Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
214~~04
1 ~.'ATENT APPLICATION
2 TITLE OF THE INVENTION: PEEL OFI~' COUPON REDEMPTION CARD
3 AND TRACKING SYSTEM
4 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR: Kenneth Thompson
2368 Eastman Avenue, Suite 3
6 Ventura, California 93003
7 United States Citizen
8 SECOND NAMED INVENTOR: none
9 ~ACRGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
11 The present invention pertains to the following areas of
12 technology:
13 PRINTED MATTER - a label;
14 PRINTED MATTER - having revealable concealed information, fraud
preventer or detector, use preventer or detector, or identifier
16 by removable material that is adhesively attached;
17 PRINTED MATTER - Advertising;
18 CHEMISTRY - adhesive coatings on sheets and products.
19 2. Description of the Prior Art:
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~~.~~~o~
1 Cents-off coupons and other types of discount coupons are
2 well know to grocery shoppers. Local newspapers print various
3 grocery item coupons, which will be honored by most major
4 supermarket chains. Coupons are also published in magazines, and
are frequently mailed to households in mass mailings. The retail
6 establishments that accept and honor these coupon then have to
7 collate the coupons, and forward them to the manufacturer for
8 reimbursement plus handling costs. Coupons come in various
9 shapes, sizes and condition. The cashier accepts the coupons as
they are presented to her at the check out line at a supermarket.
11 The accepted coupons then have to be sorted and processed, which
12 is very time consuming to the supermarket. It takes time for the
13 cashier to read each coupon, credit the customer's cash register
14 receipt for the amount stated on each coupon, and also ensure
that the customer has purchased the product stated on the coupon.
16 The cashier then places the redeemed coupons in a special drawer
17 for sorting later.
18 Redemption stamps and stamp booklets also are well known in
19 the art. Green Stamps were popular in the 1950's. Participating
retail stores would display a decal or sign indicating that they
21 would issue Green Stamps. Whenever a customer purchased goods at
22 the store, the store would issue to the customer a quantity of
23 Green Stamps, which would usually be based upon the purchase
24 price of the goods. The Green Stamps were similar to postage
stamps and had a glued backing that only had to be moistened to
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
1 activate the adhesive ability of the stamps. The customer was
2 supplied with Green Stamp redemption booklets, which contained a
3 fixed number of blank pages for gluing the Green Stamps thereto.
4 The object was to fill up several booklets with Green Stamps. The
full booklets then could be redeemed at a Green Stamp redemption
center. The redemption center would give the redeemer free goods
7 in exchange for a certain number of booklets filled with Green
8 Stamps. The system was funded by the retail stores, which
9 purchased the Green Stamps from the redemption center. The
participating stores believed that issuing Green Stamps increased
li their business, because customers would prefer to shop at a store
12 that issued Green Stamps over a store that did not.
13 SUI~ARY AND OPERATION OF TH8 INVENTION
14 A coupon redemption card and tracking system includes a
credit card size redemption coupon card used by the customer, and
16 a tracking sheet used by the redemption center such as a
17 restaurant. The redemption card has a plurality of mini coupons,
18 which can be peeled off individually. Each redeemed peel off
19 coupon is affixed to the tracking sheet, which has dimensions of
a dollar bill so that the sheet can be placed conveniently in the
21 till of a cash register. The tracking system facilitates the
22 accounting and inventory of redeemed coupons.
23
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
According to one embodiment of the invention, there
is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a
redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value
creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a
redemption center a redemption card having a bar code
thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon;
peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the
redemption card; transferring the peel-off coupon to a
tracking means; crediting the value of the peel-off coupon
to the redeemer by reading the bar code on the redemption
card with a bar code reader; and returning the redemption
card to the redeemer.
According to another embodiment of the invention,
there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured
to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon,
the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a
redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption
center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off
coupon having a bar code thereon; placing a tracking
means at the redemption center; peeling off at least one
the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peel-off coupon to the tracking means;
crediting the value of the peel-off coupon to the
redeemer by reading the bar code on the peel-off coupon
with a bar code reader; and returning the redemption card
to the redeemer.
According to still another embodiment of the
invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a
coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a
redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which
includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
card having a magnetic strip thereon, and having at least
one peel-off coupon thereon; peeling off the at least one
the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by
reading the magnetic strip on the card with a magnetic
strip reader; and returning the redemption card to the
redeemer.
