LOTTERY TICKET VENDING MACHINE

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to lottery ticket vending machines.

Lottery tickets such as instant lottery tickets may be printed on a strip that may be rolled or fan-folded and provided as a pack of lottery tickets. Lottery tickets in such strips may be separated along perforations formed between adjacent tickets in the strips. Lottery tickets may vary in width and length. Lottery tickets may be sold from such packs using lottery ticket vending machines.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In various embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a lottery ticket vending machine including: a housing; a ticket drawer column in the housing, the ticket drawer column including a plurality of ticket drawers, each of the ticket drawers configured to hold a strip of lottery tickets; a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, the ticket burster movable to a plurality of different ticket receipt positions, each different ticket receipt position associated with and in alignment with a different one of the ticket drawers; a magnetic material sensor supported by the ticket burster and configured to create signals based on a magnetically sensible material of a lottery ticket that moves from one of the ticket drawers into the ticket burster; and a controller. The controller is configured to receive the signals created by the magnetic material sensor, determine if the lottery ticket is improperly positioned based on the signals, and cause a corrective action to be taken responsive to determining that the lottery ticket is improperly positioned.

In various other embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a lottery ticket vending machine including: a housing; a ticket drawer column in the housing, the ticket drawer column including a plurality of ticket drawers, each of the ticket drawers configured to hold a strip of lottery tickets; a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster: (a) defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, (b) movable to a plurality of different ticket receipt positions, each different ticket receipt position associated with and in alignment with a different one of the ticket drawers, (c) including a ticket cutter, and (d) including a magnetic material sensor configured to create signals based on a lottery ticket that moves from one of the ticket drawers into the ticket burster based on a magnetically sensible material of the lottery ticket, and configured to transmit the signals, wherein the magnetic material sensor is positioned such that the magnetic material sensor can create the signals before the ticket cutter cuts perforations connecting the lottery ticket to a next lottery ticket of the strip of lottery tickets; and a controller. The controller is configured to receive the signals from the magnetic material sensor, determine if the lottery ticket has a position issue based on the signals, and cause a corrective action to be taken responsive to determining that the lottery ticket has the position issue.

In various other embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a lottery ticket vending machine including: a housing; a lottery ticket drawer supported by the housing; a ticket burster supported by the housing and including a magnetic material sensor; and a controller supported by the housing. The controller is configured to operate with the magnetic material sensor to determine if the lottery tickets are being fed in to the ticket burster in proper positions to enable the ticket burster to properly separate lottery tickets received from the ticket drawer based on magnetically sensible materials of the lottery tickets, and to cause a corrective action to be taken responsive to determining that the ticket burster is improperly separating the lottery tickets.

Additional features are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a lottery ticket vending machine of one example embodiment of the present disclosure shown with a front door thereof in a closed position.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the lottery ticket vending machine of FIG. 1 shown with the front door thereof in an open position, shown with a left side wall panel thereof removed, showing three ticket drawer columns and three movable ticket bursters respectively associated the three ticket drawer columns, and showing a ticket collection receptacle of the front door.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the lottery ticket vending machine of FIG. 1 shown with the front door thereof in the open position, shown with the left side wall panel thereof removed, showing the three ticket drawer columns and the three movable ticket bursters respectively associated the three ticket drawer columns, and showing the ticket collection receptacle of the front door.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the ticket drawer columns and the ticket burster associated with that ticket drawer column of the lottery ticket vending machine of FIG. 1 shown removed from the lottery ticket vending machine.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the ticket drawer column and the ticket burster of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is another enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the ticket drawer column and the ticket burster of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the ticket drawer column and the ticket burster of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is another enlarged fragmentary side view of the ticket drawer column and the ticket burster of FIG. 4.

FIG. 9 is an image of the back side of an example lottery ticket indicating a location of a magnetically sensible material of the lottery ticket.

FIG. 10 is an image of the back side of another example lottery ticket indicating locations of two magnetically sensible materials of the lottery ticket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a lottery ticket vending machine that includes one or more ticket bursters and one or more ticket drawers, and that is configured to: (1) determine if any of the lottery tickets received by the ticket bursters from the ticket drawers are improperly positioned (in a manner that can cause the ticket bursters to improperly separate the lottery tickets); and (2) in response to such determination, to make one or more adjustments and/or alert an operator of the improper positioning of any such the lottery tickets.

In various embodiments, each of the ticket bursters of the lottery ticket vending machine includes one or more suitable magnetic material sensors configured to sense one or more magnetically sensible materials of each lottery ticket received in such ticket burster. For purposes of the present disclosure, magnetically sensible materials include but are not limited to: (1) ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic materials; (2) materials formed of compounds that include ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic materials; or (3) materials formed with ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic fillers. The magnetically sensible materials can be added to the lottery ticket for the specific purpose of being sensed or can be part of one or more components of the lottery ticket (such as but not limited to part of the substrate of the lottery ticket, part of the ink of the lottery ticket, part of the scratch-off coating (“SOC”) of the lottery ticket, or part or all of another layer of the lottery ticket). The magnetically sensible materials can be on either side of the lottery ticket or an edge of the lottery ticket.

In various embodiments, the lottery ticket vending machine includes one or more controllers configured to receive signals from the magnetic material sensor(s), analyze such signals with respect to comparison data, and make determinations regarding lottery ticket positions and any needed adjustments and/or alerts, and to cause any such determined needed adjustments and/or alerts to be made.

For a better understanding of the present disclosure, example instant lottery tickets are first generally described herein.

Various known instant lottery tickets are single game instant lottery tickets. An example single game instant lottery ticket can include: (1) a ticket substrate having a front surface and a back surface; (2) a predefined scratch-off area on the front surface; (3) variable lottery game indicia printed on the predefined scratch-off area; (4) a scratch-off coating (“SOC”) covering the variable lottery game indicia and the predefined scratch-off area; and (5) variable instant lottery ticket information indicia printed on the back surface. The instant lottery ticket information indicia can include text, one or more ticket numbers, one or more ticket codes (such as barcodes), and other instant lottery ticket information that is in human readable and machine readable forms. Certain of this instant lottery ticket information: (a) identifies the instant lottery ticket; (b) the set, run, and/or pack of instant lottery tickets that the instant lottery ticket is part of; and (c) other inventory control information. Various known single game instant lottery tickets include multiple predefined scratch-off areas, multiple sets of variable lottery game indicia printed on the predefined scratch-off areas, and multiple SOCs covering the variable lottery game indicia sets. Various known instant lottery tickets are multi-game instant lottery tickets and can be larger than single game tickets. Instant lottery tickets can also be of the known pull tab type. Instant lottery tickets can have a width that varies from 2 to 4 inches and a length that varies from 2 to 12 inches. The term lottery ticket as used herein is intended to cover these various different types and other types of lottery tickets that can be dispensed in a same or similar manner as these types of lottery tickets.

Various lottery tickets are often arranged after manufacture (which includes after complete printing) in lottery ticket packs for storage, organization, sorting, picking, shipping to lottery ticket distributors or ticket retailers, and validation. Instant lottery ticket packs can include a plurality of lottery tickets (that are all of the same type, same size, and for the same game(s), and can be protected for storage and shipping by a transparent pack wrapping, such as transparent plastic wrapping, securely wrapped around the plurality of lottery tickets. A pack of lottery tickets can include all of the lottery tickets attached to each other but joined by perforations. Such lottery tickets of a pack can be detached from each other along such perforations. While tickets of each pack are often manufactured in a continuous strip that is fan-folded for convenient supply, the packs can be in other forms such as in a roll form. These packs in the fan-folded form or in the roll form are configured to dispensing via a lottery ticket vending machine.

Lottery ticket vending machines can include various components such as but not limited to pinch roller, stepper motors, and cutting blades to dispense lottery tickets. A problem with these components is miscut lottery tickets. For example, a miscut can occur when a lottery ticket is improperly indexed or registered from one perforation connecting adjacent lottery tickets in a strip of lottery tickets to the next lottery ticket in that strip. When the registration starts to erode, cuts at the perforations adjacent to the perforation can compound the registration problem.

When a ticket burster receives a lottery ticket, the ticket burster can properly or improperly separate the lottery ticket from the next lottery ticket (of a pack in a lottery ticket drawer). The reasons that such an improper separation can occur include, but are not limited to: (1) a misalignment of the lottery tickets in the ticket drawer that leads to a misalignment of the lottery tickets as they are fed into the ticket burster; (2) a misalignment of the ticket burster relative to the ticket drawer that feeds the lottery tickets into the ticket burster; (3) misaligned or mis-registered feeding of the lottery ticket by the lottery ticket engagers (such as the driven rollers) of the ticket burster that move and guide the lottery ticket in the ticket burster; (4) slippage between the lottery ticket and the lottery ticket engagers (such as the driven rollers) of the ticket burster; (5) changes to such as shrinkage of the lottery ticket engagers (such as the driven rubber rollers) of the ticket burster; (6) unclean or imprecise previous separations such as cuts for previous lottery tickets in the lottery ticket strip; (7) deformations or extra pieces attached to the leading edges of lottery tickets from previously attached lottery tickets; and (8) indentations or cut-outs in the leading edges of the lottery tickets. Such issues can in certain instances become progressively worst as these issues propagate along a lottery ticket strip. In certain instances, such issues can cause an important part of a lottery ticket to be missing—which in turn can cause a winning lottery ticket to be invalid or not redeemable due to such missing part.

To address these issues, various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a lottery ticket vending machine that uses a magnetic material sensor (such as described below) to determine if each lottery ticket received in a burster is in a correct position for separation of that lottery ticket from the next lottery ticket in the strip of lottery tickets. The present disclosure contemplates detecting the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket for determining any positioning issues and for addressing such positioning issues. The vending machine is configured to take one or more corrective actions (such as adjusting one or more components of the vending machine or the positions thereof) to address determined lottery ticket positioning issue(s), and/or is configured to provide one or more alerts to an operator of the vending machine that enables the operator to fix the cause of such determined lottery ticket positioning issue(s). It should be appreciated that these actions including the alerts can be suitably tracked and stored (such as by the controller of the lottery ticket vending machine or a remote system) for future reference and use.

In various embodiments, the lottery tickets will include one or more magnetically sensible materials that are applied as part of the lottery ticket formation process or as part of the lottery ticket substrate formation process. As mentioned above, the magnetically sensible material(s) of the lottery ticket can be added to the lottery for the specific purpose of being sensed or can be part of a component of the lottery ticket (such as but not limited to the substrate of the lottery ticket, the ink of the lottery ticket, the SOC of the lottery ticket, or a foil or other layer or component of the lottery ticket (such as a metal foil layer or component)).

