Card shuffler with sequential card feeding module and method of delivering groups of cards

• US 20020063389A1
• Filed: 09/20/2001
• Published: 05/30/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/1994
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Suffle Master Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Suffle Master Incorporated
• Inventors: Kukuczka, Nicholas W., Grauzer, Attila, Scheper, Paul K., Stasson, James B., Breeding, John G.
• Application Number:
  US09/957,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20020063389A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 273/292
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/12 Card shufflers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00157 Casino or betting games horse races A63F3/00082

Abstract

An automatic card shuffling machine including a dealing module is disclosed The apparatus is capable of forming at least one hand of randomized cards. The device includes: a card infeed tray; a card shuffling mechanism that randomizes a group of cards fed from the infeed tray; a card feed mechanism for moving cards from the infeed tray into the card shuffling mechanism; a programmable microprocessor that controls operation of the apparatus, including a number of cards per hand and a number of hands to be formed; a hand receiving tray; a card removing mechanism for removing cards individually from the card shuffling mechanism and delivering a preselected number of cards to the hand receiving tray; and a sensor for sensing the presence or absence of cards in the hand receiving tray. When a formed hand of cards is removed, and when fewer than all of the predetermined number of hands have been formed, the card removing mechanism is activated to form an additional randomized hand of cards. A method of dealing hands of cards utilizing a card dealing module is also described.

Claims

1. A method of forming hands of cards from a larger group of cards, comprising:

feeding the larger group of cards into a card shuffling apparatus;

shuffling the group of cards until the cards form a randomized group of cards with individual cards forming two opposite ends of the randomized group of cards;

sequentially removing a preselected number of at least two single cards from an end of the randomized group of cards; and

forming a single hand of cards with the preselected number of sequentially removed cards.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein forming a hand of cards is effected by combining the preselected number of removed cards to form a hand of cards.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein cards are individually fed into a card shuffling area within the card shuffling apparatus.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein cards are individually fed from a card holding area into the card shuffling area.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the card shuffling apparatus divides a deck of cards into two stacks, arranges the two stacks so that adjacent corners are brought together, and a mandrel is raised beneath the adjacent corners, riffling the cards.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the riffled cards are pushed together into a single stack.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the cards are riffled and pushed together multiple times to form a shuffled deck of cards.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the end from which the cards are removed is a bottom end of a stack.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a lowermost card is individually moved to a card receiving tray by means of a card moving mechanism.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the card receiving tray includes a sensor for sensing the presence of card(s).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the card shuffling apparatus comprises a microprocessor, and when the preselected number of at least two single cards is removed from the card receiving tray, the microprocessor instructs the card moving mechanism to deliver another group of cards to the card receiving tray.

14. The card dealing module of claim 13, wherein the card dealing module is operatively coupled to a card shuffling device.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the card moving mechanism comprises a pick off roller that contacts a lowermost card located in the staging area.

16. The device of claim 13, and further comprising at least one speed up roller assembly for moving cards moved by the pick off roller into the card removal tray.

17. The device of claim 13, wherein a card supporting surface of the card removal tray is substantially horizontal.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the card removal tray includes an upstanding edge for retaining cards being fed by the card moving mechanism.

19. The device of claim 13, wherein the sensor is a n optical sensor.

20. The device of claim 14, wherein the shuffler is controlled by a microprocessor, and wherein the sensor generates a signal that is received by the microprocessor and is used to determine whether additional hands of cards are to be delivered to the card removal tray.

12. An apparatus for forming at least one hand of randomized cards, comprising:

a card infeed tray;

a card shuffling mechanism that randomizes a group of cards fed from the infeed tray;

a card feed mechanism for moving cards from the infeed tray into the card shuffling mechanism;

a programmable microprocessor that controls operation of the apparatus, including a number of cards per hand and a number of hands to be formed;

a hand receiving tray;

a card removing mechanism for removing cards individually from the card shuffling mechanism and delivering a preselected number of cards to the hand receiving tray; and

a sensor for sensing the presence or absence of cards in the hand receiving tray, and when a formed hand of cards is removed, and when fewer than all of the predetermined number of hands have been formed, the card removing mechanism is activated to form an additional randomized hand of cards.

13. A card dealing module, comprising:

a card staging area for retaining a group of randomized cards;

a card moving mechanism for removing a preselected number of cards individually from the card staging area to a card removal tray;

a card removal tray comprising a card receiving surface and a sensor mounted beneath the card receiving surface for sensing the presence or absence of cards in the card removal tray.

21. An apparatus for forming at least one hand of randomized cards, comprising:

a card infeed tray;

a card shuffling mechanism that randomizes a group of cards fed from the infeed tray;

a card feed mechanism for moving cards from the infeed tray into the card shuffling mechanism;

a programmable microprocessor that controls the operation of the apparatus;

a user interface for selecting at least a number of cards per hand or an identity of a game;

a hand receiving tray;

a card removing mechanism for removing a selected number of cards individually from the card shuffling mechanism and delivering the selected number of cards to the hand receiving tray to form a single randomized hand of cards; and

a sensor for sensing the presence or absence of cards in the hand receiving tray, and when the formed hand of cards is removed, and when fewer than all of the desired number of hands have been formed, the card removing mechanism is activated to form an additional randomized hand of cards.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the sensor is an optical sensor.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the card shuffling mechanism forms a stack of randomly associated cards, and the card removing mechanism comprises a pick off roller located beneath a lowermost card in the stack.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the card removing mechanism further comprises a pair of speed up rollers for advancing individual cards moved by the pick off roller into the hand receiving tray.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the number of cards in each hand is inputted by a user.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein a number of hands to be formed from each larger group of unrandomized cards is inputted by a user.

28. The method of claim 25, further comprising a step of sensing when a randomized hand of cards is removed from the apparatus.

29. The method of claim 28 further comprising reactivating the card randomizing device when the sensor senses an absence of cards in a hand delivery area, and when the microprocessor determines that fewer than all of the selected number of hands have been formed.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the number of cards in each formed hand is equal.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein the number of cards in at least one formed hand is unequal to a number of cards in the remaining formed hands.

25. A method of forming a preselected number of randomized hands of at least two cards from a larger group of unrandomized cards, wherein at least two cards in each hand is preselected, comprising:

placing a group of cards to be randomized into a card randomizing apparatus, wherein the card randomizing apparatus is controlled by a microprocessor and includes a randomized card receiving location;

collecting randomized cards delivered to the randomized card receiving location until the preselected number has been reached, thereby forming a randomized hand of the preselected number of cards, wherein fewer than all of the cards in the larger group are used to form all of said at least one randomized hand.

32. A method of forming hands of cards from a larger group of cards, comprising:

feeding the larger group of cards into a card handling apparatus;

feeding random cards, one-at-a-time into a hand receiving area to form a first single hand of at least two cards in the hand receiving area with a preselected number of cards;

removing the single hand of at least two cards; and

then forming a second single hand of at least two cards in the hand receiving area with the preselected number of cards.

33. The method of claim 32, and further comprising a shuffling mechanism capable of randomizing a deck of cards.

34. The method of claim 32, and further comprising a shuffling mechanism capable of randomizing multiple deck s of cards.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the shuffling mechanism includes three compartments, and the shuffling mechanism cuts the cards into two groups and then interleaves the two groups to form a shuffled stack of cards.