Peel Off Coupon Redemption Card and Tracking System

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to the following areas of technology:

PRINTED MATTER--a label;

PRINTED MATTER--having revealable concealed information, fraud preventer or detector, use preventer or detector, or identifier by removable material that is adhesively attached;

PRINTED MATTER--Advertising;

CHEMISTRY--adhesive coatings on sheets and products.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Cents-off coupons and other types of discount coupons are well know to grocery shoppers. Local newspapers print various grocery item coupons, which will be honored by most major supermarket chains. Coupons are also published in magazines, and are frequently mailed to households in mass mailings. The retail establishments that accept and honor these coupon then have to collate the coupons, and forward them to the manufacturer for reimbursement plus handling costs. Coupons come in various shapes, sizes and condition. The cashier accepts the coupons as they are presented to her at the check out line at a supermarket. The accepted coupons then have to be sorted and processed, which is very time consuming to the supermarket. It takes time for the cashier to read each coupon, credit the customer's cash register receipt for the amount stated on each coupon, and also ensure that the customer has purchased the product stated on the coupon. The cashier then places the redeemed coupons in a special drawer for sorting later.

Redemption stamps and stamp booklets also are well known in the art. Green Stamps were popular in the 1950's. Participating retail stores would display a decal or sign indicating that they would issue Green Stamps. Whenever a customer purchased goods at the store, the store would issue to the customer a quantity of Green Stamps, which would usually be based upon the purchase price of the goods. The Green Stamps were similar to postage stamps and had a glued backing that only had to be moistened to activate the adhesive ability of the stamps. The customer was supplied with Green Stamp redemption booklets, which contained a fixed number of blank pages for gluing the Green Stamps thereto. The object was to fill up several booklets with Green Stamps. The full booklets then could be redeemed at a Green Stamp redemption center. The redemption center would give the redeemer free goods in exchange for a certain number of booklets filled with Green Stamps. The system was funded by the retail stores, which purchased the Green Stamps from the redemption center. The participating stores believed that issuing Green Stamps increased their business, because customers would prefer to shop at a store that issued Green Stamps over a store that did not.

A coupon redemption card and tracking system includes a credit card size redemption coupon card used by the customer, and a tracking sheet used by the redemption center such as a restaurant. The redemption card has a plurality of mini coupons, which can be peeled off individually. Each redeemed peel off coupon is affixed to the tracking sheet, which has dimensions of a dollar bill so that the sheet can be placed conveniently in the till of a cash register. The tracking system facilitates the accounting and inventory of redeemed coupons.

The coupon card is fabricated from two laminated layers of paper or paper-like material, a clear plastic protective film, and an adhesive coating. The base layer is fabricated from a special paper. An adhesive layer is applied to one side of the base layer. The layer, which will form the peel off coupon layer, is then affixed to the layer of adhesive material. The finished two layered sheet is held together by adhesive material. The layered sheet is produced as a large single sheet or as roll of the material. The sheet or roll is then sent to the printer. The printer applies printer's ink to both sides of the sheet to form the desired printed matter on both sides of the sheet. After the printer's ink transfer process has been completed, the top side of the sheet has the requested identification or advertising matter printed on it. The bottom side has the requested individual coupons printed on it. The next step is to have the top surface laminated with a clear plastic film for durability, protection, and to provide a pleasing appearance. This clear protective film lamination process can take place immediately after the inking process. It must be done afterwards to protect the previously applied printer's ink. The laminated sheets are then die-cut on the coupon side. When the individual coupon is removed from the card, it has sufficient adhesive so that it will adhere to the tracking sheet. The small size of the mini coupons is convenient for the card holder and it is also convenient for the redemption center. It eliminates the need to process diverse sizes and shapes of customer coupons. The system can be used wherever one has to keep track of various redeemable coupons and the like.

