Mahjong machine, its card pushing device and card pushing method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a mahjong machine and a card pushing device and a card pushing method thereof. The card holding block of the card pushing device receives a mahjong card sent by the card feeding device at a first stop position; the card holding block descends to a second stop position to receive another mahjong card sent by the card feeding device; and the card pushing head swings horizontally around a specific axis to push two mahjong cards stacked into one pile from the card holding block to the card holding plate of the flat-push card loading device. This scheme adopts a swinging card pushing head to push cards, which is more suitable for the layout of the card feeding device and the flat-push card loading device of the flat-push card loading windmill-shaped mahjong machine. The card pushing is smooth and stable without card jamming. The mahjong machine has low noise, simple and reasonable structure, high mahjong card sorting efficiency, fast card stacking and pushing speed, and reliable and stable operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of mahjong machine manufacturing, and particularly relates to a mahjong machine, a card pushing device thereof, and a card pushing method. Background Art

[0002] Mahjong, as a leisure and entertainment tool, is widely loved by the people and has been listed as a sports event. After the mahjong tiles on the four sides of the traditional mahjong machine rise to the tabletop, they are parallel to the four edges of the tabletop, and the mahjong tiles are very close to the table edge, with an unreasonable layout. Before touching the tiles, players need to manually move the mahjong tiles forward and obliquely to a suitable position. During the process of moving the mahjong tiles, the mahjong tiles are prone to tipping over, which brings inconvenience to the players.

[0003] Patent documents with the publication number CN200966910 etc. disclose a mahjong machine with a ramp card feeding method, which has a tabletop with a card discharging opening in the center. Four rectangular card discharging openings in a windmill shape are arranged on the tabletop and are inclined at an angle with respect to the side edges of the tabletop. There are four arc-shaped card storage grooves also arranged in a windmill shape under the tabletop. A card pushing head is installed at the end of each card storage groove. A card lifting plate is provided at each card discharging opening. One end of the card lifting plate is hinged to the card discharging opening, and the other end is movably connected to the card lifting mechanism. The four card discharging openings are arranged in a windmill shape. When feeding the cards, a part of the mahjong tiles first reach the tabletop along the card lifting plate, and the remaining part of the mahjong tiles are located on the card lifting plate. Finally, the card lifting mechanism lifts the mahjong tiles on the card lifting plate to the tabletop. Although this roller coaster type mahjong machine realizes the windmill-shaped inclined placement of the four-sided card walls of the mahjong tiles after reaching the tabletop, the card feeding speed is slow, and the mahjong tiles fed along the ramp are prone to gaps, chaos, and even card toppling after reaching the tabletop. Generally, players still need to manually sort out the mahjong tiles, and the inconvenience caused to the players has not been completely solved.

[0004] Patent documents with the publication number CN109381855A etc. disclose a mahjong machine. The mahjong tiles on the four sides of the mahjong machine are lifted onto the mahjong machine tabletop at one time in a form that is respectively inclined with respect to the four edges of the mahjong machine tabletop and close to the center of the mahjong machine tabletop. However, the layout of the conveying mechanism, the stacking and lifting pushing mechanism, and the card feeding mechanism on the four sides of the mahjong machine is not reasonable enough, resulting in that only one card lifting plate support can be arranged at the bottom of each card lifting plate. In order to ensure the lifting of the card lifting plate, the card lifting plates between every two adjacent card feeding mechanisms are connected by fixing pieces. The four card lifting plates on the four sides must be lifted and lowered synchronously. Because the four card lifting plates are connected as a whole and have a large volume, and it is difficult to synchronize the lifting and lowering of the four card lifting plates driven by four card feeding motors respectively, the movement stability of the card feeding mechanism is poor and it is easy to get stuck and damaged. And also limited by the layout, the height difference between the height of the card discharging opening of the conveying mechanism and the lowering height of the card lifting plate is large, the lifting span of the receiving seat in the stacking and lifting pushing mechanism is too large (greater than the thickness of two mahjong tiles), the stacking and pushing card efficiency is low, the operation is unstable, and the mahjong tiles are prone to chaos and card jamming.

[0005] Patent documents such as those with the publication number CN112023390A disclose a mahjong machine, which includes a large shuffling plate located at the center of the bottom plate of the machine frame. Four sets of card-picking and transporting systems are arranged around the large shuffling plate. The card-picking and transporting systems include a card-sending device, a horizontal pushing and card-placement device, and a card-pushing device. The horizontal pushing and card-placement device includes a card-bearing plate, a card-supporting plate, and a card-pushing plate. The card-supporting plate is located inside the card-bearing plate, and the card-pushing plate is located outside the card-bearing plate and pushes the cards from the outside to the inside. One end of the card-bearing plate extending in the length direction is the card-inlet, and a card-bearing block of the card-pushing device is arranged outside the card-inlet. The horizontal pushing and card-placement motor drives the card-pushing plate to translate and push the cards, and drives the card-supporting plate to lift and place the cards. Four card-placement openings are provided on the mahjong machine panel, which are respectively inclined relative to the side edges of the tabletop. The four card-supporting plates in the four sets of card-picking and transporting systems are respectively matched with the four card-placement openings. This solution adopts independent horizontal pushing and card-placement on four sides, and makes full use of the space at the corner connection part of the two card-sending devices to set up the card-placement support frame and its card-placement crank, so that the lifting of the card-supporting plates of the four-side horizontal pushing and card-placement devices is independently driven by their respective motors for card placement.

[0006] However, for the horizontal pushing and card-placement type windmill-shaped mahjong machines disclosed in patent documents such as those with the publication numbers CN109381855A and CN112023390A, the four-sided card walls placed in a windmill shape and inclined are more outward than the four-sided card walls of the slope card-placement type windmill-shaped mahjong machines. Generally, players still need to manually push the mahjong card wall in a little for it to be suitable for playing cards, which still causes inconvenience to players. Moreover, in the structure of such mahjong machines, the card-out direction of the card-sending device and the card-in direction of the horizontal pushing and card-placement device are not perpendicular, but form an acute angle. The mahjong cards coming out of the card-sending device need to be rotated by a certain angle before they can be pushed into the card-storage slot (on the card-bearing plate) of the horizontal pushing and card-placement device. And the card-pushing head in the card-pushing device moves linearly along the card-in direction (the length direction of the card-bearing plate) of the horizontal pushing and card-placement device to push the cards, which easily leads to unsmooth card pushing or card jamming. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In order to solve the above technical problems of the prior art, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a mahjong machine, its card-pushing device and card-pushing method. The card-pushing device is more suitable for the layout of the card-sending device and the horizontal pushing and card-placement device of the horizontal pushing and card-placement type windmill-shaped mahjong machine, and the card pushing is smooth, stable and without card jamming.

[0008] In order to achieve the above purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0009] A card-pushing method for a card-pushing device of a mahjong machine. The card-bearing block (61) of the card-pushing device (6) receives a mahjong card sent by the card-sending device (5) at the first stop position; the card-bearing block (61) descends to the second stop position to receive another mahjong card sent by the card-sending device (5); the card-pushing head (62) swings horizontally around a specific axis to push the two stacked mahjong cards from the card-bearing block (61) onto the card-bearing plate (72) of the horizontal pushing and card-placement device (7).

[0010] A card pushing device for a mahjong machine adopts the card pushing method of the card pushing device for a mahjong machine as described above to implement card pushing; the card pushing device (6) comprises a card receiving block (61) for receiving the mahjong cards sent by a card sending device (5) and a card pushing head (62) for pushing the mahjong cards on the card receiving block (61) to a horizontal card pushing device (7), and also comprises a card pushing housing, a card pushing motor (68) is installed on the card pushing housing, a card pushing transmission mechanism is arranged inside the card pushing housing, and a card receiving block (61) and a card pushing head (62) are arranged outside the card pushing housing, the card pushing motor (68) drives the card receiving block (61) to rise and fall through the card pushing transmission mechanism to realize the stacking of mahjong cards, and the card pushing motor (68) drives the card pushing head (62) to swing back and forth horizontally around a specific axis through the card pushing transmission mechanism, so as to push the stacked mahjong cards from the card receiving block (61). In this way, the swing-type card-pushing head is more suitable for the layout of the card-feeding device and the flat-push card-loading device of the flat-push card-loading windmill-shaped mahjong machine, and the card-pushing is smooth and stable without card jamming.

