Lottery ticket dispensing bin with a retarding torque drive system to prevent ticket reeling
A lottery ticket dispenser bin includes a housing for receipt of a supply of interconnected lottery tickets. An electronic drive mechanism in the housing moves the tickets in a forward and reverse direction. A scanner is disposed within the housing at a location to detect a forward edge of a leading lottery ticket in the housing. A controller is in communication with the scanner and the electronic drive mechanism and controls the drive mechanism so that subsequent to the leading lottery ticket being dispensed out the slot, power is supplied to drive mechanism to generate a retarding reverse direction torque by a drive roller on an adjacent lottery ticket for a predetermined time period without reversing direction of the drive roller.
1. A lottery ticket dispenser bin to dispense a continuous strip of lottery tickets interconnected by perforation lines, comprising:
a housing having a front side, an opposite back side, and an internal space for receipt of a supply of the interconnected lottery tickets;
a slot defined in the back side of each bin through which the lottery tickets are dispensed from the internal space;
an electronic drive mechanism configured in the housing, the electronic drive mechanism further comprising:
a motor geared to a drive roller, the motor and drive roller rotatable in a forward and reverse direction;
an idler roller disposed opposite to and defining a nip with the drive roller, wherein the lottery tickets are engaged by the drive roller and conveyed through the nip;
a scanner disposed within the housing at a location to detect a forward edge of a leading lottery ticket in the housing; and
a controller in communication with the scanner and the electronic drive mechanism, the controller comprising dispense cycle instructions that control the drive mechanism so that subsequent to the leading lottery ticket being dispensed out the slot, power is supplied to the motor to generate a retarding reverse direction torque by the drive roller on an adjacent lottery ticket for a predetermined time period without reversing direction of the drive roller.
2. The lottery ticket dispenser bin as in claim 1 , further comprising a torque sensor configured with the drive roller or gearing between the motor and the drive roller that senses a forward direction torque on the drive roller from an attempt to pull on the leading ticket extending from the slot, the torque sensor in communication with the controller, and the controller configured to increase the retarding reverse direction torque as a function of increasing forward direction torque during the predetermined time period.
3. The lottery ticket dispenser bin as in claim 1 , further comprising a motion sensor configured with the drive roller or gearing between the motor and the drive roller that senses a forward direction motion of the drive roller from an attempt to pull on the leading ticket extending from the slot, the motion sensor in communication with the controller, and the controller configured to increase the retarding reverse direction torque upon detection of forward motion of the drive roller during the predetermined time period.
4. The lottery ticket dispenser bin as in claim 1 , wherein upon receipt of a dispense command, the controller is further configured to drive the motor and drive wheel so that a perforation line between the leading ticket and the adjacent ticket is conveyed to adjacent a tear bar, the controller further configured to reverse direction of the drive roller to withdraw a separated forward edge of the adjacent lottery ticket a predefined distance back into the housing after the predetermined time period to a location in a scan field of the scanner.
5. The lottery ticket dispenser bin as in claim 4 , wherein if the separated forward edge of the adjacent lottery ticket is not detected by the scanner, the controller is configured to drive the motor in the forward direction corresponding to the predefined distance so as to place the perforation line between the leading ticket and the adjacent ticket back to the tear bar and to again generate the retarding reverse direction torque for the predetermined time period.
6. The lottery ticket dispenser bin as in claim 1 , wherein the back side of the bin comprises a pivotal door that opens to the internal space for loading of the supply of lottery tickets into the bin, the slot defined in the pivotal door, and wherein the electronic drive mechanism, sensor, and controller are mounted to the pivotal door.