CA1312379C - High security instant lottery using bar codes - Google Patents
High security instant lottery using bar codesInfo
- Publication number
- CA1312379C CA1312379C CA000600398A CA600398A CA1312379C CA 1312379 C CA1312379 C CA 1312379C CA 000600398 A CA000600398 A CA 000600398A CA 600398 A CA600398 A CA 600398A CA 1312379 C CA1312379 C CA 1312379C
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- lottery
- numbers
- winning
- tickets
- bar code
- Prior art date
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
an improved instant lottery game is provided in which lottery numbers are represented on the respective lottery tickets in their corresponding UPC
bar code form. A master program provides a list of randomly generated lottery numbers from which a list of winning numbers is randomly selected. The list of lottery numbers is divided into separate batches which are used by dispensing units to sequentially and instantaneously print out, on proper external stimulation, the random lottery numbers in their UPC
bar code form on lottery labels at the site of the game. The lottery labels are adapted to be firmly positioned onto a designated space on pre-printed lottery ticket blanks, in order to constitute valid tickets. When a ticket is presented for appraisal at the reader end, a conventional bar code scanner transposes the bar code on the ticket to the corresponding lottery number, which is then automatically compared to the list of winning numbers to determine if it represents a winner and external indication of the winning or losing status of the presented lottery ticket is given. The improved system provides a flexible instant lottery which is easy to operate and provides reasonable control over game parameters like the odds of winning while maintaining a high level of security.
an improved instant lottery game is provided in which lottery numbers are represented on the respective lottery tickets in their corresponding UPC
bar code form. A master program provides a list of randomly generated lottery numbers from which a list of winning numbers is randomly selected. The list of lottery numbers is divided into separate batches which are used by dispensing units to sequentially and instantaneously print out, on proper external stimulation, the random lottery numbers in their UPC
bar code form on lottery labels at the site of the game. The lottery labels are adapted to be firmly positioned onto a designated space on pre-printed lottery ticket blanks, in order to constitute valid tickets. When a ticket is presented for appraisal at the reader end, a conventional bar code scanner transposes the bar code on the ticket to the corresponding lottery number, which is then automatically compared to the list of winning numbers to determine if it represents a winner and external indication of the winning or losing status of the presented lottery ticket is given. The improved system provides a flexible instant lottery which is easy to operate and provides reasonable control over game parameters like the odds of winning while maintaining a high level of security.
Description
13~237~ - -BACK ROUND 0~ THE INVEN~ION ~ -This invention generally relates to lottery based game~ and contests. In particular it relate~
to an instant lot~ery game wherein a new technique i~
used for the ~epre~entat$on and identification of the lottery numbers on the lottery tiekets.
A wide ~pectrum of lotteries and similar contests exists in ~hich participants are eligible ~o win p~izes awarded at random on the basis of predetermined odd~ of winnlng. In conventlonal lottery games the parti~lpant either purchas~s, or in ~-:
the ea~e of promotlonal lotterl~s is given a lottery ticket which has a lottery number in~cribed on it.
The lottery number on each ticke~ is unique and serves to distinguish it from every other lottery tioket in th~ ~ame lottery game. At a later dat-, a wlnning number i~ determined by a rando~ chan~e :
selection from a ~et o~ numbers which matche8 exactly :::
the set of lottery num~er~ in diYtrlbu~on. ~he - -- -winning number may al~o be dete~mined in other .: .
manners a~ long as ~t i~ insured that accurate p~ediction ot the wlnnlng number i~ hlghly improba~le. In 3uch ~onventlonal lotterie~, the winn3ng number i~ non-exlstene unt~l the moment it is ~eleetod randomly or determined accordlng to other ~ :~
c~iteria.
In thes~ lottery g~m-s secu~ty 1~ provided by . -:
generatlng the lottery numbe~ under compute~
control. Every lottery ticket in a givon lottery ~ame has a serial number aisociated wlth it whlch is p~int~d on ea~h tlcket to ~dentlPy t~e game, tlck~t lot and the indiv~dual ti~ket ltself. The lottery numbe~ for a glven tlcket i9 generated by usinq a complex computer algorithm wh~Ch provides a un~gue -~-r~lat~on~hlp between the serial numb~r and the lottery number for a given ticket. Whenever a winning lottery ticket i~ presented tor redemption, a computer can be used to reverse the computer algorithm used to ~enerate the lottery number so that - -the interrelation~hip between the ~erial number and the lottery number of the presented ticket may be -~
tested prior ~o payment of the pr~ze. ~-In the case of in~tant lotterles, the winning --~-lottery number i9 known before the tlcket ~ sold, ~o ~-that a partlcipant can know withln a short cpan of ~ --time after hi~ purchase whether he has won or not. - ~ -rn such instant lotterie~, the operator of the lottery game either selects or detetmines on some basis the w$nning lottery numbers or related indicia -:
whlch are made known to partlcipants prior to their purchase o~ tickets. However, the lottery number printed on the tick~t i9 ooncealed, so that the ~: :
purchaser may a~certain the lottery number only after the purchase has be~n con~umated. The p~r~haaer then expose~ the ~on¢ealed lottery numb-r to vlew and this ~xpo~ed lottery number io compared against a list o ` -winnln~ numbers in order to determine if a match ~xists entitling t~e tlck-t holder to a prlze. `
In 4uch cases of instant lotterle~ whereln the winnlng numbers are known to the publlc when the ticket i pur~hased, éxtensive meas~rqs have to be taken in order to lnsure securlty~ Some form o~
concealment need3 to be ~ovided for the indivitual lottery number lmprinted on each tLcket. Generally, th~s take~ the form of an opaque covering such as paper that cdn be tocn o~f to reveal the number, or a removable co~ting or metal foil that covers the numbsr. Special pr~nting inks, ~uch as those that changa under applied heat or 5pecial agenta may also : -b~ uged . ~hi5 con~ealm~nt featur~ of the ticket has to be ~ugmented with external means which permit qui~k and easy exposure of the lottery number so t~at immediate compari~ion can be made between the ticket lottery number and the posted listing of winning numbere. In addition, the proce~ which transforms the lottery number ~rom its concealed state to an openly intelligible state mus~ neeessarily be irreversable so that the end user ls unable to restore the ticket to lts original condltion without outward signs o alteration in ord~r to pceclude .
reuse or resale o~ a ticket. Va~iou~ techni~ues eOr conc~alment or dlsgui3e of lottery number~ for use in -:. :
in~tant lottery games are known in the art: all of :~
them inherently require elaborate procedures in the design, printin~ and especially the ~onceal~ent of the lottery number and constitute ~ sign~icant portlon o~ the ov~rall cost oF the lottery ~ick~t.
A gen~ral problem encounteced with conventi~nal instant lottery games is the h~gh p~obabillty o~
eraud ~ubsequcnt to purcha~e of tickets. In instant lotthr~es, winnln~ ticket~ may be presented for paym~nt con~urrent with the contlnulng sale Oe :.
add~tlonal lottery tlck~ts fo~ the ~am~ lottery game. Since instantaneou~ accounting for both sold and unsold ticket~ in the Bame lottery g~me is not possible. if a counterfeit ti~ket ~9 presented for payment lt becom~s virtually impos~ible to ascertain : - -whether o~ not the presented tlcket was purchased upon valLd sale by an authorized ~ellinq agent. The po~sib~lity that the authent~c t~cket bearing the ~ame winnlng lottery numbe~ may be unsold or ~n the legitimate po~se~ion of anoth~r participant cannot -~
be ruled out.
AnothQr probl~m w~th instant lottery ticket~
that, al~hough the gam~ number and ~erlal numb~r on a ~-~
ticket are not permitte~ to be the same, there does exist a simple rel~tioni3hip between the serial number -and the ~ame number and it i~ po~sible for d person :~
to determine the correlation between the serial number and the game number. Thls ~au~es special . ~
concern regarding system ~curity for an instant . ~ -lottery game because the serial number is generally -~ :
u~ed to record ticket allocations to thR variou~ :-~ales agents handling a particula~ lottery game.
Thus, somebody possesslng knowle~e of the tick~t distribution pattern may be able to locate the ~ales :-agent pos~essing the winning ticket~ lf he i~ able to ..
decipher the simple co~relation between the serial numbers and th~ as~ociated winn~ns numbers, thereby . - .
raising the po~sibll~ty of fraud on the lottery gam-op-rator and the publ~c in collusion ~i~h the ~ale~ .
agent. ~urther~ the pa~ticipant~ them~elves may be able to deter~ine the fixed relation~hip between the :: ;
un~onceal~d serial number~ and concealed lottery number- aEter the purchase of several tick-ts and use ::.
this knowledge to either ~ou~terf~lt a lottery ticket :
to include the winning lottery number or po~ibly to -:
avoid fu~her purchase o~ tickets which are not . -pot~ntial wlnners.
A variety of methods for printlng lotte~y tickets, pa~lcularly those Por in~tant lotteri~
are conv~ntlonally known. ~ypically, a number of ;: -~
manual gtep~ are involved in the printing procedure which in~reas~ the probability that someone involved :
with the proces~ may bQ able to identify the ultimate destlnation of ~al~ includlng th~ dlstribution p~tt~en of winning ticket~ and increase~ the - :-possibillty o~ ml~u~ and fraud. ~ -~
An approach toward~ ~ncreasing the aecurity for instant lottery tickets aga~n~t counterfeiting and '. ~' :' ,: -- 4 ~
... . .
fraudulant alteration i3 disclosed in U.S. Patent ~o.
4,191,376 issued to Goldman et al., where the lo~tery number i8 determined by a computer and is interre}ated with the ~erial number by a highly complex security algorithm. T~e ~erial number and the lottery number are printed on the ticket~ by means of oomp~ter controlled high ~pee~ printers followed by the colorin~ of the lottery number to hlde it ~rom viewT the comput~r proce~s is used to insure that no l~ttery n~mbers occur in dupllcate or are Qnti~ely omlt~ed t~om a ~ompleted ba~ch of game tickets.
Although the above ~yst~m provides 1ncrea~ed security for the lottery game, it ~tlll requi~es an elaborate technlque, ~uch as the lamination of a foil coa~lng by the appl~catlon of héat and pressure, for eoncealing the lottQry numbers aftee they have been printed on the lottery ticket~. Cuch a technique must provide ~or ea~y uncovering of the opaquo coatlng rom the lottery number and the unco~ering .:
proces~ mu~t al80 b~ irever~ible.
Another major probl~m w1th convontional ln~tant lott~ry games i~ that, for a given lotteey ga~e, once a co~plete set o~ lottery ticket~ with a~sociated lot~ery numbe~ on them have been printed on the 4asl~ of prede~lned odd3 o~ winning, no changes ln the overall odds of winning ~an be accommodae~d w~thout dra~tic measur~s 8u~h as reprinting a n~w set of lottery t~ckets. Thls con~ltutes a ~erious r~strlction to the operator o~ th~ ~ottery game partlcularly if th~ lottQry con~t~tutes a part of ~ale~ promotion ~cheme~ assoclatet with consum~r ~ :
orien~ed busine8s ~uch as a depa~m~nt store or a grocery ~tore. For exd~ple~ lE a lottery qame i~ ~ :
being u~Rd a~ a promotlonal schemQ by say, a ~; ' t 3 1 2379 ::
department store, it might be deYired that the odd~ - :
of winning b~ ~ignificantly increa~ed on particular days when a sale i9 in prog~ess in order te attract increasing number o~ conRumers for the du~ation Oe the ~ale. It becomes extremely d~fficult to handle such changes with the use of conventional instant -lottery game systems~ :
Accordingly, there exi~es a need for a ~lexible ~ -instant lottery game system wh~h ~9 easier to operate and control, whioh does not require elaborate printlng techniques for the lottery tlckets, which provlde~ reaRonable contro~ over the odds of winning . . --and which al~o provideu a hlgh level of ~e~uri~y against fraud and misuse. .:
Or ~ 011 , . '~
An ob~ect of th~ invention 1B to pro~ide a new and improved lnstant lot~ery gamo systom.
Another ob~ect is to provlde a new and improved lnstant lottery gam2 which haB a unique method of .. :~
rep~esen~atlon of lottery numbers on the lottery tlcket~.
A ~urther ob~ec~ is to provide ~uch a new and improved instant lottery ~yst~m the lottoey ti~kets ~or which are easily and inexp~nsively manu~actured and conveniently dispen~ed at d~sl~ed looatlons.
A related ob~ct is to provide such an improved in~tant lottery sy~tem whlch ha~ a hlgh level of - : -security against ~raudulent mlsu~e, alteration and . --~
counterfeiting. -~ ::
A furthe~ object is to provlde such an inat~nt lottery syst~m, the lottery tickets for wh~ch may be analyzed automatically ln order to determine winning a~ woll as loosing lotte~y tlckets.
