CA2148304C - Peel off coupon redemption card and tracking system - Google Patents
Peel off coupon redemption card and tracking system Download PDFInfo
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- CA2148304C CA2148304C CA002148304A CA2148304A CA2148304C CA 2148304 C CA2148304 C CA 2148304C CA 002148304 A CA002148304 A CA 002148304A CA 2148304 A CA2148304 A CA 2148304A CA 2148304 C CA2148304 C CA 2148304C
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Abstract
A coupon redemption card and tracking system includes a credit card size redemption coupon card used by the customer, and a tracking sheet used by the redemption center such as a restaurant.
The redemption card has a plurality of mini coupons, which can be peeled off individually. Each redeemed coupon is affixed to the tracking sheet, which has dimensions of a dollar bill so that it can be placed in the till of a cash register. The tracking system facilitates the accounting and inventory of redeemed coupons. The coupon card is formed as two laminated layers of special paper joined together by a layer of adhesive material, and a layer of clear plastic film on the top face of the card. The base layer is fabricated from a special paper. An adhesive coating is applied to one side of the base layer. The peel off coupon layer is affixed to the adhesive coating. The finished layered sheet is printed on both sides, die-cut on the coupon side, and then laminated with the film on the other side. Each coupon that is removed from the card has adhesive to adhere the coupon to the tracking sheet. The small size of the mini coupons is convenient for the card holder and the redemption center. It eliminates the need to process diverse sizes and shapes of customer coupons. The system can be used wherever one has to keep track of various redeemable coupons.
The redemption card has a plurality of mini coupons, which can be peeled off individually. Each redeemed coupon is affixed to the tracking sheet, which has dimensions of a dollar bill so that it can be placed in the till of a cash register. The tracking system facilitates the accounting and inventory of redeemed coupons. The coupon card is formed as two laminated layers of special paper joined together by a layer of adhesive material, and a layer of clear plastic film on the top face of the card. The base layer is fabricated from a special paper. An adhesive coating is applied to one side of the base layer. The peel off coupon layer is affixed to the adhesive coating. The finished layered sheet is printed on both sides, die-cut on the coupon side, and then laminated with the film on the other side. Each coupon that is removed from the card has adhesive to adhere the coupon to the tracking sheet. The small size of the mini coupons is convenient for the card holder and the redemption center. It eliminates the need to process diverse sizes and shapes of customer coupons. The system can be used wherever one has to keep track of various redeemable coupons.
Description
214~~04 1 ~.'ATENT APPLICATION
2 TITLE OF THE INVENTION: PEEL OFI~' COUPON REDEMPTION CARD
4 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR: Kenneth Thompson 2368 Eastman Avenue, Suite 3 6 Ventura, California 93003 7 United States Citizen 8 SECOND NAMED INVENTOR: none 9 ~ACRGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention 11 The present invention pertains to the following areas of 12 technology:
13 PRINTED MATTER - a label;
14 PRINTED MATTER - having revealable concealed information, fraud preventer or detector, use preventer or detector, or identifier 16 by removable material that is adhesively attached;
17 PRINTED MATTER - Advertising;
18 CHEMISTRY - adhesive coatings on sheets and products.
19 2. Description of the Prior Art:
~~.~~~o~
1 Cents-off coupons and other types of discount coupons are 2 well know to grocery shoppers. Local newspapers print various 3 grocery item coupons, which will be honored by most major 4 supermarket chains. Coupons are also published in magazines, and are frequently mailed to households in mass mailings. The retail 6 establishments that accept and honor these coupon then have to 7 collate the coupons, and forward them to the manufacturer for 8 reimbursement plus handling costs. Coupons come in various 9 shapes, sizes and condition. The cashier accepts the coupons as they are presented to her at the check out line at a supermarket.
11 The accepted coupons then have to be sorted and processed, which 12 is very time consuming to the supermarket. It takes time for the 13 cashier to read each coupon, credit the customer's cash register 14 receipt for the amount stated on each coupon, and also ensure that the customer has purchased the product stated on the coupon.
16 The cashier then places the redeemed coupons in a special drawer 17 for sorting later.
18 Redemption stamps and stamp booklets also are well known in 19 the art. Green Stamps were popular in the 1950's. Participating retail stores would display a decal or sign indicating that they 21 would issue Green Stamps. Whenever a customer purchased goods at 22 the store, the store would issue to the customer a quantity of 23 Green Stamps, which would usually be based upon the purchase 24 price of the goods. The Green Stamps were similar to postage stamps and had a glued backing that only had to be moistened to 1 activate the adhesive ability of the stamps. The customer was 2 supplied with Green Stamp redemption booklets, which contained a 3 fixed number of blank pages for gluing the Green Stamps thereto.
4 The object was to fill up several booklets with Green Stamps. The full booklets then could be redeemed at a Green Stamp redemption center. The redemption center would give the redeemer free goods 7 in exchange for a certain number of booklets filled with Green 8 Stamps. The system was funded by the retail stores, which 9 purchased the Green Stamps from the redemption center. The participating stores believed that issuing Green Stamps increased li their business, because customers would prefer to shop at a store 12 that issued Green Stamps over a store that did not.
13 SUI~ARY AND OPERATION OF TH8 INVENTION
14 A coupon redemption card and tracking system includes a credit card size redemption coupon card used by the customer, and 16 a tracking sheet used by the redemption center such as a 17 restaurant. The redemption card has a plurality of mini coupons, 18 which can be peeled off individually. Each redeemed peel off 19 coupon is affixed to the tracking sheet, which has dimensions of a dollar bill so that the sheet can be placed conveniently in the 21 till of a cash register. The tracking system facilitates the 22 accounting and inventory of redeemed coupons.
According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon;
peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card; transferring the peel-off coupon to a tracking means; crediting the value of the peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading the bar code on the redemption card with a bar code reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a bar code thereon; placing a tracking means at the redemption center; peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peel-off coupon to the tracking means;
crediting the value of the peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading the bar code on the peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption 3a card having a magnetic strip thereon, and having at least one peel-off coupon thereon; peeling off the at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by reading the magnetic strip on the card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a magnetic strip thereon; peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by reading the magnetic strip on the peel-off coupon with a magnetic strip reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code and a magnetic strip thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon; peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by 3b reading the bar code on the redemption card with a bar code reader and by reading the magnetic strip on the redemption card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to yet a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon covered with a removable scratch-off layer thereon; removing the removable scratch-off layer from the peel-off coupon; reading a message on the peel-off coupon; peeling off the peel-off coupon from the redemption card; transferring the peel-off coupon to a tracking means; crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
3c According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and a removable scratch-off layer temporarily covering at least one the removable coupon.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; the overall dimensions of the coupon are 1" by 13/16"; the base layer is fabricated from 6, 8, 10, or 12 tag paper; and a double flap coupon card having overall dimensions of 6-5/8" by 2-3/8".
According to yet a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of presenting an immunization coupon secured to an immunization card and 3d tracking the immunization record of a child, which includes: issuing an immunization card that has a series of peel-off coupons having bar codes thereon and representing required vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years; periodically vaccinating a child according to a schedule set forth on the immunization card; presenting to an immunization tracking center the peel-off coupon corresponding to a particular vaccination administered to the child; placing a tracking means for the child at the immunization tracking center;
transferring the peel-off coupon to the tracking means;
recording the vaccination on the peel-off coupon by reading the bar code on the peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning the immunization card.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated hotel casino card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; the removable coupons redeemable at the hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on the peel-off coupon; and a scratch-off layer over at least one coupon on the casino card.
According to another embodiment of the invention, there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon 3e card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer; covering at least one coupon with a removable scratch-off layer; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each the coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, this is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer;
applying a protective sealant to the front face of the base layer; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each the coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive on the back of 3f the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer; applying at least one magnetic strip to the card; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer;
3g applying at least one bar code to the card; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated hotel casino card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and the removable coupons redeemable at the hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on the peel-off coupon.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided an immunization card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having a series of coupons having bar codes thereon representing vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years; and the coupon face 3h scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
The coupon card is fabricated from two laminated layers of 3i ~~~~~o~
1 paper or paper-like material, a clear plastic protective film, 2 and an adhesive coating. The base layer is fabricated from a 3 special paper. An adhesive layer is applied to one side of the 4 base layer. The layer, which will form the peel off coupon layer, is then affixed to the layer of adhesive material. The finished 6 two layered sheet is held together by adhesive material. The 7 layered sheet is produced as a large single sheet or as roll of 8 the material. The sheet or roll is then sent to the printer. The 9 printer applies printer's ink to both sides of the sheet to form the desired printed matter on both sides of the sheet. After the 11 printer's ink transfer process has been completed, the top side 12 of the sheet has the requested identification or advertising 13 matter printed on it. The bottom side has the requested 14 individual coupons printed on it. The next step is to have the top surface laminated with a clear plastic film for durability, 16 protection, and to provide a pleasing appearance. This clear 17 protective film lamination process can take place immediately 18 after the inking process. It must be done afterwards to protect 19 the previously applied printer's ink. The laminated sheets are then die-cut on the coupon side. When the individual coupon is 21 removed from the card, it has sufficient adhesive so that it will 22 adhere to the tracking sheet. The small size of the mini coupons 23 is convenient for the card holder and it is also convenient for 24 the redemption center. It eliminates the need to process diverse sizes and shapes of customer coupons. The system can be used 26 wherever one has to keep track of various redeemable coupons and i 2148~Q4 1 the like.
