A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. Copyright 2021 SG Gaming, Inc.
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for handling playing cards and, more particularly, relates to apparatus and methods for cleaning playing cards.
Physical playing cards are used to play such casino table games as poker, blackjack, baccarat, Pai Gow, and various specialty card games. As the cards are handled by a dealer and/or players at the table, the cards may pick up, carry, and spread germs such as bacteria, viruses, and mold spores. As the same playing cards are re-used over multiple plays of a game, the germs on the cards may infect other individuals by cross-contamination with potentially harmful effects.
A need therefore exists for apparatus and methods for periodically cleaning used playing cards to minimize the transmission of germs between individuals via the cards.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a card cleaning apparatus comprises an input bin, an output bin, and a cleaning module disposed between the input and output bins. The input bin receives a stack of playing cards. The cleaning module includes a housing, a UV-C light source, and a card guide. The UV-C light source and the card guide are contained within the housing. A plurality of rollers transport individual cards from the stack along a card transport path. The card transport path extends from the input bin to the output bin via the card guide of the cleaning module. The UV-C light source emits UV-C light onto each card while it is in the card guide to clean the cards. The housing is sized to contain an entirety of each card while it is in the card guide. A method of cleaning playing cards with the card cleaning apparatus is also disclosed herein.
Additional aspects of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of various embodiments, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided below.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated. For purposes of the present detailed description, the singular includes the plural and vice versa (unless specifically disclaimed); the words “and” and “or” shall be both conjunctive and disjunctive; the word “all” means “any and all”; the word “any” means “any and all”; and the word “including” means “including without limitation.”
Referring to
The plurality of rollers include a first set of transport rollers 28a-d, a second set of transport rollers 30a-b, and a third set of transport rollers 32a-b. The first set of transport rollers 28a-d transport a card in the stack 20 from the input bin 14 to the card guide 26. The rollers 28a-d are preferably composed of a rubber material such as urethane. The rollers 28a-c are linked to a shaft of a motor 36 (see
The second set of transport rollers 30a-b transport the card 20a (see
The housing 22 includes an entrance 44 and an exit 46 (see
The card transport path 34 may be angled downward relative to the horizontal by approximately 5 degrees (see
The UV-C light source 24a-d is operated to kill at least a 90 percent of germs on each playing card, or more preferably 99 percent of germs, or most preferably 99.9 percent of germs. In one embodiment, each playing card receives a UV-C energy dose (i.e., total accumulative exposure of UV-C received) from the UV-C light source 24a-d of at least about 30 millijoules per square centimeter (mJ/cm2). The UV-C light source 24a-d emits ultraviolet light with wavelengths between 200 and 280 nanometers (nm). In one embodiment, the UV-C light source 24a-d includes at least one of a DC-powered light-emitting diode (LED) that emits ultraviolet light with wavelengths in the 260-280 nm range or an AC-powered “mercury-vapor” lamp that emits ultraviolet light with wavelengths near 254 nm. Although the figures illustrate both types of light sources, it is preferable to use just one type of light source in the cleaning module 18. In one embodiment, the UV-C light source 24a-d includes a pair of UV-C light source elements 24a-b disposed above the metal grid 52 and a pair of UV-C light source elements 24c-d (see
The card cleaning apparatus 10 may include a variety of sensors. For example, optical or mechanical sensors may be disposed at regular intervals along the card transport path 34 to track and count the playing cards as they are individually transported through the apparatus. An ultraviolet sensor may measure the UV-C radiation emitted by the UV-C light source 24a-d to ensure the playing cards are effectively cleaned. While the card cleaning apparatus 10 is cleaning a stack 20 of cards, the UV-C light source 24a-d is powered on and continuously emitting UV-C light. However, a security switch may detect opening of a cover, case, lid, or door of the card cleaning apparatus 10 and, in turn, cause the UV-C light source 24a-d to automatically switch or stay off when such opening occurs.
The card cleaning apparatus 10 may be operated to clean a standard deck of 52 playing cards in about one minute and, more preferably, in about 30 seconds. For example, if the apparatus 10 is continuously operated (i.e., the transport rollers are in continuous motion and the cards in the stack 20 are continuously drawn and individually transported in series through the apparatus 10), the cards may be transported through the apparatus 10 with each card exposed to the UV-C light in the cleaning module 18 for about 1 second and, more preferably, about 0.5 seconds. To minimize the amount of time spent on cleaning playing cards and maximize the number of games played at a casino gaming table, the card cleaning apparatus 10 may be used to clean only the playing cards that are touched by players. By way of example, in standard Texas Hold ‘Em poker, the dealer deals two cards to each player and five community cards from a standard deck of 52 cards. If the table is occupied by seven players and only the players’ cards are cleaned, then the duration of the cleaning process can be reduced by about 73%, i.e., 100−(100×14/52). If the card cleaning apparatus 10 is used to also clean the five community cards touched by the dealer, then the duration of the cleaning process is still reduced by about 63%. Accordingly, after the dealer deals a hand/round of a card game, the dealer collects the used cards and inserts them into the card cleaning apparatus 10. The remaining cards (i.e., the unused cards that were not in play in the prior hand/round of the card game) may bypass the card cleaning apparatus 10. After the used cards are cleaned and deposited in the output bin 16 of the card cleaning apparatus 10, they are combined with the unused cards (which bypassed the card cleaning apparatus) and inserted into and shuffled by an automatic card shuffler, which may be positioned proximate the card cleaning apparatus 10 on the gaming table. The shuffled cards are then ready for use in a subsequent hand/round of the card game.
The card cleaning apparatus 10, particularly such interior components as the transport rollers 28a-d, 30a-b, and 32a-b and the card guide 26, may accumulate germs, dust, and dirt over time. To clean such components, the card cleaning apparatus 10 may be periodically operated in a “device cleaning mode” (e.g., on every dealer shift change) in which one or more cleansing cards are run through the apparatus 10. The cleansing cards have the same size as a standard playing card and may be soaked or coated with alcohol, copper/silver ion, and/or other anti-germ treatment. Different cleansing cards may bear different treatments. The device cleaning mode may reduce the amount of work otherwise performed by a service technician every few weeks.
The cleaning module 18 may be divided into first and second distinct modules stacked on top of each other. Each module may contain its own UV-C light source on only one side of the card transport path. The first module may clean a top surface of a playing card. After a mechanism flips the card over after it leaves the first module and before it enters the second module, the second module may clean a bottom surface of the card.
The cleaning module 18 may be part of a standalone card cleaning apparatus 10 as shown and described, or may be integrated along a card transport path in other card handling devices such as a deck checker, an automatic card shuffler, or a card shoe of the types disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,726,205, 9,566,501, 8,960,674, 8,628,086, and 7,556,266, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Each of these embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplated as falling within the spirit and scope of the claimed invention, which is set forth in the following claims. Moreover, the present concepts expressly include any and all combinations and subcombinations of the preceding elements and aspects.
This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/029,871, filed May 26, 2020, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63029871 | May 2020 | US |