Card handling apparatus

• US 9,789,385 B2
• Filed: 05/13/2016
• Issued: 10/17/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sg Gaming, Inc. (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Shuffle Master GMBH & Co KG (Scientific Games Corporation)
• Inventors: Blaha, Ernst, Krenn, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Layno, Benjamin
• Application Number:
  US15/154,318
• Publication Number:
  US 20160250547A1
• Time in Patent Office: 522 Days
• Field of Search: 273149 R, 273149 P, 463 22
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/10 Card holders
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 1/12 Card shufflers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 11/0002 Dispensing or collecting devices for tokens or chips dispensers for game pieces in chain reaction games A63F9/28; coin freed apparatus for games G07F17/32
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/3241 Security aspects of a gaming system, e.g. detecting cheating, device integrity, surveillance computer security G06F21/00

Abstract

A card feed system for feeding cards into a card handling system. The card feed system includes a card input compartment with a playing card support surface, a front wall, a rear wall and two side walls. The playing card support surface slopes toward the front wall at an angle between 12 degrees and 22 degrees. A slot is provided in the front wall to allow single cards to pass into the card handling system. The card feed system also includes a card moving system to advance cards through the slot.

Claims

1. A card handling apparatus comprising:

a card holding area;

an opening through a wall of the card holding area for passage of cards from the card holding area therethrough;

a card mover comprising a plurality of rollers positioned to provide a declining card path slope toward the opening; and

a blocking element movable between a first position to prevent one or more cards from passing from the card holding area through the opening and a second position to allow one or more cards to pass from the card holding area through the opening.

2. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the card handling device comprises a card shuffler and the card holding area comprises a playing card input compartment.

3. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the opening comprises an exit slot sized and configured to permit the passage of only one card at a time therethrough when the blocking element is in the second position.

4. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocking element is pivotally mounted to move rotationally between the first position and the second position.

5. The card handling apparatus of claim 4, wherein a pivot axis of the pivotal mounting of the blocking element is horizontal.

6. The card handling apparatus of claim 4, wherein the pivot axis is vertically offset from the opening.

7. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocking element is configured as a finger, a tip thereof positioned to block removal of cards from the card holding area in the first position.

8. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocking element is configured as a plate movable between the first position and the second position.

9. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocking element comprises two arms movable between the first position and the second position.

10. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocking element comprises one of a pin or a plate positioned to move at an angle and through the wall between the first position and the second position.

11. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein a declining angle of the card path slope is between 12 and 22 degrees.

12. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the card mover further comprises a base plate through which portions of each of the plurality of rollers extends.

13. The card handling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the blocking element is one of rotationally movable and linearly movable between the first position and the second position.

14. A card handling apparatus comprising:

a card holding area;

a substantially horizontal exit slot through a wall of the card holding area for passage of cards from the card holding area therethrough;

a gravity feed system for facilitating movement of cards from the card holding area along a card path through the exit slot, the gravity feed system comprising a declining card path slope toward the exit slot provided by a plurality of rollers located along the card path at different elevations; and

at least one blocking element movable between a first position to prevent one or more cards from passing from the card holding area through the exit slot and a second position to allow one or more cards to pass from the card holding area through the exit slot.

15. The card handling apparatus of claim 14, wherein a declining angle of the card path slope is between 12 and 22 degrees.

16. The card handling apparatus of claim 14, wherein the exit slot is sized and configured to permit the passage of only one card at a time therethrough when the at least one blocking element is in the second position.

17. A card handling apparatus comprising:

a card shuffling mechanism comprising a plurality of compartments;

a card input area located and positioned to feed cards toward an aligned compartment of the shuffling mechanism;

an opening through a wall of the card input area for passage of one or more cards from the card input area therethrough;

a card mover comprising a plurality of rollers spaced along a declining card path toward the opening and rotatable about horizontal axes transverse to the card path toward the opening; and

a blocking element movable between a first position to prevent cards from passing from the card input area through the opening and a second position to allow cards to pass from the card input area through the opening.

18. The card handling apparatus of claim 17, wherein a declining angle of the card path slope is between 12 and 22 degrees.

19. The card handling apparatus of claim 17, wherein the blocking element is one of rotatably movable and linearly movable between the first position and the second position.

20. The card handling apparatus of claim 17, wherein the card mover further comprises a base plate through which portions of each of the plurality of rollers extends.