Patent Application
20080006997
The present invention is a card handling system designed for providing randomized groups of cards to card games. Many components of the system are conventional commercially available components unless otherwise indicated, including motors, belts, pulleys, rotational shafts, rollers, sprockets, gears, pinions, pulleys, cams, support structures and the like. The electrical components may include conventional circuitry, wires, fuses, soldered connections, chips, switches, boards, microprocessors, stepper motors, computers, and control system components.
Generally, unless specifically otherwise disclosed or taught, the materials for making the various components of the present invention are selected from appropriate materials such as plastics, metal, metallic alloys, ceramics, fiberglass, elastomers, composites and the like.
A shuffler of the present invention includes major components that are physically arranged (for example, in a linear arrangement) in the following order: a) a playing card input compartment; b) a playing card retrieval compartment; and c) a playing card handling zone. Playing cards from the playing card input compartment are moved into the playing card handling zone, are handled and are then moved from the playing card handling zone into the playing card retrieval compartment.
A perspective view of a first exemplary playing card shuffler 20 of the present invention is shown in
The shuffler 20 is mounted for use such that a portion of the shuffler, including the first end 26 is flush mounted on a gaming table. A second portion of the shuffler may be supported near the second end 32 by means of a mounting bracket (not shown) secured to the table structure. Installation of the shuffler 20 into the table typically requires a cut-out in the table surface intersecting a rear edge of the table (the edge nearest the dealer). More details on mounting the shuffler 20 to the gaming table (not shown) are provided below.
For purposes of this disclosure, the “first end 26” refers to the end of the machine nearest the players when the shuffler 20 is installed in a table top, and the “second end 32” refers to the end facing the pit.
The relative arrangement of the card infeed tray 22, the card output tray 24 and the card handling zone 23 has certain advantages. Because the card infeed tray 22 and the card output tray 24 are located on the same side of the card handling zone 23, the cards are more accessible to the dealer, and the dealer no longer has to lift cards over the shuffling zone to place spent cards back into the machine. The present design is therefore more ergonometric than known designs. Positioning the card infeed tray 22 at the table level also reduces the possibility that card faces will be accidentally flashed to players.
The placement of an upper edge 34 of the card infeed tray 22 and an upper edge 36 of the output tray 24 in the same plane (the plane lying on the gaming surface) also provides distinct ergonometric advantages. If the dealer moves his or her hands smaller distances during card handling, he or she is likely to experience fewer repetitive stress or strain injuries. So delivering spent cards to the shuffler at the gaming surface and then retrieving freshly randomized cards from the same location or nearby offers distinct user advantages.
The placement of the infeed tray 22 and the output tray 24 on the same side of a carousel-type playing card handling zone (in this case a carousel type compartment structure) also allows the user to place spent cards face-down in the infeed tray 22, and at the same time receive fresh cards to the output tray 24 face-down. This attribute has been previously described in Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 6,676,127. This feature improves the security of a carousel shuffler, since no cards are exposed during loading, shuffling or unloading.
A horizontally disposed center line intersecting the card infeed tray 22 and the card output tray 24 also advantageously intersect a center line of the card handling zone 23, as will be discussed in more detail below. This arrangement allows the machine to be fairly narrow in width and permits both card tray areas (but not the more bulky card handling zone 23) to be located on the playing table surface.
Only a portion of the shuffler defined by the card infeed tray 22 and output tray 24 is located on the gaming table surface in one preferred mounting arrangement. A gaming table surface may have a rectangular notch cut into an edge of the flat table facing the dealer. The shuffler 20 has a recess 38 that receives the notch in the table. The remainder of the machine is supported by a support bracket beneath the table surface. The card shuffling zone is located behind the dealer, and is out of the way.
As shown in
Near a second end 32 of the shuffler is a dealer display 42. In a preferred form of the invention, the dealer display includes touch screen controls. The operation of the display is described in more detail below.
