TICKET DISPENSING MECHANISM AND MACHINE

Abstract: The dispensing mechanism is for cards, tickets or the like of the kind in which a stack of cards (26) are fed singly to a datum position from where they are to be dispensed via a slot (6) in an enclosing cabinet (1). The mechanism is characterised in that the datum position comprises a fixed table (4) which incorporates a slider part (5), in that the slider part when actuated is arranged to reciprocate through said slot, between a load position in which the slider part is fully retracted with its rear edge behind the trailing edge of the card to be dispensed, to a dispense position in which the front edge of the slider part projects through said slot, and in that said rear end of the slider part has an upstanding lip (24) dimensioned to be no more than the tickness of the cards to be dispensed whereby, for each reciprocation, said upstanding rear lip engages the trailing edge of the card at said datum position and carries it to said dispense positon. Preferably, the lip of the slider part has a forwardly directed sharpness, which may be produced by being coarsely machined to provide a forwardly directed burr, along its length so as to bite into the trailing edge of each card as it is dispensed.

Description: Ticket Dispensing Mechanism and Machine This invention relates to mechanisms for dispensing card-like articles such as tickets and to machines incorpora¬ ting such mechanisms. The invention has application, for example, to the sale of lottery tickets via a dispensing machine. Particularly in the case of scratch-off lottery tickets, where parts of the face of the ticket are scratched away to reveal whether a prize, or 10 part of a prize, has been won, it is most important to ensure that the dispensing machine cannot damage this face. An object of the invention is to provide a dispensing mechanism and a machine incorporating such a mechanism. According to one aspect of this invention, a dispensing -' ■ - •i mechanism for cards, tickets or the like of the kind in which a stack of cards are fed singly to a datum position from where they are to be dispensed via a slot in an enclosing cabinet, is characterised in that the datum position comprises a fixed table which incorporates a slider part, in that the slider part 0 when actuated is arranged to reciprocate through said slot, between a load position in which the slider part is fully retracted with its rear edge behind the trailing edge of the card to be dispensed, to a dispense position ' in which the front edge of the slider part projects through said slot, and in that 5 said rear edge of the slider part has an upstanding lip dimensioned to be no more than the thickness of the cards to be dispensed whereby, for each reciprocation, said upstanding lip engages the trailing edge of the card at said datum position and carries it forward to said dispense position. Conveniently, the upstanding lip of the slider part has a forwardly directed sharpness along at least part of its length so as to bite into the trailing edge of each card as it is dispensed, in which case, said upstanding lip may be formed by a plate fixed along the rear edge of the slider part, the upper edge of which is coarsely machined to provide a forwardly directed burr. According to another aspect of this invention, a dispens¬ ing machine for cards, tickets or the like, comprising a cabinet housing a dispensing mechanism as discussed above, is characterised in that the stack of cards is arranged vertically above the fixed table which presents a horizontal, planar upper surface, in that the slider part is reciprocally mounted so that its upper face is in the plane of said planar surface, in that the dimensional relationship between said planar surface and the dispensing slot in the cabinet is such that a clearance is provided between the upper face of the cards dispensed and the upper edge of said slot which is less than the thickness of said cards to ensure that said cards can only be dispensed singly. It will be appreciated that with such a machine, not only is it ensured that cards, or tickets, are dispensed singly, but also that, by stacking scratch-off lottery tickets face-up, that their faces will not be damaged when dispensed due to the appreciable clearance between said faces and the upper edge of the slot through which they are dispensed. In order that the invention may be readily understood, one embodiment of lottery ticket dispensing machine will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete machine partly broken away to show the dispensing mechanism. Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view, on the line II-II of Figure 1, of the slider bar drive arrangement of the 10 mechanism. Figure 3 is an enlarged detail of the part referenced A in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is a view of the line IV-IV of Figure 2. Referring to Figure 1, the machine comprises a cabinet 1 ■ ^-^ having a hinged drop down door 2 which houses the dispensing mechanism 3. The dispensing mechanism 3 is constructed as a sub- assembly and, referring also to Figures 2 to 4, comprises a fixed table in the form of a pair of spaced bars 4, between ° which a slider bar 5 is mounted for reciprocal movement through a dispensing slot 6 appropriately located in the front wall 7 of the cabinet 1. Reciprocal movement of the bar 5 is contolled via a guide slot 8 formed in a horizontal support plate 9 for the bars 4 and 5, against which the slider bar 5 is slidably held via a pair of screws 10 and washers 11. Movement of the slider bar is effected via a motor 12 mounted on a further horizontal support plate 13 via a flange 14, a circular crank 15 mounted on the motor shaft, and a link bar 16 connected between said link bar and said slider bar via journal bearings 17 and 18 respectively. The periphery of the circular crank is machined to provide a flat 19 and a micro switch 20 is mounted with a follower 21 in constant contact with the crank periphery. Referring particularly to Figure 3, the rear end of the slider bar has a plate 22 attached thereto via alien screws 23 the upper edge thereof providing an upstanding lip above the upper face of the bar and being chamfered by a coarse machining operation to leave a forwardly directed burr 24. This distance X between the upper face of the bar 5 and the burr is less than the thickness of the tickets 25 to be dispensed from a ticket stack 26 so that the burr provides a sharpness tending to bite into the trailing edge of each ticket dispensed during one complete reciprocation of the slider bar 5. The front of the dispensing mechanism assembly is constructed with an angled plate 27 held above the plate 9 by spacers 27a to define a mouth for the slider bar 5, and also vertical front and rear bars 28 and 29 which act as guides for the ticket stack 26. A vertical side plate 30 also acts as a guide against which the ticket stack is loaded from the opposite side, which is open, but covered by a removable plate 31 after loading, the bottom end of this plate being held in position by an angle piece 32. The rear vertical bar 29 is slotted over most of its length to provide guidance for a lug 34 of a metal cover plate 33 which rests on the top and thereby presses on the ticket stack 26. An electrical lead 35 extends from the lug to a switch contact (not shown) to energize a warning light 36 on the cabinet when it contacts the bars 4 and 5, which are also of metal, when all the tickets of the stack have been dispensed. Alternatively, a trip switch (not shown) may be suitably positioned above the bars 4 and 5 to be tripped by the plate 33 when only a few tickets remain to be dispensed. The vertical bars 28, 29 and plate 30 of the assembly support a casing 37 at their upper ends, which houses the electrical circuit components for the motor 12 and plate 33. The machine dispenses a ticket by feeding a coin into a coin slot 38 which, via a suitable actuating mechanism and the electrical circuit, causes the motor 12 to describe one rotation, which movement is controlled by the micro-switch follower reaching the flat 19 on the periphery of the crank 9. As can be seen clearly from Figure 2, the burred upstanding lip 24 of the slider bar 5 is behind the ticket stack in its load position, and therefore bites into the trail¬ ing edge of the bottom ticket when it slides forward to its dispense position. This biting effect ensures that the upstanding lip does not run under the ticket should its trailing edge be slightly curled or warped. The scratch-off lottery tickets 25 are stacked so that they are dispensed face-up through the dispense slot 6 and the dimension Y is made to be less than the thickness of two tickets to ensure that only one can be dispensed at a time, although a sufficient clearance is provided to ensure that the ticket face does not rub against the upper edge of the slot 6. With the construction above described, the machine can cater for stacks of tickets of different size. However, where a stack of tickets is relatively large and, therefore, heavy, it has been found that the weight of the stack makes it difficult to dispense the bottom ticket. To avoid this, an angled plate 39 '' is mounted on the bar 28, a short distance above the dispense position, which engages the front of the stack so that an upper part of the stack is held at an angle as shown in Figure 1. This concentrates the weight onto the rear edges of the bottom ticket of the stack, which facilitates dispensing by the slide bar 5. As tickets are dispensed, the angle of the tickets in the upper part of the stack increase; thereby foreshortening the lower tickets 25a thereof, which can thus fall to the lower part of the stack.

