine 10 by pressing the bet button 23. Here, storing medals refers to a function of storing a numerical value (credits) corresponding to medals owned by a player inside the gaming machine 10 (particularly, RAM 302, which will be described later). Furthermore, medals are stored (credits are added) when, for example, medals are loaned from the dedicated unit 1000, which will be described later, or when a winning combination with a payout is won. In the following explanation, loaning medals from the dedicated unit 1000 includes not only the transfer (movement) of medals to the main board 100 after the dedicated unit 1000 converts banknotes into medals, but also the transfer of stored medals stored in a membership card or the like to the main board 100. In addition, if a replay role is won in the previous game, a replay is activated in that game, the number of bets in the previous game is set as the number of bets in the current game, and by pressing the bet button 23, the game can be started without setting new medals as the number of bets.

[0031] The gaming machine 10 also has a maximum bet button 23a and a single bet button 23b as the bet buttons 23, and operations on each button are detected by sensors provided on the bet button board 45. More specifically, a maximum bet button sensor 45a is provided for the maximum bet button 23a, and a single bet button sensor 45b is provided for the single bet button 23b, and these sensors individually detect operations on each button. The max bet button 23a is a button that, with one operation, subtracts credits by up to the maximum number of bets (3 in this embodiment) and adds the subtracted amount to the number of bets, thereby maximizing the number of bets, and the single bet button 23b is a button that, with one operation, subtracts 1 credit and adds 1 to the number of bets. Note that, when the number of bets has reached the maximum, operating any of the bet buttons 23 will not subtract credits and add to the number of bets.

[0032] Furthermore, the max bet button 23a may be used as a bet button to increase the number of bets by subtracting credits in response to an operation as described above, and may also be used as a trigger for executing an effect (effect button). When the max bet button 23a is used as a bet button, it is limited to a state in which the number of bets can be increased, but when the max bet button 23a is used as an effect button, it is not limited to this state, and may be in any state, such as during replay operation before the start of a game, or during a game. The bet button board 45 is provided with a push button sensor 45c that detects pressing of the max bet button 23a when the max bet button 23a is used as an effect button, and this is distinguished from detection by the max bet button sensor 45a. Specifically, the max bet button sensor 45a is directly connected to the main board 100, whereas the push button sensor 45c is directly connected to the sub-board 200.

[0033] The settlement button 32 is operated to transfer the bet amount before being used in the game to credits, and a settlement button sensor (not shown) detects the operation of the settlement button 32. When the settlement button 32 is operated, the entire bet amount is transferred to credits by operating the settlement button 32 in one operation, regardless of the value of the current bet amount.

[0034] In addition, the medal counting button 33 is operated to transfer some or all of the credits stored in the main board 100 to the dedicated unit 1000, and operation of the medal counting button 33 is detected by a medal counting button sensor 51a provided on the medal counting button board 51. When the medal counting button 33 is pressed briefly, 1 credit is transferred to the dedicated unit 1000, and when the medal counting button 33 is pressed for a long time, 50 credits (or the credit value if it is less than 50) are transferred to the dedicated unit 1000 every time a certain period of time (500 ms in this embodiment) has elapsed.

[0035] The gaming machine 10 also has a menu selection button 24 on the left side of the bet button 23. The menu selection button 24 is composed of a cross key button 24a mounted on a menu selection button board 46 and a decision button 24b located in the center of the cross key button 24a.

[0036] The menu selection button 24 is a component that accepts operations related to the menu screen. Here, the menu screen refers to a screen that is displayed in the effect display area 62 and shows information on how to operate the gaming machine 10, explanations of games, and the like. A player can view a menu screen by operating the menu selection button 24. For example, when the enter button 24b is pressed in standby mode, a list of menus and a cursor are displayed in the effect display area 62. The player operates the cross key button 24a to move the cursor to a position indicating a desired menu, and when the player presses the enter button 24b when the cursor is indicating one of the menus, that menu is displayed in the effect display area 62.

[0037] The menu selection button board 46 is provided with a cross key button sensor 46a and a decision button sensor 46b, and the cross key button sensor 46a can detect in which direction the cross key button 24a is pressed (either up, down, left, or right with respect to the center of the decision button 24b). The decision button sensor 46b can detect that the decision button 24b has been pressed. The cross key button sensor 46a and the decision button sensor 46b are directly connected to the sub-board 200, similar to the above-mentioned push button sensor 45c.

[0038] The gaming machine 10 also has a status display LED 25, which displays information about the gaming machine 10, such as the number of bets, on the right side of the bet button 23. The status display LED 25 is made up of multiple LEDs or a 7-segment display mounted on a status display LED board 42, and is made up of the following eight types of LEDs: The first bet number display LED 25a is made up of three LEDs, and the number of lit LEDs increases by one each time the bet number increases by one. The second acquired medal display LED 25b is made up of two 7-segment displays, and displays the number of medals acquired by winning in numbers. The third instruction display LED 25c is composed of two 7-segment displays, and can light up in a manner that allows the operation conditions (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as "operation conditions") related to the stop button 27, which will be described later, to be specified. The fourth replay display LED 25d is made up of one LED, and lights up when a replay is stopped and displayed during a game. The fifth game start display LED 25e is composed of one LED, and when the LED is lit, it indicates that the conditions for starting a game are met. The sixth bet possible display LED 25f is made up of one LED, and when the LED is lit, it indicates that the bet number can be set. The seventh advantageous mode display LED 25g is made up of one LED, and lights up in accordance with the game mode.

[0039] Furthermore, the gaming machine 10 is provided with a medal number display LED 28 that displays the number of credits on the right side of the status display LED 25. The medal number display LED 28 is made up of five 7-segment displays mounted on a medal number display LED board 50, and is configured to be able to display medal numbers from 0 to 99999 on the display.

[0040] The stop button 27 accepts a player's operation (stop operation) that triggers the stopping of the spinning reels 65. The stop button 27 can accept a stop operation (becomes enabled) when a stop enabling condition is met after the reels 65 start spinning. The player's operation of the stop button 27 means pressing the stop button 27. The stop possible condition is a prerequisite for performing a stop display in a game, and specifically, is a condition that is met when the rotation speeds of all of the reels 65 (65L, 65C, 65R) reach a predetermined speed and the reference position of each of the reels 65 is detected. In addition, in the following explanation, the operation on the first stop button in a game may be referred to as the "first stop operation," the operation on the next stop button as the "second stop operation," and the operation on the last stop button as the "third stop operation."

[0041] Each of the stop buttons 27 (27L, 27C, 27R) is mounted on a stop button board 43, and one is provided for each reel 65. Specifically, the stop button 27L accepts a stop operation to stop the reel 65L, the stop button 27C accepts a stop operation to stop the reel 65C, and the stop button 27R accepts a stop operation to stop the reel 65R. Furthermore, the stop button board 43 is provided with stop button sensors 43a that individually detect that the stop buttons 27L, 27C, and 27R have been pressed, and control is performed to stop the rotation of each of the reels 65 in response to the detection by the stop button sensors 43a. That is, the stop buttons 27 and the stop button sensors 43a detect a stop operation that triggers the reel control unit 112, which will be described later, to stop the rotation of the reels 65.

[0042] In addition, the stop button 27 in this embodiment includes a stop enable indicator LED 27a, and is covered with a light-transmitting member. The stop button 27 is designed to notify the player whether or not the stop enable condition is met by the lighting color of the stop enable indicator LED 27a. In this way, since the player can determine whether or not the stop enable condition is met by the color of the stop button 27, the player can smoothly perform stop operations in sequence.

[0043] In addition, in this embodiment, the stop position of the reel 65 can move up to the maximum number of reel-in frames (sometimes referred to as the maximum reel-in range, which is 4 in this embodiment) based on the position of the reel 65 when the stop button 27 is pressed. Here, the control from when the stop button 27 is pressed until the reel 65 stops is generally referred to as reel-in control.

[0044] The internal area of ​​the reel frame 64 corresponding to each reel 65 has a dimension of three frames in the vertical direction. Furthermore, each of the reels 65 is controlled to stop so that three symbols fit in the internal area of ​​the reel frame 64 in the vertical direction, and the player can see these three symbols through the internal area of ​​the reel frame 64. That is, since the reels 65 are arranged three by three in the horizontal direction, when the reels 65 are stopped, the player can see three symbols x three reels = nine symbols.

[0045] Here, the approximate straight lines (shown by dashed dotted lines in FIG. 1) formed by the upper, middle, and lower internal regions of each of the reels 65 are referred to as line L1, line L2, and line L3, respectively. Furthermore, the approximate straight line (shown by dashed dotted lines in FIG. 1) formed by the upper internal region of the reel 65L, the middle internal region of the reel 65C, and the lower internal region of the reel 65R is referred to as line L4, and the approximate straight line (shown by dashed dotted lines in FIG. 1) formed by the lower internal region of the reel 65L, the middle internal region of the reel 65C, and the upper internal region of the reel 65R is referred to as line L5. In this embodiment, only substantially straight lines are used as the lines in the internal area, but they are not limited to straight lines, and curved lines may also be used. Also, lines formed by including non-adjacent areas (for example, the upper row of reel 65L and the lower row of reel 65C) may also be used. In other words, any lines may be used as long as they are formed by arbitrarily selecting an internal area of ​​one symbol from each of the reels 65.

