A METHOD OF VALIDATING INFORMATION ENTERED ON TICKETS, CARDS, AND THE LIKE PAPER SUBSTRATES, AND PAPER SUBSTRATE THEREFOR

Abstract: To validate information entered on tickets, cards, and the like paper substrates (1, 100) requiring verification that the information has been entered prior to unsealing the substrate, the information hard copied on a first surface (2, 101) of the substrate is simultaneously transferred by a copying process in coded form to a second surface (5, 101) of the substrate. Said verification is conducted by means of a reading key (14, 130) for the transfer code.

Description: "A method of validating information entered on tickets, cards, and the like paper substrates, and paper substrate therefor" DESCRIPTION Techni cal_Field This invention relates to a method of validating information entered on tickets, cards, and the like paper substrates, e.g. in games requiring certification of that such information has been entered prior to unsealing the substrate. The invention also concerns a paper substrate, suc-h as a ticket, card, or the like, of a type which comprises at least two overlapping' sheets bound together, one of which has at least a portion of its surface facing the other sheet coated with a copying material. Backcjrpund m Art Games are common wherein a multiplicity of tickets, cards, reply cards, and the like paper substrates are dispensed to the public. Each substrate carries different arrangements of symbols, including alphanumeri al characters, patterns, etc.; The game is organized for- the drawing of some of the symbols possibly in accordance with a given arrangement thereof. The holder of a card exhibiting some or all of the symbols drawn is winning. Typical examples of such games are bingo and other like lot games. The games in question are experiencing ever growing participation and have involved TV networks and newspapers as sponsors thereof. The series of symbols are drawn periodically, such as on daily, weekly, or monthly basis. To participate, one is merely required to buy a card, or a -ticket,, allotted a given time for drawing, and then check for the symbol arrangements upon drawing. This introduces, however, quite a few problems especially in the respect of printing and distributing the paper substrates for the game. One of the prerequisites of such games is, in fact, that the date shown on a card entered should agree with the allotted date for drawing a series of symbols. Accordingly, the prior art has proposed that, in printing and- distributing the game paper substrates, the time -lapse be indicated during which a particular substrate is eligible to enter the game. While this problem may be of negligible import to games, providing for weekly or monthly drawing, it may easily constitute a serious limitation where the drawout is provided at shorter intervals. On the other hand, if certification of the drawing date is entrusted to the player, the risk is run of deceptive situations whereby a player could enter the date or another validation on the paper substrate after the symbols shown and their arrangement versus the symbols drawn. With highly popular games of chance (such as lotto, pools, etc.), this problem has been obviated by deputying an entity (collection office) other than the player to endorse the wager. This, while providing security against fraudulent wagers. has the disadvantage that it involves an elaborate set up, such as is to be avoided in games enjoying medium public acceptance Like those with which this invention is mainly concerned. The technical problem underlying this invention is to afford irrefutable validation of information entered by a player on a game substrate by immediate detection of any fraudolent acts whereby the player might enter the validating information after unsealing the substrate and learning the winning combination. 2i.__£i2-!_!£i:_2!-.th^Inyentπon This problem is solved by the invention providing a method as specified above, which is characterized in that said information is hard copied on a first surface of the substrate and transferred by a copying method in coded form to a second surface of the substrate. • • ' A paper substrate according to the invention., as specified ( hereinabove, i s * characterized in that the copying material is applied to said at least one surface portion according to a coded distribution. In the present context, explicit reference is made to paper substrates for games of chance; it stands to reason, however, that the invention is equally applicable to substrates for other different purposes. §£l2i__.2-_!l-;£i2ϊi2D_2Ϊ-_._____ISϋiπ_S The features and advantages of the method and paper substrate according to this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of 'nre^ embodiment forms thereof, given here by way of illustration and not of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings, where: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a paper substrate in the form of a multi layered ticket, according to this invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the substrate shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of two of the layers or sheets which make up the ticket of the preceding figures, in a first embodiment thereof; Figure 4 shows a different embodiment of the same layers or sheets as shown in Figure 3; Figures 5 and 6 are perspective views of a two-sheet ticket according to the invention, respectively in the overlapping and raised off conditions thereof; and Figure 7 is a sectional detail view of the second sheet in the ticket of figures 5 and 6. _!2_S__2_____r__n2_out_the__nyent_on In Figures 1 to 4, the reference numeral 1 designates generally a ticket-like paper substrate for a lot game. The substrate 1, hereinafter referred to as the "ticket", comprises a first or front sheet 2, a second or intermediate sheet 3, and a third sheet 4 intended for the wager