Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
3~ S
1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a selector
arrangement for randomly selecting lottery num~ers and
the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
5. For those people who play lotteries, it can often
be difficul-t to make a random selection of lot-tery
numbers. People of-ten use birthdates of relatives and
friends for determining the lottery selection;
10. however, after a while it becomes more and more
difficult to decide upon which numbers are those which
should be played in lotteries, such as Lottario,TM
where the player picks his or her own numbers.
Accordingly, there is a need for a selector which will
15. automatically perform this function in an easy to
operate and random fashion.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The present invention provides a selector
arrangement for random selection of lo-ttery numbers
20. and the like. The selector arrangement comprises a
closed ball portion with a plurality of
indicia-bearing`members trapped in the ball portion
and a stand for the ball portion. The ball portion
itself includes an enlarged mixing region opening to a
25. narrowed transparent selector and viewing region which
is of a width to provide single file and readily
visible stacking of selected ones of the
indicia-bearing members.
The stand is adapted to prevent rolling of the
30. ball portion to maintain the single file and readily
visible stacking of the selected ones of the
indicia-bearing members. Accordingly, a-fter the
selection has been made, it is not necessary to write
the selected numbers down as these can quickly and
35. easily be ascertained by simply viewing the structure
. .
, 2
1. with the members maintained in their stacked orderO
In order to make a further selection the ball
por-tion must simply be turned to a position where all
of the indicia-bearing members move to the mixing
5. region. The ball portion is then returned to the
selector position where further
selected ones of the indicia-bearing members fall down
into the selec-tor and viewing region.
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE DRAWINGS
10. The above, as well as o-ther advantages and
features of the present invention, will be described
in greater detail according to the preferred
embodiments of the present invention in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a selector
15. arrangement according to a preferred embodiment of the
present invention and
Figure 2 is a sectional view through the ball
portion of the selector arrangement of Figure 1
DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFERRED
20. EMBODIMENTS OF T~IE PRESENT INVENTION
As will be seen in the drawings, the selector
arrangement of the present invention comprises a ball
portion 1 and a stand 3 for receiving the ball
portion. The stand includes a centrally located
25. arcuate recess 5 which is shaped to locate the ball
and to prevent it from rolling from the stand.
As bes-t shown in Figure 2, the ball portion
itself is formed from an upper dome 19 and a lower
dome 21 which are secured to one another along their
30. peripheries. Provided in-teriorly of the lower dome
portion is an insert, generally indicated at 13~ This
insert comprises a platform portion 15 and a vertical
stacking por-tion 17. These two portions of the insert
effectively determine the mixing and the selector
35. regions oF the ball portion as will be described
. 3 ~ ~3
1. immediately below.
Trapped within the ball portion are a olurality
of indicia-bearing members. As will be seen in this
particular embodimen-t these indicia-bearing members
5. comprise numbered balls which are par-ticularly suited
for lottery selections. The balls are free to mix and
roam within the upper mixing region 9, by for example,
shaking the ball portion in an
inver-ted position from tha-t shown in the drawings or,
10. for example7 by simply rolling the ball portion,
allowing -the numbered balls to thoroughly intermix
with one another in the upper mixing region of the
ball portion.
For purposes of actually selecting particular
15. numbers, the ball is then re-turned to the position
shown in the drawings in which the balls within the
mixing reyion drop down onto platform portion 15 which
is slightly inclined to direct the balls towards the
vertical stacking portion 17. However, only a certain
20. number of these balls are allowed to drop down into
the vertical stacking portion. In the embodiment
shown in the drawings it will be seen that the
vertical stacking portion can accommodate 6 numbered
balls, with these balls then providing the numbers to
25. be selected for lottery requesting 6 numbers.
However, it is to be understood that -the ball portion
can be set up with different heights of selector
regions for various other lotteries requiring
difFerent numbers of selections.
30. As will be appreciated, the vertical stacking
portion 17J which defines the borders of the selector
region, must be transparent for allowing viewing of
the balls that drop into -the selector region; however,
according to a preferred embodimen-t of the present
35. invention the entire ball portion is opaque other than
. 4 . ~ t7~
1. at the selector and viewing region, as shown in Figure
1. This is particularly intriguing from the
standpoint that until all of the numbered balls have
fallen down into the selector region it is not known
5. which of the numbered balls will be selected, thereby
simulating actual lottery playing condi-tions.
After the selection has been completed the ball
portion is simply placed on the stand in the
arcuate-shaped recess 5 in the Figure 1 position where
10. all of the nurnbered balls remain in their single-file
stacked positions. This enables a quick and easy
viewing of the ball portion to de-termine and recollect
exactly which numbers have been
selected and there-fore eliminates the necessi-ty of
15. having -to write the selected numbers down on a piece
of paper for keeping track of those numbers.
As will be seen from the above, the selector
arrangement of the present invention is one which is
quick and easy to use while providing a totally random
20. selection of lottery numbers and the like. The
arrangement is aesthetically appealing and can, for
example, be construc-ted from smoky black coloured
plastic material so that it is pleasing in appearance
; on any desk top or other surface where the arrangement
25. is -to be located. The intermixing of the numbered
balls within the ball portion can be accomplished in
various different ways including the rolling of the
ball portion along a carpeted surface, or the like,
which will not rnar its attractive appearance. The
30. selection of the numbers is made extremely easy by
simply rotating the ball portion such that the
selector region is facing downwardly whereby the balls
roll along the platform portion in-teriorly of the ball
portion with certain selected ones of the numbered
~5. balls falling down .into -the selector region. The
. 5
l. numbers after having been selected are then maintained
in their selected positions by simply locating the
ball portion in the stand which prevents the ball from
rolling away from the position shown in the drawings.
5. As an added benefit the ball portion is totally
enclosed to prevent loss of any of the indicia bearing
members although it may be constructed in a manner to
enable access to and replacement of the numbered balls
for various di~ferent lot-teries.
lO. In the embodiment described above the ball and
stand are separate from one another. In a further
embodiment of the invention the stand is in-tegral and
stays with -the ball at all times while still being
adapted to prevent rolling of the ball after the
15. numbers have been selected.
Although various preferred embodiments of the
present invention have been described herein in
detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the
art, that variations may be
20. made thereto without departing from the spirit of the
invention or the scope of the appended claims.
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