[0046] In this embodiment, the only activated line is the line L2. Here, the activated line is a line on which a winning determination, which will be described later, is made for a symbol combination that stops on that line. Specifically, when a symbol combination corresponding to a win is displayed stopped on an active line, the number of medals specified for that win is awarded. When a symbol combination corresponding to a replay is displayed stopped on an active line, a replay is activated in the next game. When a symbol combination corresponding to a role or a role continuous operating device is displayed stopped on an active line, the role or role continuous operating device is activated in the next game. Details of the symbol combinations corresponding to each role will be described later. The effective line may be a single line as in this embodiment, or may be a plurality of lines.

[0047] While the reel 65 is spinning (while the game is being played), various effects are displayed, such as images displayed in the effect display area 62, sounds output from the speaker 49, or the lighting or extinguishing of the decorative LED 36, in order to attract the player's attention and stimulate their interest in the game.

[0048] A speaker port 38 is provided in front of each speaker 49. More specifically, a speaker opening 38a is provided in front of the speaker 49a located at the upper right when viewed from the front of the gaming machine (upper left in FIG. 3), a speaker opening 38b is provided in front of the speaker 49b located at the upper left when viewed from the front of the gaming machine (upper right in FIG. 3), a speaker opening 38c is provided in front of the speaker 49c located at the lower left when viewed from the front of the gaming machine (lower right in FIG. 3), and a speaker opening 38d is provided in front of the speaker 49d located at the lower right when viewed from the front of the gaming machine (lower left in FIG. 3). Each speaker opening 38 has a number of cavities so that the sound output from the speaker 49 can be output appropriately.

[0049] The decorative LEDs 36 are arranged so as to surround the effect display area 62 or the reel frame 64. More specifically, decorative LEDs 36a mounted on decorative LED board 41a and decorative LEDs 36b mounted on decorative LED board 41b are arranged in the upper right corner of the effect display area 62, and decorative LEDs 36c mounted on decorative LED board 41c are arranged in the lower right corner of the effect display area 62. Furthermore, decorative LEDs 36d mounted on decorative LED board 41d are arranged in the lower right corner of the reel frame 64, decorative LEDs 36e mounted on decorative LED board 41e are arranged in the lower left corner of the reel frame 64, decorative LEDs 36f mounted on decorative LED board 41f are arranged in the lower left corner of the effect display area 62, and decorative LEDs 36g mounted on decorative LED board 41g and decorative LEDs 36h mounted on decorative LED board 41h are arranged in the upper left corner of the effect display area 62. Each decorative LED 36 may be illuminated in a single color or in multiple colors.

[0050] <Electrical and functional configuration of the gaming machine 10> Next, the electrical configuration and functional configuration of the gaming machine 10 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 7 and 8. However, the components illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 described above will also be mentioned, so please refer to them as appropriate. Note that Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the gaming machine 10, and Figure 8 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the gaming machine 10.

[0051] The gaming machine 10 incorporates, as its main components, a main board 100 and a sub-board 200. In Fig. 7, the main board 100 and the sub-board 200 are illustrated as if they were a single electronic board, but this is not necessarily a single electronic board. In other words, at least one of the main board 100 and the sub-board 200 may be realized by combining multiple electronic boards.

[0052] The main board 100 is mounted with electronic components such as a CPU 101, a CPU 301, a RAM 102, a RAM 302, a ROM 103, and a random number circuit 104, and is connected to other electronic components such as sensors and boards as shown in FIG. The CPU 101 mounted on the main board 100 mainly controls the progress of the game by executing processing based on control signals exchanged between other electronic components and various sensors (start lever sensor 44, stop button sensor 43a, maximum bet button sensor 45a, single bet button sensor 45b, reel sensor 66, etc.). The CPU 301 mounted on the main board 100 mainly realizes control over the number of medals by executing processing based on control signals exchanged between other electronic components, the medal number display LED board 50, and the medal count button sensor 51a. The various sensors mentioned in this paragraph may be referred to as various sensors 40a in the following description.

[0053] Further, electronic components such as a CPU 201, a RAM 202, a ROM 203, and a random number circuit 204 are mounted on the sub-board 200, and the connection state with other electronic components such as sensors and boards is as shown in FIG. The CPU 201 mounted on the sub-board 200 is connected to the main board 100 via one-way communication, and controls the decorative LED board 41, speaker 49, and performance display device 63, etc., based on control commands sent from the main board 100 and control signals exchanged between other electronic components and various sensors (push button sensor 45c, cross key button sensor 46a, decision button sensor 46b), and mainly realizes control of performances related to games (including control related to the menu screen). The various sensors mentioned in this paragraph may be referred to as various sensors 40b in the following description.

[0054] The main board 100 is connected to a dedicated unit 1000 outside the gaming machine 10 via two-way communication, and medals can be moved by communication between them. Here, the dedicated unit 1000 is different from the dedicated unit 1000 described below, and is configured to accept cards capable of storing information, such as membership cards, and store medals transferred from the medal count control board 300 (credits counted by the medal count control board 300) in the membership card, etc. as saved medals so that they can be discharged.

[0055] Next, the functional configurations of the main board 100 and the sub-board 200 will be described using Figure 8. Note that the following functional configurations and the functions of each functional configuration are examples, and functional configurations not described below may be included, and each functional configuration may have functions not described below. Note that for ease of explanation, the figure also illustrates other electronic components of the main board 100 and the sub-board 200, such as sensors and boards shown in Figure 7.

[0056] First, the functional configuration of the main board 100 can be broadly divided into a game progress management unit 110 that manages the progress of the game, a status management unit 120 that manages the status related to the game, a main communication unit 130, and a credit management unit 140. Furthermore, the game progress management unit 110 is composed of an internal lottery unit 111, a reel control unit 112, a prize determination unit 113, a medal management unit 114, and a status display LED control unit 115, the status management unit 120 is composed of a setting change management unit 121, a game status management unit 122, a game mode management unit 124, and a main error management unit 125, and the main communication unit 130 is composed of a control command transmission / reception unit 131 and an external signal transmission unit 132.

[0057] When a game is started, the internal lottery unit 111 determines by lottery a winning combination (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as an "internal winning combination") from among a plurality of types of combinations. More specifically, the internal lottery unit 111 acquires the random number (in this embodiment, a 2-byte random number is used, the range of which is 0 to 65535) updated by the random number circuit 104 when a game is started, sequentially adds the lottery values ​​of the internal lottery table (details will be described later) stored in the ROM 103 to the acquired random number, and determines the role corresponding to the lottery value that has generated a carry as the internal winning role. Note that the "internal winning role is determined by lottery" in the internal lottery unit 111 may be simply expressed as "the internal winning role is derived."

[0058] When a game is started, the reel control unit 112 waits for a predetermined delay time, a so-called wait time (4.1 seconds in this embodiment), to elapse between the start of rotation of the reels 65 in the previous game and the start of rotation of the reels 65 in the current game, before starting rotation of each of the reels 65, and then controls the rotation of the reels 65 individually, such as by stopping the reel among the reels 65 that corresponds to the stop operation each time a stop operation is performed.

[0059] More specifically, the reel control unit 112 sets a reel control state (acceleration control state, constant speed control state, retraction control state, brake control state, stop control state) for each of the reels 65 according to the progress of the game, acquires an excitation pattern corresponding to the currently set reel control state from the excitation patterns stored in ROM 103, and controls each of the reel motors 68 (stepping motors) to output a pulse signal according to the acquired excitation pattern, thereby individually controlling the rotation of the reels 65.

[0060] To further explain the reel control states in more detail, the acceleration control state is a control state in which a pulse signal is output according to an excitation pattern for accelerating the reel to a predetermined speed after rotation has started. The constant speed control state is a control state from the end of the acceleration control state until a stop operation is performed, and in this control state, a pulse signal is output according to an excitation pattern for maintaining a predetermined speed. The reel pull control state is a control state in which the corresponding reel is rotated from a stop operation to a stop position, and in this control state, a pulse signal is output according to an excitation pattern for maintaining a predetermined speed, as in the constant speed control state. The brake control state is a control state in which a pulse signal is output according to an excitation pattern for stopping the corresponding reel after reaching the stop position. The stop control state is a control state in which the corresponding reel is maintained at its current position. The switching of the reel control state is performed in the main flow of the main board 100, which will be described later, and the output of the pulse signal is performed in a timer interrupt process (not shown) that is performed on the main board 100 at predetermined intervals (approximately 2 ms in this embodiment).

