WO2003103983A1

WO2003103983A1 - Electronic scratch-card

Info

Publication number: WO2003103983A1
Application number: PCT/IL2002/000449
Authority: WO
Inventors: Amiram Carmon
Original assignee: Ink Jet Technology Ltd.
Priority date: 2002-06-11
Filing date: 2002-06-11
Publication date: 2003-12-18
Also published as: AU2002311589A1

Abstract

A card (10) bearing information concealed by an opaque layer (14) of irreversible thermochromic material, thus allowing the information to be irreversibly exposed by subjecting the thermochromic material to a temperature change so as to render the thermochromic material see-through. The card may be a lottery ticket or a game card having symbols (13) printed on different areas (12) of the card and covered by a unitary layer or separate layers of opaque irreversible thermochromic material. The material overlying selected layers may be subjected to a heat change so as irreversibly to expose the information concealed thereby. Such a card is thus amenable to progressive games of chance, where the prize value of a winning combination may increase as progressively more areas of the card are exposed.

Description

Electronic scratch-card

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to scratch cards such as used in lottery games and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Scratch cards for gaming (also known as "instant cards") are common and well-known means used extensively by many government based lottery organizations as well as by private gaming enterprises. The purpose of the scratch card is to provide a gaming opportunity whereby a player purchases a game card without knowing what winning related information it contains, and then removes an upper protective layer so as to expose the hidden information. Once the upper protective layer is removed and the hidden information thus exposed, the player can instantly see if he won and what is the win. Conventionally, a gaming scratch card is a piece of paper (or plastic) on which winning information is first printed, and which is then covered by an opaque layer of easily scratchable material (typically latex), which in turn can be decoratively printed over.

Because such conventional scratch cards are not connectable to any device that can monitor the results, they are used only in a single stage. The card is scratched in totality and the completely exposed print depicts the results. In gaming terms, this can be defined as an "all or none" one time betting. The card is purchased for a fixed sum and the prize per card is a priori fixed as well. Wliile different cards can have different prizes or no prize at all, in all cases the prize or the absence thereof is predetermined. This is distinct from card games, in which betting can be a multi-stage process, where the player receives, after betting a first amount, some partial information which allows him to decide whether to increase his bet or stick to the original bet only. For example, in Blackjack, a player is allowed to double his first bet if he gets a pair of identical cards, or if the total sum of his cards is 10 or 9. Upon this secondary betting he gets another card or cards. Similarly, in a game like Poker, after receiving a first set of cards on a first bet, the player is allowed to change some of the cards and can then make a secondary bet or decline playing. Thus the way wagering is conducted in the card games mentioned is "progressive" in the sense that successive wagering is influenced by the results of a preceding stage. Betting based on a priori knowledge is common also to other games, such as football Toto, or horse races where the player has some information that leads him to determine the size and type of the wager, but in such cases only one time betting can be done.

As noted above, conventional gaming scratch cards do not lend themselves to such applications, because their associated winnings must be fixed in advance. This in turn derives at least partially from the fact that the hidden information printed on the card is adapted to be exposed by the purchaser, commonly at his or her own premises. This militates against the hidden information being exposed in a controlled manner that is not amenable to fraud on the part of the purchaser, as would be achieved if the hidden information in the card were exposed not by the purchaser but by an authorized body. It would therefore be desirable to provide a gaming card in which the hidden information can be exposed in a controlled manner. This requirement is addressed in the art, for example, by JP 2081168 entitled "Lottery ticket discriminating" published March 22, 1990 and assigned to Hitachi. An operator feeds the lottery tickets into a mechanized reader, which reads the lottery numbers on the tickets and conveys the read data immediately to a control unit. The control unit compares the received data with the winning numbers stored in a memory and, if they match, the winning amount of the winning ticket is retrieved and displayed.

US Patent No. 5,735,432 (Stoken et al.) published April 7, 1998 and entitled "System for and method of dispensing lottery tickets" discloses a lottery ticket dispensing system for pull-tab lottery tickets of a type that include a plurality of normally closed windows that can be opened to expose play symbols thereunder with some of the play symbols being winning symbols. A normally closed bar code window has hidden bar code markings that include ticket information for indicating each of the play symbols as aligned with its respective window. A lottery ticket dispenser includes a ticket storage area and means for advancing the ticket from the storage area toward the front panel of the dispenser. As the ticket is dispensed, the bar code window is opened and the bar code exposed thereunder is aligned with a bar code reading device that is operably connected to electronic control circuitry of the dispenser that receives and stores the ticket information included in the bar code markings of the dispensed ticket. The front panel of the dispenser includes a plurality of display areas and associated switches that correspond to the windows of the ticket. Selective activation of each switch causes the electronic control circuitry to generate a display symbol in the corresponding display area, which indicates the play symbol that is under the selected window of the ticket. The ticket information also includes winning information and the electronic control circuitry receives and stores the winning information in order to generate a winning indication in a separate winning display area on the front panel when any of the play symbols are winning symbols.

