US2815214A - Card shuffler - Google Patents

Description

B. G. HALL CARD SHUFFLER Dec. 3, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 9, 1954 Attorhegy Dec. 3, 1957 B. G, HALL 2,815,214

CARD SHUFFLER 'Filed April 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2r 7 az/ V Inverti-Or:

Basl. G. Hall.

Attornevg.

CARD SHUFFLER Basil G. Hall, Minneapolis, Minn. Application April 9, 1954, Serial No. 422,100

3' Claims. (Cl. 273-149) The invention relates to a card shuffler that is used for shufiing the standard form of playing cards such as is used when playing such games as bridge, canasta, samba and bolivia, or any other games where cards are to be shufled.

The purpose of this device is to make it easy for the participant to readily shuffle one, two or three decks of cards by the sirnp1e means of splitting the cards into two equal portions, placing the two portions upon sets of rollers Within the shuflier, turning a crank for discharging the cards primarily one at a time upon a card rack from which the operator removes the shuflled cards.

A further object is to provide adjustable means for -regulating the number of cards that are discharged through each card clearance opening during the sbuffling cycle of two separated portions of cards.

Another object is to provide means for regulating the up and down movement of a gauge which regulates the clearance opening for discharging oneor more card's from a deck which are moveable through said clearance by means of revolvin g rolls.

A further object is to provide a pair of spaced apart upper rolls and a pair of spaced apart lower rolls each retaining thereon a stack -of cards, means provided at the discharge end of said rolls for retaining said cards and means for providing clearance opening for the discharging of said cards one or more at a time, when said rolls are revolved clockwise, the said cards fal1 on a rack positioned at the discharge end of said rolls.

A further object is to provide a pair of spaced apart upper rolls and a pair of spaced apart lower rolls each retaining thereon a stack of cards, means provided at the discharge end of said rolls for retaining said cards Wrth adjustable means attached thereto for providing clearance opening for the discharging of said cards one or more at a time, when said rolls are revolved clockwise the said cards fa1l on a card rack conveniently positioned at the discharge end of said rolls.

A further object is to provide a means whereby the frictional engagement between the releasing card and the gauge at the ciearance opening is minimized to a tangential contact, thereby eliminating practically a11 resistanace for the releasing of a card from each deck through the clearance opening by the revolving rolls during a shuffling cycle.

A further object of the nvention is to position the clearance opening through which a card is released when shuifling so that a forward corner of said card will be the only part thereof required to pass through said clearance opening.

A further object is to provide a shuflier that is attractive in design, simple in construction, easy to assemble and easy to operate.

A further object is to provide on all feed rolls rubber bands or tires having peripheries of such construction and design that Will continuously release from the stack of cards, thereon, durirrg a shufliing cycle, one card after another through its respective clearance opening to a card rack positioned in front and below the card feed discharge rolls.

Other and further objects of the invention and the advantages of the same Will be pointed out hereinafter and indicated in the appended claims, or Will be obvious to one skilled in the art upon undertsanding the present disclosure.

For the purpose of this application there has been elected to set forth in more or less deta-il one particular structure but it is to be understood that it is here presented for illustrative purposes only and is not to be accorded any interpretation such as might have the effect oflimiting what is claimed as the invention short of its true and comprehensive scope in the art.

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the card shufiier in shuffling position;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on theline 2 2 of Figure 5;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary full size sectional view of the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragrnentary detailed sectional view With some of the parts broken away taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on theline 5*-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an isometric view of a combination spacer and card guide plate;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 1;

Figure 8 shows the position of the card shuflier, When the cards are to be removed after having been shuffled; and

