Game Having Quick Prize Indication For Wide Area Use

Abstract

A game-playing system in which the winning indicia in open of a plurality of game-playing tickets is immediately known to the player. The winning indicia is dialed into a response system normally comprising a telephone system. The game also includes one or more game playing areas having zone spaces to form winning indicia.

Parent Case Text

This application is a continuation in part of our prior application, Ser. No. 713,492, filed Mar. 15, 1968.

Our invention relates to a card playing game. More particularly, it relates to a game in which a person is given a card- or ticket-carrying game-winning indicia. In a specific aspect of this game, which may appeal to the supermarket or gasoline station customer, the customer dials into the telephone system the number on the card and, at that time, is informed whether or not he is an instant winner. This game may be played over a wide geographical area.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a game comprising one or more tickets in which a customer can instantly or relatively quickly determine whether he has won a prize.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a game of chance featuring a card card using semiautomatic or automatic means to almost instantaneously inform the player that he has won or lost the prize.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a game in which the customer learns whether he has won instantaneously, utilizing the selective and memory capacity of the telephone system and dialing in the winning or losing number.

On e feature of this invention is the utilization of the telephone system as a memory device having substantially instant access and an address system which may be used to distinguish between winning and losing numbers.

A further object of this invention is to provide a game of chance which may be played simultaneously nationwide or over other relatively large geographic areas featuring a card and using semiautomatic or automatic means to almost instantaneously inform the player that he has won or lost the prize.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a system covering the same wide geographic areas in which the participant may utilize the telephone system and does not have to pay any money to learn whether he has won or lost a prize.

Briefly, in our invention, a customer receives a game-playing ticket. This ticket comprises two concealed areas. When the customer unveils the first concealed area, he sees a telephone number which he, or an operator, dials into the telephone system to determine in immediately whether he has won a prize. A second area of the game comprises a plurality of indicia zones or spaces which are concealed by a covering device. The customer is instructed to remove the covering device to reveal the indicia zones. These spaces will contain numbers in some of the respective zones, and some zones will be without numbers. The customer is further instructed to punch, or otherwise make light transparent, the zone space where there are no numbers thereby providing a window in each of these zone spaces.

In a related embodiment, the customer receives and collects similar tickets at the supermarket, etc. and follows similar instructions. His collection of tickets will have numbers and windows in different respective zone spaces. These tickets can be stacked together as a deck of cards. The customer may then look through the punched out windows and if he has won, he will see a complete telephone number. This number can then be dialed into the telephone system and which provides a signal, here a preferably recorded message, automatically informing the customer as to the amount of his prize and the manner by which it can be collected.

The game may be played over a wide area by providing a game-playing telephone circuit and a game-playing exchange. Game messages may be associated with certain stations in said exchange.

Description

The above mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of the game playing ticket as the customer receives it;

FIG. 1a is a diagram of the ticket of FIG. 1 when the game playing areas are uncovered;

FIG. 1b is a diagram of the card of FIG. 1a in which certain windows have been punched out;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of another card in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a different and preferred embodiment of the first game;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the indication system in connection with the card of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the indication system in connection with the card of FIG. 3;

FIGS. 6a and 6b illustrate different card sections of a different preferred embodiment of the second game;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of one of the windows of FIG. 6a prior to punching;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a wide area game-playing circuit and system; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a switchboard which may be used in connection with the system of FIG. 8.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a game-playing card 10 having game-playing areas 20 and 30. Each game-playing area is hidden by respective covering means 22 and 32. The covering and concealing means take the form of a removable strip or an ink compound. The concealing means may also include a wash off or rub off material. Such materials are conventional and comprise black material which may be removed by water or by simple rubbing. Those skilled in the art will recognize that many forms of concealing means may be used within the principles of this invention.

The customer receives printed instructions directly on the card to remove these covering means. When the covering means 22 is removed, there is disclosed a game winning indicia or no indicia (representing game loss), or predetermined indicia (also representing game loss). For illustrative purposes, a telephone number 800- 999- 1000 is shown in FIG. 1a. The customer then dials this number into the telephone system which, by appropriate means, provides a signal, a message in words or a display, such as a phonovision display, informing him that he has won or lost. It will be understood that a group of letters or words could also be dialed into the telephone system and many choices of indicia are possible. As used herein, dialing and dial means includes pushbutton dialing, circular dials or other telephone read-in equipment. Although not shown, telephone read-in equipment could read automatically the number of the card by optical or magnetic sensing. Other means may be used to insert the indicia or number into a bank of telephone stations, which for purposes herein, are a type of memory.

