Mahjong machine and flat push and stop tile structure thereof

Abstract

The application discloses a mahjong machine and a flat pushing and stopping tile structure thereof, and belongs to the technical field of mahjong machines. The mahjong machine comprises a stopping tile cover, an inner stopping tile plate, a movable stopping plate and an outer stopping tile plate. The movable stopping plate is installed on a mahjong machine tabletop in a manner capable of being flipped and swung up and down. The initial state of the movable stopping plate is a vertical state, and a trend of keeping the initial state is given by an elastic member. When the flat pushing and tile feeding device pushes and feeds tiles, the movable stopping plate keeps the initial vertical state and is fixed. The tile pushing head of the tile pushing device and the tile supporting plate of the flat pushing and tile feeding device in the same group of tile picking and carrying systems are located on the same side of the movable stopping plate. The tile pushing head of one tile pushing device and the tile supporting plate of the adjacent flat pushing and tile feeding device in the adjacent two groups of tile picking and carrying systems are respectively located on the two sides of the movable stopping plate. When the tile pushing device pushes tiles, the tile pushing head lifts the movable stopping plate and enters the lower side of the tile supporting plate of the adjacent flat pushing and tile feeding device. The scheme has reasonable and reliable structure and is convenient to install and maintain.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of mahjong machine manufacturing, and particularly relates to a mahjong machine and its flat-push tile blocking structure. Background Technology

[0002] Mahjong is widely enjoyed by the public as a recreational activity and has also been recognized as a competitive sport. Traditional mahjong machines place the tiles parallel to the edges of the table after they are raised, and the tiles are very close to the edge, resulting in an unreasonable arrangement. Before drawing a tile, players need to manually move the tiles forward and diagonally to a suitable position. During this process, the tiles are prone to tipping over, causing inconvenience to the players.

[0003] Patent documents CN109381855A, CN109794059A, and CN112023390A disclose a windmill-shaped mahjong machine. The flat-push tile-feeding device is tilted relative to the side of the tabletop on the same side. The tile inlet of the flat-push tile-feeding device is further inward than the other end. The mahjong tiles from all four sides of the machine are raised onto the tabletop in one go, tilted at the four edges of the tabletop and close to the center. By tilting the flat-push tile-feeding device, the corresponding tile inlet and tile support plate are also tilted relative to the side of the tabletop on the same side. When the mahjong tile wall rises to the tabletop, it is already tilted, eliminating the need for players to manually push the tiles, which conforms to players' playing habits. Furthermore, since the mahjong tile wall is pushed horizontally onto the tile support plate and then raised to the tabletop, there is no problem of tiles falling over. However, compared to the common four-player mahjong machine (where the flat-push tile-feeding device is parallel to the side of the tabletop), the inclined design of the flat-push tile-feeding device, with its tile inlet closer to the center of the tabletop, affects the setup of the shuffling tray and encroaches on shuffling space. To increase the size of the shuffling tray for larger mahjong tiles, part of the tile-supporting plate of the flat-push tile-feeding device is usually positioned above the tile-feeding device. This results in a significant height difference between the tile outlet of the tile-feeding device and the lowest position of the tile-supporting plate, leading to excessive lifting and lowering of the tile-holding blocks in the pushing device, low stacking and pushing efficiency, unstable operation, and a tendency for mahjong tiles to become tangled and stuck.

[0004] Patent documents such as CN109381855A disclose a mahjong machine. To avoid the guide sliding shaft on the inner end of the tile-lifting plate (tile-supporting plate) encroaching on the shuffling space, the sliding shaft on the inner end of the tile-lifting plate is eliminated. Instead, the inner end of the tile-lifting plate is fixedly connected to another adjacent tile-lifting plate through a fixing piece, so that the four tile-lifting plates are connected as a whole and rise and fall synchronously. However, because the four tile-lifting plates are connected as a whole, the volume is large, and it is difficult to drive the tile-lifting plates to rise and fall synchronously by four separate tile-feeding motors. Therefore, the movement stability of the tile-feeding mechanism is poor, and it is easy to jam and be damaged. In addition, the size of the shuffling tray is still limited by the obstruction of the tile-bearing device (tile-bearing plate and the grid plate below it). Also, due to layout limitations, the height difference between the tile outlet height of the tile-feeding device and the height difference between the tile-lifting plate and the lowest position of the tile-lifting plate is large. The lifting span of the tile-receiving seat in the stacking and pushing mechanism is too large, resulting in low stacking and pushing efficiency, unstable operation, and mahjong tiles being easily confused and stuck.

[0005] Patent documents such as CN109794059A disclose an automatic mahjong machine. A gap is provided between the bottom of the flat-push tile-lifting device and the base plate to allow the shuffling tray to extend into the gap, thus freeing the diameter of the shuffling tray from interference by the flat-push tile-lifting device. The end of the flat-push tile-lifting device furthest from the center of the shuffling tray is fixed to the base plate, while the rest of the device is suspended relative to the shuffling tray. A rocker arm linkage replaces the gear mechanism for transmission, increasing the height of the hollowed-out bottom of the flat-push tile-lifting device to increase the shuffling gap. However, its bottom is partially hollowed out, and the linkage mechanism and hinge points are all located directly below the lifting plate. This limits the height of the hollowed-out bottom of the flat-push card-feeding device, resulting in only a slight increase in shuffling space. Furthermore, placing the flat-push card-feeding device above the card-feeding device not only increases the overall thickness of the mahjong machine but also creates a large height difference between the card-feeding device's outlet height and the lifting plate's lowest position. This leads to an extremely large lifting span for the card-bearing blocks in the pushing device (at least the thickness of three mahjong tiles), resulting in low stacking efficiency, unstable operation, and a tendency for mahjong tiles to become tangled and stuck. Additionally, placing the stacking device inside or above the edge of the shuffling tray also increases the overall thickness of the mahjong machine and encroaches on the shuffling space. The different transmission stages and lengths of the two lifting rocker arms can also easily cause asynchrony or unstable operation.

[0006] Patent documents with publication numbers CN117982870A, CN117982871A, CN117982868A, etc., disclose a mahjong machine, such as... Figure 1As shown, the dotted line indicates the flat-push card-loading device. The mahjong machine includes a large shuffling tray 2 located in the center of the machine frame base plate. Four sets of card-picking and transporting systems are arranged around the large shuffling tray 2. The card-picking and transporting system includes a card-feeding device 5, a flat-push card-loading device, and a card-pushing device. The flat-push card-loading device includes a card-bearing plate 72, a card-supporting plate 74, and a card-pushing plate 73. The card-supporting plate 74 is located inside the card-bearing plate 72, and the card-pushing plate 73 is located outside the card-bearing plate 72 and pushes the cards from the outside to the inside. One end of the card-bearing plate 72 extending along the length direction is the card inlet. A card-bearing block 62 of the card-pushing device is set outside the card inlet. The flat-push card-loading motor 71 drives the card-pushing plate 73 to move horizontally to push the cards and the card-supporting plate 74 to lift and lower to load the cards. The card-supporting plates 74 are respectively inclined relative to the side of the tabletop, and the four sides adopt independent flat-push card loading. By hollowing out part or all of the inner wall of the shuffling tray near the card-feeding device's upper card holder, the edge of the shuffling tray can be expanded to directly below the card-receiving plate, allowing the card-feeding motor of the card-feeding device to also extend directly below the card-receiving plate. This way, most of the card-supporting plate and a small portion of the card-receiving plate are located above the shuffling frame. This not only effectively increases the shuffling space while increasing the size of the shuffling tray but also shortens the card-feeding channel length of the card-feeding device. This allows for a more rational placement of the card-receiving block of the pushing device and the card-feeding device's inlet, reducing interference and limitations on the shuffling tray and shuffling space from the pushing and feeding devices, thus maximizing the size of the shuffling frame and the shuffling tray. On the same size mahjong machine base plate, without increasing the overall thickness of the mahjong machine, the shuffling tray and shuffling space are increased; for example, shuffling 108 tiles (62 mahjong tiles) can be achieved on a 36-table mahjong machine.

[0007] In the process of the tile support plate descending to the bottom and pushing the wall of mahjong tiles on the tile support plate onto the tile support plate via the tile pusher, in order to prevent the mahjong tiles from being pushed out of the tile support plate by the tile pusher and falling into the shuffling tray or getting stuck, a flat-push blocking structure needs to be set on the front (or inner) side of the tile support plate to prevent the wall of mahjong tiles on the tile support plate from continuing to move inward.

