Card-handling devices and systems
View Patent ↗Playing card-handling devices, such as shufflers, dealing shoes, discard racks and verification systems, are rotatably secured to a gaming table to allow for functional and ergonomic adjustment of the card-handling device, without removal from the gaming table. One end of the device, preferably a front end of the device from which playing cards may be removed, has a structure that extends through an aperture in the gaming table. The device is movable within the aperture. Movement in the X-Y direction, angular movement and rotational movement, parallel to the movement of the plane of the surface of the gaming table, is enabled. The movement of the device about the aperture preferably maintains the base of the device relatively parallel to the plane of the surface of the gaming table.
1. An automatic card shuffler, comprising:
a card infeed area;
a card shuffling mechanism;
a card unloader;
a detachable shoe removably coupled to the card shuffler and comprising a card imaging system configured to read a rank and a suit of each card as each card is removed from the detachable shoe, wherein the card unloader is configured to transfer shuffled cards from the card shuffling mechanism to the detachable shoe, and wherein the detachable shoe is configured such that each card is individually removable from the detachable shoe; and
an alignment structure for aligning the detachable shoe and the card shuffling mechanism when the shoe is attached to the card shuffling mechanism.
2. The automatic card shuffler of claim 1 , wherein the card shuffling mechanism is configured to continuously shuffle cards returned to the card infeed area.
3. The automatic card shuffler of claim 1 , wherein the card shuffling mechanism comprises a plurality of adjacent card-receiving compartments.
4. The automatic card shuffler of claim 3 , further comprising a carousel structure including the card-receiving compartments.
5. The automatic card shuffler of claim 3 , further comprising a leaf spring retainer in each card-receiving compartment.
6. The automatic card shuffler of claim 1 , further comprising a processor that controls an operation of the shuffler.
7. The automatic card shuffler of claim 6 , wherein the processor converts signals received from the card imaging system to rank and suit data.
8. The automatic card shuffler of claim 6 , wherein the detachable shoe is connected to the card shuffling mechanism by a quick disconnect coupling.
9. The automatic card shuffler of claim 1 , wherein the detachable shoe further comprises a card receiving area configured to receive a stack of cards before being dispensed from the detachable shoe.
10. The automatic card shuffler of claim 9 , wherein the detachable shoe further comprises a sliding card wedge disposed in the card receiving area, the sliding card wedge configured to press against the stack of cards in the card receiving area such that an individual card of the stack of cards can be manually drawn out of the detachable shoe.
11. An automatic card shuffler, comprising:
a card shuffling mechanism comprising:
a card infeed area configured to supply a plurality of cards to the card shuffling mechanism; and
a card unloader configured to remove the plurality of cards from the card shuffling mechanism; and
a detachable shoe removably coupled to the card shuffling mechanism and comprising a card imaging system configured to detect at least one indicia of each card of the plurality of cards, wherein the card unloader is configured to transfer the plurality of cards from the card shuffling mechanism directly into the detachable shoe.
12. The automatic card shuffler of claim 11 , wherein the detachable shoe is configured to supply the plurality of cards from the detachable shoe one card at a time.
13. The automatic card shuffler of claim 11 , wherein the detachable shoe further comprises a card receiving area configured to receive the plurality of cards before the plurality of cards is dispensed from the detachable shoe.
14. The automatic card shuffler of claim 13 , wherein the detachable shoe further comprises a sliding card wedge disposed in the card receiving area, the sliding card wedge configured to press against a stack of the plurality of cards in the card receiving area such that an individual card of the plurality of cards can be manually drawn out of the detachable shoe.
15. The automatic card shuffler of claim 14 , wherein the sliding card wedge is biased toward a card output area of the detachable shoe.
16. The automatic card shuffler of claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of the card imaging system of the detachable shoe is positioned to overlie each card of the plurality of the cards as each card is removed from the detachable shoe.
17. The automatic card shuffler of claim 11 , wherein the detachable shoe further comprises a card output area having an opening for removal of cards that is offset from a center of a card path at the card output area of the detachable shoe in a direction transverse to an intended direction of travel of a card along the card path.
18. The automatic card shuffler of claim 17 , wherein the detachable shoe comprises an upper plate forming the opening for removal of cards, wherein the upper plate is larger on a first lateral side of the opening than on a second lateral side of the opening, and wherein the card imaging system is positioned beneath the upper plate proximate the first lateral side of the opening.
19. The automatic card shuffler of claim 11 , wherein the card shuffling mechanism is configured to continuously shuffle any cards of the plurality of cards returned to the card infeed area.
20. The automatic card shuffler of claim 11 , wherein the detachable shoe is connected to the card shuffling mechanism by a quick disconnect coupling.