Alternatively, as another means for telling the customer that he has lost, he could be connected to a number which is not in service. Means provide a telephone message that the number is not is in service. By appropriate instructions on the card, this telephone message indicates to the customer that he has lost. In this case, the customer receives his money back because the telephone number is not in service. Other provisions can be made to return the customer's coin if a different telephone number is called.

The number in the game area 20 may be different from the number in other cards, and may either represent a losing number or one of many game-winning numbers. It may, if desired, represent a game-winning number having a different prize. The game envisioned here has a wide capability as to designation of prizes, as well as game winning indicia.

FIG. 4 illustrates one such system which may be used in connection with the game of FIGS. 1 and 2. The game-playing number shown in space 20 through a dial means 50 is read into the system. The address station selector 60, which may be a conventional telephone exchange, the selects one of the stations 70, 71, 72, etc., depending upon the number called. Each station or at least one of the stations may have an associated signal means which may include a message means, which when connected by the address station selector plays its output signal through a line 90 to an output device 92. It may be understood that the output device could be the receiver of a telephone system or could be a display having a phonovision display.

It will be understood that various messages may be recorded in the message means 80, 81, 82 to tell the customer that he has won, that he has lost, or no message at all.

In the case where only one winning number appears on the group of cards, the dial means 50 connects directly to a single station 70 which may provide a recorded signal through message means 80 telling the customer through output 92 that the game has been won.

A preferred embodiment of the invention related to the first game is illustrated in FIG 3. There is shown two game areas 100 and 101 which may have removable concealing means (not shown). The upper space 100 discloses a telephone number 800-999-1000 and the space 101 discloses a second group of indicia, here a telephone number, which may be considered as the mystery number. The first number shown at area 100 is used to select a game-playing group of numbers or codes. For example, when the number 800-999-1000 is dialed into this system, the customer identifies to the operator the second number 123-9000, or, using the area code, 800 -123-9000. The operator then utilizes a station-selecting means and may plug into or otherwise connect to this second number. This number or station will have associated message means, such as a taped message and a tape recorder, which becomes operative when connected and tells the player directly whether he has won or not. As an alternative, the message means may only be a winning light indication, and this winning message can be relayed by the operator.

When the game of FIG. 3 is played, dial means 50 is connected directly to a station 75. At this station, the operator then receives the mystery number contained in the space 101. The operator has at her disposal means 120 to select one or more addresses of a memory device 130. As a practical matter, memory device 130 can then be a series of telephone numbers which may be connected directly by the operator. One or more of the addresses or stations will have a message means 85, 86, etc. connected thereto and an appropriate win or an appropriate lose message can then be applied over line 90 to an output means 92.

If the person does not win or if the game is set up so that two games are played simultaneously, the second game-playing area is utilized. It will also be understood that, if desired, the card may contain the first or second game.

The second game-playing region contains covering means 32 covering a plurality of discrete, aligned, indicia slot areas or post positions referred to here as slot zones. These slot zones when fully revealed contain either a number or a space in each respective zone. Further, when there is a space (no number), a window or aperture which is light transmissive is formed. However, one or both slot zones may be first color coded to assist in following instructions. As an example, the customer may first wash off covering means in the form of a black material and see seven slot areas, such as circles, squares, etc. Some of these areas may be colored or may be marked differently to define two groups of coded slot area. That is, the seven indicia areas are divided into two categories by either color coding or other selective in identification means. As to the first group, the instructions will read so that the customer merely removes the covering material and observes a number, or one or more numbers contained therein. For example, in one version, the instructions may read as follows: 1. Wash off the black area on the other side of this ticket. 2. You will now see an area code, one or more numerals, a dash and five black areas. 3. Using a pencil, carefully punch out only the black areas. 4. You will now have one or more numbers, a dash and windows. (In FIG. 1b, two numbers and light windows are provided.) 5. Collect more tickets and do the same. 6. Now place all tickets one on top of the other so that the windows are lined up with each other. 7. When you see a full telephone number with the area code and all seven digits, you have a winning number which you can call to find out what you have won.

As stated, the customer is told to punch or otherwise remove the window material of the one coded group. In this respect, weakened boundary means for the windows, such as die cuts or perforations, or spaced perfs (FIG. 7), may be employed to facilitate removal of the window material or to provide substantially light-transmissive properties. As a feature of this invention, those zones which contain indicia and are not to be removed, may contain the same perfing or mechanical boundary means so that from the rear, or when using an X-ray or other "decoding" device, the cards look identical. When the window material has been removed, the card appears as shown in FIG. 1b. Here the first four spaces are empty, the fifth space contains the number 8, the sixth space is empty, the seventh space contains the number 6, and the remaining three spaces are empty.

