JP3515965B2 - Recording medium processing device, game medium lending system, value adding method, and program - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention lends a game medium on the basis of value information stored in association with a recording medium, and when money is inserted into a money slot, the value information is added to the currency. The present invention relates to a recording medium processing device, a game medium lending system, a value adding method, and a program for adding a value of minutes, and particularly when a card that can add value by inserting new money is used, the value is smoothly added to the card. The present invention relates to a recording medium processing device, a game medium lending system, a value adding method, and a program that allow a player to smoothly play a game.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At the present time, when playing a game at a game store where a gaming machine such as a pachinko machine or a pachi-slot machine is installed, a recording medium such as a prepaid card is purchased from a card issuing machine and added to this recording medium. Depending on the value information, you can borrow game media such as pachinko balls and medals.

By the way, not only such a prepaid card but also a so-called prepaid card cannot be used by the user when the value information for the amount of money purchased in advance is used up. But,
It is not efficient to destroy a used prepaid card each time and purchase a new one. In particular, in the case of pachinko games, a big hit often occurs immediately after the prepaid card is used up, and in such a case, there is a strong user need to continuously borrow a game medium.

For this reason, recently, a game medium lending system has been introduced in which the value information can be added to the prepaid card inserted into the card processing unit. That is, when the additional payment is made with the prepaid card inserted in the card processing unit, the value information of the prepaid card is added according to the amount of the additional payment.

However, it is necessary to set an upper limit value in the value information of the prepaid card from the viewpoint of fraud prevention. In this way, when the upper limit is set in the value information, it is necessary to return the portion of the additional deposit exceeding the upper limit as change. For example, when the upper limit of the value information is set to 10000 yen, and the prepaid card has a residual value of 8000 yen and the additional deposit is 5000 yen, it exceeds 3000 yen and exceeds 3000 yen. You will have to return the yen as change.

However, it is actually difficult to provide a change return mechanism in the card processing unit from the viewpoint of the arrangement space and the viewpoint of loading and collecting money. For this reason,
It is conceivable that the card processing unit will not be provided with a change-back mechanism, but measures will be taken to prevent the receipt of money if the change exceeds the upper limit.

[0007]

However, if the money is not accepted simply because the value information exceeds the upper limit value, it takes time to replenish the game medium, and as a result, the money is finally added at the end. You might miss the right to hit the jackpot.

[0008] For example, when a player wins a jackpot after the value information of a prepaid card and a game medium on a game table have been used up, the player must immediately insert a new bill into the card processing unit. But
If it takes a long time to receive and convey the bills, the result is that the supply of the game medium cannot be made in time before the jackpot times out.

In particular, when a bill has wrinkles or folds or when the bill receiving mechanism of the card processing unit has some trouble, the bill cannot be accepted unless the bill receiving operation is repeated. Because there are many,
There is a problem that the jackpot right ends before a new bill is accepted.

This problem is not limited to prepaid cards, but is common to recording media such as various cards that can be added value by inserting new money, such as membership cards that can be valued. It is a question to do.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and when a recording medium whose value can be added by inserting new money is used, the value can be smoothly added to the recording medium. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium processing device and a game medium lending system which allow a player to smoothly play a game.

[0012]

The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and a recording medium processing apparatus according to claim 1 is based on value information stored in association with a recording medium. And rent out game media,
A recording medium processing device for adding the value of the money to the value information when money is inserted into the money insertion slot, the holding means for temporarily holding the money inserted into the money insertion slot, and the money. When the sum of the value of the money and the value stored in relation to the recording medium exceeds a predetermined upper limit when the money is inserted into the slot, the money is temporarily held by the holding means. And a control means for controlling the holding.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the control means has a predetermined sum of the value of the money and the value stored in association with the recording medium. When the upper limit value of is not exceeded, the money temporarily held in the holding means is taken in and the value of the money is controlled to be added to the value information.

According to a third aspect of the game medium lending system, a management device which holds the unique identification information recorded on the recording medium and the value information of the recording medium in association with each other, and when the recording medium is accepted. The value information of the recording medium is received from the management device, the game medium is lent out based on the value information, and the value of the currency is added to the value information when money is inserted into the money slot. A game medium lending system having a recording medium processing device for requesting the management device to do so, wherein the recording medium processing device has a holding means for temporarily holding money inserted into the money insertion slot, and the money insertion. When the sum of the value of the money and the value of the recording medium included in the value information received from the management device when the money is put into the mouth exceeds a predetermined upper limit, Characterized in that a control means for controlling so as to temporarily hold the coins by holding means.