[0061] In addition, when the reel control unit 112 stops each of the reels 65 (switches from the retraction control state to the brake control state), it derives (or reads) candidate pattern numbers to stop from the stop data stored in ROM 103, and determines one pattern number from the candidate pattern numbers within the maximum retraction range (in this embodiment, four frames) from the position of the reel (pattern number on the reference line) at the time the stop operation is performed as the stop position. Here, the pattern number on the reference line on each of the reels 65 is corrected to the pattern number of the reference position (in this embodiment, RZ00, CZ00, LZ00) each time a detection piece is detected by the reel sensor 66 during the timer interrupt process, and is updated based on the number of times the pulse signal is switched thereafter. Furthermore, in the constant speed control state, if the pattern number on the reference line is not corrected until a predetermined time has elapsed (until a predetermined number of pulse signal switchings have been performed) since the pattern number on the reference line was last corrected, the reel control unit 112 determines that the corresponding reel has lost synchronization (hereinafter referred to as a loss of synchronization check), sets the reel control state to an acceleration control state, and accelerates the reel again.

[0062] The winning determination unit 113 performs a winning determination for determining whether a winning combination has been achieved based on the combination of symbols that have stopped and been displayed on the pay line (in this embodiment, the line L2) in the game. In addition, when determining whether a winning combination has been achieved, in addition to determining the combination of symbols stopped and displayed on the active line, it is also possible to determine whether the combination of symbols matches the winning combination derived in the game, and thereby determine whether the winning combination has been achieved.

[0063] The medal management unit 114 controls the management of the increase and decrease in the number of bets described above.

[0064] The status display LED control unit 115 controls the status display LED 25 described above.

[0065] The setting change management unit 121 performs setting change processing and setting confirmation processing. Specifically, the setting change process is initiated if the setting key switch 48a is operated when the power supply from the power supply device 91 changes from an OFF state to an ON state (hereinafter, this may be referred to as "power on"; on the other hand, changing the power supply from an ON state to an OFF state may be referred to as "power off"), and each time the setting change switch 48b is operated, the setting value is changed in a certain order (in this embodiment, setting value 1, setting value 2, setting value 3, setting value 4, setting value 5, setting value 6, setting value 1, setting value 2, ...), and the setting value at the time the start lever 26 was operated is confirmed as the current setting value. The setting change process also includes a process of displaying the setting value being changed on the setting display LED 48c. Furthermore, when the setting change process is executed, all of the information held by the main board 100 before the power supply was turned off is initialized. In particular, this information includes the number of bets. Furthermore, the timing at which the number of bets is cleared when the setting change process is executed may be any timing between when the power is turned on and before the start of the game start process (step S103, described later) that is executed after the setting change process related to the power-on is completed.

[0066] The setting confirmation process is initiated when the setting key switch 48a is operated while the power supply is on, and causes the setting display LED 48c to display the setting values ​​that have already been set. In the following explanation, unless otherwise specified, the "setting values ​​that have already been set" will be simply referred to as "setting values." In the setting confirmation process, the information held by the main board 100 is maintained. In this embodiment, the opening of the front door 20 by the door-open sensor may be added to the conditions for starting the setting change process and the setting confirmation process. In this way, unauthorized changes to setting values ​​and unauthorized confirmation of setting values ​​can be prevented.

[0067] The gaming state management unit 122 controls the transition of the gaming state among a plurality of types of gaming states in accordance with the transition conditions. The types of gaming states and the transition conditions will be described in detail later.

[0068] The game mode management unit 124 controls the transition of game modes among a plurality of game modes according to the transition conditions. The types of game modes and the transition conditions will be described in detail later, but in this embodiment, the degree of advantage varies depending on the game mode in which the player is staying, and in particular, a game mode with a high degree of advantage can be set in a specific game state (in this embodiment, during an internal MB win, which will be described later).

[0069] In addition to determining whether or not to set the various error states described above, the main error management unit 125 also determines whether or not to set an error state using the detection results of various sensors 40a, etc., and if it decides to set an error state, it stops the progress of the game as necessary and sets the gaming machine 10 in an error state. In addition, when an error state is entered, preparations for sending a control command indicating the occurrence of the error state may be made, the control command transmission / reception unit 131 may be made to send the control command, and the occurrence of the error state may be notified using a performance device (performance display area 62, decorative LED 36, speaker 49, etc.).

[0070] The control command transmitting / receiving unit 131 performs processing to transmit the control command that has been prepared for transmission to the sub-board 200 . Here, the control commands sent to the sub-board 200 include control commands sent when an error state occurs, as well as control commands sent as the game progresses. Furthermore, each control command transmitted and received by the control command transmitting and receiving unit 131 has information corresponding to the type of control command in addition to information that can identify the type of the control command. Furthermore, in the following description, preparing to transmit a control command and having the control command transmitting and receiving unit 131 transmit the control command may be simply expressed as "transmitting a control command." Note that the same applies to each control command transmitted or received by the control command receiving unit 211, which will be described later.

[0071] The external signal transmitting unit 132 is different from the dedicated unit 1000 described above and transmits a signal (external signal) indicating the internal state of the gaming machine 10 to an external device (e.g., a hall computer or a data display) outside the gaming machine 10. To explain in more detail the information transmitted by the outer end signal, the information includes information indicating that a game has started, information indicating that the AT mode described below has started or that the device is currently in the AT mode, and information indicating that an error has occurred.

[0072] The credit management section 140 performs processing to control the credit value based on control commands sent from the dedicated unit 1000 and operations performed on the medal count button 33 . In this embodiment, the credit value is managed as 2-byte data. Therefore, although the credit value can be stored up to 65536 in data, in this embodiment, the upper limit of the credit value is set to 16383, and a value exceeding this upper limit is not stored.

[0073] Next, the functional configuration of the sub-board 200 can be broadly divided into a sub-communication unit 210 and an effect management unit 220 that manages effects related to games. Furthermore, the sub-communication unit 210 is made up of a control command receiving unit 211, and the performance management unit 220 is made up of a performance control unit 221, a performance display control unit 222, a sound control unit 223, and a decorative LED control unit 224. Details of these functional configurations are as follows.

[0074] The control command receiving unit 211 receives control commands sent from the main board 100 or the medal count control board 300, analyzes the received control commands, and updates the information stored in RAM 202 using the information contained in the control commands.

[0075] The performance control unit 221 performs processing to determine the content of the performance to be performed by the performance devices (performance display area 62, decorative LEDs 36, speaker 49, etc.) based on control commands sent from the main board 100 and the medal number control board 300.

[0076] When there is a performance to be performed by the performance display device 63, the performance display control unit 222 reads device data corresponding to the performance from the ROM 203 and causes the performance display device 63 to perform the performance using the device data.

[0077] When there is a performance to be performed by the speaker 49, the audio control unit 223 reads device data corresponding to the performance from the ROM 203 and causes the speaker 49 to perform the performance using the device data.

[0078] When there is a performance to be performed by the decorative LED board 41, the decorative LED control unit 224 reads device data corresponding to that performance from the ROM 203 and causes the decorative LED board 41 to perform the performance using that device data.

[0079] <Main flow related to game progress> Next, the main flow relating to the progress of the game in this embodiment will be explained using Figures 9 to 11. However, the components illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, 7, and 8 explained above will also be mentioned, so please refer to them as appropriate. In particular, in the following explanation, the functions shown in Figure 8 may be cited as entities that perform processing, but the processing is not necessarily realized by only those entities.

[0080] 9 to 11 are flowcharts showing the main flow of the game progress in this embodiment, and the processing related to this flow is executed when the power is turned on. The main board 100 performs one game while performing a series of processes from step S103 to step S143 shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, and can repeat the game by repeating the series of processes. 9 to 11 are just specific examples, and the main board 100 may perform processes other than those listed here.

[0081] First, steps S101 to S119 will be described with reference to FIG. In the first step S101, an initial setting process for the main board 100 is performed. The initial setting process for the main board 100 is performed when the power supply is started, and once it is performed, it is not performed again until the power supply is cut off and then started again. More specifically, in this process, if the setting key switch 48a is operated, the backup information (including information specifying the number of bets) that was held at the time of power outage is discarded (cleared), the setting change process described above is performed, and then the process proceeds to step S103. In this embodiment, a setting change start command is sent to the sub-board 200 when the setting change process is started, and a setting change end command is sent to the sub-board 200 when the setting change process is completed. On the other hand, if the setting key switch 48a is not in an operated state, the process performs a process to restore the state at the time of power outage (if the state at the time of power outage was during a game involving reel rotation, then during that game) based on the backup information, provided that there is no abnormality in the backup information held at the time of power outage (in this embodiment, the checksum value is normal), and then proceeds to step S103, at which point a power outage restoration command related to the main board 100 is transmitted to the sub-board 200. Note that if there is an abnormality in the backup information, the state becomes one in which it is impossible to return to play (RAM error state), and the process waits for the execution of the setting change process described above. Then, at this time, a RAM error command capable of identifying the occurrence of the abnormality is transmitted to the sub-board 200.

[0082] In step S103, a game start process required in advance to start the next game is performed. The game start process includes a process for saving various information related to the previous game, a process for clearing information indicating the stop positions of the reels 65 that stopped in the previous game and the combinations of symbols that stopped on the pay lines, and a process for acquiring setting values. In step S105, a medal acceptance start process is performed, which is a preparation process for setting the number of bets for the next game. The medal acceptance start process includes a process for making it possible to accept information related to the number of bets, and a process for setting the same number of bets as the number of bets set in the previous game if a replay combination was won in the previous game. In step S107, it is determined whether or not the replay is activated. If the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S111, and if the condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S109.

