Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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GAMING TICKET WITH ULTRAVIOLET SECURITY FEATURE
The present invention relates to the field of gaming tickets. More
specifically, the present invention relates to the field of security features for
S gaming tickets which have two face-to-face plies (2 ply) and one or more
windows in one ply which obscure indicia on the other ply.
Gaming tickets of the type described above are known and an example
of a ticket under normal li~hting conditions is illustrated in Figure 1. These
10 gaming tickets often have several windows A in a window ply, each window
A obsc ~ring a number of indicia B on an indicia ply, opening of each window
pe. ..~ g the purchaser to COl~ the indicia with pre-determined "winning~
indicia, often identified on the outside of the ticket.
In general, the windows A in the prior art gaming cards are defined by
elongate pelro~alions C separated by minim~l webs D. The elongate
p~lr~l~Lions A are co-linear with the perim~ter of the window they define. The
window is opened by breaking the minim~l webs.
Prior art gaming cards are subject to tampering. For example, once a
window has been opened and a winning set of indicia identified, it is possible
to separate the indicia ply from the window ply, produce a number of high
quality colour photocopies of the winning indicia ply and reconstruct counterfeit
"winning" tickets by ~tt~ching the photocopies to window plies from losing
tickets. Alternatively, it is possible to cut out one or more indicia from one
window and replace it with indicia from another window or another ticket,
thereby producing a counlelreit "winning ticket". Once a gaming ticket has
been reconstructed, it is not apparent that the ticket has ever been tampered
with. It requires careful visual inspection to determine that the two plies havebeen separated and reconstructed, or indicia have been replaced.
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It is an object of the present invention to provide a g~min~ ticket in
which tampering is a~elll to the person responsible for awarding the prize
to the holder of a "winning" ticket.
S Accordingly, in one aspect the ~l~nl invention pra~ides a g~ming ticket
having light-sensitive security inrorlllation thereon which is visible when the
g~ming ticket is exposed to light of an apl)ropliate wavelength and which is notreproducible by photocopying.
Preferably, the light-sensitive security information is visible when the
g~min~ ticket is e~posed to ultraviolet light.
Also p~Grt;l~bly, the security information is printed over indicia on the
gaming ticket which are revealed when at least one window on the g~ming
ticket is opened.
According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a gaming
ticket having multiple windows, each window having security information in
it, the information in each window being di~lel-l than that in the other
windows.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described, by way of
ex~mple only, with l~rcl~ ce to the accon~a-lying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gaming ticket as it appears
under normal lightin~ conditions;
Figure 2 is prospective view of an opened g~ming card showing
the U.V. security features in accordance with the present invention; and
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Figures 3A and 3B are plan views of a g~ming ticket
showing various examples of U.V. sensitive printing.
A ~ming ticket in accordance with one embodiment of the present
S invention, as it appears when exposed to ultraviolet light, is shown generallyat 10 in Figure 2. The g,....ing ticket co...p. ;~es an indicia ply 15 and a window
ply 20. ~mdow ply 20 is provided with a plurality of windows 30 which,
prior to opening, obscure indicia 32 on indicia ply 15. In this respect, the
gaming ticket appears similar to a conventional g~ming ticket, such as that
10 shown in Figure 1.
Each window 30 is dçfinçd by a line of we~kn~ss which forms three
sides of a rect~ngle. The line of we~kness is formed by a plurality of
pelrJl~lions 35. Adjacent pelroralion are separated by a minim~l web 40.
Indicia 32 are generally symbols such as stars, bells, bars, fruit and the
like and a winning ticket is one in which all symbols in a particular row or
column are identical. As wi11 be appalGlll, there are many variables in the style
of ~ming cards and the foregoing is intended to be an eY~mple only. Indicia
20 32 are normally print~ onto indicia ply 15. In the presently pler~;r~d
embodiment, security information 50 is also printed on the ticket over the
indicia. Security information 50 is not visible to the naked eye under normal
li~hting conditions but becomes visible when the gaming card is exposed to
ultraviolet light.
Security information 50 is not particularly limited and is shown in the
form of a plurality of diagonal lines and dots in Figure 2. Security information50 may be the same over both sets of indicia or, to make the ~ming card less
prone to co~ . r~;l;,-g, di~ security information may be printed over each
30 set of indicia. As shown in Figure 2, using at least two di~;lellt types of
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security illr~ ation makes it more difficult to swap indicia between sets (e.g.,swapping 32' and 32") to give a fraudulent "winning" card.
Further examples of security information are shown in Figures 3A and
5 3B. It can be seen that each row of indica which would be under di~elenl
windows has di~lenl security information printed thereon. The variety and
complexity of the security inr~llllalion itself helps deter would-be counlelreilers
who have access to U.V. sensitive ink.
In use, windows 30 are opened by tearing the ~lrorations along the line
of we~kn~ss. Opening of windows 30 reveals the previously obscured indicia
32 on lower ply 15. Under normal lighting conditions, security information 50
is not visible to the naked eye and the g~min~ card appears similar to the
g~ming card shown in Figure 1. However, when the ~ming card is exposed
15 to ultraviolet light, security information 50 becomes visible to the naked eye.
It is conl~ ~d that the most efficient method of incorporating security
information into the g~ming card is to print the security information using
ultraviolet reflective ink during the m~nuf~cture of the ~ming card. F~mples
20 of suitable ink are m~m~f~ctured by Sun Chemical, General Printing Ink
Division, Weston, Ontario and are only available to security printing firms.
Although printing of the security information is ~erelled, it is envisioned thatsecurity information may also be embedded into the indicia ply itself, during
its m~nufflcture.
Ultraviolet sensitive ink can be readily seen using a hand or desk-top
ultraviolet lamp of suitable wavelength. Such ultraviolet lamps are known and
one eY~mple is Model MD-188A di~ uled by Gemsys, Mi~si~s~uga, Ontario.
The Model MD-188A emits U.V. light having a wavelength of 360 nanometers.
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The choice of a suitable U.V. lamp is not particularly limited and will be
determined prim~ri1y by the U.V. sensitive components of the printing ink.
The present invention has been dessribed with r~rere-lce to the use of
S ultraviolet security hlrolmalion as ultraviolet printinE cannot presently be copied
on collvelllional colour photocopy m~chines frequently employed by would-be
c~l...,~ . f~it.,. ~. However, it is envisioned that other security information printed
using infrared sensitive, fluorescent and/or phosphorescent m~tPri~l~ may also
be employed, either alone or in combination.
The present invention has been desc~ l with reference to one particular
embodiment. Variants and modifications of this embodiment will be a~ alelll
upon reading this disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention
should only be limitecl to that defined in the claims appended hereto.