Turning now to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, a lottery ticket vending machine of one example embodiment of the present disclosure is generally illustrated and indicated by numeral 100. The lottery ticket vending machine 100 may be referred to herein as the “ticket vending machine” or the “vending machine” for brevity.

The illustrated example ticket vending machine 100 includes: (a) a machine housing 110 including a front door 200; (b) three ticket drawer columns 300a, 300b, and 300c positioned in and supported by the machine housing 110; and (c) three separate and independently movable ticket bursters 400a, 400b, and 400c positioned in the machine housing 110 and supported by burster supports (not labeled) positioned in and supported by the machine housing 110. The front door 200 includes a ticket collection receptacle 250 configured to receive separated lottery tickets from each of the ticket bursters 400a, 400b, and 400c. The quantity, positions, sizes, and configurations of the ticket drawer columns and the ticket bursters can vary in accordance with the present disclosure.

It should be appreciated that the ticket vending machine 100 includes various other components that are conventional in the industry and/or that would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the ticket vending machine 100 can include: (1) various electronic components (not shown) some of which can be contained in an electronic component holder (not labeled) positioned in and supported by the machine housing 110; and (2) various purchaser interface components (not labeled) that are part of the front door 200 of the machine housing 110. These components are only briefly described herein for brevity. Such electronic components can be arranged in any suitable manner. The electronic component holder can be in the form or a slide-out drawer to facilitate access to the various electronic components contained therein. The electronic components can form part of the control system for the ticket vending machine 100. Various electronic components can also be positioned in the machine housing 110 outside of the electrical component holder. The electronic components can include one or more controllers that control the operation of the ticket vending machine 100 including the movable ticket bursters 400a, 400b, and 400c as further discussed herein to facilitate the dispensing of each requested lottery ticket and the determination of any position issues of the lottery tickets (as further described below). The controller(s) can be any suitable type of controller (such as a programmable logic controller) that includes any suitable processing device(s) (such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller-based platform, an integrated circuit, or an application-specific integrated circuit) and any suitable memory device(s) (such as random access memory, read-only memory, or flash memory). The memory device(s) store(s) instructions executable by the processing device(s) to control operation of the ticket vending machine 100. The purchaser interface components include one or more display devices, one or more input devices, and one or more payment acceptors. The purchaser interface components enable purchasers to use such components to determine the lottery tickets available from the ticket vending machine 100, and to select and pay for any of those lottery tickets held by the ticket vending machine 100 that the purchaser desires to obtain. The purchaser interface components can display images and information to inform purchasers of the different lottery tickets available from the ticket vending machine 100 and to assist in completing the selection and purchase of such lottery tickets. These electronic components and purchaser interface components can take many different forms as well known in the industry, and are thus not described in detail herein for brevity.

In this illustrated example embodiment, the machine housing 110 includes a top wall 120, spaced-apart side walls 130 and 140, a rear wall 150, a base 160, and the openable front door 200 pivotally connected to the side wall 140. The base 160 is configured to rest on a floor or other suitable support. The machine housing 110 includes suitable vertically extending supports (not labeled) configured to hold and support the respective ticket drawer columns 300a, 300b, and 300c. The front door 200 is moveable from a closed and locked position covering the open front face of the machine housing 110 as shown in FIG. 1 to an open position allowing access to the interior of the machine housing 110 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The front door 200 is mounted by hinges (not labeled) to the side wall 140 of the machine housing 110. A suitable locking mechanism (not shown) is mounted on the front door 200 and the side wall 130 of the machine housing 110 to facilitate locking of the front door 200 in the closed position. When the front door 200 is closed and locked, the interior of the machine housing 110 is generally secured so as to be inaccessible except by an authorized person. The front door 200 can include one or more areas for any components supported by the front door and/or that are contained in and/or protected by the structure of the front door 200. The front door 200 can include one or more openings such as for a glass panel that enables people to see into the machine housing 110 and for one or more of the purchaser interface components (such as those described below). The size and configuration of the machine housing can vary in accordance with the present disclosure.

The ticket collection receptacle 250 of the front door 200 is configured to receive lottery tickets from each of the movable ticket bursters 400a, 400b, and 400c. The ticket collection receptacle 250 is configured to hold each lottery ticket received from the movable ticket bursters to enable the respective purchaser to retrieve the dispensed lottery ticket from the ticket collection receptacle 250. The ticket collection receptacle defines an elongated horizontally extending ticket receiving slot 254 (best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3). The ticket collection receptacle 250 and the front door define an elongated horizontally extending purchase ticket retrieval slot 278 (best seen in FIG. 1). The purchase ticket retrieval slot 278 is (and needs to be) large enough so that a purchaser can insert the purchaser's hand through the purchase ticket retrieval slot 278 to retrieve lottery tickets that are dispensed into the ticket collection receptacle 250. The ticket receiving slot 254 is (and needs to be) small enough so that a purchaser cannot insert the purchaser's hand through the ticket receiving slot 254 and thereby cannot access any of the ticket drawers of the ticket drawer columns 300a, 300b, or 300c. The position, size, and configuration of the ticket collection receptacle can vary in accordance with the present disclosure.

Each of the ticket drawer columns 300a, 300b, and 300c are identical in this example embodiment. For brevity, only ticket drawer column 300a is described in detail herein. Likewise, the three movable ticket bursters 400a, 400b, and 400c are identical in this example embodiment. For brevity, only ticket burster 400a associated with the ticket drawer column 300a is described herein.

