Card shuffler

• US 7,367,561 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2002
• Issued: 05/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Light & Wonder Incorporated), Shuffle Master GMBH & Co KG (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SHFL Entertainment Incorporated (Light & Wonder Incorporated)
• Inventors: Krenn, Peter, Blaha, Ernst
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzuto; Robert E.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rada, II; Alex F. R. P.
• Application Number:
  US10/256,639
• Publication Number:
  US 20030071413A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,048 Days
• Field of Search: 273/149.R, 273/149.P, 209/547
• US Class Current: 273/149.00R
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/12 Card shufflers

Abstract

A card shuffler has a drivable shuffling storage means (2′) which is provided with compartments (69) for receiving cards (13). The storage means is associated with an input apparatus for the insertion of cards one by one into the compartments (69) and an output apparatus spaced from the same for the shuffled cards, with the drive of the shuffling storage means (2′), the input apparatus and the output apparatus being controlled by a microprocessor. The number of shuffled cards supplied to the output apparatus at a time is adjusted to be the number of cards necessary per player for the respective card game. In order to improve the shuffling result in such a shuffler it is provided that the cards supplied to the output apparatus are taken from at least two compartments (69) of the shuffling storage means (2′).

Claims

1. A method performed by a card shuffler, the card shuffler having a movable storage device with compartments, the method comprising:

a. receiving unshuffled cards in an input portion of the shuffler;

b. transporting a card from the input portion to the movable storage device;

c. controlling movement of the storage device such that a transported card is received by a randomly selected radial compartment and clamping cards within said selected radial compartments;

d. controlling movement of the storage device to output at least one card from a randomly selected compartment to an output portion; and

e. repeating step d one or more times until an entire hand of cards is deposited in the output portion, a hand being the initial number of cards a player needs to play a particular game for which the shuffler is being used,

further comprising sensing an absence of cards in the output portion and performing step d to supply cards to the output portion, and wherein a spring is provided with a bend-off which covers radially outer openings of the compartments and prevents cards from being ejected outwardly by centrifugal force during rotation of the carousel.