[0011] Preferably, the card pushing head (62) has at least two card pushing parts: when the card pushing head (62) starts to push the mahjong tile on the card receiving block (61), the first card pushing part first contacts the mahjong tile; when the card pushing head (62) pushes the mahjong tile onto the card receiving plate (72), the second card pushing part contacts the mahjong tile, or the first card pushing part and the second card pushing part contact the mahjong tile at the same time.

[0012] Preferably, the pushing surface of the pusher (62) includes two planes, a first plane and a second plane, and the two planes are at different distances from the specific axis: when the pusher (62) starts to push the mahjong tiles on the card receiving block (61), the connection between the two planes or the first plane first contacts the mahjong tiles; when the pusher (62) pushes the mahjong tiles onto the card receiving plate (72), the second plane contacts the mahjong tiles. In this way, the mahjong tiles can be turned first, so that the mahjong tiles can be pushed more smoothly into the card storage slot (formed by the card receiving plate and its inner and outer side retaining walls) of the horizontal push card loading device, avoiding collision between the mahjong tiles and the retaining wall at the entrance of the card storage slot, generating noise or causing card jam.

[0013] Preferably, the card pushing transmission mechanism includes a card pushing curve wheel (69), a lifting slider (611), a swing rod (613) and a card pushing swing arm (620). The card pushing motor (68) drives the card pushing curve wheel (69) to rotate. One end of the swing rod (613) is movably connected to the lifting slider (611). The card receiving block (61) outside the card pushing housing is fixedly connected to the lifting slider (611) inside the card pushing housing through a card receiving block extension arm (610). The other end of the swing rod (613) is hinged to the card pushing housing. The swing rod (613) is driven by the card pushing curve wheel (69) to swing up and down, thereby driving the lifting slider (611) and the card receiving block (61) to move up and down. The card pushing head (62) outside the card pushing housing is fixed to one end of the card pushing swing arm (620). The other end of the card pushing swing arm (620) is hinged to the card pushing housing. The card pushing swing arm (620) is driven by the card pushing curve wheel (69) to swing horizontally, thereby driving the card pushing head (62) to reciprocate horizontally around a specific axis. In this way, compared with the prior art, the translation slider assembly is omitted, there are fewer components, the cost is saved, the assembly is convenient, and the operation is more reliable.

[0014] Preferably, the card pushing swing arm (620) is located above the card pushing housing and is movably connected to the card pushing curve wheel (69) inside the card pushing housing through a movable connecting piece passing through an opening on the card pushing housing. In this way, the card pushing housing has a smaller volume, a more reasonable structure, is more convenient to install, and has a lower cost.

[0015] Preferably, the movable connecting piece is a guide wheel installed on the card pushing swing arm (620), and a curve groove for movable cooperation with the guide wheel is provided on the circumference of the card pushing curve wheel (69); or, the movable connecting piece is a slider slidably arranged on the card pushing housing, the upper end of the slider is movably matched with the card pushing swing arm (620), and the lower end of the slider is movably matched with the card pushing curve wheel (69).

[0016] Preferably, the card pushing housing includes a first card pushing housing (64) and a second card pushing housing (65). The first card pushing housing (64) and the second card pushing housing (65) are fixedly connected in relative cooperation. The card pushing curve wheel (69) is installed between the first card pushing housing (64) and the second card pushing housing (65). The card pushing motor (68) is installed on the first card pushing housing (64). A bracket (67) is fixed on the second card pushing housing (65). The card outlet of the card feeding device (5) and the second card pushing housing (65) are respectively located on the inner and outer sides of the card receiving block (61). The bracket (67) and the first card pushing housing (64) are respectively located on the front and rear sides of the card receiving block (61). The card pushing head (62) swings back and forth around a specific axis to implement card pushing. A transition table (641) for transitional connection with the card receiving plate (72) in the flat pushing card loading device (7) is provided at the top of the first card pushing housing (64). In this way, the card pushing device has a more reasonable structure and is more convenient to assemble.

[0017] A mahjong machine, including a pushing device of a mahjong machine as described above.

[0018] Preferably, a card blocking block (63) is provided on the pushing housing. The front of the pushing head (62) is the pushing surface, and the back of the pushing head (62) is the card blocking surface. The pushing head (62) has at least two stopping positions: when in the first stopping position, the pushing head (62) is located at the rear side of the card receiving block (61), and the pushing head (62) can push the mahjong tiles on the card receiving block (61) forward onto the card receiving plate (72) of the flat pushing and card placing device on this side; when in the second stopping position, the pushing head (62) is located above or in front of the card receiving block (61), and the pushing head (62) is aligned and cooperated with the card blocking block (63) to prevent the mahjong tiles from moving out of the card supporting plate (71) when the flat pushing and card placing device on the adjacent side pushes the tiles. In this way, when the card supporting plate (71) is in the raised state, the pushing head (62) can enter and exit the space below the card supporting plate (71) to implement pushing; when the card supporting plate (71) is in the lowered state, the pushing head (62) is located inside the card supporting plate (71), and the pushing head (62), together with the card blocking block (63) and the card blocking part (31) of the card blocking frame (3), are arranged in a row to prevent the mahjong tiles from falling off the card supporting plate (71). The structure is simple, the installation is convenient, and the use is reliable.

[0019] Due to the adoption of the above technical solution, the present invention uses a swinging pushing head to push the tiles, which is more suitable for the layout of the tile feeding device and the flat pushing and card placing device of the flat pushing and card placing type windmill-shaped mahjong machine. The pushing is smooth and stable without card jamming, the mahjong machine has low noise, the structure is simple and reasonable, the efficiency of sorting mahjong tiles is high, the speed of stacking and pushing tiles is fast, and the operation is reliable and stable. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The schematic diagrams in the specification forming a part of this application are used to provide a further understanding of this application. The illustrative embodiments of this application and their descriptions are used to explain this application and do not constitute a limitation to this application.

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of the mahjong machine of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the mahjong machine of the present invention; (the bottom plate and one flat pushing and card placing device are omitted);

[0023] Figure 3 is an exploded view of the mahjong machine of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 is a perspective view of the mahjong machine of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the pushing device of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 6 is an exploded view of the pushing device of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (waiting to receive the first mahjong tile, side view);

[0028] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (waiting to receive the first mahjong tile, perspective view);

[0029] Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (waiting to receive the first mahjong tile, top view);

[0030] Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (receiving the first mahjong tile, perspective view);

[0031] Figure 11 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (waiting to receive the second mahjong tile, side view);

[0032] Figure 12 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (waiting to receive the second mahjong tile, perspective view);

[0033] Figure 13 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (waiting to receive the second mahjong tile, top view);

[0034] Figure 14 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (receiving the second mahjong tile, perspective view);

[0035] Figure 15 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (rising and waiting to push the card, side view);

[0036] Figure 16 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (rising and waiting to push the card, perspective view);

[0037] Figure 17 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (implementing the card-pushing, side view);

[0038] Figure 18 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (implementing the card-pushing, perspective view);

[0039] Figure 19 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (implementing the card-pushing, top view);

[0040] Figure 20 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (completing the card-pushing, the card-receiving block resetting, top view);

[0041] Figure 21 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card-pushing device of the present invention (completing the card-pushing, the card-receiving block resetting, perspective view);

[0042] Figure 22 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card pushing device of the present invention (completing card pushing, resetting the card pushing head, top view);

[0043] Figure 23 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the card pushing device of the present invention (completing card pushing, resetting the card pushing head, three-dimensional view);

[0044] Figure 24 It is an exploded view of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 25 It is a three-dimensional view of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 26 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate is descending, three-dimensional view);

[0047] Figure 27 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate is descending, side view);

[0048] Figure 28 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate has descended in place, three-dimensional view);

[0049] Figure 29 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate has descended in place, side view);

[0050] Figure 30 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate is rising, three-dimensional view);

[0051] Figure 31 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate is rising, side view);

[0052] Figure 32 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate has risen in place, three-dimensional view);

[0053] Figure 33 It is a schematic diagram of the operation of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate has risen in place, side view);

[0054] Figure 34 It is an exploded view of the first embodiment of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention;

[0055] Figure 35 It is a schematic diagram of the driving of the card supporting plate lifting of the first embodiment of the flat card pushing and loading device of the present invention (the card supporting plate has risen in place);

[0056] Figure 36It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the first implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after descending);

[0057] Figure 37 It is an exploded view of the second implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention;

[0058] Figure 38 It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the second implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after rising);

[0059] Figure 39 It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the second implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after descending);

[0060] Figure 40 It is an exploded view of the third implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention;

[0061] Figure 41 It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the third implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after rising);

[0062] Figure 42 It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the third implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after descending);

[0063] Figure 43 It is an exploded view of the fourth implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention;

[0064] Figure 44 It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the fourth implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after rising);

[0065] Figure 45 It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the fourth implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after descending);

[0066] Figure 46 It is a schematic diagram of the lifting drive of the card - supporting plate in the fifth implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention;

[0067] Figure 47 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the sixth implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after rising);

[0068] Figure 48 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the sixth implementation mode of the flat - pushing card - feeding device of the present invention (the card - supporting plate is in place after descending).