Ticket drawer column 300a includes a series of aligned ticket drawers (not individually labeled) that are vertically stacked in the column. Each of the ticket drawers is configured to hold one or more packs of lottery tickets such as instant lottery tickets for subsequent dispensing by the ticket vending machine 100. The ticket drawers can vary in quantity, size, and configuration depending upon the particular size of the ticket vending machine 100 and the quantity, size, and shapes of the lottery tickets that the ticket vending machine 100 can or will dispense. Each ticket drawer is configured to hold lottery tickets such as instant lottery tickets for selection by the purchasers. In various embodiments, the different ticket drawers can hold different lottery ticket packs for different lottery games, but it should be appreciated, that two or more ticket drawers can hold the same type of lottery tickets. In various embodiments, each of the ticket drawers is configured to feed each instant lottery ticket held by that ticket drawer into the associated ticket burster 400a when the ticket burster 400a is moved into alignment with such ticket drawer for receipt, bursting, and dispensing of that lottery ticket. This ticket movement can be caused by an actuation lever of the burster engaging a ticket movement assembly of the ticket drawer, or in another suitable manner. Bursting of the lottery ticket is the industry term for separating a lottery ticket from a pack of lottery tickets held in a ticket drawer. In this example embodiment, the ticket drawers do not burst the lottery tickets and do not need any mechanisms for bursting the lottery tickets, but rather the moveable ticket burster 400a bursts the lottery tickets fed by the ticket drawers in the ticket drawer column 300a into that ticket burster 400a.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5, the movable ticket burster 400a is supported by one or more burster supporters (such as burster supporter 480a). The burster supporters can be any suitable structure(s) that support(s) the ticket burster 400a in a manner that enables the ticket burster 400a to vertically move to any of the different ticket receipt positions that are associated with and in alignment with the respective ticket drawers of the ticket drawer column 300a. Each of the burster supporters also support the ticket burster 400a in a manner that enables the ticket burster 400a to vertically move to into alignment with the ticket receptacle 250.

The ticket vending machine 100 includes one or more actuators (not shown) that control movement of the ticket burster 400a under control of the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 and/or the controller of the ticket burster 400a. In this example, an actuator (not labeled) is mounted at the bottom of the ticket drawer column 300a and coupled to the ticket burster 400a by suitable linkages (such as but not limited to pulleys and a drive belt (not labeled)). The actuator is configured to move the ticket burster 400a under the control of the controller(s) in the vertical (e.g., up and down) directions. The movable ticket burster 400a is thus moveable, via this actuator and linkages on the ticket burster supporters to different vertical locations including a plurality of the locations respectively associated and aligned with each of the ticket drawers of the ticket drawer column 300a such that the ticket burster 400a is positioned to receive one or more of the lottery tickets stored in each respective ticket drawer of the ticket drawer column 300a for obtaining and dispensing that instant lottery ticket into the ticket receptacle 400 for the purchaser as requested by the purchaser.

As best shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the example movable ticket burster 400a generally includes: (a) a burster housing 402a; (b) one or more burster supporter connecters (such as burster support connector 401a connecting the burster housing 402a and the burster supporter 480a); (c) one or more magnetic material sensors such as magnetic material sensor 430a in and supported by the burster housing 402a; (d) a ticket cutter 440a in and supported by the burster housing 402a; (e) a plurality of ticket engagers 450a supported by the burster housing 402a; and (f) a burster controller (not shown). The size and configuration of the ticket burster can vary in accordance with the present disclosure.

More specifically, the burster housing 402a generally includes a top member 404a, spaced-apart side members (not labeled), a front member 410a, a rear member 412a, and a bottom member 414a. The burster housing 402a also includes a plurality of internal members (not individually labeled) that define a ticket inlet 422a, through which the ticket burster 400a is configured to receive a lottery ticket from a ticket drawer of the ticket drawer column 300a, a ticket outlet 424a through which the ticket burster 400a is configured to dispense the received instant lottery ticket into the ticket collection receptacle 250, and a ticket movement path (not labeled) extending from the ticket inlet 422a to the ticket outlet 424a and through which the lottery ticket is moved through the ticket burster 400a.

The ticket cutter 440a is positioned in the burster housing 402a and configured to rotate to cut the perforations attaching each lottery ticket that moves along the ticket movement path in the ticket burster 400a to the next lottery ticket of the continuous strip of lottery tickets received from the respective ticket drawer. The ticket cutter 440a is configured to make such cut along the perforations between the two connected lottery tickets of such strip. The ticket cutter 440a is controlled by the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100. In this example embodiment, the ticket cutter 440a is inwardly positioned (i.e., positioned downstream) from the ticket inlet 422a. After the ticket cutter 440a cuts the lottery ticket requested by the purchaser from the respective ticket drawer, the ticket drawer can retract the portion of the next lottery ticket (of the strip of lottery tickets) from the ticket burster 400a before the ticket burster 400a moves from the ticket receipt position aligned with that ticket drawer. This ticket movement can be caused by an actuation lever of the burster engaging a ticket movement assembly of the ticket drawer, or in another suitable manner. In other embodiments, the ticket burster 400a can be configured such that the ticket cutter is positioned closer to or on the other side of the ticket inlet (i.e., positioned upstream of the ticket inlet) such that after the ticket cutter cuts the lottery ticket along the perforations connecting that lottery ticket to the next lottery ticket in the strip, the ticket drawer may not need to withdraw the next instant lottery ticket in the strip or may only need to withdraw the next instant lottery ticket in the strip a relatively small distance. The position, size, and configuration of the ticket cutter can thus vary in accordance with the present disclosure.