[0008] The flat-push tile-blocking structure disclosed in patent documents such as CN112023390A, CN117982870A, CN114247127A, CN114146397A, CN117982871A, and CN219149199U includes: a tile-blocking frame extending outward with an outer tile-blocking part to match the length of each tile-supporting plate, blocking the mahjong tiles on the tile-supporting plate from moving inward from the inside of the tile-supporting plate, thereby ensuring that the mahjong tiles pushed onto the tile-supporting plate are neat and uniform. Because in the windmill-shaped mahjong machine structure with a fixed tile-supporting plate, the tile-pushing head of the tile-pushing device moves at a relatively high position, which is higher than the height of the tile-supporting plate of the flat-push tile-loading device, this causes the tile-pushing head in the tile-pushing device to interfere with the outer tile-blocking part of the adjacent tile-blocking frame. Therefore, the outer blocking part of the adjacent blocking frame has an opening above the card-receiving block of its own pushing device to avoid affecting the pushing head of its own pushing device. When pushing the cards flat, the pushing head is stopped in a suitable position so that it, together with the blocking frame and its outer blocking part, can achieve the function of pushing and blocking the cards flat. However, since the pushing head is a moving part, its stopping position is not in a position that is close to either the front or back, and it cannot be made extremely precise (otherwise the cost would be very high). It is difficult to ensure that the back of the pushing head is flush with the blocking frame and its outer blocking part. In addition, the pushing head also has unavoidable looseness caused by transmission clearance. Therefore, in actual use, there is often a problem that the mahjong tile wall pushed flat is not neat enough. Summary of the Invention

[0009] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the purpose of this invention is to provide a mahjong machine and its flat-push blocking structure. The inner side of each tile support plate is equipped with a blocking cover, an inner blocking plate, a movable baffle, and an outer blocking plate to block and limit the mahjong tiles on the tile support plate. The structure is reasonable and reliable, and easy to install and maintain.

[0010] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0011] A flat-push blocking structure for a mahjong machine includes a blocking cover, an inner blocking plate, a movable blocking plate, and an outer blocking plate. The blocking cover is located inside the square card-holding plate of the mahjong machine. The blocking cover is square, and its four sides are blocking surfaces for blocking the inner cards of the square card-holding plate. The inner blocking plate, movable blocking plate, and outer blocking plate are respectively arranged from the inside to the outside along the length of the square card-holding plate at the four corners of the blocking cover. The movable blocking plate is mounted on the mahjong machine tabletop in a way that allows it to flip and swing up and down. The initial state of the movable blocking plate is vertical. The elastic element provides a tendency to maintain the initial state; when the card-push device pushes the card, the movable baffle remains fixed in its initial vertical state. In the same group of card-picking and handling systems, the pushing head of the pushing device and the supporting plate of the card-push device are located on the same side of the movable baffle. In two adjacent groups of card-picking and handling systems: the pushing head of one pushing device and the supporting plate of the adjacent card-push device are located on opposite sides of the movable baffle; when the pushing device pushes the card, the pushing head lifts the movable baffle and enters below the supporting plate of the adjacent card-push device.

[0012] Preferably, the outer card block is a separate component that is directly fixed to the base plate, card holder, or card pusher of the mahjong machine.

[0013] Preferably, the inner signboard is fixedly connected to the signboard cover or is integrally formed.

[0014] Preferably, the inner baffle plate is fixedly connected to the overall shuffling barrel or is integrally formed.

[0015] Preferably, the inner plate baffle is fixedly connected to the plate delivery seat or is integrally formed.

[0016] Preferably, a blocking block is provided outside the card outlet of the card feeding device. The top of the blocking block extends between the movable baffle and the outer blocking plate and forms a flat blocking surface that is flush with the outer blocking plate for pushing the blocking card.

[0017] Preferably, the gap between the blocking block and the outer blocking plate allows the connecting arm of the pusher head to pass through.

[0018] Preferably, when the movable baffle is in a vertical position, the movable baffle is matched with the inner baffle plate, the outer baffle plate, or the mahjong machine tabletop to limit its rotation toward the pusher head.

[0019] A mahjong machine, including the flat-push tile blocking structure of a mahjong machine as described above.

[0020] Preferably, in the same group of card picking and carrying system, the angle A between the length side of the card support plate and the card delivery direction of the card feeding device is 75° to 85°, and the angle B between the card pushing direction of the card pushing device and the card delivery direction of the card feeding device is 75° to 85°; the inner card blocking plate presses above the card delivery opening of the card feeding channel, and the maximum distance between the outer end of the inner card blocking plate and the inner end of the card pushing head is less than the width of a mahjong tile.

[0021] Because of the above technical solutions, the present invention uses a card block cover, an inner card block plate, a movable card block, and an outer card block plate on the inner side of each card support plate to block and limit the mahjong tiles on the card support plate. The movable card block is hinged to the mahjong machine tabletop and remains vertical and fixed when the tiles are pushed horizontally, flush with the card block frame and its outer card block part, thus realizing the function of horizontal pushing and blocking the tiles. When the card pushing device pushes the tiles, the tiles can be pushed over by the pusher head and rotated to the bottom of the card support plate without affecting the pushing of the tiles. Moreover, the structure is reasonable and reliable, and the installation and maintenance are convenient. Attached Figure Description

[0022] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this application, are used to provide a further understanding of this application. The illustrative embodiments of this application and their descriptions are used to explain this application and do not constitute a limitation thereof.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of various devices in an existing mahjong machine.

[0024] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the various devices in the mahjong machine of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the mahjong machine of the present invention (without the flat-push tile-loading device).

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the mahjong machine of the present invention (with an upper tile holder);

[0027] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Enlarged view of point I in the image.

[0028] Figure 6 for Figure 4 A three-dimensional diagram (base plate omitted).

[0029] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the mahjong machine of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 8 for Figure 7 A 3D diagram (omitting the card cover plates on both sides).

[0031] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the flat-push plate-loading device of the present invention (plate plate raised, inner view).

[0032] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the flat-push card-loading device of the present invention (card-supporting plate raised, outer view).

[0033] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission structure of the flat-push card-adding device of the present invention (card-supporting plate raised, outer view).

[0034] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission structure of the flat-push card-adding device of the present invention (card-supporting plate raised, inner view).

[0035] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the flat-push plate-loading device of the present invention (plate support plate lowered, inner view).

[0036] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission structure of the flat-push plate-loading device of the present invention (plate-supporting plate lowered, outer view).

[0037] Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the card-pushing device of the present invention (card-pushing plate pushing cards, inner view).

[0038] Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the card holder of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the main body of the card holder of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram (side top view) of the shuffling barrel of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of the shuffling barrel of the present invention (side view from below).

[0042] Figure 20 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the push-block mechanism of the present invention.

[0043] Figure 21 This is a side view of the sliding barrier mechanism of the present invention (the main body of the upper barrier seat is omitted).

[0044] Figure 22 This is a schematic diagram (inner view) of another embodiment of the card-dispensing device of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 23 This is a schematic diagram (outer view) of another embodiment of the card-dispensing device of the present invention.

[0046] The components include: 1. Base plate; 2. Shuffling tray; 3. Scraper; 4. Overall shuffling bucket; 41. Card placement hole; 42. Square mounting platform; 421. Ventilation opening; 422. Fan; 43. Card support plate step; 431. Card loading arm clearance groove; 432. Extension arm clearance groove; 44. Card receiving plate step; 441. Card loading arm shaft support; 442. Cantilever support; 45. Card guide step; 46. Mounting ring; 461. Card pusher support; 462. Card loading support; 4 7. Card feeding mounting port; 5. Card feeding device; 51. Card feeding motor; 52. Card suction wheel; 53. Card feeding base; 531. Outer housing; 5311. Card feeding side baffle; 532. Inner housing; 54. Inner baffle plate; 6. Card pushing device; 61. Card pushing motor; 62. Card receiving block; 63. Card pushing head; 64. Baffle block; 65. Card pushing base; 7. Horizontal card loading device; 70. Card loading base; 701. Card loading base body; 7011. First card loading mounting foot; 701 2. Second mounting foot; 702. Removable plate; 703. Extension section; 704. Mounting guide shaft seat; 705. Extension arm; 706. Inner mounting guide shaft; 707. Cantilever section; 71. Horizontal push mounting motor; 711. First transmission gear; 72. Mounting plate; 721. Side baffle; 73. Push plate; 731. Pushing frame; 7311. Horizontal push slider; 732. Horizontal push cam; 733. Horizontal push rocker arm; 734. Horizontal push swing arm; 735. Horizontal push swing arm shaft 736. Push plate cover; 74. Plate support plate; 740. Inner plate loading guide sleeve; 741. Outer plate loading guide shaft; 742. Front baffle; 743. Plate loading rocker arm; 744. Plate loading curved cam; 745. Plate loading rocker arm shaft; 7451. Plate loading rocker arm shaft seat; 746. Plate loading rocker arm cam; 747. Crank; 748. First gear; 749. Second gear; 75. Support column; 8. Plate baffle cover; 9. Outer plate baffle; 91. Plate guide component; 92. Movable baffle. Detailed Implementation

[0047] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0048] It should be noted that the following detailed descriptions are illustrative and intended to provide further explanation of this application. Unless otherwise specified, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application pertains.