A second embodiment of a shuffler of the present invention is shown in perspective in
In one form of the invention, the card handling zone 23 is a playing card handling zone. This zone is capable of performing at least one of the following functions: a) shuffling, b) arranging cards into a desired order, c) verifying completeness of a group of cards, d) reading special markings on cards (such as casino i.d., manufacturer i.d., special bonus card i.d, deck i.d., etc.), e) scanning cards for unauthorized markings, f) identifying cards lacking required markings, g) measuring card wear, h) decommissioning cards, i) applying markings to cards, j) scanning cards for unauthorized electronic devices, and many other useful functions.
One preferred shuffling zone format includes a multiple compartment carousel. Many other shuffling zones could be utilized, nonlimiting examples including a random ejection shuffling zone as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,925 and assigned to VendingData, a vertical compartment shuffling zone as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,154, a plurality of compartments arranged in a fan shape or a vertical stack capable of being separated in randomly selected positions for insertion of cards as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,981. The content of each patent referenced in this entire specification including background section is incorporated herein by reference.
The card handling zone in one form of the invention includes a card inspection station that reads at least the conventional rank and suit markings on cards without changing an order of cards, while reversing an order of cards, or while shuffling. Non-limiting examples of suitable card readers include CMOS and CCD cameras. Other sensing systems such as CIS line scanning systems, such as the system disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/152,475, filed Jun. 13, 2005, and in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/417,894, filed May 3, 2006 may also be used. The content of this disclosure is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The card inspection station may alternately be equipped to read a) special markings on cards, such as bar codes, near IR markings, IR markings, b) embedded electronic devices, c) cards that have been marked in a way to facilitate cheating, d) card wear, e) physical card damage and the like. The cards may be standard unmarked conventional cards, or may be marked with UV, IR, near-IR or visible wavelength inks or may have embedded RFID tags, magnetic coding or may be marked by any other known means.
The touch screen display 42 in this example of the invention is located below the gaming table surface. One preferred display may be obtained from Reach Technologies of Fremont, Calif., by specifying part number 42-0092-03. The location of the display 42 relative to the gaming table surface offers a number of distinct advantages not known in the art before the present invention. For example, the display may provide graphics such as the cards dealt into a player hand, allowing the dealer to assess whether the actual cards are different, without alerting the player. For example, if a deviation between an actual hand and a displayed hand were to occur, indicating a confirmed case of card switching, the dealer would want to notify security without the player's knowledge so that the cheater is apprehended. By providing a display that is concealed to the players, important information may be transferred to and from casino personnel without the knowledge of the players.
The display 42 includes touch screen user controls that can be used to program the microprocessor of the shuffler to perform a number of operations. For example, the shuffler is programmable to deliver a specified number of cards to a specified number of players. The shuffler may further be programmed to deliver a specified amount of dealer cards, a specified amount of flop cards, a bonus hand, common cards or any other card or cards used in the play of a casino card game. The user controls may also be used to input and display a game name, so that the new name appears on a menu of user selectable games. Eliminating the need for factory programming each time a new casino card game is developed saves time, eliminates the need for resubmission of software to the various gaming agencies for approval and eliminates the need for upgrading software in the field.
For example, the device could be programmed by the operator to deliver cards to the game of Three Card Poker®, which requires that the players and dealer receive three cards each. If a new game that utilizes three player cards (each) and three dealer cards is developed in the future, the information, including the new game name can be inputted and added to a menu of games without requiring a software change.
The touch screen controls on the display 42 also provide a larger number of input options for the user, as compared to more standard push button controls. The display is capable of displaying alpha numeric information, graphical information, animation, video feed and the like. In one form of the invention, a diagram of the card path and an indication of a location of a card jam is displayed when a card jam takes place.
Devices of the present invention may provide additional and useful functions. One such purpose is to deliver data, such as card composition, hand composition, rounds played, hands played, shuffler activated, shuffler deactivated, cards dealt, cards delivered to the carousel, and other game state and/or shuffler state information to a local processor and/or a network computer for analysis and reporting purposes. Since the carousel structure of the first described embodiment is capable of forming hands or partial hands of cards within the shuffler, the shuffler is capable of sending data to an external processor representing hand or partial composition.
