FR2551667A1 - Selector for picking objects at random - Google Patents

Abstract

The selector for picking a ball, by chance has a transparent receptacle (1) for the chosen ball. This is joined to a receptacle (4) for the balls by a tube (6) which can be closed by a slide alternately in 2 places separated by the dimensions of an object. The slide has openings which can be lined up with the tube but are not opposite each other. It is moved by a push button (2) and is held in an intermediate position by a leaf spring (31)

Description

Device for randomly extracting one of several objects.

The subject of the invention is a device for randomly extracting an object from a certain number of objects, ldenical or not, but having at least similar dimensions. The device according to the invention makes it possible in part to extract successively a certain number of balls from a set or a collection of balls, each carrying a mark, a characteristic number, different from one ball to another. By way of example, the device of the invention makes it possible to draw a Loto or any other game of chance, for example the Harlequin.

If, a good number of Loto players, have the habit of cog - systematically asking the same combinations (date of birth for example), a significant number of players check their grids at random each week.

The device according to the invention aims, among other things, to allow this category of players (that which can be described as "hesitant") to tick their grids using "to the end" chance; that is to say allow them to make their own draw themselves. Instead of being tiresome, the composition of qrilles becomes a real game.

Various devices have been proposed to date for this purpose. They have the disadvantage of being bulky and expensive. The invention relates to a simple device, low cost, allowing a large diffsln, and reduced size, to hold it in one hand or place it in a pocket.

In accordance with the present invention, a device for randomly extracting one of the object plasleurs, comprising a container for the objects, a pulling mechanism and a receptacle, is remarkable in particular in that the receptacle is connected to the receptacle by an outlet channel which can be closed alternately in two locations spaced apart from the dimension of an object, by two plane and parallel walls, sliding across the channel, each wall comprising a solid part and an opening, alignable in the outlet channel, the solid part of a wall facing the opening of the other.

Other characteristics of the invention will appear during the description which follows, given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the attached drawings and which will make it clear how the invention can be implemented.

In the drawings, - Figure 1 is a sectional view of an exemplary arrangement
tif according to the invention, on a scale close to 1 - Figure 2 is an end view of the device of Figure
1; and, - Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the parts of the
device.

The device is remarkable for its simplicity. It essentially comprises three parts: - a bubble 1, or container, advantageously shaped
spherical (for aesthetic reasons;; we com
will take very different forms are possible)
in which the objects can be housed, in this case
pregnant balls, for example 49, numbered from 1 to 49.

- a pulling mechanism, allowing, thanks to a simple
press a button (2), to let out only one
single ball at a time and, therefore, the seven balls of a shot
age (in the case of Loto, six plus the complementary number)
by seven successive presses. Before each press, the
player communicates a circular motion to the ball,
which has the effect of perfectly mixing the balls - a receptacle which can be accommodated, with the mechanism of
print, in a substantially parallelepidic case 3
having a receiving channel 4. One side of the housing
can be partly transparent, which allows to read
the combination and, therefore, discover the seven marbles
randomly selected for each draw.

The bubble 1 has an opening 5, arranged to be at the bottom of the bubble when the device is in the position of use (intervention of gravity).

The bubble is connected to the housing by this opening 5, opposite which is placed the pulling mechanism, capable of releasing or obscuring the exit of the bubble in a channel 6 disposed radially relative to the bubble.

This mechanism comprises a button 2, at the end of a rod 7, integral with a drawer consisting of two plane and parallel walls 8, 9. One of the walls 8 has a solid part 10 and an opening 11 while the another wall 9 has an opening 12 facing the solid part 10 and a solid part 13 facing the opening 11. These two walls slide in four slots 15, 16, 17, 18 made in pairs in two walls 20, 21 of the substantially vertical channel 6 placed under the opening 5 of the bubble.

The walls 8, 9 may also have two openings 23, 24 facing each other. The drawer can be extended by a slide 25 guided on a finger 26. Any other guidance can be adopted, although such guidance is not essential.

The drawer thus has three positions: an intermediate position, represented in FIG. 1, in which the passage in the channel 6 is closed by the solid part 10, of the partition 8, by placing the latter upwards in a pushed position , the button being pushed to the left in FIG. 1, in which the channel 6 is closed by the solid part 13 of the partition 9; and a pulled position, the button being pulled to the right in FIG. 1, in which the channel 6 is released, the two openings 23, 24 of the two partitions 8, 9 being aligned in the channel 6.

The channel 6 is connected to the receptacle 4 which may or may not be inclined. The dimensions, and the shapes, of the channel 6 and of the receptacle 4 are chosen according to the diameter of ~ balls.

The pulling mechanism is held by a spring in the intermediate position. In an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, the spring may be a blade 31 made of plastic material, secured to the drawer itself made of plastic material, and held between two fingers 32, 33 secured to the housing 3. This arrangement is simpler, to manufacturing and assembling, that a metal spring system, which is not however excluded from the present invention.

The device operates as follows. At rest, the 49 balls are hidden in the bubble. The player holds the rectangular box between his fingers, he has his thumb on the control, that is to say on push-button 2. He exerts a pressure: a ball falls into the mechanism. It releases: the ball appears in the receptacle.

This maneuver will be repeated 7 times. When the 7 balls are visible, the combination is therefore carried out. This combination can then be transferred to a Loto grid.

To make the balls disappear and constitute a second grid, the player turns over the device and pulls on the rod 7, by the button 2 for example. The balls all return suddenly to the bubble.

All parts of the device can be made of molded plastic.

It goes without saying that the embodiment described is only an example and that it would be possible to modify it, in particular by substitution of technical equivalents, without departing from the scope of the invention.

In particular, the number of balls available in the bubble can be different from 49. The number of balls extracted can be different from seven (less or more) depending on the game in question. It goes without saying also that instead of balls, other forms such as dice or other polyhedra can be used, the invention not being limited to the example described.

Claims (5)

Claims 1. Device for randomly extracting one of several objects, comprising a container for the objects, a pulling mechanism and a receptacle, characterized in that the receptacle (4) is connected to the receptacle (1) by an outlet channel (6) , which can be closed alternately at two locations spaced apart from the dimension of an object, by two flat and parallel walls (9) sliding across the channel, each wall comprising a solid part (10, 13) and an opening (11, 12 ) Alignable in the outlet channel (6), the solid part of one wall facing the opening of the other. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the walls (8, 9) are resiliently held in a position by a spring (31). 3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the walls each further comprise an opening (23, 24) facing one another, these openings being held outside the outlet channel (6) by the spring (31). 4. Device according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the spring is a blade (31) of plastic material, one end of which is fixed relative to the channel (6). 5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pulling mechanism and the receptacle are housed in a case (3) at least part of which is transparent to allow the observation of the drawn balls.