A poker machine

Abstract

The present invention discloses a poker machine, comprising: a card feeding device, a control disk is arranged in the center of the panel, and a card placing port for placing playing cards is formed below the control disk when the control disk is raised; a card sorting device, a central turntable driven by a turntable motor is arranged in the center of the card sorting seat, an arc-shaped card sorting channel for sorting playing cards is formed between the central turntable and the outer wall of the card sorting channel, and a plurality of conveying rollers are arranged at the bottom of the arc-shaped card sorting channel; a card dealing device, comprising a card storage box and a card dealing device, and the card dealing device comprises a card dividing mechanism, a conveying mechanism and a card flipping mechanism; a card receiving device, comprising a plurality of card receiving boxes arranged around the card dealing device, and these card receiving boxes are driven to rotate relative to the card dealing device by a rotating driving mechanism. This scheme can not only automatically sort and distribute the chaotic playing cards and then distribute them to each player, realizing automatic and efficient playing card sorting, but also the layout of each main device component is reasonable, the structure is compact, and the space utilization rate is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of poker machines, in particular to a poker machine. Background Art

[0002] Playing cards is a popular recreational activity. After a round, players must sort, shuffle, and deal the cards themselves. To save time dealing cards, automatic card dealing machines have been invented. For example, patent publication number CN201164714Y discloses a four-mouth poker card dealing machine. The machine comprises a shuffling chamber, a centrally mounted shuffling differential driven by a shuffling motor, and four evenly distributed conveyor belts connected to a card dealing mechanism. Each conveyor belt is driven by a conveyor motor, with a card handling wheel mounted on one side and a block engaging the handling wheel mounted on the other. The handling wheel is equipped with a spiral lever, and a counting photocell is mounted at the output end of the card dealing mechanism. During use, the machine places random cards face down into the shuffling chamber. After passing through the shuffling differential, the handling wheel, and the card dealing mechanism, the cards are delivered from four outlets. Although the card dealing machine basically completes the actions of shuffling and dealing cards, it still cannot avoid the need for players to collect, sort, and flip the playing cards with the front and back facing different directions, resulting in high labor intensity and long waiting time during the game.

[0003] Patent document CN102580307A discloses a fully automatic poker machine, which includes a mounting base and a plurality of supporting legs arranged at the bottom of the mounting base; a card inlet for inserting playing cards is arranged on the mounting base and opens in a manner parallel to the table top, a shuffling and primary card dealing device is arranged at one end of the card inlet for initially separating disordered playing cards, a straight card and secondary card dealing device is arranged at the other end of the shuffling and primary card dealing device for adjusting the playing cards to the same direction and separating them into single cards; a card flipping and dealing device is arranged at the other end of the straight card and secondary card dealing device for adjusting single playing cards with different front and back sides to the same direction and dealing the cards according to regulations; a card pushing device is arranged at the other end of the card flipping and dealing device for moving the dealt playing cards; and a card raising device is arranged on one side of the card pushing device for raising the playing cards onto the table top. Among them, the shuffling and initial dealing equipment realizes the initial dealing (separating the playing cards into a few pieces) through the different rotation speeds of the card feeding belt and the dealing belt; the straight and secondary dealing equipment transports the playing cards through the secondary dealing belt and realizes the straight (adjusting the playing cards to the same direction, i.e. sorting the cards) through the straight belt and the auxiliary straight belt on both sides; the flipping equipment realizes the flipping (turning the playing cards to the required side) through the cooperation of the flipping plate and the three flipping belts with concave design; the dealing equipment realizes random dealing (i.e. shuffling and dealing) through the cooperation of the dealing belt and the dealing rod; the dealt playing cards fall directly on the card pushing panel and then are pushed to the card raising panel by the card pushing rod, and the card raising equipment raises the playing cards onto the table top.

[0004] Although the above-mentioned poker machine basically realizes the operations such as card sorting, shuffling and dealing of playing cards, it has the following problems due to its structural limitations:

[0005] 1. The gap between the conveyor belt and the surrounding wall is easy for playing cards to be embedded, which can easily cause the playing cards to be damaged, lost, stuck or equipment failure;

[0006] 2. The playing cards are placed flat on the conveyor belt, and the two side belts move in opposite directions to rotate the playing cards in the horizontal plane to adjust their direction, so as to achieve the purpose of horizontal card sorting. This method can easily cause the playing cards to float, get stuck between the two side belts, or even be damaged or embedded in the belt gap. In addition, the conveying speed and length of the conveyor belt are both high, resulting in low card sorting efficiency.

[0007] 3. The card flipping machine uses a flop plate and three flop belts to realize card flipping, which has the disadvantages of unstable card flipping and low efficiency. In addition, there is also the disadvantage of playing cards getting stuck in the gap between the belts.

[0008] 4. The use of a card-dealing belt and multiple card-dealing ports arranged in a straight line has the disadvantages of unstable card dealing and low card dealing efficiency. In addition, the playing cards in multiple positions are raised in the same position, which makes it inconvenient for players to take cards and also poses the possibility of cheating.

[0009] Patent document CN103055499A discloses a fully automatic poker machine comprising: a card feeder for inserting playing cards, with a card feeding mechanism at the bottom of the feeder for transporting the playing cards; a card sorting trough for vertically placing the playing cards, with at least two card sorting components capable of relative movement, thereby enabling the playing cards to be moved out of the trough in an upright position; a vertical card transfer device for placing the playing cards ejected from the card feeder into the trough in an upright position; a card flipping device mounted at the exit of the trough for flipping the playing cards front and back; a card dealing device mounted behind the card flipping device for randomly delivering the playing cards to multiple receiving boxes; and multiple card lifting devices for raising the playing cards from each receiving box onto the tabletop. This poker machine uses standard playing cards and employs a vertical card sorting method, significantly improving the accuracy and efficiency of card sorting. However, this poker machine has numerous components and is therefore expensive to manufacture.

[0010] Patent document CN105854274A discloses a poker machine and a poker card arrangement method thereof. This method eliminates the need for a card sorting device and a vertical card transfer device. Instead, a card dispensing mechanism is provided at the card outlet of the existing card inlet frame. The dispensing mechanism delivers a single playing card to a card flipping mechanism for flipping and dealing. This allows for the separation, flipping, shuffling, and dealing of stacked playing cards, resulting in high shuffling efficiency, good reliability, and low machine manufacturing costs. However, the card flipping mechanism of this poker machine can only deliver one mahjong tile at a time to the flipping box for identification, flipping, and dealing, resulting in low card flipping efficiency. Furthermore, the flipping box generates high rotational noise, places heavy load on the motor, is complex in structure, and suffers from poor stability. Furthermore, this poker machine has a loose structural layout, is bulky, and has low installation efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0011] In order to solve the above problems, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a poker machine that can not only automatically sort and distribute chaotic poker cards and then deal them out to players, thereby realizing automated and efficient poker card sorting, but also has a reasonable layout of major device components, a compact structure, and high space utilization.

[0012] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0013] A poker machine, comprising:

[0014] A card feed device for inserting playing cards, the card feed device includes a panel fixed to the top of the base, a control disk is provided in the center of the panel, and the control disk is driven up and down by a central lifting mechanism. When the control disk is raised, a card placement opening for inserting playing cards is formed below it, and when the control disk is lowered, the card placement opening is covered;

[0015] The card sorting device is used for arranging playing cards into a uniform orientation and delivering them. The card sorting device is located below the control panel and includes a card sorting seat fixed to a base. A central turntable driven by a turntable motor is provided in the center of the card sorting seat. An outer wall of a card sorting channel is provided around the card sorting seat. An arc-shaped card sorting channel for arranging playing cards is formed between the central turntable and the outer wall of the card sorting channel. A plurality of conveying rollers for conveying playing cards are provided at the bottom of the arc-shaped card sorting channel. A card sorting channel outlet is provided at one end of the arc-shaped card sorting channel for delivering playing cards along its length direction. The width of the arc-shaped card sorting channel is less than the length of the playing cards and greater than the width of the playing cards. The distance between two adjacent conveying rollers is less than the length of the playing cards. The width of the card sorting channel outlet is close to the width of the playing cards.

[0016] A card dispenser for delivering playing cards one by one to a card receiving device is fixed to a base and located below a card sorting seat. The card dispenser includes a card storage box and a card dispensing device. The upper opening of the card storage box is located below an exit of a card sorting passage, and one side of the bottom of the card storage box is in communication with a card inlet passage of the card dispensing device. The card dispensing device includes a card separating mechanism for separating playing cards in the card storage box into pieces and delivering them to a conveying mechanism, a conveying mechanism for identifying the front and back sides of playing cards and delivering the playing cards to a card flipping mechanism, and a card flipping mechanism for flipping the playing cards as needed and delivering the playing cards to a card receiving device.

[0017] The card receiving device is used for receiving playing cards. The card receiving device comprises a plurality of card receiving shoes arranged around a card dealer. The card receiving shoes are driven to rotate relative to the card dealer by a rotation driving mechanism.

[0018] Preferably, the rotation direction of the central turntable is opposite to the direction in which the conveying rollers convey the playing cards to promote the rotation of playing cards with inconsistent orientations, thereby arranging the playing cards into a certain orientation.

[0019] Preferably, the outer side wall of the card sorting channel is rotatably mounted on the card sorting seat and is driven to rotate by an outer motor.

[0020] Preferably, an outer gear and a bottom gear are integrally formed or fixed on the outer side wall of the card sorting channel, and the outer motor fixed on the card sorting seat or base drives the outer side wall of the card sorting channel to rotate through the output gear meshing with the outer gear, and the bottom gear meshes with the outer end gear of the conveying roller to drive the conveying roller to rotate.

[0021] Preferably, the top of the center turntable is the upper conical surface of the turntable, and the lower edge of the upper conical surface of the turntable is formed with several turntable card dialing inclined surfaces arranged along the circumference of the center turntable and protruding upward, and the lower part of the center turntable is formed with a turntable side wall near the bottom of the card sorting channel.

[0022] Preferably, a card discharging mechanism is installed at the exit of the card sorting channel, and the card discharging mechanism includes a card discharging active roller wheel and a pressure roller driven by a card discharging motor.

[0023] Preferably, the plurality of conveying rollers are distributed radially along the circular center turntable, and the conveying rollers are tapered rollers with a small inner end radius and a large outer end radius.

[0024] Preferably, a card sorting channel outlet is provided at each end of the arc-shaped card sorting channel.

[0025] Preferably, the card flipping mechanism is located below the outer side of the central turntable.

[0026] Preferably, the card receiving device also includes a plurality of card pushing plates arranged around the card dealer, and the card pushing plates and the card receiving boxes are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence; the plurality of card receiving boxes are fixed on a rotating ring, and the rotating ring is rotatably mounted on the base, and the rotating ring is driven to rotate by a rotating motor, and a card pushing chute for slidingly cooperating with the card pushing plate is provided at the bottom of each card receiving box; the card pushing plate is driven by a card pushing drive mechanism to make reciprocating motion from inside the card receiving box to outside the card receiving box; when the card dealer deals cards, the card pushing plate moves to the outside of the card receiving box close to the inner side of the card dealer, the card receiving box rotates, the card pushing plate does not move, and the playing cards are sent to the card receiving box; when pushing cards, the card pushing plate enters the card pushing chute and moves from the inside to the outside to push the playing cards on the card receiving box out of the card receiving box.

[0027] Preferably, a card raising ring is provided around the outer sides of the multiple card receiving boxes, and a plurality of card receiving positions corresponding to the card receiving boxes are set on the card raising ring. The card raising ring is driven up and down by a lifting drive mechanism, thereby raising a stack of playing cards of each party from the card loading port to the table top.

[0028] Preferably, an upper shell for covering the upper part of the card sorting channel is fixed above the card sorting seat, and the center of the upper shell is a card placement opening for placing playing cards, and the card placement opening is covered when the control panel descends.