Yet anot~er ob~ect o thl~ inven~lon is to provide an lmproved instant lottery system of ~he ~bove type in which the odd~ o~ winning may be ehanged conveniently.
The above objects are achie~ed, aceording t~ the system of thi~ invention by providing an in~tant lottery game ~yste~ in which the operation of the game system ineluding the generation of lettery numbers, readin~ of lottery number~ on presented game tickets and comparlson of the~e number~ with winning numbers to detsrmine true wlnner~ is performed by computerl~ed means. A master computer prog~am is used to generate the lottery numbers which are then pla~ed on the lottery tlcket in the form o~
conventional UPC bar codes. The master prog~am also generates a ~et o~ randomly picked winning numbers wh~ch 1~ proqrammed into the lnhouse computer at the establishment~ wh~re the lottery game i6 to be played. When a lottery ti~ket i~ pre~ented by a game ~ -participant, the assoc~ated lottQry number i~ read by .:
a conventlonal bar code lase~ scanner and feB to the lnhou~e computer wh~ch compares the scanned number with $t~ pr- programm~d s-t o~ wlnning nu~ber~
determine~ ~ the pr~sented lottery tlcket repr~sent~
a winning number and provides e~ternal 1ndication o~
the winning or lo~ing status of the ticket. -~
A high level o se~urity 1~ provided b-cause the identity o~ the winning number~ i9 acaes~ible only to - -an extremely restricted group of p~ople associated :~
with the master program, thereby reduclng th~ chance~ :
of fraud. ~n Fact, th- aet of ~nnlng numbers may be unknown to anyone a~ it may be gen~rated and dl~trlbuted ~$thout need for di~losure, maklng it virtually impos~ible for the winnlng numbers to be accessed. Alteration of lottery ticket~ i s mad~ -ext~emely difflcult as lt may requlre th~ decipherlng of an existlng bar coted number and sub~equen~
:
7 _ .
printing of ~he bar code for a fr~udulent winnin~
n~mber. ~he illustrious ~ystem is extremely - -:
convenient to ope~ate because most of the hardware ~equirements exi~t in e~tablishments where thi~
invention may be applied. ~urther, instant and automatic feedback of information indicating whether or not a presented lotte~y tlcket is a wlnner is :-provided. Addltional feature~ of thi~ lnvention provide for convenien~ control o winning odd~, game deadlines, etc., by simple software changes to the game Rystem- .
BRIEF DESCRIP~ION OF THE DRAWINGS . .
For the purpose of facllitatlng an under~tanding of th~ invention, the accompanying drawing~
illustrate certaln preferred embodlm~nts. ~he above and oth~r objects of this inventlon a~ well as the Features thereof will be~ome more appar-nt from the following descriptlon when taken ln conjun~tion with :~ .
the accompanying drawing~ in whiCh: -FIGURE 1 is a frontal view of the ~ace of an instant lottery ticket accordlnq to one embodiment of the pre~ent lnvent~on showing the ropr~sentat~on of : -the lottery number:
~IG. 2a is a frontal vi~w of the faca of a .
lott~ry ticket according to a pref-rred embodlment of thi~ inventionS .
FIG. 2b is a plan vl-w of a lottery numbec lab~
meant for use with the instan~ lottery tlcket of ~g. ~-2aS :
FIG. 3 is a ~lmplifi-d block diagram repre~entation of the lott~ry nu~ber genecatlon end of thQ instant lottery game acco~ding tc thi~ :
inven~ions FIG. 4 ~ a ~impliied block diagram r~pre~entatlon of a dispen~ing unit according to ~hi~
1 3 1 2 37 9 ,`1 :
invention;
FIG. 5 ls a block diagram repre~entation of the reader end for use with instant lottery game~ ,!j,~
according to this invention: and llj ~IG. 6 is a simplified flow diag~am of the ~ ?
10ttery game playlng procedure accordlng to the i~ :
syst~m o~ thi~ lnvention. ~ ;l' ! 11~
~ESCRIPTION OF PREPEMED EMaODIMEtlTS . ~ i' ~ ! !~ . .
. lil , ~, ~~ : -Although the invention ha~ been de~cribed in i ~ .! ,; i',l :
conn~ct~on w~th certain embodiment~, it will be l l ¦ i'3 i ~nder~tood tha~ thore i8 no int~ntion to 11mit the I .
invention to the embodiments shown, and varlous 1 ;
~hang~ and modi~ications can ~e made thereln without ~ t ~
departlng ~rom the ~pirit and ~cope of the invention, ;l : :
and it i~ intended that all ~uch chang~s and ~ ¦;
modifLcation~ bo cover~d a~ fall within the scope of ~ ~
the app~nded c1aims~ .
Referring now to ~IG. 1, therR is sho~n a l l ~ -conventional in~tant lottory ticket 10 adapted i :-according to one embodlment of thl~ lnvention. Th~ ~ -tlck~t has a tlc~-~ Pace 11 wl~h the central area o~ -the tlcket fac~ generally h~vlng qame play~ng instructions, a~ wel1 a~ other informatlon norma11y assoclated wlth such lottery gam~s, printed on it.
Such lnformation 12 may include the date of validity o~ the tlck~t, ~ed~mption procedur~s for winnin~
~i~ket~, identity o~ the gam- operatoe or other such r~lated informatlon. ~h~ purchase price 13 of th~ ~
tioket Lt~elf may also be indicated on the ~ace of . ~ .
the ticket. . .
A lottery number 14 i9 prQsented on the ~ace 11 :
of the ticket 10. Conventlonally the lottery number comprises a plurality o~ dig~t~ ~epresented in the form of numerlc ~r alpha~etlc character~ or other Indlcia uch a- l~tt-r~, picture- or sy~bo1~
1312379 l ~ccording to a unique fea~ure of this invention, the .
lottery number 14 i~ repre~ented on the fa~e 11 of the ticket 10 in the form of a conventlonal UPC bar code, which allows the numbe~ to ~e automatically .
re~d by conventional bar code ~canners commonly . .
available at the site of the lottery game. The lottery numbee itself typl¢ally comprises 12 numeric :
digit~. The dlgits that originally comprise the .
lottery number (~hown as 01234567891X) may also ~e :
printed below the b~ code repre~enting the lottery .
number, .
FIG. 2a show~ a preferred embodlment of an : :
instant lo~tery ~ick~t accordlng to this inv~ntion.
As shown, the lott~ry number is no~ prlnted on the - :
lottery ticket it3elf. In~tead, an area i8 designated on the central portion of the face of the :~
lott~ry ticket onto which a ~eparately available label bearlng th~ lottery number may be positioned.
~IG. 2b sho~s ~uch a label Zl which has the ~ .
lottery number printed ln bar ~ode orm 22 on its - :
~ace. ~he lab~l 21 ha~ a pro~sure ~en~St~ve adhe~iv~
coa~ing on lts ~ear port~on that ~erm~t~ the label to :
be conveni~ntly po~itioned onto t~e de~l~nat¢d ldbe area on the instant lottery ticket. In this em~od~ment the lottery ti~kets are p~eprinted ln the .
~orm of tlcket blanks whlch have all requirQd .
informatlon in~t~uctlons as well a~ other gene~al .
in~tructlons prin~ed on the~ and have the designated area 24 for placement of th- lottery number label. .
Thls ~eature p~rmits the use of a varLety oE
prRprlnted ticket blank~ ar lottery tlcket~ by placing valld lotte~y label~ on them. In order to have a valid lottery ticket, the participant in the ::
game plcks up one o~ the ln~tant lottery ticket blank~, purcha~e?3 the label bearln~ the lott~ry -:
,,, ' ., - 10 - ~ ~-'~,.',~
nu~ber in b~r code eorm and then p1aoes the label ¦ ¦
onto the ticket blank. ~ ~.
Accordlng to a feature of thi~ invention, the labels bearing the lot~ery number~ are not preprinted \
but are actually printed at the time of the pu~chase by dispensing units pos$tioned at the establish~ent ~
where the lot~ery game i~ in progress. ~he loetery . ¦
numbers themselves are originally generated by a I ~
master computer program in th- form Oe a ~et of I ~ - :
randomly generated number~. ~hese lottery num~ers / ~ .
are then tr~nsferred in the ~o~m oF a data ba~e to , the dispensing unit whlch i9 capable of ~equentially :
prlnting out the lottery number3 ~to~ed ~ithin 1ts data base onto the pres~ure sen~itive label~ in the ~
~orm of a UPC bar code which corre~ponds to the l ~:
lotte~y number beLn~ printed. -:: .
Turning now to FIG. 3, thore io shown a ~ .
s~mplified block dlagram representation of the lo~tery number generatin~ ~ect10n of the ln~tant lottory game acco~dlng ~o the ~ystem o~ thl~ l ~:~
invention. The lottery nu~ber generat~on i8 ¦ ` .:
controlled by a d~g1tal computer 30 whlch 1noludes a ~
random number g~nor-tor or pseudo-randomiser 31 which l .:
funct~ons to generat~ the ~equired ~et of lotte~y number~ for u~e with tha ln~tant lottery tlckets of l th~ lottery game. The~ ra~dom numbors from the ¦ -random number generator ~1 are seperately stored onto a ma~te~ disk 32 and a so-ca}led printer-data base ~
cas~ette 33 for u~ with a plurality o~ di~pen~ing ~ ~:
unit~, as will be de~cribed below. ~he set of lottery numbe~s ~enerated by the random number generator 31 1~ also fed to a random nu~er 3electo~ l 34 whlch acc~pts the set o gen~rated lottory numbe~8 --- -and randomly selects ~rom within thi~ set a given ~
numbor of lottery number~ which are to b~ deslgn~ted .~
~.. . .
1312379 11~
as the winning numbers, The number of winning .
lottery numbers selected by the random number selector ~4 is determined by the desired odds of winning. The set of randomly selected winning ~--numbers is seperately ~tored onto a master disk 3Z
and a so-called reader data ba~e cassette or use with a plurality of reader units, as will be described be10w.
In order to permit operation o~ the lottery game wlth a p1urality of dispensing units, the digltal comput~r can be programmed to assign ~pecific portions o~ the set of lottcry numbers randomly -generated by the random number g~norator 31 to a plurallty oF cassettes for use wlth co~responding .
dispen~ing units. These randomly a~signed portions -:~
of the set o~ lottery numbers are al~o stored on the :
maste~ dlsk 32. The ma~ter dl~k, hence ~erves a~ th~ l sole record o~ lnformdtlon relatlng to whl~h portion :
of the get of lot~ery numbers has be0n assiqned to .
whl~h particular di~pensing unlt. Hence even ln the unllkely pos~lblllty of ~omeone acce~slng the reader \
data base to g~t at a ~et o~ winnin~ numbers, thece is no way of determinlng which dlspensing unit is capable of dispen~ing the lottery numbees correapondlng to the wlnning numbers. Thls :~
arrangement ~ets up a v~rtually foolproo~ 1evel of .
security about th~ lottery ~ame a~ w111 be de~cribed ~
in d-tail below. :
Referring now to FIG. 4, there l~ shown a ~i~pllfled block diagr~m ropreaentatlon of a .-~
d~sp~nsinq unit according to th~ ~ystem of thl~
lnvention~ Ths dispenslng unit e~sentlally comprise~
a convent~ona1 UPC code impact or laser print~r 41 ~
as w clated wlth a di~penscr ~2 for ~he lab~1~ prlnted ::
by the code prlnter 41. ~he prlntec ba~ically .
, -1 31 2379 :
1:
; funetlons tv pri~tout in bar code form the digital lotte~y nu~bers fed to it. ~he actlon of the UPC
code printer 41 i~ controll~d by the printer data base cassette 43, which ha~ stored within it the particular batch oF rando~ly generated lottery numbers a~signed to it by the digit~l computer, via a conventional digital interface 44 which establishes the proper communication link between the printer data base and the code printer 41. Thus, each time the dispensing unlt i5 a~tlvated, the printer data base cassette is aceessed and a lottery number is retrleved from the batch of lott~ry numbers ~tored i within the cassette.
The retrlev~d lottery number i9 then fed through . .
the tape-to-prlnter interface 44 and a digital -~
counte~ 45 to the UPC code printer 41. ~he code prlnter th~n tran~po~es ~nd printq the acc~pt~d .
lott~ry number onto the lottery number la~el in the ., form of ~ UP~ ba~ code corrq~pondlng to the retr~eved lott-ry number. The retr~val of lottery nu~ber~
; f~om withln the printer data basQ cassott~ is :i performed ln a seguential ~anne~ and the digital . .
autocounter 45 ~ervos to keep track of how many ~ :
lottery numbers have in ract been retrie~od at any :~ -gi~en tLme. The counter, in off~ct, p~ovidè~ a , re~erence pointer to the oxact position on the data ,!j base cas~etto ~rom whlch tha lott-ry number for a .
preced~ng print-d label wa~ retri~ved. :`
It muqt be notOEd that the lottery numbers printed onto the dl~pensed label~ aro not in a ~erial ord~r; ln~tead they ar- a sequential p~intlng of th~ :
., randomly generated lott~ry numbers pre~ent ln the .
i: part1cular bat~h a~igned to thc particular d~ta ba~e :: .
ca~e~te belng used with a glven d$spQnsing unit.