[0083] In step S109, a medal management process is performed, which is a process related to medals that is performed based on the detected operation or the state of the gaming machine 10. The medal management process includes a process of adding the number of medals corresponding to the pressed bet button 23 to the number of bets, and a process of transferring the entire number of bets that can be settled to credits when a press of the settlement button 32 is detected.

[0084] In step S111, a reel spin start check is performed to check whether the game start conditions are met. In the reel spin start check, it is assumed that the operation of the start lever has been detected, and it is checked, for example, whether the number of bets has reached the maximum. In step S113, a reel spin start check is performed to determine whether the game start conditions are met, and if the conditions are met, the process proceeds to step S115, and if the conditions are not met, the process returns to step S107. In step S115, an internal lottery is performed using an internal lottery table to determine an internal winning combination. In step S117, a winning combination flag is set to store the internal winning combination derived in step S115 or a loss in the case of a non-winning combination in a corresponding area of ​​the RAM 102.

[0085] In step S119, a game start mode management process is performed, which controls the instruction display LED 25c to a lighting mode that can identify the operation condition, for example. Furthermore, the game mode management process at the start of a game also involves processing to send an internal winning command to the sub-board 200. The internal winning command includes at least information that can identify the derived internal winning combination, the current game state, and the current game mode, which enables a notification that can identify operation conditions to be executed by a device (in this embodiment, the performance display device 63) managed by the sub-board 200. In this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, the operation conditions identified by the instruction display LED 25c in one game and the operation conditions identified by the notification executed by the device managed by the sub-board 200 in that one game are the same.

[0086] From here, steps S121 to S135 will be described with reference to FIG. In step S121, it is determined whether or not the wait time has elapsed. If the condition is met, the process proceeds to step S123, and if the condition is not met, the process returns to the determination in step S121. In step S123, the reel control state of each of the reels 65 (if this process is performed due to a step-out, the reels that are currently rotating, i.e., the reels that are set to the constant speed control state) is set to the acceleration control state, and the reels that are set to the acceleration control state are caused to start rotating. In this way, when returning to the determination of step S121, the rotation of the reels 65 is not started, so the reel control unit 112 waits for the wait time to elapse before starting the rotation of the reels 65.

[0087] In step S125, it is determined whether the rotation speeds of all of the reels 65 that were set to the acceleration control state have reached a predetermined speed (i.e., whether the output of pulse signals has ended in accordance with the excitation pattern corresponding to the acceleration control state). If this condition is met, the process proceeds to step S127. If this condition is not met, the process returns to the beginning of step S125. Note that in this determination, if the rotation speeds of the reels that were set to the acceleration control state have reached a predetermined speed, they are sequentially switched from the acceleration control state to the constant speed control state. Furthermore, in this determination, after all of the reels have been switched to the constant speed control state, the process waits without proceeding to step S127 until the sensors corresponding to those reels among the reel sensors 66 have detected all of their respective detection pieces. After this wait, all of the stop buttons corresponding to those reels are enabled, and the process proceeds to step S127.

[0088] In step S127, the above-mentioned step-out check is performed on the reels 65 that are set to the constant speed control state. In step S129, it is determined whether or not a step-out has occurred in the step-out check, and if the condition is met, the process returns to step S123, and if the condition is not met, the process proceeds to step S131. In this way, if it is determined that a step-out has occurred in a spinning reel of the reels 65, the process of step S123 (reel restart) is performed again on the spinning reel. In step S131, it is determined whether or not an operation (stop operation) has been performed on the enabled stop button, and if the condition is met, the process proceeds to step S133, and if the condition is not met, the process returns to step S127.

[0089] In step S133, reel stop processing is performed. The reel stop processing disables all stop buttons other than the stop button that was operated to stop, and as described above, switches the reel corresponding to the stop button that was operated to stop from the constant speed control state to the pull-in control state, derives the symbol number that will be the stop position, and switches the reel from the pull-in control state to the brake control state when the symbol position of the reel advances to the derived stop position, stopping the reel. Note that after the output of the pulse signal according to the excitation pattern corresponding to the brake control state has finished, the state switches to the stop control state, and the reel is held at the stop position. In addition, the reel stop processing also involves a process in which a stop command is sent to the sub-communication unit 210 via the control command transmission / reception unit 131, and the control command includes at least information that can identify the type of reel that has stopped (either reel 65L, reel 65C, or reel 65R) and the position (pattern number) at which the reel has stopped.

[0090] In step S135, it is determined whether all of the reels 65 have stopped, and if this condition is met, the process proceeds to step S137, and if this condition is not met, the process returns to step S127. In this way, if all of the reels 65 have not stopped, the processes from step S127 to step S135 are repeated.

[0091] From here, steps S137 to S143 will be described with reference to FIG. In step S137, the above-mentioned winning determination is performed, and the winning combination is determined. In step S139, a state transition process is performed to transition the gaming state.

[0092] In step S141, a game end game mode management process is performed. In this process, a process for changing the game mode and a process for controlling the lighting state of the advantageous mode display LED 25g are performed. In addition, the game mode management process at the end of game play also involves sending a game end command to the sub-board 200, and this control command includes information that can identify the winning combination, the updated game status, and the updated game mode.

[0093] In step S143, medals are awarded in the number corresponding to the winning combination determined to be a winning combination. The medals awarded in step S143 are stored and stored in the credits.

[0094] <Main flow for controlling the number of medals> Next, a main flow relating to the medal number control will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the main flow relating to the medal count control, and the processing relating to this flow is executed when the power is turned on.

[0095] As shown in FIG. 12, in the first step S201 in the main flow relating to medal number control, an initial setting process relating to medal number control is executed. In the initial setting process, for example, a process of clearing credits may be executed depending on the operation state of a medal number clear button (a button member 108 described later) when the power is turned on.

[0096] In step S203, it is determined whether or not there is lending information, and if the condition is met, the process proceeds to step S205, and if the condition is not met, the process proceeds to step S207. Here, the lending information is information indicating medals transmitted from the dedicated unit 1000 outside the gaming machine 10. In step S205, a credit addition process related to the lending information is executed, and in this process, the number of medals specified by the lending information is added to the credit. Note that, in the dedicated unit 1000, upon completion of the credit addition process, the number of medals stored in the dedicated unit 1000 is subtracted by the number of medals related to the credit addition process. In addition, in this embodiment, the upper limit of credit is set to 16383, so if the upper limit may be exceeded by receiving rental information, a control command indicating this is sent to the dedicated unit 1000 so that the credit addition process related to the rental information is not executed.

[0097] In step S207, it is determined whether or not there is medal request information, and if the condition is met, the process proceeds to step S209, and if the condition is not met, the process proceeds to step S211. Here, the medal request information indicates the number of bets requested by the medal management process in step S109 described above. In step S209, a credit subtraction process is executed, and in this process, the number of medals corresponding to the number of bets specified in the medal request information is subtracted from the credits. In this embodiment, if the credits are less than the number of medals specified by the medal request information, the credit subtraction process is not executed.

[0098] In step S211, it is determined whether or not there is credit addition information, and if the condition is met, the process proceeds to step S213, and if the condition is not met, the process proceeds to step S215. Here, the credit addition information is information indicating the number of medals equivalent to the number of bets to be settled in response to the operation of the settlement button 32, or the number of medals to be paid out when a winning combination with a payout is achieved. In step S213, a credit addition process related to the credit addition information is executed, and in this process, the number of medals specified by the credit addition information related to this process is added to the credit.

[0099] In step S215, it is determined whether or not the count button 33 has been operated. If the condition is met, the process proceeds to step S217, and if the condition is not met, the process returns to step S203. In step S217, a credit counting process is executed, in which a part or all of the current credits are transmitted to the dedicated unit 1000, and the credits are decremented by the amount of the transmitted medals. More specifically, when the counting button 33 is pressed once, if the credits at that time are 50 or less, all of the current credits are transferred to the dedicated unit 1000, whereas if the credits at that time are 50 or more, 50 credits are transferred to the dedicated unit 1000. Furthermore, when the counting button 33 is pressed and held down, the same processing as when the counting button is pressed once described above is executed every time a certain period of time (1 second in this embodiment) has elapsed, until the long pressing of the counting button 33 ends or the credits after subtraction become zero.

[0100] In this manner, in this embodiment, the main board 100 and the dedicated unit 1000 are configured to be able to communicate with each other, thereby realizing the medal-less slot machine described above. Furthermore, although not shown, the timer interrupt process on the main board 100 determines whether or not the mutual communication between the main board 100 and the dedicated unit 1000 is normal, and if there is an abnormality in any of these mutual communications, the progress of the main flow relating to medal count control is halted until the error release button is operated and it is determined that the abnormality has been resolved by the process executed by that operation. Note that execution of the timer interrupt process is permitted upon completion of the initial setting process relating to medal count control. Furthermore, in the timer interrupt process, control is also executed to light up the medal number display LED 28 so as to display the current credit value, thereby enabling the player to identify the current credit value.

