WO2002095523A2

WO2002095523A2 - Random number generator

Info

Publication number: WO2002095523A2
Application number: PCT/DE2002/001894
Authority: WO
Inventors: Raimund Mössmer
Original assignee: Moessmer Raimund
Priority date: 2001-05-23
Filing date: 2002-05-23
Publication date: 2002-11-28
Also published as: DE10292254D2; AU2002317677A1; DE20108688U1; WO2002095523A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a random number generator for selecting a limited quantity of numbers from a predetermined quantity of numbers. Said generator comprises a housing (1, 2) with a chamber (3) for receiving numbered bodies (4) and a display area (5; 5.8) that adjoins and is connected to the chamber (3). According to the invention, the chamber (3) is at least partially configured with curved edges and the display area (5) adjoins one side of the chamber (3). The numbered bodies (4) have a density of at least 1.0 g/cm3.

Description

Random number generator

The invention relates to a random number generator for selecting a limited number of numbers from a predetermined number of numbers with a housing with a space for accommodating number fields and an adjacent display area connected to the space.

Random number generators of this type are used to play in number games, e.g. Lotto or Toto to support the selection of the numbers to be ticked. Such a mechanical random number generator is described in EP 90 106 936.9. The known random number generator consists of a housing with a space for accommodating numerical bodies and an adjoining display area which is connected to the space, the space being designed with rounded edge areas and the display area being in the form of an elongated rectangle with its long side to one side of the room. The number fields used, which are each provided with a number or sequence of digits, are each circular discs or plates which are mixed in the room or in the mixing room or in the drum of the random number generator by a corresponding mixing movement of the encoder.

In order to carry out a draw, the number field or tokens are dropped into the display area by a corresponding movement in order to be able to read the random numbers drawn in this way. Even if the mixed space and also the display area are designed geometrically, as is the case in the prior art that bridging with several plates and thus mutual hindrance of the number fields is prevented in order to achieve a clear drawing result, can nevertheless, for example, in the mixing room such undesirable bridges occur. The free movement of one or the other number body can then be hindered.

WO 97/23847 proposes a surface roughness of the number bodies in a range between 0.002 to 0.009 mm to reduce the formation of bridges between the number fields. Although this apparently leads to a reduction in the bridging rate, the bridging rate is still too high. In addition, the production of a roughness depth in this area is associated with a relatively high outlay since the number bodies have to be lapped separately in order to be able to achieve the desired roughness depth, which also leads to increased production costs for the random number generator.

The object of the present invention is to develop a random number generator of the type described in the introduction in such a way that the formation of bridges is largely avoided.

This object is achieved in that the number fields are made of a material that has a density of at least 1.0 g / cm ³ . It has surprisingly been found that the density of the material of the steering body has a significant influence on the bridging or on the avoidance of bridging numerical bodies in the mixing room. Only at densities of 1.0 g / cm ³ or more do the numerical bodies presumably have a weight, acceleration force or mass that acts during the drawing process, which otherwise limits the mobility of one or the other numerical body due to, for example, static friction between the numerical bodies or with the housing inner surfaces, mutual jamming and Counteracts or compensates for misjudged, electrostatic charging and similar effects that are difficult to control in the mixing room or in the housing of the random number generator, as a result of which bridging is avoided.

Furthermore, the invention has the advantage that complex manufacturing steps, such as Lapping the numerical body surfaces to achieve a low roughness depth can be omitted. In the invention, if the number fields e.g. are punched out of a plastic plate, the coarser roughness of the starting material are left, since in the invention alone the high density of the number body material is decisive for the strong reduction in the formation of bridges.

From a manufacturing point of view, plastic numerals with a density in a range between approximately 1.25 g / cm ³ and approximately 1.7 g / cm ^{3 are} preferred. This loading

before the punch is worn out and replaced. -zi¬

must be considered. It has been shown that plastics and also other materials with a density higher than 1.7 g / cm ³ , for example plastics with a metal component or metals, are so hard that the stamping tool wears out quickly and thus when they are used only a comparatively small number can be obtained per punch.

The lower range limit of the material density of the number fields of 1.25 g / cm ³ was also determined from a manufacturing point of view, in order to be on the safe side despite inevitable density fluctuations from batch to batch or die plate to die plate. This is particularly important with a view to mass production.

The number body preferably consists of an antistatic material which largely prevents electrostatic charging of the number bodies or the housing, which is particularly important when the housing and number body are made of plastic. If the number bodies were made of statically chargeable material, whereby the electrostatic charge could arise, for example, from the friction of the number bodies against each other or the number body on the housing wall of the random number generator, this could lead to mutual hindrance of the number plates due to electrostatic charging, which would favor bridging , By using antistatic material or material with only This formation of bridges can be prevented with a low electrostatic chargeability. It should be noted, however, that the number fields with a density of greater than 1.0 g / cm ³ according to the invention already have a sufficiently high weight that counteracts any electrostatic forces between the number fields, which considerably reduces the number of bridges.

The housing of the random number generator is preferably made of a flexible and elastic plastic, which allows bending to a certain extent without permanent deformation or damage, as is e.g. is also the case with a normal credit card or chip card. The handling of the random number generator is improved by the use of an elastic plastic.

The random number generator housing can consist of several parts that are ultrasonically welded together to form the housing. The use of ultrasonic welding to connect the individual housing parts results in a stable and durable housing, in particular when housing parts made of elastic plastic material are used. The individual housing parts can be made of transparent plastic (e.g. polycarbonate PC), which e.g. can be printed using offset printing.

The average roughness of the housing parts can, at least as far as their outer sides are concerned, in a range between between about 0.002 mm and 0.009 mm. The roughness depth is preferably about 0.003 mm in order to achieve optimum printability of the outer housing surfaces, in particular of the cover part.

The special roughness depth of the plate surface and the surface of the housing parts can e.g. can be achieved by lapping or grinding the surfaces or similar surface treatments.

The housing of the random number generator can have spacers or connecting pieces which ensure that the clear width of the mixing space or the drum is maintained. This is particularly important when the user holds a credit card sized random number generator in his hand, exerting pressure on the housing which, without a spacer, can result in the walls of the housing being compressed and the numbering bodies in between being pinched or prevented from moving become.

According to a preferred embodiment, the random number generator consists of a base part and a cover part, which are produced as injection molded parts from transparent plastic and are connected by means of ultrasonic welding in order to form a closed housing of the random number generator.

The random number generator according to the invention or its housing can for reasons of easy handling and space-saving accommodation have a credit card format, approximately 85 mm x 54 mm x 1.6 mm.

As a plastic material for the housing parts and the platelets or number bodies, e.g. Polycarbonate (PC) (crystal-clear, high strength, good toughness, low electrostatic charge), polystyrene (PS), styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers such as SAN or SAN-GF35 (similar properties to PC), polypropylene (PP), a polyacrylate (PMMA), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymers (ABS), butadiene-styrene polymers or polyethylene-HD can be used. Examples of such plastics available on the market are Osstyrol SB-Compound from the company. A. Hagedorn and Corduma CP VP 1250 from Nemitz, Kunststoff-Additive GmbH.

Advantageous developments of the present invention can also be found in the subclaims.

Further advantages and possible uses of the present invention can be gathered from the following description of an embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Show it:

Figure 1 shows a bottom part of the housing of the random number generator according to the invention according to a first embodiment in plan view with an exemplary drawn number body, which has a circular disc shape. FIG. 2 shows a section through the base part of FIG. 1 along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

3 shows a cover part of the housing which, together with the base part from FIG. 1, forms the housing of the random number generator according to the embodiment;

4 shows a bottom part of the housing of the random number generator according to the invention in accordance with a second embodiment in plan view with a plurality of circular number fields drawn in by way of example to explain an undesired bridging; and

Fig. 5 is a graph showing the relative

Bridge formation rate depending on the density of the number fields shows.

According to a first embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 3) of the invention, the random number generator consists of a lower part 12, a frame 11 (central part), which together form a base part, and an upper part 2 (cover part). The frame 11 has a substantially rectangular outline with rounded corners and consists essentially of an outer, closed, circumferential frame shoulder 11.1 and an inner, closed, circumferential frame shoulder 11.2, which forms and delimits the inner contour of the room 3 or mixing room. Between the outer frame shoulder 11.1 and the inner frame shoulder 11.2 extends a frame recess 11.3.

