LOTTERY TICKET DESTRUCTION APPARATUS

A lottery ticket destruction apparatus includes a housing of flip-turn design convenient to open for maintenance, a motor mounted in the housing, a transmission gear set mounted on the outside of the housing and coupled to the motor, a set of sheet-transfer rollers rotatable by the transmission gear set at a low speed to flatten inserted lottery tickets, a set of rotary cutters disposed below the set of sheet-transfer rollers and rotatable by the transmission gear set at a middle speed to cut an inserted series of lottery tickets into three narrow elongated pieces, and a set of pull-and-push rollers disposed below the set of rotary cutters and rotatable by the transmission gear set at a high speed to stretch the cut pieces of the series of lottery tickets into fragments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus for destructing lottery tickets, and more particularly, to a lottery ticket destruction apparatus, which is capable of cutting and stretching every piece of lottery ticket into fragments, saving waste lottery ticket storage space and facilitating a follow-up procedure.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

Many lottery ticket destruction apparatuses are known. For example, Taiwan Utility Numbers 84208584, 85204451, and 85203923 disclose lottery ticket cutting and destruction techniques. These designs teach the operation of rotary cutters to cut a series of lottery tickets into three narrow elongated strips. These prior art designs cannot cut every single lottery ticket into small pieces. The cut three narrow elongated strips will curl up and get tangled together, occupying much waste storage space in the waste basket. Thus, the user needs to frequently clean the waste basket, not only complicating the lottery destruction work but also significantly lowering the lottery destruction efficiency.

Further, according to the prior art lottery ticket destruction apparatus designs, the major components, such as guide plates, sensors, rotary cutters and motor are mounted in enclosed compartments in the housing. This arrangement complicates the maintenance and repair works. When a lottery ticket is jammed in the apparatus, a complicated dismounting procedure is necessary, making the maintenance inconvenient and difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide an improved lottery ticket destruction apparatus, which comprises a housing, a transmission gear set, a set of sheet-transfer rollers rotatable at a low speed, a set of rotary cutters rotatable at a middle speed, and a set of pull-and-push rollers rotatable at a high speed. The housing has mounted therein a motor for driving the transmission gear set to rotate the set of sheet-transfer rollers rotatable at a low speed in flattening an inserted series of lottery tickets, the set of rotary cutters rotatable at a middle speed into cutting the flattened series of lottery tickets into three narrow elongated strips, and the set of pull-and-push rollers rotatable at a high speed in stretching the three narrow elongated strips of the series of lottery tickets into fragments by separating the cut pieces of one lottery ticket from those of other lottery tickets. Thus, the destructed lottery ticket fragments do not occupy much storage space, facilitating further treatment and enhancing lottery ticket destruction efficiency.

Preferably, the housing is a flip-turn design, comprising a top cover shell and a bottom body shell. The top cover shell and the bottom body shell are pivotally coupled together so that the top cover shell can be conveniently opened from the bottom body shell. Further, the gears of the transmission gear set, the sheet-transfer rollers of the set of sheet-transfer rollers, the rotary cutters of the set of rotary cutters and the pull-and-push rollers of the set of pull-and-push rollers are respectively arranged in pair and mounted in the top cover shell and bottom body shell of the housing in a matched manner. When the top cover shell is closed on the bottom body shell, a lottery ticket destruction operation can then be started. When the top cover shell is opened, the user can visually check the component parts in the housing, facilitating maintenance or replacement of internal component parts. In case of lottery ticket jam, the top cover shell can be easily opened for troubleshooting without performing any complicated dismounting procedure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring toFIGS. 1-4, a lottery ticket destruction apparatus in accordance with the present invention is shown. The lottery ticket destruction apparatus comprises a housing1, a transmission gear set2, a set of sheet-transfer rollers31;32, a set of rotary cutters41;42, and a set of pull-and-push rollers51;52.