US Patent No. 5,735,432 thus addresses the need to read a game card electronically at the same time that it is dispensed. Additionally, the purchaser can open the windows manually after the data hidden thereby has been exposed electronically via the bar codes. US Patent No. 5,083,815 (Scrymgeour et al) published January 28, 1992 and entitled "Heat actuated game" discloses a lottery type game having a plurality of indicia that can be exposed to reveal a winning or losing line. A central indicium is covered by scratchable ink and two other indicia are covered by an ink which is normally opaque at room temperature but which becomes transparent on heating. The game can be used for the packaging of heatable food products or for other promotions relating to heating equipment. In use, the indicia are printed on the outer packaging of a food product that requires heating. The purchaser scratches the ink covering the central indicium prior to heating the food product, whereupon heating the product in the oven renders the opaque ink covering the other indicia transparent, thus indicating whether the three exposed indicia denote a winning combination. As explained, the ink used to cover the outer indicia must remain transparent, once heated, for a sufficient amount of time to allow the exposed indicia to be read at leisure and to allow time for the heated package to be taken to an authorized person for validating a winning combination.

Although US Patent No. 5,083,815 represents the invention described thereby as a "simple lottery game", there are significant differences between that game and the game cards subject of the present invention, even apart from the medium on which the winning symbols are printed. Thus, lottery game cards, as normally provided, require two independent luck factors. First, of course, a purchased ticket must have printed thereon a winning combination to stand a chance of winning a prize. Secondly, the purchaser must expose the winning combination. Thus, even if the purchaser has a winning card, there is no guarantee that he will expose the winning combination. This is not the case in US Patent No. 5,083,815, where all the pre-printed indicia are exposed and the only chance factor is therefore whether a user purchased a winning packet.

Moreover, since in US Patent No. 5,083,815 all the indicia are exposed, there is no need to regulate or monitor which indicia are exposed and there is no suggestion or indeed motivation to read the exposed indicia on-line or to expose the indicia on-line. Indeed, since the indicia are printed on a food packet that is intended to be heated (or frozen), it is hardly practical to expose the indicia online. However, regardless of whether or not it is practical, there is simply nothing to be gained by doing so since the outcome of exposing the indicia on any given package is predestined and is not subject to chance. EP 1 066 978 published January 10, 2001 in the name of Scientific Games International Limited and entitled "Security of printed articles" relates to securing lottery tickets or pre-paid telephone cards. An article is provided with a validation mark having two layers of thermochromic ink, each having a characteristic that changes at a different respective activation temperature. The characteristic can be the color, opacity, transparency or translucency of the ink. The ink in one layer has an activation temperature between an ambient article temperature and human body temperature such that the application of a human finger over the validation mark alters its appearance in a first manner noticeable to the naked eye. The second activation temperature is different from that of the first ink, so that when the validation mark is cooled or heated to a temperature lesser or greater than the second activation temperature, the appearance of the validation mark alters in a second manner.

Such an article may be validated at two levels. At a basic level, the purchaser can verify that the validation mark is genuine simply by placing his or her finger thereon. This raises the temperature of the upper layer, thereby rendering the upper layer transparent and exposing the validation mark. The thermochromic ink in the upper layer is reversible, so that on removing the user's finger, the upper layer becomes opaque again, thus concealing the validation mark. On the other hand, applying a higher degree of heat to the article causes the thermochromic ink in the lower layer also to change its characteristic, while at the same time the upper layer is rendered transparent. This may register as a color change in the validation mark, thus attesting as to its authenticity. The thermochromic ink in the lower layer need not be reversible, in which case any color change to the validation mark is rendered permanent. However, there is no suggestion to use the irreversible lower layer as a window that changes irreversibly from opaque to transparent.

Moreover, the validation mark is used only to validate the article. There is no suggestion in EP 1 066 978 to use a thermochromic ink in a game card of the type disclosed by above-referenced US Patent No. 5,735,432 so as to conceal a game symbol. It has already been noted that the upper layer in the article disclosed by EP 1 066 978 serves as a window that is rendered selectively opaque or transparent by applying body heat. It is particularly noted that the upper layer must be reversible, in order that the validation mark hidden thereby may be selectively exposed or concealed. This requirement would clearly not be achieved if the upper layer were formed using an irreversible thermochromic ink.