[0069] Reference numerals:

[0070] 1. Bottom plate; 2. Large shuffling plate; 3. Card blocking rack; 31. Card blocking part; 4. Table board; 41. Card feeding port; 42. Card placing port; 5. Card feeding device; 6. Card pushing device; 61. Card holding block; 610. Card holding block extension arm; 611. Lifting slider; 612. Lifting slider guide; 613. Swing rod; 62. Card pushing head; 620. Card pushing swing arm; 63. Card blocking block; 64. First card pushing housing; 641. Transition table; 65. Second card pushing housing; 66. Card feeding detection device; 67. Bracket; 68. Card pushing motor; 69. Card pushing curve wheel; 7. Flat pushing card feeding device; 70. Card feeding seat; 71. Card supporting plate; 711. First transition support; 712. Second transition support; 713. Card feeding cam; 714. Card feeding crank; 715. Card feeding rack; 7151. Card feeding rack guide; 7152. Transmission connecting piece; 716. Card feeding transmission gear; 717. Cam transmission piece; 7171. Open cam groove; 7172. Closed cam groove; 718. Tension spring; 719. Card feeding connecting rod; 72. Card holding plate; 73. Card pushing plate; 731. Flat pushing slider; 7311. Flat pushing slider guide; 732. Flat pushing cam; 733. Flat pushing connecting rod; 7331. Transmission swing rod; 74. Transition plate; 741. Torsion spring; 7410. Torsion spring seat; 75. Outer side blocking piece; 76. Flat pushing card feeding motor; 100. Mahjong tiles. Detailed implementation manners

[0071] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0072] It should be noted that the following detailed description is exemplary and is intended to provide further description of the present application. Unless otherwise specified, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which this application belongs.

[0073] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below. The examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, where the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to explain the present invention and should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

[0074] In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified in the context, the singular form is also intended to include the plural form. In addition, it should be understood that when the terms "comprise" and / or "include" are used in this specification, they indicate the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0075] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by the terms "center", "longitudinal", "transverse", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

[0076] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly defined.

[0077] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the terms such as "mounted", "connected", "joined", "fixed", etc. shall be understood in a broad sense. For example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it may be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, and it may be the communication inside two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0078] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and defined, the first feature being "above" or "below" the second feature may include the direct contact between the first and second features, or may include the situation where the first and second features are not in direct contact but in contact through other features therebetween. Moreover, the first feature being "above", "over" and "on" the second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than that of the second feature. The first feature being "under", "beneath" and "underneath" the second feature includes that the first feature is directly below and obliquely below the second feature, or merely indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is lower than that of the second feature.

[0079] Embodiment 1:

[0080] In the present invention, for the convenience of description, the center of the mahjong machine is defined as "inner", and the periphery of the mahjong machine is defined as "outer".

[0081] Such as Figures 1 to 4A mahjong machine as shown includes a large shuffling plate 2 located at the center of the bottom plate 1 of the frame, a card scraping device and a central lifting device. Four groups of card picking and conveying systems are arranged around the large shuffling plate 2. The card picking and conveying system includes a card feeding device 5 for picking up mahjong tiles one by one from the large shuffling plate and sending them out, a flat pushing and card placing device 7 for sending multiple stacks of arranged mahjong tiles onto the mahjong table at one time, and a card pushing device 6 for pushing the mahjong tiles sent out by the card feeding device 5 to the flat pushing and card placing device 7.

[0082] The card feeding device 5 generally includes a card feeding housing. A card feeding channel for transferring mahjong tiles is provided inside the card feeding housing. A card sucking wheel is provided at the card feeding port of the card feeding channel. A conveyor belt driven by a card feeding motor is provided inside the card feeding channel. The card pushing device 6 is arranged outside the card discharging port of the card feeding channel. Adjacent two card feeding devices 5 are transitionally connected through a connecting wall. The four card feeding devices 5 in the four groups of card picking and conveying systems are respectively connected end to end through four connecting walls to form a card feeding enclosure. The card feeding enclosure is arranged around the large shuffling plate 2. The card feeding port of the card feeding device 5 is located on the inner side wall of the card feeding enclosure, and the card discharging port of the card feeding device 5 is located on the outer side of the card feeding enclosure.

[0083] In this embodiment, the card feeding channel can be a traditional straight channel or an arc-shaped card feeding channel. To ensure the reliability of mahjong tile conveying, it is preferred that the height of the card discharging port of the card feeding channel is not lower than the height of the card feeding port of the card feeding channel. The specific structure of the card feeding device is prior art and can refer to patent documents such as those with publication numbers CN213965119U, CN105363195A, CN105413161A, CN106492454A, CN106669142A, CN112023390A, etc.

[0084] The card pushing device 6 includes a card receiving block 61 for receiving the mahjong tiles sent out by the card feeding device 5 and a card pushing head 62 for pushing the mahjong tiles on the card receiving block 61 to the flat pushing and card placing device 7. The card receiving block 61 and the card pushing head 62 are driven by a card pushing motor 68. The specific structure of the card pushing device can adopt prior art and can refer to patent documents such as those with publication numbers CN201906453U, CN201949619U, CN103861280A, CN112023390A, and CN204699375U, etc. However, in these prior art card pushing devices, the card pushing heads all push the cards in a linear movement. In the structure of a flat pushing and card placing type windmill-shaped mahjong machine, the card discharging direction of the card feeding device and the card feeding direction of the flat pushing and card placing device are not perpendicular, but form an acute angle. The mahjong tiles coming out of the card feeding device need to rotate a certain angle before being pushed into the card storage slot (on the card receiving plate) of the flat pushing and card placing device. In this way, when the card pushing head in the card pushing device linearly moves and pushes the cards along the card feeding direction of the flat pushing and card placing device (the length direction of the card receiving plate), it is easy to cause unsmooth card pushing or card jamming.

[0085] Therefore, in this embodiment, it is preferred that the card pushing device adopts a swing-type card pushing head. As Figure 5 and Figure 6 shown in the card pushing device, it includes a card pushing housing, a card pushing motor 68 is installed on the card pushing housing, a card pushing transmission mechanism is provided inside the card pushing housing, a card receiving block 61 and a card pushing head 62 are provided outside the card pushing housing. The card pushing motor 68 drives the card receiving block 61 to move up and down through the card pushing transmission mechanism to stack the mahjong tiles. The card pushing motor 68 drives the card pushing head 62 to reciprocate horizontally around a specific axis through the card pushing transmission mechanism, so as to push the stacked mahjong tiles out of the card receiving block 61. The specific axis is vertically arranged outside the card receiving block 61 and arranged along the card discharging direction of the card feeding device 5. In this way, the swing-type card pushing head is more suitable for the layout of the card feeding device and the flat pushing and card placing device of the flat pushing and placing type windmill-shaped mahjong machine, and the card pushing is smooth, stable and does not jam the cards.

[0086] Further preferably, the card pushing head 62 has at least two card pushing parts: when the card pushing head 62 starts to push the mahjong tiles on the card receiving block 61, the first card pushing part contacts the mahjong tiles first; when the card pushing head 62 pushes the mahjong tiles onto the card receiving plate 72, the second card pushing part contacts the mahjong tiles, or the first card pushing part and the second card pushing part contact the mahjong tiles at the same time. The card pushing part here can be a card pushing part that forms a surface contact or a line contact with the upper and lower two mahjong tiles. In this embodiment, it is preferred that the first card pushing part is a card pushing part that forms a line contact with the upper and lower two mahjong tiles. For example, the card pushing surface of the card pushing head 62 includes two planes, a first plane and a second plane, and the distances of the two planes from the specific axis are different: when the card pushing head 62 starts to push the mahjong tiles on the card receiving block 61, the connection of the two planes or the first plane contacts the mahjong tiles first; when the card pushing head 62 pushes the mahjong tiles onto the card receiving plate 72, the second plane contacts the mahjong tiles. In this way, not only can the mahjong tiles be turned first to push the mahjong tiles into the card storage slot (formed by the card receiving plate and the inner and outer side walls) of the flat pushing and card placing device more smoothly, but also the direct surface contact and collision between the card pushing head and the mahjong tiles can be avoided to generate a large noise, and the collision between the mahjong tiles and the baffle at the inlet of the card storage slot can be avoided to generate noise or cause card jamming. At the same time, the swing range of the card pushing head can be reduced to avoid interference with the mahjong tiles on the card receiving block.