Figure 9 is a detailed sectional view 011 the line 9-9 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings indetail numerals 10 and 12- designate the side plates of the card shuflier. The plates being spaced apart by two special U-shapedspacers 14 and they are held firmly and rigidly in their respective position by the downward extendingends 15 of saidspacers 14 by meaus of the interfitting detents at 16 and the threadedheaded screws 18 as clearly shown in Figures 5 and 9. The piates are further held together and spaced apart by an upper U-shapedtie plate 20 and an intermediate U-shapedtie plate 22. These plates Will be referred to in the specifications and claims as a gauge plate as they retain thereon thegauge 36. Therearward extensions 24 and 25 ofplates 29 and 22 have threaded holes therein for receivirrg suitably thrcadedheaded screws 26 which tie said side plates and gauge plates together. Bach of thegauge plates 20 and 22 have at their lower edge a rearwardly extendinglug 28 havingaperture 30 therein for receiving one end oftension spring 32, the other end of said spring being anchored inlug 34 of agauge 36 which is pivoted at 38 to its respective gauge plate. Each gauge and gauge plate has this assembled construction With thelug 34 of the gauge to the right ofpivot 38 as clearly shown in Figure 3. To the left ofpivot 38 saidgauge 36 has aprojection 40 extending perpeudicular therefrom and in the same piane aslug 34. Bachprojection 40 is engaged by ascrew 42, which threads into the lower tappedhoie 43 inpiate 10 justbelcw extensions 24 ofplates 20 and 22. It can be readily seen that turningscrew 42 inwardly moves thegauge 36 down about thepivot 38 and increases the tension ofspring 32, turning said screw out, thegauge 36 moves up about thepivot 38 by means of thetension spring 32. The contour of saidgauge 36 is of an irregular shape and has one end substantially arc-shaped or semi-circular at 44. Thissemi-circular extension 44 is placed belowprojection 40 and as near to the inside ofextension 24 as possible. Thegauge 36 is assembled on its respective tie or gauge plate atpivot 38, thus having a longer lever arm to thescrew 42 than to thespring 32, making it easy to operate said gauge up or down by means ofscrew 42 andspring 32. The purpose of the semi-circular shapedportion 44 Will be more fully described hereinafter.

The upper tie orgauge plate 20 has a rearward extendingshelf 45 having two threaded holes therein for receivingheaded screws 46 that retain -thecover 48 over the top ofplates 10 and 12. Sutably mounted between said plates for retaining substantiaily equai portions of a full deck, two decks or three decks of cards that are to be shuffled, is a pair of upper spaced apart drivenrolls 50 and 51, and a lower pair of spaced apartrolls 52 and 53. Rolls, G, 51 and 52 being driven and roll 53 being the driving roll. The arrangement of these rolls is olear- 1y shown in Figure 7. The distance between the plates is slightly greater than the width of said rolls, thus theshafts 54 ofrolls 50, 51 and 52 can freely rotate in theirrespective apertures 58 in the plates and 12. Thedriving roll 53 has ashaft 57 mounted securely therein which is freely mounted in like apertures orbearings 58 in theplates 10 and 12. Theshaft 57 extends out beyondplate 10 in the form of ahandle 60 and has anoperating knob 62 attached theret0. The ends Of all the rolls adjacent the inner face ofplate 12 have half round-shaped grooves orpulleys 64 out therein for retaining adriving belt 66. Theroll 53 having theshaft 57 securely attached thereto drives thebelt 66 and all the rolls in a clockwise direction when thehandle 60 is turned in a clockwise direction by means of theknob 62.. It Will be noted that the grooves orpulleys 64 onrolls 51 and 52 are reduced in size in comparison to pulleys onrolls 50 and 53. The reduction is 2 to 1 thus therolls 51 and 52 Will rotate twice as fast as therear rolls 50 and 53. Thus the cards can be run through the shuffler rapidly because the cards .travel ofi ofrolls 51 and 52 at twice the speed which the operator is revolving therolls 50 and 51. It can be readi1y seen if the operator rotates thehandle 60 rapidly the cards Will be released to the card rack in minimum time; il": rotated slowly the cards Will be released slower or over a longer period of time.

