Apparatus for detecting indicia

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6305094
  • Patent Number
    6,305,094
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, December 8, 1998
    26 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 23, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Gutierrez; Diego
    • DeJesús; Lydia M.
    Agents
    • Katona L.L.P.; Gabriel P.
Abstract
Apparatus for detecting indicia on a document, such as a lottery ticket, which is a flat template having two side edges that are parallel to each other, one of the edges also serving as a guide for the document that has indicia thereon to be detected and processed, the guide member disposed along one of the side edges serves to position and guide the document on the template, a substantially L-shaped cutout in the template and having a first leg and a second leg for placement of the cutout over a plurality of indicia disposed in a line on the document, a plurality indicator elements disposed substantially equidistantly from each other each and extending into the cutout, a plurality of number fields each associated with an indicator element, each indicator element or number field being associated with specific indicia on the document.
Description




FIELD OF INVENTION




The invention relates to an apparatus for detecting indicia.




BACKGROUND




An apparatus for marking indicia is known from German patent No. 89 13 848 U1, which is configured as a template. The template has a flat surface and at least two edges that run parallel to each other. At least one edge serves as a guide for a document that is to be detected or processed. The template has elongated cutouts with filler pieces that can be punched out. The cutout can be placed over a variety of symbols that are arranged in a row. Each cutout is aligned with a specific symbol or is associated with it.




Another apparatus is known from German patent No. 296 16 813 U1 to detect indicia. This apparatus is configured as a template and has a flat surface in which there are cutouts with pre-punched numbered boxes. The cutouts can be placed over a variety of symbols that are arranged in a row, whereby each indicator element or field is aligned with a specific symbol or is associated with it.




Another apparatus for detecting indicia is known from French patent No. 2 596 999 A1. This apparatus is likewise configured as a template and has side edges that run parallel to each other. The side edge serves as a guide for a document that is to be detected or processed.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention has as one objective to configure a template so that symbols or winning numbers on a lottery ticket can be made to appear in a simple manner such as to compare these indicia with the winning numbers of a lottery drawing.




This objective is achieved according to the present invention by an apparatus for detecting indicia, having a flat template with two side edges that are parallel to each other, at least one of the edges being adapted to be a guide for a document having indicia thereon to be detected and processed, a guide member disposed along a side edge for the positioning and guiding of a document on the template, an L-shaped cutout having a first leg and a second leg in the template for placement of the cutout over a plurality of indicia disposed in a line on the document, a plurality indicator elements disposed substantially equidistantly from each other each extending into the cutout, a plurality of number fields each associated with an indicator element, each indicator element or number field being associated with a specific symbol on the document.




Due to the suitable configuration of the apparatus or template, it can be slid along a lottery ticket or other document. Each time it reveals the numbers or indicia that are arranged in a row and that are to be compared to the desired numbers, such as those of a lottery drawing. The other numbers of the other lotteries or series that are not involved remain covered. For this purpose, the cutout is L-shaped. Due to the configuration of the cutout the numbering of the events can be made to appear in the L-shaped area of the cutout so that all of the pertinent indicia such as the winning numbers can be checked one at a time in the desired order.




Advantageously one leg of the cutout extends perpendicularly to the side edges of the template and the second leg of the cutout runs parallel to the side edges of the template.




In another embodiment of the present invention, the length of the second leg suitably corresponds approximately to the total height of two or more rows of indicia arranged one below the other on the document or lottery ticket to be read.




An especially significant feature of the present invention is that together with a delineation edge of the cutout, one lower edge of the indicator element forms a free space in which symbols or indicia arranged in a first row on the document can be detected and a second row of indicia that is arranged above the first row of indicia is covered by the indicator elements when the first row of symbols is visible in the free space.




Detecting the individual winning numbers is facilitated by the indicator elements being tapered towards the front and in that the indicator elements are shaped like truncated cones.




In the design and configuration of the apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of indicator elements are suitably arranged next to each other and the respective surface areas of each are of substantially equal size, with a blank writing field being located above each indicator element.