.' Hence, there is no way fo~ an out~idé sou~ce to .
,,, :- ' ~ - 13 -.,, l:
il determine or even guegRr f~om any dispensed pr1nted label, ~hat the lot~ery number on ~he succeedinq label will be. The dispensin~ unit al~o ha~ ~ .... .
safeguard~ built into it which automatically disrupt the communication link between the data base cassette ~
; and the UPC code p~inter in the event o~ phy~ical H--tamperi~g o~ ~echanical failure. In caee disruption occur~ eor some rea~on, the digital autocounter 45 ~ -serves as a re~erence to the la3t lottery number retrieved from the printer data base cassette 43 so ~ -~hat the di~pensing unL~, when ~un~tioning again, ii~ ~: -; capable o~ accRs~ing the prlnter d~ta ba~e cas~ette :-to retricve lottery numbers immediately succeedin~
the last lottery number retrieved from the cassette prior to shutoff. ~hl~ in~ures that when the ~:
dispensing unit restart~ the ~equential lottery~ .... ;
I printing pr~cess no duplication or omission o~
.1 lottery numbers stored within the data bai~e cassette of th~ printer tskes place.
Each time a new s~t of lottery numbers need~ ~o be printed out, th- only change needed wlthin the I dispenslng unit i8 the repl~cem~nt o~ its printer~.... . -j! data ba~e cas~ette 43. ~en~e, ~hen a new lottery game ~s to be commi~oned, a new ~t of lottsry ` .
numbets i9 randomly gene~ated by the d~gital computer ~ ~.
and batches oE lottery numbers from thl~ sot are ~.~
a~s~gn~d to partlcular printer ddta ba~e c,assette~, : .
one of whLch may be used to replace the printe~
; ~assette eor a givQn dispensing unit tbereby makin~
, it capable o~ printing label~ on the basis of the .1 newly qenerated lottery numb~rs. ~ . -~eferring now to FIG. 5, there i~ ~hown a ~mplifi-d block diagram of the lott-ry t$ckot reader ~ -~ unlt accordln~ to the illuBtriou~ lottery game I! syste~. Th~ reader unlt 50 eQisentlally compri~es a ~ ~.
1 ' ~ .
;,, . ~.
! l4 :
'7':'::"' '','' '''',"'i'',.."," "''.' con~entional ~PC bar code scanner Sl operating in con~unction with the digita1 reader computer 52. The code ~canner 51 functions to read ehe bar code 23 printed on the label Zl, which has been pl~ced on the instant lottery ticket 20, by use oÇ a code scanner probe 53 and converts the scanned bar code into the lottery numbe~ which it ropresents ln digl~al form.
~his in~ormatlon is fed to the reader computer 52.
The rea~er computer, accordin~ to this : .
invention, i5 ~rogrammed to recognlze all the randomly selected w1nnlng number~ deFined by the digital computer 30 ~hown in FIG. 3. More ~paclfically, the data base 35 of wlnners selected from the ~et ~f randomly generated lotte~y numbers by :~
the random winning numbar selector 3~ i~ provlded to the digltal computer S2 of the ~eader unit 50 and - -.
forms a ba~is for compa~ing the lottery number seanned in bar code ~orm by the bar code scanner 51. ~or il1ustr~tive purpooe~ only, ~ compara~ot unit 52 has been ~ho~n and i8 ~epresentatlve of th~
comparison ~unction~ Oe the reader computor 52. Eaoh :~
tlme a lott~ry ticket i~ present~d for acannlng the ::
re~ultant lottery number gen~rated by the bdr code scanner 51 is compared to ea~h of the winning numbers sto~ed within the winner's data base 35. If tih~ : .
scanned lott-ry numbor matche~ any of the winnlng numb~r~ a visua1 lndlcation i9 given on the dlglta1 dL~p1ay of the reader unit. A manua1 lnput keyboard 56 i5 also provided with the reader unit 50 so that th~ lottery numbers representing the printed bar ~ode, if p~inted on the lottery tlcket, may be ~anually keyed Lnto the reader computer and serve~ as a r~dundancy feature for occa3lon~ when the bar code scannar or it~ prob~ ara malunctionin~ or not -. .
functlonlng at all.
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.' ' 1312379 ~
..--It will be noted that the reader unit 50 as described above, including the UPC bar code scanner, the ~anual input keyboa~d and the reader digltal ~-computer i~ fairly convontional and normally has stored ~ithin its data base the U2C bar codes representing t~e product codes meant to be recognized :~ ~
by the reader computer. Such reader unlts are :: :
normally availAble at most e6tablishment~ ~i.e., :; .
departmen~ stores, grocery stores or the like) where the illustrious invention i~ generally appllcable.
All that ie required in order to adapt such :
¢onventional r~ader unlt~ S0 ln order to function according to the syste~ of thi3 inveneion i9 the provision o~ tho wlnner~ data base 35 ln additlon to the normal data.~ase of the reader computer and 30m~ ... -.
related software change~.
FIG. 6 ls a s~mplifed ~low dlagram ~.-representation of the procedure involved ~n the generation and di~tr~bution of lottery number~ a~ : -well a~ the lotte~y winner~. The lnitial it~p 600 involve tho random g-neration of the required number of lottery numbers by use of the p~eudo-randomizer :.
undcr the control of the dig~tal computer, a~ shown in PIG. 3. At th- next ~tep 601~ the complete set of - -~.
randomly g~nerated lottery numbers ~s divided into ::
9eparate batches of lottery numbe~s. The number of batcheg 13 equivalent to tho desired number of -:.
dispensing units for use with the instant lottery ~yJtem. Generally, a ~ingle disp-nsing unlt is provided ~or each e~tablishment taking ~art in the lnstant lottery game. The~- batches of lottory number3, which in comblnation form th~ overall set of lottery numbers genera~ed At step 500, aro then ~tored on indlvidual cassette5 as well as on a mastor .
di~ at step 6~2~ . ~:
~, '''"
~ 6 -` 1 3 1 237q .j .i , j In the following step 503, the cassettes having j the batches o~ lottery numbers stored on them are ,, distributed to the variou~ dispensing ~nits . . .
I constituting the lottery system.
'j Step 604, which may be performed simultaneously along wlth step 601, involves the ~andom selection of :~
! winning lottery numbers from the ~et oF randomly generated lotery numbers defined at step 600. ~hi~ :-:
! is the point where the odds of w~nning may be ~! contro11ed ~onveniently, At the ~ollowing step 605, the randomly selectQd winning numbRrs a~ sto~ed on ~1~ the master disk o~ whlch the compl-te set of lottery ~ . ;
Pl, numbers has be~n stored at ~tep 602. Step 605 al80 : -involvc~ the duplication o~ tha J~t of winning i number~ onto a number of ca~ette~ corresponding to r! the number of r~ad~r unltA lncludcd a~ a part of the lottery game. At ~tep 606 the~e ca~ott~, each :~ .
havlng a ~et of wlnnlng 1Ottnry number~ stored on it, ¦~ are di~tributed to the various reader uni~ts. : ::
It will be appreciated that in the overall , proc~ Oe gen~ra~ion of the complete se~ of lottory :-number~ as well a~ the se1ection o winning lott~ry numbers from ther~ln, human interventlon i~ .:
res~rlcted to the original gene~atlon of the master ~:l program for the digltal computer, w~lch controls the -:
~,; lotte~y number generatlon and the ~election of , winners. Neither the comple~e ~ct Oe lottery numbe~s nor ~p-clic winnlng lottery numbcr~ ar~ dlrectly accesslb1e at any stage. Once the c~ettes d~slgnatct for specific dispen~lng units and r~d~r . unit~ are dl~tributed ~he only p~rmancnt rocord of .
;, ~he 1ottery numb~rs and the se1ected wlnners i5 on ::
1 the master disk, which may be kept in the sa~e ! rll~t~y nf th~ ln~t.~ry ~amQ o~erator.
; Accordlng to a f~ature of this lnventlon, th~
- 17 - .
: : -~l ~I 131237q 1,3 .
cassette onto which the set of randomly ~elected ~-winning lottery numbers is store~ l.e., the reader cassette may al~o ~nclude a variety of informatlon related to the lottery game. Fo~ in~tanc~, along with each lottery number there may be a~soclated -information de~ining the particular pri~e to be awarded for that lottery number. The reader cassette may also have stored on it lnormation that de~ines the deadlines ~o the lottery game ~o that the list o~
winning lottery numb~rs remain~ valid only up to tho defined deadline. When the r~ader cassette is acces~ed by the reader unit~ such lnformation is alBo retri~ved and ~ubsequently acted upon as required.
ReEerring now to PIG. 7, the~e i~ shown a simplified flow diagram of the procedure involved ~t the u~er ~nd, ~t one of th~ parti~ipating e~tabl~shments, in th~ instant lott~ry game according to th~ sy~tem of this invention. ~efore thR
particlpant gets ~nvolved ~n thi~ procedure, tho par~i¢ipating establl~hment ln~talls the dl~trlbuted reader ca~sette and dispensing unlt ca~i3ette a~signed to it into the read~r unit and the di~pensin~ unit, re~p~ctive1~, lo¢ated at the site of the lottery game. ~
Subsequently, at step 700, the participant, havlng picked up a lott~ry ticket blank, dctivates the dispensing unlt by depo~iting the specl~i~d ~-a~ount of money representing the peice of the tieket lnto the un~t. When th~ dl~pensing unit i3 actlvat~d it accesses the unit's data base contalnlng the partlcular batch o sequenti~lly stored lottery ~ ~
numbers as81~ned to the dispenslng unlt, and ~ ~ -eetrieves the uppermost lottery numb~r, which i~ th~n ~-fed via the printer inter~ace to the UPC bar code pr~nter which ~rint~ the retrleved lottery number, in .,~
-:
~: ' -~
13~2379 :
~ ', i it~ bar code form onto a dispenser label. The pr~nted label i~ then d~spen~ed out to the participant.
At the next step 701, the partlcipant rece~ves ::
the dispensed label, expose~ the pre~sure sensitive adhe~ive coating b~hlnd the label and places lt onto the de~ignated area on the lottery ticket blank. Th~ .
participant then, st his con~enlence, present~ the lottery ticket at the checkout counter of the participating e~tablishmont. In fact, a~ter purchase Oe the lottery tlckat, the participant may proceea :~-with his regular shopping through the departmont or grocery ~tor~ as the ca8e may be and submit the :-lottery ticket along with the rest of his shopped good~ at the checko~t counter. At the next ~tep 702 ~hR bar code representing the lottery numbe~ on the :
lottery label is s¢anned by the product code ~eader at the checkout counter. Mo~e speci~ic~lly, the person at the checkout count~r goe~ th~ough the p~ocess of scanning t~e ~ar code on the lottery tick-t ln exactly th~ ~ame w~y ag he doe~ for eh-rest of the shopp~d good~. ~he readQr compu~er is progr~mmad to r~cognlze tho game ~dentiflcation -~
number at th~ beglnning o~ the UPC code number printed onto the lottery ticket. Onc~ lt has :-identifl~d the UPC code to b~ related to tho lotter~
g~me, the computer accesse~ it~ dat~ ~a~e of winning numbers for the lotter~ game and compares the accepted lott~ry numb-r w~th the list Oe wlnning :
number~ stored wl~hln ~t~ data ba~e to check ~or a po3sible mat~h ~Stop 704). -If th~ compari~on com~ out with a positi~e match, an indication is gl~en, at step 705, on the ~: -digital display of th~ r~ader un$t showing that the -~
partlcular lott~ry ticket ~canned 1~ a w~nner and an :
.. -~ . -- lg - ~ -,' -ll 1 3 1 237~ ~
indication may al~o be given of the prize due to the winner. If t~e compari~on does not come up with a positive match, i.e., the preoented lottery number does not correi3pond to any of the numbero on the list o~ winninq numbers provided to ~he reader unit, an indication is gi~en, at step 706 on the reader dl~play showing that the presented lottery ticket is not a winner. The procedure involved scanning the bar coded lot~ery number to d-termine whether a given lottery ti~cket ii3 a winner or not i~ extremely convenient because it li3 ident~cal to the p~duct ~anning procedure followed by the participatln9 si3tablishments during th~ normal couri3e of their buisiness.