Further, in the game medium lending system according to a fourth aspect, in the invention according to the third aspect, the control means does not cause the sum of the value of the money and the value of the recording medium to exceed a predetermined upper limit value. At this time, the money temporarily held in the holding means is taken in, and the management device is controlled to request the value information to add the value of the money.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the third aspect, the recording medium processing device further comprises a take-in operation means for taking in the money held in the holding means, and the control means. Captures the currency temporarily retained in the retaining means when the capture operation is performed by the capture operation means and the sum of the value of the money and the value of the recording medium does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value. At the same time, the management device is controlled so as to request the value information to add the value of the currency.

Further, a game medium lending system according to a sixth aspect is the invention of the third, fourth or fifth aspect, wherein the recording medium processing device further comprises return operation means for returning the money held in the holding means. The control means controls the money to be temporarily held in the holding means when the return operation is performed by the return operation means.

Further, in the game medium lending system according to claim 7, in the invention of claims 3 to 6, the recording medium processing device determines whether or not the recording medium is inserted into a predetermined recording medium insertion slot. The control means further comprises a determination means, and the control means, when the recording medium is not inserted into the recording medium insertion opening when the money is inserted into the money insertion opening, the holding means stores the money. The recording medium is held once, and the total of the value of the currency and the value of the recording medium included in the value information received from the management device is inserted when the recording medium is inserted into a predetermined recording medium insertion slot during the holding. If the upper limit value of is not exceeded, the money temporarily held in the holding means is taken in, and the value of the money is added to the value information.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game medium lending system, wherein the management device is the management device according to the third aspect.
The setting means for setting the upper limit value, and the storage means for storing the upper limit value set by the setting means, the upper limit value stored in the storage means in response to a request from the recording medium processing device, It is characterized in that it is transmitted to a recording medium processing device.

Further, the value adding method according to claim 9 lends a game medium on the basis of the value information stored in relation to the recording medium, and when the money is inserted into the coin insertion slot, the value is added. A value adding method of a recording medium processing device for adding the value of the money to information, which is stored in association with the value of the money and the recording medium when money is inserted into the money slot. When the sum of the value and the value exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, the holding unit that can hold the money temporarily controls the money.

Further, the program according to claim 10 lends a game medium based on the value information stored in relation to the recording medium, and when the coin is inserted into the coin slot, the value information is added to the value information. A program of a recording medium processing device for adding the value of the money, wherein the value of the money and the value stored in association with the recording medium when the money is inserted into the money slot. When the total exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, it is characterized in that the money is temporarily held by a holding unit that can hold the money.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a game medium lending system according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, a case of playing a pachinko game using a prepaid card will be described.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a game medium lending system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Here, the prepaid card used in the present embodiment is a magnetic card such as a paper card issued by a game shop to a player each time, and various information is magnetically recorded and printed. Specifically, identification information of the issuing store, identification information unique to the card, issue amount, card type, etc. are magnetically recorded, and the name of the issue store, unique identification information of the card (for example, issuer number + serial number), issue amount And the expiration date is printed so that it can be seen.

Further, the prepaid card is provided with value information as a reference when borrowing a pachinko ball, specifically, value information called "frequency". The “frequency” here is a unit for renting out pachinko balls and is set at a predetermined rate. Normally, one frequency corresponds to 100 yen, and 30 times is given to a 3000 yen prepaid card. However, in the present embodiment, for the sake of convenience of explanation, it is assumed that one frequency corresponds to one yen and only 25 pachinko balls are lent out at 100 times. In the case of the first embodiment, the respective frequencies are not recorded in the individual prepaid cards but are stored in the terminal controller described later.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the game medium lending system according to the first embodiment, a plurality of pachinko machines 10 are arranged in parallel for each group called "island", and a card issuing machine is provided on each island. 20, card processing unit 3
0, a card renewal machine 40, a card settlement machine 50, and other recording medium processing devices are appropriately provided.

The pachinko machine 10 is a portion where a player plays a game by shooting a pachinko ball, which is a game medium, to a game area. The card issuing machine 20 has a main function of adding processing to the frequency associated with the prepaid card and issuing processing of a general card, and several cards are installed in each amusement store.