[0049] Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and intended to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0050] In the description of this invention, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular form is also intended to include the plural form. Furthermore, it should be understood that when the terms “comprising” and / or “including” are used in this specification, they indicate the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0051] In the description of this invention, it should be understood that the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "clockwise," and "counterclockwise," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this invention.

[0052] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this invention, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

[0053] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," and "fixing," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention according to the specific circumstances.

[0054] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, "above" or "below" the second feature can include direct contact between the first and second features, or contact between the first and second features through another feature between them. Furthermore, "above," "over," and "on top" of the second feature includes the first feature directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. "Below," "below," and "under" the second feature includes the first feature directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.

[0055] For ease of description, in this invention, the center of the mahjong machine main unit is referred to as "inner", and the perimeter of the mahjong machine main unit is referred to as "outer". Regarding the flat-pushing tile-laying device for each side, the side closer to the center of the mahjong machine main unit is referred to as "front", and the opposite side is referred to as "rear".

[0056] For ease of description, in this invention, the dimensional parameters are described using terms such as "length of mahjong tiles," "width of mahjong tiles," and "thickness of mahjong tiles." The term "mahjong tiles" refers to the mahjong tiles actually used on the mahjong machine, and does not refer to mahjong tiles of any size or specification, nor does it include mahjong tiles that cannot be shuffled or arranged on the mahjong machine.

[0057] Example 1:

[0058] like Figures 2 to 8 The mahjong machine shown includes a shuffling tray 2, a card scraper 3, and a central lifting device located in the center of the machine frame base plate 1. Four sets of card picking and transporting systems are arranged around the shuffling tray 2. The card picking and transporting system includes a card feeding device 5 for picking up mahjong tiles one by one from the shuffling tray and sending them out, a card pushing device 7 for sending multiple stacks of mahjong tiles at once onto the mahjong machine table, and a card pushing device 6 for pushing the mahjong tiles sent out by the card feeding device 5 into the card pushing device 7.

[0059] The card-feeding device 5 includes a card-collecting wheel for picking up mahjong tiles and a card-feeding channel for transferring mahjong tiles. In a preferred embodiment, the card-feeding device 5 further includes a card-feeding base 53 and a card-feeding motor 51. The card-feeding channel is disposed on the card-feeding base 53, a card-collecting wheel 52 is disposed at the card-feeding channel inlet, a card-dispensing roller is disposed at the card-feeding channel inlet, and a conveyor belt is disposed inside the card-feeding channel. The conveyor belt wraps around the card-collecting wheel 52 and the card-dispensing roller. The card-collecting wheel 52 is driven by the card-feeding motor 51 mounted on the card-feeding base 53 to transport mahjong tiles. In other embodiments, there may be no conveyor belt, and the card-collecting wheel and / or the card-dispensing roller may be directly driven by the card-feeding motor, or may be connected to the card-feeding motor via gears, friction wheels, or a transmission belt. The specific structure of the card delivery device can be referenced from various embodiments disclosed in patent documents with publication numbers CN105363195A, CN213965119U, CN206881091U, CN212941371U, CN108786098A, CN205832557U, CN219376041U, CN221981537U, CN220801883U, and CN108992914A.

[0060] The card-pushing device 6 includes a card-receiving block 62 for receiving mahjong tiles delivered by the card-feeding device 5 and a card-pushing head 63 for pushing the mahjong tiles on the card-receiving block 62 to the card-pushing device 7. In a preferred embodiment, the card-pushing device 6 further includes a card-pushing base 65 and a card-pushing motor 61. The card-receiving block 62 and the card-pushing head 63 are movably mounted outside the card-pushing base 65 and driven by the card-pushing motor 61 mounted on the card-pushing base 65. In a further preferred embodiment, the card-pushing base is provided with a card-pushing transmission mechanism. The card-pushing motor 61 drives the card-receiving block 62 to move up and down to stack the mahjong tiles through the card-pushing transmission mechanism. The card-pushing motor 61 drives the card-pushing head 63 to move horizontally to push the stacked mahjong tiles out of the card-receiving block 62. The specific structure of the card-pushing device can be referenced from various embodiments disclosed in patent documents with publication numbers CN201906453U, CN201949619U, CN103861280A, CN204699375U, CN209500734U, CN112057840A, CN112023390A, CN114247127A, CN114146397A, and CN117982871A.

[0061] The flat-push tile-loading device 7 includes a tile-receiving plate 72 for receiving and arranging multiple stacks of mahjong tiles, a tile-supporting plate 74 for delivering multiple stacks of mahjong tiles onto the table at once, and a tile-pushing plate 73 for pushing the multiple stacks of mahjong tiles on the tile-receiving plate 72 onto the tile-supporting plate 74. The tile-receiving plate 72 has a tile storage channel for storing and arranging multiple stacks of mahjong tiles. The tile-supporting plate 74 is located inside the tile-receiving plate 72 and can be raised and lowered. The tile-pushing plate 73 is located outside the tile-receiving plate 72 and pushes the tiles from the outside to the inside. In a preferred embodiment, the flat-push card-adding device further includes a card-adding seat 70 and a flat-push card-adding motor 71. A card-receiving plate 72 is fixedly mounted on the card-adding seat 70, and a card-adding transmission mechanism is provided on the card-adding seat 70. The flat-push card-adding motor 71 drives the card-pushing plate 73 to move horizontally and the card-supporting plate 74 to lift and lower the card-adding plate through the card-adding transmission mechanism. The card-adding transmission mechanism includes a card-supporting plate transmission mechanism for driving the card-supporting plate 74 to lift and lower, and a card-pushing plate transmission mechanism for driving the card-pushing plate 73 to push horizontally. In other embodiments, the card-receiving plate 72 may also be mounted on the card-adding seat 70 in a way that allows it to lift and lower, and is driven to lift and lower by the flat-push card-adding motor 71. For the specific structure of the flat-push card-adding device, please refer to the various embodiments disclosed in patent documents with publication numbers CN109381855A, CN109794059A, CN112023390A, CN114247127A, CN114146397A, CN117982871A, etc.

[0062] In other embodiments of the present invention, two or three of the above-mentioned card feeding base, card pushing base, and flat card mounting base may be integrally formed or fixedly connected as one unit, and two or three of the above-mentioned card feeding motor, card pushing motor, and flat card mounting motor may be the same motor, that is, two or three of the card feeding device, card pushing device, and flat card mounting device share one motor.

[0063] The present invention is a windmill-shaped mahjong machine. The mahjong machine tabletop has four card-feeding slots. The four card-feeding slots are respectively inclined relative to the four side edges of the tabletop to form a windmill-shaped layout. The four card-picking and transporting systems have four card-supporting plates 74 that cooperate with the four card-feeding slots. When the card-supporting plates 74 are raised, they fill the card-feeding slots and are flush with the mahjong machine tabletop.

[0064] In this way, the flat-push tile-feeding device is tilted relative to the side edge of the tabletop on the same side, and the tile inlet of the flat-push tile-feeding device is further inward relative to the other end. The four mahjong tiles are raised onto the mahjong machine tabletop in one go, tilted at their respective four edges and close to the center of the tabletop. By tilting the flat-push tile-feeding device, the corresponding tile inlet and tile support plate are also tilted relative to the side edge of the tabletop on the same side. When the mahjong tile wall rises to the tabletop, it is already tilted, which conforms to the player's playing habits and eliminates the need for the player to manually push the tiles, achieving a tile-pushing-free function. Furthermore, since the mahjong tile wall is pushed horizontally in an orderly manner onto the tile support plate, and then raised to the tabletop from the tile support plate, there is no problem of tiles falling over.

[0065] like Figure 2 and Figure 8 As shown, in this invention, the card-bearing block 62 of the card-pushing device 6 is set outside the card outlet of the card-feeding channel. One end of the card-bearing plate 72 extending along the length direction is the card inlet of the card storage channel. The card-bearing block 62 of the card-pushing device 6 is set outside the card inlet. The other end of the card-bearing plate 72 extending along the length direction is provided with a side baffle 721. The front and rear obstructions of the card storage channel are a front baffle 742 and a card-pushing plate 73, respectively. The front baffle 742 is fixedly connected to the card-supporting plate 74 or integrally formed.

[0066] In this invention, the height of the card-dispensing channel is lower than the height of the card-supporting plate at its lowest position, exceeding the thickness of a single mahjong tile. In a preferred embodiment, the card-receiving block 62 of the pushing device has at least three height positions: a first card-receiving position, a second card-receiving position, and a pushing position. When stacking mahjong tiles: the card-receiving block 62 first receives the first mahjong tile delivered by the card-dispensing device at the first card-receiving position; the card-receiving block 62 then descends to the second card-receiving position to receive the second mahjong tile delivered by the card-dispensing device, with the second mahjong tile stacked on top of the first mahjong tile; then, the card-receiving block 62 rises to the pushing position, and the pushing head 63 pushes the two stacked mahjong tiles out of the card-receiving block 62 together; the card-receiving block 62 descends back to the first card-receiving position; the pushing head 63 also returns to its original position, awaiting the next stacking. The pushing position of the card-receiving block 62 is at least two mahjong tiles thicker than the second card-receiving position.

