Secure placement of confidential information on a circulated blank ticket

• US 4,677,553 A
• Filed: 11/09/1984
• Issued: 06/30/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Totalizator Systems, Inc. (International Lottery & Totalizator Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Roberts, Brian J., Walters, James T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Goldberg, E. A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Donovan, Lincoln D.
• Application Number:
  US06/670,156
• Time in Patent Office: 963 Days
• Field of Search: 364/410, 364/411, 364/412, 283/99, 283/903, 283/94, 283/72, 283/100, 283/91, 283/904, 283/111, 346/76 PH, 346/162, 346/163, 273/138 A, 273/269, 273/274
• US Class Current: 463/17
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 15/005 with dispensing of lottery tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/42 for ticket printing or like apparatus , e.g. apparatus for dispensing of printed paper tickets or payment cards
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 283/903 Lottery ticket

Abstract

Secure placement of confidential information on tickets distributed in blank is permitted by opaquely overlaying an area of the ticket upon which the information is to be placed in visible form and employing a printing apparatus that prints the visible information on the ticket area through the opaque overlay without leaving any easily-discernible trace in the overlay that reveals the imprinted information. A ticket can be given in blank to a ticket holder. Then, when the ticket holder makes an exchange in order to receive the information, the information can be placed on the ticket, with the opaque overlay concealing the information until selectively removed by the ticket holder.

Claims

1. A system for distributing confidential information to a subscriber, comprising:

receiving means for accepting a blank ticket, said ticket having print responsive means for receiving information in printed form and said ticket having masking means overlying said print responsive means for concealing said printed form information during and after the reception of said printed form information by said print responsive means and for being operated after the receipt of said printed form information to reveal said printed form information; and

print means associated with said receiving means for, after acceptance of a ticket, entering said printed form information onto said print responsive means through said masking means while said masking means conceals said printed form information during and after said entry.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the print-responsive means includes means for receiving thermally printed information.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the print-responsive means includes a ticket stock material sheet responsive to a printing process that produces visible printing on the material sheet.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the ticket stock material is responsive to a thermal printing process.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the masking means includes an opaque overlay disposed over said print-responsive means.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the opaque overlay is a removable opaque overlay.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the print means is a thermal printer.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the print means and receiving means are contained in a printing terminal.

2. A ticket distributed in blank to a holder for securely receiving confidential information in printed form from a printing device, comprising:

a ticket body responsive to a printing device for being imprinted with information;

masking means overlying a portion of said ticket body through which said printing device acts to imprint said information on said ticket body portion, said masking means for, during and after the imprinting of said printed information onto said ticket body portion, concealing said printed information on said ticket body portion and for, after the imprinting of said information onto said body portion, being operated by a holder to reveal said imprinted information.

11. The ticket of claim 2 wherein the ticket body includes print-responsive means for receiving said information in printed form.

12. The ticket of claim 11 wherein the print-responsive means includes means for receiving thermally printed information.

13. The ticket of claim 11 wherein the print-responsive means includes a ticket stock material responsive to a process that produces visible printing on the material.

14. The ticket of claim 13 wherein the ticket stock material is responsive to a thermal printing process.

15. The ticket of claim 2 wherein the masking means includes an opaque overlay disposed over said print-responsive means.

16. The ticket of claim 15 wherein the opaque overlay is a removable opaque overlay.

17. The ticket of claim 15 wherein the opaque overlay includes a removable layer of ink.

18. The ticket of claim 17 wherein the opaque overlay includes a removable layer of material having a diffusely reflective surface.

19. The ticket of claim 15 wherein the opaque overlay includes a layer constructed to conceal an outline of said printed information formed when said ticket is imprinted with said information.

20. The ticket of claim 2 wherein said masking means includes a material layer that can be removed by scratching.

21. The ticket of claim 2 wherein said masking means includes a material layer that can be removed from said ticket body to reveal said imprinted information after said information is imprinted.

3. A method of distributing confidential information, comprising the steps of:

distributing one or more blank tickets, each of said tickets having print responsive means for being imprinted with said information and masking means covering said print responsive means for concealing information imprinted onto said print responsive means during and after the imprinting of said information on said print responsive means and for being operated after said receipt to reveal said imprinted information;

after said distribution step, imprinting said printed form information onto said print responsive means through said masking means while said masking means conceals said imprinted information; and

operating said masking means to reveal said imprinted information.