2 The present invention is preferably used for fund raising by 3 charitable organizations that have youngsters as members. Such 4 organizations include the little League, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and the Y.M.C.A. Initially various fast food restaurants are 6 contacted in a given geographic area to ask if they would 7 participate in the fund raising drive. The fast food restaurants 8 are asked to redeem the coupons submitted by the customer. The 9 fast food restaurant absorbs the costs. The fast food restaurant benefits by attracting new customers, keeping customer loyalty, 11 and increasing its good will in the community. The coupon cards 12 are fabricated and sold to the charitable organization for a fee.
13 The charitable organization then sells the cards to the public 14 for a higher fee. The difference between the cost and the price sold to the public is the profit made by the organization. The 16 money goes to fund the charitable or non-profit organization.
17 There is no overhead involved, because the cards are sold by the 18 members. The coupon card usually has a legend printed on it to 19 let the customer know which restaurants will honor the coupons.
The coupon system also eliminates employee theft at the 21 restaurant. It prevents a sales clerk from selling an item of 22 food, pocketing the money, and then telling the manager that he 23 or she gave away the item of food. Any food items given away 24 would have to be evidenced by the redeemed coupon affixed to the tracking sheet in the clerk's till. When the coupon is redeemed, 21~8~0~
1 the clerk affixes the coupon to a blank square on the tracking 2 sheet and then writes in the amount that would normally be 3 charged for that food item as if the customer had paid for the 4 item of food. The tracking sheets are also acceptable evidence by the Internal Revenue Service to show a legitimate tax deduction 6 by the restaurant. There are three parties involved in the 7 promotion: the fast food restaurant, the coupon card distributor, 8 and the non-profit organization. This three party arrangement is 9 required by the I.R.S. before the restaurant can take the full deduction as a legitimate business expense. The completed 11 tracking sheets already have the prices written in by the clerks.
12 All of the prices on the tracking sheets are tallied by the 13 accountant. The total amount is allowed by the I.R.S. as a 14 deduction. Other types of promotional arrangements result in only 25 a partial deduction by the I.R.S. of the actual costs incurred by 16 the fast food restaurant. Ia is also useful when the franchisee 17 calculates the royalties due to the franchisor, which are usually 18 based on gross sales.
19 The thickness of the coupon card is .0177 to .019 inches.
Conventional plastic credit cards are .021 to .027 inches in 21 thickness. This is a standard thickness so that the plastic 22 credit cards can be used in a machine that accepts plastic credit 23 cards. All machines are designed to accept only this range of 24 thicknesses for a plastic credit card. The present invention cannot be used in a credit card machine, because it is too thin.
~
214~3~4 1 This prevents misuse of the coupon card by those who might try to 2 use the card at a bank teller machine for example.
$~tIEF DE8C1ZIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
4 FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a pair of folded peel-off redemption coupon cards, which are illustrated in the unfolded 6 position.
7 FIG. 2 is the tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off 8 coupon from the card can be affixed thereto.
9 FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of a credit card size peel-off coupon card.
il FIG. 4 is top plan view of FIG. 3.
12 FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of FIG. 3, the back being 13 identical.
14 FIG. 6 is a left side elevational view of FIG. 3, the right side being identical.
16 FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG.
17 4.
_ 7 ~14~30~
1 FIG. 8 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the 2 coupon card shown in FIG. 1.
3 FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the alternate embodiment of the 4 tracking sheet shown in Fig. 2.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged left side elevational view of the 6 coupon card shown in FIG. 8. clearly showing the layers of 7 material forming the folded pair of coupon redemption cards.
8 FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of FIG. 6 clearly showing the 9 layers of the materials forming the coupon redemption card.
FIG. 12 illustrates the back face of a single redemption card 11 having sixteen mini coupons with various fast food restaurants 12 printed thereon.
13 FIG. 13 illustrates a typical tracking sheet used by a 14 redemption center such as a fast food restaurant.
FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a second alternate tracking 16 sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be 17 affixed thereto.
18 FIG. 15 is a bottom plan view of the second alternate 19 tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the value of each redeemed _ g _ 2i4~304 1 peel-off coupon from the card can be tracked;
2 FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of a variant of the basic peel-3 off coupon system.
4 FIG. 17 is top plan view of Fig. 16 showing a variant of the basic peel-off coupon tracking system having a concealed scratch-6 off coupon and a bar code on another peel off coupon.
7 FIG. 18 is the face of a tracking sheet very similar to Fig.
8 16 where each redeemed peel-off mini coupon from the card can be 9 affixed thereto, and which is shown in FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17, 11 the right side being identical and showing the scratch-off layer.
12 FIG. 20 is a top plan view of a complementary pair of 13 foldable immunization tracking coupon cards having bar codes 14 imprinted on each mini coupon, and is illustrated in the unfolded position.
16 FIG. 21 is an enlarged front elevational view of the pair of 17 immunization cards shown in FIG. 20.
18 FIG. 22 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 showing 19 the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off coupon card - g -2148~4~
1 fabricated from vinyl or P'VC and having a magnetic strip and a 2 bar code to identify the entire card rather than just the mini 3 coupon.
4 FIG. 23 is the reverse side of the card shown in FIG. 22.
FIG. 24 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 and 22 6 showing the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off mini 7 coupon card having free coupons for use in a gambling casino.
8 FIG. 25 is a top plan view similar to FIGS. 1, 8, and 20 9 view of a complementary pair of double flap foldable stamp or mini coupon cards, and is illustrated in the unfolded position.
11 FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the edge of the card 12 illustrated in FIG. 25 13 FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon 14 or stamp with a bar code p7.aced thereon. The mini coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.
16 FIG. 28 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon 17 or stamp with a magnetic strip placed thereon. The coupon can be 18 used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.
19 FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an example of a regular mini ~.~4~3~4 1 coupon or stamp. The coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS.
2 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, Or 25.
1. Field of the Invention 11 The present invention pertains to the following areas of 12 technology:
13 PRINTED MATTER - a label;
14 PRINTED MATTER - having revealable concealed information, fraud preventer or detector, use preventer or detector, or identifier 16 by removable material that is adhesively attached;
17 PRINTED MATTER - Advertising;
18 CHEMISTRY - adhesive coatings on sheets and products.
19 2. Description of the Prior Art:
~~.~~~o~
1 Cents-off coupons and other types of discount coupons are 2 well know to grocery shoppers. Local newspapers print various 3 grocery item coupons, which will be honored by most major 4 supermarket chains. Coupons are also published in magazines, and are frequently mailed to households in mass mailings. The retail 6 establishments that accept and honor these coupon then have to 7 collate the coupons, and forward them to the manufacturer for 8 reimbursement plus handling costs. Coupons come in various 9 shapes, sizes and condition. The cashier accepts the coupons as they are presented to her at the check out line at a supermarket.
11 The accepted coupons then have to be sorted and processed, which 12 is very time consuming to the supermarket. It takes time for the 13 cashier to read each coupon, credit the customer's cash register 14 receipt for the amount stated on each coupon, and also ensure that the customer has purchased the product stated on the coupon.
16 The cashier then places the redeemed coupons in a special drawer 17 for sorting later.
18 Redemption stamps and stamp booklets also are well known in 19 the art. Green Stamps were popular in the 1950's. Participating retail stores would display a decal or sign indicating that they 21 would issue Green Stamps. Whenever a customer purchased goods at 22 the store, the store would issue to the customer a quantity of 23 Green Stamps, which would usually be based upon the purchase 24 price of the goods. The Green Stamps were similar to postage stamps and had a glued backing that only had to be moistened to 1 activate the adhesive ability of the stamps. The customer was 2 supplied with Green Stamp redemption booklets, which contained a 3 fixed number of blank pages for gluing the Green Stamps thereto.
