TWI459991B - Shuffler - Google Patents

Description

Shuffling machine

The present invention relates to a shuffling machine, and more particularly to a shuffling machine for randomly stacking two stacks of cards and delivering the washed cards by a set of cards.

It is generally known to randomly arrange two stacks of cards into a stack of shuffling machines, as shown in Taiwan Patent No. M352388, M303044, and M319777. The shuffling machine in the above patent mainly comprises two card boxes respectively located on the left and right sides, two card sending devices, a card box located between the two card boxes, and a card located at the exit of the card box. Device. Wherein, the two card sending devices randomly output the cards in the two card boxes to the card box in turn, and complete the shuffling action. After that, the card-distributing device will send the washed cards in the set card one by one to a card-out position for use by the card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A primary object of the present invention is to provide a new shuffling machine having a card assembly that can simultaneously collect washed cards and deliver the washed cards.

Further, the shuffling machine includes a shuffling device, a card assembly device and a lifting device. Wherein, the shuffling device comprises two card boxes and two card sending mechanisms corresponding to the two card boxes. The two card sending mechanisms are respectively disposed at the card outlets of the two card boxes, and are used to send the cards in the corresponding card boxes from the card outlet. The card collecting device comprises a slanting plate disposed between the two branding boxes and inclined from top to bottom, a set of card boxes located under the slanting plate, and a carrier. The swash plate receives and guides the card that is fed from the two card boxes to slide into an opening in the top of the card box. The carrier is disposed in the set card and is configured to carry a card that slides down the swash plate. The carrier is preferably configured to be tilted from top to bottom. The lifting device is coupled to the carrier for the carrier phase For this set of boxes to move up and down.

Preferably, at least one side of the set of cards has a viewable area for the user to view the interior of the set of cards from outside the set of boxes. More preferably, the viewing area can be transparent or translucent. Or the visible area is a gap that connects the inside and the outside of the set card.

In addition, the shuffling machine further includes a discarding box having an entry card. The set card comprises two guiding plates respectively disposed on the opposite side plates thereof, and the two guiding plates are inclined from the top to the bottom toward the entrance opening of the folding box. Wherein the spacing between the two guiding plates is such that the carrier can pass between the two guiding plates, and when the carrier passes between the two guiding plates, the two guiding plates are configured to be used for Blocking the cards carried on the carrier.

The lifting device comprises a body, a track disposed on the body, and a stand. One end of the stand is slidably disposed on the track, and the other end is connected to the carrier.

Preferably, the lifting device further comprises a driving motor, an upper limit switch and a lower limit switch. The drive motor is disposed on the body and is used to drive the stand to rise or fall along the track. The upper limit opening relationship is disposed in an upper half of the body for detecting the end of the stand, and the upper limit switch is configured to control the drive motor to stop when the end of the stand is detected Drive the stand up. The lower limit opening relationship is disposed in the lower half of the body for detecting the end of the stand, and the lower limit switch is configured to control the drive motor to stop when the end of the stand is detected Drive the stand down.

The shuffling device further includes two auxiliary members corresponding to the two card-issuing mechanisms, each of the auxiliary members having a gap between the auxiliary card-receiving members and the auxiliary member configured to be movable relative to the card-receiving mechanism Move to adjust the size of the gap.

Preferably, the shuffling machine further comprises a detecting device and a control unit. The detecting device is disposed at the top of the set card to detect whether there is a card in a card position at the top of the card box. The control unit is electrically connected to the detecting device and the lifting device, and controls the operation of the lifting device according to the detection result of the detecting device to move the card carried on the carrier to the carding position. The control unit sends a signal to a card-receiving mechanism to move to the card-distributing position for card-collecting operation when the detecting device detects the presence of a card at the card-out position at the top of the card box.

The present invention also provides another shuffling machine comprising a shuffling device, a card collecting device, a lifting device, a detecting device and a control unit. The shuffling device includes two cards The box and the two card-issuing mechanisms corresponding to the two boxes. The two card sending mechanisms are respectively disposed at the card outlets of the two card boxes, and are used to send the cards in the corresponding card boxes from the card outlet. The card collecting device is disposed between the two card boxes, and includes a card box and a carrier seat disposed in the card box. The carrier is used to carry the cards sent from the two card boxes. The detecting device is disposed at the top of the set card to detect whether a card is present at a card outlet position on the top of the card box. The control unit is electrically connected to the lifting device and the detecting device, and controls the operation of the lifting device according to the detection result of the detecting device to move the card carried on the carrier to the carding position.

