A paper web for issuing bills in check form
DESCRIFEEON
This invention has for its subject a paper web for issuing bills in check form, which comprises two opposed surfaces, namely a front side and a back side.
Checks imprinted by a cash register are widely utilized at nearly all the sale outlets to the public.
A primary function of such checks is to provide the consumer with a breakdown of purchased items, which are printed along with their respective amounts en the front side of the check, and in sane countries, constitute a fiscal record appropriate to provide evidence that the goods have been regularly purchased.
Since the ultimate receiver of the check is invariably the public, it has occurred that the back side of the check could be utilized for advertising purposes. In this case, the back side of the paper web has been imprinted with sets of playbills conveying advertising messages or ccπmercials. Another, indirect advertising message is usually printed on the front side of the check, where in addition to the purchased items, the name of the store that issued the check is also entered.
However, it has been found that the attention paid by the public to such messages is relatively lew.
Accordingly, the retailer's aim at heartening the consumer to re-visit his shop, as well as the advei±ising and publicising effects of the messages entered in the playbills, are in part defeated.
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Belgian Patent BE-A-569587 suggests the use of receipts or bills for publicising purposes by having characters cr symbols of one color printed in inks having different compositions such that, by suitably processing such receipts, color toning of one of the inks can be produced.
Through that expedient, the receipts can be utilised as cards for game playing, e.g. to enter the drawing of a prize selected on the basis of the kind of character or symbol the color of which has been toned by the process.
However, this application cannot be transferred directly to bills or checks, because the length of the latter is bound to change according to the number of the purchase items entered in print on their front side.
In addition, the problems exists that equal winning chances are afforded for those who, by purchasing a large number of low-cost items, will receive a check containing many purchase entries and being, therefore, quite long, as well as for those who, having purchased few high-cost items, will receive a relatively short check.
A further check αr receipt is described in US Patent No. 4671512 granted on June 9, 1987. In this instance, the check, which is designed to promote the use of automatically operated bank windows, has symbols covered with an opaque lacquer. This technology has proved unsuitable for application to fiscal checks.
The problem underlying this invention is to provide a paper web for issuing bills in check form, which is so designed as to readily attract the consumer's attention and accordingly enhance the advertising or publicising effectiveness of the check.
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This problem is solved by a paper web as indicated being characterized in that on at least one of said surfaces a plurality of messages are printed at modular spacings frcm one another, said messages being printed in sympathetic ink, whereby they are normally invisible and only beccne visible en processing said surface with a reactant effective to develop said ink.
The features and advantages of the invention may be better appreciated from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, to be taken by way of illustration and not of limitation in conjunction with the acoαπpanying drawings, where:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a roll of a web for check issuing, in accordance with this invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view of the back side surface of a check as cut off the roll of Figure 1 ; and
Figure 3 shows three checks in plan view after their back side surfaces have been treated with a reactant.
In Figure 1 , the reference numeral 1 generally designates a paper web as wound into a roll and intended for use with cash registers for issuing overprinted checks 2.
Two opposed surfaces are defined on the web 1 which form a front side 3 and a back side 4, respectively. On the front side 3 surface, there are applied in print the purchase entries of a standard check, along with the name of the issuing shop or store and the date of issuance.
Printed on the back side 4 surface of the web 1 are plural messages respectively indicated at 5a, 5b, and 5c on the three
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checks 2 shown in Figure 3.
All the messages 5 are printed in sympathetic ink, that is an ink having the well-kncwn property that it remains invisible before it is treated with a suitable reactant. Since the sympathetic inks/reactants ccmbinaticais are well known to the skilled person in the art, a detailed description of than will be omitted herein. Preference is given, however, to an ink of the 14179008 Type produced by SICPA, a corporation of Milan, Italy, which can be developed using an alkaline based or sodium hypochlorite based liquid reactant. In this case, the reactant may be provided within a standard felt pen and spread over the back side 4 surface of the check 2 thereby.
Between adjoining messages 5, there are printed in a visible way bordering lines αr markings, collectively indicated at 6, so that the purchasing consumer can spot the exact location of the messages 5, albeit invisible, en the check surface.
The distance D between any two bordering lines 6 is equal to the spacing between contiguous messages 5 and a sufctπultiple of the minimum check length, that is of the length of a check as printed by a cash register for a purchase of a single item. Preferably, the distance D is equal to one half the minimum check length.
This provides for the presence, on the back side 4 surface of each check 2, of at least two bordering lines, thereby any check will contain at least cue complete message 5.
This is an innportant feature where the check 2 is utilized as a stake substrate and the messages 5 contain elements which permit of such staking. This is the embodiment shown in Figure 3.
It is, in fact, desired in this case that each check should
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contain at least one complete message 5 readily recognizable as such. In the aforesaid example, the stake consists of getting on two different checks exact coincidence of their respective messages 5, as represented in that case by a cross band whose location may vary relatively to the bordering lines 6, with the corresponding bordering lines 6 brought to coincide.
However, since the number of messages on a given check is depends solely on the check length, which is in turn proportionately tied to the number of the entries appearing in print on the front side and not to the actual total amount of the purchase made, it would be unfair to allow higher chances of winning for a consumer who has made several buys of low value than a consumer who, for the same total amount, has bought a lesser number of single items; accordingly, the stake organizers may require that only one message 5 be developed per check, and in that case, it is irrportant that the consumer can recognize the locations of the various messages even though unable to read their contents.
In the instance shown in Figure 3, the combination of checks 2 containing the messages 5a and 5c is a winning one, whereas the check containing the message 5b would be a losing one if where combined with the remaining two checks.
A major advantage of this invention is that, additionally to stimulating consumers to revisit the same shop or store and/or drawing attention to the back side of the checks, it enables stakes and promotional activities to be set up without interfering with the normal cash operations in any way. That is, contrary to other promotional activities providing, for instance, for the distribution of gifts from the desk.
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which results in expenditure of personnel time and objectionable queing, in this case a valuable prαnotional effect is achieved without involving the desk operators, who are therefore allowed to get through more work for a given time.
Furthermore, the information which appears on the front side of the check, such as possible fiscal data, purchased item entries, and date of issuance, can be effective to validate possible wins, thus preventing shop or store personnel frcm deceitfully taking away prize items reserved for the buyer.
A further use is, for this check, that of a carrier for so-called promotional tickets, also known as "discount coupons".
In this case, on the reverse side of the check, discount coupons would be printed in sympathetic ink (possibly to indicate different amounts), thereby a plurality of coupons can be provided on the check which are invisible to the buyer. By requiring that just one coupon per check be developed with the reactant to make it visible, under penalty of the coupon being voided, it becomes possible in the first place to obtain a precise confirmation of the coupon (item) being processed for discount, and secondly, to make sure that the issuing of the discount coupons is directed to the most appropriate users (person from the family group in charge of purchasing the items) for the utmost advertising effectiveness.
In addition, such a distribution of discount coupons can be carried out at substantially no cost.
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