The card processing unit 30 has a main function of renting out pachinko balls with an upper limit of the frequency associated with the prepaid card. The card processing unit 30 is prepared so as to form a pair for each of the plurality of pachinko machines 10 installed in the game store, and is installed in a form sandwiched between the pachinko machines 10.

Although a detailed description will be given later, this card processing unit 30 is provided with a holding unit for temporarily holding coins inserted by the player, that is, bills and coins, and when the upper limit is exceeded, This money is not immediately discharged, but is held in the holding unit, and when the predetermined condition is satisfied, the held money is taken into the holding unit.

The card renewing machine 40 has a main function of issuing a prepaid card whose expiration date has expired as a new prepaid card, and several cards are installed at each amusement store. The card clearing machine 50 has a main function of refunding the frequency associated with the prepaid card as cash, and several cards are installed at each amusement store. That is, in the present embodiment, even with a prepaid card, it is possible to settle the value of the unused frequency value.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the card processing unit 30 and the pachinko machine 10 applied in the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the card processing unit 30.

As shown in FIG. 2, the card processing unit 3
0 is vertically long in appearance, and has a card lamp 301, a cash lamp 302, a bill slot 303, a coin slot 304, a return lever 305, a type lamp 306, an amount display section 307, and an amount setting on its front panel. Button 30
8, a fraction setting button 309, a coin return port 310 and a card insertion port 311 are provided.

Card lamp 301 and cash lamp 30
Reference numeral 2 is for turning on the light based on the control signal from the main control unit 312, and for notifying the user of the acceptable state of the prepaid card and the cash. Bill slot 303
Is an opening for receiving a bill and taking it into the BV (bilbary) unit 313.

The BV unit section 313 identifies the denomination of the taken-in banknote, gives the identification result to the main control section 312, and guides the taken-in banknote to the banknote transport path 314 to carry it out to the island edge collection box. It is the part to do.

Here, the BV unit section 313 has a bill holding section 313a for holding bills temporarily.
That is, when a player inserts a bill into the bill insertion slot 303 in order to add a frequency to the prepaid card, the sum of the frequency corresponding to the inserted bill and the remaining frequency of the prepaid card exceeds the frequency upper limit value. In this case, the banknotes are stored in the banknote storage section 313a of the BV unit section 313. Then, when the remaining frequency of the prepaid card decreases and the sum does not exceed the frequency upper limit value, the banknotes that have been reserved are taken in and guided to the banknote transport path 314.

The reason for providing such a bill storage unit 313a is that when a jackpot occurs when there are no more balls, the bills cannot be accepted well from the bill slot 303, and the player loses the jackpot right. This is to avoid such a situation.

When an addition button (not shown) is operated, the sum of the frequency corresponding to the inserted banknote and the remaining frequency of the prepaid card does not exceed the frequency upper limit value. Take in the bills,
It can also be configured to lead out to the banknote transport path 314. This is because the player may hold the bill as insurance for the final jackpot and may want to return the bill if there is no jackpot.

The coin slot 304 is an opening for receiving coins and taking them into the coin selector 315. The coin selector unit 315 is a part that identifies the denomination of the coins that have been taken in, gives the identification result to the main control unit 312, and guides the taken coins to the coin transport path 316 so that the coins can be taken out to the island end collection box. .

The coin selector unit 315 is provided with a coin holding unit 315a for holding coins. The coins stored in the coin storage unit 315a are stored in the coin storage unit 315a when the player inserts the coins in order to add the frequency to the prepaid card, and the coins corresponding to the inserted coins and the remaining amount of the prepaid card. If the sum of the frequencies exceeds the frequency upper limit value, this coin is transferred to the coin holding unit 31.
Hold at 5a. Then, when the remaining frequency of the prepaid card decreases and the sum does not exceed the frequency upper limit value, the held coins are taken in and guided to the coin transport path 316.

The reason for providing such a coin holding unit 315a is that, when a jackpot occurs when the balls are exhausted, the bills cannot be accepted well from the bill slot 303, and the player loses the jackpot right. This is to avoid such a situation.

The return lever 305 is for returning the inserted money. The banknotes stored in the banknote storage unit 313a are returned to the user from the banknote slot 303 as they are, while the coins stored in the coin storage unit 315a are returned to the user from the coin return port 310.