4 The object was to fill up several booklets with Green Stamps. The full booklets then could be redeemed at a Green Stamp redemption center. The redemption center would give the redeemer free goods 7 in exchange for a certain number of booklets filled with Green 8 Stamps. The system was funded by the retail stores, which 9 purchased the Green Stamps from the redemption center. The participating stores believed that issuing Green Stamps increased li their business, because customers would prefer to shop at a store 12 that issued Green Stamps over a store that did not.
13 SUI~ARY AND OPERATION OF TH8 INVENTION
14 A coupon redemption card and tracking system includes a credit card size redemption coupon card used by the customer, and 16 a tracking sheet used by the redemption center such as a 17 restaurant. The redemption card has a plurality of mini coupons, 18 which can be peeled off individually. Each redeemed peel off 19 coupon is affixed to the tracking sheet, which has dimensions of a dollar bill so that the sheet can be placed conveniently in the 21 till of a cash register. The tracking system facilitates the 22 accounting and inventory of redeemed coupons.
According to one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon;
peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card; transferring the peel-off coupon to a tracking means; crediting the value of the peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading the bar code on the redemption card with a bar code reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a bar code thereon; placing a tracking means at the redemption center; peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peel-off coupon to the tracking means;
crediting the value of the peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading the bar code on the peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption 3a card having a magnetic strip thereon, and having at least one peel-off coupon thereon; peeling off the at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by reading the magnetic strip on the card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a magnetic strip thereon; peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by reading the magnetic strip on the peel-off coupon with a magnetic strip reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code and a magnetic strip thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon; peeling off at least one the peel-off coupon from the redemption card;
transferring the peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer by 3b reading the bar code on the redemption card with a bar code reader and by reading the magnetic strip on the redemption card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to yet a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which includes: presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon covered with a removable scratch-off layer thereon; removing the removable scratch-off layer from the peel-off coupon; reading a message on the peel-off coupon; peeling off the peel-off coupon from the redemption card; transferring the peel-off coupon to a tracking means; crediting the value of the coupon to the redeemer; and returning the redemption card to the redeemer.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
3c According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and a removable scratch-off layer temporarily covering at least one the removable coupon.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated coupon redemption card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; the overall dimensions of the coupon are 1" by 13/16"; the base layer is fabricated from 6, 8, 10, or 12 tag paper; and a double flap coupon card having overall dimensions of 6-5/8" by 2-3/8".
According to yet a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of presenting an immunization coupon secured to an immunization card and 3d tracking the immunization record of a child, which includes: issuing an immunization card that has a series of peel-off coupons having bar codes thereon and representing required vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years; periodically vaccinating a child according to a schedule set forth on the immunization card; presenting to an immunization tracking center the peel-off coupon corresponding to a particular vaccination administered to the child; placing a tracking means for the child at the immunization tracking center;
transferring the peel-off coupon to the tracking means;
recording the vaccination on the peel-off coupon by reading the bar code on the peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning the immunization card.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated hotel casino card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; the removable coupons redeemable at the hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on the peel-off coupon; and a scratch-off layer over at least one coupon on the casino card.
According to another embodiment of the invention, there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon 3e card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer; covering at least one coupon with a removable scratch-off layer; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each the coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, this is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer;
applying a protective sealant to the front face of the base layer; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each the coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive on the back of 3f the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer; applying at least one magnetic strip to the card; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided the method of making a peel-off coupon card, which includes: fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face; applying an adhesive layer to the back face of the base layer; applying a coupon layer to the adhesive layer of the base layer; the base layer, the adhesive layer and the coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet; transferring the sheet or roll to a printing means; applying printed matter to the coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons; applying printed matter to the front face of the base layer;
3g applying at least one bar code to the card; die-cutting from the sheet or roll to form score lines on the coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from the adhesive layer while leaving a portion of the adhesive to the back of the coupon; and die-cutting the sheet or the roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
According to still another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a laminated hotel casino card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; a protective clear layer over the front face of the base layer; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and the removable coupons redeemable at the hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on the peel-off coupon.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided an immunization card, which includes: a base layer having a front face and a back face; the front face of the base layer having printed matter thereon; removable release liner applied to the back face of the base layer; a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face; the coupon face of the coupon layer having a series of coupons having bar codes thereon representing vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years; and the coupon face 3h scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
The coupon card is fabricated from two laminated layers of 3i ~~~~~o~
1 paper or paper-like material, a clear plastic protective film, 2 and an adhesive coating. The base layer is fabricated from a 3 special paper. An adhesive layer is applied to one side of the 4 base layer. The layer, which will form the peel off coupon layer, is then affixed to the layer of adhesive material. The finished 6 two layered sheet is held together by adhesive material. The 7 layered sheet is produced as a large single sheet or as roll of 8 the material. The sheet or roll is then sent to the printer. The 9 printer applies printer's ink to both sides of the sheet to form the desired printed matter on both sides of the sheet. After the 11 printer's ink transfer process has been completed, the top side 12 of the sheet has the requested identification or advertising 13 matter printed on it. The bottom side has the requested 14 individual coupons printed on it. The next step is to have the top surface laminated with a clear plastic film for durability, 16 protection, and to provide a pleasing appearance. This clear 17 protective film lamination process can take place immediately 18 after the inking process. It must be done afterwards to protect 19 the previously applied printer's ink. The laminated sheets are then die-cut on the coupon side. When the individual coupon is 21 removed from the card, it has sufficient adhesive so that it will 22 adhere to the tracking sheet. The small size of the mini coupons 23 is convenient for the card holder and it is also convenient for 24 the redemption center. It eliminates the need to process diverse sizes and shapes of customer coupons. The system can be used 26 wherever one has to keep track of various redeemable coupons and i 2148~Q4 1 the like.
2 The present invention is preferably used for fund raising by 3 charitable organizations that have youngsters as members. Such 4 organizations include the little League, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and the Y.M.C.A. Initially various fast food restaurants are 6 contacted in a given geographic area to ask if they would 7 participate in the fund raising drive. The fast food restaurants 8 are asked to redeem the coupons submitted by the customer. The 9 fast food restaurant absorbs the costs. The fast food restaurant benefits by attracting new customers, keeping customer loyalty, 11 and increasing its good will in the community. The coupon cards 12 are fabricated and sold to the charitable organization for a fee.
13 The charitable organization then sells the cards to the public 14 for a higher fee. The difference between the cost and the price sold to the public is the profit made by the organization. The 16 money goes to fund the charitable or non-profit organization.
17 There is no overhead involved, because the cards are sold by the 18 members. The coupon card usually has a legend printed on it to 19 let the customer know which restaurants will honor the coupons.
The coupon system also eliminates employee theft at the 21 restaurant. It prevents a sales clerk from selling an item of 22 food, pocketing the money, and then telling the manager that he 23 or she gave away the item of food. Any food items given away 24 would have to be evidenced by the redeemed coupon affixed to the tracking sheet in the clerk's till. When the coupon is redeemed, 21~8~0~
1 the clerk affixes the coupon to a blank square on the tracking 2 sheet and then writes in the amount that would normally be 3 charged for that food item as if the customer had paid for the 4 item of food. The tracking sheets are also acceptable evidence by the Internal Revenue Service to show a legitimate tax deduction 6 by the restaurant. There are three parties involved in the 7 promotion: the fast food restaurant, the coupon card distributor, 8 and the non-profit organization. This three party arrangement is 9 required by the I.R.S. before the restaurant can take the full deduction as a legitimate business expense. The completed 11 tracking sheets already have the prices written in by the clerks.
12 All of the prices on the tracking sheets are tallied by the 13 accountant. The total amount is allowed by the I.R.S. as a 14 deduction. Other types of promotional arrangements result in only 25 a partial deduction by the I.R.S. of the actual costs incurred by 16 the fast food restaurant. Ia is also useful when the franchisee 17 calculates the royalties due to the franchisor, which are usually 18 based on gross sales.
19 The thickness of the coupon card is .0177 to .019 inches.
Conventional plastic credit cards are .021 to .027 inches in 21 thickness. This is a standard thickness so that the plastic 22 credit cards can be used in a machine that accepts plastic credit 23 cards. All machines are designed to accept only this range of 24 thicknesses for a plastic credit card. The present invention cannot be used in a credit card machine, because it is too thin.
