Card Shuffler

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses and methods are described for shuffling a deck, group, stack or pile of cards. The cards are placed into a shuffler. The shuffler may be accessed under a lid, or via a slot or tray. Buttons, switches, or a touch screen and the like serve as an interface to access and control the shuffler. Cards are introduced into a substantially vertical shuffling chute. Cards are counted or audited. Sensors provide information as to the location of the cards. Static barriers and agitators encourage cards to remain in proper orientation and location. An elevator lifts cards from the shuffling chute. Sweeper arms or other mechanism manipulates the cards and returns the cards to a substantially horizontal orientation and exit position. Manual override is possible when errors are detected. Rubber-coated commodity rollers mountable to cantilevered axles engage and launch cards into the air when shuffled in the shuffling chute. Cards settle back into the stack of cards under the influence of gravity. The shuffler is mounted inside a simple enclosure. Maintenance and interface features provide convenience when working with the shuffler. Authentication may be employed to correlate user or dealer with operation of the shuffler.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is related to, and claims the benefit of, the earliest available effective filing date(s) from the following application(s) (the “Related Application(s)”) (e.g., claims earliest available priority dates for other than provisional patent application(s), for any and all parent, grandparent, etc. applications of the Related Application(s)).[0002]For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application No. 61 / 944,514, titled Automated Card Shuffler, and naming at least Tyler Kuhn as inventor, filed 25 Feb. 2014, which is currently co-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pending application is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.[0003]The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to the effect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicants reference both a serial number and ind...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0027]Elevator control. Manual operation of the shuffler may be needed when an error or malfunction occurs. According to an illustrative implementation, a user interface (UI) or one or more buttons to allow interaction and control of the shuffler. One or more functions may be manually triggered. For example, one of these functions enables an operator to manipulate the vertical movement of a linear actuator to remove a jammed card by bringing the entire group of cards up from the bottom settling region of the card shuffler. A shuffling operation may be re-initiated once a jammed card is corrected. According to an implementation, a series of UI buttons is provided where one button corresponds to a particular function. Actions may be initiated by the user. In another example, maintenance functions may be triggered by the buttons or interaction with software-based buttons on a touch screen. For example, manual correction of the shuffler may be performed by actuating a first button to control an up movement of a linear actuator, while a second button controls a down movement of the linear actuator to return the shuffler to its automated sequence of steps to shuffle a group of cards. An elevator control and other controls Allow users to override automatic functions of the linear actuator and the shuffler. Manual controls facilitate operation of the shuffler and providing such controls avoids the necessity for offline maintenance or some kind of hard reset of the entire machine.

[0028]Progressive cam. According to an illustrative implementation, a progressive cam is provided for a roller assembly. The progressive cam is used in association with a roller that grips either a top or bottom card of a stack or group of cards at the bottom of the shuffling chute. An asymmetric cam is driven by a motor to oscillate a position of the roller assembly of the shuffler. The cam is shaped in such a way that the roller assembly is fed into the deck of cards at a slower rate than it is retracted. This concept can be extended to include any mechanism or actuator that changes the power required and speed of the extension versus refraction oscillating cycles of the roller assembly. Decreasing the speed of the extension stroke for the roller assembly decreases the power required to lift each card and this allows for a smaller motor to be used. The progressive cam also increases the duration that the cards are in contact with the roller during the extension cycle, improving the shuffling action. The increased speed during the retraction stroke decreases the time required to retract the roller assembly, decreasing the overall shuffle time for a given number of throws of cards. Retracting the assembly quickly also provides less time for the airborne cards to settle on top of the wheel while the roller retracts.

Problems solved by technology

Manual shuffling of cards is time consuming and it is common to perform the process only 3-4 times. Card shuffling machines are available for performing the task of shuffling.

However, existing machines suffer from a variety of shortcomings including prohibitive initial expense, frequent breakdowns in the equipment and in the shuffling process, expense of maintenance, and impractical duration of time needed for shuffling.

The presence of a static attractive force can cause a card to be stuck in the shuffling machine such as long a portion of a wall of a shuffling chute.

A flipped card eventually exposes its value side improperly during game play.

The result of an excessively wide chute would be one or more cards inserted face up in the shuffled deck or group of shuffled cards.

Otherwise, card damage is possible in other processes of the shuffler device.

If the guides were of a fixed type, the input slot would be obstructed and the user could not insert the deck of cards.

Based on information gather from the sensors, errors in the shuffling process are detected.

The rubber of the roller is tacky enough to grab and propel a card into the air with very little contact with the card.

This component may be susceptible to wear as the rollers are repeatedly contacting cards during the shuffling process.

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