The type lamp 306 is for lighting and displaying the type of game medium to be rented out, that is, whether to lend a pachinko ball or a medal. The amount-of-money setting button 308 is used by the user to set the amount of pachinko balls to be rented out (rental unit) each time the lending button of the pachinko machine 10 to be described later is operated. The card insertion slot 311 is an opening for receiving a prepaid card and taking it into the card reading unit 317. The card reading unit 317 is a unit that performs processing for reading the taken-in card and giving the reading result to the main control unit 312.

On the other hand, the pachinko machine 10 which is a game machine,
A frequency display portion 103, a lending button 104 and a return button 105 are provided on an upper plate 102 provided below the game area 101. The frequency display unit 103 is a part for numerically displaying the remaining number of frequencies associated with the prepaid card loaded into the card reading unit 317 (hereinafter, simply referred to as remaining frequency).

The lend-out button 104 is a button switch which is turned on by the user when the pachinko ball is lent out. The return button 105 is a button switch that is turned on by the user when returning the prepaid card loaded into the card reading unit 317. The ON operation detection signals of the lending button 104 and the return button 105 are respectively sent to the main control unit 312 of the card processing unit 30.
Will be given to.

Further, the pachinko machine 10 is provided with a ball throwing means 106 therein. Ball throwing means 106
When the main control unit 312 of the card processing unit 30 gives a hit ball throwing request, and when a control means (not shown) of the pachinko machine 10 gives a prize ball throwing request,
Each is a part for throwing a predetermined number of pachinko balls to the upper plate 102 of the pachinko machine 10.

The above-mentioned pachinko machine 10 and card issuing machine 2
0, the card processing unit 30, the card renewal machine 40, and the card settlement machine 50 are island controllers 60 provided in each island.
Through the control of a management device called the terminal controller 70. At least one terminal controller 70 is installed in each amusement shop, and performs overall management of the installed amusement shop, for example, card management, member management, sales management, and the like. This is a part for memory management.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the terminal controller 70. The RAM 701 of the terminal controller 70 is a part that stores the frequency management information 710 and the frequency upper limit value information 720. As shown in FIG. 5A, the frequency management information 710 is a table in which the card identification information, the remaining frequency of the prepaid card, and the initial frequency at the time of issuance are stored in association with each other.

The card identification information of the frequency management information 710 is the unique identification information of the prepaid card. The remaining frequency of the frequency management information 710 is the communication interface unit 702.
If there is a subtraction update request or an addition update request through, the calculation is updated appropriately. Frequency upper limit information 720
Is a table in which a frequency upper limit value is numerically set, as shown in FIG. The frequency upper limit value can be arbitrarily set by, for example, displaying a setting screen as shown in FIG. 6 on the display device 703 and inputting from the input / output device 704. The CPU 705 is a part for realizing the above-described various processes based on the programs stored in the ROM 706.

7 and 8 show the card processing unit 3
9 is a flowchart showing the contents of processing executed by the main control unit 312 of No. 0. The operation of the game medium lending system according to the first embodiment will be sequentially described below according to this flowchart. The RAM 701 of the terminal controller 70 stores “10” as the frequency upper limit value A.
000 ”is set.

First, in the card processing unit 30, when the power is turned on, the main control unit 312 executes an initialization process (step S101), and then starts communication with the terminal controller 70 (step S10).
2). When communication is started, the terminal controller 70
The unit settings for instructing various settings of the card processing unit 30 and the information indicating the frequency upper limit value A stored in the frequency upper limit value information 720 of the RAM 701 are given from.

The main controller 31 which has received the frequency upper limit value A from the terminal controller 70 in step S103
2 stores this frequency upper limit value in the memory A (in the memory 318) (step S104), and turns on the card lamp 301 and the cash lamp 302 to notify that the prepaid card and the cash are waiting to be received ( In step S105, a prepaid card insertion standby state is set (step S106).

When the prepaid card is inserted into the card insertion slot 311 in step S106, the main controller 3
After reading the card identification information magnetically recorded on the prepaid card through the card reading unit 317 (step S107), and inquiring the terminal controller 70 of the remaining count including this card identification information (step S108), The state of waiting for the reply is entered (step S109).

During this time, the terminal controller 70, which receives the inquiry from the card processing unit 30,
Based on the card identification information, the remaining frequency of the corresponding prepaid card is read from the frequency management information 710 of the RAM 701 and transferred to the card processing unit 30.

