BALL LOTTERY APPARATUS

• US 20130134672A1
• Filed: 08/30/2011
• Published: 05/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konami Gaming Incorporated (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Konami Digital Entertainment Company Limited (Konami Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Okuaki, Masato, Uchiyama, Takashi, Azuma, Shogo, Nakano, Makoto, Kawai, Norifumi
• Granted Patent: US 9,937,411 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 273/144.A
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/06 Lottos or bingo games; Systems, apparatus or devices for checking such games small boxes with balls used for generating random numbers A63F7/048; lottery apparatus G07C15/00; lottery gaming stations, online lottery or bingo G07F17/329; printing processes for lottery tickets B41M3/005
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/061 in which the players select their own numbers, e.g. Lotto
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/00 Roulette games aspects of games using an electronically generated display having two or more dimensions showing representations related to the game A63F13/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 5/02 Roulette-like ball games
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3202 Hardware aspects of a gaming system, e.g. components, construction, architecture thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3216 Construction aspects of a gaming system, e.g. housing, seats, ergonomic aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/329 Regular and instant lottery, e.g. electronic scratch cards

Abstract

A ball lottery apparatus include a discharger adapted for discharging individually multiple lottery balls, a lottery field including multiple holes in which the discharged lottery balls can enter, a host controller for executing various controls, a retrieval mechanism adapted for retrieving the lottery balls. When a bingo game is played, the host controller can set the ball lottery apparatus to a normal mode in which an input time point at which each of the lottery balls discharged from the discharger is input to the lottery field depends on a predetermined rule, and to a dealer mode in which the input time point depends on human action.

Claims

1. A ball lottery apparatus comprising:

a discharger adapted for discharging individually multiple lottery balls that are used for a lottery;

a lottery field including multiple holes in which the lottery balls discharged from the discharger can enter;

a lottery result decider adapted for deciding a lottery result depending on which lottery holes the lottery balls have entered;

a retrieval mechanism adapted for retrieving the lottery balls that have entered the holes; and

a mode setter adapted for setting the ball lottery apparatus to a first mode in which an input time point at which each of the lottery balls discharged from the discharger is input to the lottery field depends on a predetermined rule, and to a second mode in which the input time point depends on human action.

2. The ball lottery apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a rail configured to guide the lottery balls discharged from the discharger to the lottery field;

a blocking member configured to be set to a first status in which the lottery balls passing through the rail are permitted to be guided to the lottery field, and to a second status in which the lottery balls passing through the rail are blocked and are prevented from being guided to the lottery field; and

a discharge controller adapted for controlling a discharge time point at which each of the lottery balls are discharged from the discharger,

wherein the mode setter is configured to set the blocking member to the first status in the first mode, and to set the blocking member to the second status in the second mode.

3. The ball lottery apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a manipulation acceptor configured to accept the human action,

wherein the mode setter comprising a discharge controller adapted for controlling a discharge time point at which each of the lottery balls are discharged from the discharger, and

wherein the discharge controller is adapted to control the discharge time point depending on the predetermined rule in the first mode, and to control the discharge time point depending on a time point at which the manipulation acceptor accepts the human action in the second mode.

4. The ball lottery apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an abnormality detector adapted for determining that an abnormality has occurred if no lottery ball has entered any of the multiple holes within a predetermined decision period after discharging a lottery ball from the discharger,

wherein the predetermined decision period in the second mode is set longer than that in the first mode.

5. The ball lottery apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an abnormality detector adapted for executing an abnormality decision for determining that an abnormality has occurred if no lottery ball has entered any of the multiple holes within a predetermined decision period after discharging a lottery ball from the discharger,

wherein the abnormality detector is adapted for executing the abnormality decision in the first mode and for not executing the abnormality decision in the second mode.

6. The ball lottery apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if a predetermined requirement is satisfied in the first mode, the mode setter is adapted for switching the ball lottery apparatus to the second mode directly after finishing the decision of the lottery result made by the lottery result decider in the first mode.