[0101] <Regarding the lower space III in the gaming machine main body 60> Next, the lower space III in the gaming machine main body 60 shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the control board case 400 installed along the rear side wall 90e. Figure 14(a) is an oblique view showing the cover portion 420 of the control board case 400 in the closed position, and Figure 14(b) is an oblique view showing the cover portion 420 of the control board case 400 in the open position. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a path of rotation from position B1 to position B3 when cover portion 420 of control board case 400 is in the closed state. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing a path of rotation from position C1 to position C3 when cover portion 420 of control board case 400 is in the open state.

[0102] As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a power supply device 91 and a control board case 400 are disposed in a lower space III in the gaming machine main body 60.

[0103] The power supply device 91 is a device for supplying power to each component of the gaming machine 10, and its activation or deactivation is controlled by operating a power switch (not shown) provided on the device. Therefore, when playing a game, it is necessary to activate the power supply device 91 by operating the power switch with the front door 20 open. In this embodiment, the main board 100 and the sub-board 200 have the function of maintaining the information that was held before the power supply from the power supply device 91 was turned off, even if the power supply from the power supply device 91 is turned off.

[0104] The control board case 400 houses the main board 100 inside. In particular, since the control board case 400 is transparent, the main board 100 can be visually observed when the main board 100 is housed inside.

[0105] As shown in FIG. 13, the control board case 400 is rotatably supported on the rear side wall 90e via a mounting bracket 510. Specifically, the mounting bracket 510 has an upper insertion hole 511 that protrudes from the surface of the bracket and has a hole that penetrates in the vertical direction (Z2 axis direction), and a lower insertion hole 512 that has a similar structure, and is screwed to the rear side wall 90e. Furthermore, the control board case 400 has an upper insertion portion 451 having a circumferential portion at its tip and a lower insertion portion 452 similarly having a circumferential portion at its tip, which are on the same line. Then, the upper insertion portion 451 is inserted from above into the upper insertion hole 511, and the lower insertion portion 452 is inserted from above into the lower insertion hole 512, so that the control board case 400 is rotatably supported (around axis Z2) with respect to the rear side wall 90e. This allows the control board case 400 to rotate from the stored position (position B1 in Figure 15, position C1 in Figure 16) to an intermediate position (position B2 in Figure 15, position C2 in Figure 16) and then to the deployed position (position B3 in Figure 15, position C3 in Figure 16).

[0106] Here, the storage position refers to the position where the control board case 400 is closest to the rear side wall 90e by being positioned along that side wall, and in this state, the front surface of the control board case 400 can be easily seen when viewed through the opening in the outer frame 90. On the other hand, the expanded position refers to the position where the control board case 400 is closest to the power supply unit 91 (in this embodiment, the position where it abuts against the power supply unit 91), and in this position, the back surface of the control board case 400 can be easily seen through the opening in the outer frame 90. As described above, the control board case 400 is transparent, and therefore, configuring it to be rotatable from the storage position to the deployed position as described above contributes to making it easier to see both the front and back surfaces of the main board 100 stored in the control board case 400.

[0107] In addition, in the deployed position, the control board case 400 is closest to the power supply unit 91 (contacting the power supply unit 91), so if this state continues for a period of time, the medal count control board 300 may malfunction or perform unexpectedly due to the effects of heat exhaust from the heat dissipation vent (not shown) of the power supply unit 91 and noise from the power supply unit 91 itself.

[0108] In contrast, in this embodiment, the control board case 400 is removably engaged with the rear side wall 90e via a locking bracket 520 at a position spaced from the rotation axis (axis Z2) of the board case in the direction of the right side wall 90b (X-axis direction). This reduces the risk of the main board 100 breaking down or performing unexpected operations due to the influence of exhaust heat from the power supply device 91 or noise from the power supply device 91 itself. To achieve this effect, it is sufficient for the locking bracket 520 to lock the end of the control board case 400 (the end on the right side wall 90b side), and the locking method is not important.

[0109] As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, a metal spacer 530 is attached between the mounting bracket 510 and the locking bracket 520 along the inner side wall 90e. The spacer 530 is a member that separates the control board case 400 from the rear side wall 90e, and has the effect of blocking noise from the rear of the gaming machine 10. In order to achieve this effect, the spacer 530 is preferably made of metal, but may also be made of resin.

[0110] As shown in Figure 13, the control board case 400 has a first case member 410 that forms the front side, a second case member 450 that forms the back side, and a cover portion 420 that covers an opening located at the corner of the first case member 410. When main board 100 is housed in control board case 400, recess 411 is positioned directly above CPU 101, and recess 412 is positioned directly above CPU 301. This makes it easier to visually check CPU 101 and CPU 301 in this state, and also makes it easier to discover fraud such as replacing these CPUs with other CPUs.

[0111] By attaching the cover part 420 to the mounting part 413 provided at the corner of the first case member 410, the cover part 420 is pivotally supported on the first case member 410 so as to be rotatable around the axis X3, and can rotate between a closed position (the state shown in Figure 14(a)) and an open position (the state shown in Figure 14(b)).

[0112] Therefore, in other words, the gaming machine 10 comprises a specific board (main board 100) and a board case (control board case 400) that stores the specific board, and the board case is configured to be rotatable between a storage position and an expanded position by rotating about a first rotation axis (around axis Z2), and has a cover portion (cover portion 420) that is configured to be rotatable between a first position (closed position) and a second position (open position) by rotating about a second rotation axis (around axis X3).

[0113] Furthermore, the cover portion 420 in the closed position covers the button member 108 that protrudes from an opening provided in the first case member 410 (i.e., is not covered by the first case member 410), and when the cover portion 420 is in the closed position, the button member 108 cannot be operated, and when the cover portion 420 is in the open position, the button member 108 can be operated. The button member 108 is a member mounted on the main board 100. When the gaming machine 10 is powered on while the button member 108 is pressed, the gaming machine 10 can execute the credit clearing process (the process mentioned in the explanation of the initial setting process in step S201). In carrying out the present invention, the processing that is executed in response to the operation of the button member 108 is not limited to the above processing, and may be replaced with other processing.

[0114] Therefore, in other words, the specific board (main board 100) has an operable operating component (button member 108), and when the cover part (cover part 420) is in the second position (open position), the operating component is operable, and when the cover part is in the first position (closed position), the operating component is inoperable.

[0115] The method for supporting the cover part 420 is not particularly important, but it is preferable that the cover part 420 is configured so that its rotation can be restricted when it rotates from the open position to the closed position (it is more difficult to rotate than when it rotates from the closed position to the open position). This makes it easier for the cover portion 420 to remain in the open position, and can make it easier to operate the button member 108.

[0116] Therefore, in other words, when the operating component (button member 108) is in an operable state, the cover portion (cover portion 420) can be restricted from rotating from the second position (open position) to the first position (closed position).

[0117] As shown in Figure 15, in this embodiment, the position of axis Z2 and the dimension length of control board case 400 in the X-axis direction are determined so that when control board case 400 rotates from the stored position (position B1) to the deployed position (position B3), at an intermediate position (position B2), the cover portion 420 at the tip side of control board case 400 reaches a position that exceeds the opening surface of the outer frame 90. Furthermore, the control board case 400 in the deployed position (position B3) also reaches a position where its tip exceeds the opening surface of the outer frame 90. Therefore, at position B2 or position B3, the control board case 400 (cover part 420) rotating about axis Z2 and the front door 20 rotating about axis Z1 can interfere with each other.

[0118] Also, as shown in Figure 16, in this embodiment, when the control board case 400 rotates from the storage position (position C1) to the deployed position (position C3), at an intermediate position (position C2), the cover portion 420 on the tip side of the control board case 400 reaches a position that exceeds the opening surface of the outer frame 90. Moreover, in the deployed position (position C3), the control board case 400 also reaches a position where the cover portion 420 exceeds the opening surface of the outer frame 90. Therefore, at position C2 or position C3, the control board case 400 (cover portion 420) and the front door 20 may interfere with each other.

[0119] Here, in either the case shown in Figure 15 or Figure 16, the rotation direction of the control board case 400 and the rotation direction of the front door 20 are the same (both around a vertical axis), so if the control board case 400 and the front door 20 interfere with each other, the force acting on the control board case 400 can be easily released, preventing damage to the control board case 400. Furthermore, even if the control board case 400 is damaged due to interference between the control board case 400 and the front door 20, the part that comes into direct contact with the front door 20 is the cover part 420, so the damaged part can be limited. 15 and 16, the cover part 420 in the open position protrudes more toward the front door 20 than the cover part 420 in the closed position. Therefore, the range over which the cover part 420 in the open position can come into contact with the front door 20 (the range of rotation angles from position C2 to position C3 in FIG. 16) is wider than the range over which the cover part 420 in the closed position can come into contact with the front door 20 (the range of rotation angles from position B2 to position B3 in FIG. 15). This can further enhance the effect of limiting the area that may be damaged due to interference between the control board case 400 and the front door 20 to the cover portion 420 when the button member 108 is operable.