According to a further embodiment of the invention,
there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured
to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon,
the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a
redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption
center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off
coupon having a magnetic strip thereon; peeling off at
least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by
reading the magnetic strip on the peel-off coupon with a
magnetic strip reader; and returning the redemption card
to the redeemer.
According to yet another embodiment of the
invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a
coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a
redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which
includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption
card having a bar code and a magnetic strip thereon and
containing at least one peel-off coupon; peeling off at
least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
reading the bar code on the redemption card with a bar
code reader and by reading the magnetic strip on the
redemption card with a magnetic strip reader; and
returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to yet a further embodiment of the
invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a
coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the
redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value
creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a
redemption center a redemption card containing at least
one peel-off coupon covered with a removable scratch-off
layer thereon; removing the removable scratch-off layer
from the peel-off coupon; reading a message on the peel-
off coupon; peeling off the peel-off coupon from the
redemption card; transferring the peel-off coupon to a
tracking means; crediting the value of the coupon to the
redeemer; and returning the redemption card to the
redeemer.
According to a further embodiment of the invention,
there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card,
which includes: a base layer having a front face and a
back face; the front face of the base layer having
printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the
front face of the base layer; removable release liner
applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon
layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the
coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on
it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of
small adhesive backed removable coupons.
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
According to a further embodiment of the invention,
there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card,
which includes: a base layer having a front face and a
back face; the front face of the base layer having
printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the
front face of the base layer; removable release liner
applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon
layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the
coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on
it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of
small adhesive backed removable coupons; and a removable
scratch-off layer temporarily covering at least one the
removable coupon.
According to a further embodiment of the invention,
there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card,
which includes: a base layer having a front face and a
back face; the front face of the base layer having
printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the
front face of the base layer; removable release liner
applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon
layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the
coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on
it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of
small adhesive backed removable coupons; the overall
dimensions of the coupon are 1" by 13/16"; the base layer
is fabricated from 6, 8, 10, or 12 tag paper; and a double
flap coupon card having overall dimensions of 6-5/8" by
2-3/8".
According to yet a further embodiment of the
invention, there is provided a method of presenting an
immunization coupon secured to an immunization card and
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
tracking the immunization record of a child, which
includes: issuing an immunization card that has a series
of peel-off coupons having bar codes thereon and
representing required vaccination shots needed by a child
from birth to teenage years; periodically vaccinating a
child according to a schedule set forth on the
immunization card; presenting to an immunization tracking
center the peel-off coupon corresponding to a particular
vaccination administered to the child; placing a tracking
means for the child at the immunization tracking center;
transferring the peel-off coupon to the tracking means;
recording the vaccination on the peel-off coupon by
reading the bar code on the peel-off coupon with a bar
code reader; and returning the immunization card.
According to a further embodiment of the invention,
there is provided a laminated hotel casino card, which
includes: a base layer having a front face and a back
face; the front face of the base layer having printed
matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front
face of the base layer; removable release liner applied
to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having
a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face
of the coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and
scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small
adhesive backed removable coupons; the removable coupons
redeemable at the hotel for a variety of gratuities
according to what is printed on the peel-off coupon; and
a scratch-off layer over at least one coupon on the
casino card.
According to another embodiment of the invention,
there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a
front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to
the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer
to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer,
the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a
roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a
printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon
layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed
matter to the front face of the base layer; covering at
least one coupon with a removable scratch-off layer; die-
cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the
coupon layer to allow each the coupon to be individually
peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a
portion of the adhesive to the back of the coupon; and
die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon
redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to still another embodiment of the
invention, this is provided the method of making a peel-
off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer
having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive
layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a
coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the
base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being
formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or
roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the
coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying
printed matter to the front face of the base layer;
applying a protective sealant to the front face of the
base layer; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form
score lines on the coupon layer to allow each the coupon
to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer
while leaving a portion of the adhesive on the back of
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form
each coupon card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to a further embodiment of the invention,
there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon
card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a
front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to
the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer
to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer,
the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a
roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a
printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon
layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed
matter to the front face of the base layer; applying at
least one magnetic strip to the card; die-cutting from
the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer
to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from
the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the
adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the
sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card
separate from the sheet or roll.
