Electronic gaming apparatus and method

• US 5,487,544 A
• Filed: 09/14/1994
• Issued: 01/30/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ronald C. Clapper Jr
• Original Assignee: Ronald C. Clapper Jr
• Inventors: Clapper, Ronald C. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Layno, Benjamin H.
• Application Number:
  US08/306,108
• Time in Patent Office: 503 Days
• Field of Search: 273/138 A, 273/139, 273/143 R, 221/2, 221/8, 221/30, 221/32
• US Class Current: 463/16
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2003/0016 imitating fruit machines
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/242 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/0645 Electric lottos or bingo games
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/069 having a message becoming legible by tearing-off non-adhesive parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/342 Cards defining paid or billed services or quantities
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 15/005 with dispensing of lottery tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3248 involving non-monetary media of fixed value, e.g. casino chips of fixed value
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/025 by means, e.g. cards, providing billing information at the time of purchase, e.g. identification of seller or purchaser, quantity of goods delivered or to be delivered

Abstract

An electronic gaming apparatus Which preferably corresponds to and effectively electronically automates the game of chance known as "Pull-Tab." A primary strip of indicia in the form of a roll is provided in the apparatus and upon actuation of the apparatus, a segment of the strip is severed to provide a strip segment or ticket and is dispensed. If the indicia on the severed segment corresponds to a winning indicia, then the player would win the game. A duplicate copy of each severed segment of the primary strip is maintained on a duplicate strip and stored for purposes of later auditing. In addition, an electronic display is provided on the apparatus. The primary or duplicate strip of indicia contains a code corresponding to the indicia printed on each dispensed segment. This code is read as a segment of the strip is dispensed and simultaneously displayed on the screen.

Claims

1. An improved pre-printed ticket containing strip for use in an electronic gaming apparatus of the type capable of dispensing a segment of a strip to be used as a ticket and which may win or score in a game depending on pre-printed indicia which may appear on the segment;

said pre-printed ticket containing strip comprising a plurality of successive pre-printed strip segments capable of being severed from the strip to constitute tickets, each said strip segment further comprising;

a) a primary strip segment with a first face and a second face on the opposite side of the first face;

b) each of said plurality of strip segments constituting a separate ticket defining location on said strip with indicia on said first face in each of the separate locations and where the indicia of some locations will differ from the indicia of other locations, each of said strip segments arranged to be separated from said strip to provide a ticket which is dispensable from said gaming apparatus, certain of said tickets containing winning indicia and which tickets are randomly distributed throughout said ticket containing strip;

c) a code representative of the indicia associated with the separate strip segment on the strip and where information in the code is unintelligible to an individual by visual examination and only machine readable, such that the code can be read by the apparatus for further processing; and

d) a secondary strip disposed in juxtaposed relationship to the first face of the primary strip segment and capable of being separated from the primary strip segment, said indicia being hidden from view by said secondary strip and being visible when said secondary strip is removed and where removal of the secondary strip before dispensing of the ticket is evidence of tampering with the ticket.

2. The ticket containing strip of claim 1 further characterized in that the code is on the second face of each of said tickets.

3. The ticket containing strip of claim 2 further characterized in that said code on the second face of each segment is a machine readable code which is capable of generating the same indicia as on the first face of such segment or information relating to the indicia on the first face of that segment.

4. The ticket containing strip of claim 1 further characterized in that said code is a machine readable code which is capable of being read by the gaming apparatus and having indicia corresponding to that appearing on the first face of that segment displayed on a screen of the apparatus.

5. The ticket containing strip of claim 1 further characterized in that said removable secondary strip is disposed over the first face of each of said ticket defining locations and is separable therefrom, said secondary strip containing the same indicia as on the primary strip segment.