~
214~3~4 1 This prevents misuse of the coupon card by those who might try to 2 use the card at a bank teller machine for example.
$~tIEF DE8C1ZIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
4 FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a pair of folded peel-off redemption coupon cards, which are illustrated in the unfolded 6 position.
7 FIG. 2 is the tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off 8 coupon from the card can be affixed thereto.
9 FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of a credit card size peel-off coupon card.
il FIG. 4 is top plan view of FIG. 3.
12 FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of FIG. 3, the back being 13 identical.
14 FIG. 6 is a left side elevational view of FIG. 3, the right side being identical.
16 FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIG.
17 4.
_ 7 ~14~30~
1 FIG. 8 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the 2 coupon card shown in FIG. 1.
3 FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the alternate embodiment of the 4 tracking sheet shown in Fig. 2.
FIG. 10 is an enlarged left side elevational view of the 6 coupon card shown in FIG. 8. clearly showing the layers of 7 material forming the folded pair of coupon redemption cards.
8 FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of FIG. 6 clearly showing the 9 layers of the materials forming the coupon redemption card.
FIG. 12 illustrates the back face of a single redemption card 11 having sixteen mini coupons with various fast food restaurants 12 printed thereon.
13 FIG. 13 illustrates a typical tracking sheet used by a 14 redemption center such as a fast food restaurant.
FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a second alternate tracking 16 sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be 17 affixed thereto.
18 FIG. 15 is a bottom plan view of the second alternate 19 tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the value of each redeemed _ g _ 2i4~304 1 peel-off coupon from the card can be tracked;
2 FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of a variant of the basic peel-3 off coupon system.
4 FIG. 17 is top plan view of Fig. 16 showing a variant of the basic peel-off coupon tracking system having a concealed scratch-6 off coupon and a bar code on another peel off coupon.
7 FIG. 18 is the face of a tracking sheet very similar to Fig.
8 16 where each redeemed peel-off mini coupon from the card can be 9 affixed thereto, and which is shown in FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17, 11 the right side being identical and showing the scratch-off layer.
12 FIG. 20 is a top plan view of a complementary pair of 13 foldable immunization tracking coupon cards having bar codes 14 imprinted on each mini coupon, and is illustrated in the unfolded position.
16 FIG. 21 is an enlarged front elevational view of the pair of 17 immunization cards shown in FIG. 20.
18 FIG. 22 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 showing 19 the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off coupon card - g -2148~4~
1 fabricated from vinyl or P'VC and having a magnetic strip and a 2 bar code to identify the entire card rather than just the mini 3 coupon.
4 FIG. 23 is the reverse side of the card shown in FIG. 22.
FIG. 24 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 and 22 6 showing the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off mini 7 coupon card having free coupons for use in a gambling casino.
8 FIG. 25 is a top plan view similar to FIGS. 1, 8, and 20 9 view of a complementary pair of double flap foldable stamp or mini coupon cards, and is illustrated in the unfolded position.
11 FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the edge of the card 12 illustrated in FIG. 25 13 FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon 14 or stamp with a bar code p7.aced thereon. The mini coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.
16 FIG. 28 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon 17 or stamp with a magnetic strip placed thereon. The coupon can be 18 used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.
19 FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an example of a regular mini ~.~4~3~4 1 coupon or stamp. The coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS.
2 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, Or 25.
~~483p~
2 Referring now to the drawings, the present invention includes 3 two major components. The first component is referred to as the 4 peel-off coupon redemption card 10. The single card is illustrated in FIGS. 3-7 and 11-12. The second component is 6 referred to as the tracking sheet 100. The tracking sheet is 7 illustrated in FIGS. 2, 9 and 13. The tracking sheet illustrated 8 in FIG. 13 is 6°° x 2 1/2". The single coupon redemption card 9 10 is a credit card size, which can easily fit into the card holder of a user's wallet. The card 10 is thin, flat and has 11 dimensions of 3 3/8" x 2 1/8". The four corners of the card are 12 rounded. The coupon card is thinner than a plastic credit card.
2 Referring now to the drawings, the present invention includes 3 two major components. The first component is referred to as the 4 peel-off coupon redemption card 10. The single card is illustrated in FIGS. 3-7 and 11-12. The second component is 6 referred to as the tracking sheet 100. The tracking sheet is 7 illustrated in FIGS. 2, 9 and 13. The tracking sheet illustrated 8 in FIG. 13 is 6°° x 2 1/2". The single coupon redemption card 9 10 is a credit card size, which can easily fit into the card holder of a user's wallet. The card 10 is thin, flat and has 11 dimensions of 3 3/8" x 2 1/8". The four corners of the card are 12 rounded. The coupon card is thinner than a plastic credit card.
13 The coupon card is .0175 to .019 inches in thickness. Other than 14 the thickness, it is identical in size to a typical plastic credit card such as a bank card or an oil company credit card.
16 The back face 15 of the card 10 contains a plurality of small 17 mini coupons. FIGS. 4 and 12 illustrate the back side of the card 18 with the peel off mini coupons. Preferably the redemption card 19 has sixteen mini peel off coupons 20 secured to it. Each coupon is scored at any adjoining edges 22, 24, 26 and 28 by a die-cut 21 process so that one can peel away a corner of the coupon with 22 one's finger nail and then can easily remove that particular 23 coupon. A "dog ear" marking 30 is illustrated at one corner of 24 each coupon to visually indicate to the user where to begin the '~ ~~~83~4 1 peeling process. The mini coupons do not have the "dog ear" 30 2 portion already exposed. It is foreseeable that a pull tab or 3 string of some type could be integrated with the coupon to.assist 4 in the coupon removal process. The underside of the coupon 20 has an adhesive backing to hold the coupon in place. Each coupon on 6 the coupon card has printed matter printed thereon when the 7 coupon card is fabricated. In the preferred embodiment, the 8 printed matter on each coupon card is for a cash price discount 9 or a buy one-get one free meal at a fast food type of restaurant.
This type of coupon card is illustrated in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 11 illustrates coupons for several different fast food restaurants 12 to allow the card holders flexibility in their selections on 13 where and what kinds of food to eat, because the participating 14 restaurants printed on the coupons will honor the card. The card holders tell the cashier at the restaurant when ordering that 16 they want to redeem one of more of their coupons. The card holder 17 then hands the cashier the coupon card. The cashier peels off the 18 requisite coupon for that particular establishment. The cashier 19 has a second component, the tracking sheet 100, located in her cashier drawer. The tracking sheet is about the size of a dollar 21 bill. This allows the tracking sheet 100 to fit in one of the 22 compartments in the cashier's tray normally used for holding 23 paper currency. After the cashier has peeled off the mini coupon 24 from the discount card, she affixes it to the tracking sheet kept in the cash register tray. The peeled off coupon 20 has 26 sufficient adhesive backing remaining on it so that it will 214~~~~
1 permanently affix itself to the tracking sheet 10. This sequence 2 of transferring the coupon from the card to the sheet is 3 illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. The tracking sheet has room at 4 the top of it for printing with adjacent blank lines to enter information such as date, register number, location, shift number 6 and the like. The tracking sheet also has a grid layout defining 7 a plurality of squares, which are slightly larger than the mini 8 coupons. The squares are sufficiently large to accommodate the 9 coupons to be affixed to the tracking sheet without having to be placed too closely to one another. After the cashier has affixed 11 the coupon to the tracking sheet, the cents off coupon or the 12 free item coupon as the case may be, is deducted from the 13 customer's itemized bill in the usual manner. The cashier then 14 returns the redemption card to the customer. At the end of the shift or at any reasonable interval, the manager can remove the 16 cash drawer tray along with the cash received, and the tracking 17 sheet with the affixed coupons. The tracking sheet with the 18 affixed coupons function as a convenient reference list to.assist 19 in counting the cash and coupons in the cash drawer tray in order to tally and balance out the total transactions for the shift 21 with the amount of money and coupons taken in.
22 The redemption card 10 is fabricated from four flat sheets of 23 superposed layered material. The card 10 has a front face 25 and 24 a back face 15. The front face 25 is used for printing identification, graphics, or advertising on it, which is readily 1 visible on the card. The back face shows the peel off mini 2 coupons 20. The front face 25 of the coupon card comprises the 3 front side of a sheet 30 of paper and is described as a tag 12 4 point release liner. The sheet 30 is described as the base layer.