According to yet another embodiment of the
invention, there is provided the method of making a peel-
off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer
having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive
layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a
coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the
base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being
formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or
roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the
coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying
printed matter to the front face of the base layer;
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
applying at least one bar code to the card; die-cutting
from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon
layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away
from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the
adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the
sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card
separate from the sheet or roll.
According to still another embodiment of the
invention, there is provided a laminated hotel casino
card, which includes: a base layer having a front face
and a back face; the front face of the base layer having
printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the
front face of the base layer; removable release liner
applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon
layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the
coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed
thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix
of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and the
removable coupons redeemable at the hotel for a variety
of gratuities according to what is printed on the peel-
off coupon.
According to yet another embodiment of the
invention, there is provided an immunization card, which
includes: a base layer having a front face and a back
face; the front face of the base layer having printed
matter thereon; removable release liner applied to the
back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a
coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of
the coupon layer having a series of coupons having bar
codes thereon representing vaccination shots needed by a
child from birth to teenage years; and the coupon face
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CA 02148304 1999-12-16
scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small
adhesive backed removable coupons.
The coupon card is fabricated from two laminated
layers of
3i
~~~~~o~
1 paper or paper-like material, a clear plastic protective film,
2 and an adhesive coating. The base layer is fabricated from a
3 special paper. An adhesive layer is applied to one side of the
4 base layer. The layer, which will form the peel off coupon layer,
is then affixed to the layer of adhesive material. The finished
6 two layered sheet is held together by adhesive material. The
7 layered sheet is produced as a large single sheet or as roll of
8 the material. The sheet or roll is then sent to the printer. The
9 printer applies printer's ink to both sides of the sheet to form
the desired printed matter on both sides of the sheet. After the
11 printer's ink transfer process has been completed, the top side
12 of the sheet has the requested identification or advertising
13 matter printed on it. The bottom side has the requested
14 individual coupons printed on it. The next step is to have the
top surface laminated with a clear plastic film for durability,
16 protection, and to provide a pleasing appearance. This clear
17 protective film lamination process can take place immediately
18 after the inking process. It must be done afterwards to protect
19 the previously applied printer's ink. The laminated sheets are
then die-cut on the coupon side. When the individual coupon is
21 removed from the card, it has sufficient adhesive so that it will
22 adhere to the tracking sheet. The small size of the mini coupons
23 is convenient for the card holder and it is also convenient for
24 the redemption center. It eliminates the need to process diverse
sizes and shapes of customer coupons. The system can be used
26 wherever one has to keep track of various redeemable coupons and
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i 2148~Q4
1 the like.
2 The present invention is preferably used for fund raising by
3 charitable organizations that have youngsters as members. Such
4 organizations include the little League, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,
and the Y.M.C.A. Initially various fast food restaurants are
6 contacted in a given geographic area to ask if they would
7 participate in the fund raising drive. The fast food restaurants
8 are asked to redeem the coupons submitted by the customer. The
9 fast food restaurant absorbs the costs. The fast food restaurant
benefits by attracting new customers, keeping customer loyalty,
11 and increasing its good will in the community. The coupon cards
12 are fabricated and sold to the charitable organization for a fee.
13 The charitable organization then sells the cards to the public
14 for a higher fee. The difference between the cost and the price
sold to the public is the profit made by the organization. The
16 money goes to fund the charitable or non-profit organization.
17 There is no overhead involved, because the cards are sold by the
18 members. The coupon card usually has a legend printed on it to
19 let the customer know which restaurants will honor the coupons.
The coupon system also eliminates employee theft at the
21 restaurant. It prevents a sales clerk from selling an item of
22 food, pocketing the money, and then telling the manager that he
23 or she gave away the item of food. Any food items given away
24 would have to be evidenced by the redeemed coupon affixed to the
tracking sheet in the clerk's till. When the coupon is redeemed,
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21~8~0~
1 the clerk affixes the coupon to a blank square on the tracking
2 sheet and then writes in the amount that would normally be
3 charged for that food item as if the customer had paid for the
4 item of food. The tracking sheets are also acceptable evidence by
the Internal Revenue Service to show a legitimate tax deduction
6 by the restaurant. There are three parties involved in the
7 promotion: the fast food restaurant, the coupon card distributor,
8 and the non-profit organization. This three party arrangement is
9 required by the I.R.S. before the restaurant can take the full
deduction as a legitimate business expense. The completed
11 tracking sheets already have the prices written in by the clerks.
