GB2171318A

GB2171318A - Improvements relating to game tickets

Info

Publication number: GB2171318A
Application number: GB08602747A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Colin Henderson Linn
Original assignee: Norton & Wright Ltd
Current assignee: Norton & Wright Ltd
Priority date: 1985-02-26
Filing date: 1986-02-04
Publication date: 1986-08-28
Also published as: GB2171318B; GB8602747D0; GB8504947D0

Abstract

A game ticket has a plurality of areas 120 thereon, each area carrying a representation such as a prize indication 140 and being individually numbered with groups of said areas have the same prize indication, and also a group 160 of numbers having counterparts in said areas and covered by removable mask material. If the concealed numbers, when revealed by the user, correspond to a group of areas having the same prize indication, that prize is won. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to game tickets This invention relates to game tickets, and in particular concerns tickets involving user participation.

These tickets may comprise lottery tickets, promotion tickets, bingo tickets or tickets used for promotion, pleasure, or gaming.

There are various forms of lottery tickets wherein the user of the ticket reveals information, and revealing of that information indicates to him whether or not he has won a prize or qualifies to enter a draw, for gain or a suitable reward. These tickets are known as "instant" tickets insofar as the user knows immediately whether or not he has achieved the reward when he has used the ticket.

The ticket is usually of a type whereby when it has been used, it will be irreversibly altered, so that it cannot be used twice without fraud. The irreversibility of the ticket may comprise providing a tear line or lines, defining a part or parts of the ticket which has been torn open to reveal the information, or the ticket may carry removable coating material which must be scraped or abraded away in order to reveal the information. In another arrangement, the concealed information is rendered visible by the application thereto of a medium which renders the concealed information visible, but the rendering thereto of the medium irriversibly changes the original condition of the ticket.

The present invention is concerned with instant tickets, and it comprises a game ticket defining a plurality of areas, the areas carrying representations, related to the rewards which can be won by use of the ticket, and wherein there is concealed information which can be revealed by any suitable technique which will leave an irriversible indication that the ticket has been used, the arrangement being that the concealed information gives indications corresponding to particular areas of the said plurality of areas, the arrangement being that if the said particular areas indicate certain said representations which combine to make a winning combination a prize is won, and wherein of said representations in said plurality of areas the user can see that at least two or more combine to give a winning combination.

By this arrangement, when the user examines the said representations in said areas, he can see a possible winning combination, and he has to hope that the information concealed and which he exposes by affecting an irriversible change to the ticket, will entitle him to combine the said representations to form a winning combination.

The concept of the invention can perhaps be better understood by explaining a specific example.

Thus, the said areas may comprise 18 areas laid out in a matrix of three rows and six columns, and the representations may comprise indications of cash prizes, for example prizes of 50p, 21, V5, Z100 and 1,000. Each prize representation would appear in each of at least three of the said areas, and the information concealed would comprise three numbers in the range 1 to 18, the said areas being respectively numbered 1 to 18.

At a glance, the user would therefore know that the ticket potentially is a winning ticket, of which the prize could be any of the said prizes indicated, 50p to 21,000, provided that the three numbers which he will reveal correspond to three areas in which the same prize is indicated.

User appeal of this ticket is therefore increased, as compared to the more usual ticket which involves six areas covered by removable mask material, and the user has to remove all masks and of the six images revealed his ticket must have three showing the same cash prize value for him to win a cash prize of that value. He is not aware that the ticket is a potential winner, but he must simply remove the covering material before he knows if the ticket is a winning ticket or not.

There is a further advantage of the present invention, in particular the embodiment described above insofar as it is necessary to vary only for example the three concealed numbers, whilst the grid which is used to display the representations of possible winnings can be fixed for every ticket. As between the respective tickets in a set therefore, it is necessary only to vary the smaller number of concealed numbers, and therefore the tickets can be printed in groups by means of a iazer or similar computer controlled printer whereby the computer can be programmed for the changing of the concealed numbers within the range 1 to 18. Of course, it is to be mentioned that a different number of numbers can be concealed, and the grid can be made of a different number of areas.

Preferably, the concealed numbers are covered by means of irriversibly removable covering which can be scraped or abraded to reveal the hidden numbers, and thereby irriversibly to change the ticket to prevent it from being used twice.

The ticket substrate may comprise any suitable material, such as foil coated cardboard, although when lazer printing is used, it may be possible to have a relatively thin paper stock as the substrate of the ticket.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, simply by way of example, in order to illustrate the inventive concept further.