[0029] Preferably, the central lifting mechanism includes a lifting guide rod, a lifting seat, a central lifting cam and a central lifting motor. The control disk is fixed to the upper end of the lifting guide rod. The lifting guide rod is provided with a lifting seat on the outside. The lifting seat is fixed on the card sorting seat. The lower part of the lifting seat is provided with a central lifting cam. Through grooves are provided on both sides of the lifting seat. A support rod is fixed to the lower end of the lifting guide rod. Both ends of the support rod extend out of the through grooves on the lifting seat and can move up and down along the through grooves. The two protruding ends of the support rod are against the cam curve surface on the central lifting cam. The central lifting cam is driven to rotate by the central lifting motor, thereby driving the support rod and its lifting guide rod to move up and down, and then driving the control disk at the top of the lifting guide rod to rise and fall.

[0030] Preferably, an outer side of the central lifting cam is integrally formed with or fixed with an external gear, and is transmission-connected to a central lifting motor fixed on the card sorting stand via a lifting intermediate gear and / or a transmission belt.

[0031] Preferably, the center turntable is mounted outside the lifting seat, and the upper end of the lifting seat extends out of the top of the center turntable. The two are connected by a bearing and can rotate relative to each other. The bottom of the center turntable is integrally formed or fixed with an inner gear ring, which is connected to the turntable motor installed on the card sorting seat.

[0032] By adopting the above technical solution, the present invention can not only automatically sort and distribute the disordered playing cards to the players, thus realizing automated and efficient playing card sorting, but also has reasonable layout of main device components, compact structure and high space utilization. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Figure 1 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the poker machine of the present invention (the movement is not raised);

[0034] Figure 2 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the poker machine of the present invention (with the movement raised);

[0035] Figure 3 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the poker machine of the present invention (the movement is raised and the base is omitted);

[0036] Figure 4 is an exploded view of the poker machine of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 5 It is an exploded view of the poker machine movement of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 6 It is an exploded view of the base and movement lifting mechanism of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 7 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the poker machine movement of the present invention (the card pusher is not pushed out);

[0040] Figure 8 It is a three-dimensional diagram of the poker machine movement of the present invention (pushing card board is pushed out);

[0041] Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the poker machine movement of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 10 This is a cross-sectional view of the card dealing device of the present invention (direct card dealing state);

[0043] Figure 11 This is the second cross-sectional view of the card dealing device of the present invention (direct card dealing state);

[0044] Figure 12 This is the third cross-sectional view of the card dealer of the present invention (card dealing state after flipping the cards);

[0045] Figure 13 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the card distributor of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 14 It is one of the three-dimensional views of the card dealer of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 15 This is the second three-dimensional diagram of the card dealer of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 16 This is one of the three-dimensional views of the card dealing device of the present invention (part of the housing is omitted);

[0049] Figure 17 This is a second perspective view of the card dealing device of the present invention (part of the housing is omitted);

[0050] Figure 18 This is a third perspective view of the card dealing device of the present invention (part of the housing is omitted);

[0051] Figure 19 This is a fourth perspective view of the card dealing device of the present invention (part of the housing is omitted);

[0052] Figure 20 It is a bottom bottom view of the card receiving stand of the present invention (with the card pushing plate pushed out);

[0053] Figure 21 This is a bottom bottom view of the card receiving stand of the present invention (the card pushing plate is not pushed out);

[0054] Figure 22 It is a structural schematic diagram of the base of the present invention;

[0055] Figure 23 It is a structural schematic diagram of the movement lifting mechanism of the present invention;

[0056] Figure 24 1 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the card dealing device of the present invention (direct card dealing state);

[0057] Figure 25 This is a second cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the card dealer of the present invention (card dealing state after flipping the cards);

[0058] Figure 26 1 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the card dealer of the present invention (card dealing state after flop);

[0059] Figure 27 It is a structural schematic diagram of another embodiment of the poker machine of the present invention;

[0060] Figure 28 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the poker machine of the present invention;

[0061] Figure 29 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the poker machine of the present invention (with the panel removed);

[0062] Figure 30 This is a structural diagram of the card receiving seat in another embodiment of the poker machine of the present invention (with the card raising ring falling);

[0063] Figure 31 It is a structural schematic diagram of the card receiving seat in another embodiment of the poker machine of the present invention (with the card raising ring raised);

[0064] Figure 32 is an exploded view of a card sorting device in another embodiment of a poker machine of the present invention;

[0065] Figure 33 This is a structural diagram of a card sorting device in another embodiment of a poker machine of the present invention;

[0066] Figure 34 is a cross-sectional view of a card handling device in another embodiment of a poker machine of the present invention;

[0067] Figure 35 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a card sorting device in another embodiment of a poker machine of the present invention;

[0068] Figure 36 This is one of the structural diagrams of the card dealer in another embodiment of the poker machine of the present invention;

[0069] Figure 37 This is a second structural diagram of a card dealer in another embodiment of the poker machine of the present invention;

[0070] Figure 38 It is a cross-sectional view of a card dealer in another embodiment of a poker machine of the present invention.

[0071] Among them, playing cards 10, base 1, supporting roller 101, positioning roller A102,

[0072] Card receiving device 20, card receiving seat 2, card pushing chute 21, card pushing motor 201, card pushing cam 2011, card pushing plate 202, card pushing roller 2021, rotating motor 203, guide roller 204, rotating transmission belt 205, card pushing drive 206, card pushing swing arm 207, positioning roller B208, driven wheel 209, card receiving box 210, rotating ring 211, card pushing fixed frame 212, card lifting ring 213, card blocking ring 214,

[0073] Panel 3, door panel 301, card opening 302, control panel 303, control panel panel 3031, control panel circuit board 3032, control panel base 3033, lifting guide rod 304, lifting seat 305, lifting intermediate gear 306, center lifting cam 307, center lifting motor 308,

[0074] The card dealing device 40, the card dealing seat 4, the card storage box 41, the detection sensor 4101, the card feeding protrusion 4102, the card feeding channel 4103, the card feeding ridge 4104, the card blocking plate 4105, the card dealing device 42, the card feeding wheel 4201, the card feeding wheel shaft 42011, the card dividing wheel 4202, the card dividing wheel shaft 42021, the first conveying wheel 4203, the first conveying wheel shaft 42031, the conveying bottom wall 4204, the second conveying wheel shaft 42031, the card feeding ... The feeding wheel 4205, the second feeding wheel shaft 42051, the first card-discharging pressure wheel frame 4206, the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207, the first card-discharging channel 4208, the flipping component 4209, the flipping shaft 42091, the flipping wheel 4210, the flipping wheel shaft 42101, the flipping pressure wheel 4211, the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212, the second card-discharging channel 4213, the second card-discharging pressure wheel frame 4214, the inner wall 42 of the flipping channel 15. Card pushing component 4216, second conveying pressure roller 4217, conveying top wall 4218, first conveying pressure roller 4219, card dealing motor 4220, card dealing motor shaft 42201, push rod 4221, card separating pressure roller 4222, transition wheel 4223, card flipping channel 4224, card dealing transmission belt 4225, tensioning pulley 4226, cooling fan 4227, card feeding transmission belt 4228, electromagnet 4229, card flipping motor 4230, card flipping motor shaft 42301, conveying transmission belt 4231, card flipping transmission belt 4232, connecting rod 4233, crank 4234, first sensor 4235, second sensor 4236, third sensor 4237, camera 4238, outer wall of card flipping channel 4239, rotating part 4240, thickness measuring wheel 4241, thickness measuring sensor 4242, thickness measuring conveying wheel 4243,

[0075] Lifting drive 5, lifting motor 501, lifting protrusion 502, lifting swing arm 503, lifting motor bracket 504, lifting cam 505, lifting slide 506,

[0076] The card sorting device 6 includes an upper shell 601, a card sorting seat 602, an outer wall of the card sorting channel 603, an outer motor 604, a conveying roller 605, a central turntable 606, an upper conical surface of the turntable 6061, a card shifting inclined surface of the turntable 6062, a side wall of the turntable 6063, a card discharging baffle 607, an outer supporting roller 608, a turntable motor 609, and an outlet of the card sorting channel 610. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0077] The following describes embodiments of the present invention in detail, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to be used to explain the present invention, and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0078] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are 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 cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise clearly defined.

[0079] In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," "connect," "fixed," etc. should be understood broadly. For example, they may refer to fixed, detachable, or integral connections; mechanical or electrical connections; direct or indirect connections through an intermediary; or internal communication between two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention based on specific circumstances.

[0080] In the present invention, unless otherwise expressly specified or limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include the first and second features being in direct contact, or may include the first and second features being in contact not directly but through another feature between them. Furthermore, a first feature being "above," "above," and "above" a second feature may include the first feature being directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below," "below," and "below" a second feature may include the first feature being directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or may simply mean that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0081] Example 1:

[0082] like Figures 1-4The poker machine shown includes a base 1 and a mechanism mounted on or within the base. The mechanism includes a card receiving seat 2 and a card dispenser. The mechanism is driven up and down on the base 1 by a lifting drive mechanism. The card dispenser is mounted at the center of the card receiving seat 2 and rotated relative to the card receiving seat 2 by a rotation drive mechanism. The card dispenser includes a card storage box 41 and a card dispensing device 42. Multiple card receiving positions are provided around the card dispenser on the card receiving seat 2. A panel 3 is provided on the top of the card receiving seat 2, with a card placement hole formed therein. A door panel 301 and its drive mechanism are mounted on the card placement hole. A card storage box 41 is provided below the card placement hole.

[0083] like Figure 2 、 Figure 3 As shown, in this embodiment, the base 1 includes a circular bottom plate and a cylindrical side wall. A power supply and a power switch are installed on the base. A lifting drive mechanism for driving the movement to lift and lower is installed on the base. The distributed playing cards are placed on the card receiving seat 2 of the movement.

[0084] This poker machine can be placed on a table as an independent machine for players to use. In this usage scenario, the poker machine does not have a lifting drive mechanism (the base and the card receiving seat are integrated into one), but instead has multiple openings on the side walls of the base for players to take the playing cards. More often, this poker machine is embedded in the center hole of the card table, with only the panel 3 exposed and flush with the table top. This does not affect the players' playing of cards, and is very convenient to manufacture, install, and maintain. In this usage scenario, a lifting drive mechanism needs to be provided on the base to drive the distributed playing cards to rise for the players to take the playing cards. It should be noted that the base and the card receiving seat of the present invention are not limited to cylindrical shapes, and can also be square columns, polygonal columns, plum blossom columns, frustums, and various other shapes.

[0085] In this embodiment, panel 3 is equipped with buttons for controlling actions such as powering on, shuffling, dealing, and raising and lowering the mechanism. During play, players can set the rules on the control panel. The poker machine deals cards to each player according to the set rules. During the deal, a rotary drive mechanism drives the card dealer to randomly distribute the cards, with each player's cards being dealt intermittently to their designated receiving positions on the card receiving stand according to the number of cards set by the player. The door panel 301 and its drive mechanism are mounted on panel 3. References to various structures disclosed in patent publications such as CN103157272 and CN108525278 can be found in the literature.

[0086] like Figures 3 to 8As shown, in this embodiment, the card receiving seat 2 is not fixed to the base 1 and can be raised and lowered. Multiple guide posts and guide sleeves, or slides and sliders, arranged around the card receiving seat and the base serve as guides for lifting. Multiple guide rollers 204 are arranged around the card receiving seat 2, cooperating with guide slots on the sidewalls of the base 1 to guide the card receiving seat 2 up and down. A panel 3 is fixed to the top of the card receiving seat 2. Multiple openings are formed in the sidewalls of the card receiving seat 2. When the card receiving seat 2 is lowered to the bottom, the panel 3 mates with the poker table top. When the card receiving seat 2 is fully raised, the multiple openings on the bottom wall of the sidewalls of the card receiving seat 2 mate with the poker table top. A card dispenser is mounted in the center of the card receiving seat. Multiple card receiving positions are arranged around the card dispenser, corresponding to the openings. Each card receiving position is equipped with a card pusher 202 and a card pusher chute 21. The card pusher 202 is driven by a card pusher mechanism to reciprocate from the inside to the outside of the card receiving position. When the card dealer deals cards, the push plate 202 moves to the card receiving position near the inner side of the card dealer, and the playing cards are sent to the card receiving position. When the movement is raised to the table, the push plate 202 moves from the inside to the outside along the push chute 21 to push the playing cards on the card receiving position out of the movement onto the table. The push chute 21 extends from the inside to the outside of the card receiving position and is preferably arranged radially along the circumference of the card receiving seat.