Since there is a blank writing field provided above each indicator element that is aligned with a selected number on the document below the template, the winning number drawn can be entered into this blank writing field so that, for example, in the case of lottery drawings, six winning numbers as well as an extra bonus number can be entered in the writing field above the indicator elements and the drawn winning numbers that are entered in the writing field can be compared to the numbers of the indicia below that have been selected by the player. In this manner, it is easy to compare the current winning numbers with the numbers selected by the player. Such an apparatus is especially well-suited for lottery tickets on which several drawings are printed out one below the other. The winning numbers can be entered in the free field above the indicator elements, while below the indicator elements, the numbers selected or entered by the individual player can be made visible.




Advantageously a guide element is provided on one side edge of the template and, an open space is formed by a tab, and the document can be inserted into the open space items formed and slid therein. The template can also have another guide element on the other side edge. These guide elements ensure an exact positioning of the template over the lottery ticket.




Since the lottery tickets have a standard size, it is sufficient according to the present invention that only one side edge be provided with a guide for sliding the template relative to the lottery ticket. If the size of the lottery ticket can vary, however, the guide element could also be slid correspondingly on the template so that the game selections can always be made visible precisely in the cutout of the template.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING




Further advantages and details of the present invention are disclosed in the following detailed description with reference being had to the drawing, wherein:





FIG. 1

is a top view of the template of the apparatus;





FIG. 2

is a cross-sectional view of the template together with a lottery ticket of a German state lottery, which can be slid along underneath the template for the detection of indicia thereon.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION




The apparatus


1


is a flat template in the described embodiment of the invention, for detecting any kind of symbols, numbers or drawing selections. The template


1


is of a flat, firm cardboard or of a sheet of plastic and the like with a flat surface.




There are a number of fields


18


on the surface


2


of the template


1


, whereby a field


18


has suitably seven headings in which the numbers, such as that of the current drawing can be entered. A field


19


can serve to receive the super number and a field


20


can serve to receive the drawing or game numbers from e.g. or Drawing Game


77


. Moreover, it is possible to provide another field


21


such as is shown in the upper right part in which e.g. the game week number can be entered. After the drawing has been held, the winning numbers can be entered in numerical order in a number field


17


. The number field


17


has in the illustrated embodiment seven headings in which the six winning numbers as well as the extra bonus number can be entered in numerical order.




The surface


2


of the template


1


can be made of a material such as plastic or even cardboard which makes it possible to erase the winning numbers again after a document such as a lottery ticket


5


has been checked.




There are a plurality of indicator elements


10


located below the number field


17


. Each indicator element


10


is associated with a specific heading or rectangular box. It is also possible to associate a number field


17


or a heading with each number or each indicia and to dispense with the indicator element


10


. In this manner, the numbers of the draw or game selection can be more easily detected or recognized by the user.




The six indicator elements


10


in this embodiment are each frustoconically shaped and are tapered downwardly with respect to the lottery ticket


5


. One lower edge


14


of the indicator element


10


extends into a substantially L-shaped cutout


8


which has a leg


11


and a leg


12


.




The leg


12


runs parallel to a left side edge


3


and to a right side edge


4


of the template


1


. The two side edges


3


and


4


likewise extend in the lengthwise direction of the template


1


.




The lower edge


14


of each indicator element


10


—together with a delineation edge


15


—forms a free space in which six drawing numbers arranged next to each other can be made to appear. The sequential individual drawing numbers can be made to appear in the leg


12


of the cutout


8


. The height of the leg


11


of the substantially L-shaped cutout


8


is indicated by the dimension A and is comprised of the heights H


1


and H


2


. The dimension A corresponds to the heights H


2


+H


1


, and refers to the height of the leg


11


of the cutout


8


. The dimension B is the height of the leg


12


extending in the lengthwise direction of the template.




An upper edge or delineation line


22


of the number field


17


is located at a distance C from a lower edge


23


of the template


1


. The length C corresponds to about one-third of the total length of the template


1


.




The template


1


has a width F which, as can be seen in comparison with

FIG. 2

, is somewhat greater than the total width of a lottery ticket.




