Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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The present invention relates to amusement apparatuses
which may, for example, be provlded in amusement areas, bars, and
the like.
According to the present invention, there is provided
an arrangement for playing a game, comprising a plurality of
portable code carriers each of which carries a code, means for
reading the code carried by each of said code carriers when manu-
ally presented to said reading means, means for storing a prede-
termined winning code, means for comparing each code read by said
reading means with the predetermined winning code for correspon-
dence therebetween, and means for indicating a win when said com-
paring means detects correspondence between a code read by said
reading means and the predetermined winning code.
When such an apparatus is provided in a bar or the
like, the customers are provided with code carriers with no two
such carriers having the same code. when entering the bar or the
like, the customer presents the code carrier to the apparatus
and, if the code read by the apparatus corresponds to the prede-
termined winning code, a win is indicated and a prize awarded to
the customer.
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The codes are eceferably numbers and each code carrier
is preferably an opaque member defining a plurality of
locations, at least some of which are perforated,
whereby the presence or absence of a perfoeation at each
location defines a binary or binary coded decimal digit
of first or second type, respectively. The reading
means is preferably an array of light sources and an
array of photo sensitive transducers defining
therebetween an insertion passage for the code carrier,
iO each transducer cooperating with a respective source to
determine the presence or absence of a perforation at a
respective location of the code carrier when inserted in
the passage. The code carrier may, for instance, be
generally flat and have the profile or outline of a ~ey.
i5 The predetermined code may be changed at predetermined
intervals and would normally be changed after a win had
been indicated. There may be a plurality of
predetermined codes, the comparing means may be arranged
to compare the read code with each predetermined code,
and the indicating means may be arranged to indicate a
win when the read code and any of the predetermined
codes correspond. The indicating means is preferably
arranged to indicate a respective prize corresponding to
each predetermined code.
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According to a second aspect of the invention, there is
provided an automatic raffle vouche~ dispensing
apparatus, comprising means for issuing a voucher in
response to presentation of a token during a raffle
cycle, and first means for randomly or pseudo-randomly
selecting one of the vouchers issued during the cycle at
the end of the cycle.
Such apparatus may be located in a bar or the like and
provides a fully automated raffle facility. This
1~ apparatus is preferably combined with apparatus
according to the first aspect of the invention, so that
presentation of the code carrier is also presentation of
the token, in effect providing a combined "lucky dip"
and raffle system.
5 There may be provided second means for randomly or
eseudo-randomlY selecting one of a plurality of
predetermined prizes before the end of the cycle to be
awarded to the selected voucher. For instance, the
prizes may comprise various different sums of money and
2~ the second selecting means chooses one of these to be
the prize of the raffle. In a preferred embodiment, an
illuminated display of the various prizes available is
provided and the second means illuminates these
cyclically, resting on the one which is chosen. This
adds interest and excitement to the raffle.
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Preferably there is provided means for associating each
presented token with the issued voucher and for
preventing further issue of a voucher in response to
further presentation of the token during the cycle.
This prevents repeated issue of vouchers for any token.
Preferably there is provided means, actuated by
selection by the first selecting means, for supplying a
prize voucher upon representation of the token
associated with the voucher selected by the first
G selecting means. This provides an elegant way of
vetting prize claims. Preferably the supplying means is
arranged to supply the prize voucher only upon
representation of the associated token during a
predetermined period after selection by the first
selecting means. There is preferably provided means for
indicating the time lapsed or the time remaining during
the predetermined period. This also adds an element of
interest and excitement to the raffle draw, since a
prize is only issued if the associated token is
represented sufficiently rapidly.
Preferably there is provided a first memory containing a
number defining the time of the end of each cycle and a
second memory containing a table of incremental values
arranged to be applied in sequence at the ends of the
cycles to the number in the first memory for altering
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the time of the end of each cycle in an apparently
random way. For instance, when the apparatus is
disposed in a bar or the like, each cycle should
preferably be completed wi,thin the particular period
during which the bar is open.