1, 1a‧‧‧ shuffling device

11, 11a‧‧‧Shopping box

110‧‧‧Brands

12‧‧‧Driving agency

121‧‧‧First round

122‧‧‧Second round

14‧‧‧Credit cards

19‧‧‧Auxiliary parts

190‧‧‧ Vertical rod

191‧‧‧ nuts

192‧‧‧wear sleeve

199‧‧‧ round rod

2, 2a‧‧‧ji apparatus

20, 20a‧‧‧ set box

21‧‧‧ side panels

22‧‧‧ front side panel

23‧‧‧ sloping plate

25, 25a‧‧‧ carried

29‧‧‧ Guide

3, 3a‧‧‧ lifting device

30‧‧‧ Track

31‧‧‧Upper limit switch

32‧‧‧ lower limit switch

35‧‧‧Ontology

36‧‧‧stand

39‧‧‧Drive motor

4, 4a‧‧‧Detection device

5‧‧‧Discard box

50‧‧‧Entry

9‧‧‧ machine

The first figure is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the shuffling machine of the present invention.

The second figure is a perspective view of the internal structure of the first preferred embodiment.

The third figure is a side view of the first preferred embodiment.

The fourth figure is a schematic diagram of the operation of the first preferred embodiment.

Figures 5 through 7 are partial front elevation views of the first preferred embodiment showing the operation of a shuffling device.

Figure 8 is a partial perspective view of the first preferred embodiment.

Figure 8A is a partial exploded perspective view of the eighth figure.

Figures 9 through 12 are partial side elevational views of the first preferred embodiment showing the operation of a card assembly.

Figure 13 is a partial perspective view of the first preferred embodiment showing a discarding box located below the card collecting device.

Figure 14 is a partial rear elevational view of the first preferred embodiment showing the relationship between the two guide plates and the carrier.

15 to 16 are partial perspective views of the first preferred embodiment showing the relationship between the operation of the carrier and the discarding box.

Figure 17 is a schematic view showing the operation of a second preferred embodiment of the shuffling machine of the present invention.

Figures 18 and 19 are partial side elevation views of the second preferred embodiment showing the operation of a card assembly.

The first, second and third figures show a first preferred embodiment of the shuffling machine of the present invention. The shuffling machine comprises a shuffling device 1, a card collecting device 2 and a lifting device 3, which are arranged on a machine table 9. The fourth figure shows the operation of the shuffling machine of the first preferred embodiment, wherein the shuffling machine shuffles the two stacks of cards placed in the two branded boxes 11 by the shuffling device 1. It is sent to the card collecting device 2. Then, the card collecting device 2 is driven by the lifting device (not shown) to collect the cards sent by the card shuffling device 1, and the cards are sent to a card issuing position.

As shown in the second and seventh figures, the shuffling device 1 further includes two card-issuing mechanisms 12 corresponding to the two card-boxes 11, and the two card-issuing mechanisms 12 are respectively disposed at the outlets of the two card-boxes 11 110, and each card transfer mechanism 12 includes a first wheel set 121 and a second wheel set 122. The first wheel set 121 is used to send the cards in the corresponding card box 11 from the card outlet 110. The second wheel set 122 receives the card sent by the first wheel set 121 and sends the card to the card collecting device 2.

Preferably, referring to the seventh and eighth figures, the card shuffling device 1 further includes two auxiliary members 19 respectively disposed above the first wheel set 121 of the two card-issuing mechanisms 12, and There is a gap between the corresponding first wheel sets 121, the gaps being sized to pass the cards sent from the set card 11 one at a time, and preventing the passing cards from going up The upturn affects the subsequent operation of the second wheel set 122. Further, in order to adjust the size of the gap, the two auxiliary members 19 are movable up and down with respect to their corresponding first wheel sets 121. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 8A, each of the auxiliary members 19 includes a round bar 199 to which a vertical rod 190 is coupled, and the top of the vertical rod 190 has a threaded portion. Thereby, the round rod 199 can be rotated by a nut 191 assembled on the threaded section of the vertical rod 19, and the vertical rod 190 is adjusted to move up and down with respect to the first wheel set 121. The purpose of the gap with the first wheel set 121. In addition, each round rod 199 is further provided with one or more wear sleeves 192 for increasing the friction between the auxiliary member 19 and the sent card. The wear sleeve 192 is replaceable and can be made of rubber.

Referring to the second, fifth and sixth figures, the shuffling device 1 further comprises two pressing card members 14, respectively, which are respectively disposed on the two branding boxes 11, and each of the pressing members 14 is relative to The corresponding shoe 11 is swung to a specific position (sixth figure) to press the cards provided in the corresponding card box 11 from above, so that the lowermost card of the cards can be kept Good contact between the first wheel sets 121 further enables the first wheel set 121 to successfully carry the cards in the set box 11 The card box 11 is sent out.