[0087] like Figure 20 、 Figure 21 As shown, the card pushing drive mechanism is arranged under the card receiving seat 2, including a card pushing motor 201, a card pushing drive member 206 and a plurality of card pushing swing arms 207 corresponding to a plurality of card pushing plates 202. The card pushing drive member 206 is annular and is mounted on the bottom of the card receiving seat 2 through a plurality of positioning rollers B208 and is driven to rotate by the card pushing motor 201. A plurality of driving parts corresponding to a plurality of card pushing swing arms 207 are extended from the outer circumference of the card pushing drive member 206. One driving part is connected to one card pushing plate 202. The middle part of the card pushing swing arm 207 is movably connected by chute A2071, one end of the card pushing swing arm 207 is movably connected (hinged) with the bottom of the card receiving seat 2, and the other end of the card pushing swing arm 207 is movably connected with the bottom of the card pushing plate 202 by chute B2072, the card pushing roller 2021, so that each card pushing swing arm 207 is rotated by rotating the card pushing drive member 206, and then the card pushing plate 202 is pushed outward from the inside of the card receiving position or resets from the outside of the card receiving position to the inside. Such a card pushing drive member synchronously drives multiple card pushing plates, has simple structure, reasonable action, reliable operation, and low manufacturing cost. The described card pushing swing arm 207 is in the shape of a V-shaped boomerang. The card pushing motor 201 drives the card pushing drive member 206 to rotate by the gear and gear ring matching structure, or the card pushing motor 201 drives the card pushing drive member 206 to rotate by the card pushing cam 2011 and chute 2061 matching structure.

[0088] like Figure 3 、 Figure 6 As shown, the lifting drive mechanism includes a lifting drive component 5, a lifting motor 501 and multiple lifting swing arms 503. The multiple lifting swing arms 503 are evenly distributed below the card receiving seat 2 of the movement. One end 5031 of the lifting swing arm 503 is hinged to the base 1, and the other end 5033 of the lifting swing arm 503 is against the bottom of the card receiving seat 2 of the movement. The lifting swing arms 503 are driven by the lifting motor 501 through the lifting drive component 5 to swing synchronously, thereby pushing the movement to rise and fall. In this embodiment, the lifting drive member 5 is in the shape of a circular ring, and a plurality of lifting protrusions 502 corresponding to the plurality of lifting swing arms 503 are provided on the top of the ring. The lifting protrusions 502 are against the middle support rollers 5032 of the lifting swing arms 503. The lifting drive member 5 is mounted on the base 1 through the support rollers 101 and the positioning rollers 102 and can rotate around the rotation center. In this embodiment, the plurality of support rollers 101 are arranged on the outside of the circular ring of the lifting drive member, and the lifting drive member is provided with grooves that cooperate with them to limit the rotation range of the lifting drive member 5. The multiple positioning rollers 102 are installed on the inner side of the circular ring of the lifting drive member 5 to achieve the function of positioning the rotation center of the lifting drive member; when the lifting drive member 5 rotates under the drive of the lifting motor 501, the middle supporting rollers 5032 on the multiple lifting swing arms 503 respectively move along the corresponding lifting protrusions 502 on the lifting drive member 5, so that the lifting protrusions 502 push the lifting swing arms 503 to swing, thereby achieving the effect of the lifting swing arms 503 and the end 5033 of the movement that is against the bottom of the movement rising and falling, that is, achieving the effect of lifting the movement. Figure 22 、 Figure 23 As shown, in this embodiment, a lifting motor 501 is mounted on the base 1 via a lifting motor bracket 504. A horizontally rotating lifting cam 505 is mounted on the output shaft of the lifting motor 501 (or the output shaft of a reduction mechanism connected to the lifting motor). The lifting cam 505 slides with a lifting slot 506 on the lifting drive member 5 via a roller, thereby driving the lifting drive member 5 to rotate. In other embodiments, the lifting motor can also drive the lifting drive member to rotate by internal or external engagement between a driving gear and a gear ring.

[0089] like Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 7 、 Figure 8 As shown, the card issuing device is fixed on the card issuing seat 4, and the card issuing seat 4 is rotatably mounted on the center position of the upper part of the card receiving seat 2 through a bearing and driven to rotate by a rotary drive mechanism, as shown in FIG. Figure 5 、 Figure 9 As shown, the rotary drive mechanism includes a rotary motor 203 installed at the bottom of the card receiving seat 2 and a driven wheel 209 that is fixed and rotates synchronously with the card issuing seat 4 in the circumferential direction. The rotary motor 203 drives the driven wheel 209 through the rotating transmission belt 205, thereby driving the card issuing seat 4 to rotate.

[0090] like Figures 9 to 15 As shown, the card dealer includes a card storage box 41 and a card dealing device 42, which are respectively located on the left and right sides of the card dealing seat 4, and the bottom side of the card storage box 41 is connected to the card feeding channel of the card dealing device 42. In this embodiment, the card storage box is used to store playing cards that have been sorted and stacked into a pile. A detection sensor 4101 for detecting whether there are playing cards placed in the card storage box 41 and a card feeding wheel 4201 for pushing the playing cards to the card feeding channel of the card dealing device 42 are installed at the bottom of the card storage box 41. A card blocking plate 4105 is formed on one side wall of the card storage box 41 close to the card feeding channel of the card dealing device 42. The card blocking plate 4105 is provided with a plurality of card feeding ridges 4104. A card dividing wheel 4202 of the card dealing device 42 is arranged below the card feeding ridges 4104. A plurality of card feeding protrusions 4102 are formed on the inner wall of the bottom of the card storage box 41 between the card feeding wheel 4201 and the card dividing wheel 4202. In this way, a card feeding channel 4103 of the card dealing device 42 is formed between these card feeding protrusions 4102 and the card feeding protrusions 4104. Such a concave and convex card feeding channel helps to squeeze and separate multiple overlapping playing cards. Further preferably, multiple card-feeding protrusions 4102 and multiple card-feeding ridges 4104 are alternately arranged to obtain a better card-shuffling and card-separating effect.

[0091] The card dealing device 42 includes a card dividing mechanism, a conveying mechanism and a card flipping mechanism. The channels for the passage of playing cards in the card dealing device 42 include a card input channel 4103, a conveying channel, a card flipping channel 4224, a first card output channel 4208 and a second card output channel 4213. A card flipping component 4209 is provided near the first card output channel 4208 for opening or closing the card flipping channel 4224 or the exit of the first card output channel 4208. When the card flipping component 4209 closes the card flipping channel 4224 or opens the exit of the first card output channel 4208, the card input channel 4103, the conveying channel and the first card output channel 4208 are connected in sequence. When the card flipping component 4209 opens the card flipping channel 4224 and closes the exit of the first card output channel 4208, the card input channel 4103, the conveying channel, the first card output channel 4208, the card flipping channel 4224 and the second card output channel 4213 are connected in sequence. The card separating mechanism is installed at the card input channel of the card issuing device 42 , the conveying mechanism is installed at the conveying channel position, and the card flipping mechanism is installed between the first card output channel 4208 and the second card output channel 4213 .

[0092] The card separation mechanism can adopt various card separation structures disclosed in a series of patent documents such as CN108525278A and CN105854274A. However, although these card separation structures can effectively separate the incoming playing cards to ensure that a single card passes through, it is difficult to allow playing cards that have entered the feeding channel to exit the feeding channel (reject the cards). As a result, if a subsequent sensor detects that two playing cards overlap and needs to withdraw the playing cards and notify the card feeder to separate them again, it will be difficult to eject the cards. In order to overcome this technical problem, in this embodiment, the card separation mechanism preferably has the following structure:

[0093] like Figures 9 to 12 As shown, the card-delivering device 42 includes a card-delivering wheel 4201, a card-splitting wheel 4202, and a card-splitting pressure wheel 4222. The card-delivering wheel 4201, which is used to push playing cards into the card-infeed channel of the card-delivering device 42, is mounted at the bottom of the card storage box 41. The card-splitting pressure wheel 4222 is disposed at the bottom of the card-delivering device 42. The card-splitting pressure wheel 4222 is disposed below the card-splitting pressure wheel 4222. The card-splitting wheel 4202 is driven to rotate by a card-delivering motor. The card-splitting pressure wheel 4222 is driven to rotate when cards are fed in but can rotate when cards are withdrawn. In this way, not only can a fast and effective card-splitting effect be achieved when cards are fed in, but when cards need to be withdrawn, the card-splitting pressure wheel 4222 can be reversed in conjunction with the card-splitting wheel 4202 to achieve fast and reliable card withdrawal, thereby avoiding difficulty in withdrawing cards. The card-splitting pressing wheel 4222 and the card-splitting wheel 4202 are further preferably designed to be staggered front and back and overlapped up and down (i.e., the card-splitting pressing wheel 4222 and the axis of the card-splitting wheel 4202 are staggered by a horizontal distance and the card-splitting pressing wheel 4222 is closer to the card storage space of the card storage box 41 than the axis of the card-splitting wheel 4202, and the bottom of the card-splitting pressing wheel 4222 is lower than the highest point of the card-splitting wheel 4202). In this way, when a plurality of playing cards enter the gap between the card-splitting pressing wheel 4222 and the card-splitting wheel 4202, the entry end of the playing cards will be tilted, causing the upper and lower playing cards to shift from This avoids the upper and lower playing cards from being electrostatically adhered and unable to be separated, because the card separating pressure wheel 4222 is controlled by the one-way clutch mechanism and cannot rotate. In this way, the static friction between the card separating pressure wheel 4222 and the upper playing card is much greater than the friction between the upper and lower playing cards. Moreover, the conveying power of the playing cards comes from the card separating wheel 4202, which is applied to the lower playing card. Therefore, the lower playing card is conveyed and continues to move forward, and the upper playing card is temporarily detained, and the upper and lower playing cards are separated. The separation speed is fast, the structure is simple, the maintenance is convenient, and the accuracy is high.

[0094] In order to further enhance the card-splitting effect of the above-mentioned card-splitting mechanism, a plurality of card-feeding ridges 4104 are provided at the bottom of the card-splitting plate 4105, and a plurality of card-feeding protrusions 4102 are formed on the inner wall of the bottom of the card storage box 41 between the card-feeding wheel 4201 and the card-splitting wheel 4202. The card-feeding ridges 4104 are closer to the card-splitting pressure wheel 4222 than the card-feeding protrusions 4102. In this way, a card-feeding channel 4103 of the card-delivering device 42 is formed between the card-feeding ridges 4104 and the card-splitting wheel 4202. The protrusion 4102 and the card-splitting wheel 4202 are tilted to form a sunken structure in the middle. The concave and convex matching of the card-feeding channel helps to squeeze and rub multiple overlapping playing cards to separate them, ensuring that the multiple playing cards entering the positions of the card-splitting wheel 4202 and the card-splitting pressure wheel 4222 are separated front and back. In addition, because the card-feeding protrusion 4102 can lift the playing cards in the card storage box 41 outside the card-feeding channel 4103, when the playing cards are withdrawn, the playing cards withdrawn from the card-feeding channel can be inserted under the playing cards in the card storage box 41, avoiding the two playing cards from offsetting each other and causing difficulty in pushing the playing cards. Further preferably, multiple card-feeding protrusions 4102 and multiple card-feeding ridges 4104 are alternately arranged to obtain a better card-splitting and separation effect.