In order to add interest and variety to the game, it is
preferable for the cycle to finish at different times
towards the end of each period. The number stored in
the first memory, which may be a non-volatile random
1~ access memory, represents the actual time of the end of
the current cycle and this is varied by adding an
"increment" chosen in sequence, at the beginning or end
of each cycle, from a table of values stored in the
second memory, which is preferably a read only memory.
~5 For instance, the least significant digits of the number
in the first memory may each be incremented, without
carrying, by adding the value in a corresponding cell of
a first row of the table after a first cycle, then the
corresponding cell in a second row of the table after
2~ the second cycle, and so on. Thus, the time of the end
of each cycle varies in an apparently random and
unpredictable manner but, by varying only the least
significant digits of the number in the first memory, it
is ensured that the raffle draw takes place towards the
~5 end of the session of opening hours so as ~o permit the
maximum participation in the raffle and so as to entice
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customers to remain in the bar or the like for a longer
period.
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According to a third aspect of the invention, there isprovided an apparatus for playing a game, comprising
5 means for receiving a code carrier, means for
determining the number of different code carriers which
have been read during a game cycle, means for providing
a winning number i, and means for indicating a win when
the ith different code carrier is inserted during the
10 game cycle.
Brief DescriPtion of the Drawinqs
The invention will be further described, by way of
example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which:
5 FIGURE 1 is a front view of an apparatus constituting a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIGURE 2 is a cross section taken on the line II-II in
FIGURE 1,
FIGURE 3 illustrates a code carrier or key for use with
2~ the apparatus of FIGURE 1:
FIGURE 4 shows lateral and vertical sectional views of a
key reader of the apparatus of FIGURE l; and
FIGURE 5 is a block circuit diagram of the appa~atus of
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FIGURE 1.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
The apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 comprises a housing l in
the shape of a large free-standing console for location
5 in a bar or the like. The apparatus includes a main
vertical front panel 2 and an inclined or sloping front
panel 3. The front panel 2 carries a four digit
7-segment display 4 and a two digit 7-segment display
5. Below these 7-segment displays is located a
O 5-element display 6 comprising five panels carrying the
legends shown in the drawing and arranged for back
illumination by respective lamps. Below the display 6
is a key insertion slot 7, a voucher printer outlet slot
8, printed and possibly back-lit instructions 9 for
lS using the apparatus. and a pair of 2-element displays 10
and 11 having the printed legends shown in FIGURE 1 and
arranged for back illumination by respective lam~s.
The sloping panel 3 carries five back-illuminated panels
12 illustrating the prizes available in the ~lucky dip~
~O game to be described hereinafter, and a back-illuminated
single lamp display 13 carrying the legend shown.
FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the interior
of the apparatus 1. A key reader 20 is located behind
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the key slot 7 and will be described in more detail
hereinafter. A printer 21, for instance of the type
used with microcomputers, and an electrically operated
guillotine 22 are located behind the slot 8. The
5 ~uillotine is fixed to the front panel 2 whereas the
printer 21 is hinged to the front panel by means of a
hinge having a vertical axis.
In order to supply paper to the printer 21, a paper
drive 23 is provided in the apparatus. Paper is stored
in the apparatus in the form of a large roll 24 which is
rotated by a motor 25 in order to unwind the paper 26.
The paper from the roll passes over a fixed guide 27 and
between the guide 27 and fixed guide 28. The paper
forms a loop which is weighted by means of a
free-hanging rotary weight 29, the other end of the loop
passing between the guide 28 and a fixed guide 30 and
thence to the printer 21.
