Abstract:
A transparent, automatic ball blower configured to generate random outcomes for a game by air-mixing Ping-Pong-style balls in a mixing chamber. During game play, the balls extracted from the mixing chamber via an extractor pipe are subsequently carried by a computer-controlled, motorized ball carrier mechanism to an inlet of a ball accumulator compartment. The ball accumulator compartment may be located proximate to the ball mixing chamber. The ball carrier mechanism moves and drops the extracted balls, one-at-a-time, into the ball accumulator compartment. The balls fall into the ball accumulator compartment by means of gravity alone. The balls fill the ball accumulator compartment which, in one version, accommodates a single vertical layer of balls allowing visual inspection of the balls. At the end of game play, the balls are released from the ball accumulator compartment into the mixing chamber through a computer-controlled, motorized ball release gate.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The embodiments of the present invention relate to a hands-free, automatic ball blower. 
     BACKGROUND 
     U.S. Pat. No. 7,775,521 (to Itkis, et al.), incorporated herein by this reference for all purposes, discloses an automatic ball blower including a pressurized ball return tube that sequentially accumulates balls drawn from the ball-mixing chamber during a gambling game, such as bingo, keno and lottery, and releases the accumulated balls into the mixing chamber at the end of the game. The balls extracted from the mixing chamber during the game are carried, one-at-a-time, by a computer-controlled, motorized carriage towards the inlet of the ball return tube. Although the ball return tube surrounding the mixing chamber, like a staircase, preserves the valuable history of the balls drawn during the game, it substantially increases the cost of the automatic ball blower, and requires a separate, auxiliary pump for a controlled pressurization of the ball return tube that, unfortunately, increases the level of noise generated by the automatic ball blower. 
     Accordingly, it would be advantageous to simplify an automatic ball blower; reduce the noise generated by an automatic ball blower; and also reduce the cost of an automatic ball blower while providing all of the desired benefits. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, in one embodiment, the automatic ball blower does not include a ball return tube or auxiliary pump, and instead, replaces the expensive ball return tube and auxiliary pump with an inexpensive ball accumulator compartment placed proximate to the ball mixing chamber. In one embodiment, the ball accumulator compartment and ball mixing chamber share a common wall. During play of a game, a computer-controlled, motorized ball carriage picks-up the balls at the outlet of a ball extractor pipe positioned near a center of the ball mixing chamber and drops or releases the balls at an inlet of a ball accumulator compartment configured to accommodate a single layer of balls. The balls then free-fall, one-at-a-time, into the ball accumulator compartment gradually filling the ball accumulator compartment. At the end of the game, the balls collected in the ball accumulator compartment are released into the mixing chamber through a computer-controlled, motorized ball release gate. 
     Other variations, embodiments and features of the present invention will become evident from the following detailed description, drawings and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a cross-sectional side view of an automatic ball blower according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a barcoded ball for use with the automatic ball blower according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a ball return gate with ventilation openings according embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram of computer-controlled automatic ball blower according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a top down view of a ball carrier with a ball socket positioned above an outlet of a ball extractor pipe according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a top down view of the ball carrier with the ball socket positioned above an inlet of a ball accumulator compartment according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a side view of the automatic ball blower with the ball carrier in a position to drop a ball into the accumulator compartment according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a cross-sectional back view of the automatic ball blower according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  illustrates an inclined bottom plate of the ball accumulator compartment with ventilation openings therein according to the embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  illustrates an alternative implementation of a ball socket according to the embodiments of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 11  illustrates a flow chart of a game methodology facilitated by the automatic ball blower according to the embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive feature illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to those skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention claimed. 
     The components of the embodiments of the present invention may be fabricated of any suitable materials, including plastics, alloys, composites and may be fabricated using suitable techniques, including molding, casting, machining and rapid prototyping. 
       FIG. 1  shows a cross-sectional side view of an automatic ball blower  1  having a ball mixing chamber  2 , air pump  3 , ball extractor pipe  4 , ball carrier mechanism  5 , ball accumulator compartment  6  and ball return gate  7 . The ball mixing chamber  2 , ball extractor pipe  4 , ball carrier mechanism  5  and ball return gate  7  are, in one embodiment, manufactured of a transparent durable plastic, such as acrylic, thereby exposing balls  8  through  11  contained therein for external observation. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the balls  8  through  11  are, in one embodiment, manufactured as Ping-Pong balls imprinted with identification numbers and/or symbols and barcodes  14 . Therefore, the ball  12  is identified by a ball number  13  and/or a barcode  14 . The ball blower  1  is configured to generate random game outcomes, such as the identities of the randomly drawn balls, for gambling games, such as bingo, keno and lottery. 