[0095] In this embodiment, one side of the card feeding wheel 4201 is protruded with arc-shaped serrations, so that the playing cards can be pushed upward and forward during the rotation of the card feeding wheel 4201, so that the playing cards can better cross the card feeding protrusion 4102. In addition, this action can also prevent the front and rear playing cards from being stuck when the card issuing device withdraws the cards. The card separation pressure wheel 4222 rotates passively in one direction. In order to facilitate adjustment, the card separation pressure wheel 4222 is installed at the bottom of the baffle plate 4105 through an elastic pressure mechanism. The elastic pressure mechanism is a compression spring and a push rod 4221, and the one-way clutch mechanism is a one-way clutch installed on the shaft of the card separation pressure wheel 4222. Each of the components of the card separation wheel, the card feeding wheel and the card separation pressure wheel can be a roller part, or it can be composed of multiple wheel-shaped parts installed on the same shaft, for example, Figure 16 、 Figure 17As shown, each card-distributing wheel 4202 includes a support frame with a certain rigidity and a rubber ring sleeved and fixed to the support frame. Part of the arcuate circumference of the rubber ring is a protruding arcuate rubber serration for contacting the playing cards. The circumference of the rubber ring outside the arcuate rubber serration is lower than the circumference of the side wall of the support frame. Thus, when the arcuate rubber serration of the card-distributing wheel contacts the playing cards, the friction force is greater, making it easier to move the playing cards. When the side wall circumference of the support frame of the card-distributing wheel contacts the playing cards, the friction force is less, making it more difficult to move the playing cards. The intermittent movement of the playing cards helps to separate two playing cards. Four card-distributing wheels 4202 are mounted on the same card-distributing wheel axle 42021. The card-feeding ridges 4104 and the card-distributing pressure wheels 4222 at the bottom of the baffle plate 4105 are arranged in an alternating manner with the four card-distributing wheels 4202, so that the upper and lower gaps can be adjusted to achieve fast and effective card distribution. The card feeding wheel shaft 42011 of the card feeding wheel 4201 and the card separating wheel shaft 42021 of the card separating wheel 4202 are connected by a card feeding transmission belt 4228, thereby realizing the coordinated rotation of the card feeding wheel 4201 and the card separating wheel 4202 to improve the card separating efficiency and effect.

[0096] like Figures 9 to 12 As shown, the conveying mechanism includes a first conveying wheel 4203 and a second conveying wheel 4205 installed on the conveying bottom wall 4204 of the conveying channel, and a first conveying pressure wheel 4219 and a second conveying pressure wheel 4217 installed on the conveying top wall 4218 of the conveying channel. The first conveying pressure wheel 4219 cooperates with the first conveying wheel 4203 up and down, and the second conveying pressure wheel 4217 cooperates with the second conveying wheel 4205 up and down. The first conveying pressure wheel 4219 and the second conveying pressure wheel 4217 are driven wheels. The wheels 4203 and the second conveyor wheel 4205 are driving wheels and are covered with rubber rings to increase friction. The first conveyor wheel shaft 42031 of the first conveyor wheel 4203, the second conveyor wheel shaft 42051 of the second conveyor wheel 4205, the card-splitting wheel shaft 42021 of the card-splitting wheel 4202, and the card-dealing motor shaft 42201 of the card-dealing motor 4220 are connected by a card-dealing transmission belt 4225. The card-dealing transmission belt 4225 is tensioned by a tensioning pulley 4226, thus achieving synchronous motion of card feeding, card separation, and card delivery. The first conveyor wheel 4203, the second conveyor wheel 4205, the first conveyor pressure wheel 4219, and the second conveyor pressure wheel 4217 can be arranged in a vertically aligned, press-fitting manner or in an offset, staggered manner. Each component can be a roller-type component or composed of multiple wheel-shaped components mounted on the same shaft.

[0097] like Figure 13 、 Figure 19 As shown, an identification element for identifying the front and back sides of playing cards and a plurality of detection elements for detecting playing cards are provided in the conveying channel of the card distributor.

[0098] Regarding identifying the front and back of playing cards in the conveying channel: one method is to obtain photo information of different positions on the same side of the playing card, and use the rule that the pattern on the back of the playing card is a unit pattern with a high degree of overlap in four consecutive positions to determine whether it is the front or back of the playing card based on the degree of graphic overlap of these photos. Another method is to identify the front and back of the playing card by distinguishing the character patterns at the fixed positions at the diagonal corners of the front of the playing card based on the characteristic that characters must be set at the fixed positions at the diagonal corners of the front of the playing card, such as the master's thesis titled "Research on the Application of Image Recognition in Card Dealing Machines" published by Kou Yongjun in the Hunan University Journal in 2007. Another method is to print magnetic ink at a fixed position on the front or back of the playing card, and identify the front and back of the playing card by detecting the magnetic ink. For the first two identification methods, the identification element is a camera. For the third identification method, the identification element is a magnetic detection sensor.

[0099] Regarding identifying whether playing cards overlap within the transport channel: one method involves detecting the length of the playing cards. When a detection element detects that the playing cards within the transport channel are longer than expected, it can be determined that multiple playing cards are overlapping. Another method involves detecting the thickness of the playing cards. When a detection element detects that the playing cards within the card input channel, transport channel, or first card output channel are thicker than expected, it can be determined that multiple playing cards are overlapping. One or more of these methods can be used within the same card dealing device.

[0100] When the card in the delivery channel is detected as not needing to be flipped, the flipping mechanism delivers the card directly. When the card in the delivery channel is detected as needing to be flipped, the flipping mechanism flips the card and delivers it. When the card needs to be ejected from the card delivery device, the card delivery motor 4220 drives the first delivery wheel 4203, the second delivery wheel 4205, the card separation wheel 4202, and the card delivery wheel 4201 in reverse to eject the card. One or more methods can be used within the same card delivery device.

[0101] The present invention identifies the front and back sides of playing cards in a conveying channel and turns over the playing cards in a card turning channel. The two steps do not affect each other, and the cards can be turned over and dealt continuously, which greatly improves the efficiency of turning over and dealing.

[0102] like Figure 13 As shown, in this embodiment, the identification element for identifying the front and back of the playing cards is a camera 4238. The camera 4238 and a detection sensor for detecting whether the playing cards are in place are fixed on the conveying bottom wall 4204 or the conveying top wall 4218 of the conveying channel. When the detection sensor detects the playing cards, the camera is started simultaneously or with a delay, so that the camera can just capture the pattern information at the fixed position diagonally opposite the playing cards in the conveying channel. In this way, the controller can identify the front and back of the playing cards based on the pattern information. For example, when a character pattern is identified, it is determined to be the front.

[0103] To ensure that the camera can be started in time and capture a panoramic view of the character pattern on the playing card, the following settings are preferred:

[0104] In the first case, the playing card is conveyed forward along the width side in the card dealing device (i.e., the width of the conveying channel is close to the width of the playing card). In this way, the preferred value range of the width B of the conveying channel is: playing card width + 1mm < B < playing card width + 5mm.

[0105] The value range of the vertical distance M between the center of the camera lens and the left or right side wall of the adjacent conveying channel is: the vertical distance from the character pattern of the playing card to its near side edge < M < the vertical distance from the character pattern of the playing card to its near side edge + 5mm.

[0106] The value range of the vertical distance H between the center of the camera lens and the playing card in the conveying channel is: 10mm < H < 15mm.

[0107] Taking a common playing card (Bridge Size, 8.8 cm long and 5.7 cm wide) as an example, 58mm < B < 62mm, 6mm < M < 12mm.

[0108] In the second case, the playing card is conveyed forward along the length side in the card dealing device (i.e., the width of the conveying channel is close to the length of the playing card). In this way, the preferred value range of the width B of the conveying channel is: playing card length + 1mm < B < playing card length + 5mm.

[0109] The value range of the vertical distance M between the center of the camera lens and the left or right side wall of the adjacent conveying channel is: the vertical distance from the character pattern of the playing card to its near side edge < M < the vertical distance from the character pattern of the playing card to its near side edge + 5mm.

[0110] The value range of the vertical distance H between the center of the camera lens and the playing card in the conveying channel is: 10mm < H < 15mm.

[0111] Taking a common playing card (Bridge Size, 8.8 cm long and 5.7 cm wide) as an example, 89mm < B < 93mm, 6mm < M < 12mm.

[0112] In other embodiments, through a specific conveying method, speed and direction, the playing cards in the conveying channel can also be made to move closer to and stick to one side, either the left side or the right side. In this way, the width of the conveying channel will not affect the setting of the camera. It is only necessary to define that the value range of the vertical distance M between the center of the camera lens and the left or right side wall of the adjacent conveying channel is: the vertical distance between the character pattern of the playing card and its near-side edge < M < the vertical distance between the character pattern of the playing card and its near-side edge + 5 mm. Taking a common playing card (Bridge Size, 8.8 cm long and 5.7 cm wide) as an example, 6 mm < M < 12 mm. The value range of the vertical distance H between the center of the camera lens and the playing card in the conveying channel is: 10 mm < H < 15 mm.

[0113] This can not only avoid unnecessary rubbing and obstruction between the playing cards and the side walls of the conveying channel, but also ensure that when the playing cards are tilted in the conveying channel, the camera can still capture a panoramic view of the character positions on the playing cards.

[0114] In addition, in order to avoid or reduce the influence of uncertain factors such as the forward speed of the playing cards in the conveying channel, it is preferred to arrange the detection sensor for detecting the arrival of the playing cards and the camera 4238 adjacent to each other on the left and right. In this way, after the detection sensor detects the arrival of the playing cards, the camera can be immediately activated to capture a panoramic view of the character positions on the playing cards. In other embodiments, it is also possible to preferably arrange two cameras in the conveying channel. These two cameras are respectively close to the left and right side walls of the conveying channel, and multiple cameras are used for shooting and recognition to improve the accuracy and efficiency of recognizing the front and back sides of the playing cards.

[0115] It should be noted that the width of the above-mentioned conveying channel refers to the effective width within which the playing cards can be conveyed in the conveying channel. The left or right side wall of the above-mentioned conveying channel refers to the theoretically left or right side wall of this effective width. In feasible embodiments, the left or right side wall of the conveying channel can be a visible structure formed by a limiting component, a limiting structure, a housing wall surface, etc., or a non-visible structure that actually exists. For example, by controlling the conveying method, speed, direction, etc., of the conveying wheel / roller, the range where the playing cards can reach is restricted to a specific range within the conveying channel, and the left and right boundaries of this specific range are regarded as the left or right side wall of the above-mentioned conveying channel.

[0116] Such as Figure 19As shown, in this embodiment, a first sensor 4235, a second sensor 4236 and a third sensor 4237 are installed in sequence on the conveying top wall 4218 or the conveying bottom wall 4204 of the conveying channel along the forward direction of the playing cards. The first sensor 4235 and the third sensor 4237 cooperate to detect the length distance covered by the playing cards at the same time in the conveying channel to determine whether there are multiple playing cards overlapping. If the first sensor 4235 and the third sensor 4237 are blocked at the same time (playing cards are detected), it is determined that two partially overlapping playing cards have entered the conveying channel, and the card dealing motor 4220 is reversed to return the playing cards to the card storage box 41 for re-entry and distribution.

[0117] When the playing cards are transported forward along the width edge in the card dealing device (i.e., the width of the transport channel is close to the width of the playing cards), the distance between the first sensor 4235 and the third sensor 4237 is 2mm-3mm larger than the length of the playing cards.

[0118] When the playing cards are transported forward along the length in the card dealing device (i.e. the width of the transport channel is close to the length of the playing cards), the distance between the first sensor 4235 and the third sensor 4237 is 2mm-3mm larger than the width of the playing cards.