The present invention is preferably used for fund raising by charitable organizations that have youngsters as members. Such organizations include the Little League, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and the Y.M.C.A. Initially various fast food restaurants are contacted in a given geographic area to ask if they would participate in the fund raising drive. The fast food restaurants are asked to redeem the coupons submitted by the customer. The fast food restaurant absorbs the costs. The fast food restaurant benefits by attracting new customers, keeping customer loyalty, and increasing its good will in the community. The coupon cards are fabricated and sold to the charitable organization for a fee. The charitable organization then sells the cards to the public for a higher fee. The difference between the cost and the price sold to the public is the profit made by the organization. The money goes to fund the charitable or non-profit organization. There is no overhead involved, because the cards are sold by the members. The coupon card usually has a legend printed on it to let the customer know which restaurants will honor the coupons. The coupon system also eliminates employee theft at the restaurant. It prevents a sales clerk from selling an item of food, pocketing the money, and then telling the manager that he or she gave away the item of food. Any food items given away would have to be evidenced by the redeemed coupon affixed to the tracking sheet in the clerk's till. When the coupon is redeemed, the clerk affixes the coupon to a blank square on the tracking sheet and then writes in the amount that would normally be charged for that food item as if the customer had paid for the item of food. The tracking sheets are also acceptable evidence by the Internal Revenue Service to show a legitimate tax deduction by the restaurant. There are three parties involved in the promotion: the fast food restaurant, the coupon card distributor, and the non-profit organization. This three party arrangement is required by the I.R.S. before the restaurant can take the full deduction as a legitimate business expense. The completed tracking sheets already have the prices written in by the clerks. All of the prices on the tracking sheets are tallied by the accountant. The total amount is allowed by the I.R.S. as a deduction. Other types of promotional arrangements result in only a partial deduction by the I.R.S. of the actual costs incurred by the fast food restaurant. It is also useful when the franchisee calculates the royalties due to the franchisor, which are usually based on gross sales.

The thickness of the coupon card is 0.0177 to 0.019 inches. Conventional plastic credit cards are 0.021 to 0.027 inches in thickness. This is a standard thickness so that the plastic credit cards can be used in a machine that accepts plastic credit cards. All machines are designed to accept only this range of thicknesses for a plastic credit card. The present invention cannot be used in a credit card machine, because it is too thin. This prevents misuse of the coupon card by those who might try to use the card at a bank teller machine for example.

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a pair of folded peel-off redemption coupon cards, which are illustrated in the unfolded position.

FIG. 2 is the tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be affixed thereto.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of a credit card size peel-off coupon card.

FIG. 4 is top plan view of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of FIG. 3, the back being identical.

FIG. 6 is a left side elevational view of FIG. 3, the right side being identical.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7--7 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the coupon card shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the alternate embodiment of the tracking sheet shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged left side elevational view of the coupon card shown in FIG. 8 clearly showing the layers of material forming the folded pair of coupon redemption cards.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of FIG. 6 clearly showing the layers of the materials forming the coupon redemption card.

FIG. 12 illustrates the back face of a single redemption card having sixteen mini coupons with various fast food restaurants printed thereon.

FIG. 13 illustrates a typical tracking sheet used by a redemption center such as a fast food restaurant.

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a second alternate tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be affixed thereto.

FIG. 15 is a bottom plan view of the second alternate tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the value of each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be tracked;

FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of a variant of the basic peel-off coupon system.

FIG. 17 is top plan view of FIG. 16 showing a variant of the basic peel-off coupon tracking system having a concealed scratch-off coupon and a bar code on another peel off coupon.

FIG. 18 is the face of a tracking sheet very similar to FIG. 16 where each redeemed peel-off mini coupon from the card can be affixed thereto, and which is shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17, the right side being identical and showing the scratch-off layer.

FIG. 20 is a top plan view of a complementary pair of foldable immunization tracking coupon cards having bar codes imprinted on each mini coupon, and is illustrated in the unfolded position.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged front elevational view of the pair of immunization cards shown in FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 showing the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off coupon card fabricated from vinyl or PVC and having a magnetic strip and a bar code to identify the entire card rather than just the mini coupon.

FIG. 23 is the reverse side of the card shown in FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is top plan view similar to FIGS. 4, 12, 17 and 22 showing the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off mini coupon card having free coupons for use in a gambling casino.

FIG. 25 is a top plan view similar to FIGS. 1, 8, and 20 view of a complementary pair of double flap foldable stamp or mini coupon cards, and is illustrated in the unfolded position.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the edge of the card illustrated in FIG. 25

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon or stamp with a bar code placed thereon. The mini coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of an example of a mini coupon or stamp with a magnetic strip placed thereon. The coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of an example of a regular mini coupon or stamp. The coupon can be used as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 12, 17, 20, or 25.

