TECHNICAL FIELD:

The present invention relates to an information carrier for permanent information, certain regions of which information are at least temporarily obscured by a removable covering layer. The invention further relates to a method and a system for producing such an information carrier.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

Information carriers of the above-mentioned type include lottery tickets which conventionally comprise a paper ticket which is preprinted with permanent information, often in the form of a plurality of monetary amounts. When a gambler purchases such a lottery ticket, the permanent information is obscured by a removable covering layer. The gambler removes the covering layer, for example by using the edge of a coin, to reveal the permanent information therebehind. If his luck is in, the specific combination of preprinted information on that lottery ticket may be sufficient to warrant a payout to the gambler.

The removable coating serves two purposes. Firstly, it prevents cheating by obscuring the permanent information until after the lottery ticket has been purchased. Secondly, it heightens the sense of excitement for the gambler since the gambler himself may choose in what order he removes the removable covering layer to reveal the permanent information.

To avoid allegations of cheating, it is imperative that the removable covering layer fully conceal the permanent information. In addition, the covering layer must be adequately adhered to the paper ticket to prevent

CONFIRMATION

unintentional revealing of the permanent information, e.g. during transportation and handling of the lottery ticket before vending, though sufficiently lightly adhered to the lottery ticket to permit the gambler to easily remove the covering layer. Up until now, this has normally been achieved by the provision of a high-gloss or waxed paper ticket onto which permanent information is preprinted, with selected regions of the permanent information being thereafter covered by an opaque coloured film or coating.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

It is an object of the present invention to provide an information carrier and a method for producing an information carrier, for example a lottery ticket, for permanent information, certain regions of which information are at least temporarily obscured by a removable covering layer, which layer can be applied to the information carrier in a simple yet reliable manner.

This object is achieved in accordance with the present invention by an information carrier according to claim 1 and a method according to claim 6.

In accordance with the invention, the removable covering layer is applied to the information carrier using a thermal transfer technique. Thermal transfer printers are known per se and make use of selective heating of dots to produce a printed image or pattern from an ink ribbon. Previously, such thermal transfer techniques have been used to obtain printed images which offer very good physical resistance against wear due to the strong bonding of the ink to the information carrier surface. In the present invention, however, thermal transfer is used to obtain a removable covering on preprinted information.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the information carrier is further provided with variable information which is thermally printed on a layer of thermal paper forming a part of the information carrier. Thermal paper is known and consists of a chemical compound coated on a base material. The compound contains heat- sensitive chemicals (e.g. dye precursor, developer, sensitizer, pigments, binder and additives) which react when exposed to temperatures between about 65 and 110°C. The reaction bonds the pigment and other chemicals to the coloured layer to produce a desired image. By using a thermal printer in the present invention, the variable information which is printed onto the information carrier and thereafter obscured by the thermally transferred covering layer can be generated and recorded in a computer so that e.g. the vendor of the information carrier can ascertain what information is present on the information carriers sold.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for producing information carriers of the claimed type.

This object is achieved in accordance with the present invention by a system according to claim 10.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are detailed in the respective dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

The invention will be described in the following in greater detail and with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an information carrier in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates the application of a removable covering layer to an information carrier, and

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates apparatus for producing an information carrier in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS: In the figures, reference numeral 10 denotes an information carrier in accordance with the present invention. The information carrier comprises a paper layer 12 onto which permanent information 14 is printed. Selected regions of the information are obscured by a removable covering layer 16. In the illustrated example, the removable covering layer 16 has been partially removed to reveal some of the permanent information which, in the present case, consists of a plurality of monetary amounts 18.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention and as illustrated in Fig. 2, the removable covering layer 16 is applied to the paper layer 12 of the information carrier 10 using a thermal transfer printer, generally denoted by reference numeral 20. The printer 20 is provided with an ink ribbon 22 comprising a solid ink coating. The ribbon 22 is supported by a carrier 24 immediately above the information carrier 10. In order to transfer the ink from the ribbon 22 to the paper layer 12, a thermal print head 26 is activated to cause a predetermined portion of ink to melt and thereafter be pressed onto the paper layer to thereby obscure a selected region of the permanent information carried on the paper layer. A counter roller 29 is provided to both support the information carrier 10 and to feed it in the direction of arrow A past the print head 26. The degree of adhesion between the covering layer 16

and the paper layer 12 is dependent on the type of paper and the type of ink ribbon used.

So as to prevent the thus obscured information from being read from the reverse side of the information carrier, the carrier is suitably provided with an opaque backing layer 28.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the information carrier 10 comprises a sheet of thermal paper 12 ' onto which variable information is printed using a thermal printhead, generally denoted by reference numeral 30 in Fig. 3. As is usual in the art, the thermal printhead 30 comprises a substrate 32 which consists of electric circuitry and a line or matrix 34 of very small heating elements on a ceramic tile, and a mounting element 36 which serves as a heatsink. A counter roller 38 is provided to support the information carrier 10 as it passes the printhead 30 and to feed it in the direction of arrow A in Fig. 3.

The printhead 30 is connected to a computer (not shown) and is responsive to commands therefrom. The commands may be randomly generated or may be controllable to thereby influence the variable information which is to be printed on the information carrier. Once the variable information is printed, it can be stored in the computer so that the vendor of the information carrier can ascertain what information is present on the information carriers sold. The variable information may comprise a machine-readable bar code, text, images and/or monetary amounts.

Once the information has been thermally printed onto the information carrier 10, the carrier passes a coating station at which the removable covering layer 16 is applied to the carrier to at least temporarily obscure selected

regions of the printed information. In accordance with the invention, the layer 16 is applied using the thermal transfer technique as described above in relation to Fig. 2. Thus, the information carrier 10 is fed past the thermal printhead 26, whereat ink from the ribbon 22 is caused to be pressed onto the carrier 10 at selected regions. It will be evident for the skilled man that the melting point of the ink on the ribbon must be below the critical temperature for activating the thermal paper.

So as to prevent the thus obscured information from being read from the reverse side of the information carrier, the carrier is suitably provided with either an opaque backing layer as described above, or with an opaque barrier sheet 40 which may suitably be sandwiched between the thermal paper layer 12' and a backing layer 28' of e.g. normal paper.

It will be apparent from the above that the present invention is particularly suitable for the production of lottery tickets. It is conceivable that various formats of lottery ticket be programmed in a computer connected to a single printer unit. When a gambler wishes to purchase a lottery ticket, he can select the desired type of lottery ticket by e.g. ordering a lottery ticket according to his favourite number, etc. The vendor can then press the appropriate button(s) on the key pad of the computer connected to the printer and the printer then generates the lottery ticket. The organizer of the lottery can access the computer to ascertain if any winning lottery tickets have been generated and, if so, from which printer, i.e. where in the country, the tickets were printed. It is feasible that the organizer be able to influence the number of winning tickets and the location of these tickets.

Naturally, the invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but may be varied within the scope of the appended claims. For example, some of the permanent information on the information carrier may be preprinted, whilst the variable information may be printed immediately before being coated by the covering layer. Preferably, the variable information is printed in an "on demand" ticket printer which is computer controlled and forms a part of a "point of sales" (POS) system. The information carrier may be in the form of a continuous tear-off roll or individual tickets. In addition, the thermal paper layer may be provided with a resistant coating.