[0119] Second sensor 4236 is positioned between first sensor 4235 and third sensor 4237. When blocked (detecting a playing card), second sensor 4236 activates card flipping motor 4230 to flip the card as needed. Second sensor 4236 can also work with first sensor 4235 and third sensor 4237 to assist in determining whether there are multiple playing cards that partially overlap.

[0120] In this way, after a single playing card is separated by the card separation mechanism, it passes through the first sensor, where a camera takes a picture to identify the front and back sides. When the playing card continues to move forward along the channel to the position of the second sensor, the card flipping mechanism is controlled based on the recognition result to determine whether to flip the playing card. If the first sensor is blocked first and then the third sensor is also blocked (i.e., the playing card is continuously detected), it means that two playing cards have partially overlapped and entered the conveyor channel. The card dealing motor starts to reverse, and the playing cards that entered the card delivery channel are returned to the card storage box for re-splitting, thus ensuring the accuracy of the number of cards dealt.

[0121] The image recognition method is used to identify the front and back of playing cards. Due to the uncertainty of the pattern on the back of the playing cards, it is easy to have recognition errors. Therefore, it is preferred to use a learning mode to identify the front and back of the playing cards. In this way, the learning mode can be set to recognize the playing cards placed in the poker machine to improve the poker machine's recognition efficiency and accuracy of the playing cards.

[0122] The learning mode can be autoencoding or convolutional neural networks. Neural networks do not require a mathematical model. Instead, they simply compare a feature pattern. If a match occurs, they activate comparisons for other locations or the entire image. This model requires a large amount of memory and a powerful CPU. Therefore, a deep autoencoding learning mode is preferred. This involves first developing a mathematical model (encoder), sampling the input pattern at multiple levels, extracting abstract feature information, generating a signature code using the encoder, and then modifying the signature code using a certain number of samples.

[0123] In this embodiment, the method of learning patterns to identify the front and back of playing cards is to sample the back patterns or front character patterns of multiple playing cards to generate a feature code, save the feature code, and then use this feature code to match the compared pattern to identify the front and back of the playing cards.

[0124] A preferred embodiment is that the poker machine is provided with a learning mode and a playing mode: in the learning mode, multiple playing cards are uniformly placed face down or back down (for example, a new deck of playing cards with the same front and back sides), and the poker machine samples the back patterns or front character patterns of the multiple playing cards to generate a feature code and save the feature code; in the playing mode, the poker machine obtains the back patterns or front character patterns of these playing cards, and uses this feature code to match the compared pattern to identify the front and back of the poker, and controls the flipping mechanism to flip the playing cards based on the identification results.

[0125] like Figures 9 to 12 As shown, the card flipping mechanism includes a first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207, a card flipping wheel 4210, a card flipping pressure wheel 4211 and a second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212. The card flipping wheel 4210 is a driving wheel and is driven to rotate by a card flipping motor 4230 (as shown in FIG. Figure 15As shown, the flop motor shaft 42301 and the flop wheel shaft 42101 are connected by a flop transmission belt 4232, the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207, the flop pressure wheel 4211 and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 are all driven wheels, the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207 and the flop pressure wheel 4211 are in rolling contact with the flop wheel 4210 respectively, the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 is in rolling contact with the flop pressure wheel 4211, a first card-discharging channel 4208 is formed between the flop wheel 4210 and the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207, a flop channel 4224 is formed between the flop wheel 4210 and the flop pressure wheel 4211, a second card-discharging channel 4213 is formed between the flop pressure wheel 4211 and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212, and the flop wheel 4210 is installed on the inner side of the flop channel 4224 and is located between the first card-discharging channel 4208 and the second card-discharging channel 4213. Between the card-discharging channels 4213, the card-flipping channel 4224 extends along the partial arc circumference of the card-flipping wheel 4210 from the side of the card-flipping wheel 4210 close to the first card-discharging channel 4208 to the other side of the card-flipping wheel 4210 away from the first card-discharging channel 4208. The card-flipping component 4209 for opening or closing the card-flipping channel 4224 or the first card-discharging channel 4208 is arranged on the outer side of the card-flipping channel 4224 at one end close to the first card-discharging channel 4208. The card-pushing component 4216 is arranged on the end of the card-flipping channel 4224 away from the first card-discharging channel 4208. The second card-discharging channel 4213 is arranged on the outer side of the card-flipping channel 4224 at a position opposite to the card-pushing component 4216. The card-flipping component 4209 is driven by the card-flipping driving mechanism to swing, thereby opening or closing the card-flipping channel 4224 or the first card-discharging channel 4208. Figure 11 As shown, when the card flipping component 4209 closes the card flipping channel 4224 or opens the first card outlet channel 4208, the card input channel 4103, the conveying channel and the first card outlet channel 4208 are connected in sequence, and the playing cards are sent from the first card outlet channel 4208 to the card receiving position of the card receiving seat 2; Figure 12 As shown, when the flop component 4209 opens the flop channel 4224 and closes the first card-discharging channel 4208 exit, the card-input channel 4103, the conveying channel, the first card-discharging channel 4208, the flop channel 4224 and the second card-discharging channel 4213 are connected in sequence. After the playing card comes out of the first card-discharging channel 4208, it is blocked by the flop component 4209 and turned to enter the flop channel 4224, and is delivered to the end of the flop channel 4224 by the flop wheel 4210 and the flop pressure wheel 4211. The front end of the playing card is against the card pushing component 4216, and the playing card recovers its straight state after its rear end passes through the flop pressure wheel 4211. Under the thrust of the card pushing component 4216, the rear end of the playing card first enters the second card-discharging channel 4213 and is delivered to the card receiving position of the card receiving seat 2 by the flop pressure wheel 4211 and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212. In this way, the playing cards passing through the card flop channel are turned back and forth by 180 degrees, thereby realizing the flipping of the front and back sides of the playing cards.

[0126] It should be noted that, in other embodiments of the present invention, the above-mentioned first card-discharging channel 4208 and the second card-discharging channel 4213 may not be directly connected to the exit of the card receiving position of the card receiving stand 2, that is, one or more channels (or conveying wheels / conveying rollers) for continuing to convey the playing cards may be provided after the first card-discharging channel 4208 and / or the second card-discharging channel 4213 to deliver the playing cards to the card receiving position of the card receiving stand 2.

[0127] Each of the components, namely, the flop wheel 4210, the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207, the flop wheel 4211, and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212, can be a roller-type component or a plurality of wheel-shaped components mounted on the same shaft. In this embodiment, the flop wheel 4210, the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207, the flop wheel 4211, and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 each include a plurality of wheels mounted on their respective shafts, and the flop component 4209 also includes a plurality of components mounted on the same rotating shaft. The flop component 4209 and the flop wheel 4210 are staggered, resulting in a simple structure and easy installation and coordination. Rubber rings can be installed on the flop wheel 4210, the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207, the flop wheel 4211, and / or the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 to increase friction with the playing cards.

[0128] In this embodiment, Figures 11 to 14 As shown, the flop channel 4224 includes an inner sidewall 4215 of the flop channel, and the swing center (flop shaft 42091) of the flop component 4209 is located in the middle position thereof, so that two swing ends are formed on both sides of the swing center. The inner side of the flop component 4209 is in an arc shape corresponding to the outer periphery of the flop wheel 4210. In this way, the flop component 4209 can not only play a good role in blocking the turning, but also play the role of the outer sidewall of the flop channel, without the need to specially set the outer sidewall of the flop channel. In other embodiments, such as Figure 24 、 Figure 25 、 Figure 26 As shown, the swing center (flip axis 42091) of the flip component 4209 is located at one end thereof, and a special outer wall 4239 of the flip channel needs to be set to ensure that the playing cards can pass smoothly in the flip channel 4224.

[0129] In this embodiment, the card-flipping channel 4224 and the second card-discharging channel 4213 are arranged above the first card-discharging channel 4208 (that is, the card-flipping wheel 4210, the card-flipping pressure wheel 4211 and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 are located above the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207). In this way, the height setting of the card-discharging device and even the poker machine is more reasonable, the machine model is thinner and the number of card storage is greater. Of course, if space permits, the card-flipping channel 4224 and the second card-discharging channel 4213 can also be arranged below the first card-discharging channel 4208 (that is, the card-flipping wheel 4210, the card-flipping pressure wheel 4211 and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 are located below the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207). Figure 26 shown.

[0130] In order to prevent the playing cards from getting stuck against the side wall in the flipping channel 4224 and ensure that the playing cards can enter the second card-discharging channel 4213 between the flipping pressure wheel 4211 and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212, a transition wheel 4223 is set on the second card-discharging pressure wheel frame 4214 where the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 is installed, close to the side of the flipping wheel 4210, to guide the playing cards to between the flipping pressure wheel 4211 and the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212.

[0131] In order to ensure conveying pressure and avoid slipping, it is preferred that the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207 and / or the flop pressure wheel 4211 are given a tendency to press against the flop wheel 4210 by respective enabling mechanisms, and it is preferred that the second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 be given a tendency to press against the flop pressure wheel 4211 by the enabling mechanism. These enabling mechanisms can be elastic components such as springs, shrapnel, elastic rings, or elastic shafts, or can be elastic enabling mechanisms composed of multiple components. In this embodiment, the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207 is rotatably mounted on the first card-discharging pressure wheel frame 4206, which is hinged to the conveying bottom wall 4204 of the conveying channel and has a torsion spring provided on the hinged shaft sleeve to encourage the first card-discharging pressure wheel 4207 to press against the flop wheel 4210. The flop pressure wheel 4211 is provided with an elastic rubber ring to press against the flop wheel 4210. The second card-discharging pressure wheel 4212 is mounted on the second card-discharging pressure wheel frame 4214 via an elastic shaft to press against the flop pressure wheel 4211. This makes installation easy and the structure simple and reliable.

[0132] The card flipping driving mechanism that drives the card flipping component 4209 to open or close the first card outlet channel 4208 (open the card flipping channel 4224) can be realized by a motor through a speed reduction mechanism or a transmission mechanism. In this embodiment, Figure 15As shown, the card flipping mechanism 4209 is driven by an electromagnet 4229. A crank 4234 is fixed to one end of a flip shaft 42091 of the card flipping member 4209. The swinging end of the crank 4234 is connected to the movable end of the electromagnet 4229 via a connecting rod 4233. Thus, when the card flipping member 4209 is to be actuated, the electromagnet 4229 pulls the card flipping member 4209 to swing via the connecting rod 4233 and the crank 4234. Because the card flipping action is selective and intermittent based on the camera's recognition of the front and back sides of the playing card, this embodiment provides a more rational electromagnet structure and reduces manufacturing costs.

[0133] The card pushing component 4216 can be an elastic component such as a spring, a shrapnel, an elastic rubber band, or can be an elastic energy-enabling mechanism composed of multiple components. In the present embodiment, the card pushing component 4216 is a plurality of springs arranged at the end of the channel. This structure is simple and easy to install.