[0120] Therefore, in the gaming machine 10, when a specific component (front door 20) interferes with the board case (control board case 400) on the path of rotation from the storage position to the deployed position (position B2, position C2) or at the deployed position (position B3, position C3), the cover portion (cover portion 420) may come into contact with the specific component, and in other words, the range of rotation angles of the board case where the board case and the specific component interfere and the cover portion in the second position (open position) may come into contact with the specific component is wider than the range of rotation angles of the board case where the board case and the specific component interfere and the cover portion in the first position (closed position) may come into contact with the specific component.

[0121] In order to enhance the above-mentioned effect, it is desirable that the cover portion 420 not come into contact with other components constituting the control board case 400 (the first case member 410 or the second case member 450) when the cover portion 420 is in the closed position and comes into contact with the front door 20 (the state shown in Figure 15) and when the cover portion 420 is in the open position and comes into contact with the front door 20 (the state shown in Figure 16). In particular, from the viewpoint of enhancing the above-mentioned effect and preventing erroneous operation of the button element 108, it is desirable that the button element 108 does not come into contact with the front door 20 even when the button element 108 is in an operable state (when the cover portion 420 is in the open position) and the control board case 400 and the front door 20 interfere with each other, causing the cover portion 420 in the open position to come into contact with the front door 20.

[0122] 15 and 16, when the cover part 420 rotates from the closed position to the open position, the cover part 420 rotates in a direction approaching the front door 20. When the cover part 420 in the open position comes into contact with the front door 20, the cover part 420 rotates in a direction away from the front door 20 (i.e., from the open position to the closed position), which alleviates some of the force generated by the interference and makes it possible to strengthen the effect of preventing damage to the cover part 420.

[0123] Therefore, when the cover part (cover part 420) rotates from the first position (closed position) to the second position (open position), it rotates in a direction approaching the specific member (front door 20), and in other words, when the board case and the specific member interfere with each other and the cover part in the second position comes into contact with the specific member, the cover part can rotate from the second position toward the first position.

[0124] <Configuration of the main board 100> Next, the configuration of the main board 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 17 is a front view (view from the front side) of the main board 100. FIG. 18 is a rear view (view from the back side) of the main board 100. FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the main board 100 taken along the dashed line A in FIGS. Note that the components shown in Figures 17 to 19 are limited to those necessary for explaining the present invention, and components not shown (e.g., electronic components such as ROM, RAM, resistive elements, capacitors, LEDs, connectors, etc.) are arranged except in areas where specifically mentioned.

[0125] As shown in FIG. 17, the main board 100 has two CPUs (CPU 101 and CPU 301) mounted thereon. 19, the CPU 101 has a main body 101a, terminals 101b arranged in a row at one end of the main body 101a (the left end in FIG. 18), and terminals 101c arranged in a row at the other end of the main body 101a (the right end in FIG. 18). The terminals 101b and 101c of the CPU 101 are inserted into insertion portions (not shown) of a socket 105 disposed in the area A1, thereby being electrically connected to signal lines (not shown) provided on the main board 100. A resistive element 106 and a capacitor 107 are mounted near the CPU 101. The height h2 of the resistive element 106 is lower than the height h1 of the bottom surface of the main body 101a, and the height h3 of the capacitor 107 is higher than the height h1 of the bottom surface of the main body 101a. The space BS shown in Figure 19 is a space surrounded by the underside of the main body 101a, the insertion portion of the socket 105 into which the terminal 101b is inserted, and the insertion portion of the socket 105 into which the terminal 101c is inserted, and is designed so that a jig JG can be inserted therethrough during the CPU removal work described below. 19 , a jig JG can be inserted into the space surrounded by the bottom surface of the main body 301a, the space surrounded by the space surrounded by the socket 305 insertion portion (not shown) of the socket 305 into which the terminal 301b is inserted, and the space surrounded by the socket 305 insertion portion (not shown) of the socket 305 into which the terminal 301c is inserted. Similarly to the space BS shown in FIG. 19 , a jig JG can be inserted into the space surrounded by the bottom surface of the main body 301a, the socket 305 insertion portion (not shown) of the socket 305 into which the terminal 301b is inserted, and the space surrounded by the socket 305 insertion portion (not shown) of the socket 305 into which the terminal 301c is inserted. Therefore, the space surrounded by the bottom surface of the main body 301a, the socket 305 insertion portion (not shown) of the socket 305 into which the terminal 301b is inserted, and the space surrounded by the socket 305 insertion portion (not shown) of the socket 305 into which the terminal 301c is inserted, similar to the space BS shown in FIG. 19 , can be inserted into the space surrounded by the bottom surface of the main body 301a, ...

[0126] As described above, CPU 101 and CPU 301 are the same type of CPU, and therefore the sockets 105 and 305 into which they are inserted have the same shape and dimensions.

[0127] As shown in FIG. 17, the main board 100 has a resistive element 106 mounted in an area A3 located between areas A1 and A2 so as to be connected to a signal line (not shown) connected to both the CPU 101 and the CPU 301. The main board 100 also has a capacitor 107 mounted in a position outside any of the areas A1, A2, and A3 so as to be connected to a signal line (not shown) connected to both the CPU 101 and the CPU 301. 17, the main board 100 further includes the above-mentioned button member 108. The button member 108 is connected to the CPU 301 via a signal line (not shown), and is not directly connected to the CPU 101 (it is indirectly connected to the CPU 101 via the CPU 301).

[0128] Therefore, the gaming machine 10 has a specific board (main board 100) on the same surface of which are arranged a first area (area A1) in which a first socket (socket 105) is arranged for inserting terminals (terminals 101b and 101c) attached to the main body part (main body part 101a) of the main control CPU (CPU101), and a second area (area A2) in which a second socket (socket 305) is arranged for inserting terminals (terminals 301b and 301c) attached to the main body part (main body part 301a) of the game media number control CPU (CPU301).In other words, the first socket and the second socket are sockets with multiple rows of insertion portions into which the terminals are inserted to electrically connect the terminals of the main control CPU and the game media number control CPU to signal lines provided on the specific board.

[0129] Furthermore, management information relating to the main board 100 is written in an area A4 of the main board 100. Area A4 is intentionally provided as an area for writing management information, and no components other than the management information are arranged therein. Here, the management information includes character information (hereinafter referred to as first information) that can identify the manufacturer of the gaming machine 10 and character information (hereinafter referred to as second information) that can identify the main board 100.

[0130] As shown in FIG. 17, the management information in this embodiment is configured such that the first information (the four letters AAAA and the two letters BB) and the second information (the eight letters CC-DD-EE) are written close to each other, making it relatively easy to see them simultaneously. Specifically, "AAAA" is the name representing the manufacturer of the gaming machine 10, and "BB" is the abbreviation for that manufacturer. Both are capable of identifying the manufacturer, and therefore correspond to the "first information" of the present invention. Furthermore, "CC-DD-EE" is the model number of the main board 100, and is capable of identifying the main board 100 by itself, and therefore corresponds to the "second information" of the present invention. Incidentally, by writing "BB" and "CC-DD-EE" together in a series, it indicates that the board is to be mounted on a gaming machine manufactured by that manufacturer. Therefore, if the main board 100 is to be mounted on a gaming machine manufactured by a different manufacturer, it can be accommodated simply by changing the notation of "BB". In other words, the main board 100 can be made common. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the management information is formed so that the first information is recessed (concave) relative to the front surface of the main board 100, and the second information is formed so that it is convex (convex) relative to the front surface of the main board 100. The main board 100 provided in the lower space III in the gaming machine main body 60 is often viewed by relying on light emitted from limited light sources such as penlights, so by forming the first information and the second information in different shapes (either concave or convex), the direction of reflection of the light for each changes, making it possible to distinguish them by the difference in how they appear. In this embodiment, the first information can be formed by, for example, laser engraving, and the second information can be formed by, for example, silk printing or forming a copper foil pattern. However, from the viewpoint of achieving the above-described effects, the respective formation methods may be reversed (i.e., the first information may be formed in a convex shape, and the second information may be formed in a concave shape). In addition, in this embodiment, a so-called two-line notation is used, with "AAAA" corresponding to the first information written in the upper row and "BB" corresponding to the first information and "CC-DD-EE" corresponding to the second information written in the lower row, but the notation form of the management information in the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the first information and the second information may be written together in one row, or if there are multiple manufacturers of the gaming machine 10, the names of each manufacturer (all of which correspond to the first information) may be written together in the same row, or each manufacturer may be written together in a separate row.

[0131] Therefore, the gaming machine 10 has a specific board (main board 100) on a specific surface of which are provided a first section (area A1, area A2, and area A3) in which specific components are mounted, and a second section (area A4) in which no components are mounted, and the second section has a display area in which management information regarding the specific board is displayed, and the management information is configured so that first information regarding the manufacturer of the gaming machine (four letters AAAA and two letters BB) and second information that can identify the specific board (eight letters CC-DD-EE) are displayed close to each other, and it can be said that the information regarding one of the first information and second information is displayed in a concave shape, and the information regarding the other is displayed in a convex shape.

