EP0178278A1 - Assembly for remotely controlling the credit of an automatic gaming machine by means of pulses - Google Patents

Abstract

Rented coin-operated gaming machines are vulnerable to attempts by the renter or user to defraud the owner by tampering with the credit count totaliser or pay-out circuits. The present system involves a microprocessor detection system inside the machine connected via bi-directional fibre-optic cables to a central control unit. The control unit has a duplicate counter and a keyboard which controls pay-outs. Fibre-optic cables have two main advantages over electrical cables. They cannot be bridged by sticking a pin through them, and they are unaffected by magnetic or capacitive coupling.

Description

The present invention relates to a remote control device by pulses, credit of an automatic device.

It finds its main application in vending machines, electric billiards and other professional electronic game machines, as well as in certain pay telephones.

The engagement of an automatic device is generally carried out using an appropriate device, for example a lever microswitch, to convert the passage of a coin, token or other credit indicator into an impulse. electric to charge a credit.

In some machines, the number of parts required to switch on the automatic equipment, inter alia, to start a game, is more than one.

In addition, the user may be led, during a game or the implementation of the automatic device, to introduce into the coin slots, other coins.

Given the difficulty that we often experience in assembling the required number of parts that must also be inserted into the slots of the automatic device to activate it, it has proved useful to equip a certain number a remote credit control system.

A known device for remote control by pulses, crediting an automatic apparatus, comprises a remote control box provided with a counter-display, a connecting cable comprising several wires electrically isolated from each other and a counter- credit accumulator.

Before starting the game, the player supplies the automatic device by paying the manager a fixed sum which he enters in the counter-display using a credit button.

During the game, the manager transfers point by point to the game machine, 1 provision paid, by pressing a button on the remote control unit of the counter-display in order to produce various pulses of an electrical signal. This signal is transmitted using the connecting cable to a credit accumulator. In known systems, this cable has always consisted of a multi-wire cable.

The connection cap between the display counter and the accumulator counter is the object of attempts at fraud and cheating on the part of the player and even of the manager of the machine, because he is not generally the owner of the machine .

For the player or the user, cheating consists in carrying out a crediting of the automatic device without paying, and for the manager, it consists in avoiding that the points which are paid to him and that he transfers to the counter- accumulator are not registered on the remote control display counter.

A common way to cheat is to insert a needle into the cable sheath to cause electrical contact.

In order to ensure the security of the transport of information and to avoid electromagnetic interference likely to cause errors in the transmitted signals, links have been developed between computers using optical fibers.

However, optical cables have some drawbacks, the most important of which are the power losses and their price, due in particular to the high cost of the coupling members.

The present invention aims to remedy this drawback and provides a link between microprocessors, the security and immunity of which are fully guaranteed and at a low price, lower than that of known cable connections.

It relates to a device for remote control by pulses, for crediting an automatic device.

This device is essentially characterized in that it includes an optionally bidirectional link by optical cable between the automatic device and a remote credit control unit.

According to a feature of the present invention, the output signals from photoreceptors intended to convert a light signal into an electrical signal, are amplified and shaped by a device consisting of an amplifier transistor and a voltage comparator driving the inputs of the microprocessors mounted in the electronic game and respectively in the control unit.

The data bus of the microprocessor of the control block comprises a group of 16 encoding contacts mounted in terms of contacts allowing the encoding of a binary dialogue key between the remote control block of the credit and the interface mounted in the electronic game.

• - la figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un appareil de jeu relié à un boitier de commande à distance de crédit par un câble optique ;
• - la figure 2 montre le schéma de principe d'une forme particulière de réalisation d'une liaison par câble optique.

Other particularities and details of the invention will appear during the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

• - Figure 1 is a perspective view of a game device connected to a remote credit control unit by an optical cable;
• - Figure 2 shows the block diagram of a particular embodiment of an optical cable connection.

The same reference notations designate identical or analogous elements.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a credit pulse control device of an automatic device, generally designated by the notation of reference 1, comprises a control unit 2 provided with a counter-display 3 connected by a connecting cable 4 to the automatic game device 1 proper.

The control unit 2 includes buttons 5 for crediting with the help of which the game manager entered in the counter-display 3, the provision paid by a player. The connecting cable 4 makes it possible to transfer the points entered in the counter-display 3 corresponding to the provision paid, to a counter-totalizer of credit 6 mounted in the game apparatus 1.

According to the invention, the credit pulse control device comprises a bidirectional link by optical cable 4 between the automatic device 1 and the remote credit control unit 2.

In a particular embodiment, the exchange of information by optical cable 4 is done by "all or nothing" pulse transmissions. The alternation of light emissions and extinctions makes it possible to transmit binary bits and therefore also information encoded in binary form.

In order to ensure the inviolability of the link, encoding is carried out in a binary frame transmitted in series according to a dialogue protocol related to the standard RS-232 protocol. For this purpose, the box 2 of the remote control is provided with a microprocessor 7 provided with internal encoding contacts 8 making it possible to read the credit buttons 5, to dialogue with the non-volatile RAM memory 9, display at least 6 characters on display block 10, read and interpret the pulses from the input line Rx a similar microprocessor 11 mounted in the automatic device 1 proper and a power module not shown.

The microprocessors 7, 11 are of the INTEL 8748 type. They are both equipped with an identical quartz crystal which allows them to generate and manage signals that are extremely precise in time. Their integrated software is however different.

The connecting cable 4 is made up of two optical fibers 4 ', 4' 'made of CROFON © (Dupont de Nemours). These fibers have a diameter of 1 mm and are equipped at each end with optical connectors 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the OPTIMATE type ensuring the optical coupling of injection or reception.

The light sources 16 and 17 are light emitting diodes of powers.

The excitation of the diodes 16 and 17 is carried out by the signals produced at the outputs Tx of two microprocessors 7, 11 and amplified by the amplifiers 18, 19. The light conducted by the optical fibers 4 ', 4 "is captured by the photo- receivers 20, 21. The output signals of these are amplified and shaped by the electronic devices designated as a whole by the reference numbers 22 and 23. These devices consist of an amplifier transistor and a comparator voltage type LM311 not shown, which attacks the Rx inputs of microprocessors 7 and 11 in "all or nothing" setting obtained by emission of light or extinction.

A data bus 24, 25 allows each of the microprocessors 7, 11 to acquire binary information and also to provide it, since it is bidirectional. The arrows of said bus indicate the direction of data flow.

Thus, all of the control microswitches 5 consisting of pushbuttons accessible from the outside of the housing 2 makes it possible to charge a credit.

A group 8 of 16 DIP-switch type contacts, placed inside the control box 2, encodes a binary dialogue key between the credit remote control block 2 and the interface mounted on the inside the game device 1.

An identical group 26 of 16 contacts is found in the game device 1.

The dialogue between the groups of contacts 8, 26 based on the exchange of a particular frame of binary words can only be carried out correctly if in the two groups, all of the contacts numbered from 1 to 16, which are open and closed at a given time in one of the groups is identical to the whole of the other group, under penalty of rejection of the frames. By implementing in each group, 16 contacts, we create ₂ ¹⁶ or 65536 different communication keys.

The control panel 2 also includes a 10-digit counter-display 10 (interface for at least 5 digits) of the 7-segment LED type. Another technology is of course possible.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the microprocessor 7 can, via the bus 24 possibly display the content of its internal registers, and in particular of those which total the credit points transmitted to the counter- game credit totalizer 6.

Finally, the CMOS RAM memory ^q , which is permanently kept on by a mini-battery 27, makes it possible to store information in the event of an interruption of the mains voltage source.

The electronic device mounted in the game device is similar to that of the control box 2. It includes a directional data bus 25 of the second microprocessor 11. It allows the microprocessor 11 to read the open / closed state of each of the 16 second set contacts 26.

An integrated circuit 28 of the 8155 INTEL type, serving as a relay for the transmission and reception of bytes organized in frames of variable lengths, allows the microprocessor 11 to dialogue with the microprocessors not represented, which animate the game proper, by providing or receiving information from them by bus 31.

The main mission of each of the communication microprocessors 7, 11 is to generate transmission signals TX and to capture and decode the RX signals transmitted by the other.

This is achieved thanks to the impressive precision of the clock signals of each microprocessor, which can reach 300 pulses per second.

By actuating one of the external credit buttons 5, a specific frame is generated, which contains at least the number or the value of the button which has been actuated. The transmission of this frame is provided by the optical fiber 4 ′ to the microprocessor 11.

The number or value of the button is extracted from the frame by the microprocessor of the counter-totalizer 6, which will add to the credit counter, the number of points corresponding to the number or the value of the credit button.

When the work has been correctly carried out, the game processor signals to the microprocessor 11 that the mission is accomplished and ensures the transmission by the optical fiber 4 "of a frame for acknowledging said mission.

The frame which has been received and decoded by the processor 7 enables the latter to update its own totalizers and to immediately authorize a new credit transfer. Unlike conventional electro-mechanical systems, the credit transfer according to the present invention is immediate.

The transfer of credit by remote control constitutes only one particular nonlimiting example of dialogue between the remote control unit and the game.

In particular, other applications and other types of frames can be designed.

Among other things, the transfer can relate to the content of the credit registers, attempts to cheat, an impulse to troubleshoot or diagnose or even an impulse to reset the counters of the game.

• - élimination des possibilités de tricherie consistant à enfoncer un conducteur acéré dans les câbles de liaison à distance et l'appareil de jeu, en vue de se procurer frauduleusement des crédits de jeu ;
• - transmission quasi instantanée des points de crédit permettant une suppression des temps morts et une augmentation inhérente de la rentabilité de la machine ;
• - possibilité d'élargir le dialogue entre boltier de commande et appareil de jeu, au transfert d'autres grandeurs ;
• - inviolabilité de la liaison entre le boîtier de commande et l'appareil de jeu ;
• - impossibilité de couplage capacitif ni magnétique ;
• - tenue en température ;
• - très grande souplesse alliée à une grande ténacité.

The device described above has many advantages over known electronic devices:

• - elimination of the possibilities of cheating consisting in driving a sharp conductor into the remote connection cables and the game device, in order to fraudulently obtain game credits;
• - almost instant transmission of credit points allowing elimination of idle time and an inherent increase in machine profitability;
• - possibility of widening the dialogue between control panel and game device, to the transfer of other quantities;
• - inviolability of the connection between the control unit and the game device;
• - impossibility of capacitive or magnetic coupling;
• - temperature resistance;
• - very great flexibility combined with great tenacity.

It is obvious that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described above, and that numerous modifications can be made to the latter without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims (2)

1. Device for remote control by pulses, for crediting an automatic device connected to it by an optical cable (4), characterized in that the output signals from each of the photo-receivers (20, 21) are amplified and shaped by a device consisting of an amplifier transistor (18, 19) and a voltage comparator driving the inputs of the microprocessors mounted in the electronic game (1) and respectively in the control unit (2). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the microprocessor data bus (7) of the control unit (2) comprises a group of 16 encoding contacts (8) mounted in a matrix of contacts allowing the encoding of 'A binary dialogue key between the remote credit control unit (2) and the interface mounted in the electronic game (1).

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