In other embodiments, the ticket burster 400a can be configured such that the burster housing 402a is rotatable about a horizontal axis to separate (via a tearing and/or twisting motion) each lottery ticket along the perforations connecting that lottery ticket to the next lottery ticket in the strip. In such embodiments, the ticket drawer may not need to withdraw the next lottery ticket of the strip or may only need to withdraw the next lottery ticket of the strip a relatively small distance. In such embodiments, the ticket burster may not need a ticket cutter.

It should be appreciated that the ticket burster 400a is thus configured to burst the perforations between the lottery ticket being dispensed and the next lottery ticket of the strip so as to enable the dispensed lottery ticket to be dispensed into the ticket receptacle 250. This prevents a person from improperly tearing a lottery ticket or being able to pull an extended number of lottery tickets from one of the ticket packs in one of the ticket drawers. It should be appreciated that the ticket burster 400a can be moved to a dispensing location for each lottery ticket dispensed, or for only certain of the lottery tickets dispensed. It should also be appreciated that the ticket burster can moved to a different location for any lottery ticket that is deemed to be bad or non-dispensable for any reason, and to deposit that ticket into a suitable rejection area.

The ticket engagers 450a in this example embodiment include multiple driven rollers (not labeled) and multiple guide rollers (not labeled). The driven rollers are rotated by suitable actuators (not shown) under the control of the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100. The driven rollers and the guide rollers are configured to move (such as by pulling) and guide each lottery ticket along the ticket movement path and out of the ticket outlet 424a. In alternative embodiments, the ticket engagers are configured to grip and pull each lottery ticket from the respective ticket drawer.

The burster controller (not shown) can be any suitable type of controller (such as a programmable logic controller) that includes any suitable processing device(s) (such as a microprocessor, a microcontroller-based platform, an integrated circuit, or an application-specific integrated circuit) and any suitable memory device(s) (such as random access memory, read-only memory, or flash memory). The memory device(s) stores instructions executable by the processing device(s) to control operation of the ticket burster 400a. The burster controller can be hard wired or wirelessly connected to and in communication with the cutter 440a, the actuators for the driven rollers 450a, any actuators of the ticket burster 400a that cause the movement of the ticket burster 400a, and the magnetic material sensor 430a (as further described below). In such embodiments, the burster controller can be wirelessly connected to and in communication with the controller of the ticket vending machine 100. In other embodiments, the ticket burster does not include a controller and is completely controlled by the controller of the ticket vending machine 100. In such embodiments, the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 can be hard wired to or wirelessly connected to and in communication with the cutter, the actuators for the driven rollers, any actuators on the ticket burster or the burster supporter that cause the movement of the ticket burster, and the magnetic material sensor.

The magnetic material sensor 430a of the ticket burster 400a is positioned in and supported by the housing 402a of the ticket burster 400a. The magnetic material sensor 430a extends transversely along the entire or substantially the entire width of the ticket burster 400a such that it can sense the one or more magnetically sensible materials of each lottery ticket that moves through the ticket burster 400a as that lottery ticket moves above the magnetic material sensor 430a. In this example embodiment, the magnetic material sensor 430a is below the ticket movement path and thus senses upwardly toward the lottery ticket. In other alternative embodiments that are not shown, the magnetic material sensor can be above the ticket movement path and thus sense downwardly toward the lottery ticket. It should be appreciated that the magnetic material sensor can be otherwise formed, shaped, sized, positioned, and otherwise configured in accordance with the present disclosure.

In various embodiments, the magnetic material sensor 430a is configured to detect one or more magnetically sensible materials of each lottery ticket.

In various embodiments, when a portion of the magnetically sensible material of a lottery ticket moves through a magnetic field outputted by the magnetic material sensor 430a, the magnetic material sensor 430a detects the presence of the magnetically sensible material. This can be done by detecting a variance in a magnetic field, by receipt of an induced current, or in another suitable manner. In various embodiments, the magnetic material sensor 430a is what is referred to as a Hall sensor. In various other embodiments, the magnetic material sensor 430a is what is referred to as a MR sensor.

The magnetic material sensor 430a creates and sends electrical signals (that can be digital or analog in different embodiments) to one or more of the controllers of the burster and/or the controller of the vending machine 100. These signals can be on and off type signals or other suitable signals (such as dynamic or continuous signals that vary in voltage) throughout a sensing range. In certain embodiments, voltage outputs can be sent to the controller(s). In various embodiments, the analog signals can be digitized (by a suitable analog to digital converter) and processed in a digital domain with digital signal processing process before being sent to the controller(s).

The respective controller(s) receive and interpret these received signals in comparison to comparison data (such as but not limited to an expected pattern of signals described below for the magnetically sensible material(s) of the lottery ticket or expected positional data for the lottery ticket). If these received signals do not correspond to or match (or substantially correspond to or match the comparison data), the controller(s) determine(s) that the lottery ticket has a positional issues and can take the correction actions and/or send the alerts. In various embodiments, the corrective action and/or the alerts are based on the amount of disparity between these received signals and the comparison data (such as the expected pattern of signals). In various embodiments, the comparison data can be based on data associated with one or more stepper motors that control movement of the lottery ticket as further described below.

The magnetic material sensor 430a is thus configured to create signals that are used by the controller(s) to determine if each lottery ticket is in the correct expected position as that lottery ticket moves from the ticket drawer into the ticket burster 400a and before it reaches the ticket cutter 440a.