The motor 25 is controlled by an arrangement comprising
light sources 31 and 32, such as light emitting diodes,
~0 and light sensitive elements 33 and 34, such as
photo-transistors. The loop of paper supporting the
weight 29 passes between the light sources and the
sensors so that the paper interrupts the light beam from
the sources 31 and 32 to the sensors 33 and 34,
2~ respectively, when disposed therebetween. In order to
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control the supply of paper, with the weight and paper
loop in the position shown in FIGURE 2, i.e. the light
beam from the source 31 reaches the sensor 33 but the
light beam from the source 32 is prevented from reaching
the sensor 34 by the paper looe, the paeer drive is in a
"quiescent~ state.
As the printer 21 prints and draws in paper, the lower
level of the paper loop defined by the weight 29 rises
and, when it permits the light beam from the source 32
O to reach the sensoc 34. the motor 25 is driven so as to
supply paper from the roll 24 until the loop has reached
a length sufficient to cut off the light beams to both
the sensors 33 and 34. The motor is then stopped, and
this process reeeated so as to maintain a supely of
paper for the printer, which would be unable to take the
paper directly from the roll 24 as the motor which it
contains is not sufficiently powerful.
As shown in FIGURE 2, the apparatus further comprises a
power supply unit 35 and electronics 36 in the form of a
20 microprocessor system including various interface
circuits.
FIGURE 3 shows a code carrier or token for use with the
apparatus of FIGURE 1. As shown in FIGURE 3, this
element has an outline or proflle similar to a key, and
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will therefore be referred to as a key hereinafter. The
key 40 is made of an opaque plastics material and
defines a plurality of locations arranged in rows and
columns as indicated by the seven vertical arrows and
5 the four horizontal arrows. At some of these locations,
the key is perforated to provide a through aperture and,
in the present embodiment, this represents a "one" in
binary coded decimal. Alternatively, a binary
representation could be adopted. The location therefore
1~ defines a seven digit decimal number which, in the case
of the particular key shown in FIGURE 3, is "3596073".
Thus, there are ten million possible codes or numbers
and keys are provided such that no two keys carry the
same number. The key has a front or nose section defined
by an inclined edge 41 and an apex portion 42. A
through aperture 43 is formed in the apex portion 42 and
locates the key in a key reader as described hereinafter
FIGURE 4 shows two views of the key reader 20, the upper
view showing a vertical cross section and the lower view
showing a lateral cross section of the reader. The
reader comprises an array of four by seven light sources
50, such as light emitting diodes, and a congruent array
of light sensitive elements, such as photo-transistors
51. The arrays face each other to define therebetween a
2~ ~ey insertion passage which extends from the key
insertion slot 7 in the front panel 2. Each
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photo-transistor 5~ is arranged to receive light only
from the corresponding light source 50 via a portion of
the key insertion passage corresponding to a respective
location of the key 40. Thus, when there is an aperture
5 at the respective location, the light beam is received
by the respective photo-transistor whereas the absence
of such an aperture prevents passage of the light. The
reader is actuated only upon full insertion of the key
therein. the position of full insertion being
O established by a spring-loaded captive ball-bearing 52
entering the aperture 43, in which condition the edge 41
of the key 40 actuates a microswitch 53 to enable
reading of the code carried by the key.
FIGURE 5 is a block circuit diagram of the apparatus of
5 FIGURE 1, with the reference numerals corresponding to
those used in the other FIGURES. Thus, the circuit
comprises a microprocessor and interface, to which are
connected the key reader 20, the printer and guillotine
21 and 22, the various individual displays 6, 10, 11,
2~ and 13, and the two seven segment displays 4 and 5.
FIGURE 5 also indicates diagramatically the paper drive
23 and power supply unit 35, the eaper drive 23
operating essentially independently of the
microprocessor. The microprocessor includes random
access memory RAM and read only memory ROM. The read
only memory stores the operating program of the
microprocessor, and hence of the apparatus, and
.
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12
operation of the apparatus will be described
hereinafter, from which d man skilled in the art would
readily be able to perform the necessary programming.