Awire card guide 68 is held in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 by means inspacers 14, thus preventing the sides of the cards nearest thebelt 66 from contacting said belt at 67 when the cards onroll 52 are being released through opening 76 to thecard rack 70. Thecard rack 70 is pivotally mounted at 70a between the inside ofplates 10 and 12 near thelower edge 11 and 13 ofplates 10 and 12 directly under the center ofrolls 52. Thecard rack 70 receives the cards as they are discharged fromrolls 51 and 52 during a shutfling cycle While the shufiier is in position shown in Figures 1 and 2, and after said shuf'fling cycle the shufller is then positioned as shown in Figure 8, thus the rack automatically assumes the position shown and the cards can be readily removed for dealing. Therack 70 consists of abase mernber 71 having extending upwardly therefrorn front and rear wall members 71a and 71b. The wails 71a and 71h retain the cards on thebase member 71 during a shuffling cycle, and also when the shuffler is changed from the position shown in Figure 1 to the position in Figure 8.

Spaced apart on all the rolls are a pair of rubber bands ortires 73 being of a suitabie thickness and Width which cause the stacked cards to be moved into engagement With the gauge plate and to be released from each respective stack of cards one card at a time through theopenings 76 into thecard rack 70. The face surface of thetires 73 generally should be slightly roughened to readily move the card engaged therewith forwardly when the rolls are turning in a clockwise direction. A band of rubber or tire having a cloth covered face surface wi1l provide the necessary roughened surface which engages the card and Will cause the cards to move more rapidly than a plain tace (ire surface.

In the figures there is shown less than a full deck ofcards 75 so that the detail structure of the shuffler can be shown. As seen in Figure 2 the cards shown in full lines on the rolls are in the process of being shuffled, the cards shown indotted lines 75a show the cards leaving the rolls throughclearance 76. The cards in full lines 75h in the rack show the position of the cards after sbuffling.

Themernbers 14, as shown in Figure 6, provide the means for guiding the cards onto thetires 73 of therolls 51 and 52 when they are being inserted by the operator for shufling. Themernbers 14 are also designed to provide clearance at 17 for thebelt 66 as it travels betweenrolls 50 and 51. If thismernber 14 was not provided the cards at the start of a shufling cycle would jam up at the gauge plate and would not allow the rollers to rotate until the cards were adjusted by the operator. Withmernber 14 assembled as shown, jamrning is prevented because the rotation of the rear rolls moves the entire deck of cards against the gauge plate, when the deck of cards is resting on the elevated edge ofmember 14 and the forward ends of said cards are not engagng thegauge plates 20 or 22.

The operation of the shuffler is as follows: Thegauges 36 are first adjusted so that clearance between the top of therubber band 73 and thesemi-circular portion 44 cf thegauge 36 is slightly more than the thickness of one of the cards of a deck. Figure 4 shows theclearance 76, shown in full lines, and acard 75 released through said clearance With another card in position ready to replace the discharged card. It should be understood that thisclearance 76 can be set for releasing a plurality of cards at once if desired. By turningscrew 42 outward the end of screw moves out away fromprojection 40, then thespring 32 pulls down onlug 34, raising thesemicircular portion 44 and thus increasing theclearance 76. To make theclearance 76 smaller thescrew 42 is turned in forcing theprojection 40 downward increasing the tension ofspring 34, movingsemi-circular portion 44 of the gauge down and thus decreasing the clearance at 76.

the game being played requires the use of more than one deck, thecards 75 are divided into two equal groups. The one group is placed upon therubbers 73 ofrolls 50 and 51, the other group uponrubbers 73 ofrolls 52 and 53. The dealer or operator now turns thehandle 60 by means of theknob 62 in a clockwise direction. The rolls all turn in clockwise direction, being rotated under the influence ofbelt 66 and the cards are fed by means of the rotating rolls one at a time through theclearance 76 onto therack 70. The turning of the rolls continues until all the cards are discharged from the rolls onto the rack. When this cycle is completed the card shufller is placed in positon shown in Figure 8 where the operator removes the cards. It can readily be seen from the drawings and as explained that one card from the top group will fall upon the one from the lower group as they drop into the card rack. It is to be understood the gauges can be adjusted so that two or more cards Will fal1 from one group while one falls from the other group.

