Medal game device and method of controlling the same

Abstract

A medal game device includes a table, a pusher mechanism, a plate-shaped position input device, a medal releasing mechanism, an instruction position recognizing section, and a moving state detecting section. The pusher is configured to drop a medal from an edge of the table by reciprocally moving a moving body. The plate-shaped position input device is configured for a user to input a command. The medal releasing mechanism is configured to release the medal towards the table based on the command. The instruction position recognizing section is configured to recognize a contact position. The moving state detecting section is configured to detect how the instruction means moves on the plate-shaped position input device. The mechanism controlling section is configured to control the medal releasing mechanism in releasing the medal based on the moving state of the instruction means.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A medal game device comprising:
 a table being configured to keep a medal on a surface thereof, the table including an edge;   a pusher mechanism including a moving body, the pusher mechanism being configured to drop a medal from the edge of the table by reciprocally moving the moving body;   a plate-shaped position input device being configured for a user to input a command;   a medal releasing mechanism being configured to release the medal towards the table based on the command;   an instruction position recognizing section being configured to recognize a contact position of instruction means onto the plate-shaped position input device;   a moving state detecting section being configured to detect how the instruction means moves on the plate-shaped position input device while the instruction means is in contact with the plate-shaped position input device; and   a mechanism controlling section being configured to control the medal releasing mechanism in releasing the medal based on the moving state of the instruction means.   
     
     
         2 . The medal game device according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 a first image displaying section being configured to display an image of the medal moving on the plate-shaped position input device based on how the instruction means moves,   wherein the plate-shaped position input device is a touch panel having an image displaying function.   
     
     
         3 . The medal game device according to one of  claim 1 , wherein
 the plate-shaped position input device has a detection target region on the surface of the position input device for detecting how the instruction means moves on the plate-shaped input device,   the detection target region is preliminarily set, and   the moving state detecting section is configured to detect how the instruction means moves on the detection target region by recognizing the contact position as a reference point.   
     
     
         4 . The medal game device according to one of  claim 1 , wherein
 the mechanism controlling section is configured to set a releasing direction of the medal in the medal releasing mechanism corresponding to a moving direction of the instruction means and set a releasing speed of the medal corresponding to at least one of a moving speed and a moving distance of the instruction means.   
     
     
         5 . The medal game device according to  claim 4 , further comprising
 an image controlling section being configured to control how the image of the medal moves on the plate-shaped position input device, wherein   the plate-shaped position input device is a touch panel having an image displaying function,   the image controlling section is configured to set a period of time required for controlling the medal releasing mechanism to release the medal based on the moving direction of the instruction means and at least one of the moving speed and the moving distance of the instruction means,   the image controlling section is configured to set a speed of the medal being displayed on the touch panel based on the period of time, and   the first image displaying section is configured to display on the touch panel the image of the medal moving at the speed.   
     
     
         6 . The medal game device according to one of  claim 1 , further comprising
 a contact frequency recognizing section being configured to recognize how many times the instruction means is in contact to the plate-shaped position input device; and   a second image displaying section being configured to display the number of medals corresponding to how many times the instruction means is in contact to the plate-shaped position input device, wherein   the plate-shaped position input device is a touch panel having an image displaying function, and   the mechanism controlling section is configured to cause the medal releasing mechanism to release the number of medals corresponding to how many times the instruction means is in contact to the plate-shaped position input device.   
     
     
         7 . A medal game device configured to release a medal towards a release target region disposed within a housing thereof based on information of contact and movement, of an instruction means with respect to a plate-shaped position input device, the medal game device comprising:
 an instruction position recognizing section being configured to recognize a contact position of the instruction means onto the position input device when the instruction means is contacted onto the position input device;   a moving state detecting section configured to detect how the instruction means moves based on the contact position of the instruction means; and   a mechanism controlling section configured to control the medal releasing mechanism and cause the medal releasing mechanism to release the medal based on how the instruction means moves.   
     
     
         8 . A control method for controlling a medal game device configured to release a medal towards a release target region disposed within a housing thereof based on information of contact and movement of an instruction means with respect to a plate-shaped position input device, the method comprising:
 recognizing a contact position of the instruction means onto the position input device when the instruction means is contacted to the position input device;   detecting how the instruction means moves in the position input device based on the contact position of the instruction means; and   controlling a medal releasing mechanism and causing the medal releasing mechanism to release the medal based on how the instruction means moves on the position input device.