JPH08187323A - Pachinko ball detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a pachinko ball detector capable of detecting the number of out balls by using a sensor to magnetically detect a pachinko ball. CONSTITUTION: An out ball retrieval point group to detect the out ball is set in the periphery of an out hole on a panel by an out ball detecting point table 421. An out ball retrieval processing part 420 judges the presence/absence of the out ball based on the change quantity of sensor output in the out ball detecting point group. Concretely, the difference in the absolute value between a sensor output value in the latest period and that in the present period in each out ball detecting point is compared with a reference value set in advance, and when the absolute value for either point exceeds the reference value, it is judged that the out ball is present.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pachinko game machine, and more particularly to a pachinko game machine having a door with means for detecting a pachinko ball.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a pachinko game machine has a board surface (base board) that forms a space for moving a pachinko ball, a glass plate that covers the pachinko ball at a constant interval, a pachinko ball, and the board surface and the glass plate. And a projection mechanism for projecting into a space partitioned by. Pachinko game machine,
The board surface is installed so that it is substantially parallel to the vertical direction. On the board surface, a plurality of winning holes will be awarded when a pachinko ball enters the board surface and is ejected from the board surface, and one exit hole from which the pachinko balls that did not enter the winning hole are finally collected and ejected from the board surface. And are provided.

In addition, a large number of pins (nails) have a length corresponding to the diameter of the pachinko ball so that the pachinko ball falling along the plate surface frequently collides with the board surface and causes fluctuations in the movement direction. It is provided substantially vertically while protruding from the board surface. These pins, while repelling or refracting the striking pachinko ball, lead to the winning hole in some cases, and in some cases, guide it away from the winning hole. Has been decided.

As shown in FIG. 2, normally, in a pachinko parlor, the pachinko game machine 10 is operated by a user 1000.
In order to make it easier to use, the two units are arranged adjacent to each other in two rows with their backs facing each other. Further, in the parlor, there are provided a group of pachinko game machines 10 arranged in this way, forming a so-called island shape. Here, in FIG. 2, the opposite pachinko game machine 1
A typical size of a distance of 0 and a gap between adjacent game machines 10 is shown.

By the way, in a pachinko parlor in which a large number of such pachinko game machines are arranged, it is necessary to manage the winning situation in each pachinko game machine. That is,
This is because it is necessary to find a machine with an uneven trajectory of a pachinko ball or a machine with an abnormal trajectory, and perform replacement or repair. For example, if a machine that is unusually easy to win is left unattended, management damage to the pachinko parlor becomes great, so it is necessary to find such a machine. Also,
On the other hand, if there is a machine that is unusually difficult to win, the parlor will be disliked by the customer, so it is necessary to find such a machine. Also, it is necessary to detect an illegal act such as guiding a pachinko ball with a magnet or the like during the execution of the game.

[0006] Conventionally, as a pachinko ball detection device for such a purpose, the applicant of the present invention has filed Japanese Patent Application No. 2-244898.
In the specification of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 4-122375, it has been proposed to construct a pachinko ball sensor using a transmission line and a reception line. That is, a plurality of forward and backward transmission lines are attached in parallel to one side of the glass substrate of the door of the pachinko game machine, and a plurality of forward and backward reception lines are arranged in parallel and electromagnetically coupled to the transmission line. Thus, a sensor is shown that is configured to intersect and be mounted on the opposite side of the glass substrate.

According to this sensor, the transmission circuit and the reception circuit of the management device are connected to the corresponding transmission line and the reception line, and a signal current is sequentially applied to each transmission line, and each reception line is induced by the signal current. By detecting the induced current sequentially, the presence or absence of a pachinko ball is detected from the induced current received by the receiving circuit, and the combination of the transmission line carrying the signal current and the receiving line receiving the induced current is detected. Knowing, the position of the pachinko ball can be detected.

That is, in this sensor, the intersection of the transmission line and the reception line serves as a detection unit. Then, those detection units are arranged in a matrix.

With such a sensor, the number of hit balls is counted,
That is, when counting the number of balls that are hit in the game area by the projection mechanism, pay attention to one of the detection units in the area where the ball passes and determine whether the pachinko ball has passed that detection unit. This is done by monitoring and detecting the signal when passing. The number of balls is counted by counting the detection signal with a counter.

[0010]

According to this type of detection device, the position of the pachinko ball on the board surface of the pachinko game machine,
As a result, data representing the trajectory can be easily and quickly obtained. Further, since the sensor is attached to the cover (door) of the pachinko machine, there is a special advantage that the structure can be made unrelated to the design of the pachinko machine by simply replacing the cover.

