Methods for processing security documents

• US 6,419,157 B1
• Filed: 12/04/2000
• Issued: 07/16/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Hussey, Robert M., Ehrhart, Michael A., Lambert, Claude, Szrek, Walter, Gougeon, Francois, Mondou, Denis, Sanchez, Cayetano III, Abraitis, John C., Boulay, Robert, Dueker, Todd A.
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US09/729,009
• Time in Patent Office: 589 Days
• Field of Search: 235/486, 235/449, 235/375, 235/488, 235/441, 235/451, 235/439, 283/94, 283/83, 283/100, 283/901, 283/903, 273/138.2
• US Class Current: 235/486
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/242 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2444 Light detector
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2250/287 Cameras therefor
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/065 Tickets or accessories for use therewith A63F3/0625 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/0665 having a message becoming legible after rubbing-off a coating or removing an adhesive layer for educational purposes G09B
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0032 Apparatus for automatic testing and analysing marked record carriers, used for examinations of the multiple choice answer type teaching apparatus working with questions and answers G09B7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/073 Special arrangements for circuits, e.g. for protecting identification code in memory protection against unauthorised use of computer memory G06F12/14

Abstract

In one method according to the invention, a security document of an undetermined size within a range of sizes is processed by capturing images corresponding to a topside and bottomside thereof sufficient to encompass the largest possible sized document and then searching through the captured image data to locate an identification code which may have been formed on any location of the document. If a symbol is found that satisfies a predetermined criteria for being an identification code, then the symbol is decoded, and the identification code for the document is utilized to control further processing of the document. Further processing subroutines of the document may include subroutines which utilize one or multiple imaging systems to verify that the document is authentic, subroutines for validating the document, and subroutines for voiding the document.

Claims

1. A method for determining authenticity of a lottery game ticket having at least one play area including scratch-off material defining outer and indicia icon surfaces, said method comprising the steps of:

incorporating a light sensitive additive into said lottery game ticket, said light sensitive additive emitting light in a second band of wavelengths when illuminated in a first band of wavelengths, said additive being selected from the group consisting of luminophor additives and phosphor additives;

illuminating said lottery game ticket using a light source emitting light in said first wavelength band;

imaging said game ticket to capture image data representing said game ticket as seen illuminated by said first band of wavelengths; and

analyzing said captured image data to determine if said image data indicates the presence of said additive incorporated in said game ticket.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said light sensitive material is selectively incorporated into said scratch-off material.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said authenticity determining method further includes the steps of:

manufacturing said ticket so that said outer surface exhibits a first reflectance measurement when illuminated at a specific narrow band illumination and said icon surface exhibits a second reflectance measurement when illuminated at said specific narrow band illumination;

exposing said ticket to a light source emitting light in said specific narrow band;

capturing image data corresponding to said play area while said ticket is under illumination in said specific narrow band to capture image data representing said play area;

examining said image data to determine either if said outer surface exhibits said first reflectance measurement, or said indicia icon surface exhibits said second reflectance measurement.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of transmitting infrared light through said game ticket, and assessing infrared light which is transmitted through said game ticket.

5. A method for determining authenticity of a lottery game ticket having at least one play area, said play area including an indicia icon layer and an outer layer, said method comprising the steps of:

manufacturing said ticket so that said outer surface exhibits a first reflectance measurement when illuminated at a specific narrow band illumination and said icon surface exhibits a second reflectance measurement when illuminated at said specific narrow band illumination;

exposing said ticket to a light source emitting light in said specific narrow band;

capturing image data corresponding to said play area while said ticket is under illumination in said specific narrow band to capture image data representing said play area;

examining said image data to determine either if said outer layer exhibits said first reflectance measurement, or said indicia icon surface exhibits said second reflectance measurement.

6. The authenticity verification method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

incorporating a light sensitive additive into said lottery game ticket, said light sensitive additive emitting light in a second band of wavelengths when illuminated in a first band of wavelengths;

illuminating said lottery game ticket using a light source emitting light in said first wavelength band, said additive being selected from the group consisting luminophor additives and phosphor additives;

imaging said game ticket to capture image data representing said game ticket as seen illuminated by said first band of wavelengths; and

analyzing said captured image data to determine if said image data indicates the presence of said additive incorporated in said game ticket.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of transmitting infrared light through said game ticket, and assessing infrared light which is transmitted through said game ticket.

8. A method for operating a document reader to determine whether a lottery game ticket has been previously played, said reader having a controller and at least one imaging assembly, said ticket including at least one play area covered by scratch-off material when said game ticket is manufactured, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a lottery game ticket in said reader;

capturing an image representation of a surface of said game ticket, wherein contrast is apparent in said image representation between areas of said ticket covered by scratch-off material, and uncovered areas of said play area having scratch-off material removed;

locating a play area region of said bit map corresponding to said play area; and

determining whether a ticket has been played based on a percentage of image data in said play area region of said image representation corresponding to said uncovered areas of said play area.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said reader determines that said game ticket has been played if more than about 20 percent of image data in said play area corresponds to uncovered areas of said play area.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein said reader determines that said game ticket has not been played if less than about five percent of image data of said play area correspond to uncovered areas of said play areas.