In step S109, the main control unit 312 which has received the residual number from the terminal controller 70
Stores this in the memory B (in the memory 318) as the remaining frequency (step S110), and at the same time, the frequency display unit 1
After the display through 03 (step S11
1) The player gives a deposit permission to deposit money (step S112), and enters an operation standby state.

Return button 10 in this operation standby state
When 5 is turned on (Yes at Step S113), it is confirmed whether or not there is money held in the bill holding unit 313a or the coin holding unit 315a (Step S114). If there is held money, this holding is performed. After the money is returned (step S115), the memory C that stores the amount of the reserved bill is cleared (step S116). Thereafter, the prepaid card is returned from the card insertion slot 311 (step S1
17) After clearing memory B (step S11
8) and shifts to step S105.

Further, when the return button 105 is not turned on in the operation standby state (No at step S113), the bill storage unit 313a or the coin storage unit 315a.
It is confirmed whether or not there is reserved money in (step S11).
9) If there is a reserved bill, it is confirmed whether or not the sum of the values of the memory B and the memory C is less than or equal to the value of the memory A in order to check whether or not it becomes less than or equal to the upper limit value (step S1
20).

As a result, when the value is equal to or less than the upper limit value (Yes at step S120), the money stored in the banknote storing unit 313a or the coin storing unit 315a is taken in. Specifically, the held money is fetched (step S121), and the terminal controller 70 is requested to add the remaining number (step S12).
2) The value of the memory B is added (step S123), the value of the memory C is cleared (step S124), and the process proceeds to step S113.

On the other hand, when there is no reserved money or when the reserved money is taken and the upper limit is exceeded (No at Step S119 and No at Step S120), the following processing is performed without taking the reserved money. That is, it is confirmed whether or not there is money deposited in addition to the reserved money (step S126), and if there is money deposited, this deposit amount is stored in the memory C (step S127), and the memory B and the memory C are stored. It is confirmed whether the sum of the values of is less than or equal to the value of the memory A (step S128).

As a result, when the value is less than or equal to the upper limit value (Yes at step S128), the process proceeds to step S121 and the same process is performed, and when it is less than the upper limit value (No at step S128), this currency is stored in the bill. After temporarily holding in the section 313a or the coin holding section 315a (step S1
29), payment is prohibited (step S130).

After that, if the lending button is turned on (step S131), the terminal controller 70 is requested to subtract the remaining number (step S13).
2), the ball throwing means 10 of the pachinko machine 10 in order to throw the amount of pachinko balls set by the amount setting button 308.
A ball hitting request is given to 6 (step S13)
3). Then, the value in the memory B is subtracted (step S1
34) and the process proceeds to step S113.

Here, in the series of processing for the above-mentioned deposit, whether or not the pending money is taken in according to the remaining number,
Also, it will be decided whether to hold without taking in.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, if the residual number is “0”, 100-yen coin, 500-yen coin, 1000-yen bill, 20-yen coin
It becomes possible to take in the pending money for all denominations of the 00-yen bill, the 5000-yen bill, and the 10000-yen bill.

On the other hand, when the remaining count is 1 to 5000 and the 10,000 yen bill is held in the holding unit 313a, the sum of the deposit amount and the remaining count exceeds the frequency upper limit value, Since the determination in step S120 is false (NO), the holding money is not taken in. Residual frequency is 1 to 5
Even if it is 000, if the deposited denomination is 5000 yen bills or less, the sum of the deposited amount and the remaining frequency does not exceed the frequency upper limit value, so the determination in step S120 is true (YES).
Therefore, the reserved bill can be taken. Similarly, if the remaining count is 5001 to 8000, it is possible to import any denomination less than 2000 yen bills.
In the case of 9000, it is possible to import as long as it is a denomination of 1,000 yen or less, and in the case of 9001 to 9500, 50
It is possible to import denominations of 0 yen coins or less, and 9501-
In the case of 9900, only 100-yen coins can be taken in, and in the case of 9901-, all denominations cannot be taken.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the holding unit (banknote holding unit 313a and coin holding unit 315a) for temporarily holding the inserted bills or coins is provided, and the frequency of the inserted coins is set. If the sum of the remaining frequency of the prepaid card exceeds the upper limit of the frequency, the money is held in the holding section, and the remaining amount of the prepaid card becomes small, and the sum is held when the sum does not exceed the upper limit of the frequency. Since it is configured to take in the currency, when using a recording medium that can add value by inserting new currency,
Value can be smoothly added to the recording medium, so that the player can smoothly play the game.