     The air pump  3  is attached to a bottom pan  15  of the automatic ball blower  1 . An air-driven mixing chamber  2  is, in one embodiment, constructed as a rectangular, transparent vertically standing box (those skilled in the art will recognize that the air mixing chamber may be constructed in a variety of shapes and forms including spherical and cylindrical forms). During play of a game, the air pump  3  blows air into the mixing chamber  2  to stir balls  8  contained in the mixing chamber  2 . In one embodiment, a vertical ball extractor pipe  4  is located at the center of the mixing chamber  2 . One end  16  of the ball extractor pipe  4  is attached to a top cover  29  of the mixing chamber  2 . In one embodiment, the mixing chamber  2  is sealed, except that the pressurized air injected by the air pump  3  is able to escape from the mixing chamber  2  through a top end  16  of the ball extractor pipe  4  and ventilation openings  17  in the ball return gate  7  as best illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
     A vertical wall  18  of the mixing chamber  2  is, in one embodiment, a common wall with the vertical ball accumulator compartment  6 . In one embodiment, the vertical ball accumulator compartment  6  is made of a transparent plastic material. An external wall  19  of the ball accumulator compartment  6  is, in one embodiment, parallel to the common wall  18 , which together define the ball accumulator compartment  6  in which the balls  11  extracted from the mixing chamber  2  are accumulated during play of the game. 
     The air pump  3  is controlled by a computer  20  as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Under the control of the computer  20 , the pump  3  is “on” during the play of the game and is “off” when the game is over. When in an on position, the pump  3  blows pressurized air into the mixing chamber  2  through an opening  21  at the bottom pan  15  of the mixing chamber  2 . The pressurized air forces the balls  8  contained in the mixing chamber  2  to agitate/mix by bouncing off one other and ricocheting off walls  22  of the mixing chamber  2 , including the common wall  18 , and also the ball extractor pipe  4 . 
     In one embodiment, the computer  20  controls the air pump  3  through a USB bus  23 . Through the same bus  23 , the computer  20  also controls a motor  24 , such as a stepper motor, of the ball carrier mechanism  5  mounted on the axis  25  of the motor  24 . One element of the ball carrier mechanism  5  is a carriage plate  26  that is, in one embodiment, shaped as a sector/segment of a circle centered on the axis  25  as best illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The plate  26  rotates between two positions, namely, a ball pick-up position  27  and a ball drop position  28  as illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , respectively. The ball carrier mechanism  5  includes a ball socket  30  mounted on the plate  26 . The ball socket  30  is shaped as a short transparent pipe  31  (in one embodiment having the same diameter as the extractor pipe  4 ) capable of accommodating a single ball. The short pipe  31  is opened at its bottom end  32  to allow a single ball  8  being mixed in the mixing chamber  2  to enter the ball socket  30  when the latter is positioned in the ball pick-up position  27  over the extractor pipe  4 . While the socket  30  is positioned in the pick-up position  27 , the pressurized air escapes through a mostly open top end of the short pipe  31 . The top end of the short pipe  31  is partially blocked, in one embodiment, by two narrow, transparent rods  32  parallel to each other and securely attached across the top end of the short pipe  31 . The rods  32  prevent the ball  10  positioned within the socket  30  from escaping the automatic ball blower  1  into the open air under the pressure of the air streaming through the top (open) end  16  of the extractor pipe  4 . 
     Under the air pressure developed by the air pump  3 , at least one of the balls  8  being mixed in the mixing chamber  2  is pushed into the ball socket  30  when the latter is positioned at the ball pick-up position  27 , over the top end  16  of the extractor pipe  4  as best illustrated in  FIG. 7 . 
     Once the ball  10  is in the socket  30 , positioned at the ball pick-up position  27 , a video camera  34  captures an image of the ball  10  and transmits the captured image to the computer  20 . The computer  20  processes the captured image using an optical character recognition routine and/or barcode  14  reading routines to identify the ball  10  and thereafter command the motor  24  to rotate the plate  26  from the ball pick-up position  27  to the ball drop-off position  28 . As the plate  26  rotates, it carries the socket  30  mounted thereupon, and the latter carries the ball  10  by rolling the ball  10  over the horizontal top cover  29  of the ball mixing chamber  2 . Once the socket  30  arrives at the ball drop-off position  28 , the ball  10  drops from the socket  30  under the force of gravity and continues to free fall into the ball accumulator compartment  6  since the air pressure of the air stream escaping from the extractor pipe  4  is insufficient to levitate the ball  10  in the socket  30  positioned at the ball drop-off position  28 . 