On the other hand, it is equally clear that a game card whose symbols are concealed by an opaque window formed of a layer of reversible thermochromic ink that becomes transparent when heated is untenable since it is an essential feature of such game cards that, once opened, the game window remain open. Were this not the case, then the purchaser could open and close the game windows at will until a winning combination is shown.

Several companies including the Japanese companies Ricoh, Dai Nippon Printing, Toppan forms, Tokyo Magnetic Printing and others manufacture cards in which a reversible thermochromic ink is employed to write, erase and re-write information. The shape of the thermal excitation curve determine whether the thermochromic ink is changed from transparent to opaque or from opaque to transparent. In these cards, the process is fully reversible between the two states. Such cards are used for various aims when there is an advantage to write, erase and rewrite data on the cards such as in customer loyalty programs. However, as noted above, the reversible process is not suitable for gaming and wagering cards, where the reversibility can give ground to fraud.

As opposed to such applications, in gaming cards symbols are pre-printed on the card and then concealed by an opaque layer. Therefore, using a reversible layer would allow exposing the information and then concealing it. This would allow a user to find winning information on the card prior to purchasing it. It is thus clear that in gaining cards it is mandatory that once the information is exposed, the information remain exposed with no possibility to conceal it again. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a game card similar to the standard scratch card but that will allow also progressive wagering.

This object is realized according to a broad aspect of the invention by a card bearing information concealed by an opaque layer of irreversible thermochromic material, thus allowing the information to be irreversibly exposed by subjecting the thermochromic material to a temperature change that renders the thermochromic material see-through.

Such a card may have several areas that can be "scratched" independently of each other. However, instead of exposing pre-printed areas by mechanical scratching as in conventional scratch cards, in the present invention an area of the card is exposed by an electro-thermal process under computer control.

According to a preferred embodiment, the card is a game card where the information includes pertinent winning symbols pre-printed on the card and overprinted by a second, opaque layer of thermochromic material for concealing the symbols. When used for progressive wagering, the concealed symbols are exposed under computer control, in such a way that while the player decides independently at any and each wagering stage which window to open so as to expose the symbol concealed thereby, the actual exposure it is performed by a machine and not manually so as to avoid fraud or mistakes. Another aim of the invention is such that at each stage of wagering, the same information that is exposed to the eyes of the user is transmitted online to a remote server and once the game is over the results are printed permanently on the game card.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, a preferred embodiment will now be described, by way of non- limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a pictorial representation of a game card according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation of the game card along the line II-II shown in Fig. 1 showing a construction thereof;

Fig. 3 is a pictorial representation of a device for use with the game card allowing data thereon to be exposed and identified electronically; Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a national lottery system for allowing on-line betting using game cards according to the invention;

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram showing principal operations carried out by a controller in the device of Fig. 3 when exposing data; and

Fig. 6 is a flow diagram showing the principal operations carried out by a server in the system shown in Fig. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

Figs. 1 and 2 show pictorially a game card depicted generally as 10 having a substrate 11 on specific areas 12 of which symbols 13 are pre-printed in known manner. In order that the symbols 13 be concealed, at least part of the substrate 11 bearing the symbols 13 is over-printed or coated with an opaque layer 14 of irreversible thermochromic material, thus allowing the information to be irreversibly exposed by subjecting the thermochromic material to a temperature change. Typically, the required temperature change is an increase in temperature achieved by local heating of the opaque layer 14 in a required one of the areas 12, so as to expose the pertinent symbol 13 printed thereon. However, thermochromic materials are also known which react to cooling and the invention embraces both possibilities. By way of example, the card 10 is shown as having twelve potential windows 15 on its surface each overlaying an area on which text or symbols are pre-printed. For ease of explanation, the symbols shown in Fig. 1 comprise circles, triangles, squares, stars and so on, one respective symbol being preprinted under each window.

Thus, in the invention, the well known "scratching" process commonly associated with game cards, where an opaque layer is removed mechanically, is substituted by a process where an opaque layer is rendered permanently transparent by an electro-thermal process, typically performed by thermal printing elements that can affect precisely demarcated areas in the opaque layer. In order to achieve this, the invention cannot employ conventional, reversible thermochromic materials as described above, but rather an irreversible type of thermochromic material, such as manufactured by Toppan printing of Tokyo, Japan. This material, when subjected to a predetermined temperature, changes its state from opaque to transparent, and remains transparent permanently without an ability to make it opaque again. This irreversible material can be coated on a printable surface such as paper or plastic using known printing techniques. It should be noted that within the context of the description and the appended claims, the term "transparent" embraces also "translucent" since all that is important is that the opacity of the thermochiOinic material be reduced to a sufficient extent to expose the symbols concealed thereby. To this extent, the degree of transparency is important only to the extent that the thermochromic material be rendered "see-through".