A shuffler of the present invention may be incorporated into a table game management system by connecting the shuffler via a data port to a table game computer, a local table network or a casino network. The networks may be wired or wireless.
Referring now to
In operation, cards move from the infeed tray 22, past each of the four roller pairs and into an aligned compartment 88. The carousel then rotates to align the card feed system with the next randomly selected compartment.
In another embodiment, pulley 78 is in contact and driven by sprocket 54 by means of a toothed belt (not shown), rather than endless member 82. This arrangement provides another method of driving the card advancing rollers in order to consistently move cards individually into the carousel structure 44.
The carousel structure 44 in a preferred form of the invention has 38 equally sized compartments, each capable of holding up to ten conventional cards. Other carousel structures with fewer or more compartments may be used. Each compartment has at least one beveled surface 90 for deflecting cards into the aligned compartment 88 during insertion. Another feature of the carousel structure 44 is that each compartment is equipped with a leaf spring 92 that holds cards tightly within the compartment after insertion so that when the carousel rotates (as shown by arrow 94) in either direction during loading, shuffling or unloading, cards remain securely within the selected compartment.
According to a preferred mode of operation, half of the compartments are used for random card insertion, while at the same time the other half of the compartments are used for random group delivery. Although in one example of the invention, all of the compartments used for loading are adjacent to one another, in other forms of the invention, the selection of compartments utilized at a given time for loading is according to a pattern, or is randomly dispersed. In one example of the invention, a number of compartments are preassigned to collect discards, and others are designated to receive bonus cards. Bonus cards may be manually inserted by first removing the cover 28 (shown in
In a preferred example, the location of discard trays is dispersed amongst the group-forming trays so that the travel of the carousel is minimized during random distribution. The assigned location of the discard trays may be different for different card games. In the first example of the invention, all of the compartments are of equal size, making it possible to assign different compartments to the discard collection function for different numbers of cards per hand being assembled.
A novel feature of this embodiment is that the card path is substantially straight and substantially horizontal. The cards move the least distance following a straight path from the card infeed area to the aligned compartment 88. When the cards reach the last set of advancing rollers, the card is deflected slightly upwardly and into the compartment. The length of the path is kept to a minimum to minimize the length of the device, and to maximize the speed of delivery. Another novel feature of this embodiment is that the infeed card path is positioned beneath output card path and output tray 24, as will be described in more detail below. Layering the output card path and/or tray 24 above the infeed path advantageously allows both the infeed tray and the output tray to be positioned on the same side of the machine. This physical arrangement of card paths has not been implemented before in the art to the knowledge of the present inventors. Alternatively, the device could be configured such that the card output path passes beneath the card input path.
Referring now to
Declining finger cut-outs 102, 104, 106, 108 are provided in the interior surfaces of the card infeed tray 22 and the card output tray 24 to facilitate handling of cards. Preferably the cut-outs are of a size and shape to accommodate a user's fingers, providing an additional ergonomic feature.
Another advantage of providing a carousel as part of the playing card handling zone is that the machine has a low profile on the table. As shown in
Referring back to
In operation, when the motor is energized, shaft 114 rotates, causing the upper end 122 of packer arm 110 to move back and fourth in directions designated by arrow 124 in an arc-shaped path. The upper end 122 comes into contact with cards present in the aligned compartment, forcing the cards completely into the compartment. As the cam 117 continues to rotate, the packer arm 110 retracts. Typically the packer arm 110 retracts while the carousel is rotating and extends when the carousel is stationary.
Once the distribution of cards into compartments is complete, according to the programming of the microprocessor, the compartments become available for unloading. Alternately, as soon as a specified number of cards has been delivered to a compartment, that compartment is available for unloading, even if the other compartments have not been filled. Preferably available compartments are selected randomly for unloading. Referring back to
The inner tab of the swing arm retracts as it comes into contact with stationary tab 150 mounted to the frame 112.