In the first embodiment, for the sake of convenience of description, the case where the coins or bills are held by either the coin holding unit 315a or the bill holding unit 313a is shown, but the coins and bills are held simultaneously by both holding units. It can also be put on hold. In this case, it is necessary to control so that the sum of the frequency of the banknotes withheld or the frequency of the coins withheld and the remaining frequency of the prepaid card does not exceed the frequency upper limit value.

(Second Embodiment) By the way, in the first embodiment, the frequency upper limit value set by the terminal controller 70 is transferred to the card processing unit 30, but the card processing unit 30 alone has a frequency upper limit value. It is also possible to set.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing the contents of the processing executed by the main control unit 312 of the card processing unit 30 in the game medium lending system in which the card processing unit 30 sets the frequency upper limit value A. The operation of the game medium lending system according to the second embodiment will be sequentially described below according to this flowchart.

First, in the card processing unit 30, when the power is turned on, the main control unit 312 executes an initialization process (step S101), and then it is determined whether or not the setting button is turned on when the power is turned on. (Step S200). The setting button is the card processing unit 30.
It may be provided at an appropriate position, such as the front panel.

If the setting button is turned on when the power is turned on, it is displayed that the frequency upper limit value A is in the standby state (step S202), and the setting input is awaited (step S203). The display of the setting standby state may be provided separately, but may be switched and displayed on the amount display unit 307. In step S203, when the frequency upper limit value is set and input by appropriately operating the setting button, it is stored in the memory A (memory 318) (step S104), and it is notified that the prepaid card and cash are waiting to be received. Card lamp 301
And the cash lamp 302 is turned on (step S10).
5).

On the other hand, if the setting button is not turned on when the power is turned on, it is determined whether or not the frequency upper limit value has been set (step S201). If the frequency upper limit value has been set, the procedure proceeds to step S105.

Thereafter, the same processing as that in and after step S106 in FIG. 7 is carried out. If the frequency upper limit is not set in step S201, the card processing unit 30 is abnormally terminated.

According to the game medium lending system of the second embodiment as described above, it is possible to set the frequency upper limit value for the card processing unit 30 alone.

In the first and second embodiments described above, since the frequency upper limit value can be set arbitrarily, various business modes can be dealt with, but the frequency upper limit value is fixed to a fixed value. You may do so. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, after performing the initialization process (step S1
01), a fixed value (eg 1000
0) is substituted (step S300), and this is stored in memory A
It may be stored in the (memory 318) (step S104). This eliminates the need to set the frequency upper limit value and facilitates maintenance and inspection.

In each of the above-described first to fourth embodiments, the frequency upper limit value A is set to 10,000, but it is not necessarily 10,000. In this case,
As shown in (a), the prepaid card issuance initial frequency included in the frequency management information 710, that is, the initial value information given when the prepaid card is issued may be set as the frequency upper limit value as it is. . For example 5000
The frequency limit of the prepaid card purchased in yen is 5000
In addition, if the frequency upper limit of the prepaid card purchased for 1000 yen is set to 1000, the frequency upper limit of each prepaid card can be made different from each other without performing complicated setting work.

Further, in the above-described first and second embodiments, the game medium lending system in which the value information (remaining number) of the prepaid card is stored in the terminal controller 70 is illustrated, but the value is stored in the prepaid card itself. The present invention can be similarly applied to a game media lending system that stores information, and can expect the same operational effect.

Furthermore, in the above-described first and second embodiments,
Although the recording medium processing device determines whether or not the inserted coin can be accepted, the terminal controller 70 capable of communicating with the recording medium processing device manages the frequency upper limit value and the inserted coin. Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not is acceptable.

In the first and second embodiments, the case of using a prepaid card has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a card made of synthetic resin (J
The present invention can also be applied to the case where a membership card of IS2) is used. The membership card is a card issued by the amusement store to a member who has registered membership information such as an address and a name, and various information is magnetically recorded and printed. Specifically, identification information of the issuing store and member identification information are magnetically recorded, and information such as the issued store code and membership code is printed, so that some of the recorded contents can be viewed. ing. Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the case of using a card has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and when an IC coin having no card shape is used as a recording medium, The present invention can also be applied.

[0076]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the holding means for temporarily holding the money inserted into the coin insertion slot is provided, and when the coin is inserted into the coin insertion slot, When the sum of the value of money and the value stored in relation to the recording medium exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, the money is temporarily held by the holding means, so that the value can be changed by inserting new money. When a recording medium that can be added is used, the value can be smoothly added to the recording medium, so that the player can play the game smoothly.

According to the invention of claim 2, when the sum of the value of money and the value stored in relation to the recording medium does not exceed the predetermined upper limit value, the value is temporarily held in the holding means. Since it is configured to take in money and add the value of the money to the value information, even without the operation of the player,
Value can be added automatically and smoothly.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the recording medium processing device is provided with a holding means for temporarily holding the money inserted into the coin insertion slot, and when the coin is inserted into the coin insertion slot,
When the sum of the value of the money and the value of the recording medium included in the value information received from the management device exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, the money is temporarily held by the holding means. Even when the value of the recording medium is managed by the device, the value can be smoothly added to the recording medium, so that the player can play the game smoothly.

Further, according to the invention of claim 4, when the sum of the value of money and the value of the recording medium does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value, the temporarily held money is taken in and managed. Since the apparatus is configured to request the value information to be added to the value information, the value can be automatically and smoothly added without any operation by the player.

Further, according to the invention of claim 5, there is further provided a take-in operation means for taking in the money held in the holding means,
When this import operation is performed and the sum of the value of money and the value of the recording medium does not exceed the predetermined upper limit,
Since the money temporarily held in the holding means is taken in and the management device is requested to add the value of the money to the value information, the value may be added based on the operation of taking in the held money by the player. it can.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, a return operation means for returning the money held in the holding means is further provided,
When this return operation is performed, the money temporarily held in the holding means is returned, so that the temporarily held money can be returned, the wasteful investment of the player who stops the game is suppressed, and the settlement You can get rid of it.

Further, according to the invention of claim 7, when money is inserted in a state where the recording medium is not inserted into the recording medium insertion slot, the money is temporarily held by the holding means and is being held. If the sum of the value of the currency and the value of the recording medium included in the value information received from the management device does not exceed the specified upper limit, the currency temporarily held in the holding means Since the value of the currency is added to the value information by taking in, the operation of inserting the recording medium when the player tries to insert the coin for adding additional value in time with the insertion of the recording medium. And, it is possible to eliminate the need to consider the order of the operation of inserting money.

According to the invention of claim 8, the management device is provided with the setting means for setting the upper limit value and the storage means for storing the upper limit value set by the setting means. Since the upper limit value stored in the storage means is transmitted to the recording medium processing device in response to the request, the upper limit value can be efficiently set for the recording medium processing device.

Further, according to the invention of claim 9, when money is inserted into the money slot, the sum of the value of the money and the value stored in relation to the recording medium is a predetermined upper limit value. When it exceeds the value, since the money is temporarily held by the holding unit that can hold the money, when using a recording medium that can add value by inserting new money, Value can be added smoothly, and thus the player can play a smooth game.

According to the tenth aspect of the invention, when money is inserted into the money slot, the sum of the value of the money and the value stored in relation to the recording medium is a predetermined upper limit value. When it exceeds the value, since the money is temporarily held by the holding unit that can hold the money, when using a recording medium that can add value by inserting new money, Value can be added smoothly, and thus the player can play a smooth game.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a game medium lending system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external front view of a card processing unit and a pachinko machine applied in the game medium lending system shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a card processing unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a terminal controller.

FIG. 5A is a chart showing a specific example of frequency management information;
(B) is a chart showing a specific example of frequency upper limit value information.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a setting screen of a frequency upper limit value.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart (1) showing the contents of processing executed by the main control unit of the card processing unit.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart (2) showing the contents of processing executed by the main control unit of the card processing unit.

FIG. 9 is a table showing the correspondence between the remaining number of pieces of value information and the denominations that can be accepted.

FIG. 10 is a game medium lending system according to the present invention,
It is a flowchart which shows the principal part of the processing content implemented by the main control part of a card processing unit.