The accompanying single figure of drawings illustrates the embodiment of the invention, and it will be seen that the card 100 defines a matrix comprising eighteen areas 120 respectively numbered 1 to 18 and arranged in three rows of six areas each, and defining six column of three areas each. The respective areas, indicated by numerals 1 to 18 have cash prize indications printed thereon, such indications being represented by numeral 140.

There is an area 16 of the ticket which is concealed by means of removable mask material, such as a latex based covering coat. To use the ticket, the user simply abrades away the covering coat to reveal in the area 160, in this example, three numbers. In the example shown the numbers 1, 5 and 11 are revealed. The user then examines areas 1, 5 and 11 and if these areas indicate the same prize, then the user can claim the cash value prize indi cated. In this case the ticket is a loser.

It will be understood that to vary the tickets within a set of these tickets, to provide a predetermined number of winners and losers, the combinations of numbers concealed in the area 140 in the respective tickets must be changed, and this can be done quite simply by printing these numbers by means of a computer controlled printer, for example a laser printer. The computer may be controlled to print for example 1,000 different combinations for a particular set of tickets, providing one large winner, and a number of smaller winners, and for the next set of tickets the programme can simply be changed to provide a further 1,000 different combinations. The winners can be predetermined and distributed randomly through out the set and the winners distribution can be varied by the computer from set to set.

The tickets in the set have the advantage that the grid and the representations in the areas thereof can be identical. This facilitates production considerably as compared to the production of the currently used tickets of this type in which six areas covering six representations of prizes respectively are covered by abradable coating material, and the user must have a ticket which contains three representations for the same prize in order for a ticket to be a winning ticket. With a ticket according to the embodiment of the present invention, the user can see at a glance that there are several groups of three similar representations, and therefore he will have the feeling that every ticket potentially is a winning ticket.

In one method of utilisation, the tickets of a set are printed, for example in large sheets, with the static material from the ticket i.e. the matrix of areas 120, the instructions and any other name or advertising. This static material maybe printed on a four coloured printing press, and as the winning tickets will be printed at the same time as the losing tickets, and within the large sheet or sheets, there will be no shade of difference in the colour ing between winning and losing tickets which is sometimes the case when the winning tickets are printed separately from the losing tickets as in the conventional method.

The colour printed sheets are then passed to a direct laser printer which applys the numbers in area 160. Direct laser printing involves in fact the burning of material, specifically ink, from the surface of the ticket thereby leave a reverse image being one in which the numeral or other representation is surrounded by the colour rather than being of the applied colour. It is possible to apply two different coloured layers to the ticket in area 160 and burn through only the top layer so that the printing appears in the colour of the lower layer.

This can be done because laser printing is of such accuracy.

From the laser printer, the tickets then pass to a silk screening operation in which the removable coating material is applied to cover the numbers in areas 160.

The tickets are then passed to a finishing station and subsequently to a cutting and packing station whereat the sheets are cut and then collated into packs. The construction of the ticket lends itself to this production cycle, and the invention therefore also provides a method of producing the tickets, and the example of such methods been given above.

Modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, it is not necessary that the prizes should be cash prizes, or that the representations should be identicai. It may be that the representations will be different or somehow or other linked in order to provide a winning combination, but an important aspect of the invention is that the elements of a winning combination should appear in the grid area so that a user can see that potentially the ticket is a winner before he reveals the concealed information.

Claims

1. A game ticket defining a plurality of areas, the areas carrying representations, related to the rewards which can be won by the use of the ticket, and wherein there is concealed information which can be revealed by any suitable technique which will leave an irriversible indication that the ticket has been used, the arrangement being that the concealed information gives indications corresponding to particular areas of the said plurality of areas, the arrangement being that if the said particular areas indicate certain said representations which combine to make a winning combination a prize is own, and wherein of said representations in said plurality of areas the user can see that at least two or more combine to give a winning combination.

2. A game ticket according to Claim 1, wherein the concealed information comprises three different numbers taken from a range of numbers leaving counterparts within said areas.

3. A game ticket substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.

Amendments to the claims have been filed, and have the following effect: (a) Claim 1 above has been textually amended to read as follows: A game ticket defining a plurality of areas, the areas carrying representations, related to the rewards which can be won by use of the ticket, and wherein there is concealed information which can be revealed by any suitable technique which will have an irreversible indication that the ticket has been used, the arrangement being that the concealed information gives indications corresponding to particular areas of the said plurality of areas, the arrangement being that if the said particular areas indicate certain said representations which combine to make a winning combination a prize is won, and wherein of said representations in said plurality of areas the user can see before using the ticket that at least two or more combine to give a winning combination.