The back side 35 of the sheet 30 has a layer of adhesive 40 6 applied to it. The adhesive 40 is sold by FASSON label, which it 7 calls SP11G special liner. The adhesive has a rubber-like base 8 material. It is very tacky to allow the coupon to adhere to many 9 types of material. The adhesive will not "bleed" or melt when it becomes warm. This is necessary, because the coupon card will be 11 carried in a man s wallet. The man can sit on his wallet 12 containing the coupon card, and yet the adhesive will remain 13 stable. The next sheet is used for the coupons. This sheet 50 is 14 described as the coupon layer. This sheet is sold by FASSON label manufacturing company. It is described as number #60 blue/white 16 high gloss white cream coat. FASSON sells its sheets under the 17 federally registered trademark CRACK'N PEEL Plus. This material 18 is sold as 11.5" x 15" sheets or approximately 1,000 foot long 19 rolls. The top face of the liner which contains the advertising usually has a plastic film to cover the advertising to provide a 21 more durable and shiny surface to the card. This top film 60 is 22 known as face stock and it is made out of 0069-2Mi1 UCL Polyolam 23 NPL Film. The card normally requires five different operations 24 just to make the card material. There are two material companies and a laminating company to create the material in sheet or roll 26 form. The printer then prints the advertising on the face of the 1 sheet in sections so that the cards can be cut separately and 2 then on the bottom face of the material the appropriate coupons 3 are printed on the card in the appropriate spaces. After the 4 printing has taken place, then the top face of the tag liner is covered with the durable plastic liner or sealed with a liquid 6 protective sealant. The coupons are also die-cut during the 7 printing process. Therefore, the printing process comprises 8 printing the top and the bottom of the card, putting a plastic 9 laminate on one side of the card and die-cutting the other side of the card. The die-cutting process is sufficiently deep so 11 that the coupons can be peeled off.
12 FIG. 11 illustrates the side view of the coupon card. FIG.
13 illustrates the side view of a double coupon card. The 14 thicknesses of the layers are exaggerated clearly illustrate to the layering of the card.
16 The back face 15 of the card 10 contains a plurality of small 17 mini coupons. FIGS. 4 and 12 illustrate the back side of the card 18 with the peel off mini coupons. Preferably the redemption card 19 has sixteen mini peel off coupons 20 secured to it. Each coupon is scored at any adjoining edges 22, 24, 26 and 28 by a die-cut 21 process so that one can peel away a corner of the coupon with 22 one's finger nail and then can easily remove that particular 23 coupon. A "dog ear" marking 30 is illustrated at one corner of 24 each coupon to visually indicate to the user where to begin the '~ ~~~83~4 1 peeling process. The mini coupons do not have the "dog ear" 30 2 portion already exposed. It is foreseeable that a pull tab or 3 string of some type could be integrated with the coupon to.assist 4 in the coupon removal process. The underside of the coupon 20 has an adhesive backing to hold the coupon in place. Each coupon on 6 the coupon card has printed matter printed thereon when the 7 coupon card is fabricated. In the preferred embodiment, the 8 printed matter on each coupon card is for a cash price discount 9 or a buy one-get one free meal at a fast food type of restaurant.
This type of coupon card is illustrated in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 11 illustrates coupons for several different fast food restaurants 12 to allow the card holders flexibility in their selections on 13 where and what kinds of food to eat, because the participating 14 restaurants printed on the coupons will honor the card. The card holders tell the cashier at the restaurant when ordering that 16 they want to redeem one of more of their coupons. The card holder 17 then hands the cashier the coupon card. The cashier peels off the 18 requisite coupon for that particular establishment. The cashier 19 has a second component, the tracking sheet 100, located in her cashier drawer. The tracking sheet is about the size of a dollar 21 bill. This allows the tracking sheet 100 to fit in one of the 22 compartments in the cashier's tray normally used for holding 23 paper currency. After the cashier has peeled off the mini coupon 24 from the discount card, she affixes it to the tracking sheet kept in the cash register tray. The peeled off coupon 20 has 26 sufficient adhesive backing remaining on it so that it will 214~~~~
1 permanently affix itself to the tracking sheet 10. This sequence 2 of transferring the coupon from the card to the sheet is 3 illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. The tracking sheet has room at 4 the top of it for printing with adjacent blank lines to enter information such as date, register number, location, shift number 6 and the like. The tracking sheet also has a grid layout defining 7 a plurality of squares, which are slightly larger than the mini 8 coupons. The squares are sufficiently large to accommodate the 9 coupons to be affixed to the tracking sheet without having to be placed too closely to one another. After the cashier has affixed 11 the coupon to the tracking sheet, the cents off coupon or the 12 free item coupon as the case may be, is deducted from the 13 customer's itemized bill in the usual manner. The cashier then 14 returns the redemption card to the customer. At the end of the shift or at any reasonable interval, the manager can remove the 16 cash drawer tray along with the cash received, and the tracking 17 sheet with the affixed coupons. The tracking sheet with the 18 affixed coupons function as a convenient reference list to.assist 19 in counting the cash and coupons in the cash drawer tray in order to tally and balance out the total transactions for the shift 21 with the amount of money and coupons taken in.
22 The redemption card 10 is fabricated from four flat sheets of 23 superposed layered material. The card 10 has a front face 25 and 24 a back face 15. The front face 25 is used for printing identification, graphics, or advertising on it, which is readily 1 visible on the card. The back face shows the peel off mini 2 coupons 20. The front face 25 of the coupon card comprises the 3 front side of a sheet 30 of paper and is described as a tag 12 4 point release liner. The sheet 30 is described as the base layer.
The back side 35 of the sheet 30 has a layer of adhesive 40 6 applied to it. The adhesive 40 is sold by FASSON label, which it 7 calls SP11G special liner. The adhesive has a rubber-like base 8 material. It is very tacky to allow the coupon to adhere to many 9 types of material. The adhesive will not "bleed" or melt when it becomes warm. This is necessary, because the coupon card will be 11 carried in a man s wallet. The man can sit on his wallet 12 containing the coupon card, and yet the adhesive will remain 13 stable. The next sheet is used for the coupons. This sheet 50 is 14 described as the coupon layer. This sheet is sold by FASSON label manufacturing company. It is described as number #60 blue/white 16 high gloss white cream coat. FASSON sells its sheets under the 17 federally registered trademark CRACK'N PEEL Plus. This material 18 is sold as 11.5" x 15" sheets or approximately 1,000 foot long 19 rolls. The top face of the liner which contains the advertising usually has a plastic film to cover the advertising to provide a 21 more durable and shiny surface to the card. This top film 60 is 22 known as face stock and it is made out of 0069-2Mi1 UCL Polyolam 23 NPL Film. The card normally requires five different operations 24 just to make the card material. There are two material companies and a laminating company to create the material in sheet or roll 26 form. The printer then prints the advertising on the face of the 1 sheet in sections so that the cards can be cut separately and 2 then on the bottom face of the material the appropriate coupons 3 are printed on the card in the appropriate spaces. After the 4 printing has taken place, then the top face of the tag liner is covered with the durable plastic liner or sealed with a liquid 6 protective sealant. The coupons are also die-cut during the 7 printing process. Therefore, the printing process comprises 8 printing the top and the bottom of the card, putting a plastic 9 laminate on one side of the card and die-cutting the other side of the card. The die-cutting process is sufficiently deep so 11 that the coupons can be peeled off.
12 FIG. 11 illustrates the side view of the coupon card. FIG.
13 illustrates the side view of a double coupon card. The 14 thicknesses of the layers are exaggerated clearly illustrate to the layering of the card.
16 FIG. 8 illustrates a double card where the coupons are spaced 17 apart. FIG. 9 illustrates one type of tracking sheet.
18 It is to be understood that the specific materials used to 19 form the card can be substituted for those herein described. The coupon card material is similar to a peel off label sold at 21 office supply stores. The coupon card is an enlarged label and 22 improved to form the coupon card. The coupon sheet and the base 23 sheet could be fabricated from any number of materials. The ~~.~~~0~
1 adhesive film could be any number of films already on the market.
2 The plastic film could also be any number of films already 3 available on the market.
4 FIG. 14 illustrates a top plan view of a second alternate tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card 6 can be affixed thereto. FIG. 15 illustrates the bottom plan view 7 of the second alternate tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the 8 value of each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be 9 tracked.