On a long side of the room 3 there is a display area 5 which is connected to the room 3 and has six bulges 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6. The transition from the room 3 to the display area 5 is given by two tapered flanks of the inner contour or the inside of the inner frame shoulder 11.2.

The lower part 12 is designed as a substantially rectangular disc on which the frame 11 is arranged with its underside. The upper part 2 also essentially consists of a right-angled disc which has a circumferential upper part shoulder 25 or spring 2.1. In the assembled state of the housing 1, 2 of the random number generator, the upper part shoulder 2.1 of the upper part 2 engages in the frame recess 11.3 according to the tongue and groove principle.

From the lower part 12 there are three spacers 6 spaced apart from one another into the space 3 of the random number generator. In the assembled state of the housing 1, 2, these spacers 6 provide the clear width {e.g. 0.6 mm) of the space 3 between the lower part 12 and the upper part 2 safely.

A circular number field 4 in space 3 is shown by way of example in FIG. 1. A total of 49 are in the housing 1, 2 of the assembled random number generator Numeric field 4 housed, each with a number from 1 to 49. The number plates 4 are made of plastic and are punched out of a plastic plate by means of a punching tool or cut to length from a rod, the plastic plate being printed with numbers or symbols provided for the individual number plates before the punching. The number fields each have a diameter of approximately 4 mm and a thickness between preferably approximately 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm.

The random number generator according to FIGS. 1 to 3 is produced as follows: The lower part 12 and the frame 11 are together as a one-piece injection molded part 1

(Bottom part) made of plastic by injection molding. Likewise, the upper part 2 or cover part is injection molded from the same clear plastic

(e.g. styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN)). In the space 3 of the injection-molded part 1, the finished numerals 4 made of plastic, for example made of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymer (ABS) with very low electrostatic chargeability or made of polystyrene-acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN- GF35). The upper part 2 is then placed on the top of the frame 11, the upper part shoulder 2.1 of which engages in the frame recess 11.3 of the injection molded part 1 in order to align the parts with one another. The parts 1 and 2 thus assembled are then ultrasonically welded to one another in the frame area in order to form the closed housing 1, 2 of the random number generator. the. In order to achieve optimum printability, the outer surface of the cover part is then processed, for example, by lapping, in order to achieve an average roughness depth of approximately 0.003 mm or 3.0 μm.

According to a modified embodiment of the first embodiment of the invention, the housing of the random number generator is composed of three individual parts, namely a lower part, a middle part and an upper part. In contrast to the first embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3, the lower part and the upper part consist only of rectangular panes, e.g. made of transparent plastic. The middle part consists of a continuous frame, which is similar to the frame 11 of FIG. 1 except for the missing recess and has an underside and an upper side.

In the modified first embodiment, the lower part 12, which is identical to the disk-shaped upper part, is first punched out from a plate made of transparent plastic. The middle part, i.e. the frame, is also punched out of a clear plastic.

When assembling the housing of the modified embodiment, the lower part is first placed on the underside of the central part and welded to the frame using an ultrasonic welding device. After the spacers have been attached to the lower part, for example by gluing, the numerical bodies 4 are then inserted into the partial housing thus created. On- finally the upper part is placed congruently on the top of the frame and welded to the frame in the edge area or frame area in order to produce a closed housing 1, 2 for the random number generator.

The housing 1, 2 of the first (and also the subsequent second embodiment according to FIG. 4) embodiments has a credit card format, namely approximately 85 mm × 54 mm × 1.6 mm to approximately 2.6 mm. Outside the display area 5, the housing can be printed using offset printing. By using the transparent plastic, the numbers of the six numbers 4 located in the bulges 5.1, 5.2 to 5.6 of the display area 5 after a drawing process can be read easily.

4 shows a second, preferred embodiment of the invention. In contrast to the above, first embodiment, the display area 5.8 of the second embodiment is designed as a continuous rectangular area without bulges. The display area 5.8 connected to the room 3 connects in the form of an elongated rectangle with its long side to one side of the room 3, the room 3 merging into the display area 5.8 with rounded edge areas and conical or inclined flanks 3.1.