[0087] In a further preferred solution, the card pushing transmission mechanism includes a card pushing cam wheel 69, a lifting slider 611, a swing rod 613 and a card pushing swing arm 620. The card pushing motor 68 drives the card pushing cam wheel 69 to rotate. One end of the swing rod 613 is movably connected to the lifting slider 611. The card supporting block 61 outside the card pushing housing is fixedly connected to the lifting slider 611 inside the card pushing housing through a card supporting block extension arm 610. The other end of the swing rod 613 is hinged to the card pushing housing. The swing rod 613 is driven by the card pushing cam wheel 69 to swing up and down, thereby driving the lifting slider 611 and the card supporting block 61 to move up and down. The card pushing head 62 outside the card pushing housing is fixed to one end of the card pushing swing arm 620. The other end of the card pushing swing arm 620 is hinged to the card pushing housing. The card pushing swing arm 620 is driven by the card pushing cam wheel 69 to swing horizontally, thereby driving the card pushing head 62 to reciprocate horizontally around a specific axis. In this way, compared with the prior art, the translation slider assembly is omitted, there are fewer components, the cost is saved, the assembly is convenient, and the operation is more reliable.

[0088] In this embodiment, preferably, the card pushing swing arm 620 is located above the card pushing housing and is movably connected to the card pushing cam wheel 69 inside the card pushing housing through a movable connecting member passing through an opening on the card pushing housing. In this way, the card pushing housing has a smaller volume, a more reasonable structure, is more convenient to install, and has a lower cost. In this embodiment, the movable connecting member is a guide wheel installed on the card pushing swing arm 620, and a curve groove for movably cooperating with the guide wheel is provided on the circumference of the card pushing cam wheel 69. In other embodiments, the movable connecting member may also be a slider slidably provided on the card pushing housing. The upper end of the slider is movably cooperated with the card pushing swing arm 620, and the lower end of the slider is movably cooperated with the card pushing cam wheel 69.

[0089] In this embodiment, preferably, the card pushing housing includes a first card pushing housing 64 and a second card pushing housing 65. The first card pushing housing 64 and the second card pushing housing 65 are fixedly connected in a relative cooperation manner. The card pushing cam wheel 69 is installed between the first card pushing housing 64 and the second card pushing housing 65. The card pushing motor 68 is installed on the first card pushing housing 64. A bracket 67 is fixed on the second card pushing housing 65. The card outlet of the card feeding device 5 and the second card pushing housing 65 are respectively located inside and outside the card supporting block 61. The bracket 67 and the first card pushing housing 64 are respectively located in front of and behind the card supporting block 61. The card pushing head 62 swings back and forth around a specific axis to implement card pushing. A transition table 641 for transition connection with the card supporting plate 72 in the flat pushing and card placing device 7 is provided at the top of the first card pushing housing 64. In this way, the card pushing device has a more reasonable structure and is more convenient to assemble.

[0090] In this embodiment, a roller is installed in the middle of the swing rod 613, a curve groove that is movably matched with the roller is arranged on the end face of the card-pushing curve wheel 69, a lifting slider guide 612 is arranged inside the card-pushing housing, and the lifting slider 611 moves up and down along the lifting slider guide 612; the lifting slider 611 and the lifting slider guide 612 are arranged inside the card-pushing housing. In other embodiments, the lifting slider 611 can also be arranged outside the card-pushing housing and is connected to the card-pushing curve wheel 69 through the swing rod 613.

[0091] In this embodiment, a counting and detecting device for detecting the number of card-pushing times is installed on the card-pushing housing; a card-sending detecting device 66 for detecting whether a mahjong tile is sent out from the card-sending outlet of the card-sending device to the card-receiving block 61 is arranged near the card-receiving block 61. Preferably, in this embodiment, the card-sending detecting device 66 is arranged on the bracket 67. Both the counting and detecting device and the card-sending detecting device are preferably optical eyes.

[0092] The card-pushing process of the card-pushing device 6 in this embodiment is as follows:

[0093] The initial position is as shown in Figure 7 、 Figure 8 and Figure 9 . The card-pushing head 62 is located on the side close to the card-receiving plate 72 to avoid interference with the lifting of the card-supporting plate 71 by the card-pushing head 62; as shown in Figure 10 , the card-receiving block 61 receives the first mahjong tile at the first position, then descends to the second position to receive the second mahjong tile, and the card-pushing head 62 moves to the side away from the card-receiving plate 72, as shown in Figure 11 、 Figure 12 、 Figure 13 and Figure 14 ; then, as shown in Figure 15 and Figure 16 , the card-receiving block 61 rises to the height of the card-receiving plate 72; as shown in Figure 17 、 Figure 18 、 Figure 19 、 Figure 20 and Figure 21 , then the card-pushing head 62 pushes a stack of mahjong tiles 100 onto the card-receiving plate 72 via the transition table 641, and the card-receiving block 61 descends and resets to prepare to receive the next mahjong tile; finally, as shown in Figure 22 and Figure 23 , the card-pushing head 62 resets and waits to push the next stack of mahjong tiles.

[0094] In other embodiments, the card-receiving block 61 can also be non-lifting, that is, the card-pushing device 6 does not have the function of stacking cards, only has the function of pushing cards, and the card-pushing motor 68 only drives the card-pushing head 62 to translate and push cards or reciprocate horizontally and swing around a specific axis to push cards.

[0095] The flat-push card-playing device 7 includes a card-bearing plate 72 for receiving and arranging multiple stacks of mahjong tiles, a card-supporting plate 71 for sending multiple stacks of mahjong tiles onto the tabletop at one time, and a card-pushing plate 73 for pushing multiple stacks of mahjong tiles on the card-bearing plate 72 onto the card-supporting plate 71. The card-bearing plate 72 is arranged on the card-playing seat 70. The card-supporting plate 71 is located inside the card-bearing plate 72. The card-pushing plate 73 is located outside the card-bearing plate 72 and pushes the cards from the outside to the inside. One end of the card-bearing plate 72 extending along the length direction is the card-inlet. Outside the card-inlet, there is a card-bearing block 61 of the card-pushing device 6. Inside the card-playing seat 70, there is a card-playing transmission mechanism. The flat-push card-playing motor 76 drives the card-pushing plate 73 to translate and push the cards and the card-supporting plate 71 to lift and play the cards through the card-playing transmission mechanism.

[0096] In this embodiment, as Figures 1 to 4 shown, there are four card-playing openings 41 and a central card-placement opening 42 on the mahjong machine tabletop 4. The four card-supporting plates 71 in the four card-picking and transporting systems respectively cooperate with the four card-playing openings 41. When the card-supporting plate 71 rises, the card-supporting plate 71 fills the card-playing opening 41 and is flush with the tabletop 4. The card-supporting plate 71 is located above the card-sending enclosure. The card-bearing plate 72 is located outside the card-sending enclosure. In the same card-picking and transporting system, the card-bearing block 61 of the card-pushing device 6 is located at the connection between the card-sending device 5 and the flat-push card-playing device 7. The card-pushing head 62 of the card-pushing device 6 is located above the card-bearing block 61 and reciprocates horizontally around a specific axis to implement card pushing. The specific axis is arranged along the card-sending direction of the card-sending device 5 and is located outside the card-bearing block 61. The included angle A between the card-sending direction of the card-sending device 5 and the card-inlet direction of the flat-push card-playing device 7 is 65° to 85° (further preferably 70° to 79°). The included angle C between the card-pushing direction of the card-pushing plate 73 of the flat-push card-playing device 7 and the side of the adjacent tabletop 4 is 65° to 80° (preferably 77°). The included angle D between the card-sending direction of the card-sending device 5 and the side of the adjacent tabletop 4 is 0° to 5° (preferably 0°). In this way, the card-supporting plate 71 of the flat-push card-playing device 7 in one card-picking and transporting system is located above the card-sending device 5 in the card-picking and transporting system of the adjacent side. And compared with the flat-push card-playing type windmill-shaped mahjong machines disclosed in patent documents such as CN209645828U, CN109381855A, and CN112023390A, the included angle between the card-sending device 5 and the flat-push card-playing device 7 is larger, and the layout is more compact and reasonable. For mahjong machines of the same size and specification, the shuffling large plate and the card-sending enclosure can be made larger, and larger-sized mahjong tile machines can be played.