Ais ii~ apparent from the description of the lottery gamo sy~tem according to this ;nvention, clo~e control may be maintalned over tho op~ration of the gam~ by vlrtu- of the fact that only 8imple software changes are rRqulred in order to change the controlling param~ters of the game. ~or example, th~
odds o~ winn;ng Can bQ controlled or changed at any . ::
tlmo during the operation of th~ lottory game. Mo~e specifically, the odd~ o~ winning may b~ incr~ased by - ~-modifyln~ the master progta~ 50 that a larger numb~r of winning ~ott~ry number~ are selected randomly from the uni~ersal ~-t Oe randomly generatod lottery numb~r~. This larg~r t~t o~ wlnning number~ cdn then b~ tran~erred onto the reader data ba~e ¢assettes whlch ~ub~quently cdn be us~d to replace the orlginal set of winning numb-rio provided to the ~eader uniti3. Hence, on dayi~ wh~n partic~pating e~t~blishmentis need to attra~t increai3~d number of .
cuotomerio, as in the ca~e of promotional sales or oimilar e~enti~, they may advertli3e that on the~e pa~lcular days t~e odd~ of winning ln the lottery ~' ' 1 31 237q gam~ curren~ly in progresa will be increased ~ignificantly. Subsequently, new reader cassettes with larger li~t~ of winnln~ ~umbers ~enerated ~y t~e modified master program can be u~ed a~ the data base of winners for the particular days when th~ odds o~
winning need to be in~eased.
The system of thi~ invention also br~ngs about a ~:.
~lgnificant advantage in situations where unprecedented ~ale of lottery tickets results in the .
game operator prematurely runni~g out ~f stock of -:~
lottery ticketa. With conventional lottery gameA, . .
th~ only optlon availabl~, short of discontinuing the lottery game, ig to r~print a new b~tch o~ lottery tlck~t~ which i~ virtually impo8~ible within a practl~al time ~rame. According to th~ invention, -~
~uch a ~ituatlon ~an be conveniently handl~d by using ~:
the maste~ pro~ram tc gen~rate a new set of lottery numberG as well a~ a correspond~ng new ~et of winning lott~ry numbers. As already described aboYe, a ~t :- -o~ lottery number~ so generated may then be divldfld -:
into ~eparate batche6 and transe~rred onto . .:~
oorro~ponding prlnter ca~sett~s which are :-~
subequently po~itioned into the varlou~ dispensing unit~ particlpatin~ in the lottQry game. Si~ilarly, .;
the n~wly generated li~t Oe winning lottery numbers -:-i~ also tran~f~rred onto separate roader ca~sette5 which ar- then used to replace the read~r cas~ettes exi~ting within the ~arlou~ reader ~nit~
participatin~ in the lottory game. Henc~, for all practical purposes, a~ ~ar as the participating establishments are conce~ned, th~ o~ly changes ~:
r~quired ln order to ac~o~modate eithe¢ chan~ed odd~ : -of winning or continuing the lottery game beyond the ~ .
originally ~o~e~een uni~e~sal 3et of lotte~y numbers, _ -lg the replacemont of existlng p~lntor ~nd r~ad~r ~ ' .
. .
cassettes with the newly supplied printer and reader -cassettes, respectively.
Another advantage of the instant lottery game dispenses with the need for the computer generated -complex relationship between the ticket serial number and the corresponding lottery number for the ticket which is normally used by conventional lottery game systems for verification of authenticity of winning lottery tickets.
In the illustrative embodiment there is no need for such a security check because the set of winning numbers is unknown to anybody. In addition, the lottery numbers themselves are virtually unknown until the time they are actually printed by the dispensing unit. The only way -that a participant may access the set of winning numbers is to get into the software of the reader digital ;
computer, the chances of which are highly unlikely. Even :
if someone does manage to obtain a reader date base cassette he has no way of knowing which dispensing unit -is actually capable of printing out any of the winning ~
lottery numbers. ~ ~ -The possibility that someone accessing the winning set of numbers may counterfeit a lottery game label with the bar code corresponding to one of the accessed winning lottery number, is further guarded against by the very ~-manner in which the UPC bar code system functions. More specifically, a conventional UPC bar code consists of a 12 digit number 22 (see Fig. 2b), of which the first 11 digit~ are usually printed below the bar code representing those 11 digits. In the more conventional use of bar codes which i8 the representation of product codes for various products that have been assigned their representative code, the first 11 digits in ::
." ' ' ., combin~tion repreeiel~t the maoufactl.lr~r code and the produ~t ~ode for a E)articular pro~l&t~ ~rhe 12th digit is gen~r~ted on th~ basis o~ the preceding 1l diqits by ~se of a colnplex log~!ithmic algorithm which ~erves a~ a cross check to the authenticity c~
the yarti~u1ar bar code. The 12th di-Jit ~'X' in ~LGS. 1 and ~h) i~ only rep~esented in its bar code form and is not printed out, a~ are the prec~ding 11 digits.
Si~ , according to tlli~ inventio~l, exactly the ~ame prGc~dure i~. used fGr generating the transposed UPC ba~ ~ode correspondillg to a giv~n l~ttery number, ~ :
the UPC bar co~e seanner at the ceader unit cro~s ~heck~ the logarithmi~ relltion~:hip between the ~ir~t :~
l1 digit~ con~tituting the lottery number ~nd the :
12th digit of the lottery nun~ber: an accepte~ scanned lottery n~er is deemed to be authentic for subsequent ~o~arison ~ith the ~ata bace of winners ~- -within the rea~er unit, only if the ~canner ~omes up with a po~i.tive check orl ~his logarithmic relationship. Thus, in the hi~hly unlikely event of ~omeorle c~ming into po~ession of the winnlng set of lottery number~, in order to counterfeit a lottery nunlber capable of pas~ing all authentic~ion ~hecks, `.: :
the person ~-Juld al~o have to deci~he~ the comp1ex lo~arithmic relationship betwe~n the first 1l digits .
and ~he unprinted 12th digit o~ the lottery number and then print the l~ttery number in its corre~pondin~ bar code orm onto the lottery 1~bel.
The odds Oe ~omeone emulating such ~ counterfeiting procedure bord~r on the impossible and the system of this inYention provide~ a virtually unpentrat~ble level o~ security agai-lst fraudulent misuse.
It will, ho~ve~, be ~nderstood by those ski11ed in the art that, if needed, the ~naSter pro~ram may he ~:
. . ~
., , - 23 - ;; -c~ntrolled in ~uch a Wdy th~t for each randorl.ly generated lottery number a corre~spon~ing ~erial number is a~so genec~ted ill ~uch a way th~t a complex ~ -yet seemingly candofrl correlation exists between the ~erial numher ~nd the c~orrespotlding lottery number.
The ~eri~L nll~bers may also be tran~ferred along with -~
the correspoltlling .lotte~y number~ onto the da~a base ~ .
for khe dispensing unit ~nd the print.er controlled So as to print out the corre~pot~ding serial number e~ch :-:
time a lo~.tery number is printed onto the lottery ::
label. At the re~der end, the digital computer can then be progr~mmed in such a way that each time a ~Callned Ill~mber i3 presented to it, it tests the correlation with the a~qociated ~erial number 5~ tha~
imE~roperly altcred or counterfelt lottery n~mbers may he deteoted. .
It will be under~tood that the in~ention is not limited to the use of the 12 digit UPC bar code a~
described in the illustriou~ embodi~ellt; the cotnpressed form af the UPC bar code wne~ein a re~u~ed number of di~its i~ utill~e~ m~y ~lso be used ju~t as convenien~ly. O~her ~pes of bar ~od~ may be u~ed for the rep~sentation of the lo~tery number~ aa long ~s the reader end has ~ co~res~on~ling ~d~ code scanner capable of tran~po~ing the bar codes into the corresponding lottery number~ they repreQent in digi~al form.
An import~llt mcdifi~ation oE the system o~ this inven~ion is the printing of the bar codes ~epre~enting the lottery n~mbers directly onto product label~, wt~er~by the lottery~number 4ar code .
may be scanned i~edi~tely ~fter ~he con~en~i~n~l product bar code nor~nally printed on the product label. Such a system ~ould be espe~i~lly applicable -:
t~ product promotion campaign~ wherein the customer ~ -,,, ~ .
, ',- ' '-' ' , .,:
may ~e o~fere~ ree ~:hanc~ tc. parti~ipa~:e in the '~ttery gam~ if ~1~ buys a parti~ular product. In sueh cas~, the per~on u~ing the b~r code ~canner pco~ fir~t sl-a~3 the UP~ produ~t: bar eode printed on the pr~d~lct la~el an~ therl scdns the suc~eedillq lottery nulllber .tlso printe~ dr c~de form l~ehincl the conventic,nal produ~ bar code. ~he digital computer ~ the reader units i~ progca~ e~ tc accept :~
the scanned lot.t.~ry number only if the preceding bar code match~4 up with a list of valid prvduct ¢odes st~red within it~ data baqe. This in~ure~ that the ~ :
lottery numbers remain valid only with the purchase :: .
of the specified products. In these ca~es, thé
prizea awarded to ~inning lottery numbers may b~ of monet~fy value as in ~onventional instant lottery gam~s or the reader unit may be programmed in such d wAy th~t a discounted price on the purcha~e product -is automatieally ofered if the 8canned lottery number is f~und ~o be a winner.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that ~uch an ilnplementation and modi~ication of ~he sys~m of the p~esent invention basic~lly require~ software ~hanges otlly at the lottery number gen~rator end as well a~ the reade~ end. More s~eci~ically, irl this situatio~ the generatiol~ of lvttery number and the rand~m selectio-- of winning lottery numbers by u~ing the digital computer ~tays the same as described with respect to ~'ig. 3. :~
However, in addition tv sto~ing the list of winning :~
lol:tery numbers onto the reader data ba~e cassette, a list of v~lid product ~odes corresponding to Lhe pro~ucts designated for the promotional eampaign is ~: -also stored ol~to the re~der cassette before ~ - -duplicating lt for distri~ution to the various reader unit~ at the establishments participating in the : ~
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.:
1 3 1 2379 ` ~
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paftic:ular promcJi.ic~nal ~ampi~i4~
~ t tile re~ r ~n~, when a participdt.ing custvm~r ~re~ent~ a pr~d~lct for purchase at the cheekout counter, the UP(: pro~ue~ eode a~ well a th~ lottery nul~lber r~r~duc~ e printed on the prod~lct label are : -scdnned, dn~ the ~i~3it.~1 computer oE the re~er tlnit ~.hen compar~ Lhe scanned product ~ode with the list of valid product co~e~ s~ore~ wittlin the reader ~- -cas~ette. The lottery number .~canne~ a~ter khe product code i~ ~ccepted only if th~ seanne~ product .:
code i~ ~ound to match ane of the valid product codes :~
on the list. Once the scanned lo~tery number has been accepted the reader eolnp~lte~ then ~cces~es the li~t of winning lottery numher~ also ~tored on the reader data base cassette ~nd pe~forms a comparison to see if ~.he ~canned lott.e~y n~mher mat~hes one of the w;nning lottery numbers and, ag des~ri~ed above, provide~ ext~rnal lndication of the results o~ the comparison.
~ he illust~ us ln~t~nt lottery ~me ~ystem al~o eliminate~ the need f~r elaborate prirlting procedures :~
or the lottery tick0ts. The ticket blanks ~an be printed in advance, in large quantities and, if nee~ed, in v~riou3 forma~s using conventional printing procedu~es, The lottery labels needed to make the ti¢~ets valid are printed instantaneously ~t the sit~ oE the galne, but there is no need for complex techniques tO conceal ~he lottery number ~ :~
pcinted in bar eode form on the l~bel. ~ny desired :
increase in the numb~r of valid lottery ~ickets for the game can be aecommodated easily, slnce the extra number o~ ti¢ket blanks a~ well a~ lottery label~ are .- :
readily available and, ~g described above, only .
~oftware chal-ges are needed to expand the overall set of lotte~y number~.
. .
The lott~ry gan~e jy3tem, aceoroing to t:his inv~ntion, thus pro~ides a ~lexible instant lottery game sy~tem ~hlc~ easy and convenient to operate dnd c:ontrol, which Erovides leasonable control ove~
~ame v~riables including the odds of winning, whi~
also provide:3 a ~ignieicantly higher level of security against fralld ~nd mi~use an~, as desoribetl a~ove, which may be ~onvenierltly ~dapted for use with existing hardware at partici~dting establishmerlt~
. ,. ~- .
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to an instant lot~ery game wherein a new technique i~
used for the ~epre~entat$on and identification of the lottery numbers on the lottery tiekets.
A wide ~pectrum of lotteries and similar contests exists in ~hich participants are eligible ~o win p~izes awarded at random on the basis of predetermined odd~ of winnlng. In conventlonal lottery games the parti~lpant either purchas~s, or in ~-:
the ea~e of promotlonal lotterl~s is given a lottery ticket which has a lottery number in~cribed on it.