The magnetic material sensor 430a is thus configured to communicate signals (regarding the magnetically sensible material(s) of the lottery ticket) to the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100.

The burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 is/are thus configured to determine based on the signals and the comparison data for the lottery ticket whether the lottery ticket is in the correct position in the burster 400a.

If the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 determines that the position of the lottery ticket is proper, the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 does not need to take any corrective actions.

If the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 determines that the position of the lottery ticket is improper, the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 can take one or more of a series of different corrective actions.

In various different embodiments, the respective corrective action taken in such case can vary and can be any one or more of the following example corrective actions: (1) cause a display of a warning message on a display device of the vending machine 100 to alert an operator of the vending machine 100 regarding the position issue to enable the operator to act on such issue and fix the issue; (2) send a warning message to a remote monitoring device separate from the vending machine regarding the position issue to enable an operator to act on such issue and fix the issue; and/or (3) automatically make an adjustment to one or more of the components of the vending machine 100 to attempt to address the position issue.

In various embodiments, the corrective action can include the controller(s) making one or more automatic adjustments of the cutting system of the ticket burster 400a.

In various embodiments, the corrective action can include the controller(s) making one or more automatic adjustments of the positioning of tickets relative to the ticket cutter of the ticket burster 400a.

It should be appreciated that by regularly sensing the magnetically sensible materials of lottery tickets for positioning issues, the vending machine will be able to catch and cause such issues to be properly addressed before such issues cause lottery tickets that are undesired in look and feel, and/or not redeemable to be dispensed by the ticket vending machine.

It should be appreciated that by regularly sensing the magnetically sensible materials of lottery tickets for positioning issues, the vending machine 100 can determine or verify that lottery ticket dispensing process is properly calibrated, operating, and functioning within pre-defined specifications.

It should also be appreciated that various embodiments of the present disclosure provide that the magnetically sensible materials (such as applied as part of the lottery ticket printing process or as otherwise part of the formation of the lottery tickets or substates thereof) can be used to either fully locate the beginning or end of the lottery ticket for the dispensing process. These magnetically sensible materials can be used to validate that the lottery ticket position is within acceptable margins or can be used to more properly index the lottery tickets and the perforation locations thereof for cutting. In certain embodiments, the magnetically sensible materials can be compared or indexed relative comparison data including a step count of one or more stepper motors of the burster for this indexing. The controller(s) can compare the locations of the magnetically sensible material(s) based on the signals to comparison data regarding the number of steps of the stepper motor to determined positions and any trend of changing positions. If such trending indicates potential lottery ticket misalignment, the controller can perform an arithmetic calibration on the next lottery ticket being dispensed or as a separate operation wherein the lottery ticket is moved out of the ticket drawer by the stepper motor and returned to validate the magnetically sensible materials are within acceptable margins. If the problem is not resolved, the vending machine can either locally and/or remotely flag the ticket drawer as having a non-recoverable problem and provide any suitable alerts. In other words, it should also be appreciated that the vending machine 100 using the magnetic material sensor creates a type of signature (in the form of the signals) for that lottery game that can be used to validate the physical registration of that lottery ticket relative to the steps of a stepper motor (not shown) that is dispensing the lottery ticket. If the registration of that lottery ticket become mismatched with the number of steps within a certain margin, the registration can be recalibrated to prevent miscutting of the lottery ticket.

The present disclosure contemplates the magnetic material sensor 430a detecting one or more magnetically sensible materials on a front or back surface of each lottery ticket or on and edge of a lottery ticket for these determinations. The present disclosure uses magnetically sensible materials on the back surfaces the lottery tickets as examples to describe the present disclosure, but such examples are not meant to limit the present disclosure.

More specifically, for example, the back surface of each lottery ticket includes one or more magnetically sensible materials that do not change in terms of content, position, shape, or size relative to the substrate of that lottery ticket for each and every lottery ticket in a pack of lottery tickets. In other words, during the printing process for each lottery ticket of a pack of lottery ticket, one or more magnetically sensible materials are formed on the back surface of the substrate of the lottery ticket (for positioning of the substate during printing of the lottery tickets) in the exact same location relative to the front and back edges and the side edges of that substrate for each and every such lottery ticket in the pack. Additionally, the same one or more magnetically sensible materials are formed on the back surface of the substrate of the lottery ticket in the exact same location relative to the front and back edges and the side edges of that substrate for each and every such lottery ticket for a game (that are formed and shipped in numerous packs).

In one example shown in FIG. 9, the back surface 510 of the example lottery ticket 500 includes a single magnetically sensible material 520. The magnetically sensible material 520 includes: (1) a lower edge (not labeled) that is parallel to the end edges 513 and 514 of the lottery ticket 500 and perpendicular to the side edges 515 and 516 of the lottery ticket 500; and (2) a side edge (not labeled) that is perpendicular to the end edges 513 and 514 of the lottery ticket 500 and parallel to the side edges 515 and 516 of the lottery ticket 500. The magnetically sensible material 520—which will appear on every lottery ticket in the pack or lottery game in this example—provides a series of crisp transitions that can be sensed by the magnetic material sensor of the burster to enable the controller(s) to determine if the lottery ticket is correctly positioned relative to the magnetic material sensor and thus the burster.