[0097] In this embodiment, the card-playing transmission mechanism includes a lifting drive mechanism for the card-supporting plate 71 and a flat-push drive mechanism for the card-pushing plate 73.

[0098] The lifting drive mechanism of the card supporting plate 71 can adopt the structures disclosed in patent documents such as the ones with publication numbers CN209645828U, CN213527413U, CN109381855A, and CN112023390A. Generally speaking, the lifting drive mechanism of the card supporting plate 71 includes an upper card cam 713 and an upper card crank 714. The bottom of the card supporting plate 71 is slidably connected to the upper card seat 70 up and down through two guide rods. An upper card cam 713 is provided on each side of the bottom of the card supporting plate 71. The flat-pushing card feeding motor 76 drives the two upper card cranks 714 to rotate and respectively cooperate with the movements of the two upper card cams 713 to drive the card supporting plate 71 to lift up and down.

[0099] In the prior art, the bottom position of the upper card cam 713 is relatively low, the installation position of the upper card crank 714 is relatively low, and the upper card crank 714 rotates cyclically. These cause the flat-pushing card feeding device to excessively occupy the shuffling space, resulting in a reduction in shuffling efficiency and a large shuffling noise.

[0100] Therefore, for the transmission structure between the flat-pushing card feeding motor 76 and the upper card crank 714, the following several implementation manners are preferably adopted in this embodiment:

[0101] 1. The first implementation manner, as Figure 34 、 Figure 35 and Figure 36As shown in the figure, it further includes two upper card transmission gears 716, two upper card racks 715 and two cam transmission parts 717 installed inside the upper card seat 70. The two upper card transmission gears 716 are in meshing transmission, and one of the upper card transmission gears 716 is in transmission connection with the flat-push upper card motor 76. The two cam transmission parts 717 are respectively hinged to the upper card seat 70 and swing in the vertical plane. One swing end of the cam transmission part 717 is movably connected to one end of the upper card rack 715, and the other swing end of the cam transmission part 717 is connected to a tension spring 718. The tension spring 718 gives the swing ends of the two cam transmission parts 717 a tendency to approach each other. The upper card rack 715 is linearly slidably connected to the upper card seat 70 through an upper card rack guide 7151. The upper card crank 714 is installed at the upper part of the upper card seat 70 and close to the card receiving plate 72. The upper card crank 714 is in meshing transmission with the upper card rack 715 through a gear. The flat-push upper card motor 76 drives the two upper card transmission gears 716 to rotate. The two upper card transmission gears 716 respectively drive the two cam transmission parts 717 to swing through rollers, so that the two cam transmission parts 717 approach or move away from each other. The two cam transmission parts 717 respectively drive the two upper card racks 715 to linearly slide, and the two upper card racks 715 respectively drive the two upper card cranks 714 to rotate. The swing ends of the two upper card cranks 714 respectively cooperate with the cam grooves of the two upper card cams 713 to drive the card supporting plate 71 to rise and fall. Among them, the cam transmission part 717 is sheet-shaped, and an open cam groove 7171 for cooperating with the upper card transmission gear 716 is formed on one side of the cam transmission part 717. In this way, the volume of the upper card cam 713 is smaller, the installation position and the moving position of the upper card crank 714 are higher and intermittent movement is adopted. Compared with the prior art, it occupies less shuffling space, and the diameter of the shuffling disc can be increased to increase the shuffling space. In this way, not only can the shuffling efficiency be improved, but also the probability of mahjong tiles hitting each other on the shuffling disc can be reduced, achieving the effect of reducing shuffling noise.

[0102] Further preferably, the open cam grooves 7171 of the two cam transmission parts 717 are arranged oppositely; the two upper card cranks 714, the two upper card transmission gears 716, the two upper card racks 715 and the two cam transmission parts 717 are all arranged symmetrically left and right.

[0103] Further preferably, the upper card rack guide 7151 is a guide sliding sleeve sleeved outside the upper card rack 715, and the guide sliding sleeve is fixed on the inner side wall of the upper card seat 70.

[0104] Further preferably, the upper card rack 715 is movably connected to the roller on the cam transmission part 717 through an oblong hole.

[0105] Further preferably, an arc gear is provided on the upper card crank 714, and the arc gear is in meshing transmission with the upper card rack 715.

[0106] Further preferably, two upper card guiding rods are fixed to the bottom of the card supporting plate 71. The card supporting plate 71 moves up and down along the upper card guiding rods, and the guiding sleeves slidingly engaged with the upper card guiding rods are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the upper card seat 70. In other preferred embodiments, it may also be that the upper card guiding rods are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the upper card seat 70, and the guiding sleeves are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the card supporting plate 71.

[0107] 2. The second embodiment is as Figure 37 、 Figure 38 and Figure 39 shown, and further includes two upper card driving gears 716, two upper card connecting rods 719 and two cam driving members 717 installed inside the upper card seat 70. The two upper card driving gears 716 are meshed for driving. One of the upper card driving gears 716 is drivingly connected to the flat-pushing upper card motor 76. The two cam driving members 717 are respectively hinged to the upper card seat 70 so as to swing in a vertical plane. One swinging end of the cam driving member 717 is hinged to one end of the upper card connecting rod 719, and the other end of the upper card connecting rod 719 is hinged to the upper card crank 714. The upper card crank 714 is installed at the upper part of the upper card seat 70 and close to the card supporting plate 72. The other swinging end of the cam driving member 717 is connected to a tension spring 718, and the tension spring 718 gives the swinging ends of the two cam driving members 717 a tendency to approach each other; the flat-pushing upper card motor 76 drives the two upper card driving gears 716 to rotate, and the two upper card driving gears 716 respectively drive the two cam driving members 717 to swing through rollers so that the two cam driving members 717 approach or separate from each other. The two cam driving members 717 respectively drive the two upper card cranks 714 to rotate through the two upper card connecting rods 719. The swinging ends of the two upper card cranks 714 respectively cooperate with the cam grooves of the two upper card cams 713 so as to drive the card supporting plate 71 to move up and down; wherein, the cam driving member 717 is in a sheet shape, and an open cam groove 7171 for cooperating with the upper card driving gear 716 is formed on one side of the cam driving member 717. In this way, the volume of the upper card cam 713 is smaller, the installation position and the moving position of the upper card crank 714 are higher and intermittent movement is adopted. Compared with the prior art, it occupies less shuffling space, and the diameter of the shuffling disc can also be increased to increase the shuffling space. In this way, not only can the shuffling efficiency be improved, but also the probability of the mahjong tiles hitting each other on the shuffling disc can be reduced, achieving the effect of reducing the shuffling noise.

[0108] Further preferably, the open cam grooves 7171 of the two cam driving members 717 are arranged oppositely; the two upper card cranks 714, the two upper card driving gears 716, the two upper card connecting rods 719 and the two cam driving members 717 are all arranged symmetrically left and right.

[0109] Further preferably, two upper plate guiding rods are fixed to the bottom of the plate supporting plate 71. The plate supporting plate 71 moves up and down along the upper plate guiding rods. The guiding sleeves slidingly engaged with the upper plate guiding rods are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the upper plate seat 70. In other preferred embodiments, it may also be that the upper plate guiding rods are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the upper plate seat 70, and the guiding sleeves are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the plate supporting plate 71.

[0110] 3. The third embodiment is as Figure 40 , Figure 41 and Figure 42 shown. The difference from the first embodiment is only that: closed cam grooves 7172 (arc-shaped holes) are provided on the two cam driving members 717. In this way, the tension spring 718 is not required, and the upper plate driving gear 716 can independently drive the cam driving members 717 to swing reciprocally; the tension spring 718 is omitted, the cost is reduced, and the transmission is more reliable and stable. Others are the same as the first embodiment.