After the counter clerk removes a peel-off coupon 15 from the 11 coupon card, he or she affixes the coupon onto one of the squares 12 115 on the tracking card 110 shown in FIGS. 14 and 18. FIG. 17 13 and FIG. 18 show the step of transferring the peel-off coupon 15 14 to the tracking sheet. The total amount of the sale is then written in the top of the square 120 adjacent to the $ symbol and 16 immediately above the coupon. At the end of the shift or sooner 17 if the tracking sheet is filled up with redeemed coupons, the 18 clerk then adds up the total dollar value on the front of the 19 sheet for the total sales. FIG. 14 shows a line 125 towards the bottom to insert total sales. The back side of the tracking sheet 21 in FIG. 15 illustrates four rows of boxes. In the first box 130 22 in row one, the clerk enters the total number of peel-off coupons 23 received for the promotion. For example, buy one regular 21~~~0~
1 hamburger and get one free. The clerk then enters the price of 2 the peel-off items in the second box 135 in row one. The amount 3 in box one is multiplied by the amount in box two and the product 4 of the multiplication is entered in box three 140 on the first row. The clerk must then calculate the percentage of the cost of 6 promotion to be entered in box 145. In the left column 150 the 7 percentage of the product cost is entered, then the cost of 8 material is entered and then the total labor to make the item is 9 entered. Theses figures are supplied by management. The total is added and entered in box 155. The same number is entered in box 11 145 in the first row. The number in box 145 is subtracted from 12 the number in box 140 to arrive at the cost of the promotion, 13 which is entered in box 160 in row one. The next three rows of 14 boxes are used if the promotion covers other items such as a free coke or order of fries. The right boxes 160 and below are totaled 16 to arrive at the total cost of the promotion which is entered on 17 line 165.
18 FIG. 16 illustrates a bottom plan view of a variant of the 19 basic peel-off coupon card 200. FIG. 17 is a top plan view of Fig. 16 showing a variant of the basic peel-off coupon tracking 21 system having a concealed scratch-off coupon 200 and a bar code 22 210 on another peel off coupon. The scratch-off cover 205 is a 23 hot foil treatment that is applied to one of more coupons after 24 the coupons are printed. It is intended that the underlying coupon offers a special prize for the cardholder. For example, ~14~~0~
1 the hidden coupon could offer a free hamburger, coke, or fries to 2 the cardholder. Also illustrated in Fig. 17 is a bar code 215 3 indicating a medium pizza. The bar code is machine readable by a 4 wand bar code reader or a stationary bar code scanner. The addition of bar codes on the peel-off coupons allows for greater 6 tracking capability on the part of the redemption card center, 7 which is usually a fast food restaurant. After a tracking sheet 8 such as those illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 18 are filled with 9 redeemed coupons, the filled tracking sheets could be scanned or read by a bar code reader that would send the data to a computer 11 which would tabulate the redeemed coupons to accelerate the 12 tracking process, and would reduce or eliminate human error. It 13 would also reduce the number of man hours needed to manually 14 tabulate the filled tracking sheets. FIG. 18 is the face of a tracking sheet very similar to Fig. 16 where each redeemed peel-16 off mini coupon 15 from the card 200 can be affixed thereto, and 17 which is shown in FIG. 17;
18 FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17 19 showing the scratch-off layer. The scratch-off layer 205 is clearly visible. The thicknesses of the laminated layers forming 21 the card and the foil scratch-off layer are greatly exaggerated 22 to clearly illustrate the various laminated layers.
23 FIG. 20 illustrates a top plan view of a complementary pair 24 of foldable immunization tracking coupon cards 250 and 255 with 1 bar codes 260 imprinted on each mini coupon. FIG. 20 illustrates 2 the pair in the unfolded position. FIG. 21 is an enlarged front 3 elevational view of the pair of immunization cards shown in FIG.
4 20. The present invention can be adapted to be used as an immunization card used in tracking the immunization record for a 6 child. The method of using the present invention in this way can 7 be practiced by issuing an immunization card that has a series 8 coupons 265 having bar codes 260 thereon and which represents the 9 required vaccination shots needed by a child from two months of age up to sixteen years of age. Many local schools will not 11 enroll a child unless the parent can produce evidence that the 12 child has already had certain vaccinations. The present invention 13 can be used to verify this information. Additionally local, 14 state, and federal health officials feel that the immigration of young children and child bearing adults has created a unique 16 problem in trying to keep track of these children to ensure that 17 they are receiving their necessary vaccinations such as their DTP
18 vaccinations. Failure to properly vaccinate these young immigrant 19 children could lead to epidemics of diseases that are easily protectable against by proper vaccinations. The card shown in 21 FIGS. 19 and 20 would be completed for each child. The lines 265 22 could be used to enter information about the child. The child's 23 name and social security number would be entered into some type 24 of data base operated by the government. The child's parents would keep the immunization card, and would present it to the 26 doctor each time the child had its appropriate vaccinations. The ~14$~0~
1 doctor would then remove the peel-off coupon 265 for the 2 particular vaccination administered, and then would place it on a 3 tracking sheet. The doctor would then mail the completed tracking 4 cards to the appropriate department in charge of tracking vaccinations for young children. The department could read the 6 bar codes 260 with a bar code reader and then have the 7 information entered into a computer. The computer could keep 8 track o~ the children who are not receiving their vaccinations, 9 and could send out reminder notices to the parent or the physician that the child needs specific vaccinations.
1 In the drawings, FIG. 22 illustrates the back side of a 2 redemption card 300 and is similar to the views shown in FIGS. 4, 3 12, 17. FIG. 22 illustrates the coupon side of a variant of the 4 basic peel-off coupon card. The card can be fabricated from vinyl 5 of PVC. A magnetic strip 305 and a bar code 310 are positioned on 6 the card 300 to identify the entire card rather than just the 7 peel-off mini coupon 315.
8 FIG. 23 is the front, or reverse side of the card 300 shown 9 in FIG. 22. FIGS. 22 and 23 are life size depictions of the card 10 as illustrated on 8 1/2" by 14°' paper. Printed matter such as 11 advertising or a description of the card would normally be 12 printed on the front side shown in FIG. 23. The magnetic strip 13 305 illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 can be a special strip made by 14 Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing company, commonly known as 3M.
1 adhesive film could be any number of films already on the market.
2 The plastic film could also be any number of films already 3 available on the market.
4 FIG. 14 illustrates a top plan view of a second alternate tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card 6 can be affixed thereto. FIG. 15 illustrates the bottom plan view 7 of the second alternate tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the 8 value of each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be 9 tracked.
After the counter clerk removes a peel-off coupon 15 from the 11 coupon card, he or she affixes the coupon onto one of the squares 12 115 on the tracking card 110 shown in FIGS. 14 and 18. FIG. 17 13 and FIG. 18 show the step of transferring the peel-off coupon 15 14 to the tracking sheet. The total amount of the sale is then written in the top of the square 120 adjacent to the $ symbol and 16 immediately above the coupon. At the end of the shift or sooner 17 if the tracking sheet is filled up with redeemed coupons, the 18 clerk then adds up the total dollar value on the front of the 19 sheet for the total sales. FIG. 14 shows a line 125 towards the bottom to insert total sales. The back side of the tracking sheet 21 in FIG. 15 illustrates four rows of boxes. In the first box 130 22 in row one, the clerk enters the total number of peel-off coupons 23 received for the promotion. For example, buy one regular 21~~~0~
1 hamburger and get one free. The clerk then enters the price of 2 the peel-off items in the second box 135 in row one. The amount 3 in box one is multiplied by the amount in box two and the product 4 of the multiplication is entered in box three 140 on the first row. The clerk must then calculate the percentage of the cost of 6 promotion to be entered in box 145. In the left column 150 the 7 percentage of the product cost is entered, then the cost of 8 material is entered and then the total labor to make the item is 9 entered. Theses figures are supplied by management. The total is added and entered in box 155. The same number is entered in box 11 145 in the first row. The number in box 145 is subtracted from 12 the number in box 140 to arrive at the cost of the promotion, 13 which is entered in box 160 in row one. The next three rows of 14 boxes are used if the promotion covers other items such as a free coke or order of fries. The right boxes 160 and below are totaled 16 to arrive at the total cost of the promotion which is entered on 17 line 165.
