FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a poker game apparatus and particularly to a card block structure for card boxes to prevent dealing cards erroneously.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Please refer to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C, a conventional card game starts by a dealer taking out a poker card 2 from a card box 1 (as shown in FIG. 1A); the poker card 2 passes through an identification zone 3 (as shown in FIG. 1B), and then is placed on a card display zone 4 (as shown in FIG. 1C). There is a video identification system 6 located beneath a table 5. When the porker card 2 passes through the identification zone 3, the image of the poker card 2 is obtained and the card symbol is identified after the image is digitally processed.
Various poker games have different rules. The dealer has to deal additional cards according to the rules. Due to there are numerous variations of poker games, it could happen that erroneous additional cards are being dealt because the dealer is unfamiliar to the rules or inadvertent negligence. When such a situation takes place, the current round of game has to be revoked or altered. If such an occurrence happens frequently, players' desire to participate in the game drops and the fairness of the dealer suffers, even unnecessary disputes could occur.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a card block structure for card boxes to prevent dealing cards erroneously.
The card block structure according to the invention comprises a card box, a solenoid valve and a card block strut. The card box holds at least one poker card and has an outlet with a round hole formed thereon. The solenoid valve is extensible when being driven. The card block strut is located on the solenoid valve and can run through the round hole of the card box when being driven by the solenoid valve and can be extended upwards to run through the round hole to block the poker card or can be shrunk to sink into the round hole without blocking the poker card.
By means of the structure set forth above, the solenoid valve can control the card block strut whether to protrude outside the round hole to control the card box to deal cards. Through merely one controller and according to game rules, additional cards can be dealt when the card block strut is sunk into the round hole, and the poker cards can be drawn out from the card box. When no additional card is to be dealt, the card block strut is protruded outside the round hole so that the poker cards cannot be drawn out from the card box to prevent the additional cards from being dealt erroneously by the dealer.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying embodiment and drawings. The embodiment serves only for illustrative purpose and is not the limitation of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a schematic view of conventional card dealing process-1 by a dealer.
FIG. 1B is a schematic view of conventional card dealing process-2 by a dealer.
FIG. 1C is a schematic view of conventional card dealing process-3 by a dealer.
FIG. 2 is a partial exploded view of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention showing the card block strut in a shrink condition.
FIG. 5 is a front view of the invention with the card box disassembled.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the invention implemented on a table.
FIG. 7A is a schematic view of card dealing process-1 by a dealer according to the invention.
FIG. 7B is a schematic view of card dealing process-2 by a dealer according to the invention
FIG. 7C is a schematic view of card dealing process-3 by a dealer according to the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Please refer to FIGS. 2 through 5, the card block structure for card boxes according to the invention comprises a card box 10, a solenoid valve 30 and a card block strut 31. The card box 10 holds at least one poker card 70 (also referring to FIG. 7A) and has an outlet 11 which has a round hole 12 formed thereon. The card block strut 31 can run through the round hole 12 of the card box 10 and is located on the solenoid valve 30 to be driven thereof to extend upwards through the round hole 12 to block the poker card 70 (as shown in FIG. 3), or shrink to sink into the round hole 12 without blocking the poker card 70 (as shown in FIG. 4).
The invention further includes a rack 20 which has an upper lid 21. The card box 10 is mounted onto the upper lid 21 of the rack 20. The solenoid valve 30 is located in the rack 20. The card block strut 31 runs through the upper lid 21 to align the round hole 12. The upper lid 21 also may include an indented positioning track 22 for latching and anchoring the card box 10. The upper lid 21 further can have a hanging rack 23 at a lower side for hanging the solenoid valve 30.
Also referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the rack 20 is located in a table 60 with the upper lid 21 and the surface of the table 60 are at the same horizontal level. The upper lid 21 has a transparent identification zone 211 and a spacer 24 is located on a middle portion in the rack 20. The spacer 24 has a stepped mounting board 25 to allow a video identification system 80 installed thereon. The mounting board 25 is formed in a profile and angle to allow the video identification system 80 aligning the identification zone 211. The mounting board 25 also allows a lighting element 85 installed thereon. The lighting element 85 aligns the identification zone 211 according to the profile and angle of the mounting board 25. The lighting element 85 may be a light emitting diode (LED).
Also referring to FIGS. 7A through 7C, the invention can further include a controller (not shown in the drawings) to control operation of the solenoid valve 30 according to a set rule. Referring to the drawings, when it's not sure whether dealing additional cards is needed, as shown in FIG. 7A, the controller controls the operation of the solenoid valve 30 to allow the card block strut 31 to be protruded above the round hole 12 to block the poker card 70 from being drawn out from the card box 10. According to the game rule, when dealing additional cards is required, referring to FIG. 7B, the card block strut 31 is sunk into the round hole 12 to allow the poker card 70 to be drawn out from the card box 10 so that the dealer can deal additional cards. When dealing additional cards is finished, the card block strut 31 can be protruded above the round hole 12 again to prevent the poker card 70 from being drawn out from the card box 10. Thus the invention can prevent the dealer from dealing additional cards erroneously.
As a conclusion, by controlling the card block strut 31 to protrude above the round hole 12, whether the poker card 70 can be drawn out from the card box 10 can be controlled. Hence the poker card 70 can be drawn out from the card box 10 when dealing additional cards is required, and by means of block of the card block strut 31, the poker card 70 cannot be drawn out from the card box 10 so that erroneous dealing of additional cards can be prevented, and disputes can also be averted.
Patent Application
20110266748