[0067] In this invention, the card-receiving block 62 of the card-pushing device 6 is located outside the shuffling frame. Therefore, the card-dispensing port of the card-delivering device 5 and the card-inlet port of the flat-push card-loading device 7 are also located outside the shuffling frame. This avoids the card-receiving block encroaching on the shuffling space when it descends, allowing the shuffling frame and the shuffling tray to be maximized.

[0068] In one embodiment of the present invention, the label holder can be configured using existing technology disclosed in patent documents such as CN117982871A:

[0069] The card-loading device 70 of the flat-push card-loading device 7 hollows out or completely hollows out the inner wall near the shuffling tray, so that the edge of the shuffling tray 2 can expand to directly below the card-supporting plate 72, and the card-feeding motor 51 of the card-feeding device 5 can also extend directly below the card-supporting plate 72. In this way, most of the card-supporting plate 74 and a small portion of the card-receiving plate 72 are located above the shuffling frame, while the card-feeding outlet of the card-feeding device 5 and the card-receiving block 62 of the card-pushing device 6 are located directly below the card-supporting plate 74. This not only effectively increases the shuffling space while increasing the size of the shuffling tray, but also shortens the card-feeding channel length of the card-feeding device 5, thus making the placement of the card-receiving block 62 of the card-pushing device 6 and the card-inlet of the flat-push card-feeding device 7 more reasonable. It reduces the interference and restrictions of the flat-push card-feeding device and the card-feeding device on the shuffling tray and shuffling space, allowing the shuffling frame and shuffling tray to be maximized. On the same size mahjong machine base plate, without increasing the overall thickness of the mahjong machine, the shuffling tray and shuffling space are increased. For example, on a 36-table mahjong machine, shuffling and organizing 108 tiles of 62 mahjong tiles is achieved. However, from Figure 1 As can be seen, the inner card-up guide shaft 706 of the card-supporting plate 74 is still located outside the shuffling plate 2. In the prior art, the inner and outer card-up guide shafts of the card-supporting plate are fixed to the bottom of the card-supporting plate. When the card-supporting plate is lowered, the lower end of the inner card-up guide shaft will approach or even need to pass through the bottom plate, thus limiting the outward expansion of the shuffling plate and affecting the further increase of the shuffling space.

[0070] Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, such as Figure 2 As shown, the inner card-laying guide shaft 706 of the card-laying plate 74 is located on the upper inner side of the outer circumference of the shuffling tray 2. The inner card-laying guide shaft 706 is fixedly connected to or integrally formed on the card-laying seat 70, the integral shuffling barrel 4, or the card-feeding seat 53. An inner card-laying guide sleeve 740 is fitted on the inner card-laying guide shaft 706, and the inner card-laying guide sleeve 740 is fixedly connected to the card-laying plate 74. In this way, the length of the inner card-laying guide shaft 706 only needs to be slightly greater than the lifting height of the card-laying plate 74, and will not extend downward into the shuffling space to affect the shuffling. Therefore, the card-laying plate can be pushed further inward without interfering with the shuffling space, so that the edge distance of the card-laying plate is not limited by the shuffling frame (shuffling barrel). Thus, the same edge distance of the card-laying plate can be used to shuffle with a larger shuffling tray. A larger shuffling tray can shuffle larger cards and more stacks of cards, meeting the needs of more players. For example, a 36-table mahjong machine can shuffle and arrange 120 tiles of 64-tile mahjong, and the minimum distance between the edges of the tile support plate can be 290 millimeters.

[0071] In this preferred embodiment, an extension arm 705 extends forward from the inner end of the upper plate holder 70. The inner upper plate guide shaft 706 of the plate support plate 74 is fixedly mounted on the extension arm 705. An upper plate guide shaft seat 704 is provided on the outer section of the upper plate holder 70, and the outer upper plate guide shaft 741 of the plate support plate 74 is slidably mounted in the upper plate guide shaft seat 704. In this way, the load-bearing structure of the plate support plate is more balanced, and the lifting guide positioning references on both the inner and outer sides of the plate support plate are on the upper plate holder, making installation and debugging more convenient and the lifting action more stable and reliable.

[0072] In this preferred embodiment, the inner guide shaft 706 of one card holder 74 is disposed between its inner end and the length side of the other card holder 74. This makes full use of the gap between the two card holders, which not only facilitates the setting of the extension arm and the flat-push card blocking structure, but also ensures reasonable structure, stable and reliable movement, and provides good support for the tabletop at the narrow edge between the two card openings.

[0073] In other embodiments, the inner card-laying guide shaft 706 of the card-laying plate 74 can also be located on the front side of its length side, that is, between the card-laying plate 74 and the central lifting device of the mahjong machine (between the card-laying plate and the card-laying hole of the shuffling drum). This structure is particularly suitable for situations where the inner card-laying guide shaft of the card-laying plate is fixedly mounted on the shuffling drum, and the overall structure is simpler and more reasonable.

[0074] In one embodiment of the present invention, the arrangement of the upper plate holder can adopt the prior art disclosed in patent documents such as CN117982871A:

[0075] The card holder no longer has a front side wall near the front of the shuffling frame. This makes the internal space of the card holder (the space under the card receiving plate) an open space, allowing the shuffling tray / shuffling frame and the card feeding motor to extend into this open space. The card holder then becomes an open seat structure formed by the rear side wall, the top wall, and the left and right side walls. The top wall of the upper card holder forms a fixed, non-lifting card-bearing plate. Because the top wall is fixed, its thickness is relatively thin. The shuffling frame is located below it, which does not further increase the height difference between the card-dispensing port of the card-feeding device and the lowest position of the card-bearing plate, nor does it increase the overall thickness of the mahjong machine. This is more reasonable than the bottom-hollowed-out structure disclosed in patent documents such as CN109794059A. The rear side wall of the upper card holder is used to install the flat-push card-feeding motor 71 and the card-feeding transmission mechanism. In order to reduce the volume occupied by the card-feeding transmission mechanism in the open space (the space below the card-bearing plate), it is preferable that the rear side wall protrudes backward, thereby forming several grooves in front of it to accommodate some parts of the card-feeding transmission mechanism. The left and right side walls of the upper card holder are used to fix and connect the card-feeding guide shaft seat. In order to increase the overall strength of the upper card holder and facilitate injection molding, a bottom wall is also provided. However, this bottom wall can be hollowed out at the interference point with the shuffling plate and the card-feeding motor to avoid affecting the setting of these two. However, the top wall of the upper card holder in this structure is thin-walled and relatively long, resulting in poor structural strength and load-bearing capacity. Furthermore, the guide shaft seat on the inner side of the upper card holder and its connected side wall structure also restrict the arrangement, maintenance, and disassembly of the washing space and the card pushing device.

[0076] Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, such as Figure 6 , Figure 16 and Figure 17As shown, the card holder 70 includes a card holder body 701 mounted on a base plate 1, a card holder motor 71, and a card holder transmission mechanism for driving the card pusher plate 73 to move horizontally and the card support plate 74 to lift and lower the card holder. The top wall of the card holder body 701 extends forward to form part of the card support plate 72. A cantilever portion 707 extends forward from the inner side of the card holder body 701, with a cantilevered section below it. The top of the cantilever portion 707 forms part of the card support plate 72. A card pusher is located behind the cantilever portion 707 and is fixedly connected to both the cantilever portion 707 and the card holder body 701. This provides reinforced support for the cantilever 707. An extension arm 705 extends forward from the inner end of the cantilever 707. The inner plate guide shaft 706 of the plate support 74 is fixedly mounted on the extension arm 705. An inner plate guide sleeve 740 is fitted onto the inner plate guide shaft 706. The inner plate guide sleeve 740 is fixedly connected to the plate support 74. A plate guide shaft seat 704 extends forward from the outer side of the plate support body 701. The outer plate guide shaft 741 of the plate support 74 is installed in the plate guide shaft seat 704. The outer plate guide shaft 741 is fixed to the bottom of the plate support 74 and rises and falls synchronously with the plate support 74. In this way, the cantilever and extension arm are set up in a hollowed-out manner to avoid the card holder encroaching on the shuffling space. The card holder body and the cantilever are fixedly connected by the card pusher to enhance the structural strength and load-bearing capacity of the cantilever. The card holder motor and card holder transmission mechanism are installed on the card holder body outside the shuffling tank to avoid them encroaching on the shuffling space. The structure is reasonable and does not affect each other, making it convenient for disassembly and maintenance.

[0077] In other embodiments, the outer plate guide shaft 741 of the plate support plate 74 can also be fixed on the plate support seat 70. An outer plate guide sleeve is fitted on the outer plate guide shaft 741. The outer plate guide sleeve is fixed to the bottom of the plate support plate 74 and rises and falls synchronously with the plate support plate 74.

