An apparatus for randomly selecting combinations of numbers for lottery-type games of chance. In the preferred embodiment, the invention comprises an adaptor hood which sits on a downsized, bingo-ball blower. The hood includes a lower access hole to receive lightweight numbered balls from an underlying blower chamber in which the balls are blown about; a spring-biased selector arm that normally straddles and blocks the hole, but which can be manually pivoted to allow a ball to pop up the hole and which can then be released to spring back and kick the ball away during its return movement; an adjacent inclined ramp that receives the kicked ball to feed it downwardly; and a clear display chute that catches the balls from the ramp and allows them to be viewed by a user. To operate the selector, a player pulls a control end of the selector arm that extends beyond the hood. This causes a ball to be blown up into the adaptor hood and trapped under a finger mechanism. Release of the spring-biased selector arm causes a cap end of the arm to kick the selected ball onto the adjacent ramp, whereupon the ball rolls down into the display chute. The player repeats the movement of the arm until the number of balls in the chamber reaches the desired number of combinations. After he reads the displayed numbers on the selected balls, the player automatically returns the balls into the blower through a re-entry gate.
A games apparatus for use in the game of "keno" includes an enclosure which is rotatable about two perpendicular axes. The enclosure consists of two spaced chambers lying along one of the axes with the chambers being connected by a passage which will allow objects contained within the chambers to pass between the chambers. Upon rotation of the enclosure about the two axes, the objects are arranged randomly so that a random sample of the objects may be selected from the enclosure.
A cage having rotatable paddles coupled to an electrical motor is provided for retaining and mixing lottery balls. A transparent enclosed chute for retaining and displaying a given number of selected lottery balls is located adjacent the cage. Cage inlet and outlet openings connect the cage and the chute. Lottery balls enter the chute through the cage outlet opening and exit the chute through the cage inlet opening after being viewed. A gate adjacent the cage inlet opening holds the selected lottery balls in the chute until all the balls are selected and viewed. An electrical circuit having a switch located in the chute is provided which deactivates the motor when actuated by the last ball in the chute to be selected and hence when the desired number of lottery balls are in the chute. The electrical circuit has another switch for opening the gate to allow the balls in the chute to pass back into the cage after viewing.
A random number selection apparatus is set forth wherein a sealed enclosure contains positionally therein a series of hollow spherical balls that are pneumatically projected throughout the enclosure by means of a blower fan wherein the spherical balls randomly land upon a downwardly directed chute diagonally oriented relative to the enclosure wherein a medial portion of the chute is of an ellipsoidal trough-like configuration with a medial elongate trough to accept the balls therein. The balls are drawn through a square cross-sectional conduit which further comprises an air intake for the lower fan and thereby randomly accepts a series of balls supporting a series of numbers thereon. The numbers are formed with magnetic members of a first polarity and are attracted to a series of overlying magnets of a reverse polarity to randomly orient the balls and provide for random number selection of the numbers positioned underlying the magnets.
A bingo game machine which can carry out a series of operations including storing discrimination balls which are to be blown by an air blower into a closed vessel. The balls are blown about within the vessel with some balls falling onto a return surface to the storage area and some falling into a storage member. The balls falling into the storage member are detected and are the balls used to determine the winning balls for the bingo game. Once the balls have been received and detected, the game is over and the balls in the storage member are dropped into the storage area for the next game. A motor drives a screw rod in order to open a bottom of the storage member in order to release the balls that have fallen into the storage member. The motor moves the bottom back into place to close the bottom for the next game.
An apparatus and method for selecting random numbers. A stream of air provided from a fan beneath the chamber propels balls through a cylindrical display arrangement and back into the chamber. A first tube section extends from the chamber and is connected to a second display section which is partially transparent, perforated and extends generally parallel to the top surface of the chamber. A third tube section extends from the first tube section and returns to the chamber. The balls are retained in the generally parallel tube section by a retainer which, when released, allows the balls to be carried back into the chamber.