Referring now to the drawings, the present invention includes two major components. The first component is referred to as the peel-off coupon redemption card 10. The single card is illustrated in FIGS. 3-7 and 11-12. The second component is referred to as the tracking sheet 100. The tracking sheet is illustrated in FIGS. 2, 9 and 13. The tracking sheet illustrated in FIG. 13 is 6".times.21/2". The single coupon redemption card 10 is a credit card size, which can easily fit into the card holder of a user's wallet. The card 10 is thin, flat and has dimensions of 33/8".times.21/8". The four corners of the card are rounded. The coupon card is thinner than a plastic credit card. The coupon card is 0.0175 to 0.019 inches in thickness. Other than the thickness, it is identical in size to a typical plastic credit card such as a bank card or an oil company credit card. The back face 15 of the card 10 contains a plurality of small mini coupons. FIGS. 4 and 12 illustrate the back side of the card with the peel off mini coupons. Preferably the redemption card has sixteen mini peel off coupons 20 secured to it. Each coupon is scored at any adjoining edges 22, 24, 26 and 28 by a die-cut process so that one can peel away a corner of the coupon with one's finger nail and then can easily remove that particular coupon. A "dog ear" marking 30 is illustrated at one corner of each coupon to visually indicate to the user where to begin the peeling process. The mini coupons do not have the "dog ear" 30 portion already exposed. It is foreseeable that a pull tab or string of some type could be integrated with the coupon to assist in the coupon removal process. The underside of the coupon 20 has an adhesive backing to hold the coupon in place. Each coupon on the coupon card has printed matter printed thereon when the coupon card is fabricated. In the preferred embodiment, the printed matter on each coupon card is for a cash price discount or a buy one-get one free meal at a fast food type of restaurant. This type of coupon card is illustrated in FIG. 12. FIG. 12 illustrates coupons for several different fast food restaurants to allow the card holders flexibility in their selections on where and what kinds of food to eat, because the participating restaurants printed on the coupons will honor the card. The card holders tell the cashier at the restaurant when ordering that they want to redeem one of more of their coupons. The card holder then hands the cashier the coupon card. The cashier peels off the requisite coupon for that particular establishment. The cashier has a second component, the tracking sheet 100, located in her cashier drawer. The tracking sheet is about the size of a dollar bill. This allows the tracking sheet 100 to fit in one of the compartments in the cashier's tray normally used for holding paper currency. After the cashier has peeled off the mini coupon from the discount card, she affixes it to the tracking sheet kept in the cash register tray. The peeled off coupon 20 has sufficient adhesive backing remaining on it so that it will permanently affix itself to the tracking sheet 10. This sequence of transferring the coupon from the card to the sheet is illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13. The tracking sheet has room at the top of it for printing with adjacent blank lines to enter information such as date, register number, location, shift number and the like. The tracking sheet also has a grid layout defining a plurality of squares, which are slightly larger than the mini coupons. The squares are sufficiently large to accommodate the coupons to be affixed to the tracking sheet without having to be placed too closely to one another. After the cashier has affixed the coupon to the tracking sheet, the cents off coupon or the free item coupon as the case may be, is deducted from the customer's itemized bill in the usual manner. The cashier then returns the redemption card to the customer. At the end of the shift or at any reasonable interval, the manager can remove the cash drawer tray along with the cash received, and the tracking sheet with the affixed coupons. The tracking sheet with the affixed coupons function as a convenient reference list to assist in counting the cash and coupons in the cash drawer tray in order to tally and balance out the total transactions for the shift with the amount of money and coupons taken in.

The redemption card 10 is fabricated from four flat sheets of superposed layered material. The card 10 has a front face 25 and a back face 15. The front face 25 is used for printing identification, graphics, or advertising on it, which is readily visible on the card. The back face shows the peel off mini coupons 20. The front face 25 of the coupon card comprises the front side of a sheet 30 of paper and is described as a tag 12 point release liner. The sheet 30 is described as the base layer. The back side 35 of the sheet 30 has a layer of adhesive 40 applied to it. The adhesive 40 is sold by FASSON label, which it calls SP11G special liner. The adhesive has a rubber-like base material. It is very tacky to allow the coupon to adhere to many types of material. The adhesive will not "bleed" or melt when it becomes warm. This is necessary, because the coupon card will be carried in a man's wallet. The man can sit on his wallet containing the coupon card, and yet the adhesive will remain stable. The next sheet is used for the coupons. This sheet 50 is described as the coupon layer. This sheet is sold by FASSON label manufacturing company. It is described as number #60 blue/white high gloss white cream coat. FASSON sells its sheets under the federally registered trademark CRACK'N PEEL Plus. This material is sold as 11.5".times.15" sheets or approximately 1,000 foot long rolls. The top face of the liner which contains the advertising usually has a plastic film to cover the advertising to provide a more durable and shiny surface to the card. This top film 60 is known as face stock and it is made out of 0069-2Mil UCL Polyolam NPL Film. The card normally requires five different operations just to make the card material. There are two material companies and a laminating company to create the material in sheet or roll form. The printer then prints the advertising on the face of the sheet in sections so that the cards can be cut separately and then on the bottom face of the material the appropriate coupons are printed on the card in the appropriate spaces. After the printing has taken place, then the top face of the tag liner is covered with the durable plastic liner or sealed with a liquid protective sealant. The coupons are also die-cut during the printing process. Therefore, the printing process comprises printing the top and the bottom of the card, putting a plastic laminate on one side of the card and die-cutting the other side of the card. The die-cutting process is sufficiently deep so that the coupons can be peeled off.