12 All of the prices on the tracking sheets are tallied by the
13 accountant. The total amount is allowed by the I.R.S. as a
14 deduction. Other types of promotional arrangements result in only
25 a partial deduction by the I.R.S. of the actual costs incurred by
16 the fast food restaurant. Ia is also useful when the franchisee
17 calculates the royalties due to the franchisor, which are usually
18 based on gross sales.
19 The thickness of the coupon card is .0177 to .019 inches.
Conventional plastic credit cards are .021 to .027 inches in
21 thickness. This is a standard thickness so that the plastic
22 credit cards can be used in a machine that accepts plastic credit
23 cards. All machines are designed to accept only this range of
24 thicknesses for a plastic credit card. The present invention
cannot be used in a credit card machine, because it is too thin.
- 6 -
~
214~3~4
1 This prevents misuse of the coupon card by those who might try to
2 use the card at a bank teller machine for example.
$~tIEF DE8C1ZIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
4 FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a pair of folded peel-off
redemption coupon cards, which are illustrated in the unfolded
6 position.
7 FIG. 2 is the tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off
8 coupon from the card can be affixed thereto.
9 FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of a credit card size peel-off
coupon card.
il FIG. 4 is top plan view of FIG. 3.
12 FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of FIG. 3, the back being
13 identical.
14 FIG. 6 is a left side elevational view of FIG. 3, the right
side being identical.
16 FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG.
17 4.
_ 7
~14~30~
1 FIG. 8 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the
2 coupon card shown in FIG. 1.
3 FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the alternate embodiment of the
4 tracking sheet shown in Fig. 2.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged left side elevational view of the
6 coupon card shown in FIG. 8. clearly showing the layers of
7 material forming the folded pair of coupon redemption cards.
8 FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of FIG. 6 clearly showing the
9 layers of the materials forming the coupon redemption card.
FIG. 12 illustrates the back face of a single redemption card
11 having sixteen mini coupons with various fast food restaurants
12 printed thereon.
13 FIG. 13 illustrates a typical tracking sheet used by a
14 redemption center such as a fast food restaurant.
FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a second alternate tracking
16 sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be
17 affixed thereto.
18 FIG. 15 is a bottom plan view of the second alternate
19 tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the value of each redeemed
_ g _
2i4~304
1 peel-off coupon from the card can be tracked;
2 FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of a variant of the basic peel-
3 off coupon system.
4 FIG. 17 is top plan view of Fig. 16 showing a variant of the
basic peel-off coupon tracking system having a concealed scratch-
6 off coupon and a bar code on another peel off coupon.
7 FIG. 18 is the face of a tracking sheet very similar to Fig.
8 16 where each redeemed peel-off mini coupon from the card can be
9 affixed thereto, and which is shown in FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17,
11 the right side being identical and showing the scratch-off layer.
12 FIG. 20 is a top plan view of a complementary pair of
13 foldable immunization tracking coupon cards having bar codes
14 imprinted on each mini coupon, and is illustrated in the unfolded
position.
16 FIG. 21 is an enlarged front elevational view of the pair of
17 immunization cards shown in FIG. 20.
18 FIG. 22 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 showing
19 the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off coupon card
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2148~4~
1 fabricated from vinyl or P'VC and having a magnetic strip and a
2 bar code to identify the entire card rather than just the mini
3 coupon.
4 FIG. 23 is the reverse side of the card shown in FIG. 22.
FIG. 24 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 and 22
6 showing the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off mini
7 coupon card having free coupons for use in a gambling casino.
8 FIG. 25 is a top plan view similar to FIGS. 1, 8, and 20
9 view of a complementary pair of double flap foldable stamp or
mini coupon cards, and is illustrated in the unfolded position.
11 FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the edge of the card
12 illustrated in FIG. 25
13 FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon
14 or stamp with a bar code p7.aced thereon. The mini coupon can be
used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.
