Card shuffling machine
DCFirst Claim
1. A card shuffling machine for singulating a card from among a set of cards in a game of chance, said machine comprising:
- a stationary base for establishing a generally vertical central axis;
a turntable moveably supported above said base for free rotation within a generally horizontal plane about said central axis;
said turntable including a defined plurality of trays, said trays equally circumferentially spaced apart one from another about said central axis, each said tray including a radially outermost stop;
said turntable further including a plurality of dividers, said plurality of dividers being equal in number to said defined plurality of trays and spaced one from another in equal circumferentially-spaced increments about said central axis;
a detent fixed relative to said base and operatively interactive with said dividers, said detent effective to apply a pulsating resistance to free rotation of said turntable and thereby progressively slow said turntable to a stopped condition relative to said base;
a set of cards equal in number to said defined plurality of trays, each said card bearing an indicia related to a decision for a game of chance; and
one said card removably disposed in each of said trays, whereby by a random one of said cards is singulated from said set of cards by progressively slowing a free rotating said turntable to rest through the interference of said detent.
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Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
A card shuffling machine (10) includes a turntable (14) in which a plurality of cards (26) rest in respective trays (24). When the turntable (14) is spun, a tongue-like detent (30) resiliently strikes a circular arrangement of peg-like dividers (28) which progressively slows the turntable (14) to a stopped condition. A pointing device singulates one of the cards (26) which can be lifted from its tray (24) and the indicia thereon announced as a game decision. The indicia on the singulated card (26) can be scanned with a machine-readable code and processed through a digital processor (38) to resolve a variety of games played through respective computerized consoles (44).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A card shuffling machine for singulating a card from among a set of cards in a game of chance, said machine comprising:
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a stationary base for establishing a generally vertical central axis; a turntable moveably supported above said base for free rotation within a generally horizontal plane about said central axis; said turntable including a defined plurality of trays, said trays equally circumferentially spaced apart one from another about said central axis, each said tray including a radially outermost stop; said turntable further including a plurality of dividers, said plurality of dividers being equal in number to said defined plurality of trays and spaced one from another in equal circumferentially-spaced increments about said central axis; a detent fixed relative to said base and operatively interactive with said dividers, said detent effective to apply a pulsating resistance to free rotation of said turntable and thereby progressively slow said turntable to a stopped condition relative to said base; a set of cards equal in number to said defined plurality of trays, each said card bearing an indicia related to a decision for a game of chance; and one said card removably disposed in each of said trays, whereby by a random one of said cards is singulated from said set of cards by progressively slowing a free rotating said turntable to rest through the interference of said detent. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A card shuffling machine for singulating a card from among a set of cards in a game of chance, said machine comprising:
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a stationary base for establishing a generally vertical central axis; a turntable moveably supported above said base for free rotation within a generally horizontal plane about said central axis; said turntable including a defined plurality of trays, said trays equally circumferentially spaced apart one from another about said central axis, each said tray including a radially outermost stop; said turntable further including a plurality of pegs, said plurality of pegs being equal in number to said defined plurality of trays and spaced one from another in equal circumferentially-spaced increments about said central axis; a resiliently flexible tongue fixed relative to said base and operatively interactive with said pegs, said tongue effective to apply a pulsating resistance to free rotation of said turntable and thereby progressively slow said turntable to a stopped condition relative to said base; a set of cards equal in number to said defined plurality of trays, each said card bearing an indicia related to a decision for a game of chance; and one said card removably disposed in each of said trays, whereby by a random one of said cards is singulated from said set of cards by progressively slowing a free rotating said turntable to rest through the interference of said tongue against said pegs. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for playing a game of chance with a rotary card shuffling machine, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a stationary base for establishing a generally vertical central axis; moveably supporting a turntable above the base for free rotation within a generally horizontal plane about the central axis; forming a plurality of trays in the turntable that are equally circumferentially spaced apart one from another about the central axis, each tray having a radially outermost stop; providing a set of cards equal in number to the plurality of trays, each card bearing an indicia related to a decision for a game of chance; removably disposing one card in a respective tray adjacent its stop; providing a bet selection region; making a forecast on the outcome of said game of chance by associating a marker on the bet selection region with at least one of many possible game outcomes; accelerating the turntable to a maximum rotating speed with the cards retained in their respective trays against the influence of centrifugal forces by the stop at the radially outermost portion of the trays and then allowing the turntable to freely rotate about the central axis; progressively slowing the free rotating turntable; stopping the turntable at a random angular position relative to the base; removing at least one card from its respective tray in response to the random angular position of the turntable relative to the base; and announcing a game decision based on the indicia of the at least one card removed from its tray. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification