Patent ID: 8127973

Claim:
A ticket dispensing apparatus comprising: a plurality of modular parallel feed mechanisms arranged to feed tickets from the respective feed mechanism in parallel with each of the other feed mechanisms, each feed mechanism including a separate drive motor and feed rollers, each mechanism being individually detachable from the ticket dispensing apparatus without detaching any other of the plurality of feed mechanisms; each modular feed mechanism including a flag coupled to a sensor, the flag being configured to trigger the sensor only when a ticket is present within the feed mechanism; wherein the flag is mounted to move about a pivot axis to a first position when a ticket strip is fed into the mechanism from a first direction and to move about the pivot axis to a second position distinct from the first position when a ticket strip is fed into the mechanism from a second direction in opposition to the first direction such that the flag permits movement of a ticket strip in each of the first and second directions; and a ticket separation mechanism operable to separate tickets dispensed by the ticket apparatus, the ticket separation mechanism including a separate drive motor, the ticket separation mechanism being configured to separate designated tickets serviced by each of the plurality of modular feed mechanisms.