Similarly, the game is played and the customer collects a second, third, fourth, etc. card which are stacked one on top of the other as in a card deck. When instructions are followed, this second card appears as illustrated in FIG. 2. If the customer has the winning number of cards there will be a number in each slot area and the windows will expose one digit in each slot area. The total digits comprise a telephone number. It is apparent that the area code may be optionally printed adjacent the telephone number and may be initially concealed or always exposed. Therefore, by looking at the stacked array of cards, a single telephone number will appear through the windows. This telephone number is preferably selected as a winning number and the customer dials this number into the telephone system. He will then be informed about his prize.

It will be understood that particular zones can be used as the hole out. That is, the number which can determine the prize or the amount or of the prize or whether the prize has been won. For example, a number 800-123-1567 may win $l.00, 800 -123-2567 may win $5.00; 800-123-3567 may win $10.00 , etc., the seventh number being the hold out.

In FIGS. 6a and 6b,there are illustrated different and preferred embodiments of the second game. There is associated therewith an area code 800 (see FIG. 3 also) and a second game-playing region 200 having a plurality of slot zones as mentioned previously. A second card is illustrated in FIG. 6b and numeral 210 identifies the same game-playing zones. The background color of the card of FIG. 6a is identified by numeral 202 and may, for example, be yellow, while the background color identified by 212 may be a different color, for example, blue. The slot zones here are shown as circular. When the customer receives the cards, the numerals 1 and 3, illustrated in FIGS. 6a and 6b,are not visible and the entire game-playing area is covered, the same as in FIG. 1. When the customer removes the covering, the holes which are to be punched out are identified by a color or any coding device, also as described previously.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view showing the slot zone 220 prior to the time that the window material 220' is removed. In one embodiment, mechanical means shown as a plurality of tabs or perfs connected the window material 220' to the remainder of the card. The spacing between the interior or window material and the remainder card is exaggerated only for purpose of illustration. Each of the slot zones of FIG. 6a including those containing the indicia or numbers are formed in the same way so that from any external view, from the back or using an X-ray, etc., all of the slot zones look the same.

As stated previously, those slot zones containing predetermined coding means are punched out. The color in background 202 is shown within the visible area of the space zone 230 and in FIG. 6b the color 212 is also shown in the area of space zone 240. When the cards, shown in FIGS. 6a and 66, are stacked one on top of the other, a full telephone number may appear, but the color backgrounds for each number may be different. The game may be played so that the winning cards have a telephone number having a background all of the same color. Other marking devices may be used to distinguish between sets of numbers which may appear within the zone spaces.

Alternatively, the space zones may contain the numbers alone in a white background and, the playing-game area, as suggested by background 202 and 212, may be colored differently. The game may be played so that all of the winning cards must be of the same color in the game-playing area. This adds another dimension by which winners and losers can be distinguished.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there are shown diagrammatically a plurality of locations, i.e., New York, Chicago, El Paso, representing a wide geographic area at which the games illustrated in connection with FIGS. 1--3 may be played. In each of these locations there are illustrated telephones 301, 302, 303, etc. Each of the telephones, of course, may be used to dial standard telephone numbers or area codes, such as are suggested by the numerals 914, 203, which are shown directed to the specific lines and which are intended to represent diagrammatically, area codes which may be connected to the telephone 301. In this invention, all of the telephones 301, 302, 303 are connected to a game-playing circuit identified by the numeral 800. When any of the participants dials into the game-playing circuit the call is connected to a specific memory which is part of an exchange and which is identified as number 999. For purposes herein, the game-playing circuit may be identified by the first three numbers 800 of the telephone number as suggested also in FIGS. 1--3.

In terms of implementation, the game playing circuit 800 and the game exchange 999 are part of a wide area telephone system. The wide area telephone system is a commercially available system made available by the Bell System under the designation WATS. In this system, the trunk line 800 is distributed throughout the specified geographic areas and interconnects many cities, etc. The subscriber who utilizes the WATS system does not have to connect through area codes or other means since all of the exchanges may be connected to this common line. For example, as illustrated diagrammatically, exchange 1 and exchange 2 may be standard exchanges utilized by other customers of the WATS system. However, the game-playing circuit of this invention is specific to the line 800 and the exchange 999. Such equipment is commercially available and need not be described in any further detail herein.

Means 900 comprising a coin return and a time count disconnecting means are made available as part of the WATS system and when a participant places his dime into the telephone 301 and dials the number 800-999-1000, he may be connected for example from New York to the game exchange located anywhere desired, New York, Philadelphia, El Paso, Los Angeles. He immediately receives his dime back and no time count is made in connection with the conversation.

It will be understood that while one game exchange number is illustrated as 999, that more than one game exchange number can be used and as a practical matter a large number of game-playing numbers may be utilized throughout the entire United States in playing the game.