16 FIG. 28 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon
17 or stamp with a magnetic strip placed thereon. The coupon can be
18 used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.
19 FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an example of a regular mini
- 10 -
~.~4~3~4
1 coupon or stamp. The coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS.
2 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, Or 25.
- 11 -
~~483p~
1 DETAINED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
2 Referring now to the drawings, the present invention includes
3 two major components. The first component is referred to as the
4 peel-off coupon redemption card 10. The single card is
illustrated in FIGS. 3-7 and 11-12. The second component is
6 referred to as the tracking sheet 100. The tracking sheet is
7 illustrated in FIGS. 2, 9 and 13. The tracking sheet illustrated
8 in FIG. 13 is 6°° x 2 1/2". The single coupon redemption card
9 10 is a credit card size, which can easily fit into the card
holder of a user's wallet. The card 10 is thin, flat and has
11 dimensions of 3 3/8" x 2 1/8". The four corners of the card are
12 rounded. The coupon card is thinner than a plastic credit card.
13 The coupon card is .0175 to .019 inches in thickness. Other than
14 the thickness, it is identical in size to a typical plastic
credit card such as a bank card or an oil company credit card.
16 The back face 15 of the card 10 contains a plurality of small
17 mini coupons. FIGS. 4 and 12 illustrate the back side of the card
18 with the peel off mini coupons. Preferably the redemption card
19 has sixteen mini peel off coupons 20 secured to it. Each coupon
is scored at any adjoining edges 22, 24, 26 and 28 by a die-cut
21 process so that one can peel away a corner of the coupon with
22 one's finger nail and then can easily remove that particular
23 coupon. A "dog ear" marking 30 is illustrated at one corner of
24 each coupon to visually indicate to the user where to begin the
- 12 -
'~ ~~~83~4
1 peeling process. The mini coupons do not have the "dog ear" 30
2 portion already exposed. It is foreseeable that a pull tab or
3 string of some type could be integrated with the coupon to.assist
4 in the coupon removal process. The underside of the coupon 20 has
an adhesive backing to hold the coupon in place. Each coupon on
6 the coupon card has printed matter printed thereon when the
7 coupon card is fabricated. In the preferred embodiment, the
8 printed matter on each coupon card is for a cash price discount
9 or a buy one-get one free meal at a fast food type of restaurant.
This type of coupon card is illustrated in FIG. 12. FIG. 12
11 illustrates coupons for several different fast food restaurants
12 to allow the card holders flexibility in their selections on
13 where and what kinds of food to eat, because the participating
14 restaurants printed on the coupons will honor the card. The card
holders tell the cashier at the restaurant when ordering that
16 they want to redeem one of more of their coupons. The card holder
17 then hands the cashier the coupon card. The cashier peels off the
18 requisite coupon for that particular establishment. The cashier
19 has a second component, the tracking sheet 100, located in her
cashier drawer. The tracking sheet is about the size of a dollar
21 bill. This allows the tracking sheet 100 to fit in one of the
22 compartments in the cashier's tray normally used for holding
23 paper currency. After the cashier has peeled off the mini coupon
24 from the discount card, she affixes it to the tracking sheet kept
in the cash register tray. The peeled off coupon 20 has
26 sufficient adhesive backing remaining on it so that it will
- 13 -
214~~~~
1 permanently affix itself to the tracking sheet 10. This sequence
2 of transferring the coupon from the card to the sheet is
3 illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. The tracking sheet has room at
4 the top of it for printing with adjacent blank lines to enter
information such as date, register number, location, shift number
6 and the like. The tracking sheet also has a grid layout defining
7 a plurality of squares, which are slightly larger than the mini
8 coupons. The squares are sufficiently large to accommodate the
9 coupons to be affixed to the tracking sheet without having to be
placed too closely to one another. After the cashier has affixed
11 the coupon to the tracking sheet, the cents off coupon or the
12 free item coupon as the case may be, is deducted from the
13 customer's itemized bill in the usual manner. The cashier then
14 returns the redemption card to the customer. At the end of the
shift or at any reasonable interval, the manager can remove the
16 cash drawer tray along with the cash received, and the tracking
17 sheet with the affixed coupons. The tracking sheet with the
18 affixed coupons function as a convenient reference list to.assist
19 in counting the cash and coupons in the cash drawer tray in order
to tally and balance out the total transactions for the shift
21 with the amount of money and coupons taken in.