     In one embodiment, while the socket  30  is positioned at the drop-off position  28 , a tail edge  33  of the plate  26  covers the top opening  34  of the extractor pipe  4  preventing any additional ball  9  from escaping the extractor pipe  4  into the open air. An additional advantage of the tail edge  33  covering the top opening  34  is a reduction in the air pressure drop between the bottom edge  35  and the top edge  16  of the extractor pipe  4 . Such a reduction in the air pressure generally prevents any additional balls  8  from entering into the extractor pipe  4  and also facilitates the dropping (i.e., out of the extractor pipe  4 ) of any balls  9  that may already be inside of the extractor pipe  4 . Applicant has learned that having the extractor pipe  4  essentially empty, while the socket  30  is above the ball drop-off position  28 , results in a more random ball mixing and facilitates security of play of the game. 
     Under the control of computer  20 , the socket  30  transports balls  8  from the mixing chamber  2 , one-at-a-time, into the ball accumulator compartment  6 . The transported balls  10  fall into the ball accumulator compartment  6  on top of one another and gradually fill the compartment  6 , starting from its inclined bottom plate  36  and stacking to the top  37  of the vertical ball accumulator compartment  6 . The balls  11  contained in the accumulator compartment  6  are unable to exit the ball accumulator compartment  6  while the ball return gate  7 , located at the bottom of the ball accumulator compartment  6 , is closed. 
     The ball accumulator compartment  6  should have a ball capacity sufficient for the game being played. For example, with a classic keno game, it is sufficient to have the ball accumulator compartment  6  configured to accommodate twenty balls, while for a classic bingo game, the ball accumulator compartment  6  is configured to accommodate seventy-five or ninety balls. In one embodiment, the ball accumulator compartment  6  takes a substantially rectangular form with a space defined by the external wall  19  and the common internal wall  18  selected to be slightly larger than the diameter of the Ping-Pong balls  12  resulting in the balls  11  being stacked in the ball accumulator compartment  6  in a single vertical stack  38  comprising multiple columns as illustrated in  FIGS. 1  and  8 . For example, if the balls  11  are stacked vertically in columns averaging eight balls  11  and horizontally in rows averaging ten balls  11 , the ball accumulator compartment  6  is configured to hold eighty balls  11 . 
     Applicant has learned that the balls  11  dropped in the ball accumulator compartment  6  generally do not form a perfect rectangular ball structure, but rather tend to form an irregularly shaped pyramid-like ball structure. Such a phenomenon implies that the ball accumulator compartment  6  should have a sufficient vertical dimension to accommodate a required number of balls  11 . Applicant has further learned that the openings  17  in the return gate  7  can provide for a partial escape of the pressurized air from the mixing chamber  2  into the bottom of the ball accumulator compartment  6  which tends to “shake-up” the balls  11  in the accumulator compartment  6  facilitating a more uniform and preferred settling down of the balls  11  in the ball accumulator compartment  6  thereby preventing pyramid-like ball stacking which does not maximize the defined space of the ball accumulator compartment  6 . Due to the openings  17  (and also partially due to the air escaping from the mixing chamber  2  near edges of the gate  7 ), the overall height of the mixing chamber  2  may be substantially decreased resulting in a lower overall cost of the ball blower. 
     In another embodiment, the ball accumulator compartment  6  may include vertical separators to assist with the proper stacking of the balls  11  therein. In such an embodiment, the computer  20  may instruct the ball carrier mechanism  5  to move to multiple drop positions so that balls  10  drop into a selected one of the multiple separate columns formed by the vertical separators. 
     The ball return gate  7  is, in one embodiment, driven by a motor  39 , such as a stepper motor, between a normally closed vertical position  40  and an open position  41  (as indicated in  FIG. 1  by dashed lines). Being closed during the game, the ball return gate  7  prevents balls  11  from rolling down the inclined bottom  36  into the mixing chamber  2 . Once the game is over, the computer  20  commands the motor  39  to open the return gate  7  so that the balls  11  accumulated in the ball accumulator compartment  6  fall through (due to gravity) the ball accumulator compartment  6  and over the inclined bottom plate  36  through the open gate  7  and into the mixing chamber  2 . In one embodiment, to facilitate the return of the balls  11  into the mixing chamber  2 , at the end of the game, the computer  20  shuts down the air pump  3  or reduces the pressure of the air being distributed by the air pump  3 . 
     Applicant has also learned that it is desirable to have the bottom edge of ball return gate  7  located at a height  42 , slightly above the bottom pan  15  of the mixing chamber  2 , to facilitate a full discharge of the balls  11  from the ball accumulator compartment  6  into the mixing chamber  2  without interference from the balls  8  contained in the mixing chamber  2 . 
       FIG. 11  shows a flow chart  100  detailing a game methodology facilitated by the automatic ball blower  1 . At  105 , the air pump  3  is turned on and the balls  8  are mixed in the mixing chamber  2 . At  110 , a ball  8  from the mixing chamber  2  is captured by the extractor pipe  4 . At  115 , the ball carrier mechanism  5  moves the captured ball  10  from the pick-up location to the drop location. At  120 , the ball  10  is dropped into the ball accumulator compartment  6 . At  125 , it is determined if additional balls need to be drawn. If so, the flow chart  100  loops back to  110 . If not, at  130 , the computer  20  may optionally shut down the air pump  3 . At  135 , the computer  20  causes the ball return gate  7  to open releasing the balls  11  from the ball accumulator compartment  6  into the mixing chamber  2 . 
     The above-described embodiment of the automatic ball blower  1  is not the only possible implementation of the principles of the present invention. The invention may be implemented in many various ways by a person skilled in the art. For example, the ball accumulator compartment  6  may be (i) detached from the mixing compartment; and/or (ii) inclined rather than substantially vertical; and/or (iii) at least partially spherical and/or may accumulate balls  11  not in a single layer  38  but in two or more layers, especially if it is acceptable, in a particular application, not to expose each and every ball accumulated in the ball accumulator compartment  6  for a direct view but rather sufficient to rely on the history of the drawn balls stored in the memory of computer  20  (thus allowing the height of the ball accumulator compartment  6  to be reduced to store the required number of balls  11 ). In addition, different shapes and forms of the ball accumulator compartment  6  may result in a more complex (rather than the straight vertical line trajectories of the balls dropping down from the ball socket  30 ) design and may involve various paths and height differences. 
     Similarly, the socket  30  retaining the ball  10  while it is being extracted and transported may be implemented in various shapes and forms, as long as it performs the primary functions of (i) capturing the ball  10  at the ball pick-up position; (ii) retaining the ball  10  while it rolls over the top cover  29  of the mixing chamber  2 ; and (iii) allowing the ball  10  to drop into the ball accumulator compartment  6  at the ball drop-off position  28 . In particular, as shown in  FIG. 10 , the socket  30  may be effectively implemented as two parallel u-shaped brackets  43  mounted on top of the carrier plate  26  and surrounding the ball inlet/outlet opening  44  at the bottom of the plate  26  through which the ball  10  is picked-up and dropped. The brackets  43  prevent the ball  10  at the ball pick-up position  27  from escaping into the open air under the pressure of the air streaming through the top opening  34  of the extractor pipe  4 . The same brackets  44  however do not prevent ball  10  from dropping into the ball accumulator compartment  6  at the drop position  28  where the effect of the air streaming from the extractor pipe  4  is negligible. 
     Applicant has learned that the ball  10  contained in the socket  30  (whether it is implemented as a short pipe  31  or parallel brackets  44 ) tends to rotate and vibrate erratically due to air pressure turbulences. The erratic motion of the ball  10  complicates and slows down the process associated with reading the ball identity by the camera  34  and the computer  20 . It is desirable therefore, to mount a constant-speed motor  45  (also controlled by the computer  20 ) on top of the mixing chamber  2  in such a way that the motor&#39;s axis  46  is positioned slightly above and between the brackets  44 , in such a way that the friction between the axis  46  and the ball  10  facilitates a regular, orderly rotation of the ball  10 . It is further desirable to provide for friction between the axis  46  and the ball  10  (e.g., by putting a chunk of a rubber hose  47  on the axis  46  as illustrated in  FIG. 10 ). 
     Applicant has also learned, like ventilation openings  17  in the ball return gate  7 , it is desirable to add ventilation openings  48  in the inclined bottom plate  36  of the ball accumulator compartment  6  as illustrated in  FIG. 9 . The ventilation openings  48  further facilitate the process of settling down of the first few balls  11  in the ball accumulator compartment  6 . 
     Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to several embodiments, additional variations and modifications exist within the scope and spirit of the invention as described and defined in the following claims.