Playing card dispenser
First Claim
1. A dispenser for playing cards comprising:
- a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card;
the shoe including a back wall, first and second side walls, a front wall, a base, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to proximate the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards;
the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall;
the front wall having an opening and otherwise being adapted to conceal the leading card; and
the front wall, side walls, base and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot;
card advances means contacting the trailing card and adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor;
card dispensing means positioned proximate the front wall and adapted to dispense a single card at a time, the card dispensing means including leading card contact means adapted for rotation about an axis parallel to the leading card, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack and into a predetermined position extending out of the shoe from the slot; and
an endless belt located in the opening in the front wall for rotating the leading card contact means, the endless belt having an exterior surface securely engaging the leading card contact means and being adapted to be displaced by an operator.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A dispenser for playing cards includes a shoe adapted to contain stacked playing cards and dispense a single card at a time. The shoe includes a front wall adapted to conceal the leading card of the stack. A slot sized to permit a playing card to pass through is positioned adjacent the floor and front wall. The dispenser also includes a card pusher adapted to urge the stack cards down an inclined floor and a contact roller for dispensing cards. An endless belt located in an opening in the front wall engages the contact roller. The belt also securely engages a pair of inner rollers spaced by a predetermined distance such that displacement of the belt by the operator through the predetermined distance causes rotation of the contact roller to advance the leading card into and substantially out of the slot. The predetermined distance is preferably selected to approximate the distance which operators are accustomed to move the leading card when dealing the leading card from a manual shoe. In another embodiment, which permits a larger stack of cards to be loaded into the dispenser, the floor of the shoe contains an elongated aperture. The card pusher, which extends through the aperture, includes a pusher plate located above the floor for contacting the trailing card, and a weight located below the floor.
431 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A dispenser for playing cards comprising:
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a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card;
the shoe including a back wall, first and second side walls, a front wall, a base, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to proximate the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards;
the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall;
the front wall having an opening and otherwise being adapted to conceal the leading card; and
the front wall, side walls, base and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot;card advances means contacting the trailing card and adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor; card dispensing means positioned proximate the front wall and adapted to dispense a single card at a time, the card dispensing means including leading card contact means adapted for rotation about an axis parallel to the leading card, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack and into a predetermined position extending out of the shoe from the slot; and an endless belt located in the opening in the front wall for rotating the leading card contact means, the endless belt having an exterior surface securely engaging the leading card contact means and being adapted to be displaced by an operator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A dispenser for playing cards comprising:
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a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card;
the shoe including a back wall, side walls, a front wall, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards;
the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall;
the floor containing an elongated aperture extending from proximate the back wall to proximate the front wall of the shoe; and
the front wall, side walls and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot; andcard advance means adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor and extending through the aperture in the floor;
the card advance means including a pusher plate located above the floor for contacting the trailing card, and gravitational advance means located below the floor. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A dispenser for playing cards comprising:
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a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card;
the shoe including a back wall, first and second side walls, a front wall, a base, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to proximate the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards;
the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall;
the front wall being adapted to conceal the leading card; and
the front wall, side walls, base and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot;card advance means contacting the trailing card and adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor; card dispensing means positioned proximate the front wall and adapted to dispense a single card at a time, the card dispensing means including leading card contact means adapted for rotation about an axis parallel to the leading card, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack and into a predetermined position extending out of the shoe from the slot; wherein at least one removal roller is mounted on the dispenser and positioned below the leading card contact means, the removal roller having an outer cylindrical surface in which a tangent plane is generally flush with the floor, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack such that the leading card extends out of the shoe from the slot and is supported by the removal roller; wherein the removal roller includes a first end supported by a first support means aligned with the first side wall and a second end supported by a second support means aligned with the second side wall; and wherein the first side wall is the left side wall and the second wall is the right side wall looking from the back wall to the front wall of the shoe, the second support means having a height extending above the outer cylindrical surface of the removal roller to prevent the leading card from being slid off of the surface of the removal roller toward the second side wall without lifting up the leading card. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 17, 18)
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16. A dispenser for playing cards comprising:
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a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card;
the shoe including a back wall, first and second side walls, a front wall, a base, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to proximate the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards;
the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall;
the front wall being adapted to conceal the leading card; and
the front wall, side walls, base and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot;card advance means contacting the trailing card and adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor; card dispensing means positioned proximate the front wall and adapted to dispense a single card at a time, the card dispensing means including leading card contact means adapted for rotation about an axis parallel to the leading card, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack and into a predetermined position extending out of the shoe from the slot; and means for detecting and signalling advancement of the card advance means beyond at least one predetermined position.
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19. A dispenser for playing cards comprising:
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a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card;
the shoe including a back wall, first and second side walls, a front wall, a base, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to proximate the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards;
the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall;
the front wall being adapted to conceal the leading card; and
the front wall, side walls, base and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot;card advance means contacting the trailing card and adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor; card dispensing means positioned proximate the front wall and adapted to dispense a single card at a time, the card dispensing means including leading card contact means adapted for rotation about an axis parallel to the leading card, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack and into a predetermined position extending out of the shoe from the slot; and wherein the side walls include a side wall with a shorter lower edge than the other side wall, the side walls extending so that a card positioned in the predetermined position in the slot has a corner extending beyond the side wall with the shorter lower edge, the lower edge of the other side wall extending beyond another corner of the card in the predetermined position. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A dispenser for playing cards comprising:
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a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card;
the shoe including a back wall, first and second side walls, a front wall, a base, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to proximate the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards;
the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall;
the front wall being adapted to conceal the leading card; and
the front wall, side walls, base and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot;card advance means contacting the trailing card and adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor; card dispensing means positioned proximate the front wall and adapted to dispense a single card at a time, the card dispensing means including leading card contact means adapted for rotation about an axis parallel to the leading card, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack and into a predetermined position extending out of the shoe from the slot; and card removal means positioned proximal the slot and including support surface means generally adapted for receiving and supporting the leading card dispensed through the slot by rotation of the leading card contact means, the card removal means including two lateral sides extending generally transversely away from the slot on opposing sides of the support surface means, the card removal means being adapted at one of the two lateral sides to prevent the leading card from being slid off the support surface means at the one lateral side without lifting the leading card from the support surface means and the card removal means being adapted at the other lateral side to permit the leading card to be slid off the support surface means at the other side without lifting the leading card from the support surface.
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Specification