22 The redemption card 10 is fabricated from four flat sheets of
23 superposed layered material. The card 10 has a front face 25 and
24 a back face 15. The front face 25 is used for printing
identification, graphics, or advertising on it, which is readily
- 14 -
1 visible on the card. The back face shows the peel off mini
2 coupons 20. The front face 25 of the coupon card comprises the
3 front side of a sheet 30 of paper and is described as a tag 12
4 point release liner. The sheet 30 is described as the base layer.
The back side 35 of the sheet 30 has a layer of adhesive 40
6 applied to it. The adhesive 40 is sold by FASSON label, which it
7 calls SP11G special liner. The adhesive has a rubber-like base
8 material. It is very tacky to allow the coupon to adhere to many
9 types of material. The adhesive will not "bleed" or melt when it
becomes warm. This is necessary, because the coupon card will be
11 carried in a man s wallet. The man can sit on his wallet
12 containing the coupon card, and yet the adhesive will remain
13 stable. The next sheet is used for the coupons. This sheet 50 is
14 described as the coupon layer. This sheet is sold by FASSON label
manufacturing company. It is described as number #60 blue/white
16 high gloss white cream coat. FASSON sells its sheets under the
17 federally registered trademark CRACK'N PEEL Plus. This material
18 is sold as 11.5" x 15" sheets or approximately 1,000 foot long
19 rolls. The top face of the liner which contains the advertising
usually has a plastic film to cover the advertising to provide a
21 more durable and shiny surface to the card. This top film 60 is
22 known as face stock and it is made out of 0069-2Mi1 UCL Polyolam
23 NPL Film. The card normally requires five different operations
24 just to make the card material. There are two material companies
and a laminating company to create the material in sheet or roll
26 form. The printer then prints the advertising on the face of the
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1 sheet in sections so that the cards can be cut separately and
2 then on the bottom face of the material the appropriate coupons
3 are printed on the card in the appropriate spaces. After the
4 printing has taken place, then the top face of the tag liner is
covered with the durable plastic liner or sealed with a liquid
6 protective sealant. The coupons are also die-cut during the
7 printing process. Therefore, the printing process comprises
8 printing the top and the bottom of the card, putting a plastic
9 laminate on one side of the card and die-cutting the other side
of the card. The die-cutting process is sufficiently deep so
11 that the coupons can be peeled off.
12 FIG. 11 illustrates the side view of the coupon card. FIG.
12
13 illustrates the side view of a double coupon card. The
14 thicknesses of the layers are exaggerated clearly illustrate
to
the layering of the card.
16 FIG. 8 illustrates a double card where the coupons are spaced
17 apart. FIG. 9 illustrates one type of tracking sheet.
18 It is to be understood that the specific materials used to
19 form the card can be substituted for those herein described. The
coupon card material is similar to a peel off label sold at
21 office supply stores. The coupon card is an enlarged label and
22 improved to form the coupon card. The coupon sheet and the base
23 sheet could be fabricated from any number of materials. The
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~~.~~~0~
1 adhesive film could be any number of films already on the market.
2 The plastic film could also be any number of films already
3 available on the market.
4 FIG. 14 illustrates a top plan view of a second alternate
tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card
6 can be affixed thereto. FIG. 15 illustrates the bottom plan view
7 of the second alternate tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the
8 value of each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be
9 tracked.