[0111] 4. The fourth embodiment is as Figure 43 , Figure 44 and Figure 45 shown. The difference from the second embodiment is only that: closed cam grooves 7172 (arc-shaped holes) are provided on the two cam driving members 717. In this way, the tension spring 718 is not required, and the upper plate driving gear 716 can independently drive the cam driving members 717 to swing reciprocally. The tension spring 718 is omitted, the cost is reduced, and the transmission is more reliable and stable. Others are the same as the second embodiment.

[0112] 5. The fifth embodiment is as Figure 46As shown, it further includes two upper card transmission gears 716 and two upper card racks 715 installed inside the upper card seat 70. The two upper card transmission gears 716 are in meshing transmission, and one of the upper card transmission gears 716 is in transmission connection with the flat-push upper card motor 76. The two upper card racks 715 are respectively linearly slidably connected to the upper card seat 70 through upper card rack guide members 7151. The two upper card racks 715 are fixedly connected or integrally formed through a transmission connecting member 7152 so as to achieve synchronous movement. The upper card crank 714 is installed at the upper part of the upper card seat 70 and close to the card supporting plate 72. The upper card crank 714 is in meshing transmission with the upper card rack 715 through a gear. The flat-push upper card motor 76 drives the two upper card transmission gears 716 to rotate. The two upper card transmission gears 716 respectively drive the transmission connecting member 7152 to reciprocate, so that the two upper card racks 715 respectively drive the two upper card cranks 714 to rotate. The swinging ends of the two upper card cranks 714 respectively cooperate with the cam grooves of the two upper card cams 713 to drive the card supporting plate 71 to lift. Among them, the transmission connecting member 7152 is sheet-shaped, and cam contour curves for cooperating with the two upper card transmission gears 716 are respectively formed on both sides of the transmission connecting member 7152. In this way, the volume of the upper card cam 713 is smaller, the installation position and the moving position of the upper card crank 714 are higher and intermittent movement is adopted. Compared with the prior art, it occupies less shuffling space, and the diameter of the shuffling disk can also be increased to increase the shuffling space. In this way, not only can the shuffling efficiency be improved, but also the probability of the mahjong tiles hitting each other on the shuffling disk can be reduced, achieving the effect of reducing the shuffling noise. And, compared with the previous several embodiments, the structure is simpler and the occupied space is smaller.

[0113] Further preferably, one upper card rack 715 is installed above one upper card crank 714, and the other upper card rack 715 is installed below the other upper card crank 714. Or preferably, the two upper card cranks 714, the two upper card transmission gears 716 and the two upper card racks 71 are all arranged symmetrically left and right.

[0114] Further preferably, the upper card rack guide member 7151 is a guide rod. The upper card rack 715 is sleeved outside the guide rod and linearly slides along the guide rod. The guide rod is fixed on the inner side wall of the upper card seat 70.

[0115] Further preferably, an arc-shaped gear is provided on the upper card crank 714, and the arc-shaped gear is in meshing transmission with the upper card rack 715.

[0116] Further preferably, two upper card guide rods are fixed at the bottom of the card supporting plate 71. The card supporting plate 71 moves up and down along the upper card guide rods. The guide sleeves slidably cooperating with the upper card guide rods are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the upper card seat 70. In other preferred embodiments, it may also be that the upper card guide rods are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the upper card seat 70, and the guide sleeves are fixedly connected or integrally formed with the card supporting plate 71.

[0117] The flat pushing drive mechanism of the card pushing plate 73 can adopt the structures disclosed in patent documents such as the patent publications with publication numbers CN207627889U, CN206577363U, CN209679477U, CN109381855A, and CN112023390A. In this embodiment, preferably, the flat pushing drive mechanism of the card pushing plate 73 includes a flat pushing slider 731, a flat pushing cam 732, and a flat pushing connecting rod 733. The flat pushing slider 731 slides back and forth on the upper card seat 70 along the flat pushing slider guide 7311. The card pushing plate 73 is fixed on the flat pushing slider 731. The upper end of the flat pushing connecting rod 733 is movably connected to the flat pushing slider 731, the lower end of the flat pushing connecting rod 733 is hinged to the upper card seat 70, a transmission swing rod 7331 is fixed on the rotating shaft of the flat pushing connecting rod 733, and the swinging end of the transmission swing rod 7331 is movably matched with the flat pushing cam 732 through a roller. The flat pushing card placing motor 76 drives the flat pushing slider 731 to slide back and forth through the flat pushing cam 732 and the flat pushing connecting rod 733 to implement card pushing. In this embodiment, the flat pushing connecting rod 733 is of a double connecting rod structure. The lower end of the double connecting rod is hinged to the upper card seat 70, and the upper ends of the double connecting rod are swinging ends and are respectively movably connected to both sides of the flat pushing slider 731.

[0118] To prevent the mahjong tiles from being pushed out of the card supporting plate 71 by the card pushing plate 73 and falling onto the shuffling turntable or getting stuck during flat pushing card placing, as Figures 1 to 3 shown, preferably, a card blocking frame 3 is provided inside the four-sided card supporting plate 71. The card blocking frame 3 has a card blocking portion 31 near the inner edge of the card supporting plate 71. The card blocking portion 31 is used to prevent the mahjong tiles on the card supporting plate 71 from moving further inward. The card blocking frame 3 is fixed above the card feeding surrounding frame. And preferably, the four-sided card blocking frame 3 is integrally formed in a windmill shape, which has a simple structure and is convenient for installation. The four-sided integrated card blocking frame is provided with a central large hole, and the central lifting device is arranged therein. The card blocking frame 3 can not only prevent the mahjong tiles from falling but also effectively support the table top 4.

[0119] As Figure 4 and Figure 5As shown in the figure, in this embodiment, preferably, a card blocking block 63 is provided on the card pushing housing. The front of the card pushing head 62 is the card pushing surface, and the back of the card pushing head 62 is the card blocking surface. The card pushing head 62 has at least two stopping positions: when in the first stopping position, the card pushing head 62 is located at the rear side of the card receiving block 61 (the card pushing head 62 and the card receiving plate 72 in the horizontal card pushing and feeding device are respectively located at the front and rear sides of the card receiving block 61), and the card pushing head 62 can push the mahjong tiles on the card receiving block 61 forward onto the card receiving plate 72 of the horizontal card pushing and feeding device of this side; when in the second stopping position, the card pushing head 62 is located above or in front of the card receiving block 61, and the card pushing head 62 is aligned and cooperated with the card blocking block 63 to prevent the mahjong tiles from moving out of the card supporting plate 71 when the card pushing head of the horizontal card pushing and feeding device of the adjacent side pushes the cards. In this way, when the card supporting plate 71 is in the raised state, the card pushing head 62 can enter and exit the space below the card supporting plate 71 to implement card pushing; when the card supporting plate 71 is in the lowered state, the card pushing head 62 is located inside the card supporting plate 71, and the card pushing head 62, the card blocking block 63 and the card blocking part 31 of the card blocking frame 3 are arranged in a row together to prevent the mahjong tiles from falling off the card supporting plate 71. The structure is simple, the installation is convenient, and the use is reliable.

[0120] The card receiving plate 72 can adopt the structure disclosed in patent documents such as the publication number CN109381855, and the card receiving plate 72 can be fixed on the upper part of the card feeding seat 70 or integrally formed on the card feeding seat 70. It can also adopt the structure disclosed in patent documents such as CN112023390A, and the card receiving plate 72 is used for lifting up and down to reduce the lifting span of the card receiving block 61 in the card pushing device 6 and improve the efficiency and stability of stacking and pushing cards. In this way, the card feeding transmission mechanism further includes a lifting drive mechanism for the card receiving plate 72, such as Figures 47 to 48As shown in the figure, the lifting drive mechanism of the card-bearing plate 72 includes a card-lifting crank and a card-lifting support frame. The bottom of the card-bearing plate 72 is slidably connected to the upper card seat 70 up and down through a card-lifting guide shaft and a card-lifting guide shaft seat. Two card-lifting support frames are provided on both sides of the bottom of the card-bearing plate 72. The bottom of the card-lifting support frame is provided with a card-lifting cam curve. The flat-pushing card-lifting motor 76 pushes the card-lifting support frame through the card-lifting crank to drive the card-bearing plate 72 to lift and lower. In this embodiment, the card-bearing plate 72 has at least two stopping positions: when in the first stopping position at a low position, the card-bearing plate 72 receives two mahjong tiles stacked into a stack pushed by the card-pushing device 6; when in the second stopping position at a high position, the card-pushing plate 73 pushes the multi-stack mahjong tiles arranged on the card-bearing plate 72 onto the card-supporting plate 71. In this way, the card-bearing plate 72 descends to a low position to receive the mahjong tiles pushed by the card-pushing device 6, and when flat-pushing and lifting the cards, the card-bearing plate 72 rises to a high position to push the mahjong tiles onto the card-supporting plate 71, greatly reducing the lifting span (about the thickness of one mahjong tile) of the card-bearing block 61 in the card-pushing device 6 and improving the efficiency and stability of stacking and pushing cards. And preferably, an inner retaining wall is provided on the inner side of the card-bearing plate 72, and an outer retaining wall is provided on the outer side of the card-bearing plate 72. The inner retaining wall and the outer retaining wall are integrally formed or fixedly connected with the upper card seat 70. When the card-bearing plate 72 rises, its height is higher than that of the inner retaining wall, so as to prevent the mahjong tiles on the card-bearing plate 72 from falling in a mess. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned card-lifting transmission mechanism uses a flat-pushing card-lifting motor 76 to drive the card-supporting plate 71, the card-bearing plate 72 and the card-pushing plate 73 to realize card-lifting, card-pushing and card-lifting.

