US-12623871-B1 - Systems and methods for scraping physical media elements using presence-based operation

US12623871B1US 12623871 B1US12623871 B1US 12623871B1US-12623871-B1

Abstract

Systems and methods for mechanically processing physical media elements, e.g., automatically scratching scratch-off lottery tickets, may include receiving a batch of tickets at an input chute of a scratching system. Tickets may be serially fed through the scratching system that includes a series of roller scratching mechanisms. Pressure rollers may be individually adjustable to set a pressure of the scratching mechanisms. One or more scanners may obtain information from the tickets before and/or after scratching. A pair of parallel plates may be used to form a feed path to guide tickets through the system. A vacuum manifold may isolate some elements of the system from debris, and remove the debris from the system via negative pressure. One or more presence sensor may detect presence of a current ticket to control operation of feed motors. Various functions or elements of the system may be distributed over a plurality of removable modules.

Inventors

Eric Parker
James Mansour
Milan Smart
Cameron Navarre
Elias Bachaalany
Imad Maalouf

Assignees

JACKPOCKET LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20250430

Claims (19)

1 . A feed system for processing discrete media elements, comprising: a first presence sensor configured to detect a presence of a media element at an inlet of a feed path; at least one roller operable to convey a next media element located at the inlet into the feed path; at least one feed motor configured to operate the at least one roller in response to detection of the presence of the media element at the inlet via the first presence sensor; at least one cutter mechanism operable to scrape a layer of material off of a conveyed media element in the feed path; at least one cutter motor configured to operate the at least one cutter mechanism in response to the detection of the presence of the media element at the inlet via the first presence sensor; a second presence sensor configured to detect a presence of a media element at a location near to and downstream of a first cutter mechanism of the at least one cutter mechanism, wherein: the second presence sensor includes a roller sensor; and the at least one cutter motor and the at least one feed motor are configured to continue operating the at least one cutter mechanism and the at least one roller until after the presence of the media element at the location near to and downstream of the first cutter mechanism is no longer detected by the second presence sensor; and at least one scanner, wherein: the roller sensor is an encoder roller configured to determine a conveyance speed of media elements; and the at least one scanner is configured to operate with reference to the roller sensor.
2 . The feed system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one cutter motor and the at least one feed motor are configured to continue operating the at least one cutter mechanism and the at least one roller for a predetermined period of time after the presence of the media element at the location near to and downstream of the first cutter mechanism is no longer detected by the second presence sensor.
3 . The feed system of claim 1 , wherein a first roller along the feed path is a clutched roller configured to prevent further media elements from entering the feed path while a next media element is entering the feed path via the inlet.
4 . The feed system of claim 1 , further comprising: a controller operatively connected to the at least one feed motor and the first presence sensor.
5 . The feed system of claim 1 , wherein the first presence sensor is one of an infrared sensor, a pressure sensor, a thru-beam sensor, or a fork sensor.
6 . The feed system of claim 1 , further comprising: an input chute for receiving a stack of discrete media, wherein the first presence sensor is positioned at a bottom of the input chute; and the at least one feed motor and the at least one roller are configured to move a bottom-most discrete media of the stack of discrete media.
7 . The feed system of claim 6 , wherein the second presence sensor is configured to cause the at least one feed motor to halt such that a bottom-most discrete media of the stack of discrete media is removed from the input chute without conveying a next discrete media.
8 . The feed system of claim 1 , wherein the feed system is formed from a plurality of removable modules that include: a first module including the first presence sensor, the at least one roller, the at least one feed motor, and the at least one scanner; and a second module including the at least one cutter mechanism, the at least one cutter motor, and the second presence sensor.
9 . The feed system of claim 8 , wherein the second module is a downstream module relative to the first module.
10 . The feed system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of removable modules further includes a third module having a further scanner, a further presence sensor, and a further roller.
11 . The feed system of claim 10 , wherein the third module is a downstream module relative to the second module.
12 . The feed system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one cutter mechanism includes a plurality of cutter mechanisms.
13 . The feed system of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of cutter mechanisms is configured to scrape a respective portion of the conveyed media element.
14 . The feed system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one scanner includes a pair of scanners configured to scan opposite sides of the media element.