After the counter clerk removes a peel-off coupon 15 from the
11 coupon card, he or she affixes the coupon onto one of the squares
12 115 on the tracking card 110 shown in FIGS. 14 and 18. FIG. 17
13 and FIG. 18 show the step of transferring the peel-off coupon 15
14 to the tracking sheet. The total amount of the sale is then
written in the top of the square 120 adjacent to the $ symbol and
16 immediately above the coupon. At the end of the shift or sooner
17 if the tracking sheet is filled up with redeemed coupons, the
18 clerk then adds up the total dollar value on the front of the
19 sheet for the total sales. FIG. 14 shows a line 125 towards the
bottom to insert total sales. The back side of the tracking sheet
21 in FIG. 15 illustrates four rows of boxes. In the first box 130
22 in row one, the clerk enters the total number of peel-off coupons
23 received for the promotion. For example, buy one regular
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21~~~0~
1 hamburger and get one free. The clerk then enters the price of
2 the peel-off items in the second box 135 in row one. The amount
3 in box one is multiplied by the amount in box two and the product
4 of the multiplication is entered in box three 140 on the first
row. The clerk must then calculate the percentage of the cost of
6 promotion to be entered in box 145. In the left column 150 the
7 percentage of the product cost is entered, then the cost of
8 material is entered and then the total labor to make the item is
9 entered. Theses figures are supplied by management. The total is
added and entered in box 155. The same number is entered in box
11 145 in the first row. The number in box 145 is subtracted from
12 the number in box 140 to arrive at the cost of the promotion,
13 which is entered in box 160 in row one. The next three rows of
14 boxes are used if the promotion covers other items such as a free
coke or order of fries. The right boxes 160 and below are totaled
16 to arrive at the total cost of the promotion which is entered on
17 line 165.
18 FIG. 16 illustrates a bottom plan view of a variant of the
19 basic peel-off coupon card 200. FIG. 17 is a top plan view of
Fig. 16 showing a variant of the basic peel-off coupon tracking
21 system having a concealed scratch-off coupon 200 and a bar code
22 210 on another peel off coupon. The scratch-off cover 205 is a
23 hot foil treatment that is applied to one of more coupons after
24 the coupons are printed. It is intended that the underlying
coupon offers a special prize for the cardholder. For example,
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~14~~0~
1 the hidden coupon could offer a free hamburger, coke, or fries to
2 the cardholder. Also illustrated in Fig. 17 is a bar code 215
3 indicating a medium pizza. The bar code is machine readable by a
4 wand bar code reader or a stationary bar code scanner. The
addition of bar codes on the peel-off coupons allows for greater
6 tracking capability on the part of the redemption card center,
7 which is usually a fast food restaurant. After a tracking sheet
8 such as those illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 18 are filled with
9 redeemed coupons, the filled tracking sheets could be scanned or
read by a bar code reader that would send the data to a computer
11 which would tabulate the redeemed coupons to accelerate the
12 tracking process, and would reduce or eliminate human error. It
13 would also reduce the number of man hours needed to manually
14 tabulate the filled tracking sheets. FIG. 18 is the face of a
tracking sheet very similar to Fig. 16 where each redeemed peel-
16 off mini coupon 15 from the card 200 can be affixed thereto, and
17 which is shown in FIG. 17;
18 FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17
19 showing the scratch-off layer. The scratch-off layer 205 is
clearly visible. The thicknesses of the laminated layers forming
21 the card and the foil scratch-off layer are greatly exaggerated
22 to clearly illustrate the various laminated layers.
23 FIG. 20 illustrates a top plan view of a complementary pair
24 of foldable immunization tracking coupon cards 250 and 255 with
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214834
1 bar codes 260 imprinted on each mini coupon. FIG. 20 illustrates
2 the pair in the unfolded position. FIG. 21 is an enlarged front
3 elevational view of the pair of immunization cards shown in FIG.
4 20. The present invention can be adapted to be used as an
immunization card used in tracking the immunization record for a
6 child. The method of using the present invention in this way can
7 be practiced by issuing an immunization card that has a series
8 coupons 265 having bar codes 260 thereon and which represents the
9 required vaccination shots needed by a child from two months of
age up to sixteen years of age. Many local schools will not
11 enroll a child unless the parent can produce evidence that the
12 child has already had certain vaccinations. The present invention
13 can be used to verify this information. Additionally local,
14 state, and federal health officials feel that the immigration of
young children and child bearing adults has created a unique
16 problem in trying to keep track of these children to ensure that
17 they are receiving their necessary vaccinations such as their DTP
18 vaccinations. Failure to properly vaccinate these young immigrant
19 children could lead to epidemics of diseases that are easily
protectable against by proper vaccinations. The card shown in
21 FIGS. 19 and 20 would be completed for each child. The lines 265
22 could be used to enter information about the child. The child's
23 name and social security number would be entered into some type
24 of data base operated by the government. The child's parents
would keep the immunization card, and would present it to the
26 doctor each time the child had its appropriate vaccinations. The
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~14$~0~
1 doctor would then remove the peel-off coupon 265 for the
2 particular vaccination administered, and then would place it on a
3 tracking sheet. The doctor would then mail the completed tracking
4 cards to the appropriate department in charge of tracking
vaccinations for young children. The department could read the
6 bar codes 260 with a bar code reader and then have the
7 information entered into a computer. The computer could keep
8 track o~ the children who are not receiving their vaccinations,
9 and could send out reminder notices to the parent or the
physician that the child needs specific vaccinations.
