Patent Application
20110260399
This invention relates to the field of casino management, and more particularly to a device whereby casino chips can be moved across the table from a dealer to the players in an expeditious manner.
Many casinos incorporate a variety of gaming tables where players can play blackjack, poker games, roulette and other. Most of the modern casinos use chips as currency equivalents. The chips are conventionally stored in special trays, positioned near the dealer or croupier. The dealer can remove the chips as the game requires and move them to a player. The dealer also collects the chips from players, exchanging currency for chips, while storing of the chips in the tray.
Conventionally, the chip trays are divided into several compartments, each adapted to retain twenty chips, which can be of a singular or various denominations. Depending on the number of players and the magnitude of their game wages, the value of the chip bank set in the table chip tray at any given time changes as the game progresses. The chips are moved across the table by players and by the dealer with every bet. The dealer usually transfers a stack of chips between the players, between the tray and the table multiple times during the shift or operational period of the table game.
Most often, the chips are transferred by hand in small stacks of 20 to allow for easy counting of the chips. Should the stacks tumble on the table the dealer is required to place them in a stack again. The restacking is time consuming and labor intensive. Besides, restacking tends to interrupt the rhythm of the game.
Some tables use elongated L-shaped sticks that move the dice and/or chips around the table. However, dealers are still required to stack the chip bank to allow for easy counting and subsequent dispensing. Some larger game tables are known to use a large organizer/pusher for delivering the chips to a winning better. However, such organizer/pushers are nothing more than a polished board and the chips have a tendency to slide off them.
Accordingly it would be beneficial to have the ability to move the chips across the table, between the dealer and the players, while the chips are in a stacked position and in a manner that would prevent tumbling and allow easy counting of the chips so as to increase accuracy, controllability, accessibility, simplicity and speed of game management.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a casino chip delivery device for use at a gaming table.
It is another object of the invention to provide a device for delivering stacks of chips to the players at a gaming table.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a device that facilitates accuracy of counting of the chips delivered to the player at a gaming table.
These and other objects of the present invention are achieved through a provision of a casino chip device for transferring chips across a gaming table. The organizer/pusher device has a handle member configured to be manually engaged by a user. In one aspect, the handle member is an elongated planar member. The organizer/pusher also comprises a Y-shaped chip-receiving portion secured to one end of the handle member and extending upwardly therefrom. The chip-receiving portion comprises a pair of vertically-oriented wall sections oriented at an acute angle in relation to each other, said vertically-oriented wall sections defining a chip receiving channel. A pair of reinforcing plates is secured along a lower part of a corresponding wall section, and a vertical buttress support is attached to the handle and the chip-receiving portion.
The organizer/pusher is configured to move stacks of chips, with the height of the wall sections being selected to substantially be equal to a height of the chip stack. The vertical dimensions of the Y-shaped portion can be equal to the height of a 20-chip stack.
Reference will not be made to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals, and wherein
Turning now to the drawings in more detail, numeral 10 designates the casino chip organizer/pusher in accordance with the present invention. The organizer/pusher device 10 comprises an elongated handle 12 and a Y-shaped chip-receiving portion 14 secured to the handle 12. The handle 12 has an upper surface 16, a bottom surface 18, a distant end 20 and a proximate end 22. An opening 24 is made in the distant end 20 of the handle 12 allowing the organizer/pusher 10 to be placed on a hook or otherwise suspend in the pit area of the casino or adjacent a dealer station at the gaming table. In one aspect of the invention, a peripheral lip 26 extends upwardly from the top surface 16 of the handle 12. The peripheral lip 26 allows the upper surface 16 to be slightly recessed to facilitate easy handling by an operator.