FIG. 11 is a game medium lending system according to the present invention,
It is a flowchart which shows the principal part of the processing content implemented by the main control part of a card processing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Pachinko machines 20 card issuing machine 30 card processing unit 40 card renewal machine 50 card payment machine 60 island controller 70 Terminal Controller 101 game area 102 Plate 103 Frequency display 104 Lend button 105 Return button 106 ball throwing means 301 card lamp 302 cash lamp 303 banknote slot 304 coin slot 305 Return lever 306 Classification lamp 307 Amount display 308 Amount setting button 309 Fraction setting button 310 coin return slot 311 Card insertion slot 312 Main control unit 313 BV unit section 313a Banknote storage unit 314 Banknote transport path 315 coin selector 315a coin holding section 316 coin transport path 317 Card reader 318 memory 701 RAM 702 communication interface unit 703 display device 704 I / O device 710 frequency management information 720 frequency upper limit information

Claims (10)

(57) [Claims] 1. A game medium is lent out based on value information stored in relation to a recording medium, and when money is inserted into a money slot, the value of the money is added to the value information. A recording medium processing device, wherein a holding means for temporarily holding money inserted into the money insertion port, and a value of the money and the recording medium when the money is inserted into the money insertion port. A storage medium processing device, comprising: a control means for controlling the money to be temporarily held by the holding means when the sum of the stored value and the stored value exceeds a predetermined upper limit value. 2. The money temporarily held in the holding means when the sum of the value of the money and the value stored in association with the recording medium does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value. The recording medium processing device according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium processing device controls to take in the value and add the value of the money to the value information. 3. A management device that holds the unique identification information recorded on the recording medium and the value information of the recording medium in association with each other,
When the recording medium is accepted, the value information of the recording medium is received from the management device, the game medium is lent out based on the value information, and the value information is obtained when money is inserted into the coin insertion slot. A game medium lending system having a recording medium processing device for requesting the management device to add the value of the currency to the recording medium processing device, wherein the recording medium processing device temporarily holds the money inserted into the coin insertion slot. And a sum of the value of the money and the value of the recording medium included in the value information received from the management device when the money is inserted into the money insertion slot exceeds a predetermined upper limit value. In this case, the game medium lending system is provided with a control means for controlling the money to be temporarily held by the holding means. 4. The control means, when the sum of the value of the money and the value of the recording medium does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value, fetches the money temporarily held in the holding means and manages the money. The game medium lending system according to claim 3, wherein the game medium lending system is controlled so as to request the device to add the value of the money to the value information. 5. The recording medium processing apparatus further comprises a loading operation means for loading the money held in the holding means,
The control means temporarily holds the holding means in the holding means when the taking-in operation is performed by the taking-in operation means and the sum of the value of the money and the value of the recording medium does not exceed a predetermined upper limit value. 4. The game medium lending system according to claim 3, wherein the game medium lending system is so controlled as to take in money and request the management device to add the value of the money to the value information. 6. The recording medium processing device further comprises return operation means for returning the money held in the holding means,
6. The game medium lending according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the control means controls to return the money temporarily held in the holding means when the returning operation is performed by the returning operation means. system. 7. The recording medium processing device further comprises a determination means for determining whether or not the recording medium is inserted in a predetermined recording medium insertion slot, and the control means is configured to store money in the coin slot. When the recording medium is not inserted into the recording medium insertion slot when inserted, the money is temporarily held by the holding means, and the recording medium is inserted into the predetermined recording medium insertion slot during holding. When the sum of the value of the currency and the value of the recording medium included in the value information received from the management device that has been inserted does not exceed the predetermined upper limit value, the currency temporarily held in the holding means is taken in. 7. The game medium lending system according to claim 3, wherein the value information is controlled to add the value of the currency. 8. The management device comprises setting means for setting the upper limit value and storage means for storing the upper limit value set by the setting means, and responds to a request from the recording medium processing device. The game medium lending system according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein the upper limit value stored in the storage means is transmitted to the recording medium processing device. 9. The game medium is lent out based on the value information stored in relation to the recording medium, and the value of the money is added to the value information when money is inserted into the money insertion slot. A value adding method for a recording medium processing device, wherein, when money is inserted into the money slot, the sum of the value of the money and the value stored in association with the recording medium is a predetermined upper limit value. When the value exceeds, the value adding method characterized in that the money is temporarily held by a holding unit that can hold the money. 10. The game medium is lent out based on the value information stored in association with the recording medium, and
A program of a recording medium processing device for adding the value of the money to the value information when the money is inserted into the money insertion slot, wherein when the money is inserted into the money insertion slot, When the sum of the value and the value stored in relation to the recording medium exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, the money is temporarily held by a holding unit capable of holding the money. program.