The path of each card or cards leaving a selected compartment is substantially horizontal and above the card infeed path. Cards move out of the compartment aligned with the roller pair 146, 148 and then fall into output tray 24 where the cards are accessible by the end user. A card present sensor 152 is located on the bottom surface of output tray 24 and serves to notify the processor that no cards are present. The processor then responds by signaling the device to deliver another group of cards. After the last group is delivered, the remaining cards in the group or set automatically unload.
Referring now to
The roller pair 146, 148 as shown in
In another example of the invention, a pinion gear 200 is mounted on a toothed inner race 202 on the carousel 206. A drive motor 208 drives the pinion gear 200 in a conventional manner causing the carousel 206 to rotate about shaft 209. Drive motor 208 drives shaft 209 in a forward and reverse direction during at least one of shuffling, during loading and during unloading.
Referring now to
The second important function of the pivotal gate is that it provides a physical separation barrier between cards belonging to different decks, or between different types of cards (such as regular cards and bonus cards, for example). When cards remain in the feed tray and the shuffler is actively taking in cards for shuffling, the gate is in the down position. At the same time, the dealer may be collecting spent cards from the table. Because the gate is in the down position, the dealer can put the spent cards from the deck in play (deck A) on the top of the gate, while the unfed cards from the other deck (deck B) are being fed. Embodiments of the present invention allow the user to load cards from a first deck while feeding cards from a second deck. The gate permits the casino to eliminate the physical discard rack that is typically mounted on the gaming surface, since spent cards can now be placed directly into the infeed tray. Once the last of the cards from deck B are fed, the gate rotates about axis 300, releasing the cards previously suspended above the gate to the area below. In the retracted position, the gate does not obstruct the user from inserting additional cards. Another aspect of the gate design is the relative positioning of the pivotal axis 300 relative to the base 306 of the card infeed tray 22, as well as the length of the gate 98 with respect to the width of the cards. The pivotal axis 300 is below an upper surface of the infeed tray in order to remain clear of the end user. The axis is spaced apart from the lower surface 308 of the infeed tray 22 so that an entire deck (or multiple decks) of cards can be received in the tray. The length 310 is short enough so that the cards will lift as the gate 98 pivots upwardly (arrow 312) and then release and fall without flipping over cards in the infeed tray. A preferred gate length is about one-third the width of the cards. A stepper motor in base 306 drives the rotation of the gate 98 in a conventional manner.
A schematic diagram of a card handling system equipped with card recognition hardware and software including a sensor 400 is shown in
Other sensing systems such as the CIS contact imaging systems with FPGA control logic as disclosed in pending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/417,894, filed May 3, 2006 entitled Manual Dealing Shoe with Card Feed Limiter may also be advantageously incorporated and used as a card sensing module. This type of system is small enough to be incorporated into the structure of the shuffler without the addition of an external computer for image processing.
Yet other sensing devices such as bar code readers, magnetic strip readers, object presence sensors, optical sensing devices, sensors for reading near IR and IR wavelengths, sensors for sensing cuts, abrasions, bends, dirt, debris, color, thickness, reflectivity, mass or any other sensor useful in the art of card handling can be utilized as a part of the card handling devices of the present invention.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide a card handling device capable of dispensing bonus or promotional cards used to provide a prize, incentive or compensation to a player. According to the invention, promotional cards are either inserted into designated compartments within the machine manually by removing the cover, or by inserting the cards into the input tray of the shuffler. The shuffler may be preprogrammed to insert the bonus cards into a preselected compartment or compartments. Typically only one bonus card is placed in a compartment, and a limited number of compartments (such as 6-8, for example) are designated as bonus compartments. Bonus cards may be dispensed in response to events such as a) a jackpot reaching a predetermined amount, b) according to a preselected date and time, c) randomly, d) in response to a game event such as receiving a royal flush in a poker game, e) when a player loyalty account reaches a certain balance, f) in response to a signal from a back house computer to dispense a card, or by any other means. Any card game player can receive a bonus card, regardless of the type of game. For example, a casino might link together 80 live tables, including blackjack, baccarat, Three Card Poker® (and other games.
The dispensing of a bonus card to players can occur more or less frequently. A casino may wish to run a “free buffet” promotion for Three Card Poker® players during the dinner hour on Saturday nights. The device may be programmed to dispense a bonus card entitling the player to two buffet passes when the player obtains a three of a kind hand. Or perhaps the casino would like to give away a car based on a random bonus event. In this case, a bonusing system with a central server is in communication with all shufflers that dispense bonus cards. When the random event occurs, the bonusing system sends only one signal to a single shuffler to dispense a bonus card. The selected shuffler may be randomly selected or may be selected according to a schedule.
The presence of the gate in the card infeed tray allows the casino operator to load a designated number of bonus cards from the card infeed tray 22 either before or after loading regular cards without interrupting game play. Preferably the display 42 provides an indication of when the shuffler is out of bonus cards. In a preferred form of the invention, the bonus card carries a designation (such as a specific marking or color) that is capable of being read by one or more sensors and the processor is capable of keeping track of the number of bonus cards left in the machine.
Referring now to
Central to the control of the preferred card handling system is a shuffler microprocessor 401. The microprocessor controls all functions of the shuffler, including operation of electrical devices such as motors 402, controlling the images displayed on the display 404, processing signals received from all internal sensors 406 such as optical object presence sensors, motion sensors and the like. The display 404 includes touch screen controls and is further a user interface for programming the microprocessor 401 to display additional game names and to dispense cards according to user inputted data.
A card recognition microprocessor 408 is shown as a separate processing component but could be integrated into the shuffler microprocessor. The card recognition microprocessor 408 interprets signals received from a camera 410 to determine rank and or the suit of a card being read.
As mentioned above, the device of the present invention is at least capable of recognizing the presence of cards, counting cards, and reading rank and suit information. As each card is passed from the card infeed tray into the shuffling compartment, the completeness of the deck may also be verified. In the event a card is missing or extra cards are present, a warning signal is displayed on the display or optionally an alarm signal is sent via a network connection to a pit management computer.
The shuffler microprocessor 401 and the card recognition microprocessor 408 (either individually or as a combined processor) include a network connection and are capable of sending and receiving information on a local network 412 such as an Ethernet.
In the example shown in
The card handling device of the present invention may include a data port 414 in communication with the shuffler processor, card recognition processor or both. This communication port can output information directly to a separate printer 416 or a printer may be incorporated into the shuffler itself.
Card handling devices of the present invention are capable of performing a variety of functions not known prior to this invention. For example, the device may be configured to access a wireless or wired communication network and communicate information to the equipment supplier or user relating to maintenance, repair, machine serial number, current or past operation, performance or usage.
The device may also be programmed to operate in multiple modes (i.e., set-up, run, service) and switch between modes without powering down.
Further, the machine may be programmed to run a self-diagnosis when either the machine is in the service mode and the user inputs a request for a self-diagnosis, or when a single card is fed into the machine and create a report of the function of all operational elements. This information can be sent to a printer attached to the shuffler or incorporated into the shuffler.
The above examples of the present invention are meant to be non-limiting. Many other variations of the invention are possible. For example, providing a card handling zone capable of deck verification only, capable of ordering cards, capable of decommissioning cards, and the like is clearly contemplated. Numerous card reading systems and schemes can be used in place of the disclosed sensing systems. The touch screen display may be used to input any information needed to program the shuffler for use in a casino. Furthermore, many different arrangements of data collection and analysis hardware and software may be used in connection with the shuffler of the present invention to gain information relating to player performance and win/loss information on a casino game.
