Method and apparatus for handling cards
First Claim
1. A playing card handling apparatus, comprising:
- a dealing rack comprising single-card receptacles adjacent one another in a fixed linear array, one or more of the single-card receptacles containing a playing card;
a blocking wall alongside a card removal side of the dealing rack;
a controller programmed to cause at least one of the dealing rack and the blocking wall to move relative to the other to expose a selected number of single-card receptacles beyond an extent of the blocking wall to create an open path for removal of one or more of the playing cards from the exposed single-card receptacles; and
a card presentation pusher positionable, responsive to the controller, to move at least one of the playing cards within the selected number of exposed single-card receptacles to extend from the exposed single-card receptacles a distance beyond the blocking wall.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A card shuffler that moves cards one at a time from the bottom of a group that may be a deck in a deck-crib, to randomly designated single-card receptacles in a receiving or dealing rack, and methods for shuffling and for dealing cards. Either the deck-crib or the receiving rack is moved by a motor to align a single-card receptacle, randomly selected from among remaining empty single-card receptacles, with an outfeed slot of the deck-crib to receive each card to be moved from the deck-crib. A single card is moved from the deck-crib by a card mover mechanism that may include an auxiliary card pusher to ensure that the card is placed fully into the selected single-card receptacle. A controller can cause the dealing rack to move so as to allow a selected number of cards to be removed by the dealer for dealing as a player hand or a dealer hand. A card presentation pusher may make a group of the cards in the dealing rack available to be grasped by the dealer for removal. A card reader may be included, and positions in the receiving or dealing rack of cards identified by the card reader can be stored in memory in the controller.
908 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A playing card handling apparatus, comprising:
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a dealing rack comprising single-card receptacles adjacent one another in a fixed linear array, one or more of the single-card receptacles containing a playing card; a blocking wall alongside a card removal side of the dealing rack; a controller programmed to cause at least one of the dealing rack and the blocking wall to move relative to the other to expose a selected number of single-card receptacles beyond an extent of the blocking wall to create an open path for removal of one or more of the playing cards from the exposed single-card receptacles; and a card presentation pusher positionable, responsive to the controller, to move at least one of the playing cards within the selected number of exposed single-card receptacles to extend from the exposed single-card receptacles a distance beyond the blocking wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of dispensing playing cards from a card handling apparatus, the method comprising:
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responsive to a command from a controller, causing at least one of a dealing rack comprising single-card receptacles adjacent one another in a fixed linear array, one or more of the single-card receptacles containing a playing card, and a blocking wall alongside a card removal side of the dealing rack, to move relative to one another to expose a selected number of single-card receptacles of the dealing rack beyond an extent of the blocking wall; and responsive to another command from the controller, causing a card presentation pusher to move at least one of the playing cards within the selected number of exposed single-card receptacles to extend from the exposed single-card receptacles a distance beyond the blocking wall. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification