Methods for processing security documents

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.