US20050250570A1 - Lottery tracking and display device - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable lottery tracking and display device attachable to the belt, pocket, or purse of the lottery game player provides the lottery player with immediate knowledge of the winning lottery numbers from lottery drawings includes a housing having a clip for attachment to clothing articles, electronic circuitry enclosed within the housing for receiving the lottery number transmissions and converting them to visually discernible symbols, function buttons for controlling various parameters of the device and read-out displays for visually displaying the winning lottery numbers from several different types of lottery games to the lottery player.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention pertains to information receiving devices, and more particularly pertains to a portable device for providing real time lottery number selection information to lottery number players.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
• Lotteries are one of the most popular games of chance and are played by millions of people in settings that range from community fundraising events to state lotteries where the payouts can be in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. The announcement of the daily lottery numbers is an event keenly anticipated and watched by millions of individuals, especially if it is a major lottery drawing such as a state Power Ball drawing. Lottery ticket holders gather around television sets and lottery ticket booths and kiosks awaiting the televised lottery drawing, and if it is a major drawing, such as a Power Ball drawing, news reporters and television cameras may be there to record the scene.
• However, it is not always convenient or possible to have ready access to a television—or even a radio—when the lottery numbers are drawn—normally at a fixed and predetermined time and date. Given the potential payoff that can accompany some type of lottery drawings, it is understandable that lottery players would want to receive immediate information on the numbers drawn for the particular lottery that they have played.
• Thus, the prior art discloses various types of electronic or computerized video game playing systems and devices pertaining to games of chance such as lotteries. For example, Gluz et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,940) discloses an electronic bingo, lotto and card playing device that includes a keyboard, a card-input assembly, numeric/alphanumeric displays for communicating with the player and visual indicators so that the player can view all phases of the game.
• The Holch et al. patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,674,128, 5,800,269, 6,089,982 and 6,280,328 B1) all disclose video game methods and systems for operating electronic games for a number of players, and each system includes a game server coupled to a plurality of player terminals, and a central controller so that game selection and player account information can be stored and processed on an ongoing basis.
• The Olson patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,062) discloses a lotto gaming apparatus that includes a number of lotto machines interconnected to a casino master controller through a local network connection so that the against a lotto gaming apparatus and the casino lotto machine.
• Nonetheless, there remains a need for a handy, simple to use device that immediately informs the lottery player of the winning numbers for that days lottery and which is portable so that the lottery player can get his or her numbers without requiring access to a radio or television.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention comprehends a portable lottery tracking and display device for immediately displaying winning lottery numbers to a lottery player, and includes a housing having a clip for attaching the housing to an article of clothing or accessory such as a belt, pocket or purse. Enclosed within the housing is a receiver that allows the device to receive transmissions from the lottery computer site, and conventional electronic elements such as a pc card, memory storage, diodes, transducers, etc. that convert the received transmissions into visually readable characters. The device includes several function buttons on the housing that allow the lottery player to access, manipulate and change certain parameters pertaining to the storage of the lottery numbers, the clearing or resetting of the device, and for visually illuminating the winning lottery numbers appearing on one or more read-out displays. The read-out displays can be configured to display the winning lottery numbers from a number of different types of lottery games.
• It is an objective of the present invention to provide a lottery tracking and display device that enables the lottery player to immediately view that night's winning lottery numbers for particular lottery games.
• It is another objective of the present invention to provide a lottery tracking and display device that allows the lottery player to know the winning lottery numbers for that particular lottery drawing even though the lottery player does not have access to radio or television.
• It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a lottery tracking and display device that is small and lightweight and easily attachable to a belt, purse, or pocket.
• It is still yet another objective of the present invention to provide a lottery tracking and display device that is portable, handy to access and use, and unobtrusive when attached to the lottery player's article of clothing.
• Still yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a lottery tracking and display device that is simple to use and operate by any lottery player.
• A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a lottery tracking and display device that increases the enjoyment of playing the lottery by making the playing of the lottery more accessible and time saving.
• A still yet further objective of the present invention is to provide a lottery tracking and display device that will increase lottery ticket sales thereby generating more revenue for state lotteries.
• These and other objects, features and advantages will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following detailed description read in conjunction with the appended drawing figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lottery tracking and display device of the present invention illustrating the front of the device and the control and read-out buttons and displays;
• FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lottery tracking and display device of the present invention illustrating the rear of the device and the clip that allows attachment of the device to various articles of clothing;
• FIG. 3 is a schematic layout of the lottery tracking and display device of the present invention illustrating the transmission of lottery numbers from a lottery mainframe computer to several dispersed lottery tracking and display devices;
• FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the lottery tracking and display device illustrating two primary electronic components of the device; and
• FIG. 5 is a general electrical schematic of the lottery tracking and display device illustrating one embodiment of an electrical layout for the device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
• Illustrated inFIGS. 1-5 is a device for receiving transmissions from a central site and immediately displaying to the user visual information pertaining to the transmission, and information for which the user has been awaiting with eager anticipation. Specifically, the present invention includes a lottery tracking anddisplay device10 that is portable and easily attachable and removable from the lottery player's clothing, such as the belt, pocket, purse, handbag, or backpack, so that the lottery player can be informed of the winning lottery number selections despite being remote from access to television or radio. Thelottery device10 is lightweight and durable and includes a shock proof, preferably plastic, housing orshell12. Thehousing12 includes a front or facingside14 and an oppositerear side16.
• As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, thehousing12 includes on the rear side16 aclip18 that can easily slide over and upon the aforementioned clothing articles for allowing thedevice10 to be portable and carried by the lottery player; and thedevice10 can be easily removed from attachment to the clothing article by lifting theclip18 up and off the clothing article. Thedevice10 is small and lightweight and can be thus transported in a purse or pocket should the user desire.
• As shown inFIGS. 1 and 3, thefront side14 of thehousing12 includes a number of buttons, switches and displays so that the lottery number selection can be immediately visually discernible to the lottery player. Thefront side14 of thehousing12 includes apower switch20 for turning thedevice10 on and off so that the power source is not unnecessarily depleted. In addition, at least three function buttons are included on thefront side14 to control and change various parameters and features of thedevice10. The function buttons include astore button22 for storing a given number of lottery drawings (for example, the last ten Power Ball drawings), alight button24 for illuminating thedevice10 so that the lottery player can view the day's lottery numbers if he or she is not in a well-lit location, and a clear or resetbutton26 for clearing thedevice10 so that memory space is not used up and new lottery numbers can be accepted for display.
• As illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 3, thedevice10 also includes a plurality of visual read-out or display panels, and the read-out panels are preferably LCD displays. In the embodiment of the present invention, three separate read-out panels are shown for displaying the winning lottery numbers for different lotteries from any given state; thus one read-outpanel28 displays the winning numbers for the Pick 3 lottery drawing, one read-outpanel30 displays the winning numbers drawn for the Pick 4 lottery drawing, and one read-outpanel32 displays the winning numbers drawn for Lotto 6 drawing.FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing one possible configuration for the use of thedevice10 wherein amainframe computer34 at the given state's lottery drawing site transmits the winning lottery selections to a number oflottery devices10 carried by lottery players widely scattered from each other and the lottery drawing transmission site.
• FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate embodiments for electrical layouts and schematics for thedevice10 based on the use of conventional electronic components and elements.FIG. 4 illustrates a primary pc card orboard36 and thememory storage unit38 that can be configured and sized as desired to hold the results of lottery drawings organized by time or number of drawings.FIG. 5 illustrates a general electricalschematic layout40 that includes areceiver42 for receiving the electrical transmissions from thelottery computer34, anamplifier44 for amplifying the signal, and arectifier46 for transforming the signal to the appropriate type of current. In addition, thepc card36 includes the cpu48 (the microcontroller) and thememory storage unit38. Electrically interconnected to thepc card36 are the threefunction buttons22,24, and26, and the three read-out panels or displays28,30, and32. Apower source50, such as a nickel cadmium or lithium battery, provides power for thedevice10, and the power on/offswitch20 is shown mounted to thehousing12 of thedevice10.
• Thedevice10 can be used in a number of different ways to provide the lottery player with immediate information of the winning lottery numbers drawn for one or more lotto games. For example, lottery player could select and play his or her numbers for that day's Pick 3, Pick 4 or Big Game Pick 6 drawing at the local convenience store. Thelottery device10 would be powered on and that evening as the winning numbers are picked at the lottery drawing location, the winning numbers for the various lottery games would be transmitted to all lottery agent sites, and simultaneously and immediately, the winning numbers would be received by thedevice10 and displayed on one or more of the read-outpanels28,30, and32. By using thestore button22 the lottery player can store the winning numbers so that the winning numbers can be written down, or upon viewing the numbers, the lottery player can depress theclear button26 to clear thedevice10 and ready it to receive further lottery drawing numbers.
• While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (6)

