Player operable lottery machine with system for automatically identifying spheres

Random number generating and opto-electronic identification means comprising:

• an enclosure containing a plurality of indicia bearing fluid suspendable balls which are visible from outside said enclosure, said balls being marked with light reflective patterns of lines and spaces, the light reflectivity of said lines differing from the light reflectivity of the spaces between said lines;
• means for mixing said balls by upward flowing streams of fluid;
• stationary means located adjacent said enclosure for emitting light to and for receiving light reflected from said patterns of lines and spaces;
• means for causing a randomly selected number of said balls in said enclosure to come to rest in proximity to said stationary means, said means stationary further including means for being responsive to said patterns of lines and spaces and generating electronic signals therefrom corresponding to said indicia;
• and
• means comprising non-coaxial streams of fluid directed generally tangentially against said randomly selected balls, for rotating said randomly selected balls upon coming to rest in said enclosure, whereby said indicia can be readily identified irrespective of the manner in which said balls come to rest in said enclosure.

Means for identifying a plurality of spheres in gaming apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of spheres randomly located in an enclosure;
• a pattern of identical bar code segments, corresponding to respective different numbers, applied uniformly to an outer surface of each sphere;
• stationary bar code reader means located adjacent said enclosure for reading the bar code patterns on a selected number of said spheres and generating electrical signals corresponding to each bar code pattern read;
• means for rotating said selected number of spheres in proximity to said bar code reader means, said rotating means comprising non-coaxial streams of fluid directed generally tangentially against each sphere, said bar code reader means generating electronic signals which correspond to each said bar code pattern;
• and
• means for utilizing said electrical signals in a gaming apparatus for providing an indication of the numbers on said selected number of spheres.