[0132] Also, as shown in Figure 17, the management information in this embodiment is written in two rows, with the upper row containing only the first information (concave character information), while the lower row contains a mixture of the first information and the second information (concave character information and convex character information). In this way, by dividing the management information into multiple rows and listing them side by side, and by changing the way each row is drawn, it becomes easier to distinguish the information that requires attention. In order to achieve this effect, it is not necessary to write the management information in two columns, but it may be written in more columns.

[0133] Therefore, the management information is written in multiple rows, and the information written in the first row (upper row) includes information that is drawn in a concave shape and does not include information that is drawn in a convex shape, and the information written in the second row (lower row) includes information that is drawn in a concave shape and information that is drawn in a convex shape.

[0134] Also, as shown in Figure 17, in the management information of this embodiment, the left end (position of the first character) of the first information in the upper row (four letters AAAA written in a concave shape) is closer to the left end of the first information in the lower row (two letters BB written in a concave shape) than to the left end of the second information in the lower row (eight letters CC-DD-EE written in a convex shape). With this arrangement, when the management information is viewed from the left side, the first information is easily visible, and when the management information is viewed from the right side, the second information is easily visible.

[0135] Therefore, in other words, the left end of the information drawn concavely in the first row (upper row) is closer to the left end of the information drawn concavely in the second row (lower row) than the left end of the information drawn convexly in the second row.

[0136] Next, the back surface of the main board 100 shown in FIG. 18 will be described. Here, the areas A1', A2', and A3' shown in FIG. 18 indicate the backsides of the areas A1, A2, and A3 shown in FIG. 17, respectively. In this embodiment, areas A1', A2', and A3' are not particularly intended for mounting electronic components, but signal lines may be provided to connect to electronic components (particularly CPU101 and CPU301) mounted on the front side.

[0137] 18, no information is depicted in areas A1', A2', and A3'. On the other hand, third information (eight characters CC-DD-EE) with the same content as the second information depicted in area A4 is depicted in a convex shape in area A5. In this way, the third information (information about the specific board) written on the back surface of the main board 100 is drawn in the same shape as the second information, so that it looks the same whether it is viewed from the front or back, thereby improving its visibility. Also, by drawing the first information only on the front surface (area A4) and not on the back surface, the above effect can be strengthened. In this embodiment, the third information depicted in the area A5 has the same content as the second information depicted in the area A4, but it may be depicted as only a part of it.

[0138] Therefore, on the back surface of the predetermined surface (the surface of the main board 100), third information that is the same as or a part of the second information is marked, and the third information can be paraphrased as being drawn in the same shape as the second information. Also, it can be paraphrased that the first information is not marked on the back surface of the predetermined surface.

[0139] Although not shown in this embodiment, in regions A1, A2, and A3 where some components are mounted, information (such as an identification number assigned in design) that can identify the component may be drawn near the component. At this time, since this information can also be said to be information regarding the main board 100, it is desirable to draw it in the same shape (convex shape) as the second information for identifying the main board 100 and different from the shape (concave shape) of the first information that is heterogeneous to it. Thereby, when visually recognizing the surface of the main board 100, it becomes easy to distinguish between the first information and the second information and the fourth information.

[0140] Therefore, in the first section (regions A1, A2, and A3), fourth information (such as an identification number assigned in design) regarding a predetermined component is marked, and both the second information and the fourth information are drawn in a common shape (convex shape), and it can be said that the first information is drawn in a shape (concave shape) different from the second information and the fourth information.

[0141] <Regarding the removal work of CPU101 and CPU301> Next, the removal work of CPU101 and CPU301 will be described using FIGS. 20 and 21. FIG. 20(a) is a view of the state where the jig JG is inserted with respect to both CPU101 and CPU301 as viewed from the front side of the main board 100, and FIG. 20(b) is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of CPU101 in this state. FIG. 21(a) shows the state where the jig JG is inserted with respect to CPU101 and CPU301 whose longitudinal directions are parallel as shown, and FIG. 21(b) shows the state where the jig JG is inserted with respect to CPU101 and CPU301 whose longitudinal directions intersect at 45 degrees. 20 and 21, the areas A31, A32, and A33 indicated by dashed lines are obtained by dividing the area A3 into three areas for ease of explanation. These are imaginary areas, and the boundaries do not necessarily need to be clearly visible.

[0142] As shown in Figures 20(a) and 20(b), area A3 connects the right end of socket 105 into which CPU 101 is inserted (strictly speaking, the end of space BS surrounded by the underside of main body 101a, the insertion portion into which terminal 101b is inserted, and the insertion portion into which terminal 101c is inserted) to the left end of socket 305 into which CPU 301 is inserted (strictly speaking, the end of space BS surrounded by the underside of main body 301a, the insertion portion into which terminal 301b is inserted, and the insertion portion into which terminal 301c is inserted). In this embodiment, the resistive element 106 is mounted in the region A3 at a height h2 that is lower than the height h1 of the bottom surface of the main body 101a (=the height of the bottom surface of the main body 301a). This allows the jig JG to penetrate both the space BS on the bottom surface side of the main body 101a and the space BS on the bottom surface side of the main body 301a at once without interfering with the resistive element 106. With the jig JG penetrated as described above, by applying equal force to both ends of the jig JG in the direction of removing CPU101 and CPU301 (upward in Figure 20(b)), the terminals of CPU101 and CPU301 can be pulled out without damaging them. It should be noted that electronic components do not necessarily need to be mounted in the area A3 to achieve the above-mentioned effects.

[0143] Therefore, in other words, in the gaming machine 10, in the third area (area A3) connecting the end between the rows of insertion portions in the first socket (socket 105) and the end between the rows of insertion portions in the second socket (socket 305), an electronic component (resistance element 106) is implemented that is lower than both the bottom surface height of the main body of the main control CPU (CPU101) when inserted into the first socket and the bottom surface height of the main body of the gaming media number control CPU (CPU301) when inserted into the second socket, or no electronic component is implemented.

[0144] As described above, the main board 100 has signal lines (not shown) connected to both the CPU 101 and the CPU 301, and the resistive element 106 is mounted so as to be connected to the signal lines. Resistance element 106 is an important element that affects both the processing related to CPU 101 (processing related to game progress) and the processing related to CPU 301 (processing related to medal count control). The configuration related to area A3 as described above can be said to be a consideration to prevent damage to important electronic components when removing the CPU.

[0145] Therefore, the specific board (main board 100) has a specified signal line connecting the main control CPU (CPU 101) and the game media number control CPU (CPU 301), and in other words, the electronic component (resistance element 106) mounted to connect to the specified signal line in the third area (area A3) is lower than both the bottom surface height of the main body part of the main control CPU and the bottom surface height of the main body part of the game media number control CPU.

[0146] 20(b), the height h3 of the capacitor 107 in this embodiment is higher than the height h1 of the bottom surface of the main body 101a (=the height of the bottom surface of the main body 301a). As described above, the capacitor 107 is mounted so as to be connected to a signal line (not shown) that is connected to both the CPU 101 and the CPU 301. In this way, capacitor 107, which is an important electronic component that affects both the processing related to CPU 101 (processing related to game progress) and the processing related to CPU 301 (processing related to medal count control), is mounted in an area different from area A1, area A2, or area A3 so that it does not interfere with the jig JG when removing the CPU, and care is taken to prevent it from being damaged during the process.

[0147] Therefore, it can be said that the electronic component (capacitor 107) that is mounted to connect to a specified signal line and is higher than both the bottom surface height of the main body of the main control CPU (CPU101) and the bottom surface height of the main body of the game media number control CPU (CPU301) is mounted in an area different from the first area (area A1), the second area (area A2), and the third area (area A3).

[0148] As described above, area A3' on the back side of main board 100 (area A3) is allowed to have signal lines connected to both CPU 101 and CPU 301, but no electronic components are mounted there. This prevents the possibility of a mistake in removing the CPU that could damage electronic components mounted on the back side.

[0149] Therefore, the specific board (main board 100) has a specified signal line connecting the main control CPU (CPU 101) and the game media number control CPU (CPU 301), and in other words, a portion of the specified signal line is provided in a fourth area (area A3') located on the back side of the third area (area A3), and no electronic components are mounted in the fourth area.

[0150] Area A3, which has been given the above-mentioned considerations, needs to have a certain size in consideration of the ease of removal work (the work of inserting jig JG into the underside space of main body 101a and the underside space of main body 301a). In this embodiment (the arrangement shown in Figures 20(a) and 20(b)), it is preferable that the length of area A3 (= the distance between the ends of the rows of insertion portions in socket 105 and the ends of the rows of insertion portions in socket 305) is longer than the sum of the width dimensions of socket 105 and socket 305.

[0151] In this embodiment, the longitudinal direction of CPU101 (socket 105) and the longitudinal direction of CPU301 (socket 305) are roughly aligned, and are arranged so that a linear jig JG can be inserted, but the present invention can be implemented even with a different arrangement by simply modifying the shape of the jig JG.