18 FIG. 16 illustrates a bottom plan view of a variant of the 19 basic peel-off coupon card 200. FIG. 17 is a top plan view of Fig. 16 showing a variant of the basic peel-off coupon tracking 21 system having a concealed scratch-off coupon 200 and a bar code 22 210 on another peel off coupon. The scratch-off cover 205 is a 23 hot foil treatment that is applied to one of more coupons after 24 the coupons are printed. It is intended that the underlying coupon offers a special prize for the cardholder. For example, ~14~~0~
1 the hidden coupon could offer a free hamburger, coke, or fries to 2 the cardholder. Also illustrated in Fig. 17 is a bar code 215 3 indicating a medium pizza. The bar code is machine readable by a 4 wand bar code reader or a stationary bar code scanner. The addition of bar codes on the peel-off coupons allows for greater 6 tracking capability on the part of the redemption card center, 7 which is usually a fast food restaurant. After a tracking sheet 8 such as those illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 18 are filled with 9 redeemed coupons, the filled tracking sheets could be scanned or read by a bar code reader that would send the data to a computer 11 which would tabulate the redeemed coupons to accelerate the 12 tracking process, and would reduce or eliminate human error. It 13 would also reduce the number of man hours needed to manually 14 tabulate the filled tracking sheets. FIG. 18 is the face of a tracking sheet very similar to Fig. 16 where each redeemed peel-16 off mini coupon 15 from the card 200 can be affixed thereto, and 17 which is shown in FIG. 17;
18 FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17 19 showing the scratch-off layer. The scratch-off layer 205 is clearly visible. The thicknesses of the laminated layers forming 21 the card and the foil scratch-off layer are greatly exaggerated 22 to clearly illustrate the various laminated layers.
23 FIG. 20 illustrates a top plan view of a complementary pair 24 of foldable immunization tracking coupon cards 250 and 255 with 1 bar codes 260 imprinted on each mini coupon. FIG. 20 illustrates 2 the pair in the unfolded position. FIG. 21 is an enlarged front 3 elevational view of the pair of immunization cards shown in FIG.
4 20. The present invention can be adapted to be used as an immunization card used in tracking the immunization record for a 6 child. The method of using the present invention in this way can 7 be practiced by issuing an immunization card that has a series 8 coupons 265 having bar codes 260 thereon and which represents the 9 required vaccination shots needed by a child from two months of age up to sixteen years of age. Many local schools will not 11 enroll a child unless the parent can produce evidence that the 12 child has already had certain vaccinations. The present invention 13 can be used to verify this information. Additionally local, 14 state, and federal health officials feel that the immigration of young children and child bearing adults has created a unique 16 problem in trying to keep track of these children to ensure that 17 they are receiving their necessary vaccinations such as their DTP
18 vaccinations. Failure to properly vaccinate these young immigrant 19 children could lead to epidemics of diseases that are easily protectable against by proper vaccinations. The card shown in 21 FIGS. 19 and 20 would be completed for each child. The lines 265 22 could be used to enter information about the child. The child's 23 name and social security number would be entered into some type 24 of data base operated by the government. The child's parents would keep the immunization card, and would present it to the 26 doctor each time the child had its appropriate vaccinations. The ~14$~0~
1 doctor would then remove the peel-off coupon 265 for the 2 particular vaccination administered, and then would place it on a 3 tracking sheet. The doctor would then mail the completed tracking 4 cards to the appropriate department in charge of tracking vaccinations for young children. The department could read the 6 bar codes 260 with a bar code reader and then have the 7 information entered into a computer. The computer could keep 8 track o~ the children who are not receiving their vaccinations, 9 and could send out reminder notices to the parent or the physician that the child needs specific vaccinations.
1 In the drawings, FIG. 22 illustrates the back side of a 2 redemption card 300 and is similar to the views shown in FIGS. 4, 3 12, 17. FIG. 22 illustrates the coupon side of a variant of the 4 basic peel-off coupon card. The card can be fabricated from vinyl 5 of PVC. A magnetic strip 305 and a bar code 310 are positioned on 6 the card 300 to identify the entire card rather than just the 7 peel-off mini coupon 315.
8 FIG. 23 is the front, or reverse side of the card 300 shown 9 in FIG. 22. FIGS. 22 and 23 are life size depictions of the card 10 as illustrated on 8 1/2" by 14°' paper. Printed matter such as 11 advertising or a description of the card would normally be 12 printed on the front side shown in FIG. 23. The magnetic strip 13 305 illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 can be a special strip made by 14 Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing company, commonly known as 3M.
214~~04 15 3M refers to it as magnetic strip stock number 315 84 98011 4811.
16 It can be directly applied to paper and can function as a 17 magnetic strip. Everyone is familiar with a bank or gasoline type 18 of credit charge card. The typical bank or gas credit charge card 19 generally has the appearance as that illustrated in FIG. 22. The 20 magnetic strip 310 is positioned lengthwise along one or both 21 sides of the card 300. The magnetic strip 310 is blank when the 22 card is fabricated. An encoding machine is available which can 23 electronically encode any message on the magnetic strip.
16 It can be directly applied to paper and can function as a 17 magnetic strip. Everyone is familiar with a bank or gasoline type 18 of credit charge card. The typical bank or gas credit charge card 19 generally has the appearance as that illustrated in FIG. 22. The 20 magnetic strip 310 is positioned lengthwise along one or both 21 sides of the card 300. The magnetic strip 310 is blank when the 22 card is fabricated. An encoding machine is available which can 23 electronically encode any message on the magnetic strip.
24 As regards the present invention, an encoding device could 25 be used to activate the card 300 shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 so that 26 the card could be used in any number of applications. A quantity 27 of cards could be fabricated and sold to the ultimate redeemer of 28 the cards who wishes to function as a redemption center. The 29 encoding machine could be made available to this entity so that 30 the blank magnetic strips 305 on the cards could be encoded 31 according to the wishes of the purchaser of the cards. The front 32 side of the card illustrated in FIG. 23 could be made from vinyl 33 or PVC. The approximate thickness of the card could be .007 to 34 .020 inches. The transfer tape 305 has high coercivity. The bar 35 code 310 may be placed on the front or the back of the card 300.
36 The card illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 is the preferred 37 configuration. It is to be understood, however, that the card may 38 be any size or shape.
~~~s~o~
~~~s~o~
39 Additional variations of the special coupons and coupon cards 40 are illustrated in FIGS. 25 through 29. The individual peel-off 41 coupon card 400 can have dimensions of 1" by 13/16°'. The overall 42 length of the double flap stamp card or coupon card 420 can be 43 6 5/8" by 2 3/8". The release liner 405, labelled '°A°' in FIG. 26, 44 is referred to as a release liner. It can have thicknesses of 45 ~ 6,8,10, or 12 tag. Tag is a term in the label making industry 46 indicating thickness. The front side of A is for printing and 47 coating. The back side of A is a release for liner for face 48 stock. The top layer "C" 410 is a facestock with an adhesive on 49 one side. The coupon 400 illustrated in FIG. 28 has a 3M special 50 paper magnetic strip 315 84 98011 4811 401 and can be applied to 51 paper. The magnetic strip 401 illustrated in FIG. 28 can be 1/4"
52 in width and placed along the bottom edge of the peel-off coupon 53 400. This still leaves sufficient room for placing printed 54 matter above the magnetic strip. The strip of bar code 402 in 55 FIG. 28 is 1/4" wide. A regular peel-off coupon 400 is 56 illustrated in FIG. 29. It is 13/16" wide and 1" long. A regular 57 coupon and the coupons illustrated in FIGS. 25,26,27, and 28 can 58 also have these same dimensions.
59 While the present invention has been shown and described 60 herein in what is conceived to be the best mode contemplated, it 61 is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the 62 scope of the invention which is therefore not to be limited to 63 the details disclosed herein, but is to be afforded the full 64 scope of the invention.
Claims (40)
1. A method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which comprises:
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peel-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading said bar code on said redemption card with a bar code reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peel-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading said bar code on said redemption card with a bar code reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
2. A method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which comprises:
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a bar code thereon;
placing a tracking means at said redemption center;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peel-off coupon to said tracking means;
crediting the value of said peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading said bar code on said peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a bar code thereon;
placing a tracking means at said redemption center;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peel-off coupon to said tracking means;
crediting the value of said peel-off coupon to the redeemer by reading said bar code on said peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
3. A method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which comprises:
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a magnetic strip thereon, and having at least one peel-off coupon thereon;
peeling off said at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer by reading said magnetic strip on said card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a magnetic strip thereon, and having at least one peel-off coupon thereon;
peeling off said at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer by reading said magnetic strip on said card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
4. A method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which comprises:
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a magnetic strip thereon;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer by reading said magnetic strip on said peel-off coupon with a magnetic strip reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon having a magnetic strip thereon;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer by reading said magnetic strip on said peel-off coupon with a magnetic strip reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
5. A method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which comprises:
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code and a magnetic strip thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer by reading said bar code on said redemption card with a bar code reader and by reading said magnetic strip on said redemption card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card having a bar code and a magnetic strip thereon and containing at least one peel-off coupon;
peeling off at least one said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peeled-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer by reading said bar code on said redemption card with a bar code reader and by reading said magnetic strip on said redemption card with a magnetic strip reader; and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
6. A method of redeeming a coupon secured to a redemption card and tracking the redeemed coupon, the coupon having a redemption value creditable to a redeemer, which comprises:
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon covered with a removable scratch-off layer thereon;
removing said removable scratch-off layer from said peel-off coupon;
reading a message on said peel-off coupon;
peeling off said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peel-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer;
and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
presenting to a redemption center a redemption card containing at least one peel-off coupon covered with a removable scratch-off layer thereon;
removing said removable scratch-off layer from said peel-off coupon;
reading a message on said peel-off coupon;
peeling off said peel-off coupon from said redemption card;
transferring said peel-off coupon to a tracking means;
crediting the value of said coupon to the redeemer;
and returning said redemption card to the redeemer.