As can be seen in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the first indicator element


10


is at a distance E from the left side edge


3


, the distance E corresponding to the width of the leg


12


of the cutout


8


.




As can be seen from the cross-sectional view of the template


1


in

FIG. 2

, on the left side of the template


1


, there is a guiding element


6


of a U-shaped tab


25


that grasps about the bottom


26


of a document or lottery ticket


5


so that the document


5


is guided by and can be slid along the tab


25


.




The tab


25


can be joined to the template


1


as a single piece. However, it is also possible for the guide


6


to be configured as a positioning element and to be detachably connected to the bottom, so that the guide element


6


on the template can be adjusted to the left or right as seen in

FIG. 2

, depending on the width of the lottery ticket


5


or on the amount by which the distance E between the left side edge


3


and the first indicator element


10


changes.




According to

FIG. 1

, the sidewalls of the part of the indicator element


10


that is shaped like a truncated cone can enclose an angle between 20° and 60°.




Advantageously the width G of the document or lottery ticket


5


is of the same size as the printed lottery draw selections in the center of the lottery ticket. If the entire block of lottery selections is shifted to the left or to the right, then the corresponding cutout


8


of the template


1


can be shifted to the left or to the right, whereby the stop or guide element


6


provided on the template can be correspondingly adjusted.



Claims
  • 1. A lottery template which comprises,(a) a top surface, (b) edge control means for retaining and orienting a lottery ticket below said top surface, (c) cutout means in said top surface for presenting indicia theretrough from a lottery ticket when a ticket with indicia thereon is disposed below the template, (d) a plurality of blank space means on said top surface, each of said blank space means being provided for the entry of drawn lottery numbers therein, said blank space means being disposed horizontally with respect to each other and adjacent to said cutout means, and (e) a plurality of indicator means each with a pointer portion, each of said indicator means being associated with a blank space means and each of said pointer portions pointing from one of said said blank space means toward a part of said cutout means for associating a blank space means with respective indicia on a lottery ticket under the template.
  • 2. The lottery template of claim 1, wherein said cutout means is an L-shaped cutout means having(i) a vertically diposed cutout means portion for presenting first indicia therethrough, said first indicia being disposed vertically on the lottery ticket with respect to each other when a lottery ticket with indicia thereon is disposed below the template, and (ii) a horizontally disposed cutout means portion for presenting second indicia therethrough, sad second indicia being disposed transversely on the lottery ticket with respect to each other when a lottery ticket with indicia thereon is disposed below the template.
  • 3. The lottery template of claim 2, wherein said vertically disposed cutout means portion is sufficiently high to display a plurality of the first indicia therethrough, and wherein a lottery ticket if disposed under said top surface, is vertically slidably disposable under said top surface, for exposing upon the sliding of the lottery ticket at one time a single tranverse row of second indicia through said horizontally disposed cutout means for comparison with a drawn lottery number entered in to each of said blank space means.
  • 4. The lottery template of claim 1, wherein said blank space means is a first blank space means, the template further comprising a plurality of second blank space means separate from said first blank space means, for the entry into said second blank space means for an initial, quick entry of drawn lottery numbers before the entry thereof into said first blank space means.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
197 54 325 Dec 1997 DE
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Number Name Date Kind
848399 Rowell Mar 1907
1781047 Bondeson Nov 1930
2525837 Simplair Oct 1950
3089260 Gray May 1963
3705294 Kuehnle et al. Dec 1972
4021938 Antioco May 1977
4262422 Pass Apr 1981
4586906 Buccieri, Jr. May 1986
4603884 Burton Aug 1986
4713891 Cayton Dec 1987
4852268 Sutherland et al. Aug 1989
4916827 Rayburn Apr 1990
5007642 Henry et al. Apr 1991
5133554 Piccinini Sr. Jul 1992
5154422 Highsmith, Sr. et al. Oct 1992
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5893797 Marino et al. Apr 1999
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number Date Country
2625694 Dec 1977 DE
89 13 848.1 Mar 1990 DE
296 16 813 Jan 1997 DE
000446696A1 Sep 1991 EP
2596999 Oct 1987 FR