Thus, the substrate 11 can be a sheet of paper that is be pre-printed with information relevant to the game, such as symbols indicating a win, and then coated by the opaque layer 14 of irreversible thermochromic material. The layer 14 is preferably very thin in order to make the change from opaque to transparent quickly and to save costs by requiring less thermochromic material. The thickness of opaque layer can be as little as 60 nrn (0.060 μm) and may be converted from opaque to transparent at a temperature of 230°C for 5 μs, whereupon it remains transparent permanently and is unable to be returned to its opaque state again. However, if the thermochromic layer is too thin, the shape of the underlying symbol can be detected since the ink with which it is printed has a certain thickness. This may allow the symbol to be seen in relief by illuminating the coated surface. To avoid this, after printing the symbols 13, the substrate 11 is coated with a clear polymer that creates a uniformly flat layer 16, on which the thermochromic layer 14 is coated. Optionally, an additional thin layer 17 of transparent plastic material is laminated over the thermochromic layer 14, or a varnish spray is applied, and constitutes a protective transparent layer that inhibits mechanical scratching. Here also, the term "transparent" embraces also "translucent".

Fig. 3 shows pictorially a device 20 for use with the game card 10 allowing data thereon to be exposed and identified electronically. The device 20 comprises a receptacle 21 for receiving the card 10, and a temperature change unit 22 mounted within the receptacle and adapted to subject a targeted area 23 of the card to a local change in temperature. By such means, the opaque layer 14 of irreversible thermochromic material covering the area 23 may be rendered transparent, thus exposing a symbol printed on the card under the window 15 overlying the targeted area. The temperature change unit 22 may comprise one or more thermal print heads 24 such as those manufactured by Rohm Company of Japan. The thermal print heads 24 are mounted on a mechanical carriage operated by a drive mechanism 26 that moves them across the gaming card 10 in registration with one or more targeted areas to heat the targeted areas to a desired temperature, while limiting the heating to the targeted areas only. The heating process is controlled via a controller 27 so as to control the location of heating as well as the temperature and duration of heating, and to apply built in compensation for the heat absorption of the laminate. The heating produced by strong current pumped into resistor elements embedded in the print heads, can be of very brief duration. The print heads 24 are small and programmable thus facilitating the selective heating of targeted areas on the card, thereby rendering them transparent and exposing the pre-printed data therein.

The device 20 further comprises a display unit 30 and a user interface 31 such as a keypad for allowing a desired area of the card to be targeted. The display unit 30 may be touch screen operating in association with a pointing device in the user interface. An auxiliary display unit 32 may also be provided in back-to-back relationship with the display unit 30 for allowing two people facing one another to observe the displayed data simultaneously. By such means, when the card 10 is purchased at a ldosk or the lilce, it may be exposed at the kiosk by - l i ¬

the purchaser while allowing an authorized operator to follow what is happening via the auxiliary display unit 32. Alternatively, the purchaser may expose the card on his or her own premises. In either case, the card 10 is inserted through a slot 33 in the receptacle 21, thereby bringing it in close contact with the thermal print heads 24 and exposing selected windows 15 according to the purchaser's betting strategy. A real time clock 34 is optionally coupled to the controller 27 for associating a time stamp with each exposed symbol, thereby allowing the order in which symbols are exposed to be monitored. This allows a "win" to be dependent not only on a winning combination but also upon the order or any other time- dependent factor in which the correct symbols are exposed.

In use, all the windows 15 are initially opaque. In a common type of game using the card 10, a win results if three identical types of a predetermined symbol are exposed. For example, a "win" may occur on exposing three circles. It is further assumed that the initial wagering allows making five out of the twelve windows 15 transparent, thereby exposing the five underlying pre-printed symbols. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, successive windows are rendered transparent to expose a triangle, two circles, a square and a star in the targeted areas. At this point, the user makes a further bet, to open an additional window shown by the targeted area 23 hoping to expose a third circle. If the symbol thereby exposed is a circle, the user wins the bet and is awarded a prize; otherwise he loses the bet and receives no prize even in respect of the three matching symbols.