Referring to the first, second and third figures, the card assembly device 2 includes a slanting plate 23 disposed between the two card boxes 11 and inclined from the top to the bottom, and a set of card boxes 20 located below the swash plate 23. And a carrier 25 The set card 20 includes two opposite side panels 21 and a front side panel 22. Preferably, at least one of the two side plates 21 and the front side panel 22 of the set card case 20 has a viewable area for the user to observe the inside of the set card case 20 from the outside of the set card case 20. In this embodiment, the two side plates 21 and the front side plate 22 are made of a translucent or transparent acrylic plate, and the reinforcing frame member may be provided according to requirements, but is not limited thereto. One or both of the two side plates 21 and the front side plates 22 of the set card case 20 may be provided with at least one notch to communicate the inside and the outside of the set card case 20. The carrier 25 is disposed in the set card 20 for carrying the card sliding down from the swash plate 23, and the carrier 25 is preferably a sloping plate which is inclined from the front to the front and inclined from the top to the bottom. .

As shown in the second and third figures, the lifting device 3 includes a body 35, a rail 30 disposed on the body 35, and a stand 36. One end of the stand 36 is slidably disposed on the rail 30, and the other end is connected to the carrier 25. Furthermore, the lifting device 3 has a drive motor 39, an upper limit switch 31 and a lower limit switch 32. The drive motor 39 is disposed on the body 35 and is used to drive the stand 36 to rise or fall along the track 30. The upper limit switch 31 is disposed on the upper half of the body 35 for detecting that the stand 36 is slidably disposed at the end of the track 30, and when the end of the stand 36 is detected, the The drive motor 39 stops driving the stand 36 to rise. The lower limit switch 32 is disposed on the body 35 for detecting that the stand 36 is slidably disposed at the end of the track 30, and when the end of the stand 36 is detected, the drive motor 39 is controlled to stop driving. The stand 36 is lowered.

Further, the shuffling machine of the present invention further includes a control unit (not shown) for controlling the operation of the drive motor 39 of the lifting device 3. Referring to the second and ninth diagrams, after the shuffling machine starts to operate, the card systems originally located in the two branding boxes 11 are sent one by one by the two card issuing mechanisms 12, and slide down the swash plate 23. To the carrier 25. In the process, the control unit controls the operation of the drive motor 39 to drive the carrier 25 to rise or fall, so that the carrier 25 is maintained at a position suitable for receiving a card that slides down from the swash plate 23. The preferred system is slightly lower than the lower end of the swash plate 23. Finally, the card systems located in the two card boxes 11 are all sent to the carrier 25 and stacked one on another.

As shown in the tenth, the shuffling machine further includes a detecting device 4 disposed at the top of the set card 20 for detecting whether the card is present at the top of the card box 20 . Specifically, the detecting device 4 is a photodetector disposed on one of the side plates 21 of the set card 20, but is not limited thereto. When the shuffling device completes the shuffling operation, that is, all of the cards originally placed in the two branded boxes 11 as shown in the first figure are sent to the carrier 25, the control unit controls The operation of the driving motor causes the stand 36, the carrier 25 connected to the stand 36, and the card carried on the carrier 25 to rise until the detection device 4 detects the card position. There are cards. At this time, the control unit further sends a signal to a card-receiving device (not shown), and the cards carried on the carrier 25 and located at the card-out position are taken away one by one. Next, referring to FIG. 11 , when the card originally located at the card-out position is removed and the detecting device 4 detects that there is no card in the card-out position, the control unit controls the driving motor to operate again. The stand 36, the carrier 25 and the remaining cards thereon are moved up to the card position as shown in FIG. At this time, the control unit will send a signal to the card-receiving device again, so that it continues to take the card, and the loop is repeated until the end of the game.

The thirteenth figure shows that the shuffling machine of the present invention further includes a discarding box 5 located below the set box 20 and having an entry opening 50 facing the set box 20. The set card 20 further includes two guide plates 29 disposed at the bottoms of the opposite side plates 21 of the set card case 20, and the two guide plates 29 are led to the fold box 5 from the top to the bottom. The card mouth 50 is inclined. It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 14, the spacing between the two guide plates 29 is sufficient for the carrier 25 to pass between the two guide plates 29, but cannot be carried on the carrier 25. The cards passed. Therefore, as shown in the thirteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth diagrams, after the end of the hand, the control unit controls the operation of the drive motor to move the carrier 25 downward, when the carrier 25 goes to the When the bottom of the set card 20 is moved, the carrier 25 can pass between the two guide plates 29, and at the same time, the cards carried on the carrier 25 are blocked by the two guide plates 29, such as As shown in the fifteenth figure, it is not possible to continue moving with the carrier 25, and when the carrier 25 continues to move down until the cards are completely detached therefrom, the cards are no longer subjected to the loading. The support of the seat 25 slides along the two guide plates 25 from the card entry opening 50 of the discard box 5 into the discard box 5, as shown in Fig. 16.