proper. The sheets 2,3,4 overlap one another, and prior to completing the wager, are attached to one another as explained hereinafter. On the sheet 4, there is identified a surface 5 facing the other sheets and being normally concealed from view by the sheets 2 and 3 with the ticket intact. The surface 5 carries a plurality of symbols indicated schematically at 6, such as either alphanumerical characters or patterns arranged in a selected order. Different groups of tickets would carry different symbols, or alternatively, the same symbols arranged in a different order. The sheets 2,3,4 are attached to one another peripherally in a manner known per se. Furthermore, the sheets 2 and 4 are attached to the sheet 3 at different spots by means of impressions or crimps 7. Owing to the different distribution of the impressions 7 which secure the sheet 3 to the sheets 2 and 4, respectively, as the ticket 1 is unsealed to have access to the symbols reproduced on the surface 5, the sheet 3 is apt to be torn, or deformed beyond remedy, depending on the material used to make the sheet. T-earing would occur whe ' re the sheet 3 is foπned from a * , th,in paper material, whereas deformation is Likely to occur where the sheet 3 is formed from a defor able plastics. A surface 10 facing the surface 5 is defined on the sheet 3. At least one portion 11 of the surface 10 is coated with a conventional copying material such as copying carbon. In the embodiment of Figure 3, the carbon coat is applied to the portion 11 in a bar code form. The carbon bars 12 are interleaved to uncoated strips. The distance between any two adjacent bars 12 and the width of each bar 12 will produce a selected code pattern. In the embodiment of Figure 3, the carbon coating only occupies an edge portion of the surface 10 and extends crosswise to the main longitudinal dimension of the ticket 1. It stands to reason that the carbon coating may be applied to different portions of the surface 10, e.g. those at the symbols reproduced on the surface 5, in order to meet some specific requirements. After assembling the ticket 1, and prior to its distribution, it is pressed, as by rolling, along one or both its longitudinal edges, at least at the portion 11, to thereby reproduce on the surface 5 an impression 14 of the bars 12 in their original layout, that is prior to unsealing the ticket. This forms a key for reading the bar code, whose function will be explained hereinafter. To participate in a game wherein the symbols reproduced on the surface 5 are drawn out among others, it will be necessary to validate the ticket before unsealing it by entering the wager date on it, i.e. the date of the drawout of interest on a portion 15- identified on the outside surface of the sheet 2, at the carbon coated region 11. The information, such as the wager date, are hard copy entered on the portion 15 and automatically transfer, by a copying process owing to the partially carboned sheet 3, to the surface 5 in coded form. Thus, as may be appreciated from Figure 3, the wager date will only appear in dash lines according to the bar code. After unsealing the ticket, in the event of the wager being a winner, one can check that the information has been entered correctly, that is prior to unsealing the ticket, by comparing the coded information with the reading key formed by the impression 14 of the bars 12. This ticket construction and the method it involves make it unnecessary, during the ticket 1 assembling, to have the sheet 3 positioned accurately with respect to the sheets 2,4 inasmuch as on the sheet 4 there will be reproduced the reading key which serves for certifying that the information entered has been applied with the ticket intact. In Figure 4, there is shown a modified embodiment of the inventive ticket, wherein similar details are designated with the same reference numerals. The sheets 3 and 4 of the ticket shown in Figure 4 have respective surfaces 11 and 5 of two-component chemical copying paper. The components of the paper employed are known per se and of the icroencapsulated type on respective confronting surfaces of the sheets 3,4, thereby the microcapsules will break under the pressure exerted in writing, causing the two components to mix together. The two mixed components leave a trace which is the equivalent of a writing tj*ace. In the embodiment, of Figure 4, the microcapsules are distributed over each of the surfaces 11 and 5 in an orderly arrangement to form a bar or watermark code indicated at 20 in the drawing figure. The surfaces 5 and 11 overlap such that the bars or watermarks 20 on the two sheets 3,4 will match together. In this condition, when writing the wager date on the sheet 2, this will be transferred to the surface 5 of the sheet 4 in coded form. Thus, the invention affords endorsement of that the wager validation information, e.g. the desired drawout date, has been entered prior to unsealing the ticket, and hence, to ascertaining whether the symbols drawn out happen to correspond with the symbols carried on the surface 5. Accordingly, it becomes possible to manufacture and • distribute the game paper substrates irrespective of the time arranged for waging, this time being inequivocably certified by the player him/herself. On the other hand, any attempt to unseal the ticket 1 before entering the wager date would destroy the stacked alignment of the sheets 3 and 4 and become readily apparent on the sheet 4 being checked. With reference to Figures 5 to 7, a ticket, comprehensively designated 100, comprises first and second sheets indicated at 101 and 102, respectively, which overlap each other and are bound together along a common side 104, e.g. by gluing. On a surface of the first sheet 101, there is marked a region of ticket validation formed of three blocks, respectively denoted 106,107 and 108, wherein the player will enter numbers corresponding respectively