Card handling devices and related methods
First Claim
1. A card handling device, comprising:
- a card infeed tray sized and shaped to receive a set of cards;
a separate card output tray located adjacent to the card infeed tray on a same side of the card handling device, an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the card infeed tray and an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the separate card output tray being substantially coplanar with one another, each of the upper edge of the card infeed tray and the upper edge of the separate card output tray being coplanar with a substantially flat flange at least partially surrounding the card infeed tray and the separate card output tray;
a gate member located within the card infeed tray and positionable between a retracted position and an engaged position at least partially within the card infeed tray and configured to, when positioned in the engaged position, provide a physical separation between cards for game play within the card infeed tray and at least one special card also within the card infeed tray, wherein the gate member comprises a first end pivotally connected to a shaft and a second, opposite end comprising a roller rotationally coupled to the second, opposite end of the gate member, the shaft being located between the card infeed tray and the separate card output tray, and wherein the roller of the gate member, when positioned in the engaged position, opposes a card feed roller configured to move cards from the card infeed tray in a direction toward the shaft;
compartments configured and positionable to receive the cards therein from the card infeed tray, some of the compartments being designated card compartments for receiving subsets of cards for game play in the respective designated card compartments, and at least one of the compartments being a designated other card compartment for receiving the at least one special card;
a card output system including at least one movable part configured to move the cards from the compartments to the separate card output tray;
a card sensing system configured to identify cards for game play to be moved to the compartments; and
a control system comprising;
at least one electronic signal processor;
at least one memory device in information communication with the at least one electronic signal processor; and
a computer program stored in memory of the at least one memory device, the computer program configured to cause the control system to selectively control the card output system to assign a card compartment to a respective subset of cards for game play and to selectively move the subset of cards for game play from the assigned card compartment to the card output tray and at least one special card from the at least one designated other card compartment to the card output tray.
11 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Card handling devices comprise a card handling zone. A card infeed tray is configured to pass cards to the card handling zone and a separate card output tray is configured to receive cards from the card handling zone. A control system of the card handling device comprises at least one electronic signal processor, at least one memory device in electrical communication with the electronic signal processor, and a computer program stored in the memory of the memory device. The computer program is programmed to cause the control system to selectively control at least one of a card infeed system, the card handling zone, and a card output system of the card handling device and to receive an input from a user input to selectively perform at least one of a shuffling operation, a sorting operation, and a dealing operation using the card handling device.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A card handling device, comprising:
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a card infeed tray sized and shaped to receive a set of cards; a separate card output tray located adjacent to the card infeed tray on a same side of the card handling device, an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the card infeed tray and an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the separate card output tray being substantially coplanar with one another, each of the upper edge of the card infeed tray and the upper edge of the separate card output tray being coplanar with a substantially flat flange at least partially surrounding the card infeed tray and the separate card output tray; a gate member located within the card infeed tray and positionable between a retracted position and an engaged position at least partially within the card infeed tray and configured to, when positioned in the engaged position, provide a physical separation between cards for game play within the card infeed tray and at least one special card also within the card infeed tray, wherein the gate member comprises a first end pivotally connected to a shaft and a second, opposite end comprising a roller rotationally coupled to the second, opposite end of the gate member, the shaft being located between the card infeed tray and the separate card output tray, and wherein the roller of the gate member, when positioned in the engaged position, opposes a card feed roller configured to move cards from the card infeed tray in a direction toward the shaft; compartments configured and positionable to receive the cards therein from the card infeed tray, some of the compartments being designated card compartments for receiving subsets of cards for game play in the respective designated card compartments, and at least one of the compartments being a designated other card compartment for receiving the at least one special card; a card output system including at least one movable part configured to move the cards from the compartments to the separate card output tray; a card sensing system configured to identify cards for game play to be moved to the compartments; and a control system comprising; at least one electronic signal processor; at least one memory device in information communication with the at least one electronic signal processor; and a computer program stored in memory of the at least one memory device, the computer program configured to cause the control system to selectively control the card output system to assign a card compartment to a respective subset of cards for game play and to selectively move the subset of cards for game play from the assigned card compartment to the card output tray and at least one special card from the at least one designated other card compartment to the card output tray. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 18, 19)
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7. A method of handling cards with a card handling device, the method comprising:
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receiving cards including cards for play of a wagering game and at least one other card not for play of the wagering game in a card infeed tray of the card handling device; pivoting a gate member pivotally coupled to the card handling device from a retracted position aligned upright within the card infeed tray to an engaged position at least partially within the card infeed tray to separate the cards for play of the wagering game received within the card infeed tray from the at least one other card also received within the card infeed tray, a separate card output tray located adjacent to the card infeed tray and having an opening on a same side of the card handling device as an opening of the card infeed tray, an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the card infeed tray and an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the separate card output tray being substantially coplanar with one another, each of the upper edge of the card infeed tray and the upper edge of the separate card output tray being coplanar with a substantially flat flange at least partially surrounding the card infeed tray and the separate card output tray, wherein the gate member comprises a first end pivotally connected to a shaft and a second, opposite end comprising a roller rotationally coupled to the second, opposite end of the gate member, the shaft being located between the card infeed tray and the separate card output tray; assigning compartments to respective subsets of cards for play of the wagering game; individually moving the cards for play of the wagering game into randomly selected compartments of a plurality of compartments from the card infeed tray with a card infeed system, wherein the roller of the gate member, when positioned in the engaged position, opposes a card feed roller configured to move the cards from the card infeed tray in a direction toward the shaft of the gate member; moving the at least one other card not for play of the wagering game into at least one designated other card compartment of the plurality of compartments with the card infeed system; moving the at least one other card into the separate card output tray from the at least one designated other card compartment with a card output system; and moving a subset of cards for play of the wagering game into the separate card output tray from one of the assigned compartments of the plurality of compartments with the card output system. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An automatic card shuffler adapted to form a hand of cards including a special card, comprising:
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a card input tray; a separate card output tray located adjacent to the card input tray on a same side of the automatic card shuffler, wherein an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the card input tray and an uppermost portion of an upper edge of the separate card output tray are substantially coplanar with one another, each of the upper edge of the card input tray and the upper edge of the separate card output tray being coplanar with a substantially flat flange at least partially surrounding the card input tray and the separate card output tray; a pivotable gate member located within the card input tray configured to pivot from a retracted position within the card input tray to an engaged position at least partially within the card input tray to provide a physical separation barrier between cards for game play within the card input tray and at least one special card also within the card input tray, wherein the pivotable gate member comprises a first end pivotally connected to a shaft and a second, opposite end comprising a card contact end at the second, opposite end of the pivotable gate member, the shaft being located between the card input tray and the separate card output tray, and wherein the card contact end of the pivotable gate member, when positioned in the engaged position, opposes a card feed roller configured to move cards from the card input tray in a direction toward the shaft; a first card mover for moving the cards from the card input tray to a compartment; multiple intermediate storage compartments for receiving playing cards from the card input tray, wherein at least one of the intermediate storage compartment is designated for receiving a special card from the card input tray; a second card mover for moving a subset of playing cards in a compartment of the intermediate storage compartments to the separate card output tray; and a processor programmed to assign intermediate storage compartments to respective subsets of playing cards, to cause the second card mover to move a special card to the output tray from the at least one intermediate storage compartment designated for receiving the special card, and to cause the second card mover to move one of the subsets of playing cards to the output tray from the assigned intermediate storage compartments for receiving playing cards, forming a group of cards that contains both playing cards and the special card in the output tray. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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Specification