Those familiar with the state of the art will immediately understand that the card proposed here can allow more than one successive bet on the same card. Typically, the repeated bets are combined with the results obtained in prior bets on same card, thus conforming to the approach of popular card games that are attractive to a large number of people. Furthermore, the number of windows and stages of opening them can be large and varied, allowing many types of games and bets. Furthermore, those familiar with the art will appreciate that not only multiple stage betting can be formed with the card 10, but also single betting may be employed whereby all the windows are exposed by removing the complete layer 14 of irreversible thermochromic material, thus providing an environmentally clean scratch card having no thermochromic residue. The selection of which window to "open" at any stage of the process can be done automatically by the device 20 or the user can select the desired windows by means of the user interface 31.

In one preferred embodiment, the card 20 is equipped with a magnetic stripe or barcode 35 on its rear surface or an area of its front surface that is not covered by the opaque layer 14 of thermochromic material. The magnetic stripe or barcode 35 are read respectively by a magnetic head or a barcode scanner 36 housed inside the receptacle 21. The magnetic stripe or barcode 35 constitutes a data-encoding unit for encoding an identity of the card 20, while the magnetic head or a barcode seamier 36 constitutes a data-decoding unit for reading the identity code. The identity code is read by the magnetic stripe or barcode 35 and conveyed via a communication port 37 to a remote server operated by the gaming organization (such as a national lottery system). Such a system is described below with particular reference to Fig. 5 of the drawings. A scanner 40 may optionally be provided so as to scan the upper surface of the card as it is inserted into the receptacle 21 so as to check for continuity and uniformity of the layer 14 of thermochromic material, thus verifying that the card has not been tampered with. This is particularly useful in the case where the device is exposed off-line at the purchaser's premises since otherwise the opaque layer 14 might be scratched using a sharp knife to expose the winning combination and redundant symbols then concealed again using an opaque lacquer. If the thermochromic layer 14 is rendered electrically conductive, then the integrity of the layer (i.e. its continuity) can be checked by measuring its electrical conductivity or any other suitable property.

Fig. 4 shows a national lottery system 50 for allowing on-line betting using game cards according to the invention. The system 50 comprises a server 51 having a communication port 52 for coupling to the communication port 37 of the device 20. In practice, the system 50 comprises multiple devices 20 each connected to the communication port 52 of the server 51 via its respective communication port 37. The communication ports 37 and 52 may be RF or IR ports for allowing wireless communication. Alternatively, they may be conventional RS232 or similar ports for allowing wired communication via a data communications network, such as the Internet 53. The server 50 further includes a processor 54 coupled to a memory 55 and to an external database 56, storing identity codes of all issued game cards and a corresponding card type, its decorative surface image as well as the pre-printed gaming information in each of the associated windows and their location. Also stored in the database 56 is the value of a corresponding prize associated with each winning combination. A winning combination may relate to a specified number of matching symbols, such as three in accordance with known lottery games. It may also be a progressively larger number of matching symbols, each having a prize of corresponding larger value associated therewith. In this case, each prize value is also stored in the database. As noted above, the value of the prize may also be dependent on the order in which symbols are exposed. In this case, an order is associated with each symbol as it is exposed and the order is conveyed to the server 50. This may also be achieved by conveying to the server 50 data relating to each symbol as it is exposed, the order being associated therewith by the server 50. In such case, there is no need for the real time clock 34 to be provided in the device 20 unless time stamps are to be associated with each symbol exposed off-line. The order may also be printed on the card alongside the exposed symbols, such that the card serves as confirmation not only of which symbols were exposed (which, of course, is not later subject to argument) but also confirms the order in which they were exposed. This is important when the order in which the symbols are exposed influences the prize allocation and avoids potential conflicts between the purchaser and the lottery system.

In order to allow there to be printed on the card information such as the order in which symbols are exposed, results of the betting, winnings and so on, there may be provided on the card a pre-designated area 60 having a continuous background of a color that contrasts with the opaque layer 14 of thermochromic material by which it is covered. In this case, data can be printed under control of the thermal print heads 24 by "burning" the text or symbols in the opaque layer 14 of thermochromic material to expose the underlying contrasting background. In order to achieve sufficient resolution, the print head 24 is provided with a dense array of resistors at 200dpi or more.

Figs. 5 and 6 are flow diagrams showing the principal operations carried respectively out by the device 20 and the server 50 during on-line exposure of the card 10. Since the device 20 and the server 50 are co-dependent, their operations will be described j ointly.