11. A method for operating a document reader to determine whether a lottery game ticket has been tampered with, said reader having a controller and at least one imaging assembly, said ticket including at least one play area covered by scratch-off material when said game ticket is issued, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a lottery game ticket in said reader;

capturing an image map image representation of a surface of said game ticket, wherein contrast is apparent in said image map between areas of said ticket covered by scratch-off material, and uncovered areas of said play area having scratch-off material removed;

locating a play area region of said image map corresponding to said play area; and

determining whether a ticket has been tampered with based on a percentage of pixels in said play area region of said image map having values corresponding to uncovered areas of said play area.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said reader determines that said game ticket has been tampered with if between about 0.5 and about 5 percent of pixels in said play area region of said image map have values corresponding to uncovered areas of said image map.

13. A method for determining whether a lottery game ticket of the type comprising at least one play area including an indicia icon layer covered by scratch-off material has been tampered with, said method comprising the step of:

providing a document reader including a feed path and an imaging assembly;

receiving said lottery game ticket in said reader;

capturing an image representation from said imaging assembly corresponding to a surface of said game ticket, wherein image data corresponding to regions on said ticket covered by said scratch-off material are in contrast with image data corresponding to regions on said game ticket not covered by said scratch-off material; and

analyzing said image data to determine if said ticket has been tampered with.

14. The tamper detection method of claim 13, wherein said analyzing step includes the step of determining whether said ticket has been tampered with based on a percentage of pixel values in a play area that correspond to an indicia icon layer.

15. The tamper detection method of claim 13, wherein said analyzing step includes the step of searching for patterns in said image data indicative of a tampering scheme.

16. The tamper detection method of claim 13, wherein said analyzing step includes the step of searching for patterns in said image data indicative of a pin pricking tampering scheme.

17. The tamper detection method of claim 13, wherein said analyzing step includes the step of searching for patterns in said image data indicative of a lifting tampering scheme.

18. The tamper detection method of claim 13, wherein said imaging assembly is adapted to detect transmissive characteristics of said game ticket.

19. The tamper detection method of claim 13, wherein said imaging assembly is adapted to sense for the presence of a light sensitive additive incorporated in said game ticket.

20. The tamper detection method of claim 13, wherein said imaging assembly includes a narrow band light source, and wherein said imaging assembly is adapted to detect reflectance characteristics of said game ticket under illumination by said narrow band source.

21. An apparatus for processing a lottery game ticket of the type comprising a topside and bottomside surface, at least one identification code symbol formed on one of said surfaces, at least one play area defined on one of said surfaces, and scratch-off material formed on said play area, said apparatus adapted to receive said lottery game ticket, said apparatus comprising:

a controller in communication with a memory space, operating under the control of a main program stored in said memory space;

an imaging subsystem including at least one imaging assembly configured in said apparatus so that said imaging subsystem generates image signals corresponding to at least one surface of said game ticket, said controller being adapted to capture an image representation comprising image data corresponding to said image signals which indicates contrast between areas of said at least one play area covered by said scratch-off material and areas of said play area not covered by said scratch-off material,

said controller being adapted to analyze said image representation, and to determine whether said game ticket has been played based on whether image data of said image representation satisfies a predetermined criteria indicative of said ticket being played.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said controller in determining whether a ticket has been played, identifies image data corresponding to a play area of said ticket and wherein said determination of said controller of whether said ticket has been played is based on a percentage ratio of pixels in said image data corresponding to areas in said play area covered by said scratch-off material versus areas of said play area not covered by said scratch-off material.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said controller is adapted to determine a present identification code corresponding to said code symbol for each ticket received in said apparatus, wherein said apparatus further includes an identification code to game data correlation means in communication with said controller correlating a plurality of identification codes with at least either of physical characteristic game data or flag status indicator game data, wherein said controller is adapted to read data from said correlation means while processing a ticket so that operation of said apparatus is dependent on said present identification code.

24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said controller is further adapted to analyze said image data to determine whether said game ticket has been tampered with based on whether said image data satisfied a predetermined criteria indicative of said ticket being tampered with.

25. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said determination of said controller of whether said ticket has been tampered with depends on a percentage ratio of light pixels to dark pixels in said image data.

26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said apparatus further includes a brander, and wherein said controller is adapted to operate said brander so that each ticket received in said apparatus is marked by a predetermined pattern indicating that said ticket is received in said apparatus.

27. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said controller is adapted to analyze said image data to determine if said ticket has been previously played based on whether said image data includes a pattern corresponding to said predetermined brand pattern.

28. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said imaging subsystem includes an imaging assembly adapted to detect for the presence of a wavelength sensitive additive which may have been incorporated in said ticket.

