Lottery ticket vending machine
A lottery ticket vending machine configured to determine, for each of a plurality of ticket drawers, if lottery tickets are in the ticket drawer, and to take one or more actions based on such determinations.
1 . A lottery ticket vending machine comprising:
a housing;
a ticket drawer in the housing, the ticket drawer configured to hold lottery tickets, the ticket drawer comprising a side wall that defines a first slot;
a ticket indicator assembly comprising:
a ticket engaging roller in the ticket drawer, the ticket engaging roller comprising a ticket engager, a first pin connected to and extending from a first end of the ticket engager, the first pin upwardly and downwardly moveable in the first slot, the ticket engager positioned to move downwardly as lottery tickets in the ticket drawer are dispensed from the ticket drawer, and
a ticket gauge outside of the ticket drawer, the ticket gauge comprising a gauge supporter and a movable gauge supported by the gauge supporter, the movable gauge comprising an indicator;
a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, the ticket burster movable to a position associated with and the ticket drawer;
a sensor supported by the ticket burster, configured to sense a position of the movable gauge to obtain data based on a quantity of lottery tickets in the ticket drawer, and configured to transmit the data; and
a controller configured to receive the data from the sensor, and determine the quantity of lottery tickets in the ticket drawer.
2 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the quantity is an approximate quantity.
3 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the ticket engaging roller is movable toward and away from a bottom wall of the ticket drawer.
4 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the ticket engaging roller includes a second pin connected to and extending from an opposite second end of the ticket engager.
5 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 4 , wherein the ticket drawer comprises a second side wall, wherein the first side wall comprises a first inner edge that defines the first slot, wherein the second side wall defines a second slot, wherein the first pin extends through the first slot and the second pin extends through the second slot.
6 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the movable gauge comprises a top wall that defines a pin receipt area.
7 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the gauge supporter is connected to the ticket drawer.
8 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the gauge supporter supports a spring configured to bias the movable gauge upwardly.
9 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is an optical sensor and the indicator is configured to be sensed by the optical sensor.
10 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 1 , wherein the sensor extends outwardly from a ticket burster housing of the ticket burster.
11 . A lottery ticket vending machine comprising:
a housing;
a plurality of ticket drawers in the housing, each ticket drawer configured to hold lottery tickets, each of the ticket drawers comprising a side wall that defines a vertically extending slot;
a plurality of ticket indicator assemblies in the housing, each ticket indicator assembly associated with a different one of the ticket drawers, each ticket indicator assembly for each ticket drawer comprising:
a ticket engaging roller in the ticket drawer, the ticket engaging roller comprising a ticket engager, a pin connected to and extending from an end of the ticket engager, the pin upwardly and downwardly moveable in the slot, the ticket engager positioned to move downwardly as lottery tickets in the ticket drawer are dispensed from the ticket drawer, and
a ticket gauge outside of the ticket drawer, the ticket gauge comprising a gauge supporter and a movable gauge supported by the gauge supporter, the gauge comprising an indicator;
a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, the ticket burster movable to different positions respectively associated with the ticket drawers; and
a sensor supported by the ticket burster, the sensor configured to, for each of the ticket drawers, sense a position of the indicator of the ticket indicator assembly associated with the ticket drawer to obtain data based on a quantity of lottery tickets in the ticket drawer, and configured to transmit the data to a controller to determine a quantity of lottery tickets in the ticket drawer.
12 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 11 , wherein each of the quantities is an approximate quantity.
13 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 11 , wherein for each ticket indicator assembly, the gauge supporter supports a spring configured to bias the gauge upwardly.
14 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 11 , wherein for each ticket indicator assembly, the sensor is an optical sensor and the indicator is configured to be sensed by the optical sensor.
15 . A lottery ticket vending machine comprising:
a housing;
a ticket drawer in the housing configured to hold lottery tickets, the housing defining a slot;
a ticket indicator assembly connected to the ticket drawer, the ticket indicator assembly comprising:
a ticket engaging roller in the ticket drawer, the ticket engaging roller comprising a ticket engager, a pin connected to and extending from the ticket engager, the pin upwardly and downwardly moveable in the slot, the ticket engager positioned to move downwardly as lottery tickets in the ticket drawer are dispensed from the ticket drawer, and
a ticket gauge outside of the ticket drawer, the ticket gauge comprising a gauge supporter and a movable gauge supported by the gauge supporter;
a ticket burster in the housing, the ticket burster defining a ticket inlet and a ticket outlet, the ticket burster movable to a position associated with and the ticket drawer;
a sensor supported by the ticket burster, configured to sense a position of part of the gauge, and configured to transmit data based on the position of the gauge; and
a controller configured to receive the data from the sensor, and determine a quantity of lottery tickets that are in the ticket drawer.
16 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 15 , wherein the quantity is an approximate quantity.
17 . The lottery ticket vending machine of claim 15 , wherein the gauge comprises an indicator configured to be sensed by the sensor.