to the day, month, and year, on which he/she wishes that his/her ticket be registered for the wager. The opposed (back) surface of the first sheet 101 is coated with a first chemical copying paper component spread either over the entire surface or part of it. Such a component is known per se, quite familiar to the skilled ones in the copying paper art, and imparts the back of the sheet 101 with receiving surface properties, that is a surface whereto what the player has entered on the front side of the first sheet is transferred by a copying process, as explained hereinafter. Printed on the surface of the second sheet 102 facing the first sheet 101 are first and second series of blocks, respectively designated 110 and 111. The blocks 110 and 111 are all coated with an opaque detachable layer 112 (Figure 3), such as a paint which can be rubbed off by either abrasion or the application of such readily available solvents as water or alcohol. These paints are known in the industry as scratch-out paints. The first series of blocks is located exactly in the validation area formed by the blocks 106,107 and 108 of the first sheet 101. Below the opaque Layer 112 of each block in the first series 110 of blocks there is a respective symbol, such as an alphanumerical character or a pattern, indicated at 114. These same symbols are reproduced over the opaque layer of the blocks in the second series 111, the remaining blocks of the second series showing analogous, though not identical, symbols. Below the opaque layer of each block in the second series 111 there is reproduced a further symbol 113, such as an alphanumerical character or a pattern, preferably a different one from those reproduced below the first series of blocks 110. Over the opaque layer 112 of the first series 111 of blocks there is applied a second component, known per se, for chemical copying paper. This second component is in a microencapsulated form dispersed in a wax-like paint which is spread over the opaque layer 112 in parallel sections of different width and at different spacings to define a bar code indicated at 120. The code 120 extends preferably beyond the opaque layer 112 to occupy some of the surface of the second sheet 102. The sections of wax-like paint forming said code 120 are normally invisible because thoroughly transparent. They have been depicted in Figure 2, however, for convenience of illustration. They are removable together with the opaque layer 112 in the validation region, but absorbed in the sheet 102, and hence not removabLe from the remaining surface of the sheet 102. The distribution of the components for chemical copying paper is such that on applying a validation, e.g. the wager date, to the three blocks 106,107 and 108, causing the microcapsules containing the second component for chemical copying paper to break under the pressure being exerted, localized intermixing of such components results, by a copying process, in a mirror-image reproduction 121 of the date entered in the blocks 106,107,108 on the receiving surface of the first sheet 101. Owing to the coded arrangement of the second component for copying paper over the opaque layer 112, the validation date * , .will be * imaged in dash lines, conforming with that same bar code as used to deposit said component on the second sheet 102. After assembling the ticket 100 as described and prior to its distribution to players, a pressure is applied over a strip spanning an edge portion of the validation region, transversely to the bar code as by having a small wheel run thereacross, for example. That pressure will also result in breakage of the microcapsules containing the second component for chemical copying paper and formation of an impression 130 on the receiving surface of the first sheet 101 facing the second sheet 102. This impression forms a key for reading the bar code and enables verification that the code whereby the validation date has been transferred does correspond with the original code reported on the second sheet 102 of the ticket. In- order to validate the ticket 100, a player should enter the date on which he/she means to have his/her ticket accepted to the game prior to checking the layout of the symbols 113. The validation date is written in the blocks 106,107 and 108 and transferred by a copying process to the back of the first sheet 101. As already mentioned above, that date will be transferred in dash-line form according to the bar code shown on the opaque- layer 112 of the first series of blocks 110. Subsequently, the player should remove the opaque layer 112 from the first series of blocks to uncover the symbols 114 underneath. With this operation, the bar code applied on the opaque layer will be destroyed, thereby the ticket validation operation cannot be repeated. By a subsequent operation, the player should 1 remove the * * opaque layer 112 from all the blocks in the second series 111 excepting those blocks whose opaque layer carries an identical symbol with the symbols 114 uncovered below the opaque layer of the first series of blocks 110. Any removal of the opaque layer from the entire series 111 of blocks would result in the ticket becoming automatically void. Thus, certification is provided of that the ticket validation date has been entered by the player prior to seeing the symbols 113 with which he/she will participate in the game. Since the opaque layer 112 and the bar code applied on it has been definitely removed from the first series of blocks in order to perform this operation, the ticket validation cannot be re-made, and can be verified by the organizers of the game by comparing the date showing on the back of the first sheet 101 to the reading key 130 reproduced thereon. A further check of the validation having been correctly applied, on exhibiting the ticket before the game organization, may be carried out by applying a pressure on the