Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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GAME TICKEI' CONFUSION PATTERNS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the field of game tickets
and in particular to security features in instant type game
or lottery tickets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Game cards such as lottery tickets and promotional
game cards typically contain hidden play indicia such as
numbers, symbols or messages that indicate whether or not the
10 card is a winner or has a certain value to the player. The
play indicia is normally covered by a opaque coating material
for ex~mple a latex compound which can be scratched off by
the player to reveal the play indicia after the ticket has
been purchased or otherwise obtained by the player. Examples
15 of various game card and instant lottery ticket construction
are disclosed in U.S. Patents: 4,174,857, 4,273,362,
4,299,637, 4,725,079 and 4,726,608.
Of paramount importance to the game card industry
and in particular the instant lottery industry ls security.
20 One method of breaching the security of game tickets is by
candling. Here a bright light is applied to the game card
in an effort to read the play indicia either though the latex
covering or the back of the ticket. A number of techniques
have been developed to counter candling including the use of
25 a foil layer such as aluminum foil as part of the game
ticket. This foil layer blocks visible light and therefore
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makes it virtually impossible to read the play indicia
through the opaque coating. However the use of a foil layer
has a number of significant di.sadvantages including the
Pxpense of an extra process step t:o add the foil layer to the
card or ticket as well as the cost of the ~oil itself. Also
with the increased emphasis on recycling, aluminum foil can
present problems and costs to game card manufacturers along
with the users of game cards such as state lottery
administrations. For example used lottery tickets must be
collected from the public and then the foil has to be
separated from the rest of the ticket before it can be
recycled.
A second approach to prevent candling is to
imprint confusion patterns on the ticket. A confusion
pattern obscures or otherwise confuses the image of the play
indicia when visible light is shined though the game card
thus making it difficult or impossible to read the indicia
before the latex covering is removed. In one example
illustrated in U.S. Patent No. 3,900,219 a confusion pattern
is printed on the back of a lottery ticket. Although
confusion patterns printed on the back of the ticket help to
prevent candling, other methods exist for compromising the
security of the ticket. For example, delamination can be
- used to overcome the security provided by confusion patterns
printed on the back o~ the ticket. The back ticket layer
containing the confusion layer is separated or delaminated
from the ticket. Once delaminated, the indicia can be read
by candling. Confusion patterns consisting of irregular
opaque areas have also been printed on the top surface of the
card stock below the opaque mask. Another technique is
described in U.S. Patents Nos. 4,095,824 and 4,241,824. In
this case, to prevent photocopying though the opaque mask,
a confusion pattern is printed over the play indicia using
a transparent media or a media having a color differing from
the color of the play indicia so that the confusion pattern
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will not obscure the play indicia when the opaque mask is
removed by a player. Another confusion pattern is then
printed below the play indicia on the card material
immediately below the play indicia. One disadvantage of this
approach is that unless the upper confusion pattern is
completely transparent it existence will be apparent to those
individuals who may be considerinc1methods ~or breaching game
card security. In addition the upper confusion pattern as
described makes very little contribution to the prevention
of candling.
Wicking is another technique that has been used to
read the pla~ indicia without having to remove the opaque
mask. In wicking a solvent containing alcohols, ketones,
acetate, esters, alaphtic or amine solutions is applied to
either the back or the front of the game card resulting in
the bleed through of an image of the play indicia. This
makes it possible to determine if a game card is a winner
before the opaque coating is removed. One approach to
prevent wicking is to place solvent responsive dyes in the
opaque coating as described in U.S. Patent 4,726,608. This
is a relatively expensive process however. Confusion
patterns, as described above, have not generally been
effective in countering wicking.
SIJMMARY OF THE lNV~:N'l'lON
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to
reduce the cost and to enhance the security of game cards by
the use of particular locations and characteristics of
confusion patterns.
It is another object of the invention to provide
a game ticket which is secure against delamination.
It is a further object of the invention to provide
a secure game ticket which does not have substantially all
of its back surface covered with a confusion pattern and
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therefor has substantially all of its back surface available
for display purposes.
It is another object of the invention to provide
a game card having a removable opaque coating covering a set
of play indicia with a confusio~ pattern located above the
play indicia such that the confusion pattern is also removed
when the opaque coating is removed by a player.
It is also an object of the invention to provide
a game card havin~ a removable opaque coating covering a set
of play indicia with a confusion pattern that bleeds in the
presence of a solvent that also causes the hidden play
indicia to bleed.
It is an additional object of the invention to
provide a game card having a removable opaque coating
covering a set of play indicia and a confusion pattern which
is removed with the removable opaque layer.
It is a further object invention to provide a game
card having a card substrate where a confusion pattern is
printed with an ink, that bleeds in the presence of one or
more solvents where the same solvents also cause bleeding of
the hidden play indicia, on the upper surface of the
substrate and below a set of play indicia which in turn is
covered by a removable opaque coating. Security can be
further enhanced by providing a second confusion pattern
printed on a release coat that covers the play indicia.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig.l is an exploded perspective view of a gamë
card employing confusion patterns of the invention; and
Fig. 2 is a plan view of a confusion patter for use
with the game card of Fig.l.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Fig. 1 shows in exploded form a representative
; example of the construction of a game card 10 which
illustrates a pref~rred embodimlent of the invention. For
clarity only a portion of the various internal layers of the
card 10 are shown in Fig. 1. The first layer of the card 10
is a substrate 12 preferably composed of paper. A primer
layer 14 is applied to the substrate 12 and then a blue along
with a red banday pattern 16 and 18 are printed on the
substrate primer 14. The purpose of the bandy patterns 16
and 18 is to detect vertical ticket splitting. On top of the
banday patterns 16 and 18 a set of play indicia 20 is printed
which in the example of Fig. 1 include a bell, a cherry and
a plum. To protect the play indicia 20 a seal coat 22 is
applied over the play indicia 20 and then a release coat 24
is applied on top of the seal coat 22. In order to prevent
visual observation of the play indicia 20 a removable opaque
mask or coating 26, usually composed of a latex compound, is
applied to the release coating 24. A overprint layer 28
which can include game information such as a set of game play
indicators 30A-D forms the top most layer of the game ticket
10. A more detailed description of the basic components o~
the game ticket 10 is provided in U.S. Patent No. 4,726,608.