[0078] In this preferred embodiment, an extension portion 703 extends from the outer end of the upper tile holder 70. The extension portion 703, the cantilever portion 707, and the top wall extending forward from the upper tile holder body 701 together form a tile-bearing plate 72. A side baffle 721 for blocking mahjong tiles is fixedly connected to or integrally formed at the outer end of the extension portion 703. This avoids the upper tile holder's top thin-walled structure being too long, which would affect the structural strength and load-bearing capacity. Furthermore, the extension portion makes the flat-push tile-feeding device more versatile. For different specifications of mahjong machines, only the appropriate extension portion needs to be replaced, without having to replace the entire flat-push tile-feeding device, thus reducing mold opening costs and inventory costs.

[0079] In this preferred embodiment, the main body 701, extension 703, cantilever 707 and extension arm 705 all adopt a grid-like reinforced structure to increase their structural strength and load-bearing capacity.

[0080] In this preferred embodiment, the top wall of the card holder body 701 extending forward has a vertically penetrating opening. Below this opening is the card feeding motor 51 of the card feeding device 5. A detachable plate 702 is fixed inside the opening, and the top of the detachable plate 702 forms part of the card receiving plate 72. In this way, when removing and installing the card feeding device from the shuffling tank, the detachable plate can be removed first to create an opening for the card feeding motor to pass through from bottom to top, and then the card feeding device can be removed. The card feeding device can be taken out without disassembling the outer flat-push card loading device, making maintenance and disassembly very convenient.

[0081] In a further preferred embodiment, a card pusher 731 is installed on the card holder 70, and the opening is located in front of the card pusher 731. In this way, the card feeding motor 51 can be installed close to the card suction wheel 52 or directly drive the card suction wheel 52, making the card feeding device shorter and more convenient for maintenance and disassembly.

[0082] In this preferred embodiment, the bottom of the main body 701 of the card holder is provided with a first card-attaching mounting foot 7011 for fixed connection to the overall shuffling drum and a second card-attaching mounting foot 7012 for fixed connection to the base plate 1. In this way, the card holder is positioned and fixed to the overall shuffling drum and the base plate, making the overall positioning and installation of the mahjong machine mechanism more convenient, and the overall connection structure is more reasonable and stronger.

[0083] In one embodiment of the present invention, the card-holding plate transmission mechanism can adopt the prior art disclosed in patent documents such as CN109381855A, CN112023390A, CN114247127A, CN114146397A, and CN117982871A. For example, the card-holding plate transmission mechanism includes: card-holding curved cams, two card-holding curved cams are respectively installed on the left and right sides of the bottom of the card-holding plate, and the left and right ends of the bottom of the card-holding plate are connected to the card-holding seat through two guide shafts or sliding sleeves. Sliding connection; two card-raising rocker arms, each cooperating with two card-raising curved cams; card-raising rocker arm shafts, rotatably mounted on the card-raising seat, with the two card-raising rocker arms fixedly mounted on the two card-raising rocker arm shafts; card-raising drive cams, mounted on the card-raising seat and driven to rotate by a flat-push card-raising motor; card-raising connecting rods, driven to move by the card-raising drive cams; the card-raising connecting rods drive the two card-raising rocker arm shafts to rotate synchronously, thereby driving the card-raising plate to rise and fall by driving the two card-raising rocker arms to rotate. In this design, the card-adding cam is relatively small, the card-adding rocker arm is mounted high and oscillates intermittently, and the rocker arm is suspended and extended forward by the axial extension. This allows the card-adding linkage and the card-adding drive cam to be positioned further back, resulting in the card-supporting plate transmission mechanism encroaching less on the shuffling space. This allows for a larger diameter of the shuffling disc and increased shuffling space, improving shuffling efficiency and reducing the likelihood of mahjong tiles colliding with each other on the shuffling disc, thus reducing shuffling noise. However, the suspended placement of the card-adding rocker arm shaft and cam linkage drive mechanism leads to insufficient support strength and weak load-bearing capacity of the card-supporting plate. Furthermore, the linkage movement is prone to obstruction, resulting in uneven force distribution and poor synchronization between the two card-adding rocker arms, making installation, maintenance, and debugging more difficult.

[0084] Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, such as Figures 9 to 15 As shown, the plate-carrying transmission mechanism includes:

[0085] Two plate-mounting curved cams 744 are respectively installed on the left and right sides of the bottom of the plate-holding plate 71;

[0086] Two license plate mounting rocker arms 743 are respectively coordinated with two license plate mounting curved cams 744 for movement;

[0087] Two license plate mounting arm shafts 745 are mounted on the license plate mounting base 70 in a rotatable manner, and the license plate mounting arm 743 is fixedly mounted on the license plate mounting arm shafts 745.

[0088] Two license plate mounting cams 746 are fixedly connected to the license plate mounting shaft 745, and the license plate mounting cams 746 are provided with cam grooves 7461.

[0089] Two first gears 748 are rotatably mounted on the license plate holder 70. The first gears 748 are driven by the crank 747 and the license plate rocker arm cam 746. The two first gears 748 are driven to rotate synchronously by the flat-push license plate motor 71.

[0090] In this way, by adopting a gear transmission mechanism, the cam is mounted on the upper rocker arm shaft and driven by the crank gear. This results in a large torque transmission, better stability and synchronization, easier installation and debugging, and easier maintenance and disassembly.

[0091] In this preferred embodiment, two second gears 749 are also included. The two second gears 749 mesh with each other and rotate synchronously. The two second gears 749 mesh with two first gears 748 respectively for transmission. One of the second gears 749 is driven to rotate by a flat-push motor 71. Such a gear transmission mechanism has a reasonable structure, smooth movement, large torque transmission, and is more convenient for installation and maintenance.

[0092] In this preferred embodiment, during the lifting and lowering of the plate holder 74, the two plate-loading rocker arms 743 rotate synchronously in opposite directions, and the two first gears 748 rotate synchronously in opposite directions. This results in a reasonable lifting and lowering structure for the plate holder 74 and smooth movement.

[0093] In this preferred embodiment, the crank 747 is driven by a roller engaging with a cam groove 7461 on the upper rocker arm cam 746. The crank 747 is fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the first gear 748. In other embodiments, the crank gear may not emphasize the shape of the crank, but instead, a roller or column for engaging with the cam groove is installed at an eccentric position on the first gear, forming a de facto crank gear transmission structure.

[0094] In this preferred embodiment, the card-adding rocker arm 743, the card-adding rocker arm bearing 7451, and the card-adding rocker arm cam 746 are sequentially mounted on the card-adding rocker arm shaft 745 from front to back. This not only reduces the encroachment and impact of the card-adding rocker arm cam and gear transmission mechanism on the shuffling space, but also makes the transmission structure more stable and reliable.

[0095] In this preferred embodiment, the front end of the license plate mounting arm shaft 745 is fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the license plate mounting arm 743, the rear end of the license plate mounting arm shaft 745 is mounted on the license plate seat body 701 through a bearing, and the license plate mounting arm cam 746 is fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the license plate mounting arm shaft 745.

[0096] In this preferred embodiment, the bottom of one card-loading rocker arm bearing 7451 near the card inlet of the card storage channel on the card-loading seat 70 is supported by the card-shuffling drum, and the bottom of the other card-loading rocker arm bearing 7451 is supported by a support column 75. The support column 75 is fixedly connected to the card-loading seat 70 or integrally formed. This can maximize the support strength and load-bearing capacity of the card-loading plate.

[0097] In this preferred embodiment, the license plate mounting arm bearing 7451 is composed of upper and lower parts. The upper part of the license plate mounting arm bearing 7451 is fixed to the front side of the license plate holder 70 by horizontally arranged fasteners, and the upper and lower parts of the license plate mounting arm bearing 7451 are fixedly connected together by vertically arranged fasteners.

[0098] In this preferred embodiment, the card-pushing plate transmission mechanism includes a card-pushing frame 731, a flat-push slider 7311, a flat-push cam 732, and a flat-push swing rod 734. The flat-push slider 7311 slides back and forth on the card-pushing frame 731 along the guide rod. The card-pushing plate 73 is fixed on the flat-push slider 7311. The upper end of the flat-push swing rod 734 is movably connected to the flat-push slider 7311, and the lower end of the flat-push swing rod 734 is hinged to the upper card holder 70 through the flat-push swing rod shaft 735. A flat-push rocker arm 733 is fixed on the flat-push rocker arm shaft 735. The swing end of the flat-push rocker arm 733 is movably engaged with the flat-push cam 732 through a roller. One second gear 749 is driven to rotate by the flat-push card-feeding motor 71, and the other second gear 749 is coaxially fixed and rotates synchronously with the flat-push cam 732. Thus, the flat-push card-feeding motor 71 drives the flat-push slider 7311 to slide back and forth through the flat-push cam 732 and the flat-push swing rod 734 to push the card. Further preferably, the horizontal rocker arm 733 is positioned between the horizontal push card-feeding motor 71 and the horizontal push cam 732. Further preferably, a card-pushing cover plate 736 is fixedly disposed above the card-pushing plate 73. In other embodiments, the card-supporting plate transmission mechanism and the card-pushing plate transmission mechanism can also refer to various embodiments disclosed in patent documents such as CN109381855A, CN109794059A, CN112023390A, CN114247127A, CN114146397A, and CN117982871A.

