Card shuffler having a random ejector
First Claim
1. Playing card apparatus comprising:
- a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking a large number of playing cards;
tray means arranged above said compartment for receiving playing cards to be shuffled;
shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards downwardly into said compartment;
detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output;
pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the cards in the stack to facilitate gripping and manual removal of said displaced portion of the stack.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an automatic card shuffler, cards already played are placed in first and second trays. Sensors arranged in the trays detect the presence of cards to automatically initiate a shuffling operation. The cards in the trays pass through the card mixer, where they are interweaved in a random fashion and deposited in a compartment arranged beneath the mixer. A carriage carrying a card ejector is reciprocated up and down by a reversible linear drive, activated when the shuffling operation begins and terminated substantially upon termination of the shuffling operation to locate the card ejector at a randomly determined position along the card receiving stack. If the stack of cards in said compartment reaches at least a minimum predetermined height, detected by a sensor arranged within the compartment, the card ejector is moved into the compartment to eject a group of cards, preferably of the order of two decks. The aforesaid ejected group of cards may then be placed in a dealing shoe. The random selection of a group of cards within the card compartment may be controlled by a solid state electronic random generator comprised of either discrete solid state components or a microprocessor. In another alternative embodiment, the randomly ejected group of cards is automatically transferred to the dealing shoe.
315 Citations
32 Claims
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1. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking a large number of playing cards; tray means arranged above said compartment for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards downwardly into said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the cards in the stack to facilitate gripping and manual removal of said displaced portion of the stack. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering suffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack; moving means for moving said pusher means along one vertical side of said compartment during operation of said shuffling means; and means responsive to deactivation of said shuffling means for halting said moving means; said moving means comprises means for moving said pusher means along said one vertical side and means responsive to said pusher means reaching the upper and lower limits of said compartment for reversing the direction of travel said moving means moves said pusher means.
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4. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; - View Dependent Claims (6)
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5. pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack;
said moving means being a reversible worm gear assembly. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack; said detection means comprising a light-sensitive element and a light source positioned to direct a light beam toward said light-sensitive element; said light-sensitive element arranged in said tray means; said light beam being blocked from reaching the light-sensitive element by playing cards placed in said tray means, and being unblocked when the cards in said tray have been transferred to said compartment; means responsive to the condition of said light-sensitive element for controlling the push means.
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9. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack; means for sensing movement of the pusher means into said compartment for moving said pusher means out of said compartment. - View Dependent Claims (11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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10. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack; a dealing shoe; means for delivering cards ejected from said compartment to said dealing shoe.
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12. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack; said pusher means comprising a wedge-shaped ejector member movable into said compartment and along a portion of one wall of said compartment; means along a second portion of said one wall for displacing the cards in said compartment from the said one wall to enable said ejector means to move between said one wall and said cards for ejecting cards from said compartment. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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16. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack; said pusher means comprising motor means; a rack; a pinion linearly moving said rack, responsive to operation of said motor; an ejector member coupled to said rack for movement into said compartment. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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20. Playing card apparatus comprising:
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a vertically aligned compartment for receiving and stacking playing cards; tray means for receiving playing cards to be shuffled; shuffling means for shuffling playing cards delivered to said shuffling means from said tray means and for delivering shuffled cards to said compartment; detection means responsive to emptying of said tray means for generating an output; pusher means responsive to said output for pushing a portion of the stack in said compartment to displace said portion a predetermined distance from the remainder of the stack to facilitate removal of said displaced portion of the stack; said detection means being arranged in said tray means for generating an output when cards are present in said tray means; a start button; activating means responsive to said detector means output and operation of said start button for activating said shuffling means.
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23. Random selection apparatus comprising a compartment for receiving and forming a stack of cards;
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pusher means for ejecting a portion of the stack from said compartment; means for delivering cards to said compartment; moving means responsive to operation of said delivering means for positioning said pusher means at a selected position along the height of said stack of cards; random positioning control means responsive to operation of said delivering means for halting said moving means at a randomly selected position; means responsive to the halting of said moving means for energizing said pusher means.
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Specification