CARD SCRAMBLING DEVICE
First Claim
1. An automated device for scrambling a plurality of playing instruments comprising:
- a chamber positioned at an incline such that the chamber has a lower portion and an elevated portion, the chamber further comprising a chamber base;
a top portion having an opening for receiving a plurality of playing instruments having a first side and a second side without direct human intervention;
and a sidewall extending from the chamber base towards the top portion, having a height configured to prevent the plurality of playing instruments received through the opening from repositioning from the first side to the second side after being received through the opening and further retain at least a portion of the playing instruments in substantial proximity to the bottom of the chamber;
and a rotating means to rotate at least a portion of the chamber
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Aspects of the invention relate to fully automated systems and methods for shuffling and scrambling playing instruments, such as cards, before being dealt to one or more players. In one embodiment, a rotating device is utilized to scramble playing instruments. In yet a further embodiment, the rotating device is coupled with air, vacuum, or combinations thereof to further scramble the cards. The scrambling device may be coupled to an aligning device for realigning the playing instruments upon being adequately shuffled. According to another aspect of the invention, physical cards are utilized in a gaming environment that may be scrambled, shuffled, and/or played remotely over a network. In one embodiment, the physical cards are traditional poker-style gaming cards. The cards include at least one identifier that may be read upon the card being dealt. The identifier may contain information that is remotely communicated to a player.
131 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An automated device for scrambling a plurality of playing instruments comprising:
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a chamber positioned at an incline such that the chamber has a lower portion and an elevated portion, the chamber further comprising a chamber base;
a top portion having an opening for receiving a plurality of playing instruments having a first side and a second side without direct human intervention;
and a sidewall extending from the chamber base towards the top portion, having a height configured to prevent the plurality of playing instruments received through the opening from repositioning from the first side to the second side after being received through the opening and further retain at least a portion of the playing instruments in substantial proximity to the bottom of the chamber;
and a rotating means to rotate at least a portion of the chamber - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of scrambling a plurality of playing instruments having a first side and a second side comprising the step of:
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(a) without direct human intervention, introducing a plurality of playing cards in an inclined chamber having a base comprising an elevated portion and a lowered portion, wherein the plurality of playing instruments are introduced with the first side facing down with respect to the base and the second side facing upwards;
(b) introducing a vacuum force upon at least a portion of the lowered portion of the chamber wherein the first side of at least one playing instruments is pulled against the chamber base; and
(c) rotating the chamber, wherein the first side of the plurality of playing instruments remains substantially downward, and the at least one playing instrument pulled against the chamber base rotates at substantially the same velocity as the chamber until rotating to a location within the elevated portion of the chamber that is not substantially proximate to the vacuum force, wherein the first side of the at least one playing instrument ceases to be pulled against the chamber base. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A device for scrambling a plurality of cards comprising:
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a scrambler module that uses rotational forces and air pressure to scramble the plurality of playing instruments without direct human intervention;
an aligner device coupled to the scrambler module for receiving and aligning the playing instruments exiting the scrambler module;
an automated card shuffling device coupled to the aligner device, wherein the card shuffling device is configured to shuffle and deal at least two playing instruments; and
a card identifier configured to determine the identity of at least one playing instruments dealt by the automated card shuffling device. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification