Game system

• US 9,646,446 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2015
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Universal Entertainment Corporation
• Original Assignee: Universal Entertainment Corporation
• Inventors: Okada, Kazuo, Fujimoto, Jun, Nireki, Takao, Manabe, Kunihiro, Kukita, Noritoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): RENWICK, REGINALD A
• Application Number:
  US14/751,731
• Publication Number:
  US 20150356825A1
• Time in Patent Office: 683 Days
• Field of Search: 463 25
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/0034 using watermarks
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/12 Visible light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G07D 7/206 Matching template patterns
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3239 Tracking of individual players
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3246 involving coins and/or banknotes

Abstract

A game system includes: a bill identifying apparatus for identifying bills of different currencies and an amount of the bills and then outputting data representing the identified result; a player tracking device which is integrated with each of gaming machines, for converting data outputted from the bill identifying apparatus to credit data for executing a game, based on an exchange rate; and an information card device which is integrated with the player tracking device, the information card device causing an information card to store data equivalent to an amount awarded to a player in accordance with a game result of the gaming machines and sending out the credit data for executing the game to the gaming machines, based on the data equivalent to the amount read from the information card.

Claims

1. A game system, comprising:

a plurality of gaming machines;

a bill identifying apparatus configured to identify bills of different currencies and an amount of the bills and then output data representative of the identified result;

a player tracking device which configured to convert data outputted from the bill identifying apparatus to data for being used in the gaming machines, based on an internally stored exchange rate, and transmit the converted data to the gaming machines, the exchange rate indicating a correspondence relationship between an amount of a basic currency and an amount of a currency of a type other than the basic currency and being defined with respect to the type other than the basic currency; and

a control device configured to externally input exchange information at a predetermined interval and provide the inputted exchange information to the player tracking device to update the exchange rate stored in the player tracking device.

2. The game system according to claim 1, further comprising

an information card device configured to cause an information card to store data equivalent to an amount awarded to a player in accordance with a game result of the gaming machines and to send out credit data for executing a game to the gaming machines, based on data equivalent to the amount read from the information card.

3. The game system according to claim 1, wherein the bill identifying apparatus comprises:

a light emitting unit configured to emit light to a sheet;

a light receiving unit configured to receive the transmitted light transmitted the sheet, and reflected light reflected from the sheet, obtained by the light emitting unit is emitted;

a converting unit configured to convert the transmitted light and the reflected light that are received by the light receiving unit, respectively, on a pixel-by-pixel basis including color information having brightness with a predetermined size being defined as one unit;

a storage unit configured to store a transmitted image comprised of a plurality of pixels converted by the converting unit from the transmitted light received by the light receiving unit, and an reflected image comprised of a plurality of pixels converted by the converting unit from the reflected light received by the light receiving unit;

an authenticity determination processing section configured to determine authenticity of the sheet, based on each image stored by the storage unit; and

a discrimination unit configured to eliminate a predetermined area from a target for authenticity determination based on a result of comparison between brightness of a pixel in the predetermined area of the transmitted image and brightness of a pixel of a reflected image corresponding to the predetermined area of the transmitted image.

4. A currency value conversion device which are connected to via a communication line a controller included in a gaming machine, a currency identifying device configured to accept plural types of currencies and to identify a type and an amount of the accepted currencies, and an exchange server configured to repeatedly acquire, with a predetermined timing, exchange information indicating a correspondence relationship between an amount of a basic currency and an amount of a currency of a type other than the basic currency, the currency value conversion device comprising:

a memory configured to store exchange rate data indicating an exchange rate at which the correspondence relationship between the amount of the basic currency and the currency of the type other than the basic currency is defined by the type other than the basic currency; and

a processor which is programmed to execute processing of;

(A) receiving information which is specified based on exchange information from the exchange server via the communication line;

(B) updating the exchange rate data stored in the memory, based on the information received in accordance with the processing (A);

(C) receiving currency type data indicating a type of the currency identified by the currency identifying device and currency amount data indicating an amount of money of the currency from the currency identifying device via the communication line; and

(D) in a case where a type of a currency indicated by the currency type data received in accordance with the processing (C) is not the basic currency, transmitting, to the controller via the communication line, converted currency amount data indicating amount of a basic currency specified based on the types of currencies, the amount of the bill indicated by the bill amount-of-money data received in accordance with the processing (C) and the exchange rate data stored in the memory.

5. A method of controlling a currency value conversion device, wherein the currency value conversion device is connected to via a communication line a controller included in a gaming machine, a currency identifying device which is capable of accepting plural types of currencies and which is capable of identifying a type and an amount of the accepted currencies, and an exchange server for repeatedly acquiring, with a predetermined timing, exchange information indicating a correspondence relationship between an amount of a basic currency and an amount of a currency of a type other than the basic currency;

and comprises a memory being capable of storing exchange rate data indicating an exchange rate at which a correspondence relationship between the amount of the basic currency and the amount of the current of the type other than the basic currency is defined by the type other than the basic currency, the controlling method including the steps of;

(A) receiving information which is specified based on exchange information from the exchange server via the communication line;

(B) updating exchange rate data stored in the memory, based on the information received in accordance with the step (A);

(C) receiving currency type data indicating the type of the currency identified by the currency identifying device and currency amount data indicating the amount of the currency from the currency identifying device via the communication line; and

(D) in a case where the type of the currency indicated by the currency type data received in accordance with the step (C), is not the basic currency, transmitting, to the controller via the communication line, converted currency amount data indicating amount of a basic currency specified based on the types of currencies, the amount of the bill indicated by the bill amount-of-money data received in accordance with the processing (C) and the exchange rate data stored in the memory.