Method for shuffling and dealing cards

• US 9,713,761 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2014
• Issued: 07/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Bally Gaming Incorporated (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Sampson, David E., Forte, Steven L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Berdichevsky, Aarti B
• Assistant Examiner(s): COLLINS, DOLORES R
• Application Number:
  US14/500,286
• Publication Number:
  US 20150014927A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: 273149
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/12 Card shufflers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/14 Card dealers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/2482 Electromotor

Abstract

A card shuffler that moves cards one at a time from the bottom of a group that may be a deck in a deck-crib, to randomly designated single-card receptacles in a receiving or dealing rack, and a method for shuffling and for dealing cards. Either the deck-crib or the receiving rack is moved by a motor to align a single-card receptacle, randomly selected from among remaining empty single-card receptacles, with an outfeed slot of the deck-crib to receive each card to be moved from the deck-crib. A space is provided in the dealing rack in one embodiment, where a dealer'"'"'s hand can reach cards and remove them from the dealing rack. A controller can cause the dealing rack to move so as to allow a selected number of cards to be removed by the dealer for dealing as a player hand or a dealer hand. A card reader may be included, and positions in the receiving or dealing rack of cards identified by the card reader can be stored in memory in the controller.

Claims

1. A card shuffler comprising:

a deck-crib sized and configured to contain cards arranged in a pack parallel and in contact with one another;

a receiving rack defining single-card receptacles in a linear array adjacent one another and located adjacent to the deck-crib, one of the deck-crib and the receiving rack being movable in a straight line with respect to, parallel with and along the other one of the deck-crib and the receiving rack;

a card mover incorporated in the deck-crib and operable selectively to move a single one of the cards from the deck-crib to a selected one of the single-card receptacles;

a card reader associated with the deck-crib and operable to identify and communicate an identity of the single one of the cards;

a motor operably coupled to move the one of the receiving rack and the deck-crib relative to the other; and

a controller interconnected with the card mover and at least one of the deck-crib and the receiving rack and programmed to repetitively, until the deck-crib has been emptied of cards;

randomly select and record an identity of an empty one of said the single-card receptacles of the receiving rack;

cause the motor to move one of the deck-crib and the receiving rack relative to the other in a straight line and to align one of the card mover and the randomly selected empty one of the single-card receptacles with the other;

receive from the card reader a communication of the identity of the single one of the plurality of cards; and

cause the card mover to move the single one of the plurality of cards from the deck-crib into the randomly selected and identified empty one of the plurality of single-card receptacles while the card mover and the single card receptacle are aligned with each other.

2. The card shuffler of claim 1, wherein the deck-crib includes an outfeed side that defines a card transfer slot having a gap width that is greater than a thickness of a card and less than twice the thickness of the card.

3. The card shuffler of claim 2, including a sensor located and arranged to provide a signal to the controller to enable the controller to count each card moved from the deck-crib through the card transfer slot to one of the single-card receptacles.

4. The card shuffler of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a memory containing an indication of whether each of the single-card receptacles is empty, and a random number generator arranged to randomly select an empty one of the plurality of single-card receptacles.

5. The card shuffler of claim 1, including a blocking wall adjacent the receiving rack and a sensor mounted adjacent the blocking wall and arranged to provide a signal to the controller when a single-card receptacle of the receiving rack in a predetermined location is empty.

6. The card shuffler of claim 5, wherein the receiving rack is movable to a position with respect to the blocking wall in which one or more of the single-card receptacles is exposed beyond a margin of the blocking wall, and wherein the shuffler includes a sensor located adjacent the blocking wall and aligned with respect to an intended position of the one or more of the single-card receptacles exposed beyond the margin, to determine that all of the one or more single-card receptacles are empty of cards and to provide a corresponding signal to the controller.

7. The card shuffler of claim 1, wherein the receiving rack is a dealing rack and the controller is configured to receive an input signal and to cause the dealing rack to move a predetermined distance in response to the signal to place a predetermined number of single-card receptacles into a card presenting position to be removed simultaneously from the predetermined number of single-card receptacles.