During the gaming process, the device 20 is coupled via the coimnunica- tion port 37 to the server 50. The identity code of the card is read by the data- decoding unit 36, and is conveyed to the remote server, which accesses the database and conveys back to the controller 27 in the device 20 the appropriate digital information necessary to depict an exact picture of the card including the windows on the display units 30 and 32. When the card is exposed at the point of sale, the resulting graphical data is displayed on both displays 30 and 32. However, as noted above, the card may also be exposed at the purchaser's premises. In this case, only a single display unit 30 is required and the device 20 may be coupled to the remote server via a telephone line using a modem, or via the Internet in known manner.

This allows the purchaser to play the game on-line using a virtual card displayed on the display unit 30 under control of the user interface 31, while also enjoying the tactile feel of the real card 20, whose information is displayed on the display unit 30. This provides feedback to the purchaser, thereby increasing his or her trust, as some users do not believe in transient electronic processes in gaming, or might possibly claim that the results when only seen briefly do not match their gaming choices.

Moreover, the card may be exposed off-line and its data fed by the device to the remote server only in the event of a whining combination. This allows the purchaser to use the device 20 in an off-line mode for exposing the card and to connect to the remote server only if necessary. In this case, the remote server does not need to extract the card's characteristics from the database for feeding back to the device. However, it does need to know the card's identity for determining the amount of prize money associated with the winning combination in order to convey the amount to the device in the event that the prize money is paid in cash at the point of sale where the card is processed. Obviously, in this case different devices may expose the card and communicate the card's identity to the remote server. When the card is processed at the purchaser's premises and the data conveyed to the remote server over the Internet, for example, the prize money may be paid directly to a credit card or other credit account of the purchaser: this information being entered via a form in known manner or by any other suitable means. This allows the gaming organization to operate directly with the purchaser rather than via an agent as is commonly done. In off-line mode, the symbols may most simply be exposed without displaying them on the display devices 30 and 32. Alternatively, the controller 27 may store imaging data associated with each symbol in the card and identify an exposed window for displaying an exposed symbol. This may be done is various ways. For example, a bar code may be associated with each symbol on the card identifying its type (e.g. circle, square, diamond etc.) and the controller may store in a memory associated therewith imaging data for displaying each type. If desired the functionality of the scanner 40 may be provided by a digital camera such as a CCD camera, which may also image the information in the exposed windows of the card. In such case, the information imaged by the camera may be analyzed by the controller 27 using associated software and then transmitted to the remote server where it is correlated with the database. When the device 20 is used off-line, the digital camera in combination with the controller 27 serves to decode and display exposed symbols. This allows exposed symbols to be displayed even when the data associated therewith is not downloaded. The manner in which the camera is mounted in the device is not itself a feature of the invention, although one possible construction may conform to PCT/IL02/00205 filed on March 14, 2002 by the present inventor and entitled "Portable camera having scanning and printing functionality". Other options for detection and correlation of data will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Regardless of whether the processing is done by the purchaser or by an agent at the point of sale (or elsewhere), on-line operation allows full control of the process, including information about winning and wagering, and assists in inhibiting frauds.

Under control of the user interface 31, symbols are progressively exposed. This requires alignment of the print head 24 with a selected symbol, whose location is conveyed to the server 50, optionally with a time stamp determined by the real time clock 34 indicating the time of exposure. The server 50 knows uses the card's identity as conveyed by the data-decoding unit 36 to extract from the database 56 the identity of each symbol in the card as well as its location and, of course, data relating to winning combinations, associated prizes and, if required, time-related factors that add to the game's unpredictability. The results of the betting, once processed by the server 50, can be coimriunicated to the device 20 whilst the card 10 is still inside and printed over the pre-designated area 60 of the card, as explained above.

Off-line exposure of the card is particularly convenient when the game does not involve progressive betting or time-related factors, but requires only a single winning combination to be selected during a single session. However, even progressive or time-dependent betting is amenable to off-line betting providing that the relevant data concerning each exposed symbol is recorded, for example in a non~ volatile memory of the device, and subsequently conveyed to the server. Alternatively, each bet may be conveyed to the server before subsequent symbols are exposed. For example, suppose that an initial prize is awarded for three matching symbols and this initial prize may be doubled by exposing a specified fourth symbol, which must be exposed after the previous three symbols. This implies a correct winning order of exposing symbols. The symbols can be exposed off-line, providing that after the first three matching symbols are exposed, the card's status is conveyed to the server 50 before the next symbol is exposed. The fourth symbol can now be exposed, also off-line if required. In the event that the fourth symbol is a winning combination, the card's status is again conveyed to the server 50 allowing the server to determine that the winning combination was exposed in the correct order.