The housing1is a flip-turn design. As shown inFIG. 1, the housing1comprises a top cover shell11and a bottom body shell12. The top cover shell11and the bottom body shell12are pivotally coupled together such that the top cover shell11can be turned relative to the bottom body shell12and opened. The top cover shell11comprises a top opening111, and guide plates112;113for guiding lottery tickets inserted into the top opening111toward the inside of the bottom body shell12. The bottom body shell12has mounted therein a motor13for driving a pinion131(seeFIG. 5). Further, sensors141;142are respectively mounted in the top cover shell11and the bottom body shell12.

The transmission gear set2, as shown inFIG. 5, consists of a plurality of gears respectively mounted on the outer wall of the top cover shell11and the outer wall of the bottom body shell12and meshed with one another. Through a meshed transmission of different sizes of gears, the transmission gear set2can provide a driving effect of three different speeds.

Referring toFIGS. 3 and 4, the sheet-transfer rollers31;32are arranged in pairs and disposed below the top opening111of the top cover shell11. Further, the two sheet-transfer rollers31;32of one same pair are respectively pivotally mounted in the bottom body shell12and the top cover shell11to face each other, and rotatable by the transmission gear set2at a low speed.

The rotary cutters41;42are arranged in pairs below the set of sheet-transfer rollers31;32. Further, the two rotary cutters41;42of one same pair are respectively pivotally mounted in the bottom body shell12and the top cover shell11to face each other, and rotatable by the transmission gear set2at a middle speed.

The pull-and-push rollers51;52are arranged in pairs below the set of rotary cutters41;42. Further, the two pull-and-push rollers51;52of one same pair are respectively pivotally mounted in the bottom body shell12and the top cover shell11to face each other, and rotatable by the transmission gear set2at a high speed.

After the top cover shell11and the bottom body shell12are closed, a series of lottery tickets6can be inserted into the top opening111for destruction. Upon insertion of a series of lottery tickets6into the top opening111, the sensors141;142sense the presence of the inserted series of lottery tickets6and then give a signal to start up the motor13, driving the pinion131to rotate the set of sheet-transfer rollers31;32at a low speed, the set of rotary cutters41;42at a middle speed and the set of pull-and-push rollers51;52at a high speed. The inserted series of lottery tickets6are transferred in proper order through the set of sheet-transfer rollers31;32where the inserted series of lottery tickets6are flattened (seeFIG. 6), the set of rotary cutters41;42where each lottery ticket6is cut into three narrow elongated strips, and the set of pull-and-push rollers51;52where the narrow elongated strips of the series of lottery tickets6is stretched and separated, one lottery ticket from another lottery ticket, into fragments61(seeFIG. 7), thus saving waste lottery ticket storage space and facilitating a follow-up procedure.

Further, the flip-turn design of the housing1of the lottery ticket destruction apparatus enables a person to open the top cover shell11conveniently, facilitating inspection, maintenance or replacement of internal component parts. In case of a lottery ticket jam, the top cover shell11can be easily opened for troubleshooting without performing any complicated dismounting procedure.

Further, in this embodiment, the top cover shell11and bottom body shell12of the housing1are L-shaped shells matching each other for quick opening. However, this configuration design is not a limitation. Configuration modification is allowed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Further, the set of sheet-transfer rollers31;32is rotated at a low speed. When a lottery ticket6is transferred through the set of sheet-transfer rollers31;32, it is automatically flattened. Further, when a continuous series of lottery tickets6is transferred through the set of rotary cutters41;42, the continuous series of lottery tickets6is cut into three narrow elongated pieces. These three narrow elongated pieces are then transferred through the set of pull-and-push rollers51;52that are rotated at a high speed. Due to the effect of speed difference between the set of rotary cutters41;42and the set of pull-and-push rollers51;52, the three narrow elongated pieces of the continuous series of lottery tickets6are broken into fragments61along the boundary line62between each two adjacent lottery tickets of the continuous series of lottery tickets6.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the housing1can be an enclosed structure instead of the flip-turn design; other equivalent transmission mechanism can be selectively used to substitute for the transmission gear set2, enabling the set of sheet-transfer rollers31;32, the set of rotary cutters41;42and the set of pull-and-push rollers51;52to be rotated at low, middle and high speeds respectively. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.