It would be advantageous if the number of out balls that a pachinko ball enters into the out holes on the board could be determined using such a sensor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pachinko ball detecting device which can detect the number of out balls by using a sensor for magnetically detecting the pachinko balls.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a pachinko ball detecting device according to the present invention is arranged to face a board surface of a pachinko game machine in which a game area is set,
A sensor having a plurality of detection points arranged in a matrix, which magnetically detects pachinko balls existing on the board at regular intervals, and a sensor which periodically collects the sensor output at each detection point of the sensor. An output collecting means and an out-ball detection point group for detecting an out-ball are set around the out hole on the board, and a change in the sensor output collected by the sensor output collecting means in the out-ball detection point group. Out-ball search means for determining the presence / absence of an out-ball based on the amount.

In this device, the out-ball searching means determines the absolute value of the difference between the sensor output value of the previous cycle and the sensor output value of the current cycle at each out-ball detection point,
The presence or absence of an out-ball is determined by comparing with a predetermined reference value.

The group of out-ball detection points can be divided into a plurality of blocks, and the out-ball search means can determine the presence or absence of the out-ball on a block-by-block basis.

[0016] The out-ball searching means can also find the point having the largest absolute value of the difference among the out-ball detection points in each block.

Preferably, the waiting time control means is provided for executing the processing by the out-ball search means once in a predetermined plurality of cycles. In this case, the out-ball detection point group may be divided into a plurality of blocks, and the waiting time control means may be able to set the number of waiting cycles for each block.

[0018]

In the present invention, the out-ball detection point group for detecting the out-ball is set around the out-hole on the board. The out-ball searching means detects the amount of change in the sensor output collected by the sensor output collecting means in the out-ball detecting point group, and based on this, determines whether or not there is an out-ball.

By dividing the out-ball detection point group into a plurality of blocks and determining the presence / absence of an out-ball for each block, it is possible to recognize from which block the ball has entered the out-hole.

By obtaining a point having a large absolute value of the difference among the out-ball detection points in each block, it is possible to further estimate from which point in the block the point where the out hole is entered.

By providing a waiting time for executing the processing by the out-ball searching means once in a plurality of predetermined cycles, it is possible to prevent an erroneous determination that the same ball is determined to be an out-ball. You can In this case, by setting the number of cycles to wait for each block, the number of cycles can be set according to the position of the block. Further, for example, it becomes possible to provide an appropriate out-ball search process for each model of a pachinko game machine.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Prior to the description of the embodiments, the structure and operation of a pachinko game machine to which the present invention is applied and a pachinko ball detection device on which the present embodiment is based will be described.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of a pachinko game machine to which the present invention is applied. The pachinko game machine includes a board surface 11 that forms a space for moving the pachinko balls, a surface glass body 16 that covers the pachinko balls at a constant interval, and a pachinko ball.
It has a projection mechanism for projecting into a space partitioned by the board surface 11 and the glass body 16. The pachinko game machine has a board surface 11 that is substantially parallel to the vertical direction.
Is installed.

A guide rail 12 is provided on the board surface 11. The board surface 11 has a game area 12a defined by an inner area surrounded by the guide rails 12. The guide rail 12 guides the pachinko ball hit by the projection mechanism along the guide rail 12 and sends the pachinko ball to a vertically upper position (upstream portion) of the game area 12a.

In the game area 12a, a plurality of winning holes 14a are provided, in which a pachinko ball enters the board 11 and is ejected from the board 11, and a special hole is provided in the center of the board between upstream and downstream. A prize winning device device 14b for realizing a winning state and one discharge hole (out hole) 15 which is finally collected from the pachinko balls that have not entered the prize holes 14a and discharged from the board 11 are provided. Has been. The prize winning device device 14b is a device for giving out a large number of pachinko balls as a prize, when the state of the pachinko balls changes each time the pachinko balls enter a specific winning hole 14a and a certain condition is satisfied.
For example, by arranging a rotating drum like a slot machine and rotating the drum for each winning, when a predetermined pattern is complete, it becomes a special winning state (for example, called fever state) and many pachinko balls. Some are configured to give. Although not shown exactly, a winning hole having a larger opening than a normal winning hole is provided for allowing a plurality of pachinko balls to win at the same time.

In the game area 12a of the board 11, a large number of pins (nails) 13 are provided so that the pachinko balls B falling along the board 11 frequently collide with each other to cause fluctuations in the movement direction. Has been. As shown in FIG. 4, these pins 13 are driven substantially vertically into the board surface 11 in a state of protruding from the board surface 11 by a length corresponding to the diameter of the pachinko ball B. These pins 13 are distributed and arranged on the board 11 for the purpose as described above.

