Image capturing card shuffler

• US 8,720,891 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2005
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SHFL Entertainment Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Hessing, Lynn, Mahoney, Daniel, Blad, Steven J., Baker, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): CUFF, MICHAEL A
• Application Number:
  US11/177,013
• Publication Number:
  US 20110198804A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,232 Days
• Field of Search: 273/149.R, 463/12, 463/42
• US Class Current: 273/149.R
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/12 Card shufflers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/14 Card dealers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2003/00164 Casino tables
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2404 Keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2419 Optical
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2250/285 Photographs
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2250/58 Antifraud or preventing misuse
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3293 Card games, e.g. poker, canasta, black jack
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

The present invention features a playing card shuffling device, which through the use of a small image capturing means, captures an image of a face value of each card and stores the image in memory. This image is sorted in the format of a bitmap image. An operator of the device would be able to recall, through the use of a keypad, the images of the cards that comprised individual hands in the previous game. This feature allows for verification of a winning hand after a game has been completed. Thereby, a quick recheck of hands before playing a winning hand is performed. The face value of each card is determined by character recognition software. These card values would be stored in memory for archival access for use in monitoring the randomness of the game and determining the number of winnings hands.

Claims

1. A card shuffling apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a shuffling system within the housing configured to receive playing cards from a card input receptacle of the card shuffling apparatus and shuffle the playing cards into a random order;

an image capturing device disposed within the housing, the image capturing device positioned and configured to capture image data of at least a portion of each playing card, the image data comprising at least a suit and a rank of each playing card; and

a controller comprising a microprocessor and a memory disposed within the housing of the card shuffling apparatus, the controller configured to receive the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card from the image capturing device, and store the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card in the memory.

2. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a control panel in communication with the controller, the control panel configured to receive entry of game identification to cause cards to be delivered to a card output bin specific for the game identification entered.

3. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display connected to the housing configured to display images representing dealt hands of cards.

4. The card shuffler apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to associate image data of particular playing cards of the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card to particular dealt hands of cards based on a number of hands selected via a control panel of the card shuffler apparatus.

5. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 4, wherein the memory is further configured to store image data of multiple playing cards for a plurality of playing stations and a plurality of games and wherein the controller is further configured to associate the stored image data of each card of the multiple playing cards to a particular playing station and a particular game.

6. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller further comprises embedded software for controlling operation of the image capturing device.

7. The card shuffler apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image capturing device is a digital camera.

8. The card shuffler apparatus of claim 7, wherein the digital camera is a digital video camera.

9. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shuffling system is configured to selectively operate in each of a batch mode and a continuous mode, wherein the microprocessor within the housing is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the batch mode and the microprocessor is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present packets consisting of fewer than all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the continuous mode.

10. A card shuffling apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a shuffling system located within the housing, the shuffling system being configured for receiving playing cards from an input receptacle and shuffling the playing cards into a random order;

an image capture device positioned within the housing and configured to capture image data of at least a portion of each playing card, the image data comprising at least a suit and a rank of each playing card; and

a controller located within the housing, the controller including a processor and a memory, the processor being programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to deliver packets of cards in each of a batch mode and a continuous mode, the memory being configured to store image data captured by the image capture device, wherein the processor is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the batch mode and the processor is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present packets consisting of fewer than all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the continuous mode.

11. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a display configured to selectively display captured images of dealt hands of cards.

12. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 11, wherein the memory is configured to store image data of multiple playing cards for a plurality of multiple playing stations and a plurality of games.

13. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller further comprises embedded software for controlling operation of the image capture device.

14. A card shuffling apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a playing card shuffling mechanism within the housing;

an image capturing device within the housing, the image capturing device positioned and configured to capture image data of at least a portion of each playing card, the image data comprising at least a suit and a rank of each playing card;

a graphics display connected to the housing configured to selectively show images corresponding to the captured image data of playing cards forming one or more previously dealt hands of playing cards; and

a processor within the housing, wherein the processor is programmed to selectively operate the playing card shuffling mechanism to present all cards in the playing card shuffling mechanism for removal after randomization in a batch mode and the processor is programmed to selectively operate the playing card shuffling mechanism to present packets consisting of fewer than all cards in the playing card shuffling mechanism for removal after randomization in a continuous mode.

15. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a controller, the controller comprising a microprocessor and a memory disposed within the housing, the controller configured to receive the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card from the image capturing device, and store the image data in the memory and enable recall of the stored image date to the graphics display.

16. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 15, wherein the image capturing device comprises a camera positioned within the housing and configured to capture the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card.

17. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 15, wherein the image capture device comprises a line scanner positioned within the housing and configured to capture the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card.

18. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a control panel configured to receive entry of game identification to cause cards to be delivered to a card output bin specific for the game identification entered.

19. A card shuffling apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a shuffling system located within the housing, the shuffling system being configured for receiving playing cards from an input receptacle and shuffle the playing cards into a random order;

an image capturing device within the housing, the image capturing device positioned and configured to capture image data of at least a portion of each playing card, the image data comprising at least a suit and a rank of each playing card; and

a controller located within the housing, the controller including a processor and a memory, the processor being programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to deliver packets of cards in each of a batch mode and a continuous shuffling mode, wherein the processor is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the batch mode and the processor is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present packets consisting of fewer than all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the continuous mode, the memory being configured for storing the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card.

20. A card shuffling apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a shuffling system located within the housing, the shuffling system being configured for receiving playing cards from an input receptacle and shuffling the playing cards into a random order;

an image capturing device located within the housing, the image capturing device being positioned to capture image data of at least a portion of each playing card, the image data comprising at least a suit and a rank of each playing card;

a memory located within the housing, the memory being configured for storing the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card in the memory; and

a controller located within the housing, the controller including a processor programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to deliver cards in each of a batch mode and a continuous mode, wherein the processor is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the batch mode and the processor is programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to present packets consisting of fewer than all cards in the shuffling system for removal after randomization in the continuous mode, and to enable recall of the stored image data.

21. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further programmed to enable recall of the stored image data in the form of previously dealt hands of cards.

22. A card shuffling apparatus comprising:

a housing;

a card input receptacle connected to the housing;

a card delivery area connected to the housing;

a shuffling system within the housing configured to continually receive playing cards from the input receptacle and shuffle the cards into a random order;

an image capturing device located within the housing, the image capturing device being positioned to capture image data of at least a portion of each playing card, the image data comprising at least a suit and a rank of each playing card; and

a controller within the housing, the controller including a processor and a memory, the processor being programmed to selectively operate the shuffling system to deliver randomized packets of cards continually to the card delivery area, wherein fewer than all cards in a set of cards being shuffled are delivered after randomization, the memory being configured for storing the image data of the at least a portion of each playing card.

23. The card shuffling apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processor of the controller is further programmed to deliver cards individually into the delivery area, forming a randomly arranged packet of cards in the delivery area, and, when the packet of cards is manually removed, deliver additional cards individually to the delivery area, forming another packet of cards.