7. A laminated coupon redemption card, which comprises:
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
8. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 further comprising a bar code on said card.
9. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 further comprising a bar code on at least one said removable coupon.
10. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 further comprising a magnetic strip on said card.
11. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 further comprising a magnetic strip on at least one said removable coupon.
12. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 further comprising:
a magnetic strip on said card; and a bar code on said card.
a magnetic strip on said card; and a bar code on said card.
13. A laminated coupon redemption card, which comprises:
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and a removable scratch-off layer temporarily covering at least one said removable coupon.
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and a removable scratch-off layer temporarily covering at least one said removable coupon.
14. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 wherein said coupon card has the overall dimensions of a credit card.
15. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 wherein:
said overall dimensions of said coupon are 1" by 13/16"; and said base layer is fabricated from 6,8,10, or 12 tag paper.
said overall dimensions of said coupon are 1" by 13/16"; and said base layer is fabricated from 6,8,10, or 12 tag paper.
16. A laminated coupon redemption card, which comprises:
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons;
said overall dimensions of said coupon are 1" by 13/16";
said base layer is fabricated from 6,8,10, or 12 tag paper; and a double flap coupon card having overall dimensions of 6-5/8" by 2-3/8".
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed on it and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons;
said overall dimensions of said coupon are 1" by 13/16";
said base layer is fabricated from 6,8,10, or 12 tag paper; and a double flap coupon card having overall dimensions of 6-5/8" by 2-3/8".
17. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 further comprising:
tracking sheet means comprising a flat rectangular sheet having overall dimensions sufficiently small to fit into a compartment or a typical tray in a cash register;
said tracking sheet having a plurality of rectangles, each being slightly larger than each said removable coupon of said coupon card for affixing said removable coupons from said coupon card and keeping a record of said affixed removable coupons on said tracking sheet.
tracking sheet means comprising a flat rectangular sheet having overall dimensions sufficiently small to fit into a compartment or a typical tray in a cash register;
said tracking sheet having a plurality of rectangles, each being slightly larger than each said removable coupon of said coupon card for affixing said removable coupons from said coupon card and keeping a record of said affixed removable coupons on said tracking sheet.
18. The coupon card as recited in claim 17 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
19. A method of presenting an immunization coupon secured to an immunization card and tracking the immunization record of a child, which comprises:
issuing an immunization card that has a series of peel-off coupons having bar codes thereon and representing required vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years;
periodically vaccinating a child according to a schedule set forth on said immunization card;
presenting to an immunization tracking center the peel-off coupon corresponding to a particular vaccination administered to the child;
placing a tracking means for the child at said immunization tracking center;
transferring said peel-off coupon to said tracking means;
recording the vaccination on said peel-off coupon by reading said bar code on said peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning said immunization card.
issuing an immunization card that has a series of peel-off coupons having bar codes thereon and representing required vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years;
periodically vaccinating a child according to a schedule set forth on said immunization card;
presenting to an immunization tracking center the peel-off coupon corresponding to a particular vaccination administered to the child;
placing a tracking means for the child at said immunization tracking center;
transferring said peel-off coupon to said tracking means;
recording the vaccination on said peel-off coupon by reading said bar code on said peel-off coupon with a bar code reader; and returning said immunization card.
20. A laminated hotel casino card, which comprises:
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons;
said removable coupons redeemable at said hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on said peel-off coupon; and a scratch-off layer over at least one coupon on said casino card.
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons;
said removable coupons redeemable at said hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on said peel-off coupon; and a scratch-off layer over at least one coupon on said casino card.
21. The method of making a peel-off coupon card, which comprises:
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
covering at least one coupon with a removable scratch-off layer;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each said coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive to the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
covering at least one coupon with a removable scratch-off layer;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each said coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive to the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
22. The method of making a peel-off coupon card, which comprises:
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
applying a protective sealant to said front face of said base layer;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each said coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive on the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon card separate from the sheet or roll.
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
applying a protective sealant to said front face of said base layer;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each said coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive on the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon card separate from the sheet or roll.
23. The method of making a peel-off coupon card as recited in claim 21 including applying at least one bar code to said card.
24. The method of making a peel-off coupon card as recited in claim 21 including applying at least one magnetic strip to said card.
25. The method of making a peel-off coupon card as recited in claim 21 including applying at least one magnetic strip and at least one bar code to said card.
26. The method of making a peel-off coupon card, which comprises:
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
applying at least one magnetic strip to said card;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive to the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
applying at least one magnetic strip to said card;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive to the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
27. The method of making a peel-off coupon card as recited in claim 26 including applying at least one bar code to said card.
28. The method of making a peel-off coupon card, which comprises:
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
applying at least one bar code to said card;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive to the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
fabricating a base layer having a front face and a back face;
applying an adhesive layer to said back face of said base layer;
applying a coupon layer to said adhesive layer of said base layer;
said base layer, said adhesive layer and said coupon layer being formed as a roll or a sheet;
transferring said sheet or roll to a printing means;
applying printed matter to said coupon layer to form a matrix of coupons;
applying printed matter to said front face of said base layer;
applying at least one bar code to said card;
die-cutting from said sheet or roll to form score lines on said coupon layer to allow each coupon to be individually peeled away from said adhesive layer while leaving a portion of said adhesive to the back of said coupon; and die-cutting said sheet or said roll to form each coupon redemption card separate from the sheet or roll.
29. The coupon card as recited in claim 7 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
30. The coupon card as recited in claim 8 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
31. The coupon card as recited in claim 9 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
32. The coupon card as recited in claim 10 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
33. The coupon card as recited in claim 11 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
34. The coupon card as recited in claim 12 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
35. The coupon card as recited in claim 13 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
36. The coupon card as recited in claim 14 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
37. A laminated hotel casino card, which comprises:
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and said removable coupons redeemable at said hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on said peel-off coupon.
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
a protective clear layer over said front face of said base layer;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having coupons printed thereon and scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons; and said removable coupons redeemable at said hotel for a variety of gratuities according to what is printed on said peel-off coupon.
38. The casino card as recited in claim 37 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
39. The casino card as recited in claim 20 wherein said base is fabricated from a plastic material, such as PVC or vinyl.
40. An immunization card, which comprises:
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having a series of coupons having bar codes thereon representing vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years; and said coupon face scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
a base layer having a front face and a back face;
said front face of said base layer having printed matter thereon;
removable release liner applied to said back face of said base layer;
a coupon layer having a coupon face and a release liner face;
said coupon face of said coupon layer having a series of coupons having bar codes thereon representing vaccination shots needed by a child from birth to teenage years; and said coupon face scored at regular intervals to form a matrix of small adhesive backed removable coupons.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US08/237,503 US5501491A (en) | 1991-02-15 | 1994-05-02 | Peel off coupon redemption card and tracking system |
| US08/237,503 | 1994-05-02 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2148304C true CA2148304C (en) | 2000-10-24 |
Family
ID=22893998
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA002148304A Expired - Lifetime CA2148304C (en) | 1994-05-02 | 1995-05-01 | Peel off coupon redemption card and tracking system |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPH08124030A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2148304C (en) |
Families Citing this family (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP2005007767A (en) * | 2003-06-19 | 2005-01-13 | Dainippon Printing Co Ltd | Personal monetary coup0n sheet |
| KR101378468B1 (en) * | 2011-10-24 | 2014-04-09 | 문준석 | Coupon |
-
1995
- 1995-05-01 CA CA002148304A patent/CA2148304C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1995-05-01 JP JP7128789A patent/JPH08124030A/en not_active Withdrawn
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPH08124030A (en) | 1996-05-17 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEER | Examination request | ||
| MKEX | Expiry |
Effective date: 20150501 |