8. The shuffler of claim 7, wherein the controller is programmed to cause the dealing rack to move a predetermined number of times to respective successive positions, in each of which successive positions a selected successive number of the single-card receptacles is exposed beyond the margin of the blocking wall.

9. The card shuffler of claim 1, including a dealer manager switch interconnected electrically with the controller and configured for entering control signals into the controller without need for other controls, to commence, modify, interrupt, continue, and stop operation of the card shuffler.

10. The card shuffler of claim 1, including a sensor associated with the deck-crib and interconnected electrically with the controller to provide a signal to the controller indicating whether there is at least one card in the deck-crib.

11. A method of shuffling a first plurality of playing cards comprising:

receiving a second plurality of cards removed from a first plurality of cards into a deck-crib of a shuffler, the deck-crib sized and configured to contain cards arranged in a pack parallel and in contact with one another and including an outfeed slot, with a bottom one of the second plurality of cards aligned with the outfeed slot;

with a controller associated with the shuffler, the controller interconnected with a card mover incorporated in the deck-crib of the shuffler and at least one of the deck-crib and a receiving rack of the shuffler and including a programmed digital computer having a memory component, repetitively;

automatically randomly selecting and recording in the memory component an identity of an empty one of adjacent single-card receptacles in a linear array adjacent one another of the receiving rack of the shuffler, the receiving rack located adjacent to the deck-crib, one of the deck-crib and the receiving rack being movable in a straight line with respect to, parallel with and along the other one of the deck-crib and the receiving rack;

automatically, after selection of an empty one of the single-card receptacles, initiating movement of one of the receiving rack and the deck-crib in a straight line relative to the other of the receiving rack and the deck-crib with a motor operably coupled to move one of the receiving rack and the deck-crib relative to the other to align the selected empty one of the plurality of single-card receptacles and the outfeed slot of the deck-crib with each other;

causing the card mover to move a single card from the second plurality of cards through the outfeed slot into the randomly selected one of the single-card receptacles while the card mover and the single card receptacle are aligned with each other, an identity of the single card being read with a card reader and communicated to the controller during a portion of the single card movement; and

recording in the memory component of the controller that the selected empty one of the single-card receptacles has received the single card and associating the read identity of the single card with the identity of the selected empty one of the single-card receptacles;

until each card of the second plurality of cards has been moved separately from the deck-crib to a separate respective randomly selected one of the single-card receptacles and the identity of the respective one of the single cards in each of the single-card receptacles is recorded in the memory component of the controller.

12. The method of claim 11, further including enabling removal of at least some of the second plurality of cards simultaneously from a plurality of adjacent ones of the plurality of single-card receptacles, in a condition of readiness to be dealt.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first plurality of playing cards is greater in number than the second plurality of cards and the second plurality of cards is fewer than a complete deck, and further including repeating the method acts of claim 11 with respect to at least one respective additional second plurality of cards from the first plurality of cards to shuffle all of the first plurality of playing cards.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the first plurality of playing cards is a complete deck and greater in number than the second plurality of cards, further including repeating the method acts of claim 11 until the controller determines that the complete deck has been moved into the receiving rack, and thereafter the controller initiating movement of the receiving rack to present the complete deck.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the first plurality of playing cards is a multi-deck group of cards from which cards are being dealt during a game, wherein the second plurality of cards is part of the first plurality of playing cards, and further including receiving at least one additional second plurality of cards from the first plurality of playing cards into the deck-crib prior to completion of dealing cards from the first plurality of playing cards, and repeating the method acts of claim 11 with respect to at least the at least one additional second plurality of cards from the first plurality of playing cards to shuffle all of the first plurality of playing cards.

16. The method of claim 11, further including providing from the memory component of the controller the identity of the single card held in each of the single-card receptacles upon completion of shuffling the first plurality of playing cards.