On the front surface of the pachinko game machine 10,
A launching handle 33 for launching a pachinko ball
And a saucer 34 that receives the pachinko balls paid out as a prize and supplies the pachinko balls newly launched.
Are provided. The handle 33 constitutes a part of the projection mechanism. On the front of the pachinko machine,
A plurality of transmission lines 22 and a plurality of reception lines 26, which will be described later, are arranged on the glass surface of the cover that is an openable / closable door.

As shown in FIG. 4, the front glass of the cover covering the board surface 11 is the board surface 1 of the pachinko game machine 10.
1 and has a surface glass body 16 and an inner glass body 17.
It has a double structure. Also, the inner glass body 1
Reference numeral 7 is composed of a glass substrate 17a and surface glasses 17b and 17c adhered to both surfaces thereof.

Next, an embodiment of the pachinko ball detection device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 6, the pachinko ball detection device of this embodiment has a matrix area 20 in which the detection area has a planar spread and functions as a metal (pachinko ball) sensor.
And a signal processing system (signal processing device) 170 for driving the matrix sensor 20 to detect the presence of a pachinko ball and its position.

As shown in FIG. 5, the matrix sensor 20 has a plurality of transmission lines 22, a plurality of reception lines 26, and a substrate that supports these. The transmission line 22 is composed of a pair of conducting wires (loops) 62 that form a forward path 62a and a return path 62b that are parallel to each other. The reception line 26 is also composed of a pair of conductors 62. In this embodiment, the conductor 62
Is composed of, for example, a wire made of a copper wire insulatingly coated with polyurethane. The pair of conducting wires 62 are configured such that the forward path and the returning path are mutually connected at one end side, and the other end side serves as a signal input / output terminal.

The transmission line 22 and the reception line 26 are arranged so as to intersect with each other. Specifically, for example, the transmission lines 22 are arranged at regular intervals along the row direction, and the reception lines 26 are arranged at regular intervals along the column direction. The transmission line 22 and the reception line 26 are arranged in this way,
The intersections of the transmission lines 22 and the reception lines 26, which are the detection areas, are arranged in a matrix. Note that the arrangement in the row direction and the column direction is arbitrary, and either row may be arranged.

Returning to FIG. 6, the signal processing system 170 is
A transmission / reception board 171 functioning as a transmission / reception means for driving the matrix sensor 20, and a detection signal received by controlling the transmission / reception board 171. Based on this, the presence or absence of a pachinko ball is determined, and It has a control board 172 that functions as a signal processing unit that performs a process of detecting a position where a pachinko ball is detected.

As will be described later, the transmission / reception board 171 includes a transmission circuit 40 (see FIG. 7) that sequentially scans designated lines among the transmission lines 22 and sends the transmission signals,
A reception circuit 50 (see FIG. 9) is provided which sequentially scans designated lines among the reception lines 26 and sequentially receives the reception signals of the reception lines.

The control board 172 designates the transmission line and the reception line to be scanned to the transmission / reception board 171, and judges from the signal received by the reception circuit 50 whether or not there is a pachinko ball. Based on the information indicating the transmitting line scanning position in the transmitting circuit 40 and the information indicating the receiving line scanning position in the receiving circuit 50,
The position where the pachinko ball is detected is detected.

Next, the matrix sensor 20 will be described in more detail.

As shown in FIG. 4, the matrix sensor 20 is formed into a planar shape inside the two glass bodies covering the board surface 11, that is, inside the inner glass body 17 on the board surface side. It is provided between the surface glass body 16 and the board 11.

As shown in FIG. 5, the matrix sensor 20
In, a plurality of transmission lines 22 are arranged in parallel in one direction and attached to one surface (surface on the front surface side) of the glass substrate 17a of the inner glass body 17. Each transmission line 22 is
The glass substrate 17a is arranged on the glass substrate 17a so as to have a U-shaped parallel folded-back shape.

Similarly, the plurality of receiving lines 26 are arranged in parallel in one direction and the glass substrate 1 of the inner glass body 17 is also arranged.
7a is arranged and attached on the opposite surface (surface on the side of the board 11). Each reception line 26 is U at the end of the glass substrate 17a.
It is placed on the glass substrate 17a so as to be turned into a parallel folded shape. And these transmission lines 22
And a transmission terminal portion 2 that functions as a connection portion of the reception line 26
3 and the receiving terminal portion 27 are arranged centrally at the lower end of the inner glass body 17 in a vertical relationship when attached to a pachinko game machine.

Each reception line 26 is perpendicular to the plane parallel position with respect to each transmission line 22 so as to be electromagnetically coupled to each transmission line 22, that is, in such a positional relationship that the magnetic flux from the transmission line 22 is linked. Are arranged in the crossing direction. Inner glass body 17
Each of the transmission lines 22 and each of the reception lines 26 using the substrate as a substrate form a planar matrix sensor 20.

As shown in FIG. 5, each transmission line 22 intersects.
Each square-shaped surrounding portion (detection position) surrounded by and each reception line 26 is a detection unit 20 for detecting a pachinko ball.
a, 20a ... Detection units 20a, 20a ...
Is set to a size capable of detecting a pachinko ball in this embodiment.

The pattern of the matrix sensor 20 suitable for the ordinary pachinko game machine 10 has three transmission lines 22.
There are two rows, the reception lines 26 are 32 columns, and the number of the detection units 20a is a total of 1024 patterns.
The case where the reception line 26 has two rows and 32 columns is illustrated. In addition, in FIG. 5, the pattern other than the outer side is omitted.

The thickness of the wires forming the transmission line 22 and the reception line 26 is preferably set to a value of 25 μm to 30 μm. In the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The total widths c and d of 3 and the reception terminal portion 27 are 126 mm, respectively, and the widths e and f of the longitudinally extending portions of the transmission-side folded board 19a and the transmission-side transmission-side routing board 19b are respectively It is formed to 10 mm or less. The width of each of the transmission terminal portion 23 and the reception terminal portion 27 is 1.5 mm.

Further, the matrix sensor 20 is provided with a connector mounting plate 66 at the lower end of the glass substrate 17a. The connector mounting plate 66 is integrally fixed to the inner glass body 17 with the lower end of the glass substrate 17a sandwiched from both sides.

On the connector mounting plate 66, the transmitting / receiving board 171 (see FIG. 6) connected to the transmitting connector 67a and the receiving connector 67b is arranged.
The transmission / reception board 171 is a transmission circuit 40 that transmits to the plurality of transmission lines 22 of the matrix sensor 20 (see FIG. 7).
And a receiving circuit 50 (FIG. 9) for receiving from a plurality of receiving lines 26.
Reference), and the transmission connector 67a and the reception connector 67.
b, and a joint connector (not shown) connected to each of them.

Here, the joint connector is the transmission connector 6
7a and the receiving connector 67b are connected to connect the transmitting terminal portion 23 to the transmitting circuit 40 and the receiving terminal portion 27 to the receiving circuit 50.

The structure of such a matrix sensor is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-71013 previously filed by the present applicant.
The details are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-197923.

Next, a signal processing system for performing signal processing of the matrix sensor 20 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6, the matrix sensor 20
Are under the control of a control board 172, which is arranged apart from the matrix sensor 20 via a transmission / reception board 171. The control board 172 has the information processing device 30 (shown in FIG. 1). The control board 172 can communicate with other systems via a communication line 179. Further, the control board 172 has an interface unit 176 for the information processing apparatus 30 to read various parameter groups from the card 173.
The information processing device 30 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 30.
a and a memory 30b for storing the program and data thereof.

The card 173 has an interface section 17
6 is a removable memory card. The card 173 is used to externally supply various data described below. RA is the memory installed on the card.
M, mask ROM, EPROM, one-shot ROM, etc. can be used. It is also possible to use a flexible disk instead of the card.

The storage device 174 connected to the control board 172 is a board surface 11 of the pachinko game machine 10.
It is a device for recording various data such as a trajectory of a pachinko ball moving around between the inside and the inner glass body 17. The storage device 174 can be configured by, for example, a hard disk type storage device. The data recorded in the storage device 174 is applied to a computer 175 in which software for analyzing the trajectory of a pachinko ball is incorporated and arithmetically processed, so that the pachinko parlor can obtain necessary data. The data indicating the various points described above may be stored in the storage device 174. Also,
This processing may be performed by the information processing device 30 as long as the information processing device 30 has sufficient capacity. Alternatively, the communication line 179
Alternatively, a host computer (not shown) connected by the above method may be used.

The transmission circuit 40 is a circuit for sequentially transmitting a signal of a predetermined frequency to each transmission line 22. The receiving circuit 50 is a circuit that sequentially receives signals from the respective receiving lines 26 in synchronization with the transmitting circuit 40. The voltage waveform to the transmission line 22 by the transmission circuit 40 has a frequency of 1 to 1.3 MHz.
A continuous sine wave centered at 0 V is preferable.

As shown in FIG. 7, the transmission circuit 40 includes a transmission connector 41 and an amplifier 4 connected to the transmission connector 41.
2 and a transmission line switching circuit 43 that sequentially switches the transmission line to which the signal current is to be transmitted each time a transmission line switching pulse is input.
a and a totem pole driver 45 of 32 circuits connected to one end side of the transmission line 22 of the 32 circuits via the transmission connector 67a. The transmission line switching circuit 43a is connected to the channel switching logic 43, the amplifier 42 and the channel switching logic 43, and performs switching to connect the amplifier 42 to the totem pole driver 45 of the designated transmission line 22. Have and. The totem pole driver 45 is configured by connecting an NPN transistor and a PNP transistor to each other with their emitters and bases connected to each other.

As shown in FIG. 8, the channel switching logic 43 has a counter IC 43a and operates with two control lines for clock and reset. Specifically, each time a transmission line switching pulse signal output from the sequence control circuit 47 described later is input, the connection state of the analog multiplexer 44 is sequentially switched so as to be connected to the designated transmission line. Is.

As shown in FIG. 9, the receiving circuit 50 includes 32 CTs (current transformers) 51 and CT5s connected to the receiving lines 26 of the 32 circuits via receiving connectors 67b.
1, a receiving line switching circuit 54a that sequentially switches the receiving line to be detected each time a receiving line switching pulse signal is input, an amplifier 53 connected to the receiving line switching circuit 54a, an amplifier 53, and a receiving line. It has a receiving connector 55 connected to the line switching circuit 54a. The reception line switching circuit 54 a has an analog multiplexer 52 and a channel switching logic 54 connected to the analog multiplexer 52. Therefore, the receiving circuit 50 is
A signal is received from each reception line 26 via the.

The CT 51 insulates each reception line 26 from the analog multiplexer 52, and converts the signal from each reception line 26 into a signal of 10 times the magnitude. The analog multiplexer 52 is a channel switching logic 5
Based on the command of No. 4, signals are sequentially received from the designated CT 51. The amplifier 53 amplifies the signal from the analog multiplexer 52.

The channel switching logic 54 is the same element as the channel switching logic 43 of the transmission circuit 40. In this case, each time the receiving line switching pulse signal output from the sequence control circuit 47 is input (scan cycle), the input switching state of the analog multiplexer 52 is changed at the falling timing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control board 1
72 has the information processing device 30, and C is provided on the transmission side thereof.
A sequence control circuit 47 that sends a transmission clock in response to a start signal input from the information processing device 30 via the PU connector 46, a bandpass filter 48 that receives the transmission clock and outputs a transmission signal, and a transmission signal is amplified. And an amplifier 49 for sending to the transmission connector 41.

On the receiving side of the control board 172, an amplifier 71 for amplifying the received signal from the receiving connector 55 and a bandpass filter 72 for receiving the amplified signal.
And a full-wave rectifier / amplifier 73 that receives the received signal from the band-pass filter 72, and two-stage low-pass filters 74a and 74b that receive the received signal from the full-wave rectifier / amplifier 73.
And the received signal from the low-pass filter 74b, and is controlled by the sequence control circuit 47 to convert the received signal into digital data and output the digital data.
5, a data conversion circuit unit 200 that receives this digital data as raw data X, and converts the raw data X into reaction data Z that represents the presence or absence of a change in electromagnetic characteristics at the detection position (presence or absence of a pachinko ball), and sequence control. The reaction data Z is written under the control of the circuit 47, and the reaction data Z is written into C according to the read signal from the CPU connector 46.
It has a bidirectional (dual port) RAM 76 for sending to the information processing device 30 via the PU connector 46.

Here, even if the matrix sensor 20 reacts to the guide rail 12 (metal) on the board 11, the input signals resulting from this reaction in the amplifiers on the receiving side exceed the input voltage range of the A / D converter 75. The characteristics are set so that it does not become.

Further, the data conversion circuit section 200 performs the operations of the following expressions (1) and (2), and an operation circuit capable of performing absolute value subtraction, data X0 and S, a memory for storing the operation result, and the like. It is composed of

Y = | X−X0 | (1) Z = Y−S (2) where X0 is offset data (raw data X when there is no pachinko ball), and S is ripple of raw data X. The slice data having a value of a predetermined fluctuation width for removing the minute portion, Y represents the variation data including the ripple portion.

The bidirectional RAM 76 is controlled by the sequence control circuit 47 and stores the reaction data Z for each detection unit 20a. That is, the reaction data Z output from the data conversion circuit section 200 is registered in a predetermined address designated by a signal from the sequence control circuit 47. The capacity of the bidirectional RAM 76 is, for example, 2048 bytes.

The control board 172 has a power supply unit 77.

The information processing apparatus 30 reads the various parameters of the card 173, reads the reaction data Z of the bidirectional RAM 76, associates the reaction data Z with the input parameter data, and monitors the pachinko balls. There is.