The chip-receiving organizer/pusher portion 14 comprises a vertically oriented Y-shaped member comprised of a first wall section 30, a second wall section 32 and connecting middle wall section 34. As can be seen in the drawings, the connecting wall section 34 can be arcuate in cross section or can have a planar configuration similar to the wall sections 32 and 30. The organizer/pusher wall 14 extends vertically upwardly from the proximate end 22 of the handle 12. The normal plane of the planar wall sections 30, 32 and the middle section 34 is oriented transversely to the plane of the handle 12.
The wall section 30 has an inner surface 31 and an outer surface 33. The wall section 32 has an inner surface 35 and an outer surface 37. A first horizontal reinforcement plate 40 is secured to the lower part of the outer surface 33 of the first wall section 30. The reinforcement plate 40 extends along the lower part of the first wall section 30, with the first end 42 of the reinforcement plate being in contact with the proximal end 18 of the handle 12 and its second end 43—adjacent the edge 38 of the first wall section 30.
A second horizontal reinforcement plate 46 is configured to extend along the second wall section 32, with the first end 47 of the reinforcement plate 46 being attached to the proximal end 18 of the handle 12, and the second end 48 being adjacent a vertical edge 39 of the second wall section 32. The horizontal reinforcement plates 40 and 46 each have a bottom surface extending substantially in a coplanar relationship to the bottom surface 18 of the handle 12, allowing the organizer/pusher to smoothly slide on the felt 100 of a gaming table 102.
A vertical reinforcement member 50 is secured to an exterior surface 51 of the middle wall section 34. The vertical reinforcing member 50 acts as a buttress to the wall 14, absorbing some of the forces acting on the wall 14 as the organizer/pusher 10 is used to move the chips along the table surface. The vertical support member 50 comprises a planar body having a vertical edge 52, which is attached to the middle section 34 of the wall 14. The vertical dimensions of the vertical support member 50 approximate the vertical dimensions of the vertical organizer/pusher wall 14.
A finger rest plate 54 is secured on top of the vertical support member 50. If desired, the finger rest 54 can be provided with an indentation 56 and lip 58. It will be understood that the indentation 56 is an optional feature of the device and may be omitted in some embodiments.
As can be seen in the drawings, the wall sections 30 and 32 extend at an acute angle in relation to each other diverging in opposite directions from the middle wall section 34. A chip-receiving channel 60 is formed between the inner surfaces 31 and 35 of the wall sections 30, 32 and the inner surface of the middle wall section 34.
Standard casino chips are about 39 millimeters in diameters and 3.4 millimeters in thickness. The chips can be made of clay, ceramics, molded material, etc. The height of the Y-shaped wall 14 is selected to be almost identical to the height of a 20-chip stack. Therefore, when the chips are stacked in 20-chip stacks, such as shown in
However, if the counting was incorrectly performed and more than the predetermined number of chips (in this example twenty) are stacked in one stack, the dealer can identify the extra chips from the stack.
It is envisioned that a multiple chip stacks can be moved with the organizer/pusher 10. In the exemplary illustrations, the organizer/pusher 10 is used to move nine stacks of chips across the table. Of course, the number of stacks can vary from one to several, depending on the winnings of the player or on the number of chips purchased by the player from the dealer.
The height of the organizer/pusher wall 14 can be easily modified for the chips having different thickness or the desired number of chips in a stack. It is acknowledged that some of the chips may have a diameter of 4 centimeters as opposed to the standard diameter of 39 mm and have a different thickness, for instance 0.3 cm. Nevertheless, the minor adjustments in the height of the wall 14 can be easily made to accommodate various heights, thickness, and of the chips.
The length of the handle 12 can be selected by the organizer/pusher manufacturer or a casino. It is envisioned that some embodiments may have handles that are shorter and some—longer than the length of the Y-shaped wall section. Any ergonomic adjustments in the construction of the handle are within the scope of this invention.
The handle and the Y-shaped portion can be made of any desired material strong enough to withstand repeated sliding across a gaming table. Without limitation, such material can be wood, plastic, aluminum, etc.
Many other changes and modifications can be made in the design of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof. I therefore pray that my rights to the present invention be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
