Ticket dispenser machine and method

Claim 2

A ticket dispensing machine, comprising, in combination, a housing, at least one window in said housing through which tickets inside said housing can be seen but not touched by a person outside said housing, a dispensing outlet in said housing, electrically powered means for moving a continuous strip of tickets past said window, and for dispensing through said outlet a pre-determined number of said tickets to an operator of said machine.

Claim 3

A machine as in claim 1 in which said housing has a plurality of said windows, and said moving means is adapted to move an array of tickets past each of said windows.

Claim 4

A machine as in claim 1 in which said tickets are lottery tickets.

Claim 5

A machine as in claim 1 including means for receiving a medium of monetary exchange, detecting the number of monetary units represented by said medium and dispensing the number of tickets corresponding to said number of monetary units.

Claim 6

A machine as in claim 1 in which said dispensing outlet is accessible to an operator in a position to see the tickets behind said window.

Claim 7

A machine as in claim 1 in which said dispensing means includes means for barring a person from grasping any ticket before it is dispensed through said outlet.

Claim 8

A ticket dispensing machine, comprising, in combination, a housing, at least one window in said housing through which tickets inside said housing can be seen but not touched by a person outside said housing, a dispensing outlet in said housing, moving means for moving an array of tickets past said window, and means for dispensing through said outlet a pre-determined number of tickets to an operator of said machine including bar-code reading means mounted adjacent the path of travel by said tickets for reading a bar code from said tickets and transmitting to central computer means the information so read.

Claim 9

A ticket dispensing machine, comprising, in combination, a housing, at least one window in said housing through which tickets inside said housing can be seen but not touched by a person outside said housing, a dispensing outlet in said housing, moving means for moving an array of tickets past said window, and means for dispensing through said outlet a pre-determined number of tickets to an operator of said machine including bar-code reading means mounted adjacent the path of travel by said tickets for reading a bar code from said tickets and transmitting to central computer means the information so read.

Claim 10

A machine as in claim 7 in which the barcodes on said tickets represent one or more of the group consisting of; individual ticket identification; ticket bath identification; ticket lot numbers; ticket manufacturer; ticket manufacture date; the game represented by the ticket; whether the ticket is a winner; how much winnings the ticket is worth.

Claim 11

A ticket vending method, said method comprising the steps of: (a) utilizing electrically powered drive means for moving a strip of mutually-attached tickets past a viewing window in a housing in a manner such that the tickets can be seen from outside said housing, and (b) issuing from said housing a pre-determined number of tickets from said array which are ordered by an operator.

Claim 12

A ticket vending method, said method comprising the steps of: (a) utilizing electrically powered drive means for moving a strip of mutually-attached tickets past a viewing window in a housing in a manner such that the tickets can be seen from outside said housing, and (b) issuing from said housing a pre-determined number of tickets from said array which are ordered by an operator.

Claim 13

A method as in claim 9 including the step of providing a plurality of windows in said housing, each with an array of tickets and powered drive means to move the array past it, and selecting among said arrays and issuing tickets from one of them.

Claim 14

A method as in claim 10 in which said tickets are lottery tickets, the tickets displayed through each of said windows representing a different lottery game to provide the customer with a variety of different games to select from.

Claim 15

A method as in claim 9 including the steps of providing a plurality of ticket vending machines in a particular locale, selecting one of said machines to be a master and the others to be slaves, and communicating data regarding the operation of said master and slave units through said master unit.

Claim 16

A lottery ticket vending machine comprising, in combination, a housing, display means for displaying an array of lottery ticket representations viewable from outside of said housing by a customer, said array representing tickets in said machine available for purchase, acceptor means for receiving and accepting a means of monetary exchange, and means for dispensing said tickets in a number corresponding to the amount of money input into said machine by said customer, in which said display means comprises at least one transparent window through which said array can be seen but not touched by said customer, and means for moving said array in said enclosure during the dispensing of said tickets, said tickets being formed in a continuous strip with individual tickets delineated from their neighbors by perforations, storage means in said housing for storing a supply of said tickets, feed means for feeding said strip past said window, separator means for receiving said strip, and after passing by said window and separating said tickets from one another, said dispensing means being adapted to dispense one or more tickets separated from said strip including sliding support means for mounting said storage, feed, separator and dispensing means in said housing, said housing having a removable panel and said support means being slidable out of said housing for ease of reloading and service.

Claim 17

A lottery ticket vending machine comprising, in combination, a housing, display means for displaying an array of lottery ticket representations viewable from outside of said housing by a customer, said array representing tickets in said machine available for purchase, acceptor means for receiving and accepting a means of monetary exchange, and means for dispensing said tickets in a number corresponding to the amount of money input into said machine by said customer, in which said display means comprises at least one transparent window through which said array can be seen but not touched by said customer, and means for moving said array in said enclosure during the dispensing of said tickets, said tickets being formed in a continuous strip with individual tickets delineated from their neighbors by perforations, storage means in said housing for storing a supply of said tickets, feed means for feeding said strip past said window, separator means for receiving said strip, and after passing by said window and separating said tickets from one another, said dispensing means being adapted to dispense one or more tickets separated from said strip including sliding support means for mounting said storage, feed, separator and dispensing means in said housing, said housing having a removable panel and said support means being slidable out of said housing for ease of reloading and service.

Claim 18

A machine as in claim 13 in which said removable panel is a hinged front panel, said window being located in said front panel.

Claim 19

A machine as in claim 13 said housing having a front panel, said window comprising a bezel in said front panel, a transparent covering for the front of said bezel, and the back of said bezel being open, and guide means for guiding said strip along said back of said bezel.

Claim 20

A machine as in claim 13, including adjustable edge guide means for guiding the edges of said strip, said adjustable edge guide means comprising a pair of cams rotatable to change the spacing between them.

Claim 21

A lottery ticket vending machine comprising, in combination, a housing, display means for displaying an array of lottery ticket representations viewable from outside of said housing by a customer, said array representing tickets in said machine available for purchase, acceptor means for receiving and accepting a means of monetary exchange, and means for dispensing said tickets in a number corresponding to the amount of money input into said machine by said customer, in which said display means comprises at least one transparent enclosure through which said array can be seen but not touched by said customer, and means for moving said array in said enclosure during the dispensing of said tickets, including a lamp for illuminating said array.

Claim 22

A lottery ticket vending machine comprising, in combination, a housing, display means for displaying an array of lottery ticket representations viewable from outside of said housing by a customer, said array representing tickets in said machine available for purchase, acceptor means for receiving and accepting a means of monetary exchange, and means for dispensing said tickets in a number corresponding to the amount of money input into said machine by said customer, in which said display means comprises at least one transparent enclosure through which said array can be seen but not touched by said customer, and means for moving said array in said enclosure during the dispensing of said tickets, including a lamp for illuminating said array.

Claim 23

A lottery ticket vending machine comprising, in combination, a housing, display means for displaying an array of lottery ticket representations viewable from outside of said housing by a customer, said array representing tickets in said machine available for purchase, acceptor means for receiving and accepting a means of monetary exchange, and means for dispensing said tickets in a number corresponding to the amount of money input into said machine by said customer, in which said display means comprises video display means for displaying a plurality of arrays of ticket images on a video screen.

Claim 24

A lottery ticket vending machine comprising, in combination, a housing, display means for displaying an array of lottery ticket representations viewable from outside of said housing by a customer, said array representing tickets in said machine available for purchase, acceptor means for receiving and accepting a means of monetary exchange, and means for dispensing said tickets in a number corresponding to the amount of money input into said machine by said customer, in which said display means comprises video display means for displaying a plurality of arrays of ticket images on a video screen.

Claim 25

A machine as in claim 18 including means for separately scrolling each of said arrays to produce motion as tickets represented by a selected array are being dispensed.

Claim 26

A machine as in claim 19 including video memory means for storing and delivering to said video display means signals to form said arrays under the control of electrical control circuitry.

Claim 27

A ticket dispensing machine, said machine comprising, in combination, a housing, at least one window in said housing through which tickets inside said housing can be seen but not touched by a person outside said housing, a dispensing outlet in said housing, moving means for moving an array of tickets past said window, means for dispensing through said outlet a pre-determined number of tickets to an operator of said machine, said tickets being formed in a continuous strip with individual tickets delineated from their neighbors by perforations, storage means in said housing for storing a supply of said tickets, separator means for receiving said strip after passing by said window and separating said tickets from one another, said dispensing means being adapted to dispense one or more tickets separated from said strip, including sliding support means for mounting said storage, feed, separator and dispensing means in said housing, said housing having a removable panel and said support means being slidable out of said housing for ease of reloading and service.

Claim 28

A ticket dispensing machine, said machine comprising, in combination, a housing, at least one window in said housing through which tickets inside said housing can be seen but not touched by a person outside said housing, a dispensing outlet in said housing, moving means for moving an array of tickets past said window, means for dispensing through said outlet a pre-determined number of tickets to an operator of said machine, said tickets being formed in a continuous strip with individual tickets delineated from their neighbors by perforations, storage means in said housing for storing a supply of said tickets, separator means for receiving said strip after passing by said window and separating said tickets from one another, said dispensing means being adapted to dispense one or more tickets separated from said strip, including sliding support means for mounting said storage, feed, separator and dispensing means in said housing, said housing having a removable panel and said support means being slidable out of said housing for ease of reloading and service.

Claim 29

A machine as in claim 21 in which said removable panel is a hinged front panel, said window being located in said front panel.

Claim 30

A ticket dispensing machine, said machine comprising, in combination, housing, at least one window in said housing through which tickets inside said housing can be seen but not touched by a person outside said housing, a dispensing outlet in said housing, moving means for moving an array of tickets past said window, means for dispensing through said outlet a pre-determined number of tickets to an operator of said machine, said tickets being formed in a continuous strip with individual tickets delineated from their neighbors by perforations, storage means in said housing for storing a supply of said tickets, separator means for receiving said strip after passing by said window and separating said tickets from one another, said dispensing means being adapted to dispense one or more tickets separated from said strip, said housing having a front panel, said window comprising a bezel in said front panel, a transparent covering for the front of said bezel, and the back of said bezel being open, and guide means for guiding said strip along said back of said bezel.

Claim 31

A ticket dispensing machine, said machine comprising, in combination, housing, at least one window in said housing through which tickets inside said housing can be seen but not touched by a person outside said housing, a dispensing outlet in said housing, moving means for moving an array of tickets past said window, means for dispensing through said outlet a pre-determined number of tickets to an operator of said machine, said tickets being formed in a continuous strip with individual tickets delineated from their neighbors by perforations, storage means in said housing for storing a supply of said tickets, separator means for receiving said strip after passing by said window and separating said tickets from one another, said dispensing means being adapted to dispense one or more tickets separated from said strip, said housing having a front panel, said window comprising a bezel in said front panel, a transparent covering for the front of said bezel, and the back of said bezel being open, and guide means for guiding said strip along said back of said bezel.