Next, the operation of this pachinko ball detection device will be described.

The address signal and the control signal from the information processing device 30 are output via the CPU connector 46. The processing flow is shown in FIG.

First, the adjustment of the device in hitting ball detection will be described. Since various metals such as the pins 13 and the guide rails 12 are arranged on the board surface 11, the reception signals from the reception lines in the vicinity thereof do not reach the saturation value depending on the presence of those metals. Adjust the A / D converter 75.

When the pachinko game machine is activated, the information processing device 30 reads the stored contents of the card 173,
It is stored in the memory 30b.

When the start signal is transmitted from the information processing device 30 to the sequence control circuit 47, the sequence control circuit 47 divides the basic clock of 16 MHz according to the required clock frequency to generate a transmission clock. hand,
Output. The transmission clock from the sequence control circuit 47 is waveform-shaped from the digital signal to the analog signal by the bandpass filter 48, amplified by the amplifier 49, and sent to the transmission connector 41.

Further, the transmission signal is amplified by the amplifier 42 in the transmission circuit 40. Analog multiplexer 44
Is a channel switched by the channel switching logic 43 to sequentially operate the totem pole driver 45, whereby the totem pole driver 45 sequentially outputs the signals amplified by the amplifier 42 to the transmission line 22 (step 91). .

Then, an electromotive force is generated in each reception line 26 that intersects the transmission line 22 to which the signal is transmitted by the electromagnetic induction action. At this time, when a pachinko ball that is a metal approaches the detection unit 20a, the detection unit 20a is affected by the influence.
Then, the magnitude of the electromotive force (induced current) of the reception line 26 changes.

The reason for this is not always analyzed clearly at present, but it can be considered as follows. First, pachinko balls are ferromagnetic materials because iron is the main component. Therefore, it occurs on the transmission line 22,
The magnetic flux that has spread in the space will be focused on the pachinko balls, and the distribution of the magnetic flux that links the reception lines will change. In addition, an eddy current is generated in the pachinko ball in the direction in which the magnetic flux generated by the transmission line 22 is canceled. Because of these, the induced current changes. Which is dominant depends on the relative positional relationship between the pachinko ball and the transmission line 22 and the reception line 26. Also, whether or not the magnetic flux interlinking the reception line 26 increases depends on the relative positional relationship with the pachinko ball. Furthermore, it also depends on whether or not metal is present in the background. In either case, it is sufficient that the change can be detected.

On the receiving side, the receiving circuit 50 is synchronized with the transmitting circuit 40 by the sequence control circuit 47, and each CT 51
A signal is received from each reception line 26 via. As shown in FIG. 9, the voltage due to the induced current appearing in the plurality of reception lines 26 is converted to 10 times the magnitude by the CT 51.
Since the conversion is performed by CT51, it is not necessary to increase the amplification degree of the amplifier on the receiving side. CT51
Are the receiving lines 26 and the receiving circuit 5 of the matrix sensor 20.
The analog multiplexer 52 of 0 is insulated, and noise from the pachinko game machine 10 is prevented from entering the receiving circuit 50.

The analog multiplexer 52 has a CT 51
The signal from each receiving line 26 passing through is switched by the channel switching logic 54 and sequentially output. The signal from the analog multiplexer 52 is amplified 100 times by the amplifier 53 (step 92).

The received signal is received by the receiving connector 55 and the amplifier 7.
1. Amplification and detection are performed through the bandpass filter 72. The received signal from the bandpass filter 72 is an analog signal, and this analog signal is
The full-wave rectification / amplifier 73 performs waveform shaping. The signal from the full-wave rectifier / amplifier 73 is supplied to the low-pass filter 7
Averaging is performed by integration processing at 4a and 74b.

Next, the received signal is the A / D converter 75.
Sent to The A / D converter 75 converts the signal from the receiving line 26 into a digital signal in a predetermined bit unit such as 12 bits, and outputs the converted signal (detection data) under the control of the sequence control circuit 47. Then, after the above-mentioned data conversion is performed by the data conversion circuit unit 200, it is registered in the bidirectional RAM 76 (step 93).

That is, the bidirectional RAM 76 receives the write signal from the sequence control circuit 47, and the information processing apparatus 3 receives the write signal.
After recording the detection data irrespective of the operation of 0, the address is incremented by +1 every scan cycle (for example, every 28 ms) based on the clock signal output from the sequence control circuit 47.
Up (step 94), the conversion data (calculation data) of the detection data is registered in a different address for each detection unit 20a.