The lottery number on each ticke~ is unique and serves to distinguish it from every other lottery tioket in th~ ~ame lottery game. At a later dat-, a wlnning number i~ determined by a rando~ chan~e :
selection from a ~et o~ numbers which matche8 exactly :::
the set of lottery num~er~ in diYtrlbu~on. ~he - -- -winning number may al~o be dete~mined in other .: .
manners a~ long as ~t i~ insured that accurate p~ediction ot the wlnnlng number i~ hlghly improba~le. In 3uch ~onventlonal lotterie~, the winn3ng number i~ non-exlstene unt~l the moment it is ~eleetod randomly or determined accordlng to other ~ :~
c~iteria.
In thes~ lottery g~m-s secu~ty 1~ provided by . -:
generatlng the lottery numbe~ under compute~
control. Every lottery ticket in a givon lottery ~ame has a serial number aisociated wlth it whlch is p~int~d on ea~h tlcket to ~dentlPy t~e game, tlck~t lot and the indiv~dual ti~ket ltself. The lottery numbe~ for a glven tlcket i9 generated by usinq a complex computer algorithm wh~Ch provides a un~gue -~-r~lat~on~hlp between the serial numb~r and the lottery number for a given ticket. Whenever a winning lottery ticket i~ presented tor redemption, a computer can be used to reverse the computer algorithm used to ~enerate the lottery number so that - -the interrelation~hip between the ~erial number and the lottery number of the presented ticket may be -~
tested prior ~o payment of the pr~ze. ~-In the case of in~tant lotterles, the winning --~-lottery number i9 known before the tlcket ~ sold, ~o ~-that a partlcipant can know withln a short cpan of ~ --time after hi~ purchase whether he has won or not. - ~ -rn such instant lotterie~, the operator of the lottery game either selects or detetmines on some basis the w$nning lottery numbers or related indicia -:
whlch are made known to partlcipants prior to their purchase o~ tickets. However, the lottery number printed on the tick~t i9 ooncealed, so that the ~: :
purchaser may a~certain the lottery number only after the purchase has be~n con~umated. The p~r~haaer then expose~ the ~on¢ealed lottery numb-r to vlew and this ~xpo~ed lottery number io compared against a list o ` -winnln~ numbers in order to determine if a match ~xists entitling t~e tlck-t holder to a prlze. `
In 4uch cases of instant lotterle~ whereln the winnlng numbers are known to the publlc when the ticket i pur~hased, éxtensive meas~rqs have to be taken in order to lnsure securlty~ Some form o~
concealment need3 to be ~ovided for the indivitual lottery number lmprinted on each tLcket. Generally, th~s take~ the form of an opaque covering such as paper that cdn be tocn o~f to reveal the number, or a removable co~ting or metal foil that covers the numbsr. Special pr~nting inks, ~uch as those that changa under applied heat or 5pecial agenta may also : -b~ uged . ~hi5 con~ealm~nt featur~ of the ticket has to be ~ugmented with external means which permit qui~k and easy exposure of the lottery number so t~at immediate compari~ion can be made between the ticket lottery number and the posted listing of winning numbere. In addition, the proce~ which transforms the lottery number ~rom its concealed state to an openly intelligible state mus~ neeessarily be irreversable so that the end user ls unable to restore the ticket to lts original condltion without outward signs o alteration in ord~r to pceclude .
reuse or resale o~ a ticket. Va~iou~ techni~ues eOr conc~alment or dlsgui3e of lottery number~ for use in -:. :
in~tant lottery games are known in the art: all of :~
them inherently require elaborate procedures in the design, printin~ and especially the ~onceal~ent of the lottery number and constitute ~ sign~icant portlon o~ the ov~rall cost oF the lottery ~ick~t.
A gen~ral problem encounteced with conventi~nal instant lottery games is the h~gh p~obabillty o~
eraud ~ubsequcnt to purcha~e of tickets. In instant lotthr~es, winnln~ ticket~ may be presented for paym~nt con~urrent with the contlnulng sale Oe :.
add~tlonal lottery tlck~ts fo~ the ~am~ lottery game. Since instantaneou~ accounting for both sold and unsold ticket~ in the Bame lottery g~me is not possible. if a counterfeit ti~ket ~9 presented for payment lt becom~s virtually impos~ible to ascertain : - -whether o~ not the presented tlcket was purchased upon valLd sale by an authorized ~ellinq agent. The po~sib~lity that the authent~c t~cket bearing the ~ame winnlng lottery numbe~ may be unsold or ~n the legitimate po~se~ion of anoth~r participant cannot -~
be ruled out.
AnothQr probl~m w~th instant lottery ticket~
that, al~hough the gam~ number and ~erlal numb~r on a ~-~
ticket are not permitte~ to be the same, there does exist a simple rel~tioni3hip between the serial number -and the ~ame number and it i~ po~sible for d person :~
to determine the correlation between the serial number and the game number. Thls ~au~es special . ~
concern regarding system ~curity for an instant . ~ -lottery game because the serial number is generally -~ :
u~ed to record ticket allocations to thR variou~ :-~ales agents handling a particula~ lottery game.
Thus, somebody possesslng knowle~e of the tick~t distribution pattern may be able to locate the ~ales :-agent pos~essing the winning ticket~ lf he i~ able to ..
decipher the simple co~relation between the serial numbers and th~ as~ociated winn~ns numbers, thereby . - .
raising the po~sibll~ty of fraud on the lottery gam-op-rator and the publ~c in collusion ~i~h the ~ale~ .
agent. ~urther~ the pa~ticipant~ them~elves may be able to deter~ine the fixed relation~hip between the :: ;
un~onceal~d serial number~ and concealed lottery number- aEter the purchase of several tick-ts and use ::.
this knowledge to either ~ou~terf~lt a lottery ticket :
to include the winning lottery number or po~ibly to -:
avoid fu~her purchase o~ tickets which are not . -pot~ntial wlnners.
A variety of methods for printlng lotte~y tickets, pa~lcularly those Por in~tant lotteri~
are conv~ntlonally known. ~ypically, a number of ;: -~
manual gtep~ are involved in the printing procedure which in~reas~ the probability that someone involved :
with the proces~ may bQ able to identify the ultimate destlnation of ~al~ includlng th~ dlstribution p~tt~en of winning ticket~ and increase~ the - :-possibillty o~ ml~u~ and fraud. ~ -~
An approach toward~ ~ncreasing the aecurity for instant lottery tickets aga~n~t counterfeiting and '. ~' :' ,: -- 4 ~
... . .
fraudulant alteration i3 disclosed in U.S. Patent ~o.
4,191,376 issued to Goldman et al., where the lo~tery number i8 determined by a computer and is interre}ated with the ~erial number by a highly complex security algorithm. T~e ~erial number and the lottery number are printed on the ticket~ by means of oomp~ter controlled high ~pee~ printers followed by the colorin~ of the lottery number to hlde it ~rom viewT the comput~r proce~s is used to insure that no l~ttery n~mbers occur in dupllcate or are Qnti~ely omlt~ed t~om a ~ompleted ba~ch of game tickets.
Although the above ~yst~m provides 1ncrea~ed security for the lottery game, it ~tlll requi~es an elaborate technlque, ~uch as the lamination of a foil coa~lng by the appl~catlon of héat and pressure, for eoncealing the lottQry numbers aftee they have been printed on the lottery ticket~. Cuch a technique must provide ~or ea~y uncovering of the opaquo coatlng rom the lottery number and the unco~ering .:
proces~ mu~t al80 b~ irever~ible.
Another major probl~m w1th convontional ln~tant lott~ry games i~ that, for a given lotteey ga~e, once a co~plete set o~ lottery ticket~ with a~sociated lot~ery numbe~ on them have been printed on the 4asl~ of prede~lned odd3 o~ winning, no changes ln the overall odds of winning ~an be accommodae~d w~thout dra~tic measur~s 8u~h as reprinting a n~w set of lottery t~ckets. Thls con~ltutes a ~erious r~strlction to the operator o~ th~ ~ottery game partlcularly if th~ lottQry con~t~tutes a part of ~ale~ promotion ~cheme~ assoclatet with consum~r ~ :
orien~ed busine8s ~uch as a depa~m~nt store or a grocery ~tore. For exd~ple~ lE a lottery qame i~ ~ :
being u~Rd a~ a promotlonal schemQ by say, a ~; ' t 3 1 2379 ::
department store, it might be deYired that the odd~ - :
of winning b~ ~ignificantly increa~ed on particular days when a sale i9 in prog~ess in order te attract increasing number o~ conRumers for the du~ation Oe the ~ale. It becomes extremely d~fficult to handle such changes with the use of conventional instant -lottery game systems~ :
Accordingly, there exi~es a need for a ~lexible ~ -instant lottery game system wh~h ~9 easier to operate and control, whioh does not require elaborate printlng techniques for the lottery tlckets, which provlde~ reaRonable contro~ over the odds of winning . . --and which al~o provideu a hlgh level of ~e~uri~y against fraud and misuse. .:
Or ~ 011 , . '~
An ob~ect of th~ invention 1B to pro~ide a new and improved lnstant lot~ery gamo systom.
Another ob~ect is to provlde a new and improved lnstant lottery gam2 which haB a unique method of .. :~
rep~esen~atlon of lottery numbers on the lottery tlcket~.
A ~urther ob~ec~ is to provide ~uch a new and improved instant lottery ~yst~m the lottoey ti~kets ~or which are easily and inexp~nsively manu~actured and conveniently dispen~ed at d~sl~ed looatlons.
A related ob~ct is to provide such an improved in~tant lottery sy~tem whlch ha~ a hlgh level of - : -security against ~raudulent mlsu~e, alteration and . --~
counterfeiting. -~ ::
A furthe~ object is to provlde such an inat~nt lottery syst~m, the lottery tickets for wh~ch may be analyzed automatically ln order to determine winning a~ woll as loosing lotte~y tlckets.
Yet anot~er ob~ect o thl~ inven~lon is to provide an lmproved instant lottery system of ~he ~bove type in which the odd~ o~ winning may be ehanged conveniently.
The above objects are achie~ed, aceording t~ the system of thi~ invention by providing an in~tant lottery game ~yste~ in which the operation of the game system ineluding the generation of lettery numbers, readin~ of lottery number~ on presented game tickets and comparlson of the~e number~ with winning numbers to detsrmine true wlnner~ is performed by computerl~ed means. A master computer prog~am is used to generate the lottery numbers which are then pla~ed on the lottery tlcket in the form o~
conventional UPC bar codes. The master prog~am also generates a ~et o~ randomly picked winning numbers wh~ch 1~ proqrammed into the lnhouse computer at the establishment~ wh~re the lottery game i6 to be played. When a lottery ti~ket i~ pre~ented by a game ~ -participant, the assoc~ated lottQry number i~ read by .:
a conventlonal bar code lase~ scanner and feB to the lnhou~e computer wh~ch compares the scanned number with $t~ pr- programm~d s-t o~ wlnning nu~ber~
determine~ ~ the pr~sented lottery tlcket repr~sent~
a winning number and provides e~ternal 1ndication o~
the winning or lo~ing status of the ticket. -~
A high level o se~urity 1~ provided b-cause the identity o~ the winning number~ i9 acaes~ible only to - -an extremely restricted group of p~ople associated :~
with the master program, thereby reduclng th~ chance~ :
of fraud. ~n Fact, th- aet of ~nnlng numbers may be unknown to anyone a~ it may be gen~rated and dl~trlbuted ~$thout need for di~losure, maklng it virtually impos~ible for the winnlng numbers to be accessed. Alteration of lottery ticket~ i s mad~ -ext~emely difflcult as lt may requlre th~ decipherlng of an existlng bar coted number and sub~equen~
:
7 _ .
printing of ~he bar code for a fr~udulent winnin~
n~mber. ~he illustrious ~ystem is extremely - -:
convenient to ope~ate because most of the hardware ~equirements exi~t in e~tablishments where thi~
invention may be applied. ~urther, instant and automatic feedback of information indicating whether or not a presented lotte~y tlcket is a wlnner is :-provided. Addltional feature~ of thi~ lnvention provide for convenien~ control o winning odd~, game deadlines, etc., by simple software changes to the game Rystem- .
BRIEF DESCRIP~ION OF THE DRAWINGS . .
For the purpose of facllitatlng an under~tanding of th~ invention, the accompanying drawing~
illustrate certaln preferred embodlm~nts. ~he above and oth~r objects of this inventlon a~ well as the Features thereof will be~ome more appar-nt from the following descriptlon when taken ln conjun~tion with :~ .
the accompanying drawing~ in whiCh: -FIGURE 1 is a frontal view of the ~ace of an instant lottery ticket accordlnq to one embodiment of the pre~ent lnvent~on showing the ropr~sentat~on of : -the lottery number:
~IG. 2a is a frontal vi~w of the faca of a .
lott~ry ticket according to a pref-rred embodlment of thi~ inventionS .