29. An apparatus for processing a lottery game ticket of the type comprising a topside and bottomside surface, at least one identification code symbol formed on one of said surfaces, at least one play area defined on one of said surfaces, and scratch-off material formed on said play area, said apparatus adapted to receive said lottery game ticket, said apparatus comprising:

a controller in communication with a memory space, operating under the control of a main program stored in said memory space; and

an imaging system including at least one imaging assembly configured in said apparatus so that said imaging subsystem generates image signals corresponding to at least one surface of said ticket which includes a play area, said controller being adapted to capture an image representation having image data corresponding to said image signals which indicates contrast between areas of said at least one play area covered by said scratch-off material and areas of said play area not covered by said scratch-off material,

said controller being adapted to analyze said image data, and to determine whether said game ticket has been tampered with based on whether said image data satisfies a predetermined criteria indicative of said ticket being tampered with.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said controller in determining whether a ticket has been tampered with, identifies image data corresponding to a play area of said ticket and wherein said determination of said controller of whether said ticket has been tampered with is based on a percentage ratio of pixels in said image data corresponding to areas in said play area covered by said scratch-off material versus areas of said play area not covered by said scratch-off material.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said controller in determining whether a ticket has been tampered with searches for patterns in said image data indicative of a tampering scheme.

32. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said controller in determining whether a ticket has been tampered with searches for patterns in said image data indicative of a pin pricking tampering scheme.

33. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said controller in determining whether a ticket has been tampered with searches for patterns in said image data indicative of a lifting tampering scheme.

34. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said controller is adapted to determine a present identification code corresponding to said code symbol for each ticket received in said apparatus, wherein said apparatus further includes an identification code to game data correlation means in communication with said controller correlating a plurality of identification codes with at least either of physical characteristic game data or flag status indicator game data, wherein said controller is adapted to read data from said correlation means while processing a ticket so that operation of said apparatus is dependent on said present identification code.

35. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said controller is further adapted to analyze said image data to determine whether said game ticket has been played by identifying image data corresponding to a play area of said ticket, wherein said determination of said controller of whether said ticket has been played is based on a percentage ratio of pixels in said image data corresponding to areas in said play area covered by said scratch-off material versus areas of said play area not covered by said scratch-off material.

36. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said apparatus further includes a brander, and wherein said controller is adapted to operate said brander so that each ticket received in said apparatus is marked by a predetermined pattern indicating that said ticket is received in said apparatus.

37. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said controller is adapted to analyze said image data to determine if said ticket has been previously played based on whether said image data includes a pattern corresponding to said predetermined brand pattern.

38. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein said imaging subsystem includes an imaging assembly adapted to detect for the presence of a wavelength sensitive additive which may have been incorporated in said ticket.

39. An apparatus for processing a lottery game ticket of the type comprising a topside and bottomside surface, at least one identification code symbol formed on one of said surfaces, at least one play area defined on one of said surfaces, and scratch-off material formed on said play area, said apparatus adapted to receive said lottery game ticket, said apparatus comprising:

a controller in communication with a memory space, operating under the control of a main program stored in said at least one memory space;

an imaging subsystem including at least one imaging assembly arranged in said apparatus so that said imaging subsystem generates image signals corresponding to at least one surface of said ticket which includes said at least one play area, said controller being adapted to capture an image representation having image data corresponding to said image signals so that contrast is indicated in said image data between areas of said at least one play area covered by said scratch-off material and areas of said play area not covered by said scratch-off material; and

a brander controlled by said controller, said controller being adapted to operate said brander so that each ticket received in said apparatus is marked by a predetermined pattern indicating that said ticket has been received in said apparatus.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said controller is adapted to analyze said image data to determine if said ticket has been previously played based on whether said image data includes a pattern corresponding to said predetermined pattern.

41. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said controller is adapted to analyze said image data to determine, after said ticket has been branded, if said ticket has been successfully branded based on whether said image data includes a pattern corresponding to said predetermined pattern.

42. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein apparatus includes a transport mechanism operable in a forward direction and a reverse direction, wherein said controller operates said transport mechanism in said forward direction when branding said ticket, and wherein said controller, in determining if said ticket has been successfully branded, operates said transport mechanism in said reverse direction, acquires brand detection image data pertaining to said ticket subsequent to transport of said ticket in said reverse direction, and analyzes said brand detection image data to discern whether said brand detection image data includes image data corresponding to said predetermined brand pattern.

43. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said controller is adapted to determine a present identification code corresponding to said code symbol for each ticket received in said apparatus, wherein said apparatus further includes an identification code to game data correlation means in communication with said controller correlating a plurality of identification codes with at least either of physical characteristic game data or flag status said image data to determine whether said game ticket has been played based on whether said image data satisfies a predetermined criteria indicative of said ticket being tampered with.

44. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said determination of said controller of whether aid ticket has been played depends on a percentage ratio of light pixels to dark pixels in said image data.

45. The apparatus of claims 39, wherein said controller is further adapted to analyze said image data to determine whether said game ticket has been tampered with based on whether said image data satisfies a predetermined criteria indicative of said ticket being played.

46. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said determination of said controller of whether said ticket has been tampered with depends on a percentage ratio of light pixels to dark pixels in said image data.

47. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said imaging subsystem includes an imaging assembly adapted to detect for the presence of a wavelength sensitive additive which may have been incorporated in said ticket.