[0121] In other embodiments, the flat-pushing card-lifting device 7 having the above-mentioned liftable card-bearing plate 72 can also be combined with the card-pushing device 6 for pushing a single mahjong tile. In this way, the card-bearing plate 72 has at least three stopping positions: in the first stopping position, the card-bearing plate 72 receives a single mahjong tile pushed by the card-pushing device 6 and arranges it to form the first layer of mahjong tiles; in the second stopping position, the card-bearing plate 72 receives a single mahjong tile pushed by the card-pushing device 6 and arranges it to form the second layer of mahjong tiles; in the third stopping position, the card-pushing plate 73 pushes the multi-stack mahjong tiles arranged on the card-bearing plate 72 onto the card-supporting plate 71.

[0122] In other embodiments, the flat-pushing card-lifting device 7 having the above-mentioned liftable card-bearing plate 72 can also adopt staged card-lifting. For example, three layers of mahjong tiles are stored on the card-bearing plate 72. When card-lifting, the card-supporting plate 71 descends to the bottom, and the card-pushing plate 73 first pushes the top layer of mahjong tiles onto the card-supporting plate 71. The card-supporting plate 71 rises to send the mahjong tiles to the tabletop. After the player takes away the mahjong tiles, the card-supporting plate 71 descends again, and the card-pushing plate 73 pushes the remaining two layers of mahjong tiles onto the card-supporting plate 71. The card-supporting plate 71 rises to send the mahjong tiles to the tabletop.

[0123] In the prior art, the flat-pushing card-dealing windmill-shaped mahjong machine disclosed in patent documents such as CN209645828U, CN109381855A, and CN112023390A has the four card walls arranged in a windmill shape and tilted, which are more outward than the four card walls of the slope card-dealing windmill-shaped mahjong machine. Generally, players still need to manually push the mahjong card wall in a little to make it suitable for playing cards, which still causes inconvenience to players. Therefore, preferably, the mahjong card wall is pushed inward to be about in the same position as the mahjong card wall of the slope card-dealing windmill-shaped mahjong machine, so that players no longer need to push the cards.

[0124] One implementation is that the card-supporting plate 71 and its driving mechanism adopt the prior art structure. The card-supporting plate 71 extends inward and widens, and the width of the card-supporting plate 71 is greater than the width of the mahjong card wall. That is, a supporting area for placing the mahjong card wall and a transition area outside the supporting area where the mahjong card wall is not placed are formed on the card-supporting plate 71. The transition area only connects to the card-receiving plate 72 and allows the mahjong card wall to be pushed through when the card-pushing plate 73 pushes the cards. However, such a structure has several problems: First, setting wide card-dealing openings and card-supporting plates on the tabletop affects the aesthetics of the mahjong machine. Second, the four wide card-dealing openings will cause a large hollow area on the tabletop, low strength, and easy deformation. Third, in order to avoid the lifting components (including guide rods, card-dealing cranks, and card-dealing cams) at the bottom of the card-supporting plate 71 from occupying too much of the shuffling space, the supporting position of the lifting components on the card-supporting plate 71 is generally outside the mahjong card wall, which will cause unbalanced support of the card-supporting plate, lack of stability, and easily cause the card-supporting plate to loosen, affecting the service life of the mahjong machine. Of course, the latter two problems can be solved by improving materials, adding reinforcement parts, or strengthening structures. Therefore, this implementation can be used in occasions with low requirements for the aesthetics of the mahjong machine.

[0125] Another implementation is that the width of the card-supporting plate 71 remains unchanged, and the position of the card-supporting plate 71 is moved inward. When the card-supporting plate 71 descends to the bottom, a transition plate 74 is arranged between the card-supporting plate 71 and the card-receiving plate 72 to connect the card-receiving plate 72 and the card-supporting plate 71 and allow the mahjong card wall to be pushed through when the card-pushing plate 73 pushes the cards. Among them, the transition plate 74 is installed on the card-supporting plate 71, the card-receiving plate 72, or the card-dealing seat 70. The transition plate 74 can be fixed or integrally formed on the card-receiving plate 72 or the card-dealing seat 70.

[0126] This embodiment preferably, as Figure 24 、 Figure 25 、 Figure 34 、 Figure 37 、 Figure 40 、 Figure 43 、 Figure 47 and Figure 48 shown, the transition plate 74 is hinged to the inner side of the card-receiving plate 72 or the card-dealing seat 70 so that the transition plate 74 can be erected or laid flat. In this way, when the flat-pushing card-dealing device 7 stores cards, as Figure 25As shown, the transition plate 74 is in an upright state to serve as the inner retaining wall of the card-retaining plate 72 to prevent the mahjong tiles from falling off the card-retaining plate 72; when the flat-pushing card-loading device 7 pushes the cards, as Figure 26 and Figure 27 shown, the card-supporting plate 71 descends, the transition plate 74 lies flat, and the card-pushing plate 73 pushes the mahjong tile wall inward; as Figure 28 and Figure 29 shown, the transition plate 74 is in a flat state to form a transition area through which the mahjong tile wall can be pushed; as Figure 30 and Figure 31 shown, after the card-pushing plate 73 pushes the mahjong tile wall onto the card-supporting plate 71, it resets, and the transition plate 74 resets to the upright state; as Figure 32 and Figure 33 shown, the card-supporting plate 71 raises the mahjong tile wall onto the mahjong machine tabletop. The structure is simple, the installation is convenient, and the function is reliable.

[0127] Further preferably, the transition plate 74 is given an upward upright tendency by an elastic member. In this way, the transition plate is in an upright state when not under external force, and is pressed flat by the card-pushing force. This can not only avoid interference between the transition plate 74 and the card-supporting plate 71, but also does not require an additional support member to support the transition plate. The elastic member can be a tension spring, a torsion spring, an elastic ejector rod, etc., but preferably a torsion spring sleeved on the hinge shaft of the transition plate 74.

[0128] In this embodiment, preferably, the transition plate 74 is given a flat tendency by an elastic member. In this way, the transition plate is in a flat state when not under external force, reducing the card-pushing load of the motor and reducing the card-pushing collision noise, but an additional support structure or support member is required to support the transition plate. The elastic member can be a tension spring, a torsion spring, an elastic ejector rod, etc., but preferably a torsion spring sleeved on the hinge shaft of the transition plate 74.

[0129] Further preferably, a first transition support member 711 is provided on the outer side of the card supporting plate 71. The first transition support member 711 is horizontally arranged and lower than the top surface of the card supporting plate 71, thus forming a step with the card supporting plate 71. When the card supporting plate 71 descends to the bottom transition plate 74 being flat, the first transition support member 711 supports the transition plate 74. When the card supporting plate 71 rises to the top, the first transition support member 711 can form a support with the table top plate 4. In this way, the first transition support member 711 can not only support the transition plate 74, but also form a support with the bottom of the table top plate 4 to improve the stability of the card supporting plate, avoid loosening and affecting the service life, with a simple and reliable structure and low cost. The first transition support member 711 can be in the form of an integral plate, or can be composed of multiple small support plates. It can be an independent component fixedly connected to the card supporting plate 71, or can be integrally formed with the card supporting plate 71. In this embodiment, preferably, the first transition support member 711 is an integral plate integrally formed with the card supporting plate 71, with a more firm and reliable support. More preferably, the lifting guiding component (guiding rod or guiding sleeve) of the card supporting plate 71 is arranged on the first transition support member 711, and the upper card cam 713 of the card supporting plate 71 is arranged at the bottom of the card supporting plate 71, so as to more evenly and stably support the card supporting plate 71 and the mahjong wall thereon, further avoiding loosening of the card supporting plate 71 and increasing the service life.