The bridge formation and the curve profile of FIG. 5 are explained below using FIG. 4 as an example. In Fig. 4 are several lined up Numbers 4 shown with an undesirable bridging 20, which are present after an exemplary drawing. Of the number cores 4, only the number cores 4.2 are located in the display area 5.8, and the user can thus also clearly read only the numbers or symbols of the number cores 4.2. The numerical bodies 4.1 from the numerical cores 4, on the other hand, are located outside the display area 5.8 due to the formation of bridges 20 and can therefore not be read by the user. If there is a bridging 20, the result of the drawing is incomplete. FIG. 5 shows a curve which functionally reproduces the relative bridging rate as a function of the density of the number fields. The relative bridging rate reflects the number of draws with bridging, ie with incomplete drawing results, divided by the total number of draws in percent. As shown in FIG. 5, the relative bridging rate is 70 to 90% or worse if the densities of the number fields 4 are significantly below 1.0 g / cm ³ , as is the case with the number encoders of the prior art. Only at densities above 1.0 g / cm ^{3 of} the plastic material are there acceptable, considerably reduced, relative bridging rates of less than 25% according to the invention. At a density of preferably approximately 1.32 g / cm ³ or approximately 1.7 g / cm ^{3 of} the plastic material, for example the styrene-acrylonitrile copolymer SAN-GF35, a preferred residual bridging rate of approximately 5 to 10% is finally obtained ,

Claims

Claims:

1. Random number generator for selecting a limited number of numbers from a predetermined number, with a housing (1, 2) with a space (3) for accommodating number fields (4) and an adjoining display area (3) connected to the space (3) 5; 5.8), wherein the space (3) is at least partially formed with rounded edge areas and the display area (5) adjoins one side of the space (3), characterized in that the number field (4) has a density of at least 1, Have 0 g / cm ³ .

2. Random number generator according to claim 1, characterized in that the number body (4) consist of plastic and have a density in a range between approximately 1.25 g / cm ³ and approximately 1.7 g / cm ³ .

3. Random number generator according to claim 2, characterized in that the density of the number field (4) is approximately 1.32 g / cm ³ .

4. Random number generator according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each of the number body (4) has the shape of a circular disc.

5. Random number generator according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the number field (4) are anti ^¬ static.

6. Random number generator according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the housing (1,2) of the random number generator consists of a flexible and / or elastic plastic.

7. Random number generator according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by a housing with a) a central part, which has a frame (11), the inner contour of which is the space (3) for receiving numerical bodies (4) and the adjacent display area (5 ) of the random number generator and which has an underside and an upper side, b) a disk-shaped upper part (2) which is arranged on the 0- top side of the frame, and c) a disk-shaped lower part (12) which is on the underside of the frame ( 11) is arranged.

8. Random number generator according to claim 7, characterized in that the housing (1, 2) consists at least partially of transparent plastic.

9. Random number generator according to claim 7 or claim 8, characterized in that the upper part (2) and the lower part (12) are ultrasonically welded to the central part to form a closed housing (1,2).

10. Random number generator according to claim 7 or claim 8, characterized in that the lower part (12) and the middle part as an integral injection-molded part (1) and also the upper part (2) are an integral injection-molded part, which are ultrasonically welded together to form the closed housing (1,2) of the random number generator.

11. Random number generator according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the upper part (2) and / or the lower part (12) has spacers (6) which protrude into the space (3) to the clear width of the space ( 3) between the upper part (2) and the lower part (12).

12. Random number generator according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the random number generator has the dimensions of a credit card of approximately 85 mm x 54 mm x 1.6 mm.

13. Random number generator according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer surface of the housing (1,2) at least partially has a roughness depth in the range between approximately 0.002 mm and 0.009 mm, in particular approximately 0.003 mm.

14. Random number generator according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the number body made of polycarbonate (PC), polystyrene (PS), styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers, in particular SAN or SAN-GF35, polypropylene (PP), polyacrylate (PMMA), acrylic - Nitrile-butadiene-styrene polymers (ABS), butadiene-styrene polymers, polyethylene-HD, ostyrene SB compound or Corduma CP VP 1250 or consist of a mixture of several of these plastics.