[0134] In another alternative embodiment of the flipping mechanism, the flipping channel 4224 is directly connected to the card storage box 41, and the second card output channel 4213, the second card output pressure wheel 4212 and the card pushing component 4216 are no longer provided. The flipped playing cards are directly returned to the card storage box for re-dealing. The card discharging mechanism comprises a first card-discharging pressure wheel, a flop wheel and a flop pressure wheel, the flop wheel is an active wheel and is driven to rotate by a flop motor, the first card-discharging pressure wheel and the flop pressure wheel are both driven wheels, the first card-discharging pressure wheel and the flop pressure wheel are respectively in rolling contact with the flop wheel, a first card-discharging channel is formed between the flop wheel and the first card-discharging pressure wheel, a flop channel is formed between the flop wheel and the flop pressure wheel, the flop wheel is installed on the inner side of the flop channel, the flop channel extends along a partial arc circumference of the flop wheel from a side of the flop wheel close to the first card-discharging channel to the other side of the flop wheel away from the first card-discharging channel, the end of the flop channel is connected to the space in the card storage box, and a flop component for opening or closing the flop channel or the first card-discharging channel is arranged on one end of the outside of the flop channel close to the first card-discharging channel, and the flop component is driven to swing by the flop driving mechanism to open or close the flop channel or the first card-discharging channel. When the flop component closes the flop passage or opens the first outlet passage, the card feed passage, the conveying channel and the first outlet passage are connected in sequence, and the playing cards are sent from the first outlet passage to the receiving position of the card receiving seat; when the flop component opens the flop passage and closes the first outlet passage, the card feed passage, the conveying channel, the first outlet passage and the flop passage are connected in sequence, and the playing cards are blocked by the flop component after coming out of the first outlet passage and turned to enter the flop passage, and are sent to the end of the flop passage by the flop wheel and the flop pressure wheel and enter the card storage box (several conveying wheels and pressure wheels thereof can also be provided between the card storage box and the flop wheel for conveying playing cards). Like this, the playing cards passed through are turned back and forth by the flop passage, thereby realizing the overturning of the front and back of the playing cards. Other structures are the same as above. This structural scheme can make the card storage box depth shallow and the poker machine height low, but the card dealing efficiency is relatively low and the manufacturing cost is higher.

[0135] The poker machine described above includes a card receiving base 2 and a card dispenser. The dispenser is mounted at the center of the card receiving base 2 and rotates relative to the card receiving base 2 via a rotary drive mechanism. Multiple card receiving positions are arranged around the dispenser on the card receiving base 2. The dispenser includes a card storage box 41 and a card dispenser 42, which are located on the left and right sides of the dispenser 4, respectively. The bottom of the card storage box 41 communicates with a card feed passage of the card dispenser 42. The card dispenser 42 includes a card separation mechanism for separating a stack of playing cards in the card storage box into individual playing cards and delivering them to a conveyor mechanism; a conveyor mechanism for identifying the front and back sides of playing cards and delivering them to a card flipping mechanism; and a card flipping mechanism for flipping playing cards as needed and delivering them to various receiving positions on the card receiving base 2.

[0136] The poker card arrangement method for the poker machine as described above comprises the following steps:

[0137] 1) Put the stacked playing cards into the card storage box;

[0138] 2) The card separation mechanism separates the stack of playing cards in the card storage box into individual playing cards and sends them to the conveying mechanism;

[0139] 3) The conveying mechanism identifies the front and back sides of the playing cards and conveys the playing cards to the card flipping mechanism;

[0140] 4) The card flipping mechanism flips the playing cards as needed and sends the playing cards to each receiving position on the card receiving seat.

[0141] Example 2:

[0142] like Figure 27 、 Figure 28 and Figure 29 A poker machine shown includes: a base 1, and a card handling device 6, a card dealer 40 and a card receiving device 20 installed on or inside the base. The card handling device 6 is installed above the card dealer 40. The card dealer includes a card storage box 41 and a card dealing device 42. The outlet of the card handling device 6 is connected to the card storage box 41. The card receiving device 20 includes a plurality of card receiving positions or card receiving boxes 210 arranged around the card dealer 40. These card receiving positions or card receiving boxes 210 are driven to rotate relative to the card dealer 40 by a rotary drive mechanism.

[0143] In this embodiment, a central card feeding method is similar to that of a mahjong machine. A panel 3 is provided on the top of the base 1, and the card feeding device includes: a control panel 303 is provided in the center of the panel 3, and the control panel 303 is driven to rise and fall by a central lifting mechanism. When the control panel 303 is raised, a card placement port for placing playing cards is formed below it. When the control panel 303 is lowered, the card placement port is covered. The card sorting device 6 is installed below the control panel 303.

[0144] The poker machine can be placed on a tabletop as a standalone machine for players to use. In this scenario, multiple openings can be provided on the sidewalls of the base for players to reach in and take the playing cards. Alternatively, corresponding card pushing mechanisms can eject the playing cards to multiple card removal positions on the outside of the sidewalls of the base. Alternatively, multiple openings can be provided on the top panel 3 for players to take the playing cards. More often, the poker machine is embedded in the center hole of the tabletop, with only the panel 3 and the control panel 303 exposed and flush with the tabletop. This does not interfere with the player's playing and is very convenient to manufacture, install, and maintain. In this scenario, the card receiving device 20 needs to be provided with a lifting drive mechanism to drive the dealt playing cards to rise to the tabletop for the player to take the playing cards.

[0145] In this embodiment, the base 1 comprises a circular bottom plate and cylindrical sidewalls, with a power supply and its power switch mounted on the base. The panel 3 is provided with multiple card loading ports 302 around the control panel 303. These ports 302 are fitted with covers (which can be passively lifted and opened during card loading, or actively opened by a corresponding drive mechanism). A card receiving device 20 is located below the card loading ports 302. It should be noted that the base of the present invention is not limited to a cylindrical shape; it can also be a square column, a polygonal prism, a quincunx column, a frustum, or various other shapes.

[0146] like Figure 32 、 Figure 33 and Figure 34As shown, the card handling device 6 includes a card handling seat 602, an outer wall 603 of a card handling channel and a central turntable 606. The card handling seat 602 is directly or indirectly fixed to the base 1. A central turntable 606 is set in the center of the card handling seat 602. The central turntable 606 is driven to rotate by a turntable motor 609 installed on the card handling seat 602. The outer wall 603 of the card handling channel is set around the card handling seat 602. An arc-shaped card handling channel for arranging playing cards is formed between the central turntable 606 and the outer wall 603 of the card handling channel. The bottom of the arc-shaped card handling channel is provided with a plurality of slots for conveying playing cards. The conveying roller 605 for playing cards, a card-discharging baffle 607 is provided at one end of the curved card-discharging channel, and a card-discharging channel outlet 610 is formed between the card-discharging baffle 607 and the bottom of the curved card-discharging channel for feeding the playing cards along its length direction. The card storage box 41 of the card dealer 40 is located below the card-discharging channel outlet 610 to receive the fed playing cards, wherein the width of the curved card-discharging channel is less than the length of the playing cards and greater than the width of the playing cards, the distance between two adjacent conveying rollers 605 is less than the length of the playing cards, and the width of the card-discharging channel outlet 610 is similar to the width of the playing cards. In this way, the disordered playing cards placed from the card placement port are rotated and moved into the curved card sorting channel by the central turntable 606. The playing cards whose length direction is substantially consistent with the conveying direction of the conveying rollers 605 in the curved card sorting channel are sent out from the card sorting channel outlet 610 by the conveying rollers 605. The playing cards whose length direction is inconsistent with the conveying direction of the conveying rollers 605 in the curved card sorting channel are rotated by the central turntable 606 and the conveying rollers 605 on their inner and outer sides until their length direction is substantially consistent with the conveying direction of the conveying rollers 605 in the curved card sorting channel and sent out, thereby sorting the disordered playing cards into a width direction for delivery and sorting. Preferably, the rotation direction of the central turntable 606 is opposite to the direction in which the conveying rollers 605 convey the playing cards to promote the rotation of playing cards with inconsistent orientations, thereby sorting the playing cards into a certain orientation and improving the efficiency of card sorting.

[0147] like Figure 35 As shown, the top of the central turntable 606 is a turntable upper conical surface 6061. The lower edge of the turntable upper conical surface 6061 is formed with a plurality of upwardly protruding turntable card-moving inclined surfaces 6062 arranged along the circumference of the central turntable 606. A turntable sidewall 6063 is formed at the lower portion of the central turntable 606, near the bottom of the card-moving channel. Thus, the turntable upper conical surface 6061 facilitates the movement of playing cards toward the edges of the central turntable 606 and into the card-moving channel. The turntable card-moving inclined surfaces 6062 prevent the playing cards from becoming stuck or floating while rotating. The turntable sidewall 6063 is vertically positioned to limit and guide the playing cards at the bottom of the card-moving channel to ensure proper transport direction.

[0148] To further improve the efficiency of card sorting and feeding in the card sorting channel, the multiple conveying rollers 605 are preferably distributed radially along the circular center turntable 606. The conveying rollers 605 are tapered rollers with a smaller radius on the inner end and a larger radius on the outer end. This creates different conveying areas and conveying speeds on the inner and outer sides of the card sorting channel, achieving rapid conveyance of playing cards in the circular card sorting channel and preventing cards from getting stuck or floating.

[0149] To further improve the efficiency of card sorting, it is preferred that the outer wall 603 of the card sorting channel is supported by a plurality of outer support rollers 608 and mounted on the card sorting base 602 and driven by an outer motor 604. In this way, the outer wall 603 of the card sorting channel can also rotate actively. By properly controlling the rotation direction and / or rotation speed of the central turntable 606 and the outer wall 603 of the card sorting channel, the efficiency of card sorting can be improved, and playing cards can be prevented from getting stuck or floating.

[0150] In a preferred embodiment, an outer gear and a bottom gear are integrally formed or fixed on the outer side wall 603 of the card sorting channel, and an outer motor 604 fixed on the card sorting seat 602 or the base 1 drives the outer side wall 603 of the card sorting channel to rotate through the output gear meshing with the outer gear, and the bottom gear meshes with the outer end gear of the conveying roller 605 to drive the conveying roller 605 to rotate. This structure is simple and reasonable, easy to manufacture and assemble, and low in cost.

[0151] In order to further improve the efficiency and stability of card discharging, a card discharging mechanism is installed at the card sorting channel outlet 610. The specific structure of the card discharging mechanism can refer to patent documents such as WO2018196759A1 and CN105854275, which generally includes an active card discharging roller and a pressure roller driven by a card discharging motor.

[0152] In this embodiment, an upper shell 601 is fixed above the card handling stand 602 for covering the central turntable 606 and the upper portion of the card handling channel. This allows the card handling channel to form a relatively enclosed space, preventing the inserted playing cards from entering other mechanisms of the movement and causing confusion, while also improving the efficiency of card handling. Of course, in other embodiments, a shell for covering the card handling stand 602 and its upper transmission components can also be provided on the side or bottom of the card handling stand 602. Accordingly, the above-mentioned card discharging mechanism can be installed on the card discharging baffle 607, or on the card handling stand 502 or the upper shell 601.

[0153] In this embodiment, the other end of the arc-shaped card handling channel is closed, and the card storage box is located between the closed end and the outlet end of the arc-shaped card handling channel. In other embodiments, in order to further improve the card handling efficiency of the card handling device, a card handling channel outlet is provided at each end of the arc-shaped card handling channel, and the card storage box is located between the two outlets, and the playing cards coming out of the two outlets all directly enter the card storage box. Generally speaking, the rotation speed and rotation direction of the central turntable, the conveying roller and / or the outer wall of the card handling channel can be controlled to implement staggered card output from the two outlets. This can avoid problems such as the long transportation distance of some playing cards at one outlet, dead corner card jams, etc., thereby achieving rapid card output and improving card handling efficiency.

[0154] In this embodiment, the control panel 303 is equipped with buttons for controlling actions such as powering on the machine, shuffling the cards, and loading the cards. During play, players can set the rules on the control panel. The poker machine deals cards to each player according to the set rules. During the deal, the cards are randomly dealt by the card dispenser and intermittently delivered to each player's receiving position or receiving box according to the number of cards set by the player. The control panel 303 and its central lifting mechanism can be referenced to the central lifting mechanisms of mahjong machines, such as those disclosed in patent publications CN206881093, CN206881095, and CN205235367.