[0099] In this preferred embodiment, such as Figure 21 As shown, there is a gap C between the card-bearing plate 72 and the card-supporting plate 74. The width of gap C is less than one-third of the length of the mahjong tiles. When the card-supporting plate 74 descends to the bottom, the height of the top supporting plane of the card-supporting plate 74 is not higher than the height of the card-storing plane of the card-bearing plate 72. In this way, the position of the card-supporting plate can be further pushed inward without changing the overall layout of the mahjong machine (the placement of the card-feeding device, the position of the card-bearing block in the card-pushing device, and the position of the card-bearing plate in the flat-pushing card-loading device are not adjusted), so that the gap between the card-supporting plates can be further reduced. More preferably, the width of gap C is 3 to 15 mm, and the height difference between the top supporting plane of the card-supporting plate 74 and the card-storing plane of the card-bearing plate 72 is 0.5 to 1.5 mm.

[0100] In other embodiments, a transition plate can be provided between the tile-receiving plate and the tile-supporting plate. When the tile-pushing plate pushes the tiles, the multiple stacks of mahjong tiles on the tile-receiving plate are pushed onto the tile-supporting plate via the transition plate. This allows the tile-supporting plate to be positioned further inward, thereby pushing the four-sided mahjong tile wall inward and minimizing the spacing between the tile-supporting plates. For specific details on the transition plate, please refer to the various embodiments disclosed in patent documents such as CN114146396A and CN114146398A.

[0101] In this preferred embodiment, the operation process of the flat-push plate-applying device is as follows:

[0102] like Figures 9 to 12 As shown, the card holder 74 is in the raised state. The horizontal pushing motor 71 drives the crank gear 748 to rotate 75 degrees to 110 degrees, and the card holder 74 moves from the high point to the low point to receive the card. Figure 13 and Figure 14 As shown; the crank gear 748 continues to rotate 80 degrees to 125 degrees, the push plate 73 pushes the mahjong tiles from the receiving plate 72 onto the supporting plate 74, the crank gear 748 continues to rotate 105 degrees to 160 degrees, the supporting plate 74 rises to the tabletop and the tiles can be played, the whole process repeats.

[0103] When the pusher pushes the wall of mahjong tiles on the receiving plate to the support plate, in order to prevent the mahjong tiles from being pushed out of the support plate by the pusher and falling into the shuffling tray or getting stuck, it is preferable to have a tile-blocking frame on the inside of the four-sided support plate. The tile-blocking frame is used to prevent the wall of mahjong tiles on the support plate from moving further inward.

[0104] The flat-push tile blocking structure can adopt the prior art disclosed in patent documents such as CN112023390A, CN117982870A, CN114247127A, CN114146397A, CN117982871A, and CN219149199U: the tile blocking frame extends outward with an outer tile blocking part to match the length of each tile support plate, blocking the mahjong tiles on the tile support plate from moving inward from the inside of the tile support plate, thereby ensuring that the mahjong tiles pushed onto the tile support plate are neat and uniform. Because in the windmill-shaped mahjong machine structure with a fixed tile support plate, the tile pushing head of the tile pushing device moves at a relatively high position, which is higher than the height of the tile support plate of the flat-push tile feeding device, this causes the tile pushing head in the tile pushing device to interfere with the outer tile blocking part of the adjacent tile blocking frame. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, the outer blocking part of the adjacent blocking frame has an opening above the card-receiving block of the card-pushing device to avoid affecting the pushing head of the card-pushing device. When pushing the cards, the pushing head is stopped in a suitable position so that it, together with the blocking frame and its outer blocking part, achieves the function of pushing and blocking the cards. However, since the pushing head is a moving part, its stopping position is not in a position that is close to either the front or back, and it cannot be made extremely precise (otherwise the cost would be very high). It is difficult to ensure that the back of the pushing head is flush with the blocking frame and its outer blocking part. In addition, the pushing head also has unavoidable looseness caused by transmission gaps. Therefore, in actual use, there is often a problem that the mahjong tile wall pushed on is not neat enough.

[0105] To address the aforementioned issues, one implementation method involves installing a baffle on the back side of the card-pushing head. This baffle is movable relative to the card-pushing head (with a relatively small range of motion). When the card-pushing device pushes the cards, the baffle moves horizontally along with the card-pushing head. During the horizontal card-push-up device, the baffle is positioned and fixed with the card-supporting plate, ensuring it is flush with the card-blocking frame and its outer card-blocking section. This prevents the mahjong tiles on the card-supporting plate from moving inward from the inside of the card-supporting plate, thus achieving the horizontal card-blocking function and ensuring a neat and uniform mahjong tile wall during horizontal card-push-up. In this way, by setting a baffle that is movable relative to the card-pushing head and positioned and fixed by the card-supporting plate during horizontal card-push-up, ensuring it is flush with the card-blocking frame and its outer card-blocking section, the drawback of the card-pushing head's inability to be relatively positioned and its tendency to loosen during horizontal card-push-up is overcome. Another implementation is as follows: The flat-push tile blocking mechanism includes a tile blocking frame for preventing the mahjong tiles on the tile-supporting plate of the flat-push tile-feeding device from moving inward. The tile blocking frame is located inside the tile-supporting plate, and the tile blocking frame extends outward to form an outer tile blocking part. The outer tile blocking part has an opening above the tile-bearing block of the tile-pushing device for the tile-pushing head of the tile-pushing device to slide through. It also includes a movable baffle, which is installed on the outer tile blocking part in a manner that allows it to flip and swing up and down. The movable baffle is driven by the tile-pushing head or the tile-supporting plate to flip and swing up and down, and is reset by an elastic element.

[0106] The aforementioned sign holder and outer sign portion can be two or more relatively independent components, which are directly fixedly connected or indirectly fixedly connected through other intermediate components. In other preferred embodiments, the sign holder and its outer sign portion can be integrally formed.

[0107] In this preferred embodiment, a flat-push barrier structure is provided, such as... Figure 20 As shown, the four card-blocking frames are connected as a whole to form a square card-blocking cover 8. Each of the four outer card-blocking parts includes two parts, namely an inner card-blocking plate 54 and an outer card-blocking plate 9. Between the two is an opening for the passage of the card-pushing head 63. A movable baffle 92 is provided in the opening. The movable baffle 92 is installed on the mahjong machine tabletop in a way that can be flipped up and down and is reset by an elastic element. The outer card-blocking plate 9 is an independent component that is directly fixed to the bottom plate of the mahjong machine. The inner card-blocking plate 54 can be an independent component that is fixed to the card-blocking cover 8, the integrated shuffling barrel 4, or the card-feeding seat 53, or it can be integrally formed with the card-blocking cover 8, the integrated shuffling barrel 4, or the card-feeding seat 53.

[0108] In this preferred embodiment, such as Figure 2 and Figure 8 As shown, the card block cover 8 is located inside the square card support plate 74 of the mahjong machine. The card block cover 8 is square, and its four sides are card blocking surfaces for blocking the cards inside the square card support plate 74. At the four corners of the card block cover 8, along the length of the square card support plate 74, an inner card block plate 54, a movable card block 92, and an outer card block plate 9 are respectively arranged from the inside to the outside. The movable card block 92 is installed on the mahjong machine tabletop in a way that allows it to flip and swing up and down. The initial state of the movable card block 92 is vertical, and an elastic element gives it a tendency to maintain its initial state; when pushed horizontally... When the card-adding device 7 pushes the card, the movable baffle 92 remains vertical and fixed. In the same group of card-collecting and transporting systems, the pushing head 63 of the pushing device 6 and the supporting plate 74 of the pushing card-adding device 7 are located on the same side of the movable baffle 92. In two adjacent groups of card-collecting and transporting systems, the pushing head 63 of one pushing device 6 and the supporting plate 74 of the adjacent pushing card-adding device 7 are located on both sides of the movable baffle 92. When the pushing device 6 pushes the card, the pushing head 63 lifts the movable baffle 92 and enters below the supporting plate 74 of the adjacent pushing card-adding device 7.

[0109] In this preferred embodiment, when the movable baffle 92 is in a vertical position, it engages with the inner baffle plate 54, the outer baffle plate 9, or the mahjong machine tabletop to limit its rotation toward the pusher head 63. More preferably, a limiting protrusion is provided on the movable baffle, and this protrusion engages with the mahjong machine tabletop or the central hinge seat to keep the movable baffle in a vertical position. This eliminates the need to adjust the position of the movable baffle when opening or closing the tabletop, making installation and maintenance convenient and quick.

