Card reader
A card shooter apparatus with a card housing and an opening; a card reading unit with a card guide unit which guides cards along a card guide surface pulled out one by one from the opening onto a game table along a card dealing direction; a control unit having a processing function to determine a result of a card game based on information about the cards, including the rank; one or more card detecting sensors configured to detect the cards and to output one or more signals, and a display unit which indicates the result determined by the control unit. The card reading unit reads a rank of the cards pulled out from the card shooter, and the control unit further determines whether a card has moved in a direction opposite of the card dealing direction based on a signal output from the one or more card detecting sensors.
1. A card shooter apparatus comprising:
a card shooter unit including a card housing which contains a plurality of cards and an opening, the plurality of cards used in playing a card game;
a card reading unit which is provided with a card guide unit which guides the cards along a card guide surface pulled out one by one from the opening onto a game table along a card dealing direction, the card reading unit reads a rank of the cards pulled out from the card shooter;
a control unit having a processing function to determine a result of the card game based on information about the cards, including the rank;
a first card detecting sensor and a second card detecting sensor each configured to detect the existence or non-existence of the cards and to output one or more signals;
wherein the first card detecting sensor is arranged before the second card detecting sensor in the card dealing direction, and wherein the control unit further determines whether one or more of the cards has moved in a direction opposite of the card dealing direction when the second sensor is turned off indicating non-existence of a card after the second sensor is turned on indicating existence of a card and before the first sensor is turned off indicating non-existence of a card; and
a display unit which indicates the result determined by the control unit.
2. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the card shooter unit, the card reading unit and the control unit are integrated into one unit and able to be set on the game table.
3. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the display unit includes a first display unit and a second display unit, wherein the first display unit is provided on a portion which is not adjacent to the second display unit and able to be seen only by the dealer and not by the player while the card shooter apparatus is set on the game table, and the second display unit is provided on the upper surface of the card shooter unit.
4. The card shooter apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first display unit indicates at least the rank of the cards sequentially read by the card reading unit and the second display unit indicating the result of the card game.
5. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , further including an output means configured to output the result determined by the control unit.
6. The card shooter apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the output means is further configured to emit a visual output indicating the result determined by the control unit.
7. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the card reading unit is further configured to read the cards by reading invisible codes on the cards.
8. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control unit further determines whether the readings of the cards are valid based on the one or more signals output from the one or more card detecting sensors.
9. The card shooter apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the output means is further configured to emit a sound indicating the result determined by the control unit when the readings of the cards are determined to be valid by the control unit.
10. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the determining of whether one or more of the cards has moved in a direction opposite of the card dealing direction is based on the one or more signals output from the one or more card detecting sensors and further comprises determining whether one or more of the cards has reversed direction after traveling in the card dealing direction.
11. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more card detecting sensors are positioned on the card guide surface.
12. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more card detecting sensors are fiber sensors.
13. The card shooter apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first card detecting sensor and the second card detecting sensor each comprises an object detecting sensor and/or a measurement validity determining sensor.
14. A card shooter apparatus comprising:
a card shooter unit including a card housing which contains a plurality of cards and an opening, the plurality of cards used in playing a card game;
a card reading unit which is provided with a card guide unit which guides the cards along a card guide surface pulled out one by one from the opening onto a game table along a card dealing direction, the card reading unit reads a rank of the cards pulled out from the card shooter;
a control unit having a processing function to determine a result of the card game based on information about the cards, including the rank;
a first card detecting sensor and a second card detecting sensor each configured to detect the existence or non-existence of the cards and to output one or more signals;
wherein the first card detecting sensor is arranged before the second card detecting sensor in the card dealing direction, and wherein the control unit further determines whether one or more of the cards has moved in a direction opposite of the card dealing direction when the first sensor is turned off indicating non-existence of a card after the first sensor is turned on indicating existence of a card and before the second sensor is turned on indicating existence of a card; and
a display unit which indicates the result determined by the control unit.
15. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the card shooter unit, the card reading unit and the control unit are integrated into one unit and able to be set on the game table.
16. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the display unit includes a first display unit and a second display unit, wherein the first display unit is provided on a portion which is not adjacent to the second display unit and able to be seen only by the dealer and not by the player while the card shooter apparatus is set on the game table, and the second display unit is provided on the upper surface of the card shooter unit.
17. The card shooter apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the first display unit indicates at least the rank of the cards sequentially read by the card reading unit and the second display unit indicating the result of the card game.
18. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , further including an output means configured to output the result determined by the control unit.
19. The card shooter apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the output means is further configured to emit a visual output indicating the result determined by the control unit.
20. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the card reading unit is further configured to read the cards by reading invisible codes on the cards.
21. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the control unit further determines whether the readings of the cards are valid based on the one or more signals output from the one or more card detecting sensors.
22. The card shooter apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the output means is further configured to emit a sound indicating the result determined by the control unit when the readings of the cards are determined to be valid by the control unit.
23. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the determining of whether one or more of the cards has moved in a direction opposite of the card dealing direction is based on the one or more signals output from the one or more card detecting sensors and further comprises determining whether one or more of the cards has reversed direction after traveling in the card dealing direction.
24. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the one or more card detecting sensors are positioned on the card guide surface.
25. The card shooter apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the one or more card detecting sensors are fiber sensors.