In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1,
candling can be inhibited by a permanent confusion pattern
32 printed on the substrate 12 underneath the primer coating
; 14 and a removable confusion pattern 34 printed on the top
of the release coat 24 beneath the removable coating 26. By
locating the permanent confusion pattern below the primer
layer 14 visual interference with the play indicia 20 is
avoided and the existence of this confusion pattern 32 is not
readily apparent to the public. In some instances it may be
desirable to print an uniform opaque coating such as gray or
black ink or a color matching the play indicia 20 below the
primer layer 14 instead as the confusion pattern 32. The
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removable confusion pattern 34 can be a uniform opaque
coating as well and can be print:ed in black or gray ink or
in a color matching the play indicia 20. Since the removable
confusion pattern 34 is located b~tween the removable coating
26 and the release coat 24 it wil:L be removed when the opaque
mask 24 is scratched off by a p].ayer. Thus this confusion
pattern 34 will likewise not intl3rfere with the observation
of the play indicia 20 when the mask 26 has been removed by
the player nor will its existence be apparent to the public.
To further enhance the security of the game card
10, one or both of the confusion patterns 32 and 34 can be
printed with an ink that include visible materials that go
into solution or dispersion when they come in contact with
various solvents such as alcohols, ketones, acetate, esters,
alaphtics or amine solutions that are typically used in
wicking. In this manner breaching the security of the game
card 10 by wicking can be prevented because the confusion
patterns 32 and 34 will tend to bleed through the ticket with
the play indicia 20 making the play indicia 20 indiscernible.
Another advantage of using a solvent responsive ink in the
removable confusion pattern 34 is that in some cases it
eliminates the need to use dyes in the removable mask 26 to
prevent wicking. This object can be achieved by
incorporating solvent responsive dyes into the confusion
pattern ink.
Preferably the confusion pattern inks 32 and 34
should have the same bleed characteristics as the play
indicia ink 20 in order to inhibit wicking. For example, if
the play indicia 20 is not subject to bleeding then the
confusion pattern inks should not be subject to bleeding.
A suitable confusion pattern ink for use with play
indicia 20 that have the color black would include a gray or
black grind base. Ink having a 16% gray or black ink grind
base by weight component along with 16% by weight methyl
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ethyl ketone; 6~ by weight K-1717B resins; 10~ by weight
pentalyn 255 resin; 8% by weight DM-55 acrylic resin and 16W6
N/C white base components will bleed on contact with solvents
containing ammonia or other amines as well a5 alcohols.
Dependin~ upon the type and color of ink used for the play
indicia 20, other types of dyes that will form a solution or
dispersions with the solvents can be used for the con~usion
pattern ink including inks of difeerent colors than black or
gray. It is also desirable that the solvent responsive dye
match the color of the play indicia ink. The density of the
dye should match the density of the play indicia ink as well
otherwise it may be possible to read the play indicia 20
through the confusion patterns 32 and 34.
The preferred form of the confusion patterns 32 and
34 is a random series of portions of the symbols used in the
play indicia 20 having the same line weight. An example of
such a confusion pattern is provided in Fig. 2. The
confusion pattern 32 should also have the same general
printing characteristics as the play indicia 20, to increase
the apparent similarity between the confusion pattern 32 and
the play indicia 20. For example, if the play indicia 20 are
printed as groupings of small dots, as is the result with ink
jet printers, the confusion pattern 32 should also be printed
as groupings of small dots. It may also be desirable to vary
the print characteristics of the play indicia 20 and the
confusion pattern 32. For example, it may be desirable to
print the individual symbols in the play indicia 20 with
different print densities and line weights. The individual
symbols or portions of the confusion pattern 32 would then
also be printed using varied characteristics. Printing the
confusion pattern 32 and the play indicia 20 with varying
characteristics helps to overcome difficulties in matching
the specific characteristics, such as print density, o~ the
play indicia 20 and the confusion pattern 32 and thus
increases the apparent similarity between the play indicia
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20 and the confusion pattern 32. However/ as indicated
above, a uniform coating of, for example, black ink, can be
used instead of one or the other or even both of the
confusion patterns 32 and 34.
In the preferred embocliment of the invention the
confusion patterns 32 and 34 are printed with ink that
provide the same general appearance as the play indicia when
the game card 10 is candlsd. In some cases due to materials
used in constructing the card 10, it is possible that the
confusion patterns 32 and 34 may have to be of a different
color or print type in order to match the play indicia 10
when candled.
The use o~ either permanent confusion pattern 32
or the removable confusion pattern 34 or a combination of
both in the game card 10 can substantially improve game card
security while at the same time decrease the costs of
manufacturing the cards 10. Additional security is provided
by using solvent responsive inks for the confusion patterns
32 and 34 as described above. As a result the invention, as
described above, now makes it possible to produce relatively
inexpensive paper game cards having a high degree of
' security.
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