In Figure 7 thesemi-cireular pertion 44 of the gauges as seen from the rear is to the extrerne right band side of the shuflier and the engagement between the cards and thegauge 36 atextension 44 is adjacent the corner of the discharging card. If a card has been deformed or curved up at the center it Will readily be discharged because the corner of the card Will go through theolearance 76 With minimum engagement between the card and the gauge at 44. Regardless of the shape of the cards they can rapidly be discharged through theolearance 76 because of the frictional engagement between the bottom card and therubber bands 73. There is shown a card shufler constructed for receiving the cards where the cards are placed iongitudinally in the shuffler. It should be understood that said shufler can be made for receiving the cards longitudnally, length or Width wise. As shown in Figure 2, when the cards rest upon a pair of rolls they are not in contact With the upper edge ofmembers 14 but as soon as the cards leave the rear rolls,

the cards then contact the upper edge ofmembers 14 whi1e being moved forward by theroll 51 or 52. By this arrangement there is a minimum of drag on the card or cards bsing discharged through theclearances 76.

What is claimed:

1. A card shuffler comprising side plates spaced apart by a plurality of spacer members, 2. pair of spacer rolls carried by the side plates and adapted to receive a stack of: cards, one of said rolls adapted to rotate at about two tmes the speed of the other roll, a member mounted between the pair of spaced rolls in substantially the same horizontal piane, a second pair of spaced apart rolls positicxnsd above the first pair of spaced rolls, one of said rolls of the second pair adapted to rotate at about two times the speed of the other roll of the second pair, a member positioned between the second pair of rolls, means far rctating he rolls, a gauge plate mounted in a plana above and adjacent che faster rotatable roll of each pair of rolls to provide discharge clearance, a gauge pivbally mauned on each gauge plate and adapted to move substantiay paralisi thereto, one end of each gaugs resiliently connected to the gauge plate and the other end of the gauge having a rounded card contacting porion, said rcunded portion contactng the card adjacent one edge for a distance considerably less than half the Width of a card.

2. A mechancal card shuffler having card receiving means on two levels for supporting piles of cards, a shufied card receiving compartrnent, a gauge plate adjacent to and in a plana above ons end of each card receiving means and between the card receiving means and the card receiving compartment, a gauge adjustng means, a gauge pivotally mounted on each gauge plate, the pivot point of each gauge located to provide a short arm and a long arm, means for reslienly connecting the *short arrn to the gauge plate for urging the long arm against the gauge adjusting means, the long arm having a substantially arcshaped member projecting therefrom adjacent an end, said arc-shaped member adapted to contact cards adjacent an edge for a distance less than about half the distance of the card Width and means for moving cards from the card receiving means to the shuffled card receiving compartment.

3. A card shufier comprising side members held in p0sition by a plurality of spacer mernbers, two pairs of rotatable spaced apart rolls -for receiving cards, one pair of rolls spaced above the other pair, a shelf 1ike member posizonsd between each pair of rolls, one edge of each shelf like member in a plane higher than the remainder of the shelf like member, a gauge plate attached to che side members and positioned adjacent the surface of one of each pair of rolls, gauge adjusting means, a gauge pivotally mounted on each gauge plate, the pivot point located so as to provide a short arm and a long arm, the short arm connected by a spring to the gauge plate for urging the long arm against the gauge adjusting means, the long arrn provided With an arwshaped portion for contacting cards adjacent one edge for a dstance less than about half the Width of the cards a shufied card receiving means and means for rotating said rolls to move cards from said rolls to the shufied card receiving means.

References Ced in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 999,428 Baker Aug. 1, 1911 1,292,377 Runyan Jan. 21, 1919 1,847,346 LUX Mar. 1, 1932 1,955,926 Matthaey API. 24, 1934 2,159,958 Sachs May 23, 1939 FOREIGN FATENTS 12,427 Great Britain 1891

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