Method and apparatus for facilitating the play of fractional lottery tickets utilizing point-of-sale terminals
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
- determining a monetary value;
allocating a portion of a ticket, the portion being based on the monetary value;
outputting a ticket identifier that identifies the ticket and a portion identifier that identifies the allocated portion of the ticket; and
storing the ticket identifier and the portion identifier.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A store controller determines a monetary value, such as an amount of spare change due to a customer, and allocates a portion of a lottery ticket for the customer. The portion is based on the monetary value, and may be, for example, equal to the monetary value, or may be the monetary value rounded to the nearest nickel. The store controller outputs a ticket identifier that identifies the lottery ticket (e.g. a serial number) and a portion identifier that identifies the allocated portion of the lottery ticket (e.g. $0.34 of a $2.00 lottery ticket). Typically, the store controller outputs the identifiers to a POS terminal, which prints a fractional lottery ticket redeemable for a portion of the lottery ticket'"'"'s prize. The store controller also stores the ticket identifier and the portion identifier, to assure that fraudulent tickets will be detected. After a drawing date of the lottery ticket, the customer redeems the fractional lottery ticket, typically at a POS terminal. The POS terminal communicates with the store controller, which receives the ticket identifier and the portion identifier therefrom. From the received identifiers, the store controller may determine a prize value of the lottery ticket. The customer is in turn provided with a portion of the prize value based on the allocated portion of the ticket.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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determining a monetary value;
allocating a portion of a ticket, the portion being based on the monetary value;
outputting a ticket identifier that identifies the ticket and a portion identifier that identifies the allocated portion of the ticket; and
storing the ticket identifier and the portion identifier. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. An apparatus for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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a storage device; and
a processor connected to the storage device, the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor; and
the processor operative with the program to;
determine a monetary value;
allocate a portion of a ticket, the portion being based on the monetary value;
output a ticket identifier that identifies the ticket and a portion identifier that identifies the allocated portion of the ticket; and
store the ticket identifier and the portion identifier in the storage device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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determining a monetary value;
allocating a portion of each ticket of a plurality of tickets, the portion of each ticket being associated with a portion of the monetary value;
outputting a plurality of ticket identifiers that identify the plurality of tickets and a plurality of portion identifiers that identify the allocated portions of each ticket; and
storing the ticket identifiers and the portion identifiers.
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12. An apparatus for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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a storage device; and
a processor connected to the storage device, the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor; and
the processor operative with the program to;
determine a monetary value;
allocate a portion of each ticket of a plurality of tickets, the portion of each ticket being associated with a portion of the monetary value;
output a plurality of ticket identifiers that identify the plurality of tickets and a plurality of portion identifiers that identify the allocated portions of each ticket; and
store the ticket identifiers and the portion identifiers in the storage device.
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13. A method for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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determining an amount of change due for a purchase;
determining a monetary value based on the amount of change due;
selecting a ticket from a plurality of tickets, the selected ticket having an unallocated portion at least as great as the monetary value;
allocating at least a portion of the selected ticket, the portion being based on the monetary value;
outputting a ticket identifier that identifies the ticket and a portion identifier that identifies the allocated portion of the selected ticket; and
storing the ticket identifier and the portion identifier. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. An apparatus for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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a storage device; and
a processor connected to the storage device, the storage device storing a programs for controlling the processor; and
the processor operative with the program to;
determine an amount of change due for a purchase;
determine a monetary value based on the amount of change due;
select a ticket from a plurality of tickets, the selected ticket having an unallocated portion at least as great as the monetary value;
allocate at least a portion of the selected ticket, the portion being based on the monetary value;
output a ticket identifier that identifies the ticket and a portion identifier that identifies the allocated portion of the selected ticket; and
store the ticket identifier and the portion identifier in the storage device. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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receiving a ticket identifier that identifies a ticket and a portion identifier that identifies an allocated portion of the ticket;
determining a prize value of the ticket; and
determining a portion of the prize value based on the allocated portion of the ticket.
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22. An apparatus for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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a storage device; and
a processor connected to the storage device, the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor; and
the processor operative with the program to;
receive a ticket identifier that identifies a ticket and a portion identifier that identifies an allocated portion of the ticket;
determine a prize value of the ticket; and
determine a portion of the prize value based on the allocated portion of the ticket.
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23. A method for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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determining a monetary value;
allocating at least a portion of a ticket, the portion being based on the monetary value;
determining a prize value of the ticket; and
providing a portion of the prize value based on the allocated portion of the ticket.
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24. An apparatus for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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a storage device; and
a processor connected to the storage device, the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor; and
the processor operative with the program to;
determine a monetary value;
allocate at least a portion of a ticket, the portion being based on the monetary value;
determine a prize value of the ticket; and
provide a portion of the prize value based on the allocated portion of the ticket.
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25. A method for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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maintaining a supply of tickets, each ticket having an unallocated portion thereof;
acquiring an additional ticket. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An apparatus for facilitating the purchase of fractional lottery tickets using a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:
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a storage device; and
a processor connected to the storage device, the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor; and
the processor operative with the program to;
maintain a supply of tickets, each ticket having an unallocated portion thereof; and
acquire an additional ticket. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification