Methods of operating a roller scraper system
Systems and methods for mechanically processing physical media elements, e.g., automatically scratching scratch-off lottery tickets, may include receiving a batch of tickets at an input chute of a scratching system. Tickets may be serially fed through the scratching system that includes a series of roller scratching mechanisms. Pressure rollers may be individually adjustable to set a pressure of the scratching mechanisms. One or more scanners may obtain information from the tickets before and/or after scratching. A pair of parallel plates may be used to form a feed path to guide tickets through the system. A vacuum manifold may isolate some elements of the system from debris, and remove the debris from the system via negative pressure. One or more presence sensor may detect presence of a current ticket to control operation of feed motors. Various functions or elements of the system may be distributed over a plurality of removable modules.
1 . A method for processing a ticket for an entry into a game of chance by a scratching system having a plurality of modules, the method comprising:
separating, by a first module, the ticket from a set of tickets in an input area of the first module by:
driving a first roller configured to convey tickets out of the input area; and
operating a clutch configured to disengage the driving of the first roller, such that the ticket is conveyed out from the input area by the roller without a next ticket in the set of tickets being conveyed out of the input area by the first roller;
removing, by a second module, at least a portion of a layer of material from the ticket; and
obtaining, by a third module, information that had been masked by the layer of material, by
activating a scanner positioned in the third module upon detecting a presence of the ticket in the third module via a pair of fork sensors; and
operating the scanner to capture the information on the ticket;
wherein the first module, the second module, and the third module are physically detachable from each other via respective locking mechanisms.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the first module includes at least a first motor operably connected to at least the first roller, the first motor and the first roller configured to convey the ticket through the first module,
the second module includes at least a second motor operably connected to at least a second roller, the second motor and the second roller being configured to convey the ticket through the second module; and
the third module includes at least a third motor operably connected to at least a third roller, the third motor and the third roller being configured to convey the ticket through the third module.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first module is configured to operate the first roller via a motor to separate the ticket from the set of tickets in response to detecting a presence of the set of tickets in the input area by an optical presence sensor.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, via the first module, a presence, and a conveyance speed of the ticket along a feed path of the first module, wherein:
the first module is configured to operate the clutch in response to detecting the presence of the ticket within the feed path; and
the first module is configured to operate a scanner with reference to the conveyance speed to obtain ticket information prior to the ticket entering the second or third modules.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing by the second module includes operating a scratching assembly configured to scrape a layer of material from the ticket as it is conveyed.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the scratching assembly includes a first roller having a scraper.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the scraper is configured to rotate in a first direction opposite to a second direction of a second roller configured to exert pressure on the ticket against the first roller.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
operating, via the second module, a brush positioned along a feed path of the second module to remove material on a surface of the ticket.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
operating a vacuum source connected to the second module to convey material removed from the ticket out of the scratching system.