15 . A method of operating the feed system of claim 1 , comprising: providing the feed system of claim 1 ; introducing a media element to the inlet, such that the presence of the media element is detected at the inlet by the first presence sensor; in response to detection of the presence at the inlet by the first presence sensor: conveying the media element into the feed path via the at least one roller by operating the at least one feed motor; and scraping at least a portion of a layer of material off of the media element using the at least one cutter mechanism by operating the at least one cutter motor; detecting the presence of the media element by the second presence sensor; continuing to convey the media element along the feed path via the at least one roller by operating the at least one feed motor until the presence of the media element is no longer detected by the second presence sensor; and operating the at least one scanner with reference to the second presence sensor.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein introducing the media element to the inlet includes introducing a batch of media elements to an input chute configured to serially convey media elements into the inlet one at a time.
17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: operating a negative pressure source to convey debris from scraping the media element out from the feed system.
18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: transmitting data from the at least one scanner to a remote server system.
19 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising: collecting operating data of the at least one cutter motor; and adjusting operation of one or more of the at least one cutter motor or the at least one cutter mechanism based on the operating data.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to systems and methods for manipulating physical media elements, and more particularly to systems and methods for mechanically scratching scratch-off lottery tickets, and integrating the same into an online interaction. BACKGROUND Scratch-off lottery tickets are a popular form of lottery game that allow players to scratch off a coating on the ticket to reveal hidden text or numbers that may correspond to a prize. Scratch-off tickets often include a paper ticket coated in part by a layer of material such as latex that covers or obscures the hidden text or numbers. Conventionally, players purchase scratch-off tickets in person, manually scratch off the coating, and physically present the scratched ticket to collect any winnings. The physical and in-person nature of such activities may be difficult to adapt to an electronic or online setting. Scratch-off games and the like, as a physical medium, may have difficulty benefiting from the availability, scalability, and other advantages of such electronic integration. The present disclosure is directed to addressing one or more challenges, such as those referenced above. The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art, or suggestions of the prior art, by inclusion in this section. SUMMARY In one aspect, a scraper system for scraping an input media, the scraper system may include: two or more adjustable roller mechanisms operatively connected in series, each adjustable roller mechanism respectively including: a stationary roller including a scraper; a first adjustment mechanism; a second adjustment mechanism; and an adjustable roller operatively engaged with the stationary roller and configured to press an input media against the scraper, the adjustable roller including: a first end operatively connected to the first adjustment mechanism; and a second end operatively connected to the second adjustment mechanism; wherein: the first adjustment mechanism is operable to independently adjust a first height of the first end of the adjustable roller relative to a first end of the stationary roller, thereby adjusting a first pressure applied by the adjustable roller to the input media; and the second adjustment mechanism is operable to independently adjust a second height of the second end of the adjustable roller relative to a second end of the stationary roller, thereby adjusting a second pressure applied by the adjustable roller to the input media. In a further aspect, an adjustable roller system may include: a first adjustment mechanism; a second adjustment mechanism; and an adjustable roller, including: a first end operatively connected to the first adjustment mechanism; and a second end operatively connected to the second adjustment mechanism; wherein: the first adjustment mechanism is operable to independently adjust a first height of the first end of the adjustable roller; and he second adjustment mechanism is operable to independently adjust a second height of the second end of the adjustable roller. In another aspect, an adjustment mechanism for independently adjusting a height of at least one end of an adjustable roller may include: an adjustment block including a cavity, a slot, and a vertical channel extending from the slot to the cavity; a mounting block received in the cavity such that rotation of the mounting block is inhibited by the adjustment block, the mounting block including a mount configured to rotationally support a respective end of the adjustable roller; and a pin positioned in the vertical channel and engaged with the mounting block via a threaded connection, the adjustment block configured to hold the pin vertically captive in the vertical channel, such that the threaded connection between the pin and the mounting block is configured to translate rotation of the pin into vertical motion of the mounting block to adjust a height of the mount for supporting the respective end of the adjustable roller. In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a ticket tracking system for tracking tickets conveyed by a ticket-processing device, including: an encoder roller configured to rotate with a ticket as the ticket is conveyed past the encoder roller, and to determine a conveyance speed of the ticket based on a rotational speed of the rotation of the encoder roller; and at least one scanner configured to scan a surface of the ticket, as the ticket is conveyed past the at least one scanner, at a rate based on the determined conveyance speed of the ticket. In some aspects, the techniques described herein relate to a computer-implemented method of tracking a ticket conveyed by a ticket-processing device, including: determining, via an encod