Random number generator
OwnerAlan Frankinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A random number generating device for randomly selecting one of a plurality of suspendable balls which are stirred and circulated in a chamber by an upflowing fluid stream. Upon termination of fluid flow one of the balls falls downwardly through a relatively narrow bottom trough into a lower pocket having a transparent wall. The device is provided with steeply sloping inclined facing sidewalls flaring outwardly from said trough and sufficiently steep so that upon termination of fluid flow non-selected balls are out of contact with the selected ball as it falls from the trough into the pocket. Thereby, any jamming of non-selected balls occurs at an elevated level and does not prevent a single, randomly selected ball from entering the pocket at the end of each cycle.
Claims14
A random ball selector device comprising a chamber for mixing balls, said chamber having inlet opening means in the region of the bottom thereof for the admission of a fluid stream and separate discharge opening means for the discharge of said fluid stream, the lower region of said chamber comprising a trough means extending from the rear to the front of said chamber, ramp means within said trough means, pocket means at the front of said ramp means for receiving a randomly selected ball from said ramp means, said inlet opening means being near the bottom of said pocket means, partial enclosure means adjacent to said opening means and near the bottom of said pocket means for creating aspiration relative to said ramp means, inclined facing sidewall means defining said chamber and sloping upwardly and outwardly from said trough means, the depth of said trough means and the slope of said inclined facing sidewall means being adapted to permit a randomly selected ball to move from said ramp means into said pocket means underneath non-selected balls positioned along said inclined facing sidewall means upon cessation of said fluid stream.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.