When power is initially supplied to the apparatus 1, the
5 microprocessor performs various initialising functions
and illuminates the legend "insert key" of the display
10 when initialisation has been completed. A number
representing the time of the end of a raffle cycle is
stored in the random access memory within the
microprocessor in a non-volatile manner, for instance by
providing the random access memory with a back-up power
supply. The microprocessor also contains a real time
clock and date system which controls the raffle cycle
time.
In this condition, the other single-element displays are
extinguished, as are the 7-segment displays 4 and 5.
When a customer inserts a key 40 carrying a unique code
in the form of a seven digit decimal number, the legend
"insert key" is extinguished and the legend "please
wait" is illuminated. The microprocessor compares the
seven digit decimal number with a previously stored
seven digit number providing the winning combination
and, if the two numbers do not correspond, illuminates
the legend "try again tomorrow" on the display 13. If
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the numbers do correspond, then the apparatus provides a
visual and/or audible indication of a win, illuminates
the legend "take prize voucher" on the display 11, and
provides a prize voucher through the slot 8, which is
5 printed by the printer 21 and cut off from the paper
roll by the guillotine 22. In the embodiment shown,
there are five prizes and prize-winning combinations,
the prizes being illustrated by the illuminated panels
12.
The legend "try again tomorrow" or "ta~e prize voucher"
is then extinguished, and the printer 21 prints a raffle
voucher which is then separated by the guillotine 22 and
supplied through the slot 8. The legend ~take raffle
voucher" is then illuminated. The raffle voucher is
~5 printed with a number which is stored in a look-up table
in the random access memory of the microprocessor in
association with the seven digit number carried by the
key, and the microprocessor prevents the issue o~
further raffle vouchers upon re-insertion of the key
into the reader 20 until completion of the raffle cycle
by the apparatus, for instance towards the end of t~e
serving period of a bar in which the apparatus is
installed.
Immediately before the end of the raffle cycle, the
2~ microprocessor enters a ~raffle draw" mode by
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illuminating each of the prize legends shown on the
display 6 in FIGURE 1, which represents the value in
dollars or pounds of possible raffle prizes. Sequential
illumination of these prize values continues until the
5 microprocessor makes a random or pseudo-random selection
of the prize to be awarded for that raffle cycle, at
which time the respective prize legend is illuminated on
the display 6 and the other legends remain
extinguished. The microprocessor then selects randomly
O or pseudo-randomly one of the raffle voucher numbers
which has been issued during the cycle as the winning
number and displays this on the 7-segment display 4.
Additional visual and/or audible indications are
provided to indicate that the raffle draw has been made
so as to alert customers to this Eact. The
microprocessor then commences timing of a period, such
as two minutes, during which a prize claim may be made.
In particular, the seven segment display 5 is
incremented upwardly from zero to provide a display of
the number of seconds which have elapsed since the
commencement of the prize claim period. When the
display reaches the value ''60'l corresponding to one
minute from the raffle draw, the microprocessor then
decrements the display 5 to show the number of seconds
2S remaining of the period during which the prize may be
claimed. The owner of the key which is associated with
the winning raffle voucher must insert the key into the
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reader 20 during this period in order to claim a prize.
When the key is inserted, the microprocessor checks that
the seven digit code number corresponds to the number o~
the raffle voucher selected as the winning voucher and,
5 if the correct key has been inserted, causes the printer
21 and guillotine 22 to print and issue a prize voucher
via the slot 8. The legend "take prize voucherl' of the
display 11 is illuminated. The prize voucher may then
be cashed or exchanged, for instance for a beverage or
l other goods This marks completion of the raffle cycle,
and a new cycle may be commenced immediately thereafter
or may be commenced at the beginning of the next period
during which the bar is open.
The apparatus thus provides an automatic ~'lucky dip" and
l5 raffle draw arrangement which may be used, for instance
in bars, to entice customers into the bar and to entice
them to remain until towards the end of the particular
period during which the bar is open. Accordingly, this
assists in improving the profitability of the bar and
2~0 adds to the enjoyment and entertainment of the customers.