22. The method of claim 3 wherein said print-responsive means includes means for receiving thermally printed information.

23. The method of claim 3 wherein the print-responsive means includes a ticket stock material responsive to a printing process that produces visible printing on the material.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the ticket stock material is responsive to a thermal printing process.

25. The method of claim 3 wherein the masking means includes an opaque overlay disposed over said print-responsive means.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the opaque overlay is a removable opaque overlay.

27. A system for distributing confidential information to a subscriber, comprising:

a blank ticket for being provided to said subscriber;

central means for centrally storing and selectively distributing said confidential information;

terminal means connected to said central means for receiving confidential information and including means for receiving said blank ticket to be imprinted with said received confidential information;

print means for imprinting a representation of said received confidential information on said blank ticket; and

on said blank ticket;

print-responsive means for being imprinted by said print means with said representation; and

masking means overlying said print responsive means through which said print means imprints said representation on said print responsive means, said masking means for concealing said representation during and after said imprinting and for being operated after said imprinting to reveal said representation on said print responsive means.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the print-responsive means includes means for receiving thermally printed information.

29. The system of claim 27 wherein the print-responsive means includes a ticket stock material responsive to a printing process that produces visible printing on the material.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the ticket stock material is responsive to a thermal printing process.

31. The system of claim 27 wherein the masking means includes an opaque overlay disposed over said print responsive means.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the opaque overlay is a removable opaque overlay.

33. The system of claim 27 wherein the print means is a thermal printer.

34. The system of claim 27 wherein the print means is a thermal printer.

35. A lottery system for securely distributing lottery outcomes to lottery patrons, comprising:

central means for randomly producing lottery outcomes and for compiling plural data entries, each data entry associating a respective outcome with respective identifying data;

remote terminal means connected to said central means for receiving a data entry;

print means associated with said remote terminal means for printing a representation of said received data entry; and

a ticket including print responsive means responsive to said print means for being imprinted with said representation and masking means associated with said print responsive means for preventing the display of said imprinted representation during and after said imprinting and for being operated after said imprinting to display said imprinted representation.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein said remote terminal means includes means for receiving a ticket and transporting a received ticket to said print means.

37. The system of claim 35 further including validation means for validating a winning lottery outcome based upon a ticket imprinted with a lottery result representation of a data entry including said winning outcome and for authorizing a first delivery of a lottery prize corresponding to said winning lottery outcome.

38. The system of claim 37 further including means preventing, based upon a first validation of said winning lottery outcome, authorization of a delivery of said lottery prize.

39. A method of providing to patrons of a lottery, lottery results from a plurality of predetermined lottery results, comprising the steps of:

distributing to a patron one or more blank tickets, each blank ticket devoid of a lottery result and each blank ticket having print-responsive means for being imprinted with a lottery result and masking means for concealing said imprinted lottery result during and after the imprinting of said result and for being operated after said imprinting to reveal said imprinted result;

receiving a blank ticket from said patron;

randomly selecting, from said plurality of results, a lottery result to be imprinted on said received blank ticket;

imprinting said selected lottery result in the print-responsive means of said received blank ticket, while the masking means of said received blank ticket conceals said selected lottery result; and

operating said masking means to reveal said selected lottery result.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein said step of imprinting includes thermally imprinting said selected lottery result in the print-responsive means of said received blank ticket.

41. A method of producing a ticket or the like for being imprinted with confidential information and for concealing said imprinted information during and after said imprinting, comprising the steps of:

producing a ticket stock having a surface area responsive to a predetermined print process that produces a visual representation of said information on said surface area;

applying, over said surface area of said ticket stock where said representation is to be printed, a removable opaque overlay layer through which said predetermined process acts to print said representation in said surface area and which conceals said representation during and after its printing.

42. The method of claim 41 further including, before said step of applying an opaque overlay, applying to said ticket stock a layer of material responsive to a thermal printing process for receiving said representation.

43. The method of claim 41 wherein said ticket stock has a surface finish responsive to a thermal printing process and said step of applying includes:

applying a first layer of opaque, scratch-off ink over said area; and

applying a second layer of opaque white scratch-off ink over said first layer.

44. The method of claim 43 wherein said second layer includes a diffusely reflective surface.