first sheet 101, such as by having a small wheel run over the bar code not removed from the sheet 102 in the area lying between the first and second series of blocks 110,11. If the first sheet 101 has not been replaced deceptively, its receiving surface (back) will show a mirror-image impression of the bar code 120. In order for the ticket to be properly validated, the impression, not shown in the drawings, should match the reading key 130. This expedient safeguards the game organization against any deceptive replacements of the first sheet after checking that drawn symbols correspond with the symbols 113 reproduced underneath beneath the opaque layer of the second series 111 of blocks. Advantageously, the first and second components for chemical paper would be.selected to prevent the trace left on the receiving surface (back) of the sheet 101 from becoming immediately visible to the player after entering the validation date, but rather to be developable or detectable later by means of suitable conventional reactants. The principal advantages of this invention include elimination of the need to have the wager validated by a collection office or another foreign entity to the player, and hence, a game set up which is more flexible and convenient to operate. Furthermore, the ticket is simple to manufacture and easy to use even by unskilled players, and the validation provided ensures full qualification of a winning ticket by ruling out any likelihooh of illicit manipulation.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A method of validating information entered on tickets, cards, and the like paper substrates (1,100) requiring certification that said information has been entered prior to unsealing the substrate, characterized in that said information is hard copied on a first surface (2,101) of the substrate and then transferred by a copying process in coded form to a second surface (5,101) of the substrate. 2. A method according to Claim 1, characterized in that to said second surface (5,101) there is applied a key (14,130) for reading the transfer code of said information. 3. A method according to Claim 2, characterized in that said reading key (14,130) is applied by the same copying process as used to transfer said infoπrfation. to said second surface (5,101) prior to entering said information. 4. A paper substrate, such as a ticket, card, or the like, comprising at least two sheets (3,4;1Q1,102) overlapping each other and bound together one of which has a copying material (12,120) on at least a portion of its surface confronting the other od said sheets (5,101), characterized in that said copying material (12,120) is laid on said at least one surface portion in a coded arrangement. 5. A paper substrate according to Claim 4, characterized in that said copying material (12,120) is arranged in bar code form. 6. A paper substrate according to either Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that said surface (10) portion (11) having a copying material (12) thereon is carboned. 7. A paper substrate according to either Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that said sheets (3,4) are formed, at least in part, from a chemical copying paper wherein the copying material is Laid in a coded arrangement (20). 8. A paper substrate according to either Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that it comprises an impression (14) of said code-arranged copying material (12) reproduced on the other (4) of said sheets , said impression (14) forming a key for reading said code. 9. A paper substrate according to Claims 4 to 8, characterized in that it comprises three superimposed sheets (2,3,4) of which the sheet having a copying material thereon forms an intermediate sheet (3) sandwiched between the other two (2,4), the outermost sheets (2,4) being bonded locally to said intermediate sheet (3) at different spots (7) on the intermediate sheet (4). 10. A paper substrate such as a ticket and the like, according to Claim 4, comprising first and second sheets (101, 102) overlapping each other and bonded together, whereon a validation region (106-108) is defined, at Least one of said sheets (102) having a copying material (120) at said validation region (106-108) on a surface thereof confronting the other (101) of said sheets, characterized in that said copying material (120) is laid in a coded arrangement and covers a removable opaque Layer (112) associated with one (102) of said sheets at said validation region. 11. A paper substrate according to Claim 10, characterized in that said code-arranged copying material (120) includes a first copying component for chemical copying paper, a second copying component being applied to the confronting surface of the other (101) of said sheets. 12. A paper substrate according to either Claim 10 or 11, characterized in that said copying material (120) is arranged in a bar code form. 13. A paper substrate according to Claim 12, characterized in that it comprises an impression (130) of said code-arranged copying material reproduced on the other (101) of said sheets, said impression (130) forming a key for reading said code. 14. A paper substrate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said opaque Layer (112) comprises a paint removable by other abrasion or application of a solvent. 15. A paper substrate according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said- ^ code-arranged copying material (120) is transparent. 16. A paper substrate according to one or more of Claims 11 to 15, characterized in that said first and second copying components are such as to leave, after becoming mixed together, an invisible trace adapted to be detected later by processing with reactants.

Inventors: DI BELLA ANTONIO, DI BELLA, ANTONIO
Applicants: BELLA ANTONIO DI, DI BELLA, ANTONIO
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A63F3
IPC codes: A63F3, A63F9