FIG. 11 illustrates the side view of the coupon card. FIG. 12 illustrates the side view of a double coupon card. The thicknesses of the layers are exaggerated to clearly illustrate the layering of the card.

FIG. 8 illustrates a double card where the coupons are spaced apart. FIG. 9 illustrates one type of tracking sheet.

It is to be understood that the specific materials used to form the card can be substituted for those herein described. The coupon card material is similar to a peel off label sold at office supply stores. The coupon card is an enlarged label and improved to form the coupon card. The coupon sheet and the base sheet could be fabricated from any number of materials. The adhesive film could be any number of films already on the market. The plastic film could also be any number of films already available on the market.

FIG. 14 illustrates a top plan view of a second alternate tracking sheet where each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be affixed thereto. FIG. 15 illustrates the bottom plan view of the second alternate tracking sheet shown in FIG. 14 where the value of each redeemed peel-off coupon from the card can be tracked.

After the counter clerk removes a peel-off coupon 15 from the coupon card, he or she affixes the coupon onto one of the squares 115 on the tracking card 110 shown in FIGS. 14 and 18. FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 show the step of transferring the peel-off coupon 15 to the tracking sheet. The total amount of the sale is then written in the top of the square 120 adjacent to the $ symbol and immediately above the coupon. At the end of the shift or sooner if the tracking sheet is filled up with redeemed coupons, the clerk then adds up the total dollar value on the front of the sheet for the total sales. FIG. 14 shows a line 125 towards the bottom to insert total sales. The back side of the tracking sheet in FIG. 15 illustrates four rows of boxes. In the first box 130 in row one, the clerk enters the total number of peel-off coupons received for the promotion. For example, buy one regular hamburger and get one free. The clerk then enters the price of the 2 peel-off items in the second box 135 in row one. The amount in box one is multiplied by the amount in box two and the product of the multiplication is entered in box three 140 on the first row. The clerk must then calculate the percentage of the cost of promotion to be entered in box 145. In the left column 150 the percentage of the product cost is entered, then the cost of material is entered and then the total labor to make the item is entered. Theses figures are supplied by management. The total is added and entered in box 155. The same number is entered in box 145 in the first row. The number in box 145 is subtracted from the number in box 140 to arrive at the cost of the promotion, which is entered in box 160 in row one. The next three rows of boxes are used if the promotion covers other items such as a free coke or order of fries. The right boxes 160 and below are totaled to arrive at the total cost of the promotion which is entered on line 165.

FIG. 16 illustrates a bottom plan view of a variant of the basic peel-off coupon card 200. FIG. 17 is a top plan view of FIG. 16 showing a variant of the basic peel-off coupon tracking system having a concealed scratch-off coupon 200 and a bar code 210 on another peel off coupon. The scratch-off cover 205 is a hot foil treatment that is applied to one of more coupons after the coupons are printed. It is intended that the underlying coupon offers a special prize for the cardholder. For example, the hidden coupon could offer a free hamburger, coke, or fries to the cardholder. Also illustrated in FIG. 17 is a bar code 215 indicating a medium pizza. The bar code is machine readable by a wand bar code reader or a stationary bar code scanner. The addition of bar codes on the peel-off coupons allows for greater tracking capability on the part of the redemption card center, which is usually a fast food restaurant. After a tracking sheet such as those illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 18 are filled with redeemed coupons, the filled tracking sheets could be scanned or read by a bar code reader that would send the data to a computer which would tabulate the redeemed coupons to accelerate the tracking process, and would reduce or eliminate human error. It would also reduce the number of man hours needed to manually tabulate the filled tracking sheets. FIG. 18 is the face of a tracking sheet very similar to FIG. 16 where each redeemed peel-off mini coupon 15 from the card 200 can be affixed thereto, and which is shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is an enlarged left side elevational view of FIG. 17 showing the scratch-off layer. The scratch-off layer 205 is clearly visible. The thicknesses of the laminated layers forming the card and the foil scratch-off layer are greatly exaggerated to clearly illustrate the various laminated layers.