This feature affords both convenience and versatility, but its principal importance is that it serves to enter a new dimension into lottery games. Conventional instant card games are played by hitting or selecting one or more symbols or numerals from a finite space of such symbols and numerals. Games, such as are made possible by the present invention, may be devised to operate according to another dimension, time, since the card is exposed under machine control thereby allowing time also to be monitored. Thus, the times at which different symbols are exposed can be monitored and used as an additional parameter to determine whether a winning combination receives a prize and, if so, what will be its value.

Although in the embodiment described above, the time-dependent factor relates to the order in which symbols are exposed, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific time-related factor for increasing the unpredictability of the game. For example, the elapsed time between exposing one symbol and another can be determined and used to modify the value of a prize associated with a winning combination. Likewise, a measure of apparent randomness can be built into the game parameters in that the amount of prize money for a winning combination can be varied depending, for example, on specific days or hours of the day that the symbols are exposed. The introduction of time as a relevant factor of the game may also be used to enable proper distribution of winnings according to regulations and laws. In this connection, it is known that official, government sponsored instant card games are regulated, and by law have to distribute prizes amounting to a fixed proportion of all wagers (a typical figure being 55%-60%). In conventional instant card games where each card has a fixed single chance, the distribution of prizes necessary to meet regulation is simple and is achieved by having prizes distributed accordingly among all cards that participate in a given game. Truly, in the case that not all cards in a series are sold, there is a chance that the regulatory target will not be met exactly, with the return to the players being either higher or lower than the target.

In the present invention, it is possible to effect a "balancing act" within a single game. This is done by planning first a first winning sum that is less than the regulatory target. The balance that has to be added in order to meet the regulatory target is derived from frequent online monitoring of the game in process, and the balance is provided to the players accordingly. The distribution of the extra amounts is activated through use of the time factor. Each bet is assigned a time-related parameter associated with the time the bet was made. For example, twelve classes may be defined based on five-minute intervals in the hour, so that the first class is assigned to bets made in the first five minutes of the hour, the second class for bets made from the sixth to tenth minute, and so on.

Such assigmnent is easily done since, in on-line betting, the game is played via the device 20 that communicates in real time with the server of the lottery system.

The software of the lottery program detects at any instant of time the amount paid and the amount won by all cards that have so far participated in the game. If the amount deviates from a predetermined threshold, the lottery server issues a "wild card" for some cards belonging to one or more classes in the cards, which are played consecutively. The cards and classes are chosen at random. The "wild card" is printed on the card together with a percentage bonus win and informs the card owner that any win on his card will be increased in a certain proportion, e.g. by addition of 25%, 50%, 75% or double, triple etc. This allows on-line correction of the accumulated prize money allocated in respect of a game, ensuring that overall the regulatory target is met. Moreover, since the correction is effected pseudo-randomly in a manner that is unpredictable to the player, the player cannot exploit the balancing process to his or her own advantage. It will be understood that the server according to the invention may be a suitably programmed computer. Likewise, the invention contemplates a computer program being readable by a computer for executing the method of the invention. The invention further contemplates a machine-readable memory tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for executing the method of the invention.

In the method claims that follow, alphabetic characters and Roman numerals used to designate claim steps are provided for convenience only and do not imply any particular order of performing the steps.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A card (10) bearing information concealed by an opaque layer (14) of irreversible thermochromic material, thus allowing said information to be irreversibly exposed by subjecting the thermochromic material to a temperature change that renders the thermochromic material see-through.

2. The card according to Claim 1, further including a protective (17) transparent laminate covering the layer of irreversible thermochromic material.

3. The card according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein said information is provided in two or more areas (12) of the card, each of which is covered by said opaque layer of irreversible thermochromic material and may be independently rendered see-through by subjecting to a local controlled temperature change.

4. The card according to Claim 3, wherein the opaque layer of irreversible thermochromic material is a unitary layer covering all of said areas.

5. The card according to any one of Claims 1 to 4, including a pre- designated area (60) for printing data on the card.

6. The card according to Claim 5, wherein the pre-designated area has a background of contrasting color with the opaque layer (14), so as allow text or symbols to be printed through the opaque layer by exposing the contrasting background.

7. A device (20) for use in conjunction with the card according to any one

Claims 1 to 4, the device comprising: a receptacle (21) for receiving the card, a controller (27), a user interface (31) coupled to the controller for allowing selection of one or more areas to be rendered transparent, and a temperature change unit (22) mounted within the receptacle and responsively coupled to the controller for subjecting an area (23) of the card to a local change in temperature so as to render see-through the opaque layer of irreversible thermochromic material covering said area or areas.