[0155] In this embodiment, Figure 34 As shown, the control panel 303 includes a control panel panel 3031 , a control panel circuit board 3032 and a control panel base 3033 . The control panel circuit board 3032 is fixed in the control panel base 3033 , and the control panel panel 3031 covers the control panel circuit board 3032 . The central lifting mechanism includes a lifting guide rod 304, a lifting seat 305, a central lifting cam 307 and a central lifting motor 308. The control panel base 3033 is fixed to the upper end of the lifting guide rod 304. The lifting guide rod 304 is covered with a lifting seat 305. The lifting seat 305 is fixed on the card sorting seat 602. The lower part of the lifting seat 305 is covered with a central lifting cam 307. Through grooves are provided on both sides of the lifting seat 305. A support rod is fixed to the lower end of the lifting guide rod 304. The two ends of the support rod extend out of the through groove on the lifting seat 305 and can move up and down along the through groove. The two protruding ends of the support rod are against the cam curve surface on the central lifting cam 307. The central lifting cam 307 is driven to rotate by the central lifting motor 308, thereby driving the support rod and its lifting guide rod 304 to move up and down, and then driving the control panel at the top of the lifting guide rod 304 to rise and fall.

[0156] In this embodiment, an external gear is integrally formed or fixed to the outer side of the central lifting cam 307, and is connected to the central lifting motor 308 fixed to the card sorting stand 602 via a lifting intermediate gear 306 and / or a transmission belt. In other embodiments, the central lifting cam 307 and the central lifting motor 308 can be connected via other transmission methods, such as a speed reduction mechanism or a chain transmission. In other embodiments, rollers or bearings can be mounted on the two protruding ends of the support rod to abut the cam curve surface of the central lifting cam 307.

[0157] In this embodiment, the central turntable 606 is mounted on the outside of the lifting base 305, and the upper end of the lifting base 305 extends out from the top of the central turntable 606. The central turntable 606 and the lifting base 305 are connected by a bearing and can rotate relative to each other. The turntable motor 609 is mounted on the card sorting base 602 and is connected to the central turntable 606 via a transmission belt and / or an intermediate gear 6091. An internal gear ring is integrally formed or fixed on the inner sidewall of the bottom of the central turntable 606, and the internal gear ring meshes with the intermediate gear 6091. In other embodiments, the central turntable 606 and the turntable motor 609 can also be connected by other transmission methods, such as a reduction mechanism or a chain transmission.

[0158] In this embodiment, the internal structure of the card dispenser 40 is essentially the same as that of the first embodiment, with the main differences being that the delivery channel is extended to accommodate the arrangement of the card handling device 6, and the card dispenser 40 is fixed and does not rotate, while the card receiving position or card receiving box in the card receiving device rotates to achieve random card reception. The details are as follows:

[0159] like Figure 28 、 Figure 36 、 Figure 37 、 Figure 38 As shown, the card dealer 40 is fixed to the base 1 and located below the card handling stand 602. The card dealer includes a card storage box 41 and a card dealing device 42. The upper opening of the card storage box 41 is located below the card handling passage outlet 610. The bottom side of the card storage box 41 is connected to the card inlet passage of the card dealing device 42. The card dealing device 42 includes a card separating mechanism, a conveying mechanism, and a card flipping mechanism. The card flipping mechanism is located below and outside the central turntable 606. In this embodiment, the card storage box 41, the card separating mechanism, the conveying mechanism, and the card flipping mechanism transport the playing cards along the width of the playing cards. Their structures, principles, operating processes, and methods can all adopt the structures, principles, operating processes, and methods of Example 1, as well as various alternative structures, principles, operating processes, and methods of Example 1. The same contents will not be repeated here.

[0160] Based on Example 1, in this embodiment, the conveying channel of the conveying mechanism is extended. Therefore, two recognition elements (cameras 4238) for identifying the front and back of a playing card are preferably provided on the conveying bottom wall 4204 or the conveying top wall 4218 of the conveying channel. Preferably, the two recognition elements are arranged diagonally opposite to the playing card to respectively detect two patterns on the diagonally opposite sides of the playing card, thereby improving the accuracy and efficiency of identifying the front and back of the playing card. The two recognition elements can be triggered by the same detection sensor for detecting the position of the playing card, or they can be triggered by two detection sensors for detecting the position of the playing card. When the detection sensor detects the playing card, the camera is activated simultaneously or with a delay, so that the camera can just capture the pattern information at the fixed diagonal position of the playing card in the conveying channel. In this way, the controller can identify the front and back of the playing card based on the pattern information, such as determining that the card is the front when it is identified as a character pattern. The other structures, principles, operation processes, and methods for identifying the front and back of the playing card are the same as those in Example 1 and its various alternative structures, principles, operation processes, and methods.

[0161] In this embodiment, it is also preferred that a thickness measuring component is provided on the conveying bottom wall 4204 or the conveying top wall 4218 of the conveying channel to detect whether there is any overlap in the playing cards passing through the conveying channel. The thickness measuring component includes a rotating part 4240, a thickness measuring wheel 4241, a thickness measuring sensor 4242 and a thickness measuring conveying wheel 4243. The thickness measuring wheel 4241 and the thickness measuring conveying wheel 4243 correspond to each other and are respectively installed on the conveying bottom wall 4204 and the conveying top wall 4218 of the conveying channel. The shaft of the thickness measuring wheel 4241 is installed on the rotating part 4240. One end of the rotating part 4240 is hinged to the conveying bottom wall 4204 or the conveying top wall 4218 of the conveying channel. The other end of the rotating part 4240 is movable and corresponds to the thickness measuring sensor 4242 installed on the conveying bottom wall 4204 or the conveying top wall 4218, and the elastic part gives the rotating part 4240 and the thickness measuring wheel 4241 a tendency to press toward the thickness measuring conveying wheel 4243. When a playing card passes between thickness measuring wheel 4241 and thickness measuring conveyor wheel 4243, thickness measuring wheel 4241 and rotating member 4240 are lifted upward. Thickness sensor 4242 determines the thickness of the passing playing card based on the vertical movement of the movable end of rotating member 4240. If the measured thickness approaches or even exceeds the thickness of two playing cards, the controller determines that two or more playing cards are overlapping, and the conveyor mechanism returns the playing cards to the card storage box 41 for reloading and sorting. This further reduces card sorting errors and malfunctions. This thickness measuring assembly can be used in conjunction with the thickness measuring structure or method of Example 1, or it can be used alone. Of course, this embodiment can also utilize only the thickness measuring structure or method of Example 1, as well as its various alternative structures, principles, operating procedures, and methods.

[0162] like Figure 29 、 Figure 30 、 Figure 31 As shown, in this embodiment, the card receiving device 20 includes a plurality of card receiving boxes 210 and a plurality of card pushing plates 202 arranged around the card dealer 40 and the central turntable 606, and the card receiving boxes 210 and the card pushing plates 202 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence; the plurality of card receiving boxes 210 are fixed on a rotating ring 211, and the rotating ring 211 is rotatably mounted on the base 1 by a plurality of supporting rollers, and the rotating ring 211 is driven to rotate by the rotating motor 203, and a card pushing chute is provided at the bottom of each card receiving box 210 for slidingly cooperating with the card pushing plate 202; the card pushing plate 202 is driven by the card pushing drive mechanism to make reciprocating motion from the inside of the card receiving box 210 to the outside of the card receiving box 210. When the card dealer deals cards, the push plate 202 moves to the outside of the receiving box 210, near the inside of the dealer. The receiving box 210 rotates, but the push plate 202 remains stationary, and the playing cards are delivered to the receiving box 210. When pushing cards, the push plate 202 enters the push chute 21 and moves from the inside to the outside, pushing the playing cards from the receiving box 210 out of the receiving box 210. The push chute 21 extends from the inside to the outside of the receiving box 210 and is preferably arranged radially along the circumference of the rotating ring 211. The rotating ring 211 is equipped with an internal gear inside, and the rotating motor 203 is driven by the gear meshing with the internal gear on the rotating ring 211.

[0163] The card pushing drive mechanism is arranged on the base 1, including a card pushing motor 201, a card pushing drive member 206 and a plurality of card pushing swing arms 207 corresponding to the plurality of card pushing plates 202. The card pushing drive member 206 is annular and is mounted on the bottom of the base 1 through a plurality of positioning rollers B and is driven to rotate by the card pushing motor 201. A plurality of driving parts corresponding to the plurality of card pushing swing arms 207 are extended from the outer circumference of the card pushing drive member 206. One driving part is connected to one The middle part of each card pushing swing arm 207 is movably connected by chute A, one end of the card pushing swing arm 207 is movably connected (hinged) with base 1, and the other end of the card pushing swing arm 207 is movably connected (hinged) with card pushing plate 202 bottoms, promote each card pushing swing arm 207 to rotate by rotating the card pushing drive member 206 like this, and then promote the card pushing plate 202 to do the card pushing action or do the reset action outside the card pushing box 210 from the outside of the card receiving box 210 to the inside of the card receiving box 210. Such a card pushing drive member synchronously drives multiple card pushing plates, and has simple structure, reasonable action, reliable operation, and low manufacturing cost. Said card pushing swing arm 207 is in V-type boomerang shape. The card pushing motor 201 drives the card pushing drive member 206 to rotate by gear and gear ring matching structure, or the card pushing motor 201 drives the card pushing drive member 206 to rotate by the card pushing cam 2011 and chute matching structure. The card pushing drive component 206 is located on the inner side of the rotating ring 211. In order to facilitate the hinge connection with the card pushing swing arm 207, a plurality of card pushing fixed frames 212 corresponding to the card pushing swing arm 207 are fixed on the base 1. One end of the card pushing swing arm 207 is hinged to the card pushing fixed frame 212. The hinged end of the card pushing fixed frame 212 is located above the rotating ring 211 and on the inner side of the connection between the card receiving box 210 and the rotating ring 211.

[0164] In this embodiment, the receiving box 210 is an internal and external through-hole structure. The multiple receiving boxes 210 are surrounded by a retaining ring 214 and a lifting ring 213. The lifting ring 213 is provided with multiple card receiving positions corresponding to the receiving boxes 210. The lifting ring 213 is driven up and down by a lifting drive mechanism, thereby raising a stack of playing cards from the card loading port 302 to the table. In order to save space and optimize the structure, it is preferred that a stack of playing cards be placed in a tilted manner on the card receiving position of the lifting ring 213. When dealing cards, the retaining ring 214 blocks the outside of the receiving box 210 to prevent the playing cards from falling out of the receiving box 210. When pushing cards, the retaining ring 214 descends, and the pushing plate 202 pushes the playing cards in the receiving box 210 to the card receiving position of the lifting ring 213. Preferably, the retaining ring 214 is integrally formed or fixedly arranged at the bottom of the lifting ring 213.

[0165] The lifting drive mechanism includes a lifting drive component 5, a lifting motor 501 and multiple lifting swing arms 503. The multiple lifting swing arms 503 are evenly distributed below the card lifting ring 213. One end of the lifting swing arm 503 is hinged to the base 1, and the other end of the lifting swing arm 503 is against the bottom of the card lifting ring 213. The lifting motor 501 drives the multiple lifting swing arms 503 to swing synchronously through the lifting drive component 5, thereby pushing the card lifting ring 213 to rise and fall. In this embodiment, the lifting drive member 5 is in the shape of a circular ring, and a plurality of lifting protrusions 502 corresponding to the plurality of lifting swing arms 503 are provided on the top of the ring. The lifting protrusions 502 are abutted against the middle support rollers 5032 of the lifting swing arms 503. The lifting drive member 5 is mounted on the base 1 through support rollers and positioning rollers and can rotate around the rotation center. In this embodiment, a plurality of support rollers 101 are arranged on the outer side of the circular ring of the lifting drive member, and the lifting drive member is provided with grooves matching therewith to limit the rotation range of the lifting drive member 5. A plurality of positioning rollers are mounted on the inner side of the circular ring of the lifting drive member 5 to position the rotation center of the lifting drive member; when the lifting drive member 5 rotates under the drive of the lifting motor 501, the middle support rollers on the plurality of lifting swing arms 503 respectively move along the corresponding lifting protrusions 502 on the lifting drive member 5, so that the lifting protrusions 502 push the lifting swing arms 503 to swing, thereby achieving the effect of lifting and lowering the end of the lifting swing arm 503 abutting against the bottom of the lifting ring 213, that is, achieving the effect of lifting and lowering the lifting ring 213. like Figure 30 、 Figure 31 As shown, in this embodiment, the lifting motor 501 drives the lifting drive member to rotate by internal or external engagement between the driving gear and the gear ring. In other embodiments, the lifting motor can also be installed to drive the lifting drive member 5 in the manner of embodiment 1.