FIG. 20 illustrates a top plan view of a complementary pair of foldable immunization tracking coupon cards 250 and 255 with bar codes 260 imprinted on each mini coupon. FIG. 20 illustrates the pair in the unfolded position. FIG. 21 is an enlarged front elevational view of the pair of immunization cards shown in FIG. 20. The present invention can be adapted to be used as an immunization card used in tracking the immunization record for a child. The method of using the present invention in this way can be practiced by issuing an immunization card that has a series coupons 265 having bar codes 260 thereon and which represents the required vaccination shots needed by a child from two months of age up to sixteen years of age. Many local schools will not enroll a child unless the parent can produce evidence that the child has already had certain vaccinations. The present invention can be used to verify this information. Additionally local, state, and federal health officials feel that the immigration of young children and child bearing adults has created a unique problem in trying to keep track of these children to ensure that they are receiving their necessary vaccinations such as their DTP vaccinations. Failure to properly vaccinate these young immigrant children could lead to epidemics of diseases that are easily protectable against by proper vaccinations. The card shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 would be completed for each child. The lines 265 could be used to enter information about the child. The child's name and social security number would be entered into some type of data base operated by the government. The child's parents would keep the immunization card, and would present it to the doctor each time the child had its appropriate vaccinations. The doctor would then remove the peel-off coupon 265 for the particular vaccination administered, and then would place it on a tracking sheet. The doctor would then mail the completed tracking cards to the appropriate department in charge of tracking vaccinations for young children. The department could read the bar codes 260 with a bar code reader and then have the information entered into a computer. The computer could keep track of the children who are not receiving their vaccinations, and could send out reminder notices to the parent or the physician that the child needs specific vaccinations.

In the drawings, FIG. 22 illustrates the back side of a redemption card 300 and is similar to the views shown in FIGS. 4, 12, 17. FIG. 22 illustrates the coupon side of a variant of the basic peel-off coupon card. The card can be fabricated from vinyl of PVC. A magnetic strip 305 and a bar code 310 are positioned on the card 300 to identify the entire card rather than just the peel-off mini coupon 315.

FIG. 23 is the front, or reverse side of the card 300 shown in FIG. 22. FIGS. 22 and 23 are life size depictions of the card as illustrated on 81/2" by 14" inch paper. Printed matter such as advertising or a description of the card would normally be printed on the front side shown in FIG. 23. The magnetic strip 305 illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 can be a special strip made by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing company, commonly known as 3M. 3M refers to it as magnetic strip stock number 315 84 98011 4811. It can be directly applied to paper and can function as a magnetic strip. Everyone is familiar with a bank or gasoline type of credit charge card. The typical bank or gas credit charge card generally has the appearance as that illustrated in FIG. 22. The magnetic strip 310 is positioned lengthwise along one or both sides of the card 300. The magnetic strip 310 is blank when the card is fabricated. An encoding machine is available which can electronically encode any message on the magnetic strip.

As regards the present invention, an encoding device could be used to activate the card 300 shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 so that the card could be used in any number of applications. A quantity of cards could be fabricated and sold to the ultimate redeemer of the cards who wishes to function as a redemption center. The encoding machine could be made available to this entity so that the blank magnetic strips 305 on the cards could be encoded according to the wishes of the purchaser of the cards. The front side of the card illustrated in FIG. 23 could be made from vinyl or PVC. The approximate thickness of the card could be 0.007 to 0.020 inches. The transfer tape 305 has high coercivity. The bar code 310 may be placed on the front or the back of the card 300. The card illustrated in FIGS. 22 and 23 is the preferred configuration. It is to be understood, however, that the card may be any size or shape.

Additional variations of the special coupons and coupon cards are illustrated in FIGS. 25 through 29. The individual peel-off coupon card 400 can have dimensions of 1" by 13/16". The overall length of the double flap stamp card or coupon card 420 can be 65/8" by 23/8". The release liner 405, labelled "A" in FIG. 26, is referred to as a release liner. It can have thicknesses of 6,8,10, or 12 tag. Tag is a term in the label making industry indicating thickness. The front side of A is for printing and coating. The back side of A is a release for liner for face stock. The top layer "C" 410 is a facestock with an adhesive on one side. The coupon 400 illustrated in FIG. 28 has a 3M special paper magnetic strip 315 84 98011 4811 401 and can be applied to paper. The magnetic strip 401 illustrated in FIG. 28 can be 1/4" in width and placed along the bottom edge of the peel-off coupon 400. This still leaves sufficient room for placing printed matter above the magnetic strip. The strip of bar code 402 in FIG. 28 is 1/4" inches wide. A regular peel-off coupon 400 is illustrated in FIG. 29. It is 13/16" and 1" long. A regular coupon and the coupons illustrated in FIGS. 25,26,27, and 28 can also have these same dimensions.

While the present invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the best mode contemplated, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein, but is to be afforded the full scope of the invention.