FIG. 2b is a plan vl-w of a lottery numbec lab~
meant for use with the instan~ lottery tlcket of ~g. ~-2aS :
FIG. 3 is a ~lmplifi-d block diagram repre~entation of the lott~ry nu~ber genecatlon end of thQ instant lottery game acco~ding tc thi~ :
inven~ions FIG. 4 ~ a ~impliied block diagram r~pre~entatlon of a dispen~ing unit according to ~hi~
1 3 1 2 37 9 ,`1 :
invention;
FIG. 5 ls a block diagram repre~entation of the reader end for use with instant lottery game~ ,!j,~
according to this invention: and llj ~IG. 6 is a simplified flow diag~am of the ~ ?
10ttery game playlng procedure accordlng to the i~ :
syst~m o~ thi~ lnvention. ~ ;l' ! 11~
~ESCRIPTION OF PREPEMED EMaODIMEtlTS . ~ i' ~ ! !~ . .
. lil , ~, ~~ : -Although the invention ha~ been de~cribed in i ~ .! ,; i',l :
conn~ct~on w~th certain embodiment~, it will be l l ¦ i'3 i ~nder~tood tha~ thore i8 no int~ntion to 11mit the I .
invention to the embodiments shown, and varlous 1 ;
~hang~ and modi~ications can ~e made thereln without ~ t ~
departlng ~rom the ~pirit and ~cope of the invention, ;l : :
and it i~ intended that all ~uch chang~s and ~ ¦;
modifLcation~ bo cover~d a~ fall within the scope of ~ ~
the app~nded c1aims~ .
Referring now to ~IG. 1, therR is sho~n a l l ~ -conventional in~tant lottory ticket 10 adapted i :-according to one embodlment of thl~ lnvention. Th~ ~ -tlck~t has a tlc~-~ Pace 11 wl~h the central area o~ -the tlcket fac~ generally h~vlng qame play~ng instructions, a~ wel1 a~ other informatlon norma11y assoclated wlth such lottery gam~s, printed on it.
Such lnformation 12 may include the date of validity o~ the tlck~t, ~ed~mption procedur~s for winnin~
~i~ket~, identity o~ the gam- operatoe or other such r~lated informatlon. ~h~ purchase price 13 of th~ ~
tioket Lt~elf may also be indicated on the ~ace of . ~ .
the ticket. . .
A lottery number 14 i9 prQsented on the ~ace 11 :
of the ticket 10. Conventlonally the lottery number comprises a plurality o~ dig~t~ ~epresented in the form of numerlc ~r alpha~etlc character~ or other Indlcia uch a- l~tt-r~, picture- or sy~bo1~
1312379 l ~ccording to a unique fea~ure of this invention, the .
lottery number 14 i~ repre~ented on the fa~e 11 of the ticket 10 in the form of a conventlonal UPC bar code, which allows the numbe~ to ~e automatically .
re~d by conventional bar code ~canners commonly . .
available at the site of the lottery game. The lottery numbee itself typl¢ally comprises 12 numeric :
digit~. The dlgits that originally comprise the .
lottery number (~hown as 01234567891X) may also ~e :
printed below the b~ code repre~enting the lottery .
number, .
FIG. 2a show~ a preferred embodlment of an : :
instant lo~tery ~ick~t accordlng to this inv~ntion.
As shown, the lott~ry number is no~ prlnted on the - :
lottery ticket it3elf. In~tead, an area i8 designated on the central portion of the face of the :~
lott~ry ticket onto which a ~eparately available label bearlng th~ lottery number may be positioned.
~IG. 2b sho~s ~uch a label Zl which has the ~ .
lottery number printed ln bar ~ode orm 22 on its - :
~ace. ~he lab~l 21 ha~ a pro~sure ~en~St~ve adhe~iv~
coa~ing on lts ~ear port~on that ~erm~t~ the label to :
be conveni~ntly po~itioned onto t~e de~l~nat¢d ldbe area on the instant lottery ticket. In this em~od~ment the lottery ti~kets are p~eprinted ln the .
~orm of tlcket blanks whlch have all requirQd .
informatlon in~t~uctlons as well a~ other gene~al .
in~tructlons prin~ed on the~ and have the designated area 24 for placement of th- lottery number label. .
Thls ~eature p~rmits the use of a varLety oE
prRprlnted ticket blank~ ar lottery tlcket~ by placing valld lotte~y label~ on them. In order to have a valid lottery ticket, the participant in the ::
game plcks up one o~ the ln~tant lottery ticket blank~, purcha~e?3 the label bearln~ the lott~ry -:
,,, ' ., - 10 - ~ ~-'~,.',~
nu~ber in b~r code eorm and then p1aoes the label ¦ ¦
onto the ticket blank. ~ ~.
Accordlng to a feature of thi~ invention, the labels bearing the lot~ery number~ are not preprinted \
but are actually printed at the time of the pu~chase by dispensing units pos$tioned at the establish~ent ~
where the lot~ery game i~ in progress. ~he loetery . ¦
numbers themselves are originally generated by a I ~
master computer program in th- form Oe a ~et of I ~ - :
randomly generated number~. ~hese lottery num~ers / ~ .
are then tr~nsferred in the ~o~m oF a data ba~e to , the dispensing unit whlch i9 capable of ~equentially :
prlnting out the lottery number3 ~to~ed ~ithin 1ts data base onto the pres~ure sen~itive label~ in the ~
~orm of a UPC bar code which corre~ponds to the l ~:
lotte~y number beLn~ printed. -:: .
Turning now to FIG. 3, thore io shown a ~ .
s~mplified block dlagram representation of the lo~tery number generatin~ ~ect10n of the ln~tant lottory game acco~dlng ~o the ~ystem o~ thl~ l ~:~
invention. The lottery nu~ber generat~on i8 ¦ ` .:
controlled by a d~g1tal computer 30 whlch 1noludes a ~
random number g~nor-tor or pseudo-randomiser 31 which l .:
funct~ons to generat~ the ~equired ~et of lotte~y number~ for u~e with tha ln~tant lottery tlckets of l th~ lottery game. The~ ra~dom numbors from the ¦ -random number generator ~1 are seperately stored onto a ma~te~ disk 32 and a so-ca}led printer-data base ~
cas~ette 33 for u~ with a plurality o~ di~pen~ing ~ ~:
unit~, as will be de~cribed below. ~he set of lottery numbe~s ~enerated by the random number generator 31 1~ also fed to a random nu~er 3electo~ l 34 whlch acc~pts the set o gen~rated lottory numbe~8 --- -and randomly selects ~rom within thi~ set a given ~
numbor of lottery number~ which are to b~ deslgn~ted .~
~.. . .
1312379 11~
as the winning numbers, The number of winning .
lottery numbers selected by the random number selector ~4 is determined by the desired odds of winning. The set of randomly selected winning ~--numbers is seperately ~tored onto a master disk 3Z
and a so-called reader data ba~e cassette or use with a plurality of reader units, as will be described be10w.
In order to permit operation o~ the lottery game wlth a p1urality of dispensing units, the digltal comput~r can be programmed to assign ~pecific portions o~ the set of lottcry numbers randomly -generated by the random number g~norator 31 to a plurallty oF cassettes for use wlth co~responding .
dispen~ing units. These randomly a~signed portions -:~
of the set o~ lottery numbers are al~o stored on the :
maste~ dlsk 32. The ma~ter dl~k, hence ~erves a~ th~ l sole record o~ lnformdtlon relatlng to whl~h portion :
of the get of lot~ery numbers has be0n assiqned to .
whl~h particular di~pensing unlt. Hence even ln the unllkely pos~lblllty of ~omeone acce~slng the reader \
data base to g~t at a ~et o~ winnin~ numbers, thece is no way of determinlng which dlspensing unit is capable of dispen~ing the lottery numbees correapondlng to the wlnning numbers. Thls :~
arrangement ~ets up a v~rtually foolproo~ 1evel of .
security about th~ lottery ~ame a~ w111 be de~cribed ~
in d-tail below. :
Referring now to FIG. 4, there l~ shown a ~i~pllfled block diagr~m ropreaentatlon of a .-~
d~sp~nsinq unit according to th~ ~ystem of thl~
lnvention~ Ths dispenslng unit e~sentlally comprise~
a convent~ona1 UPC code impact or laser print~r 41 ~
as w clated wlth a di~penscr ~2 for ~he lab~1~ prlnted ::
by the code prlnter 41. ~he prlntec ba~ically .
, -1 31 2379 :
1:
; funetlons tv pri~tout in bar code form the digital lotte~y nu~bers fed to it. ~he actlon of the UPC
code printer 41 i~ controll~d by the printer data base cassette 43, which ha~ stored within it the particular batch oF rando~ly generated lottery numbers a~signed to it by the digit~l computer, via a conventional digital interface 44 which establishes the proper communication link between the printer data base and the code printer 41. Thus, each time the dispensing unlt i5 a~tlvated, the printer data base cassette is aceessed and a lottery number is retrleved from the batch of lott~ry numbers ~tored i within the cassette.
The retrlev~d lottery number i9 then fed through . .
the tape-to-prlnter interface 44 and a digital -~
counte~ 45 to the UPC code printer 41. ~he code prlnter th~n tran~po~es ~nd printq the acc~pt~d .
lott~ry number onto the lottery number la~el in the ., form of ~ UP~ ba~ code corrq~pondlng to the retr~eved lott-ry number. The retr~val of lottery nu~ber~
; f~om withln the printer data basQ cassott~ is :i performed ln a seguential ~anne~ and the digital . .
autocounter 45 ~ervos to keep track of how many ~ :
lottery numbers have in ract been retrie~od at any :~ -gi~en tLme. The counter, in off~ct, p~ovidè~ a , re~erence pointer to the oxact position on the data ,!j base cas~etto ~rom whlch tha lott-ry number for a .
preced~ng print-d label wa~ retri~ved. :`
It muqt be notOEd that the lottery numbers printed onto the dl~pensed label~ aro not in a ~erial ord~r; ln~tead they ar- a sequential p~intlng of th~ :
., randomly generated lott~ry numbers pre~ent ln the .
i: part1cular bat~h a~igned to thc particular d~ta ba~e :: .
ca~e~te belng used with a glven d$spQnsing unit.
.' Hence, there is no way fo~ an out~idé sou~ce to .
,,, :- ' ~ - 13 -.,, l:
il determine or even guegRr f~om any dispensed pr1nted label, ~hat the lot~ery number on ~he succeedinq label will be. The dispensin~ unit al~o ha~ ~ .... .
safeguard~ built into it which automatically disrupt the communication link between the data base cassette ~
; and the UPC code p~inter in the event o~ phy~ical H--tamperi~g o~ ~echanical failure. In caee disruption occur~ eor some rea~on, the digital autocounter 45 ~ -serves as a re~erence to the la3t lottery number retrieved from the printer data base cassette 43 so ~ -~hat the di~pensing unL~, when ~un~tioning again, ii~ ~: -; capable o~ accRs~ing the prlnter d~ta ba~e cas~ette :-to retricve lottery numbers immediately succeedin~
the last lottery number retrieved from the cassette prior to shutoff. ~hl~ in~ures that when the ~:
dispensing unit restart~ the ~equential lottery~ .... ;
I printing pr~cess no duplication or omission o~
.1 lottery numbers stored within the data bai~e cassette of th~ printer tskes place.
Each time a new s~t of lottery numbers need~ ~o be printed out, th- only change needed wlthin the I dispenslng unit i8 the repl~cem~nt o~ its printer~.... . -j! data ba~e cas~ette 43. ~en~e, ~hen a new lottery game ~s to be commi~oned, a new ~t of lottsry ` .
numbets i9 randomly gene~ated by the d~gital computer ~ ~.
and batches oE lottery numbers from thl~ sot are ~.~
a~s~gn~d to partlcular printer ddta ba~e c,assette~, : .
one of whLch may be used to replace the printe~
; ~assette eor a givQn dispensing unit tbereby makin~
, it capable o~ printing label~ on the basis of the .1 newly qenerated lottery numb~rs. ~ . -~eferring now to FIG. 5, there i~ ~hown a ~mplifi-d block diagram of the lott-ry t$ckot reader ~ -~ unlt accordln~ to the illuBtriou~ lottery game I! syste~. Th~ reader unlt 50 eQisentlally compri~es a ~ ~.
1 ' ~ .
;,, . ~.
! l4 :
'7':'::"' '','' '''',"'i'',.."," "''.' con~entional ~PC bar code scanner Sl operating in con~unction with the digita1 reader computer 52. The code ~canner 51 functions to read ehe bar code 23 printed on the label Zl, which has been pl~ced on the instant lottery ticket 20, by use oÇ a code scanner probe 53 and converts the scanned bar code into the lottery numbe~ which it ropresents ln digl~al form.
~his in~ormatlon is fed to the reader computer 52.