8. The device according to Claim 7, further including a communication port (37) coupled to the controller for coupling to a remote device (51) and transmitting data thereto associated with the card.

9. The device according to Claim 7 or 8, further including a data-encoding unit (36) coupled to the controller for encoding an identity of the card.

10. The device according to Claim 9, wherein the data encoding unit (36) is a magnetic stripe embedded in the card.

11. The device according to Claim 9, wherein the data encoding unit (36) is a barcode on an outer surface of the card.

12. The device according to any one of Claims 7 to 11, further including a display unit (30) coupled to the controller for displaying data associated with the card.

13. The device according to Claim 12, further including an auxiliary display unit (32) coupled to the controller and mounted in back-to-back relationship with the display unit (30) for displaying data associated with the card for allowing two people facing one another to observe said data simultaneously.

14. The device according to any one of Claims 7 to 13, wherein the controller stores imaging data associated with each area in the card and uses the imaging data for displaying exposed information.

15. The device according to any one of Claims 7 to 14, further including a real time clock (34) coupled to the controller for associating a time stamp with the exposed information.

16. The device according to any one of Claims 7 to 15 for use with a card having at least two distinct areas each concealing respective information, wherein the controller is configured to associate with the exposed information an order of exposing said information.

17. The device according to any one of Claims 7 to 16, wherein the temperature change unit (22) includes at least one thermal print head (24) for subjecting said area (23) of the card to the local change in temperature.

18. The device according to Claim 17, wherein the at least one thermal print head (24) is provided with an array of resistors at 200dpi or more for printing information to the card.

19. A server (51) for use with an on-line betting system (50), said server (51) comprising: a processor (54) coupled to a memory (55), a communication port (52) coupled to the processor for coupling to a respective communication port (37) of one or more devices (20) according to any one of Claims 7 to 18, and a database (56) coupled to the processor and storing identity codes of all issued game cards and information associated therewith.

20. The server according to Claim 19, wherein the information stored in the database includes a location of each area containing hidden data and data associated therewith.

21. The server according to Claim 19 or 20, wherein the information stored in the database includes a value of a corresponding prize associated with each winning combination.

22. The server according to any one of Claims 19 to 21, wherein the processor (54) is responsive to a time-stamp associated with at least one exposed area for computing a value of a corresponding prize associated with a winning combination.

23. The server according to any one of Claims 19 to 21, wherein the processor (54) is responsive to an order of exposing the areas in a card having at least two distinct areas each concealing respective information, for computing a value of a corresponding prize associated with a winning combination.

24. A method for playing a lottery game using the server (51) of Claim 19, said method comprising:

(a) receiving data indicating an identity of a card and exposed areas thereof , and (b) using said data to determine whether the exposed areas correspond to a winning combination and to determine a value of a corresponding prize associated therewith.

25. The method according to Claim 24, wherein the data includes a respective time-stamp associated with at least one exposed area and the time- stamp is used to determine the value of a corresponding prize associated with a winning combination.

26. The method according to Claim 24 or 25 for use with a card having at least two distinct areas each concealing respective information, further including associating with the exposed information an order of exposing said information.

27. A method for playing a lottery game using the device (20) of any one of Claims 5 to 18, said method comprising:

(a) selecting an area of a card read by the device,

(b) exposing a symbol in said area, (c) obtaining display information associated with the exposed symbol,

(d) displaying the exposed symbol, and

(e) repeating (a) to (d) as required.

28. The method according to Claim 27, wherein the information is obtained by: i) determining an identity of the card, and ii) conveying the identity of the card to a database for extracting therefrom said information.

29. The method according to Claim 27, wherein the information is obtained by scanning the card to obtain image data corresponding to the exposed symbol.

30. The method according to any one of Claims 27 to 29, further including associating a thne-stamp with at least one exposed symbol.

31. The method according to any one of Claims 27 to 30 for use with a card having at least two distinct areas each concealing respective information, further including associating with the exposed information an order of exposing said information.

32. The method according to any one of Claims 27 to 31, further including checking that the card has not been tampered with before play.

33. A computer program comprising computer program code means for performing all the steps of any one of Claims 24 to 26 when said program is run on a computer.

34. A computer program as claimed in Claim 33 embodied on a computer readable medium.

35. A computer program comprising computer program code means for performing all the steps of any of Claims 27 to 32 when said program is run on a computer.

36. A computer program as claimed in Claim 35 embodied on a computer readable medium.