[0110] In this preferred embodiment, the inner plate baffle 54 is fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the plate delivery seat 53. This facilitates the maintenance and disassembly of the plate delivery device. Figure 22 and Figure 23 As shown, the inner side plate 54 and the inner shell 532 of the plate delivery seat 53 are integrally formed.

[0111] In this preferred embodiment, such as Figure 5 and Figure 20 As shown, a blocking block 64 is provided outside the dispensing port of the card-feeding device 5, and a card-feeding side blocking part 5311 is provided on the card-feeding base 53. When the card-receiving block 62 receives the mahjong tiles delivered by the card-feeding device 5, the blocking block 64 and the dispensing port of the card-feeding device are located on opposite sides of the card-receiving block 62, respectively. The card-feeding side blocking part 5311 and the card-pushing base 65 / card-attaching base 70 (cantilever part 707) are located on the other opposite sides of the card-receiving block 62, respectively. This not only prevents the mahjong tiles from falling into the space outside the card-receiving block and causing malfunctions, but also makes the structure more reasonable and reliable.

[0112] In this preferred embodiment, such as Figure 2 and Figure 5 As shown, in the same group of card picking and handling system, the angle A between the long side of the card support plate 74 and the card dispensing direction of the card feeding device 5 is 75° to 85°, and the angle B between the card pushing direction of the card pushing device 6 and the card dispensing direction of the card feeding device 5 is 75° to 85°. The inner card baffle plate 54 presses above the card dispensing opening of the card feeding channel, and the maximum distance between the outer end of the inner card baffle plate 54 and the inner end of the card pushing head 63 is less than the width of a mahjong tile. In this way, not only is the angle setting of the card suction wheel of the conveying device and the shuffling plate more reasonable, but the shuffling space is also larger, and the shuffling and card picking efficiency is higher. Moreover, it can avoid the mahjong tiles from being strung up above the card feeding seat when the card receiving block receives the tiles and the card pushing head pushes the tiles, thus preventing malfunctions.

[0113] In this preferred embodiment, the blocking surface of the blocking block 64 facing the outlet of the card-feeding device 5 forms an angle of 85° to 89° with the card-feeding direction of the card-feeding device 5, and the blocking surface of the blocking block 64 forms an angle of 5° to 10° with the card-feeding direction of the card storage channel. This makes the angle of the mahjong tiles on the receiving block closer to the card-feeding direction of the card storage channel, avoiding excessive adjustment of the mahjong tiles during the pushing of the tiles, which could cause pushing obstruction or tiles jumping.

[0114] In this preferred embodiment, a card-pushing and card-guiding structure is provided, such as... Figure 5 and Figure 20As shown, the outer baffle plate 9 has a guide plate 91 installed near the opening. The guide plate 91 is embedded in the outer baffle plate 91 and fixed by fasteners. The inner end of the guide plate 91 extends into the opening and has an outer guide plate surface 911 for contacting the mahjong tiles. The outer end of the inner baffle plate 54 has an inner guide plate surface 541 for contacting the mahjong tiles. The pushing path of the pusher head 63 is located between the outer guide plate surface 911 and the inner guide plate surface 541. The outer guide plate surface 911 and the inner guide plate surface 541 are arranged opposite each other and form a funnel shape that decreases in size along the pushing direction of the pusher head, thereby guiding the mahjong tiles to the inlet of the storage channel when the pusher head pushes the tiles. In this way, the angle and direction of the mahjong tiles can be adjusted by the funnel shape during the pushing process, so that the angle and direction of the mahjong tiles entering the storage channel of the flat-push tile feeding device are aligned with the length side of the tile support plate and arranged neatly.

[0115] In this preferred embodiment, the outer guide surface 911 of the guide plate 91 forms an angle of 5° to 10° with the direction of the plate entry of the storage channel, and the inner guide surface 541 of the inner baffle plate 54 forms an angle of 5° to 10° with the direction of the plate entry of the storage channel.

[0116] In this preferred embodiment, the top of the blocking block 64 extends into the opening and forms a flat blocking surface flush with the outer blocking plate 9 for pushing the blocking block, and a pushing guiding surface that cooperates with the guiding member 91 for pushing and guiding the blocking block; the gaps between the blocking block 64 and the guiding member 91 above it, and between the blocking block 64 and the outer blocking plate 9 on its outer side, allow the connecting arm 631 of the pushing head 63 to connect to the pushing seat to pass through. This makes the action structure simple and reasonable.

[0117] In this preferred embodiment, the blocking block 64 is fixedly mounted on the pusher base in an adjustable manner, and the guide component 91 is fixedly mounted on the outer blocking plate 9 in an adjustable manner. This allows for the adjustment of the mounting positions of the blocking block and the guide component to accommodate mahjong tiles of different sizes. In other embodiments, the blocking block 64 can also be fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the pusher base or the outer blocking plate, and the guide component 91 can also be fixedly connected to or integrally formed with the outer blocking plate 9.

[0118] In one embodiment of the present invention, the shuffling tank can adopt the prior art disclosed in patent documents such as CN117982871A: two adjacent card feeding devices 5 are connected by a connecting wall, and the four card feeding devices 5 in the four sets of card picking and handling systems are connected end to end by four connecting walls to form a shuffling frame (which contains the shuffling space). The shuffling frame is set around the shuffling tray 2. The card inlet of the card feeding device 5 is located on the inner side wall of the shuffling frame, and the card outlet of the card feeding device 5 is located on the outer side of the shuffling frame. The four card feeding motors 51 are installed on the outer side wall of the shuffling frame. However, such a spliced ​​structure of the shuffling frame has too many parts, making splicing and installation cumbersome. The overall strength of the shuffling frame is poor, the installation and positioning accuracy is low, and it occupies a lot of space. The disassembly and maintenance of the card feeding devices are also very inconvenient.

[0119] Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a one-piece injection-molded shuffling bucket is used, such as... Figure 3 , Figure 6 , Figure 18 and Figure 19 As shown, the card delivery devices 5 of the four card picking and handling systems are all installed on an integrated card shuffling barrel 4, which covers the large card shuffling tray 2 and is fixed to the base plate 1. The top of the integrated shuffling barrel is a square mounting platform 42, with a card placement hole 41 in the center. The bottom of the integrated shuffling barrel is a circular mounting ring 46, the outer diameter of which is larger than that of the square mounting platform 42. The square mounting platform 42 is connected to the mounting ring 46 through the four barrel walls. A card feeding installation port 47 for installing a card feeding device is provided between two adjacent barrel walls. Each barrel wall has a card support plate step 43 and a card receiving plate step 44. The card support plate step 43 is located on the inner side and above the card receiving plate step 44. The height difference between the two is greater than the thickness of a mahjong tile (i.e., similar to the height of the front baffle 742, generally 25 to 55 mm). The card support plate step 43 is located below the card support plate 74 in the flat-push card feeding device, and the card receiving plate step 44 is located below the card receiving plate 72 in the flat-push card feeding device.

[0120] In this way, the integrated shuffling barrel has fewer parts and screws compared to the shuffling frame spliced ​​by the four-way card delivery device, making installation easier. The card delivery device can be made shorter, making maintenance and disassembly easier. The barrel wall has a thin-walled structure, which is easy to form and hollow out to avoid the structure, occupying less space and having a large internal shuffling space. The integrated shuffling barrel has better stress resistance and is not easily deformed. It is easy to install, position and adjust, and facilitates the positioning, installation and support of the card holder, card pusher and card delivery holder.

[0121] In this preferred embodiment, such as Figure 18 and Figure 19As shown, each barrel wall has a guide step 45 on the side near the card feeding installation port 47. The guide step 45 is located between the card receiving plate step 44 and the installation ring 46, and is located on the side of each barrel wall near the card receiving channel inlet. In this way, the shuffling space inside the shuffling barrel can form a guide space between the shuffling plate and the guide step to avoid the accumulation of mahjong tiles, thereby limiting the height of the mahjong tiles entering under the suction wheel, preventing the tiles from getting stuck at the suction wheel, and improving shuffling efficiency.

[0122] In this preferred embodiment, the square mounting platform 42 has a ventilation opening 421, and a fan 422 is installed on the ventilation opening 421. This facilitates ventilation, dehumidification, and deodorization of the shuffling space.

[0123] In this preferred embodiment, a tile-blocking cover 8 is provided on the square mounting platform 42. The tile-blocking cover 8 is fixedly connected to the square mounting platform 42 or integrally formed, and the tile-blocking cover 8 is located inside the tile-supporting plate step 43. In this way, the tile-blocking cover not only prevents the mahjong tiles from falling, but also provides effective support for the tabletop. Using a shuffling bucket and a tile-blocking cover 8 that are separately formed and then fixedly connected also facilitates the installation and maintenance of fans, circuit boards, etc. on the square mounting platform 42.