The rea~er computer, accordin~ to this : .
invention, i5 ~rogrammed to recognlze all the randomly selected w1nnlng number~ deFined by the digital computer 30 ~hown in FIG. 3. More ~paclfically, the data base 35 of wlnners selected from the ~et ~f randomly generated lotte~y numbers by :~
the random winning numbar selector 3~ i~ provlded to the digltal computer S2 of the ~eader unit 50 and - -.
forms a ba~is for compa~ing the lottery number seanned in bar code ~orm by the bar code scanner 51. ~or il1ustr~tive purpooe~ only, ~ compara~ot unit 52 has been ~ho~n and i8 ~epresentatlve of th~
comparison ~unction~ Oe the reader computor 52. Eaoh :~
tlme a lott~ry ticket i~ present~d for acannlng the ::
re~ultant lottery number gen~rated by the bdr code scanner 51 is compared to ea~h of the winning numbers sto~ed within the winner's data base 35. If tih~ : .
scanned lott-ry numbor matche~ any of the winnlng numb~r~ a visua1 lndlcation i9 given on the dlglta1 dL~p1ay of the reader unit. A manua1 lnput keyboard 56 i5 also provided with the reader unit 50 so that th~ lottery numbers representing the printed bar ~ode, if p~inted on the lottery tlcket, may be ~anually keyed Lnto the reader computer and serve~ as a r~dundancy feature for occa3lon~ when the bar code scannar or it~ prob~ ara malunctionin~ or not -. .
functlonlng at all.
'.",:
.' ' 1312379 ~
..--It will be noted that the reader unit 50 as described above, including the UPC bar code scanner, the ~anual input keyboa~d and the reader digltal ~-computer i~ fairly convontional and normally has stored ~ithin its data base the U2C bar codes representing t~e product codes meant to be recognized :~ ~
by the reader computer. Such reader unlts are :: :
normally availAble at most e6tablishment~ ~i.e., :; .
departmen~ stores, grocery stores or the like) where the illustrious invention i~ generally appllcable.
All that ie required in order to adapt such :
¢onventional r~ader unlt~ S0 ln order to function according to the syste~ of thi3 inveneion i9 the provision o~ tho wlnner~ data base 35 ln additlon to the normal data.~ase of the reader computer and 30m~ ... -.
related software change~.
FIG. 6 ls a s~mplifed ~low dlagram ~.-representation of the procedure involved ~n the generation and di~tr~bution of lottery number~ a~ : -well a~ the lotte~y winner~. The lnitial it~p 600 involve tho random g-neration of the required number of lottery numbers by use of the p~eudo-randomizer :.
undcr the control of the dig~tal computer, a~ shown in PIG. 3. At th- next ~tep 601~ the complete set of - -~.
randomly g~nerated lottery numbers ~s divided into ::
9eparate batches of lottery numbe~s. The number of batcheg 13 equivalent to tho desired number of -:.
dispensing units for use with the instant lottery ~yJtem. Generally, a ~ingle disp-nsing unlt is provided ~or each e~tablishment taking ~art in the lnstant lottery game. The~- batches of lottory number3, which in comblnation form th~ overall set of lottery numbers genera~ed At step 500, aro then ~tored on indlvidual cassette5 as well as on a mastor .
di~ at step 6~2~ . ~:
~, '''"
~ 6 -` 1 3 1 237q .j .i , j In the following step 503, the cassettes having j the batches o~ lottery numbers stored on them are ,, distributed to the variou~ dispensing ~nits . . .
I constituting the lottery system.
'j Step 604, which may be performed simultaneously along wlth step 601, involves the ~andom selection of :~
! winning lottery numbers from the ~et oF randomly generated lotery numbers defined at step 600. ~hi~ :-:
! is the point where the odds of w~nning may be ~! contro11ed ~onveniently, At the ~ollowing step 605, the randomly selectQd winning numbRrs a~ sto~ed on ~1~ the master disk o~ whlch the compl-te set of lottery ~ . ;
Pl, numbers has be~n stored at ~tep 602. Step 605 al80 : -involvc~ the duplication o~ tha J~t of winning i number~ onto a number of ca~ette~ corresponding to r! the number of r~ad~r unltA lncludcd a~ a part of the lottery game. At ~tep 606 the~e ca~ott~, each :~ .
havlng a ~et of wlnnlng 1Ottnry number~ stored on it, ¦~ are di~tributed to the various reader uni~ts. : ::
It will be appreciated that in the overall , proc~ Oe gen~ra~ion of the complete se~ of lottory :-number~ as well a~ the se1ection o winning lott~ry numbers from ther~ln, human interventlon i~ .:
res~rlcted to the original gene~atlon of the master ~:l program for the digltal computer, w~lch controls the -:
~,; lotte~y number generatlon and the ~election of , winners. Neither the comple~e ~ct Oe lottery numbe~s nor ~p-clic winnlng lottery numbcr~ ar~ dlrectly accesslb1e at any stage. Once the c~ettes d~slgnatct for specific dispen~lng units and r~d~r . unit~ are dl~tributed ~he only p~rmancnt rocord of .
;, ~he 1ottery numb~rs and the se1ected wlnners i5 on ::
1 the master disk, which may be kept in the sa~e ! rll~t~y nf th~ ln~t.~ry ~amQ o~erator.
; Accordlng to a f~ature of this lnventlon, th~
- 17 - .
: : -~l ~I 131237q 1,3 .
cassette onto which the set of randomly ~elected ~-winning lottery numbers is store~ l.e., the reader cassette may al~o ~nclude a variety of informatlon related to the lottery game. Fo~ in~tanc~, along with each lottery number there may be a~soclated -information de~ining the particular pri~e to be awarded for that lottery number. The reader cassette may also have stored on it lnormation that de~ines the deadlines ~o the lottery game ~o that the list o~
winning lottery numb~rs remain~ valid only up to tho defined deadline. When the r~ader cassette is acces~ed by the reader unit~ such lnformation is alBo retri~ved and ~ubsequently acted upon as required.
ReEerring now to PIG. 7, the~e i~ shown a simplified flow diagram of the procedure involved ~t the u~er ~nd, ~t one of th~ parti~ipating e~tabl~shments, in th~ instant lott~ry game according to th~ sy~tem of this invention. ~efore thR
particlpant gets ~nvolved ~n thi~ procedure, tho par~i¢ipating establl~hment ln~talls the dl~trlbuted reader ca~sette and dispensing unlt ca~i3ette a~signed to it into the read~r unit and the di~pensin~ unit, re~p~ctive1~, lo¢ated at the site of the lottery game. ~
Subsequently, at step 700, the participant, havlng picked up a lott~ry ticket blank, dctivates the dispensing unlt by depo~iting the specl~i~d ~-a~ount of money representing the peice of the tieket lnto the un~t. When th~ dl~pensing unit i3 actlvat~d it accesses the unit's data base contalnlng the partlcular batch o sequenti~lly stored lottery ~ ~
numbers as81~ned to the dispenslng unlt, and ~ ~ -eetrieves the uppermost lottery numb~r, which i~ th~n ~-fed via the printer inter~ace to the UPC bar code pr~nter which ~rint~ the retrleved lottery number, in .,~
-:
~: ' -~
13~2379 :
~ ', i it~ bar code form onto a dispenser label. The pr~nted label i~ then d~spen~ed out to the participant.
At the next step 701, the partlcipant rece~ves ::
the dispensed label, expose~ the pre~sure sensitive adhe~ive coating b~hlnd the label and places lt onto the de~ignated area on the lottery ticket blank. Th~ .
participant then, st his con~enlence, present~ the lottery ticket at the checkout counter of the participating e~tablishmont. In fact, a~ter purchase Oe the lottery tlckat, the participant may proceea :~-with his regular shopping through the departmont or grocery ~tor~ as the ca8e may be and submit the :-lottery ticket along with the rest of his shopped good~ at the checko~t counter. At the next ~tep 702 ~hR bar code representing the lottery numbe~ on the :
lottery label is s¢anned by the product code ~eader at the checkout counter. Mo~e speci~ic~lly, the person at the checkout count~r goe~ th~ough the p~ocess of scanning t~e ~ar code on the lottery tick-t ln exactly th~ ~ame w~y ag he doe~ for eh-rest of the shopp~d good~. ~he readQr compu~er is progr~mmad to r~cognlze tho game ~dentiflcation -~
number at th~ beglnning o~ the UPC code number printed onto the lottery ticket. Onc~ lt has :-identifl~d the UPC code to b~ related to tho lotter~
g~me, the computer accesse~ it~ dat~ ~a~e of winning numbers for the lotter~ game and compares the accepted lott~ry numb-r w~th the list Oe wlnning :
number~ stored wl~hln ~t~ data ba~e to check ~or a po3sible mat~h ~Stop 704). -If th~ compari~on com~ out with a positi~e match, an indication is gl~en, at step 705, on the ~: -digital display of th~ r~ader un$t showing that the -~
partlcular lott~ry ticket ~canned 1~ a w~nner and an :
.. -~ . -- lg - ~ -,' -ll 1 3 1 237~ ~
indication may al~o be given of the prize due to the winner. If t~e compari~on does not come up with a positive match, i.e., the preoented lottery number does not correi3pond to any of the numbero on the list o~ winninq numbers provided to ~he reader unit, an indication is gi~en, at step 706 on the reader dl~play showing that the presented lottery ticket is not a winner. The procedure involved scanning the bar coded lot~ery number to d-termine whether a given lottery ti~cket ii3 a winner or not i~ extremely convenient because it li3 ident~cal to the p~duct ~anning procedure followed by the participatln9 si3tablishments during th~ normal couri3e of their buisiness.
Ais ii~ apparent from the description of the lottery gamo sy~tem according to this ;nvention, clo~e control may be maintalned over tho op~ration of the gam~ by vlrtu- of the fact that only 8imple software changes are rRqulred in order to change the controlling param~ters of the game. ~or example, th~
odds o~ winn;ng Can bQ controlled or changed at any . ::
tlmo during the operation of th~ lottory game. Mo~e specifically, the odd~ o~ winning may b~ incr~ased by - ~-modifyln~ the master progta~ 50 that a larger numb~r of winning ~ott~ry number~ are selected randomly from the uni~ersal ~-t Oe randomly generatod lottery numb~r~. This larg~r t~t o~ wlnning number~ cdn then b~ tran~erred onto the reader data ba~e ¢assettes whlch ~ub~quently cdn be us~d to replace the orlginal set of winning numb-rio provided to the ~eader uniti3. Hence, on dayi~ wh~n partic~pating e~t~blishmentis need to attra~t increai3~d number of .
cuotomerio, as in the ca~e of promotional sales or oimilar e~enti~, they may advertli3e that on the~e pa~lcular days t~e odd~ of winning ln the lottery ~' ' 1 31 237q gam~ curren~ly in progresa will be increased ~ignificantly. Subsequently, new reader cassettes with larger li~t~ of winnln~ ~umbers ~enerated ~y t~e modified master program can be u~ed a~ the data base of winners for the particular days when th~ odds o~
winning need to be in~eased.
The system of thi~ invention also br~ngs about a ~:.
~lgnificant advantage in situations where unprecedented ~ale of lottery tickets results in the .
game operator prematurely runni~g out ~f stock of -:~
lottery ticketa. With conventional lottery gameA, . .
th~ only optlon availabl~, short of discontinuing the lottery game, ig to r~print a new b~tch o~ lottery tlck~t~ which i~ virtually impo8~ible within a practl~al time ~rame. According to th~ invention, -~
~uch a ~ituatlon ~an be conveniently handl~d by using ~:
the maste~ pro~ram tc gen~rate a new set of lottery numberG as well a~ a correspond~ng new ~et of winning lott~ry numbers. As already described aboYe, a ~t :- -o~ lottery number~ so generated may then be divldfld -:
into ~eparate batche6 and transe~rred onto . .:~
oorro~ponding prlnter ca~sett~s which are :-~
subequently po~itioned into the varlou~ dispensing unit~ particlpatin~ in the lottQry game. Si~ilarly, .;
the n~wly generated li~t Oe winning lottery numbers -:-i~ also tran~f~rred onto separate roader ca~sette5 which ar- then used to replace the read~r cas~ettes exi~ting within the ~arlou~ reader ~nit~
participatin~ in the lottory game. Henc~, for all practical purposes, a~ ~ar as the participating establishments are conce~ned, th~ o~ly changes ~:
r~quired ln order to ac~o~modate eithe¢ chan~ed odd~ : -of winning or continuing the lottery game beyond the ~ .
originally ~o~e~een uni~e~sal 3et of lotte~y numbers, _ -lg the replacemont of existlng p~lntor ~nd r~ad~r ~ ' .
. .
cassettes with the newly supplied printer and reader -cassettes, respectively.
Another advantage of the instant lottery game dispenses with the need for the computer generated -complex relationship between the ticket serial number and the corresponding lottery number for the ticket which is normally used by conventional lottery game systems for verification of authenticity of winning lottery tickets.
