Bingo game involving promotional coupons

• US 4,619,457 A
• Filed: 02/07/1985
• Issued: 10/28/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/1979
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Maynard E. Small
• Original Assignee: Maynard E. Small
• Inventors: Small, Maynard E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Oechsle, Anton O.
• Application Number:
  US06/699,311
• Time in Patent Office: 628 Days
• Field of Search: 273/240, 273/269, 273/286, 273/287
• US Class Current: 273/269
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/06 Lottos or bingo games; Systems, apparatus or devices for checking such games small boxes with balls used for generating random numbers A63F7/048; lottery apparatus G07C15/00; lottery gaming stations, online lottery or bingo G07F17/329; printing processes for lottery tickets B41M3/005

Abstract

A game for a plurality of players wherein each player is provided with a playing card, said playing card being presented to the players by means of a mass distribution publication. The playing card comprises a matrix of deliniated areas, such a squares, in rows and columns, each square bearing a certain indicia which is to be matched with a corresponding indicia found in a plurality of promotional coupons present in the same publication or in a publication provided with the playing card. The player matches such indicia and continues to do so until he has satisfied any one of several particular combinations of matched indicia. The player also may be any one of several required to ascertain the correct total number of coupons having appropriate indicia that appear in the publication in order to win the game or become eligible to progress toward winning a prize.

Claims

1. A game of the type known as "bingo" for players comprising:

(a) a single edition printed run-of-press, multi-page and mass circulation publication;

(b) a set of playing cards, one of said set of cards being provided with each copy of said publication, each of said cards having a grid with several rows and columns forming set of patterned areas, each patterned area respectively bearing individual area indicia thereon;

(c) a set of coupons common to all players printed in said publication, at least a portion of said coupons being positioned at various isolated locations throughout the pages of the publication as to be spaced apart from one another by printed subject matter unrelated thereto, each coupon respectively bearing individual coupon indicia, whereby every player has an identical set of coupon indicia bearing coupons;

at least a portion of said coupons being interspersed throughout said publication with unrelated printed material therebetween;

(d) said area indicia and said coupon indicia being cooperatively related, in that selected indicia from the coupon indicia set are matched area indicia with selected indicia from the area indicia set such that said matched area indicia describe a predetermined pattern on said playing card grid;

whereby each player is urged to scan each page of said publication to determine the presence of said coupons in order to produce said predetermined pattern of matched area indicia; and

wherein;

(e) said set of playing cards comprises a first portion of playing cards and a second portion of playing cards, said playing card set first and second portions each include a predetermined pattern of matched area indicia;

said predetermined patterns of said matched area indicia of respective first and second playing card portions are dissimilar to each other; and

said predetermined patterns of said matched indicia on all playing cards within a particular one of said portions are similar.

2. The game as set forth in claim 1 wherein:

(a) said indicia of said first playing card portion are matchable with said coupon indicia set in a first predetermined pattern, said area indicia of said second playing card portion are matchable with said coupon indicia set in a second predetermined pattern, and said first and second predetermined patterns are dissimilar.