6. The ticket containing strip of claim 1 further characterized in that the indicia are icons.

7. An electronic gaming apparatus of the type capable of dispensing a segment of a strip to be used as a ticket upon actuation of the apparatus and which may win or score in a game depending on indicia which may appear in the segment, said apparatus comprising:

a) means providing a ticket containing strip having a first face and a second face on the opposite side of the first face, said strip also comprising a plurality of separate ticket defining locations thereon with each having indicia in each of the separate locations on said first face and where the indicia of some locations will differ from the indicia of other locations, certain of said locations containing winning indicia and which locations containing the winning indicia are randomly distributed throughout the ticket containing strip, each of said locations arranged to be separated from said strip to thereby provide a strip segment in the form of a ticket which is capable of being dispensed from said gaming apparatus;

b) a secondary strip disposed over the indicia on the primary strip and which is removable from the primary strip, said indicia being hidden from view by said secondary strip and being visible when said secondary strip is removed and where removal of the secondary strip before dispensing of the ticket is evidence of tampering with the ticket;

c) means for severing the strip segment in the form of a ticket from the ticket containing strip upon actuation of the apparatus to provide a ticket; and

d) means for dispensing the severed ticket to a player of the gaming apparatus.

8. The electronic gaming apparatus of claim 7 further characterized in that said ticket containing strip includes a code representative of the indicia on the second face and which code is unintelligible to an individual by visual examination and only machine readable such that the code can be read by the apparatus, and said apparatus comprises means for reading said code and converting the code to equivalent indicia for display.

9. The electronic gaming apparatus of claim 8 further characterized in that said apparatus further comprises a display means connected to the means for reading to thereby display the equivalent indicia.

10. An electronic gaming apparatus capable of dispensing a ticket having a rear face and a front face containing indicia thereon upon actuating the apparatus and simultaneously reading and displaying indicia on the dispensed ticket, said apparatus comprising:

a) a primary strip containing indicia on the front face thereof and a code representing the indicia on the rear face thereof and which code is unintelligible to an individual and only machine readable, and where the indicia on the front face of the ticket differs from the indicia on certain other tickets and only certain of the tickets contain a winning indicia and which certain tickets containing winning indicia are randomly distributed throughout a group of such tickets;

b) a removable cover strip disposed over and concealing the indicia on the front face thereof;

c) means for scanning the code on the rear face and converting the code to the equivalent indicia for purposes of display;

d) means for dispensing a ticket derived from the primary strip upon actuation of the apparatus; and

e) means for simultaneously displaying indicia corresponding to the code which is read and which corresponds to the indicia on the dispensed ticket.

11. The electronic gaming apparatus of claim 10 further characterized in that a plurality of tickets are located on the primary strip and said apparatus comprises separating means which separates the primary strip from a secondary strip after actuation of the apparatus.

12. The electronic gaming apparatus of claim 11 further characterized in that cutting means severs a segment of the primary strip to form the ticket and enables dispensing of same.

13. The electronic gaming apparatus of claim 10 further characterized in that a display screen is on said apparatus for displaying the indicia corresponding to the code.

14. The electronic gaming apparatus of claim 13 further characterized in that the code corresponds to the indicia which is imprinted on the front face of the ticket is a bar code.

15. In an electronic gaming apparatus of the type capable of dispensing a segment of a strip to be used as a ticket and which may win or score in a game depending on pre-printed indicia which may appear on the segment;

a pre-printed ticket containing strip, said strip comprising a plurality of successive pre-printed strip segments capable of being severed from the strip to constitute tickets, each said strip segment further comprising;

a) a first face and a second face on the opposite side of the first face;

b) a plurality of separate ticket defining locations thereon with indicia on said first face in each of the separate locations and where the indicia of some locations will differ from the indicia of other locations, certain of said locations containing winning indicia and which locations containing the winning indicia are randomly distributed throughout the ticket containing strip, each of said locations arranged to be separated from said strip as a strip segment to provide a ticket which is dispensable from said gaming apparatus;

c) a code representative of the indicia associated with the separate location on the strip having that indicia and which code is unintelligible to an individual by visual examination and only machine readable, such that the code can be read by the apparatus for further processing; and

d) a removable cover strip over the first face of each of said ticket defining locations and which is separable therefrom.