In the illustrative embodiment there is no need for such a security check because the set of winning numbers is unknown to anybody. In addition, the lottery numbers themselves are virtually unknown until the time they are actually printed by the dispensing unit. The only way -that a participant may access the set of winning numbers is to get into the software of the reader digital ;
computer, the chances of which are highly unlikely. Even :
if someone does manage to obtain a reader date base cassette he has no way of knowing which dispensing unit -is actually capable of printing out any of the winning ~
lottery numbers. ~ ~ -The possibility that someone accessing the winning set of numbers may counterfeit a lottery game label with the bar code corresponding to one of the accessed winning lottery number, is further guarded against by the very ~-manner in which the UPC bar code system functions. More specifically, a conventional UPC bar code consists of a 12 digit number 22 (see Fig. 2b), of which the first 11 digit~ are usually printed below the bar code representing those 11 digits. In the more conventional use of bar codes which i8 the representation of product codes for various products that have been assigned their representative code, the first 11 digits in ::
." ' ' ., combin~tion repreeiel~t the maoufactl.lr~r code and the produ~t ~ode for a E)articular pro~l&t~ ~rhe 12th digit is gen~r~ted on th~ basis o~ the preceding 1l diqits by ~se of a colnplex log~!ithmic algorithm which ~erves a~ a cross check to the authenticity c~
the yarti~u1ar bar code. The 12th di-Jit ~'X' in ~LGS. 1 and ~h) i~ only rep~esented in its bar code form and is not printed out, a~ are the prec~ding 11 digits.
Si~ , according to tlli~ inventio~l, exactly the ~ame prGc~dure i~. used fGr generating the transposed UPC ba~ ~ode correspondillg to a giv~n l~ttery number, ~ :
the UPC bar co~e seanner at the ceader unit cro~s ~heck~ the logarithmi~ relltion~:hip between the ~ir~t :~
l1 digit~ con~tituting the lottery number ~nd the :
12th digit of the lottery nun~ber: an accepte~ scanned lottery n~er is deemed to be authentic for subsequent ~o~arison ~ith the ~ata bace of winners ~- -within the rea~er unit, only if the ~canner ~omes up with a po~i.tive check orl ~his logarithmic relationship. Thus, in the hi~hly unlikely event of ~omeorle c~ming into po~ession of the winnlng set of lottery number~, in order to counterfeit a lottery nunlber capable of pas~ing all authentic~ion ~hecks, `.: :
the person ~-Juld al~o have to deci~he~ the comp1ex lo~arithmic relationship betwe~n the first 1l digits .
and ~he unprinted 12th digit o~ the lottery number and then print the l~ttery number in its corre~pondin~ bar code orm onto the lottery 1~bel.
The odds Oe ~omeone emulating such ~ counterfeiting procedure bord~r on the impossible and the system of this inYention provide~ a virtually unpentrat~ble level o~ security agai-lst fraudulent misuse.
It will, ho~ve~, be ~nderstood by those ski11ed in the art that, if needed, the ~naSter pro~ram may he ~:
. . ~
., , - 23 - ;; -c~ntrolled in ~uch a Wdy th~t for each randorl.ly generated lottery number a corre~spon~ing ~erial number is a~so genec~ted ill ~uch a way th~t a complex ~ -yet seemingly candofrl correlation exists between the ~erial numher ~nd the c~orrespotlding lottery number.
The ~eri~L nll~bers may also be tran~ferred along with -~
the correspoltlling .lotte~y number~ onto the da~a base ~ .
for khe dispensing unit ~nd the print.er controlled So as to print out the corre~pot~ding serial number e~ch :-:
time a lo~.tery number is printed onto the lottery ::
label. At the re~der end, the digital computer can then be progr~mmed in such a way that each time a ~Callned Ill~mber i3 presented to it, it tests the correlation with the a~qociated ~erial number 5~ tha~
imE~roperly altcred or counterfelt lottery n~mbers may he deteoted. .
It will be under~tood that the in~ention is not limited to the use of the 12 digit UPC bar code a~
described in the illustriou~ embodi~ellt; the cotnpressed form af the UPC bar code wne~ein a re~u~ed number of di~its i~ utill~e~ m~y ~lso be used ju~t as convenien~ly. O~her ~pes of bar ~od~ may be u~ed for the rep~sentation of the lo~tery number~ aa long ~s the reader end has ~ co~res~on~ling ~d~ code scanner capable of tran~po~ing the bar codes into the corresponding lottery number~ they repreQent in digi~al form.
An import~llt mcdifi~ation oE the system o~ this inven~ion is the printing of the bar codes ~epre~enting the lottery n~mbers directly onto product label~, wt~er~by the lottery~number 4ar code .
may be scanned i~edi~tely ~fter ~he con~en~i~n~l product bar code nor~nally printed on the product label. Such a system ~ould be espe~i~lly applicable -:
t~ product promotion campaign~ wherein the customer ~ -,,, ~ .
, ',- ' '-' ' , .,:
may ~e o~fere~ ree ~:hanc~ tc. parti~ipa~:e in the '~ttery gam~ if ~1~ buys a parti~ular product. In sueh cas~, the per~on u~ing the b~r code ~canner pco~ fir~t sl-a~3 the UP~ produ~t: bar eode printed on the pr~d~lct la~el an~ therl scdns the suc~eedillq lottery nulllber .tlso printe~ dr c~de form l~ehincl the conventic,nal produ~ bar code. ~he digital computer ~ the reader units i~ progca~ e~ tc accept :~
the scanned lot.t.~ry number only if the preceding bar code match~4 up with a list of valid prvduct ¢odes st~red within it~ data baqe. This in~ure~ that the ~ :
lottery numbers remain valid only with the purchase :: .
of the specified products. In these ca~es, thé
prizea awarded to ~inning lottery numbers may b~ of monet~fy value as in ~onventional instant lottery gam~s or the reader unit may be programmed in such d wAy th~t a discounted price on the purcha~e product -is automatieally ofered if the 8canned lottery number is f~und ~o be a winner.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that ~uch an ilnplementation and modi~ication of ~he sys~m of the p~esent invention basic~lly require~ software ~hanges otlly at the lottery number gen~rator end as well a~ the reade~ end. More s~eci~ically, irl this situatio~ the generatiol~ of lvttery number and the rand~m selectio-- of winning lottery numbers by u~ing the digital computer ~tays the same as described with respect to ~'ig. 3. :~
However, in addition tv sto~ing the list of winning :~
lol:tery numbers onto the reader data ba~e cassette, a list of v~lid product ~odes corresponding to Lhe pro~ucts designated for the promotional eampaign is ~: -also stored ol~to the re~der cassette before ~ - -duplicating lt for distri~ution to the various reader unit~ at the establishments participating in the : ~
~, , ~-- 25 ~
.:
1 3 1 2379 ` ~
~: .
paftic:ular promcJi.ic~nal ~ampi~i4~
~ t tile re~ r ~n~, when a participdt.ing custvm~r ~re~ent~ a pr~d~lct for purchase at the cheekout counter, the UP(: pro~ue~ eode a~ well a th~ lottery nul~lber r~r~duc~ e printed on the prod~lct label are : -scdnned, dn~ the ~i~3it.~1 computer oE the re~er tlnit ~.hen compar~ Lhe scanned product ~ode with the list of valid product co~e~ s~ore~ wittlin the reader ~- -cas~ette. The lottery number .~canne~ a~ter khe product code i~ ~ccepted only if th~ seanne~ product .:
code i~ ~ound to match ane of the valid product codes :~
on the list. Once the scanned lo~tery number has been accepted the reader eolnp~lte~ then ~cces~es the li~t of winning lottery numher~ also ~tored on the reader data base cassette ~nd pe~forms a comparison to see if ~.he ~canned lott.e~y n~mher mat~hes one of the w;nning lottery numbers and, ag des~ri~ed above, provide~ ext~rnal lndication of the results o~ the comparison.
~ he illust~ us ln~t~nt lottery ~me ~ystem al~o eliminate~ the need f~r elaborate prirlting procedures :~
or the lottery tick0ts. The ticket blanks ~an be printed in advance, in large quantities and, if nee~ed, in v~riou3 forma~s using conventional printing procedu~es, The lottery labels needed to make the ti¢~ets valid are printed instantaneously ~t the sit~ oE the galne, but there is no need for complex techniques tO conceal ~he lottery number ~ :~
pcinted in bar eode form on the l~bel. ~ny desired :
increase in the numb~r of valid lottery ~ickets for the game can be aecommodated easily, slnce the extra number o~ ti¢ket blanks a~ well a~ lottery label~ are .- :
readily available and, ~g described above, only .
~oftware chal-ges are needed to expand the overall set of lotte~y number~.
. .
The lott~ry gan~e jy3tem, aceoroing to t:his inv~ntion, thus pro~ides a ~lexible instant lottery game sy~tem ~hlc~ easy and convenient to operate dnd c:ontrol, which Erovides leasonable control ove~
~ame v~riables including the odds of winning, whi~
also provide:3 a ~ignieicantly higher level of security against fralld ~nd mi~use an~, as desoribetl a~ove, which may be ~onvenierltly ~dapted for use with existing hardware at partici~dting establishmerlt~
. ,. ~- .
- ~7 - ~ -'' ,~.'.' .
Claims (11)
1.A method of playing an instant lottery game having a beginning time of play comprising the steps of:
generating a set of lottery numbers;
retaining a master list containing said set of random lottery numbers;
representing said set of lottery numbers on a plurality of lottery tickets in a UPC bar code form;
selecting one of more sub-sets of said lottery numbers from said master list coincident with said beginning time of play of said instant lottery game, each sub-set corresponding to a different winning value;
distributing said plurality of lottery tickets to a plurality of participants for presentation at one of more designated locations; and providing said one or more sub-sets of said lottery numbers to said designated locations for comparing each of said presented lottery tickets at the designated locations to said one or more sub-sets of winning numbers to determine whether each of said presented lottery tickets represents a winning lottery number.
generating a set of lottery numbers;
retaining a master list containing said set of random lottery numbers;
representing said set of lottery numbers on a plurality of lottery tickets in a UPC bar code form;
selecting one of more sub-sets of said lottery numbers from said master list coincident with said beginning time of play of said instant lottery game, each sub-set corresponding to a different winning value;
distributing said plurality of lottery tickets to a plurality of participants for presentation at one of more designated locations; and providing said one or more sub-sets of said lottery numbers to said designated locations for comparing each of said presented lottery tickets at the designated locations to said one or more sub-sets of winning numbers to determine whether each of said presented lottery tickets represents a winning lottery number.
2.The method of claim 1 wherein said generating is done randomly.
3.The method of claim 1 wherein said bar codes for said lottery numbers are printed directly on said lottery tickets.
4.The method of claim 1 wherein said bar codes for said lottery numbers are printed on separate lottery labels adapted to be positioned on said lottery tickets.
5.The method of claim 1 wherein said lottery tickets are commercial product labels.
6.The method of claim 1 wherein said lottery tickets are commercial coupons.
7. An instant lottery game system having a beginning time of play comprising:
a first means for generating and retaining a set of lottery numbers;
a second means for generating winning lottery numbers from said set of randomly generated lottery numbers coincident with said beginning time of play of said instant lottery game;
a plurality of lottery tickets, each having one of said lottery numbers represented of it in the form of a UPC bar code, and a third means for providing said winning lottery numbers to one or more designated locations where said UPC bar code may be read and compared to said winning numbers.
a first means for generating and retaining a set of lottery numbers;
a second means for generating winning lottery numbers from said set of randomly generated lottery numbers coincident with said beginning time of play of said instant lottery game;
a plurality of lottery tickets, each having one of said lottery numbers represented of it in the form of a UPC bar code, and a third means for providing said winning lottery numbers to one or more designated locations where said UPC bar code may be read and compared to said winning numbers.
8.The instant lottery game system of claim 7 wherein said bar code for said lottery numbers is printed directly on said lottery tickets.
9. The instant lottery game system of claim 7 wherein said bar codes for said lottery numbers are printed on separate lottery labels adopted to be positioned on said lottery tickets.
10.The instant lottery game system of claim 7 wherein said pottery tickets are commercial product lapels.
11.The instant lottery game system of claim 7 wherein said lottery tickets are commercial coupons.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000600398A CA1312379C (en) | 1989-05-23 | 1989-05-23 | High security instant lottery using bar codes |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000600398A CA1312379C (en) | 1989-05-23 | 1989-05-23 | High security instant lottery using bar codes |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1312379C true CA1312379C (en) | 1993-01-05 |
Family
ID=4140086
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000600398A Expired - Fee Related CA1312379C (en) | 1989-05-23 | 1989-05-23 | High security instant lottery using bar codes |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1312379C (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US8219497B2 (en) | 2008-07-11 | 2012-07-10 | Crucs Holdings, Llc | System and method for anonymously servicing lottery players |
-
1989
- 1989-05-23 CA CA000600398A patent/CA1312379C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US8219497B2 (en) | 2008-07-11 | 2012-07-10 | Crucs Holdings, Llc | System and method for anonymously servicing lottery players |
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