Lottery ticket vending machine
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 one or more packs of lottery tickets, and 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, the ticket burster including, in various embodiments, one or more or all of a ticket pack sensor, a ticket exit sensor, a barcode sensor, and a ticket drawer sensor.
1 . A lottery ticket vending machine comprising:
a housing;
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 one or more packs of lottery tickets, each ticket drawer comprising a ticket movement assembly, a reflector, and a ticket level determination assembly; and
a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster comprising a burster housing defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet positioned lower in the burster housing than the ticket inlet, the ticket burster movable to a plurality of different ticket receipt positions, each different ticket receipt position associated with and in alignment with a separate one of the ticket drawers, the ticket burster comprising:
a ticket pack sensor connected to the burster housing and positioned to sense, for each of the ticket drawers when the ticket burster is aligned with the ticket drawer, a light beam from the ticket level determination assembly of the ticket drawer to enable a determination regarding a quantity of the lottery tickets in the ticket drawer,
a ticket exit sensor connected to the burster housing and positioned to sense, for each of the ticket drawers when the ticket burster is aligned with the ticket drawer, that one of the lottery tickets in the ticket drawer is positioned by the ticket movement assembly of the ticket drawer to exit the ticket drawer and enter the ticket inlet of the ticket burster,
a barcode sensor connected to the burster housing and positioned to sense, for each of the ticket drawers when the ticket burster is aligned with the ticket drawer, a barcode on a back side of each lottery ticket from the ticket drawer that moves into the burster housing from the ticket drawer and
a ticket drawer sensor connected to the burster housing and positioned to sense, for each of the ticket drawers when the ticket burster is aligned with the ticket drawer, the reflector of the ticket drawer.
2 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein, for each of the ticket drawers, the ticket pack sensor is configured to detect multiple packs of lottery tickets in that ticket drawer when the ticket burster is aligned with that ticket drawer.
3 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the reflectors of all of the ticket drawers are the same.
4 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the reflectors of all of the ticket drawers are different.
5 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 4 , wherein the reflector of each ticket drawer comprises a different pattern that can be sensed by the ticket drawer sensor.
6 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 4 , wherein the reflector of each ticket drawer comprises a different code that can be sensed by the ticket drawer sensor.
7 . A lottery ticket vending machine comprising:
a housing;
a lottery ticket drawer supported by the housing, the ticket drawer comprising a ticket movement assembly;
a ticket burster supported by the housing, the ticket burster comprising a burster housing defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet positioned lower in the burster housing than the ticket inlet, the ticket burster comprising:
a ticket exit sensor connected to the burster housing and positioned to sense, when the ticket burster is aligned with the ticket drawer, that one of the lottery tickets in the ticket drawer is positioned by the ticket movement assembly to exit the ticket drawer and enter the ticket inlet of the ticket burster,
a barcode sensor connected to the burster housing and positioned to sense, when the ticket burster is aligned with the ticket drawer, a barcode on a back side of each lottery ticket from the ticket drawer that moves into the burster housing from the ticket drawer, and
a ticket drawer sensor connected to the burster housing and positioned to sense, when the ticket burster is aligned with the ticket drawer, a part of the ticket drawer; and
a controller supported by the housing, the controller configured to receive data from the ticket exit sensor, the barcode sensor, and the ticket drawer sensor, the controller configured to, based on the data cause an action to be taken.
8 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 7 , wherein the action comprises sending a message to a remote device.
9 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 7 , wherein the action comprises causing a display by a display device of an indication.
10 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 7 , wherein the action comprises causing a display by a display device of an indication that the ticket drawer is in an incorrect position.