16. An electronic gaming apparatus of the type capable of dispensing a segment of a strip to be used as a ticket upon actuation of the apparatus and which may win or score in a game depending on indicia which may appear in the segment, said apparatus comprising:

a) means providing a ticket containing strip having a first face and a second face on the opposite side of the first face, said strip also comprising a plurality of separate ticket defining locations thereon with each having indicia in each of the separate locations on said first face and where the indicia of some locations will differ from the indicia of other locations, certain of said locations containing winning indicia and which locations containing the winning indicia are randomly distributed throughout the ticket containing strip, each of said locations arranged to be separated from said strip to thereby provide a strip segment in the form of a ticket which is capable of being dispensed from said gaming apparatus;

b) a removable cover strip associated with the ticket containing strip;

c) one of said ticket containing strip or said cover strip having a code thereon which is machine readable and not readily discernable by visual examination and which corresponds to the indicia on a strip segment to be dispensed;

d) means for severing the strip segment in the form of a ticket from the ticket containing strip upon actuation of the apparatus to provide a ticket;

e) means in said apparatus for reading the code corresponding to the indicia of the ticket which is being dispensed;

f) means on said apparatus for displaying the indicia generated from the code and which is the same as the indicia on the ticket which is being dispensed; and

g) means for dispensing the severed ticket to a player of the gaming apparatus.

17. In an electronic gaming apparatus of the type capable of dispensing a segment of a strip to be used as a ticket and which may win or score in a game depending on pre-printed indicia which may appear on the segment;

a pre-printed ticket containing strip, said strip comprising a plurality of successive pre-printed strip segments capable of being severed from the strip to constitute tickets, each said strip segment further comprising;

a) a first face and a second face on the opposite side of the first face;

b) each of said plurality of strip segments constituting a separate ticket defining location on said strip with indicia on said first face in each of the separate locations and where the indicia of some locations will differ from the indicia of other locations, certain of said locations containing winning indicia and which locations containing the winning indicia are randomly distributed throughout the ticket containing strip, each of said strip segments arranged to be separated from said strip to provide a ticket which is dispensable from said gaming apparatus, certain of said tickets containing winning indicia and which tickets are randomly distributed throughout said ticket containing strip; and

c) a code representative of the indicia associated with the separate strip segment on the strip and where information in the code is unintelligible to an individual by visual examination and only machine readable, such that the code can be read by the apparatus for further processing and generation of the indicia on a display member, such that each ticket will have the code on that ticket representative of the indicia on the ticket read for generation and display of the indicia of that ticket on the display member.

18. The ticket containing strip of claim 17 further characterized in that the code is on the second face of each of said ticket.

19. The ticket containing strip of claim 18 further characterized in that said code on the second face of each segment is a machine readable code which is capable of generating the same indicia as on the first face of such segment or information relating to the indicia on the first face of that segment.

20. The ticket containing strip of claim 17 further characterized in that said code is on the second face of each segment and is a machine readable code which is capable of being read by the gaming apparatus and having indicia corresponding to that appearing on the first face of that segment displayed on a screen of the apparatus.

21. The ticket containing strip of claim 17 further characterized in that a removable cover strip is disposed over the first face of each of said ticket defining locations and is separable therefrom.

22. In an electronic gaming apparatus of the type capable of dispensing a segment of a strip to be used as a ticket and which may win or score in a game depending on pre-printed indicia which may appear on the segment;

a pre-printed ticket containing strip, said strip comprising a plurality of successive pre-printed strip segments capable of being severed from the strip to constitute tickets, each said strip segment further comprising;

a) a first face and a second face on the opposite side of the first face;

b) each of said plurality of strip segments constituting a separate ticket defining location on said strip with indicia on said first face in each of the separate locations and where the indicia of some locations will differ from the indicia of other locations, certain of said locations containing winning indicia and which locations containing the winning indicia are randomly distributed throughout the ticket containing strip, each of said strip segments arranged to be separated from said strip to provide a ticket which is dispensable from said gaming apparatus, certain of said tickets containing winning indicia and which tickets are randomly distributed throughout said ticket containing strip; and

c) a code representative of the indicia associated with the separate strip segment on the strip and where information in the code is unintelligible to an individual by visual examination and only machine readable, such that the code can be read by the apparatus for further processing to recreate the indicia; and

d) a secondary strip located over the ticket containing strip.