If the game of FIG. 1A is played, by the use of the dial means incorporated in the telephone 301 and associated equipment, the number 800-999-1000 is immediately read into the system, the game exchange and the game switchboard 1000 then function in the same manner as suggested in FIG. 4.

The game exchange 999 may then include within it, the address station selector 60 and the station 70 and the message means 80 shown in FIG. 4. By playing this game, a person dialing in a number in New York or in Texas will immediately be informed as to whether he has won or lost a game.

When the game of FIG. 3 is played, the number 800 -999 -1000 may be dialed into this system, and a telephone operator will answer. In this case the number 800-123-9000 is told to the operator who immediately plugs into a switchboard, the face f of which is shown in more detail in FIG. 9. There are also illustrated in FIG. 8, win and lose recorded messages 1010 which are connected to the respective numbers illustrated also in FIG. 9 and which contain messages. Obviously the win message is connected to the winning numbers and the lose messages are connected to different numbers. If the number 800-123-9000 is a winning number, the operator plugs into that number as illustrated in FIG. 9 and the win message which is recorded in 1010 is connected thereto.

By functioning in this way, the telephone operator does not know what is or is not a winning number nor does the telephone operator know whether the caller is a winner. The telephone operator functions only as a telephone operator and is not a participant in the game.

The game switchboard 1000 may be a conventional switchboard and one form of which is available as the Bell System 552 PBX switchboard. In this type of switchboard, the face of which is suggested in FIG. 9, the openings represent contact receptacles which are connected by standard plugs. The incoming call received over an inward WATS trunk line is then connected to the winner or loser numbers by the operator plugging in a conventional cable. It will be obvious that more than one switchboard can be used dependent upon the selection of the winning and losing numbers. Since obviously most of the numbers will be losing numbers, the telephone switchboard can have a certain code so that more than one telephone number is identified with a particular receptacle and of course the lose message will be connected through that receptacle. Further, various forms of lose messages may be connected and the losing numbers themselves may have a coding or a selectivity depending upon the nature of the game. For example, if one game in location 1, New York is played for a group of stores distributing cards, the game in location 3, El Paso may be played for a group of gasoline stations distributing different cards. The losing message may advantageously contain a selective statement that the store or the gas station thanks the participant for playing the game. Different messages can therefore be recorded and connected to specific numbers.

Various forms of automatic answering services and messages may be utilized in connection with the winning and losing numbers and the messages may be recorded in a taped system currently available by the Bell System as 100A, and automatic answering service or an automatic answering system.

It will be apparent that other means may be used as additional dimensions or variables to distinguish winning from losing numbers, such as by applying discrete coding techniques in the form of color, shape or other indicia on the game playing card.

It may be understood that in forming the two groups of numbers 1, 2, 3 or more, or any number, may contain digits and may contain windows.

Further, in the second game area, the winning indicia may comprise any word, number, symbol or group thereof which becomes apparent when the cards are stacked.

It is, therefore, a prime object of this invention to provide an almost or a semiinstantaneous game winning system which immediately informs the customer that he is a winner. The advantage to be derived from the foregoing system is that the number which is identified in the cards and when related to a telephone number, allows the customer to almost instantaneously determine whether he has won a prize.

While the foregoing description sets forth the principles of the invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation of the scope of the invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A game system comprising: a plurality of cards, each card having a game playing region; game indicia on each card in said region, at least one of said indicia and at least one of said cards having losing indicia cards having game winning indicia; a wide area game playing telephone circuit including responsive system means to determine whether indicia of a card is winning; said game playing circuit including a game playing exchange means and input means adapted to apply said indicia to said responsive system means; said input means comprising dial means; said responsive system means including station means having stations responsive to different indicia; said exchange means adapted to select predetermined stations in response to the input of said indicia to said dial means; and signal means coupled to at least a said predetermined station to provide a

2. The process of playing a game in a game system comprising: a plurality of cards, said cards each including exchange and station indicia, the station indicia varying from card to card, said system including a wide area telephone system including a game playing circuit including a first game playing telephone exchange, said exchange selectable by dialing said exchange indicia into the telephone system; a plurality of separate stations associated with said exchange, means for selecting said separate stations in accordance with the various station indicia; storage means having a win message means coupled to at least one of said separate stations; the process including the steps of: giving out the cards to various players; the players, individually utilizing the indicia of one card, dialing said exchange indicia into said exchange; supplying to said means for selecting said separate stations said station indicia to select a station; and indicating a win if the selected station is one which has storage means

3. In the game of claim 2, the means for selecting being a telephone operator applying said various station indicia to select a respective one of said separate stations.