Claims: CLAIMS . 1. A dispensing mechanism for cards, tickets or the like of the kind in which a stack of cards are fed singly to a datum position from where they are to be dispensed via a slot in an enclosing cabinet, characterised in that the datum position comprises a fixed table which incorporates a slider part, in that the slider part when actuated is arranged to reciprocate through said slot, between a load position in which the slider part is fully retracted with its rear edge behind the trailing edge of the card to be dispensed, to a dispense position in which the front edge of the slider part projects through said slot, and in that said rear end of the slider part has an upstanding lip dimensioned to be no more than the thickness of the cards to be dispensed whereby, for each reciprocation, said upstanding rear lip engages the trailing edge of the card at said datum position and carries it to said dispense position. 2. A card dispensing mechanism according to Claim 1, characterised in that said upstanding rear lip of the slider part has a forwardly directed sharpness along at least part of its length so as to bite into the trailing edge of each card as it is dispensed. 3. A card dispensing mechanism according to Claim 2, characterised in that said upstanding rear lip is formed by a plate fixed along the rear edge of the slider part, the upper edge of which is coarsely machined to provide a forwardly directed burr. 4. A dispensing machine for cards, tickets or the like comprising a cabinet housing a mechanism according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the stack of ' cards is arranged vertically above the fixed table which presents a horizontal planar surface, in that the slider part is reciprocally mounted so that its upper face is in the plane of said planar surface in that the dimensional relationship between said upper face of the planar part and the dispensing slot in the table is such that a clearance is provided between the upper face of the cards dispensed and the upper edge of said slot which is less than the thickness of said cards to ensure said cards can only be dispensed singly. 5. A dispensing machine according to Claim 4, character¬ ised in that means are provided for engaging the front face of the stack at a position whereby an upper part of the stack is held at an angle to the horizontal, the arrangement being such that the weight of said upper part is concentrated onto the rear edges of the cards in the lower part of the stack to facilitate engagement of the bottom card by said upstanding rear lip of said slider par .

Inventors: KUCKELMANN HEINZ, KUCKELMANN, HEINZ
Applicants: KUCKELMANN HEINZ, PEARSON EDWARD STUART, KUCKELMANN, HEINZ, PEARSON, EDWARD, STUART
Application year: 1986
Main classification: G07F17
IPC codes: G07B3, G07F17