[0124] In this preferred embodiment, the plate support step 43 is provided with a plate-raising rocker arm clearance groove 431 for accommodating the plate-raising rocker arm 743 and the plate-raising curved cam 744 in the flat-push plate-raising device. Thus, when the plate support 74 descends, the plate-raising rocker arm clearance groove 431 can accommodate the plate-raising rocker arm 743 and the plate-raising curved cam 744, allowing the plate support step 43 to provide good support for the plate support 74, and is easy to form and occupies little space.

[0125] In this preferred embodiment, one end of the plate step 43 is provided with a clearance groove 432 or clearance hole for accommodating the extension arm 705 in the flat-push plate-feeding device. In this way, the extension arm 705 on the plate-feeding seat 70 can be inserted into the clearance groove 432 or clearance hole, which not only avoids mutual interference, but also forms a positioning fit and reliable support.

[0126] In other embodiments, the inner card-laying guide shaft 706 of the card-laying plate 74 can also be fixed to the card-laying plate step 43 of the shuffling tank. In this way, the extension arm 705 does not need to be provided on the card-laying seat 70, which simplifies the structure and makes it easier to form.

[0127] In this preferred embodiment, the plate support step 44 is provided with a plate-raising rocker arm support 441 for supporting the plate-raising rocker arm shaft 745 in the flat-push plate-raising device, and a cantilever support 442 for supporting the cantilever part 707 in the flat-push plate-raising device. In this way, the shuffling drum can provide reliable support for the plate-raising rocker arm shaft 745 and the cantilever part 707 on the plate-raising seat 70, thereby increasing the support strength and weight that the plate support plate and the plate holder can bear.

[0128] In this preferred embodiment, the mounting ring 46 is provided with a pusher seat support 461 for supporting the pusher seat 65 in the pusher device 6 and an upper seat support 462 for supporting the upper seat 70 in the flat-push card-loading device 7. Thus, the pusher seat 65 in the pusher device 6 is supported by the pusher seat support 461 and fixed to the shuffling tank and the base plate by fasteners, and the upper seat 70 in the flat-push card-loading device 7 is fixed to the shuffling tank and the base plate by the upper seat support 462 and fasteners. The inner and outer sides of the pusher seat 65 and the upper seat 70 are leveled by supports, facilitating positioning, installation, and adjustment.

[0129] In this preferred embodiment, such as Figure 3 and Figure 18 As shown, the card feeding mounting port 47 extends downwards from the card support plate step 43 to the mounting ring 46. The inner end of the card feeding seat 53 is fixedly installed at the card support plate step 43, and the outer side of the card feeding seat 53 rests on the mounting ring 46 and the guide plate step 45 and is fixed by fasteners. The card suction wheel 52 is located above the card feeding mounting port 47, and the card feeding motor 51 is located outside the card support plate step 43. In this way, the mounting screws of the card feeding device 5 are all vertical, making disassembly and assembly very convenient.

[0130] In this preferred embodiment, such as Figure 22 and Figure 23 As shown, the card delivery holder 53 includes an outer shell 531 and an inner shell 532 that are fixedly connected as one unit. A card delivery channel is provided between the two. The outer shell 531 extends beyond the card outlet of the card delivery channel to form a card delivery side stop 5311. The outer shell 531 rests on the mounting ring 46 and is fixedly connected. The inner shell 532 rests on the card guide step 45 and is fixedly connected to the overall shuffling barrel.

[0131] The method for arranging mahjong tiles using the mahjong machine of the present invention includes the following steps:

[0132] 1) Distributing tiles; The tile distribution device 5 picks up mahjong tiles from the shuffling tray 2 and delivers them to the tile pushing device 6;

[0133] 2) Stacking and pushing tiles; the tile-bearing block 62 of the tile-pushing device 6 receives a mahjong tile delivered by the tile-feeding device 5 at the first tile-bearing position; the tile-bearing block 62 descends to the second tile-bearing position to receive another mahjong tile delivered by the tile-feeding device 5; the tile-bearing block 62 rises to the tile-pushing position and the tile-pushing head 63 pushes the two mahjong tiles stacked together onto the tile-bearing plate 72 of the flat-push tile-loading device 7, and then the tile-bearing block 62 and the tile-pushing head 63 are reset respectively;

[0134] 3) Repeat step 2) above until the required number of mahjong tiles are stored on the tile receiving plate 72 of the flat-push tile feeding device 7;

[0135] 4) Pushing the tiles: After receiving the tile-adding instruction, the tile-supporting plate 74 of the pushing tile-adding device 7 descends from the table to the bottom; the pushing plate 73 pushes the multiple mahjong tiles on the tile-bearing plate 72 onto the tile-supporting plate 74; the tile-supporting plate 74 rises back to the table.

[0136] like Figure 1 As shown, the existing windmill-shaped mahjong machine (36-tablet, 81.5 x 81.5 cm square) has a maximum shuffling plate and effective shuffling space diameter of 600 mm, and can only play a maximum of 108 tiles in a 62-tile mahjong game. Figure 2 As shown, a mahjong machine of the same size using the structure of this embodiment can achieve a maximum diameter of 650mm for the shuffling plate and effective shuffling space. On a 36-table mahjong machine, it can shuffle and arrange 120 64-tile mahjong tiles, while the minimum distance between the edges of the tile support plate can be 290mm.

[0137] In the description of this specification, references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the illustrative expressions 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 one or more embodiments or examples.

[0138] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it is understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make changes, modifications, substitutions and variations to the above embodiments within the scope of the present invention without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A flat-push tile-blocking structure for a mahjong machine, characterized in that, The system includes a card block cover (8), an inner card block plate (54), a movable baffle (92), and an outer card block plate (9). The card block cover (8) is located inside the square card support plate (74) of the mahjong machine. The card block cover (8) is square and its four sides are card block surfaces for blocking the cards inside the square card support plate (74). The four corners of the card block cover (8) are respectively arranged from the inside to the outside along the length direction of the square card support plate (74) with the inner card block plate (54), the movable baffle (92), and the outer card block plate (9). The movable baffle (92) is installed on the mahjong machine tabletop in a way that allows it to flip and swing up and down. The initial state of the movable baffle (92) is vertical and is held in place by an elastic element. The initial trend: When the card-push device (7) pushes the card, the movable baffle (92) remains vertical and fixed. The push head (63) of the push device (6) in the same card-picking and transporting system and the card-supporting plate (74) of the push device (7) are located on the same side of the movable baffle (92). In the two adjacent card-picking and transporting systems: the push head (63) of one push device (6) and the card-supporting plate (74) of the adjacent push device (7) are located on both sides of the movable baffle (92); when the push device (6) pushes the card, the push head (63) lifts the movable baffle (92) and enters below the card-supporting plate (74) of the adjacent push device (7).

2. The flat-push tile-blocking structure of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outer shield plate (9) is an independent component that is directly fixed to the base plate, upper card holder or push card holder of the mahjong machine.

3. The flat-push tile-blocking structure of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner side of the signboard (54) is fixedly connected to the signboard cover (8) or is integrally formed.

4. The flat-push tile-blocking structure of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner baffle plate (54) is fixedly connected to the overall shuffling barrel (4) or integrally formed.

5. The flat-push tile-blocking structure of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The inner side plate (54) is fixedly connected to the plate delivery seat (53) or integrally formed.

6. The flat-push tile-blocking structure of a mahjong machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, A blocking block (64) is provided outside the card outlet of the card feeding device (5). The top of the blocking block (64) extends between the movable baffle (92) and the outer blocking plate (9) and forms a flat blocking surface that is flush with the outer blocking plate (9) for pushing the blocking card.

7. The flat-push tile-blocking structure of a mahjong machine according to claim 6, characterized in that, The gap between the blocking block (64) and the outer blocking plate (9) allows the connecting arm (631) of the pusher head (63) to pass through.

8. The flat-push tile-blocking structure of a mahjong machine according to claim 6, characterized in that, When the movable baffle (92) is in a vertical position, the movable baffle (92) cooperates with the inner baffle plate (54), the outer baffle plate (9) or the mahjong machine tabletop to limit its rotation toward the pusher head (63).

9. A mahjong machine, characterized in that, The invention includes a flat-push tile blocking structure for a mahjong machine as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A mahjong machine according to claim 9, characterized in that, In the same group of card picking and carrying system, the angle A between the long side of the card support plate (74) and the card delivery direction of the card feeding device (5) is 75° to 85°, and the angle B between the pushing direction of the card pushing device (6) and the card delivery direction of the card feeding device (5) is 75° to 85°; the inner card blocking plate (54) presses above the card delivery opening of the card feeding channel, and the maximum distance between the outer end of the inner card blocking plate (54) and the inner end of the card pushing head (63) is less than the width of a mahjong tile.

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