In summary, the shuffling machine of the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, so that the carrier of the card collecting device can be driven by the lifting device, simultaneously carrying and collecting the cards sent from the shuffling device, and carrying them. The function of the card to the card position. In addition, the shuffling machine of the present invention provides a better fairness because at least one side of the card set of the set card is provided with a visible area, so that the user can view the inside of the set box from the outside of the set box. Sex and lower The possibility of disadvantages.

17 to 19 are a second preferred embodiment of the shuffling machine of the present invention, which has a shuffling device 1a, a card assembly 2a, and a lifting device as in the first preferred embodiment. The device 3a, a detecting device 4a and a control unit (not shown) electrically connected to the lifting device 3a and the detecting device 4a. The shuffling machine is different from the shuffling machine of the first preferred embodiment in that the card collecting device 2a of the shuffling machine has a collecting box 20a and a set in the set box 20a. A carrier 25a. The set card 20a is directly disposed between the two card boxes 11a of the shuffling device 1a. As shown in Fig. 18, the control unit controls the operation of the lifting device 3a so that the carrier 25a is held at an appropriate height to directly receive the cards sent from the two card boxes 11a. The detecting device 4a is disposed at the top of the set card 20a for detecting whether a card is present at a card outlet position on the top of the card box 20a. As shown in FIG. 19, when the cards in the two card boxes 11a of the card shuffling device 1a are all sent out to the carrier 25a, the control unit controls the lifting device 3a to drive the carrier 25a toward Move up to the card-out position and send a signal to notify a card-receiving device (not shown) to perform the card-collection operation. In addition, as described in the first preferred embodiment, the control unit controls the operation of the lifting device 3a according to the detection result of the detecting unit 4a, so that the card position remains in the state of the card until the card is The end of the game.

1‧‧‧ shuffling device

11‧‧‧Shopping box

14‧‧‧Credit cards

2‧‧‧Marketing device

20‧‧‧Set box

21‧‧‧ side panels

22‧‧‧ front board

23‧‧‧ sloping plate

25‧‧‧Hosting

3‧‧‧ lifting device

30‧‧‧ Track

31‧‧‧Upper limit switch

32‧‧‧ lower limit switch

35‧‧‧Ontology

36‧‧‧stand

39‧‧‧Drive motor

9‧‧‧ machine

Claims (9)

A shuffling machine comprising: a shuffling device comprising two sets of card boxes and two card-issuing mechanisms corresponding to the two sets of card-boxes, the two card-issuing mechanisms being respectively disposed at the card-out ports of the two sets of card boxes, And used to send the cards in the corresponding card boxes from the card outlet; a card assembly device includes a slant plate disposed between the two card boxes and inclined from top to bottom, under the swash plate a set of cards and a carrier; the sloping plate is configured to receive and guide a card sent from the two card boxes to slide into an opening at the top of the card box, the carrier system a card disposed in the set card and configured to carry the card slid down from the swash plate; and a lifting device coupled to the carrier for moving the carrier relative to the set card, wherein the card shuffling device The utility model further includes two auxiliary members corresponding to the two card sending mechanisms, each of the auxiliary members and the corresponding card sending mechanism having a gap, and the auxiliary member is configured to be movable up and down with respect to the corresponding card sending mechanism, Adjust the size of the gap. The shuffling machine of claim 1, wherein at least one side of the set of cards has a viewable area for the user to view the set of cards from the outside of the set of boxes. internal. The shuffling machine of claim 2, wherein the visible area of the side panel of the set of boxes is transparent or translucent. The shuffling machine of claim 2, wherein the visible area of the side panel of the set card is a gap that connects the inside and the outside of the set box. The shuffling machine of claim 1, wherein the carrier is tilted from top to bottom. The shuffling machine of claim 1, wherein the lifting device comprises a body, a track disposed on the body, and a stand, one end of the stand is slidably disposed on the track, and the other end is Connect the carrier. The shuffling machine of claim 6, wherein the lifting device further comprises: a driving motor disposed on the body for driving the stand to rise or fall along the track; an upper limit switch, The upper half of the body is configured to detect the end of the stand, and the upper limit open relationship is configured to control the drive motor to stop driving the stand when the end of the stand is detected And a lower limit switch disposed in the lower half of the body for detecting the end of the stand, and the lower limit open relationship is configured to control the end of the stand when the end of the stand is detected The drive motor stops driving the stand down. The shuffling machine of claim 1, further comprising: a detecting device disposed at the top of the set card for detecting whether a card is present at a card outlet position of the top of the card box; And a control unit electrically connecting the detecting device and the lifting device, and controlling the operation of the lifting device according to the detection result of the detecting device, so that the card carried on the carrier moves to the carding position. For example, in the shuffling machine described in claim 8, the control unit may have a card in the card detecting position at the top of the card detecting device. At the same time, a signal is sent to a card-receiving mechanism to move to the card-out position for card-collection work.