The above operation is repeated for each scan cycle. That is, in each scan cycle, the analog multiplexer 52 of the receiving circuit 50 switches the signal from each receiving line 26 (step 95) and performs the above operation 32 times for 32 receiving lines 26. When this is completed (step 96), at that point, the analog multiplexer 44 of the transmission circuit 40 switches the transmission line 22 (see step 97), the same processing is repeated 32 times again, and the detection units 20a are sequentially detected. The conversion data is stored in the detection unit 20 at different addresses in the bidirectional RAM 76.
It is registered in association with a.

Therefore, the information processing apparatus 30 reads out the detection data registered in the bidirectional RAM 76, so that the pachinko machine can be moved to any position (detection unit 20a) at any time, independently of the detection signal processing operation. Whether or not a ball is present can be determined at any time using arbitrary search conditions.

Therefore, the CPU 30 of the information processing device 30
a is bidirectional R by a read start signal, if necessary.
The detection data recorded in the AM76 is read into the memory 30b, arithmetic processing is performed, and the detection data is stored in the card 173.
The pachinko balls can be monitored in association with the parameter data of the pachinko balls stored in.

In this embodiment, various parameters are set in the card 1.
73. This is because when the pachinko game machine is exchanged, various aspects of the point data corresponding to the new machine are supplied by the card so that the mode can be performed quickly and easily. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Other storage media, for example,
It may be configured to be stored in the memory 30b.

Now, an out-ball search process for detecting that a pachinko ball has entered the out hole using the above-described pachinko ball detection device will be described.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of the principle. As shown in the figure, the out ball search point portions 410 are set on both sides of the out hole 15. In this embodiment, the out-ball search point unit 410 can be set up to 10 blocks, and 25 detection points can be designated in each block. In addition, in the example of the figure, the block is not set above the out hole, but it is assumed that there is an accessory or the like in this portion and the pachinko ball cannot pass there. The blocks forming the out-ball search point unit 410 are set at positions where the out-hole 15 cannot be reached without passing any one of the blocks.

In this embodiment, the out ball search point section 4
10 pieces of raw data are collected every scan cycle, and when a significant change occurs in the raw data at any point, it is determined as an out ball. The raw data is used in order to see the amount of change in the raw data at each detection point. Therefore, the offset data for calculation and the slice data for these points are set to 0.

In the configuration of FIG. 1, the arithmetic operations of the above equations (1) and (2) are performed using the data conversion circuit section 200, but the data conversion circuit section 200 is omitted and this arithmetic operation is performed by the information processing apparatus. You may go at 30. In that case, once RA
The raw data is taken into M76, the above-mentioned formula is calculated for the necessary points, and the data is written back to RAM76. Further, tables (424, 425, etc., which will be described later) are separately provided for processes that require raw data. In this embodiment, in order to prevent an erroneous determination due to the influence of noise or the like, a waiting period (wait) is inserted after the determination of an out ball.

16 and 17 show the table configurations used for the out-ball search.

FIG. 16A shows the above-mentioned out-ball search point table 421, in which each block has its diagonal point, here the coordinates T of the upper right corner point 413 and the lower left point 412.
It is specified by x and Rx. FIG. 16B shows an out-ball wait count table 422 in which the wait count can be set for each block, and a wait counter 423 for counting the wait count for each block. FIG.
(C) and (d) show areas 427 and 428 that store the number of out balls in real time and in batch, respectively. The real-time out ball number 427 is data sent to the host computer in a short fixed period (for example, 4 seconds), and the batch out ball number 428 is data that is collectively sent to the host computer after the pachinko parlor is closed. It is used as (total number of out balls on the table per day).

FIG. 17 shows a raw data storage area table (current value) 424 and (previous value) 425 for storing raw data of each constituent point for each block of the out-ball point portion 410.

FIG. 14 shows the software configuration of the out-ball search processing. This process is performed by the out-ball search processing unit 420.
Is executed every scan cycle (for example, 28 ms). The out-ball search processing unit 420 uses the information of the out-ball search point table 421 and the RAM from the card 713.
Raw data storage area 4 after receiving raw data 760 from 76
24 and 425 are updated and the number of out balls 427 and 428 is calculated. At this time, the weight by the out-ball weight counter 423 is inserted into the determination process of each out-ball according to the information of the out-ball weight count 422 from the card 173.

The detailed processing procedure of this out-ball search processing will be described with reference to FIG.

In the out-ball search processing 430, the following steps are repeated for each block, and this processing is ended when all blocks are completed (431). Step 4
In 32, it is checked whether or not the count value of the out-ball weight counter 423 is 0, and if it is not 0, the counter value is decremented (-1) (433), and step 431
Then, the process returns to the next block. If the count value is 0, it means that the wait period has ended, and the process jumps to step 434.