[0152] For example, in FIG. 21(a), the longitudinal direction of the CPU 101 (socket 105) and the longitudinal direction of the CPU 301 (socket 305) are parallel In this case, if a U-shaped jig JG is used, it is possible to insert the jig JG into the spaces below the main body 101a and the main body 301a. Here, for the purpose of inserting the U-shaped jig JG, it is preferable that the area A31 existing in the longitudinal direction of the CPU 101 (socket 105) be a straight line that is longer than the width of the socket 105. Similarly, it is preferable that the area A32 existing in the longitudinal direction of the CPU 301 (socket 305) be a straight line that is longer than the width of the socket 305. However, the shape and size of the area A33 connecting the areas A31 and A32 are not particularly important.

[0153] 21(b) shows a modified example in which the longitudinal direction of the CPU 101 (socket 105) and the longitudinal direction of the CPU 301 (socket 305) intersect at 45 degrees. In this case, if a jig JG bent at 45 degrees is used, it can be inserted into either the space below the main body 101a or the space below the main body 301a. 21(a), it is preferable that the area A31 and the area A33 are linear and longer than the width dimension of the socket 105 (socket 305). The shape and size of the area A33 connecting the area A31 and the area A32 are not particularly limited.

[0154] To summarize the above, in this embodiment and its modified examples, the third region (region A3) can be said to have a first straight portion (region A31) extending in the longitudinal direction of the first socket (socket 105) and longer than the width dimension of the first socket, a second straight portion (region A32) extending in the longitudinal direction of the second socket (socket 305) and longer than the width dimension of the second socket, and a connecting portion (region A33) connecting the first straight portion and the second straight portion. The above-described configuration makes it easy to insert the jig JG, and prevents damage to the CPU 101 and CPU 301 during removal.

[0155] <Other variations> Modifications not mentioned in the above description are listed below.

[0156] The arrangement and number of components (including electronic components) illustrated in the above description of the embodiment are merely examples. The arrangement of the components may be changed, components not illustrated may be added, or some of the illustrated components may be deleted, as long as the object of the present invention is achieved.

[0157] The inventions disclosed in the above embodiments are all exemplified as being implemented by a main control board (main board 100) that controls the progress of the game, but some inventions do not necessarily have to be implemented by the main control board and can also be implemented by other boards.

[0158] The inventions disclosed in the above embodiments are all exemplified as being implemented in medal-less slot machines, but some inventions do not necessarily have to be implemented in medal-less slot machines, and can be implemented in slot machines that use gaming medals or pachinko gaming machines that use gaming balls.

[0159] The present invention described above is not limited to the above description, and includes various modifications and improvements as long as the object of the present invention is achieved.

[0160] <Additional Notes> The present embodiment encompasses the following technical idea. (1) A device comprising a specific substrate and a substrate case for storing the specific substrate, the substrate case being configured to be rotatable between a storage position and an expanded position by rotating on a first rotation axis, and having a cover portion configured to be rotatable between a first position and a second position by rotating on a second rotation axis, and when a specific member interferes with the substrate case on a path along which the substrate case rotates from the storage position to the expanded position or at the expanded position, the cover portion may come into contact with the specific member, and when the substrate case interferes with the specific member and is in the second position, a range of rotation angles of the base case in which the cover portion can come into contact with the specific member is wider than a range of rotation angles of the base case in which the cover portion in the first position can come into contact with the specific member due to interference between the base case and the specific member, and when the cover portion rotates from the first position to the second position, it rotates in a direction approaching the specific member, and when the base case interferes with the specific member and the cover portion in the second position comes into contact with the specific member, the cover portion can rotate from the second position toward the first position. (2) The specific board has an operable operating part, and when the cover part is in the second position, the operating part is operable, and when the operating part is in an operable state, the cover part can be restricted from rotating from the second position to the first position, and even when the operating part is in an operable state and the board case and the specific member interfere with each other so that the cover part in the second position comes into contact with the specific member, the operating part does not come into contact with the specific member, in the gaming machine described in (1). [Explanation of symbols]

[0161] 10 Gaming machines 20 Front door 21 Top Panel 22 Bottom Panel 23 Bet Button 23a Max Bet Button 23b Single Bet Button 24 Menu selection button 24a D-pad button 24b Confirm button 25 Status indicator LED 25a Bet number display LED 25b Acquired number display LED 25c Instruction display LED 25d Replay indicator LED 25e Game start display LED 25f Ready to load indicator LED 25g advantageous mode indicator LED 26 Start lever 27(27L, 27C, 27R) Stop button 27a Can be stopped indicator LED 28 Medal number display LED 32 Checkout button 33 Medal count button 34 Door Lock 36(36a, 36b, 36c, 36d, 36e, 36f, 36g, 36h) Decorative LED 38(38a, 38b, 38c, 38d) Speaker 41(41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f, 41g, 41h) Decorative LED board 42 Status display LED board 43 Stop button circuit board 43a Stop button sensor 44 Start lever sensor 45 Bet Button Board 45a Max Bet Button Sensor 45b Single Bet Button Sensor 45c Push Button Sensor 46 Menu selection button board 46a D-pad button sensor 46b Decision button sensor 48 Setting change device 48a Setting key switch 48b Setting change switch 48c Setting display LED 48d Setting key cover 49(49a, 49b, 49c, 49d) Speaker 50 medal count display LED board 51 Medal counting button board 51a Medal counting button sensor 53 Operation board cover 60 Gaming machine main body 62 Production display area 63 Performance display device 64 reel slots 65 (65L, 65C, 65R) reel 66 (66L, 66C, 66R) Reel Sensor 67 (67L, 67C, 67R) Reel lighting board 68 Reel motor 81 Medal count clear button 82 Error clear button 90 outer frame 90a Left side wall 90b Right side wall 90cm top 90d bottom plate 90e Back side wall 91 Power supply 96 Hinge part 96a Upper hinge part 96b Middle hinge part 96c Lower hinge 100 Main board 101, 201, 301 CPUs 102, 202, 302 RAM 103, 203 ROM 104 Random Number Circuit 105 sockets 106 Resistor element 107 Capacitor 108 Button parts 110 Game Progress Management Department 111 Internal Lottery Department 112 Reel control section 113 Prize Judging Section 114 Medal Management Department 115 Status display LED control section 120 Status Management Unit 121 Configuration Change Management Unit 122 Game Status Management Department 124 Game Mode Management Unit 125 Main Error Management Unit 130 Main Communication Section 131 Control command transmitter / receiver 132 External signal transmitter 140 Credit Management Department 200 Sub-board 204 Random Number Circuit 210 Sub-Communication Department 211 Control command receiver 220 Performance Management Department 221 Production Control Unit 222 Production display control unit 223 Audio control section 224 Decorative LED control unit 305 Socket 400 Control board case 410 First case member 411, 412 recesses 413 Mounting part 420 Cover 450 Second case member 451 Upper insertion part 452 Lower insertion part 510 Mounting Bracket 511 Upper insertion hole 512 Lower insertion hole 520 Locking bracket 530 spacer 550 Cable Ties 1000 dedicated unit L1~L5 lines A1~A5, A1'~A3' area Z1, Z2, X3 axis

Claims

1. A specific substrate; a substrate case that houses the specific substrate, The substrate case is The device is configured to be rotatable between a stored position and an deployed position by rotating about a first rotation axis, a cover portion configured to be rotatable between a closed position and an open position by rotating about a second rotation shaft; When the board case is in the storage position, the cover portion does not come into contact with a specific member regardless of whether the cover portion is in the closed position or the open position, When the specific member interferes with the board case on a path of rotation of the board case from the storage position to the deployed position or at the deployed position, the cover portion may come into contact with the specific member, a range of rotation angles of the substrate case in which the substrate case and the specific member interfere with each other and the cover portion in the open position can come into contact with the specific member is wider than a range of rotation angles of the substrate case in which the substrate case and the specific member interfere with each other and the cover portion in the closed position can come into contact with the specific member, When the cover portion rotates from the closed position to the open position, the cover portion rotates in a direction approaching the specific member, When the board case and the specific member interfere with each other and the cover portion in the open position comes into contact with the specific member, the cover portion can be rotated from the open position to the closed position. A gaming machine characterized by:

2. The specific board has a first area in which a first socket for inserting a terminal attached to the main body of the main control CPU is disposed, and a second area in which a second socket for inserting a terminal attached to the main body of the game media number control CPU is disposed, on the surface facing the cover portion; the first socket and the second socket are sockets with a plurality of rows of insertion portions into which terminals of the main control CPU and the game media count control CPU are inserted in order to electrically connect the terminals to signal lines provided on the specific board; The specific board has a predetermined signal line connecting the main control CPU and the game media number control CPU, an electronic component is mounted in a third region connecting a first end, which is one of the two ends between the rows of the insertion portions in the first socket, and a second end, which is one of the two ends between the rows of the insertion portions in the second socket and is closer to the first end, so as to be connected to the predetermined signal line, and the electronic component is lower than both the height of the bottom surface of the main body of the main control CPU when inserted into the first socket and the height of the bottom surface of the main body of the game media number control CPU when inserted into the second socket; The first socket and the second socket are arranged such that their longitudinal directions are aligned on the same straight line, and the first end and the second end are linearly connected to form the third region, or The first socket and the second socket are arranged such that their longitudinal directions are parallel to each other, and the first end and the second end are connected in a U-shape to form the third region. The gaming machine according to claim 1.

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