Article dispensing – With recorder – register – indicator – signal or exhibitor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-22
2001-10-16
Bollinger, David H. (Department: 3651)
Article dispensing
With recorder, register, indicator, signal or exhibitor
C221S007000, C221S025000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06302292
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to apparatus for the display and dispensing of lottery tickets and more specifically to such apparatus that has the ability for counting the lottery tickets that are dispensed and maintaining a record thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous states throughout the United States have implemented a variety of lottery games as a generating means of additional revenue for the state. One of the more popular types of lottery games that are offered is what are commonly referred to as instant lottery games. Tickets for instant lottery games are preprinted and upon their purchase, the purchaser can determine relatively quickly whether they are a winner of a prize.
Lottery tickets are sold in a variety of retail establishments and are commonly found in grocery stores and convenience stores. Lottery tickets in many cases are dispensed manually by the simple process of detaching a ticket or tickets from a ticket pack, according to the requirements of the ticket purchaser. However, with a variety of different types of instant lottery games now being offered it has become common place for establishments selling such tickets to use different types of ticket display and dispensing devices for the tickets.
The retailer who sells a lottery ticket receives only a small portion of the ticket price. Accordingly, it is highly important for the retailer to accurately account for each ticket that is received and sold. Most common ticket display and dispensing devices on the market today do not provide the ability to in any way keep track of the tickets that are dispensed therefrom and it is necessary for the retailers using such devices to utilize manual accounting systems for keeping track of tickets that are sold from their establishments.
As a means of providing an efficient and effective device for the dispensing and accounting of lottery tickets that are sold, various types of lottery ticket vending machines have been developed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,383,572; 3,978,958; 4,982,337; and 5,222,624. Although such vending devices appear to be highly efficient in dispensing and accounting for the lottery tickets sold, they are expensive to purchase, are relatively complex to operate and maintain, and take up more space than is normally available for ticket dispensing devices.
Several companies have just recently begun advertising and offering new types of ticket vending devices that are used as a means for maintaining an accurate accounting of the tickets dispensed. Both Interlott Technologies, Inc. and On-point Technology Systems, Inc. now offer such display and vending devices. The present invention is an alternative to the type of devices offered by Interlott Technologies and On-point Technology Systems and is designed to provide a relatively inexpensive but highly efficient means for accurately maintaining a count of those lottery tickets that are dispensed at a particular retail establishment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides for the storage, display and dispensing of various types of tickets, preferably lottery tickets, and to account for tickets dispensed from the apparatus. The ticket dispensing apparatus of the present invention includes a bin housing for storing a pack of tickets, a tear bar bin assembly through which the tickets are dispensed from the bin housing and first and second ticket counting means associated with a tear bar bin assembly for providing an accurate count of the tickets dispensed from the apparatus.
The first ticket counting means is associated with the tear bar assembly and is in the form of a friction wheel that presses against the tickets as they pass through such assembly and provides electronic signals representative of the number of tickets passing therethrough. The tickets to be dispensed by the invention are sequentially connected together by perforated joiner lines. The second ticket counting means is also associated with the tear bar bin assembly and is adapted to sense the perforations of the tickets as they pass through such assembly to provide a ticket sensing signal that increases the accuracy of the first counting means. In this way, the accuracy of the dispensing apparatus is significantly improved so that the apparatus provides a highly cost efficient means for achieving an accurate ticket dispensing count.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood after reading the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the appendant drawings.
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Caltrider Tim
Deyen Dennis J.
Gruhn Ryan B.
Littler Philip R.
Littler Ryan
Bollinger David H.
Pingel G. Brian
Schafer Systems Inc.
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