1 In the drawings, FIG. 22 illustrates the back side of a
2 redemption card 300 and is similar to the views shown in FIGS. 4,
3 12, 17. FIG. 22 illustrates the coupon side of a variant of the
4 basic peel-off coupon card. The card can be fabricated from vinyl
5 of PVC. A magnetic strip 305 and a bar code 310 are positioned on
6 the card 300 to identify the entire card rather than just the
7 peel-off mini coupon 315.
8 FIG. 23 is the front, or reverse side of the card 300 shown
9 in FIG. 22. FIGS. 22 and 23 are life size depictions of the card
10 as illustrated on 8 1/2" by 14°' paper. Printed matter such as
11 advertising or a description of the card would normally be
12 printed on the front side shown in FIG. 23. The magnetic strip
13 305 illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 can be a special strip made by
14 Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing company, commonly known as 3M.
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214~~04
15 3M refers to it as magnetic strip stock number 315 84 98011 4811.
16 It can be directly applied to paper and can function as a
17 magnetic strip. Everyone is familiar with a bank or gasoline type
18 of credit charge card. The typical bank or gas credit charge card
19 generally has the appearance as that illustrated in FIG. 22. The
20 magnetic strip 310 is positioned lengthwise along one or both
21 sides of the card 300. The magnetic strip 310 is blank when the
22 card is fabricated. An encoding machine is available which can
23 electronically encode any message on the magnetic strip.
24 As regards the present invention, an encoding device could
25 be used to activate the card 300 shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 so that
26 the card could be used in any number of applications. A quantity
27 of cards could be fabricated and sold to the ultimate redeemer of
28 the cards who wishes to function as a redemption center. The
29 encoding machine could be made available to this entity so that
30 the blank magnetic strips 305 on the cards could be encoded
31 according to the wishes of the purchaser of the cards. The front
32 side of the card illustrated in FIG. 23 could be made from vinyl
33 or PVC. The approximate thickness of the card could be .007 to
34 .020 inches. The transfer tape 305 has high coercivity. The bar
35 code 310 may be placed on the front or the back of the card 300.
36 The card illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 is the preferred
37 configuration. It is to be understood, however, that the card may
38 be any size or shape.
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~~~s~o~
39 Additional variations of the special coupons and coupon cards
40 are illustrated in FIGS. 25 through 29. The individual peel-off
41 coupon card 400 can have dimensions of 1" by 13/16°'. The overall
42 length of the double flap stamp card or coupon card 420 can be
43 6 5/8" by 2 3/8". The release liner 405, labelled '°A°' in
FIG. 26,
44 is referred to as a release liner. It can have thicknesses of
45 ~ 6,8,10, or 12 tag. Tag is a term in the label making industry
46 indicating thickness. The front side of A is for printing and
47 coating. The back side of A is a release for liner for face
48 stock. The top layer "C" 410 is a facestock with an adhesive on
49 one side. The coupon 400 illustrated in FIG. 28 has a 3M special
50 paper magnetic strip 315 84 98011 4811 401 and can be applied to
51 paper. The magnetic strip 401 illustrated in FIG. 28 can be 1/4"
52 in width and placed along the bottom edge of the peel-off coupon
53 400. This still leaves sufficient room for placing printed
54 matter above the magnetic strip. The strip of bar code 402 in
55 FIG. 28 is 1/4" wide. A regular peel-off coupon 400 is
56 illustrated in FIG. 29. It is 13/16" wide and 1" long. A regular
57 coupon and the coupons illustrated in FIGS. 25,26,27, and 28 can
58 also have these same dimensions.
59 While the present invention has been shown and described
60 herein in what is conceived to be the best mode contemplated, it
61 is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the
62 scope of the invention which is therefore not to be limited to
63 the details disclosed herein, but is to be afforded the full
64 scope of the invention.
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