[0166] Poker machines as described above, including:

[0167] The card handling device 6 is used to arrange the playing cards into a uniform orientation and deliver them. The card handling device 6 is provided with a control disk 303 in the center. The control disk 303 is driven to rise and fall by a central lifting mechanism. When the control disk 303 is raised, a card placement opening for placing playing cards is formed below it. When the control disk 303 is lowered, the card placement opening is covered. The card handling channel of the card handling device 6 is located below the control disk 303; the card handling device 6 includes a card handling seat 602. A central turntable 606 driven to rotate by a turntable motor 609 is provided in the center of the card handling seat 602. An outer wall 603 of the card handling channel is provided around the card handling seat 602. An arc-shaped card handling channel for arranging playing cards is formed between the central turntable 606 and the outer wall 603 of the card handling channel. A plurality of conveying rollers 605 for conveying playing cards are provided at the bottom of the arc-shaped card handling channel. The rotation direction of the central turntable 606 is opposite to the direction in which the conveying rollers 605 convey the playing cards.

[0168] A card dispenser 40 is used to deliver playing cards one by one to the card receiving device 20. The card dispenser includes a card storage box 41 and a card dispensing device 42. The outlet of the card handling device 6 is connected to the card storage box 41. The card dispensing device 42 includes a card separating mechanism for separating the playing cards in the card storage box into pieces and delivering them to a conveying mechanism, a conveying mechanism for identifying the front and back sides of the playing cards and delivering the playing cards to a card flipping mechanism, and a card flipping mechanism for flipping the playing cards as needed and delivering the playing cards to the card receiving device.

[0169] The card receiving device 20 is used to receive playing cards. The card receiving device 20 includes a plurality of card receiving shoes 210 arranged around the card dealer 40. These card receiving shoes 210 are driven to rotate relative to the card dealer 40 by a rotation driving mechanism.

[0170] The poker card arrangement method for the poker machine as described above comprises the following steps:

[0171] 1) The control panel rises, and after the playing cards are placed into the card sorting device, the control panel descends;

[0172] 2) The card sorting device arranges the playing cards into a consistent orientation and delivers them to the card storage box. The card sorting device rotates the central turntable and the conveyor rollers (the two rotations cause the cards to move in opposite directions), so that the cards are arranged into a certain orientation and move in the direction of the conveyor roller rotation.

[0173] 3) The card separation mechanism separates the playing cards in the card storage box into individual pieces and sends them to the conveying mechanism;

[0174] 4) The conveying mechanism identifies the front and back sides of the playing cards and conveys the playing cards to the card flipping mechanism;

[0175] 5) The card flipping mechanism flips the playing cards as needed and sends the playing cards to the card receiving boxes in the card receiving device;

[0176] 6) When the cards are dealt and ready to be put on, the card pusher pushes the playing cards in the receiving box onto the card raising ring, which then raises the playing cards of each party onto the table top.

[0177] Specifically, according to the player's set play mode, the control panel's motor rotates, causing the panel to rise. Played cards can be pushed into the machine from different directions on the tabletop. The cards pushed into the machine by the player are in different states. Then, the dealt cards are raised to the tabletop according to the player's settings, and the player proceeds to the next round. The player pushes the cards into the machine, which are then held at a certain angle and in the pre-set order by the card shuffling device. The card delivery device detects the presence of cards and begins dealing cards individually according to the player's set play mode. Cards passed through the delivery device are flipped into the same orientation. According to the set rules, the motor randomly rotates a certain angle, driving the card receiving box, which is fixed to the rotating ring, to randomly deliver cards to the set receiving box until the set number of cards are dealt. The player then waits for the next round to begin. At the start of the next round, the card push motor rotates, driving the card push cam to rotate the annular card push drive. This causes the card push arm to swing, pushing the card push plate, which pushes the cards from the receiving box onto the card raising ring, whereupon the card push plate returns to its original position. At this point, the lifting motor starts to work, driving the lifting drive to rotate, which in turn drives the card lifting arm to rotate, causing the card lifting ring to rise to the set height, raising the cards to the table, and completing the card lifting action. While waiting for the player to take the cards, the next round of card sorting, flipping, and dealing begins.

[0178] Throughout this specification, reference to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples" means that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

[0179] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are illustrative and cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art may change, modify, replace and modify the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention without departing from the principles and purpose of the present invention. Any simple modifications, equivalent changes and modifications made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention are still within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims

1. A poker machine, characterized in that: include: A card feeding device for inserting playing cards, the card feeding device comprising a panel (3) fixed on the top of a base (1), a control panel (303) being arranged at the center of the panel (3), the control panel (303) being driven to rise and fall by a central lifting mechanism, a card placing opening for inserting playing cards being formed below the control panel (303) when the control panel (303) is raised, and the card placing opening being covered when the control panel (303) is lowered; A card handling device (6) for arranging playing cards in a uniform orientation and delivering them, the card handling device (6) being located below the control panel (303), the card handling device (6) comprising a card handling seat (602) fixed on the base (1), a central turntable (606) driven to rotate by a turntable motor (609) being arranged in the center of the card handling seat (602), an outer wall (603) of a card handling channel being arranged around the card handling seat (602), an arcuate card handling channel for arranging playing cards being formed between the central turntable (606) and the outer wall (603) of the card handling channel, the bottom of the arcuate card handling channel A plurality of conveying rollers (605) for conveying playing cards are provided, and a card handling channel outlet (610) is provided at one end of the arc-shaped card handling channel for conveying playing cards along its length direction; wherein the width of the arc-shaped card handling channel is smaller than the length of the playing cards and larger than the width of the playing cards, the distance between two adjacent conveying rollers (605) is smaller than the length of the playing cards, and the width of the card handling channel outlet (610) is close to the width of the playing cards; wherein the top of the central turntable (606) is a turntable upper conical surface (6061), and a card discharging mechanism is installed at the card handling channel outlet (610); A card dealer (40) for delivering playing cards one by one to a card receiving device (20), the card dealer (40) being fixed on a base (1) and located below a card handling seat (602), the card dealer comprising a card storage box (41) and a card dealing device (42), the upper opening of the card storage box (41) being located below an exit (610) of a card handling passage, and one side of a bottom of the card storage box (41) being in communication with a card inlet passage of the card dealing device (42); the card dealing device (42) comprising a card separation mechanism for separating playing cards in the card storage box into cards one by one and delivering them to a conveying mechanism, a conveying mechanism for identifying the front and back sides of playing cards and delivering the playing cards to a card flipping mechanism, and a card flipping mechanism for flipping the playing cards as required and delivering the playing cards to the card receiving device; A card receiving device (20) for receiving playing cards, the card receiving device (20) comprising a plurality of card receiving boxes (210) arranged around a card dealer (40), the card receiving boxes (210) being driven to rotate relative to the card dealer (40) by a rotation drive mechanism.

2. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The rotation direction of the central turntable (606) is opposite to the direction in which the conveying roller (605) conveys the playing cards to promote the rotation of playing cards with inconsistent orientations, thereby arranging the playing cards into a certain orientation.

3. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer side wall (603) of the card sorting channel is rotatably mounted on the card sorting seat (602) and is driven to rotate by an outer side motor (604).

4. A poker machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: An outer gear and a bottom gear are integrally formed or fixedly provided on the outer wall (603) of the card sorting channel, and an outer motor (604) fixed on the card sorting seat (602) or the base (1) drives the outer wall (603) of the card sorting channel to rotate through the meshing transmission of the output gear and the outer gear, and the bottom gear meshes with the outer end gear of the conveying roller (605) to drive the conveying roller (605) to rotate.

5. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: A plurality of turntable card-shifting inclined surfaces (6062) are formed on the lower edge of the turntable upper conical surface (6061) and are arranged along the circumference of the central turntable (606) and protrude upward. A turntable side wall (6063) is formed at the lower part of the central turntable (606) near the bottom of the card sorting channel.

6. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The card discharging mechanism comprises a card discharging active roller wheel driven by a card discharging motor and a pressure roller thereof.

7. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The plurality of conveying rollers (605) are distributed radially along the circular central turntable (606), and the conveying rollers (605) are tapered rollers with a small inner end radius and a large outer end radius.

8. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: A card sorting channel outlet (610) is respectively arranged at both ends of the arc-shaped card sorting channel.

9. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The card flipping mechanism is located at the lower outer side of the central rotating disk (606).

10. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The card receiving device (20) further comprises a plurality of card pushing plates (202) arranged around the card dealer (40), wherein the card pushing plates (202) and the card receiving boxes (210) are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence; the plurality of card receiving boxes (210) are fixed on a rotating ring (211), the rotating ring (211) is rotatably mounted on the base (1), the rotating ring (211) is driven to rotate by a rotating motor (203), and the bottom of each card receiving box (210) is provided with a card pushing groove for slidingly cooperating with the card pushing plates (202); The card pushing plate (202) is driven by a card pushing driving mechanism to reciprocate from the inside of the card receiving box (210) to the outside of the card receiving box (210); when the card dealer deals cards, the card pushing plate (202) moves to the inside of the card receiving box (210) close to the inside of the card dealer, the card receiving box (210) rotates, the card pushing plate (202) does not move, and the playing cards are sent into the card receiving box (210); when pushing cards, the card pushing plate (202) enters the card pushing chute (21) and moves from the inside to the outside to push the playing cards on the card receiving box (210) out of the card receiving box (210).

11. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: A card raising ring (213) is arranged around the outer sides of the plurality of card receiving boxes (210), and a plurality of card receiving positions corresponding to the card receiving boxes (210) are arranged on the card raising ring (213). The card raising ring (213) is driven to rise and fall by a lifting drive mechanism, thereby raising a stack of playing cards of each party from the card loading opening (302) onto the table top.

12. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: An upper shell (601) for covering the upper part of the card arrangement passage is fixed above the card arrangement seat (602). The center of the upper shell (601) is a card placement opening for placing playing cards. When the control panel (303) descends, the card placement opening is covered.

13. A poker machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The central lifting mechanism comprises a lifting guide rod (304), a lifting seat (305), a central lifting cam (307) and a central lifting motor (308). The control panel (303) is fixed to the upper end of the lifting guide rod (304). The lifting seat (305) is sleeved on the outer surface of the lifting guide rod (304). The lifting seat (305) is fixed on the card sorting seat (602). The lower part of the lifting seat (305) is sleeved with a central lifting cam (307). Through grooves are provided on both sides of the lifting seat (305). A support rod is fixed to the lower end of the lifting guide rod (304). Both ends of the support rod extend out of the through groove on the lifting seat (305) and can move up and down along the through groove. The two extended ends of the support rod abut against the cam curve surface on the central lifting cam (307). The central lifting cam (307) is driven to rotate by the central lifting motor (308), thereby driving the support rod and its lifting guide rod (304) to move up and down, thereby driving the control panel at the top of the lifting guide rod (304) to rise and fall.

14. A poker machine according to claim 13, characterized in that: An external gear is integrally formed or fixedly provided on the outer side of the central lifting cam (307), and is transmission-connected to a central lifting motor (308) fixed on the card sorting seat (602) via a lifting intermediate gear (306) and / or a transmission belt.

15. A poker machine according to claim 14, characterized in that: The central turntable (606) is sleeved on the outside of the lifting seat (305), and the upper end of the lifting seat (305) extends out of the top of the central turntable (606). The two are connected by a bearing and can rotate relative to each other. The bottom of the central turntable (606) is integrally formed or fixed with an internal gear ring, and the internal gear ring is connected to the turntable motor (609) installed on the card sorting seat (602).

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