[0130] Further preferably, a second transition support member 712 is provided on the outer side of the first transition support member 711. The second transition support member 712 is vertically arranged and fixedly connected or integrally formed with the first transition support member 711. When the transition plate 74 is erected and the card supporting plate 71 rises, the second transition support member 712 forms an inner limit for the transition plate 74. In this way, it can not only form a reliable limit and block for the transition plate 74, but also avoid the transition plate 74 turning inward to interfere with the lifting of the card supporting plate 71. The first transition support member 711 can be in the form of an integral plate, but is preferably composed of at least two small support plates.

[0131] In other embodiments, the transition plate 74 can also be movably arranged at the bottom of the card supporting plate 71.

[0132] In other embodiments, such as Figure 47 and Figure 48 shown, on the flat push card feeding device 7 where the card receiving plate 72 can be lifted, the transition plate 74 can also be movably arranged at the top of the inner side wall of the card receiving plate 72, and the inner side wall is integrally formed or fixedly connected with the card feeding seat 70.

[0133] Adopting the mahjong tile sorting method of the mahjong machine and its tile picking and transporting system in this embodiment, includes the following steps:

[0134] 1) Card feeding; The card feeding device 5 picks up the mahjong tiles 100 from the shuffling turntable 2 and sends them to the card pushing device 6;

[0135] 2) Stacking the mahjong tiles; the card - holding block 61 of the card - pushing device 6 receives a mahjong tile sent by the card - feeding device 5 at the first stop position; the card - holding block 61 descends to the second stop position to receive another mahjong tile sent by the card - feeding device 5; the card - holding block 61 ascends to the third position, and the card - pushing head 62 pushes the two stacked mahjong tiles onto the card - holding plate 72 of the horizontal card - placing device 7, and then the card - holding block 61 and the card - pushing head 62 return to their original positions;

[0136] 3) Repeat the above step 2) until multiple stacks of mahjong tiles (mahjong wall) are arranged on the card - holding plate 72 of the horizontal card - placing device 7;

[0137] 4) Horizontal card - placing; after receiving the card - placing instruction, the supporting plate 71 of the horizontal card - placing device 7 descends from the tabletop to the low position, and the pushing plate 73 pushes the multiple stacks of mahjong tiles (mahjong wall) on the card - holding plate 72 to the supporting plate 71 via the transition plate 74; the supporting plate 71 ascends to the tabletop.

[0138] In a preferred embodiment, in the above step 2), the first stop position and the third stop position of the card - holding block 61 of the card - pushing device 6 are at the same height position. In other embodiments, the card - holding block 61 of the card - pushing device 6 is lower at the first stop position than at the third stop position.

[0139] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to terms such as "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "one implementation manner", "specific implementation manner", "other implementation manners", "examples", "specific examples", or "some examples", etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment, implementation manner, or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described above can also be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments, implementation manners, or examples. The technical solutions recorded in the present invention also include the technical solutions formed by any one or more of the above - described specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics alone or in combination.

[0140] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it can be understood that the above - mentioned embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Without departing from the principles and purposes of the present invention, those of ordinary skill in the art can make changes, modifications, substitutions, variations, delete some features, add features, or re - combine features within the scope of the present invention. Any simple modification, equivalent change, and modification made to the above - mentioned embodiments based on the innovative principles of the present invention still fall within the scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

Claims

1. A pushing device for a mahjong machine, characterized in that, The pushing device includes a card-holding block for receiving the mahjong tiles sent by the card-sending device and a pushing head for pushing the mahjong tiles on the card-holding block to the flat-pushing card-placement device. It also includes a pushing housing on which a pushing motor is installed. A pushing transmission mechanism is provided inside the pushing housing. The card-holding block and the pushing head are arranged outside the pushing housing. The pushing motor drives the card-holding block to move up and down through the pushing transmission mechanism to stack the mahjong tiles. The pushing motor drives the pushing head to swing horizontally back and forth around an axis through the pushing transmission mechanism, so as to push the stacked mahjong tiles out from the card-holding block. The card-holding block of the pushing device receives one mahjong tile sent by the card-sending device at the first stop position; the card-holding block descends to the second stop position to receive another mahjong tile sent by the card-sending device; the pushing head swings horizontally around an axis to push the two stacked mahjong tiles from the card-holding block onto the card-holding plate of the flat-pushing card-placement device. Wherein, the pushing surface of the pushing head includes two planes, namely a first plane and a second plane, and the distances of the two planes from the axis are different: when the pushing head starts to push the mahjong tiles on the card-holding block, the connection of the two planes or the first plane contacts the mahjong tiles first; when the pushing head pushes the mahjong tiles onto the card-holding plate, the second plane contacts the mahjong tiles.

2. The pushing device of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, wherein, The pushing head has at least two pushing parts: when the pushing head starts to push the mahjong tiles on the card-holding block, the first pushing part contacts the mahjong tiles first; when the pushing head pushes the mahjong tiles onto the card-holding plate, the second pushing part contacts the mahjong tiles, or the first pushing part and the second pushing part contact the mahjong tiles simultaneously.

3. The pushing device of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, characterized in that The pushing transmission mechanism includes a pushing cam wheel, a lifting slider, a swing rod and a pushing swing arm. The pushing motor drives the pushing cam wheel to rotate. One end of the swing rod is movably connected to the lifting slider. The card-holding block outside the pushing housing is fixedly connected to the lifting slider inside the pushing housing through a card-holding block extension arm. The other end of the swing rod is hinged to the pushing housing. The swing rod is driven by the pushing cam wheel to swing up and down, thereby driving the lifting slider and the card-holding block to move up and down; the pushing head outside the pushing housing is fixed to one end of the pushing swing arm, and the other end of the pushing swing arm is hinged to the pushing housing. The pushing swing arm is driven by the pushing cam wheel to swing horizontally, thereby driving the pushing head to swing horizontally back and forth around the axis.

4. The pushing device of a mahjong machine according to claim 3, characterized in that The pushing swing arm is located above the pushing housing and is movably connected to the pushing cam wheel inside the pushing housing through a movable connecting piece passing through an opening on the pushing housing.

5. The pusher device of a mahjong machine according to claim 4, characterized in that, The movable connecting piece is a guide wheel installed on the pushing swing arm, and a curve groove for movably cooperating with the guide wheel is arranged on the circumference of the pushing cam wheel; or, the movable connecting piece is a slider slidably arranged on the pushing housing, the upper end of the slider is movably cooperated with the pushing swing arm, and the lower end of the slider is movably cooperated with the pushing cam wheel.

6. The pushing device of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The pushing card housing includes a first pushing card housing and a second pushing card housing, the first pushing card housing and the second pushing card housing are fixedly connected in a relative cooperation, the pushing card curve wheel is installed between the first pushing card housing and the second pushing card housing, the pushing card motor is installed on the first pushing card housing, a bracket is fixed on the second pushing card housing, the card outlet of the card feeding device and the second pushing card housing are respectively located inside and outside of the card receiving block, the bracket and the first pushing card housing are respectively located in front of and behind the card receiving block, the pushing card head swings back and forth around the axis to implement pushing the card, and a transition table for transitional connection with the card receiving plate in the horizontal pushing and card placing device is provided at the top of the first pushing card housing.

7. A mahjong machine, characterized in that, It includes a pushing card device of a mahjong machine according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A mahjong machine according to claim 7, characterized in that, A card blocking block is provided on the pushing card housing, the front of the pushing card head is the card pushing surface, the back of the pushing card head is the card blocking surface, and the pushing card head has at least two staying positions: at the first staying position, the pushing card head is located at the rear side of the card receiving block, and the pushing card head can push the mahjong cards on the card receiving block forward onto the card receiving plate of the horizontal pushing and card placing device of its own side; at the second staying position, the pushing card head is located above or in front of the card receiving block, and the pushing card head is aligned and cooperated with the card blocking block to prevent the mahjong cards from moving out of the card supporting plate when the adjacent horizontal pushing and card placing device pushes the card.

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