In another example shown in FIG. 10, the back surface 610 of the example lottery ticket 600 includes two magnetically sensible materials 620a and 620b of different widths. The magnetically sensible materials 620a and 620b each include: (1) respective lower edges (not labeled) that are parallel to the end edges 613 and 614 of the lottery ticket 600 and perpendicular to the side edges 615 and 616 of the lottery ticket 600; and (2) respective side edges (not labeled) that are perpendicular to the end edges 613 and 614 of the lottery ticket 600 and parallel to the side edges 615 and 616 of the lottery ticket 600. The magnetically sensible materials—which will appear on every lottery ticket in the pack or lottery game in this example—provides a series of crisp transitions that can be sensed by the magnetic material sensor of the burster to enable the controller(s) to determine if the lottery ticket is correctly positioned relative to the magnetic material sensor and thus the burster.

In other examples that are not shown, the lottery ticket such as the back surface of the example lottery ticket includes more than two magnetically sensible materials.

In other examples that are not shown, magnetically sensible materials are of different sizes.

In other examples that are not shown, magnetically sensible materials are of different shapes.

In other examples that are not shown, magnetically sensible materials are at different positions on the substrate of the lottery ticket.

The present disclosure further contemplates that the controller(s) can determine the comparison data (such as the expected pattern of signals) for the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket in any suitable manner such as but not limited to one of the plurality of different example manners described below.

In one example manner, the controller(s) are configured to receive the comparison data such as the expected pattern of signals for the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket from a remote source such as a central lottery system. In various such embodiments, the central lottery system can send the expected pattern of signals for the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket to the vending machine when one or more packs are shipped to the location of the vending machine. In various such embodiments, the central lottery system can send the expected pattern of signals for the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket to the vending machine responsive to a request from the vending machine to activate the pack or a ticket of the pack.

In another example manner, the controller(s) are configured to receive the comparison data such as the expected pattern of signals for the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket from a local source such from a memory device communicatively connected to the vending machine 100.

In another example manner, the controller(s) are configured to create or determine the comparison data such as the expected pattern of signals for the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket during a pack loading procedure that the vending machine 100 performs when the pack is loaded into a ticket drawer of the vending machine.

In another example manner, the controller(s) are configured to create or determine the comparison data for the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket based on predefined information regarding the distances of the magnetically sensible materials from the leading edge of the lottery ticket and data for one or more stepper motors based on movement of the lottery ticket caused by such stepper motors.

In various embodiments, the controller(s) of the ticket vending machine can receive or determine and maintain data regarding the length of each lottery ticket from its respective magnetically sensible material(s) to both the leading edge, so the controller knows when to detect the magnetically sensible material(s) of the lottery tickets, or when to pay attention to the signals received from the magnetic material sensor.

It should be appreciated that the ticket vending machine of the present disclosure can have more than one ticket burster for each ticket drawer column such that they can operate at the same time, or such that one or more ticket bursters are back-ups in case there is an issue with one of the other ticket bursters for that ticket drawer column.

An example method of operation of the ticket vending machine 100 is now described. It should be appreciated that the following example is not the only method of operation of the ticket vending machine of the present disclosure, and other methods of operation are within the scope of the present disclosure. It should also be appreciated that the operations are controlled by the controller of the ticket vending machine and/or the controller of the ticket bursters, and that the descriptions provided below of the steps are controlled by such controllers.

This example is when a purchaser desires to purchase a single instant lottery ticket from the ticket vending machine 100. Responsive to and after the purchaser selects the lottery ticket (from the plurality of different lottery tickets available from the ticket vending machine 100) using the purchaser interface component(s) and specifically using one or more of the input devices and one or more of the payment acceptors to select and pay for the lottery ticket, the ticket vending machine 100 generally causes the ticket burster 400a to obtain and dispense that lottery ticket into the ticket collection receptacle 250. More specifically, this includes: (1) moving the ticket burster 400a into a ticket receipt position associated with and in alignment with the ticket drawer of the ticket draw column 300a that holds the lottery ticket pack of the selected type of lottery ticket requested by the purchaser; (2) causing the leading lottery ticket that ticket drawer to be fed into the ticket inlet 422a of the ticket burster 400a (with the front face of the lottery ticket facing upwardly); (3) causing the ticket engagers 450a to engage and cause that lottery ticket to move along the ticket movement path of the ticket burster 400a; (4) at the appropriate time when the magnetically sensible material of that lottery ticket passes through a sensing area above the magnetic material sensor 430a, causing the magnetic material sensor 430a to sense the magnetically sensible material(s) of that lottery ticket, and send signals to the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100; (5) at the appropriate time when the perforations connecting that instant lottery ticket to the next lottery ticket of that strip are aligned with the ticket cutter 440a, causing the ticket cutter 440a to cut the perforations and thus separate that lottery ticket from the next lottery ticket in the strip; (6) causing the ticket drawer to retract any portion of that next lottery ticket of the strip from the ticket burster 400a; (7) causing the ticket burster 400a to move into alignment with the ticket collection receptacle 250; and (8) causing the ticket engagers 450a to move the separated lottery ticket along the ticket movement path toward and out of the ticket outlet 424a, and into the ticket collection receptacle 250. The method can include the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 also sending suitable data related to the dispensed lottery ticket to a central lottery server (not shown) for verification of that lottery ticket for possible subsequent redemption.

If the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 determines based on the signals that the lottery ticket has a position issue, the burster controller and/or the controller of the ticket vending machine 100 can take one or more of the series of corrective actions described above before cutting the lottery ticket or after cutting the lottery ticket for subsequent lottery tickets.

In various embodiments, since the ticket vending machine 100 is regularly monitoring the magnetically sensible material(s) of the dispensed lottery tickets, the ticket vending machine 100 will often be able to detect a positioning problem before the problem becomes severe enough to cause the ticket vending machine to shut down and stop dispensing lottery tickets. In various embodiments, when the ticket vending machine 100 detects a position problem that is severe, the controller(s) can cause the ticket vending machine to shut down and stop dispensing lottery tickets.

In various other embodiments, the magnetic material sensors can be positioned on each of the drawers instead of or in addition to the ticket bursters. Such ticket vending machine can alternatively or additionally sense, obtain, and analyze signals relating to the magnetically sensible material(s) of each lottery ticket.

In various embodiments, the magnetic material sensor includes a plurality of adjacent magnetic material sensors.

It should be appreciated from the above that various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a lottery ticket vending machine comprising: (1) a housing; (2) a ticket drawer column in the housing, the ticket drawer column comprising a plurality of ticket drawers, each of the ticket drawers configured to hold a strip of lottery tickets; (3) a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, the ticket burster movable to a plurality of different ticket receipt positions, each different ticket receipt position associated with and in alignment with a different one of the ticket drawers; (4) a magnetic material sensor supported by the ticket burster and configured to create signals based on a magnetically sensible material of a lottery ticket that moves from one of the ticket drawers into the ticket burster; and (5) a controller configured to receive the signals created by the magnetic material sensor, determine if the lottery ticket is improperly positioned based on the signals, and cause a corrective action to be taken responsive to determining that the lottery ticket is improperly positioned. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is configured to create the signals based on the magnetically sensible material of the lottery ticket. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is configured to create the signals based on a plurality of separate magnetically sensible materials of the lottery ticket. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is configured to create the signals based on a plurality of different magnetically sensible materials of the lottery ticket. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is configured to create the signals based on a plurality of different size magnetically sensible materials of the lottery ticket. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is positioned in the ticket burster such that the magnetic material sensor is configured to create the signals based on the magnetically sensible material before a cutter of the ticket burster cuts perforations connecting the lottery ticket to a next lottery ticket of the strip of lottery tickets. In various such embodiments, the controller is configured to determine if the lottery ticket has is improperly positioned based on a comparison of the signals and comparison data. In various such embodiments, the controller is configured to receive the comparison data. In various such embodiments, the controller is configured to create the comparison data. In various such embodiments, the lottery ticket vending machine includes a display device and the corrective action comprises causing a display by the display device of an indication of a ticket position issue. In various such embodiments, the corrective action comprises sending a message to a remote monitoring device separate from the vending machine regarding an indication of a ticket position issue. In various such embodiments, the corrective action comprises adjusting a position of a subsequent lottery ticket relative to the cutter of the ticket burster.

It should further be appreciated from the above that various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a lottery ticket vending machine comprising: (1) a housing; (2) a ticket drawer column in the housing, the ticket drawer column comprising a plurality of ticket drawers, each of the ticket drawers configured to hold a strip of lottery tickets; (3) a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster: (a) defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, (b) movable to a plurality of different ticket receipt positions, each different ticket receipt position associated with and in alignment with a different one of the ticket drawers, (c) comprising a ticket cutter, and (d) comprising a magnetic material sensor configured to create signals based on a lottery ticket that moves from one of the ticket drawers into the ticket burster based on a magnetically sensible material of the lottery ticket, and configured to transmit the signals, wherein the magnetic material sensor is positioned such that the magnetic material sensor can create the signals before the ticket cutter cuts perforations connecting the lottery ticket to a next lottery ticket of the strip of lottery tickets; and (4) a controller configured to receive the signals from the magnetic material sensor, determine if the lottery ticket has a position issue based on the signals, and cause a corrective action to be taken responsive to determining that the lottery ticket has the position issue. In various such embodiments, the lottery ticket vending machine includes a display device and the corrective action comprises causing a display by the display device of an indication of the position issue. In various such embodiments, the corrective action comprises sending a message to a remote monitoring device separate from the vending machine regarding an indication of the position issue. In various such embodiments, the corrective action comprises adjusting a position of a subsequent lottery ticket relative to the ticket cutter of the ticket burster.

It should further be appreciated from the above that various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a lottery ticket vending machine comprising: (1) a housing; (2) a lottery ticket drawer supported by the housing; (3) a ticket burster supported by the housing and comprising a magnetic material sensor; and (4) a controller supported by the housing, the controller configured to operate with the magnetic material sensor to determine if the lottery tickets are being fed in to the ticket burster in proper positions to enable the ticket burster to properly separate lottery tickets received from the ticket drawer based on magnetically sensible materials of the lottery tickets, and to cause a corrective action to be taken responsive to determining that the ticket burster is improperly separating the lottery tickets. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is configured to, for each lottery ticket, create signals based on part of the magnetically sensible material of the lottery ticket relative to an end edge of the lottery ticket, and the controller is configured to determine if the lottery ticket has is improperly positioned based on a comparison using the signals. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is configured to, for each lottery ticket, create signals based on part of the magnetically sensible material of the lottery ticket relative to a side edge of the lottery ticket, and the controller is configured to determine if the lottery ticket has is improperly positioned based on a comparison using the signals. In various such embodiments, the magnetic material sensor is configured to, for each lottery ticket, create signals based on multiple different magnetically sensible materials of the lottery ticket, and the controller is configured to determine if the lottery ticket has is improperly positioned based on a comparison using the signals.

Various changes and modifications to the present embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended technical scope. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.

LOTTERY TICKET VENDING MACHINE

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