1. A portable lottery tracking and display device for displaying the winning lottery numbers for lottery games, comprising:

a lightweight housing having a front side and an opposite rear side;

a clip mounted on the rear side for slidable attachment to an article of clothing;

a power on/off switch for turning the device on and off;

a plurality of manually manipulable function buttons for operating and changing various functions and parameters of the device;

a plurality of read-out display panels electrically interconnected to the function buttons for visually displaying the winning lottery numbers from at least one lottery game; and

electrical circuitry electrically interconnected to the function buttons and the read-out panels including a pc card, a memory storage unit, and a receiver for receiving lottery transmissions from the central lottery site and immediately displaying the winning lottery numbers for that day's lottery on the read-out panels so that the lottery player is instantly informed of the winning lottery drawing numbers.

2. The lottery tracking and display device ofclaim 1 wherein one function button is a store button that allows the lottery player to store winning lottery numbers in the memory storage unit.

3. The lottery tracking and display device ofclaim 2 wherein one function button is a clear button that allows the lottery player to clear the device of old lottery numbers so that the device can receive new lottery numbers.

4. The lottery tracking and display device ofclaim 3 wherein one function button is a light button that allows the lottery player to light up the read-out panels so that the read-out panels are visually discernible in situations of inadequate or no light.

5. The lottery tracking and display device ofclaim 4 wherein the read-out panels are configured to visually display the winning lottery numbers for different lottery games such as the Pick 3, Pick 4 and Lotto 6 lottery games.

6. A method of keeping the lottery player immediately informed of the drawing of lottery numbers for a given state's lottery when the lottery player doesn't have access to television or radio, comprises the steps of:

selecting the lottery numbers for at least one lottery game by the lottery player at the local lottery sales site;

powering on a lottery tracking and display device;

carrying the lottery tracking and display device with the lottery player;

transmitting the winning lottery numbers to the lottery tracking and display device as the winning lottery numbers are drawn at the central lottery site;

viewing the winning lottery numbers on a plurality of read-out panels on the lottery tracking and display device so that the lottery player is immediately informed of the winning lottery numbers for that particular lottery drawing.

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