At step 434, the variable max is cleared to zero. In the next step 435, the following steps are repeated for all the out-ball search points of the block, and when the block is finished, the process jumps to step 440. Until the end, the absolute value of the difference between the current value and the previous value of the raw data is calculated for that point and stored in the variable dat (4
36). The value of the variable dat is compared with a predetermined reference value (slice) (437), and if it is not larger than the slice, the process returns to step 435 to move to the processing of the next point.
If it is larger than the slice, dat is compared with max (4
38), if larger than max, this is set as a new max (439).

In this way, the maximum point in which the amount of change in raw data is larger than the reference value is detected in one block. In step 440, if max is not positive, the process returns to step 431 and moves to the processing of the next block. If it is positive, it is judged that an out ball has been detected,
The number of out balls 427 and 428 is incremented (+1) (441). As the wait period until the next out-ball search process (in particular, steps 635 to 439), the wait count 422 is set in the wait counter (4
22) and returns to step 431 to move to the processing of the next block.

As shown in FIG. 16 (b), since the wait count 422 and the wait counter 423 are provided for each block, different wait periods can be set for each block. For example, with respect to the block close to the out hole, a wait period shorter than that of the block far from the out hole can be set. As the actual number of wait cycles, it is possible to empirically obtain a value that reduces malfunctions in blocks to be set for each pachinko game machine or for each model thereof.

Further, in this processing example, the point having the largest amount of change in raw data within one block is obtained, but this is estimated from which point in the block has entered the out hole 15. If it is detected that only a ball has entered the out hole 15, it is immediately necessary to jump to step 441 when the result of step 437 is affirmative (yes). Good. In the example of the figure, steps for that purpose are not shown, but since processing is performed in block units, it is possible to know at which point in which block the out-ball was detected.

The pachinko ball detecting device according to the present invention may be installed in all the pachinko game machines of the pachinko parlor, or may be installed one by one for different models. Alternatively, it can also be used for applications such as inspecting the characteristics of a specific pachinko game machine.

[0099]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a pachinko ball detecting device capable of detecting the number of out balls by using a sensor for magnetically detecting a pachinko ball.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a receiving and transmitting circuit of a control board.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement example of pachinko game machines in a pachinko parlor.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view conceptually disassembled and showing a pachinko game machine to which the pachinko ball detection device of the present invention is applied and a detection unit (matrix sensor) of the pachinko ball detection device.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a board surface of a pachinko game machine.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a detection unit (matrix sensor) of the pachinko ball detection device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a pachinko ball detection device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a transmission circuit of a transmission / reception board.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a main part of a channel switching logic.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a receiver circuit of a transmitter / receiver board.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of scanning of a pachinko ball detection device.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the principle of the out-ball search in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of designation of an out-ball search point portion.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a search order of the out-ball search point portion.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a software configuration of an out-ball search process.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an out-ball search processing.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a table configuration used in an out-ball search process.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of another table configuration used in the out-ball search process.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Pachinko game machine (pachinko stand), 11 ... Board surface,
12 ... Guide rail, 13 ... Nail, 14a ... Safe hole, 15
Out hole, 20 Matrix sensor, 30 Information processing device, 76 Bidirectional RAM, 430 Out ball search processing unit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of pachinko game machines arranged in a matrix so as to be opposed to a board surface on which a game area of a pachinko game machine is set and magnetically detect pachinko balls existing on the board surface at regular intervals. A sensor having a detection point, a sensor output collecting means for periodically collecting sensor output at each detection point of the sensor, and an out-ball detection point group for detecting an out-ball around the out hole on the board surface. Set, based on the amount of change in the sensor output collected by the sensor output collecting means in the out-ball detection point group,
A pachinko ball detection device comprising: an out-ball search means for determining whether or not an out-ball exists. 2. The out ball search means compares the absolute value of the difference between the sensor output value of the previous cycle and the sensor output value of the current cycle at each out ball detection point with a predetermined reference value, The pachinko ball detection device according to claim 1, wherein the presence or absence of an out ball is determined. 3. The pachinko ball detection device according to claim 1, wherein the out-ball detection point group is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the out-ball search means determines the presence or absence of the out-ball on a block-by-block basis. . 4. The pachinko ball detection device according to claim 2, wherein the out-ball search means obtains a point having the largest absolute value of the difference among the out-ball detection points in each block. 5. The pachinko ball detection device according to claim 1, further comprising a standby time control means for executing the processing by said out-ball search means once in a plurality of predetermined cycles. 6. The pachinko ball detection device according to claim 5, wherein the out-ball detection point group is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the waiting time control means can set the number of waiting cycles for each block.