CN117642214A

CN117642214A - System for producing multiple sets of cards

Info

Publication number: CN117642214A
Application number: CN202280028819.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: M·德豪威尔; J·范·德恩
Original assignee: Cartamondi Services Co ltd
Current assignee: Cartamondi Services Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-27
Filing date: 2022-12-05
Publication date: 2024-03-01
Also published as: EP4201494A1; WO2023126130A1; CA3239314A1; KR20240133699A; US20240189700A1

Abstract

The present application provides a system for producing multiple sets of cards, the system comprising: a card supply device that supplies a plurality of cards; a card moving system comprising a card carrying device and at least one release device, the at least one release device being activatable to release a card from the card carrying device; a plurality of card collection devices for collecting a set of cards, each card collection device of the plurality of card collection devices being disposed at a different position along a direction of movement of the conveyor below the conveyor; a card recognition device for recognizing a card carried by the card moving system; a control means for distributing each of the identified cards carried by the card moving system to one of the card collection means. For each card collecting device, the release means are positioned at the same location along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt, and the control means are adapted to activate the release means positioned at the card collecting device when a card passes the card collecting device to which it is dispensed.

Description

System for producing multiple sets of cards

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a system for producing multiple sets of cards, such as playing cards or collectible or transacted cards, which produces sets with cards arranged in a random or predetermined order.

Background

Card games are well known today. Games are often based on unpredictability of the order in which cards are dealt or drawn from a randomly arranged deck or set of playing cards, where a set of playing cards includes more than one deck randomly arranged at a set level.

For example, one type of card game is played with a set of 8 randomly arranged decks of playing cards (416 randomly arranged cards total). For some games, once cards are drawn from the set, the drawn cards cannot be used as such because the order in which cards are drawn and set aside can be monitored. The player may turn his own card, which results in the card being damaged, destroyed or destroyed. The reuse of used cards may create opportunities for players to predict future orders of cards, resulting in cheating.

In view of the high risks involved, in fact, any sources that lead to fraudulent playing cards or behaviour must be avoided. The processing time between the production of a set of playing cards and the use of the set of playing cards on a gaming table needs to be as short as possible to largely avoid the possibility of fraudulent activity.

In WO2012042823 a system for producing a plurality of randomly arranged sets of playing cards is described. The system includes a plurality of playing card collection means for collecting playing cards to provide a set of playing cards. A random sequence of playing cards is provided to a plurality of playing card collection devices via a path that includes a plurality of gates and mechanically moving elements.

Also for other cards, such as collectible or transactable cards, any source of fraudulent activity must be avoided. The processing time between the production of a set of cards and any processing of the cards by the public needs to be as short as possible to avoid the possibility of fraudulent activity to a large extent. Nor should there be any significant defect in such cards.

In general, handling of unused new cards and recycled or recovered cards is critical during the production process so that no marking or defect is made to the cards, such as playing cards. This is because any marking of, for example, playing cards, can be a source of identifying the playing cards and thus of cheating, prior knowledge, or fraud. The recycled or re-circulated cards are already part of a set or deck of cards that have been used to play at least one card game, for example, at a poker table such as a casino table.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for producing multiple sets of cards that reduces the risk of damage or defects to the cards being displaced.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method that is capable of providing a set of cards that are randomly arranged. An advantage of the system according to the invention is that fewer moving elements are used, resulting in less risk of damage to the collected cards. An advantage of some embodiments of the apparatus and method is that the apparatus and method reduces the amount of waste during the production of multiple sets of cards because the cards used or recovered may be retrieved and reintroduced into the newly created multiple sets.

It is also an object of the present invention to extend the useful life of cards by providing the possibility of shuffling cards from a set of cards that have been dealt or have not been dealt during an earlier card game. In this way, cards may be used more than once at a casino table.

In the context of the present invention, cards should not be construed as limited to playing cards having a face representing rank and suit. Cards may also be understood as playing cards, casino cards, collectible cards, and trading cards, for example, that is cards having one or more identifying elements on the face of the card other than rank and suit that cause the card to have its own identity in the deck to which it may belong.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for producing a plurality of sets of cards, the system comprising:

-a card supply device providing a plurality of cards;

-a card moving system comprising a card carrying device and at least one release device, the at least one release device being activatable release device to separate cards from the card carrying device;

-a plurality of card collection devices for collecting a set of cards, each card collection device of the plurality of card collection devices being arranged at a different position along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt below the conveyor belt;

-a card recognition device for recognizing cards carried by the card moving system;

-control means for distributing each of the identified cards carried by the card moving system to one card collection means;

wherein for each card collecting device the release means is positioned at the same location along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt, the control means being adapted to activate the release means positioned at the card collecting device when a card passes the card collecting device to which it is dispensed.

Activatable release means that the release means is subject to controlled activation.

Possibly, the card collection means comprises a receptacle into which cards are thrown when the release means is activated. In this way, cards from a series of cards provided by the card supply may be separated into sets of cards, and this does not require human intervention or mechanical manipulation of the cards. This may reduce or even avoid damage to the cards.

According to some embodiments, the system may include a defect detection unit to detect defective cards. According to some embodiments, the system may further comprise a card extraction magazine disposed at a given position along the direction of movement of the conveyor below the conveyor, the release means being positioned at the same given position along the direction of movement of the conveyor. The control means is adapted to activate the release means at a position along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt as a defective card passes through the card draw bin.

Cards are drawn from the sequence of cards by guiding the cards to the card draw bin. In the next stage, it may be decided what to do with the card drawn, e.g., to dispose of the card or to use it for another purpose.

The card extraction magazine may be one of the card collection devices. Preferably, the card extraction shoe or the card collection device that serves as the card extraction shoe is disposed upstream of the other card collection devices or is the first card collection device in the series of card collection devices.

According to some embodiments, for each of the discharge devices, a first card detection device may be disposed upstream before the discharge device in the direction of movement of the conveyor belt, and a second card detection device may be disposed downstream after the discharge device. When the upstream card detection device detects the presence of a card and the downstream card detection device does not detect it in time at the respective moment, this means that the card is removed from the vacuum belt between the two card detection devices.

Thus, the system for producing multiple sets of cards has a cross-check to check whether each card has been released from the conveyor belt at the correct card collection.

For each card on the conveyor belt, a card collection device is assigned. The control means may check whether a card is detected by the card detecting means upstream (i.e. before) the card collecting means allocated at a predetermined timing in time. The control device may check whether a card detection device downstream (i.e., after) the assigned card collection device fails to detect a card in time at a predetermined time. If this is the case, cards are already delivered in the correctly assigned card collection device.

According to some embodiments, a card moving system includes:

-a card carrying device, which is a conveyor belt adapted to carry one or more cards, one or more cards being connected to the underside of the conveyor belt, respectively;

at least one release device for releasing cards from the conveyor belt, which is

Interruption means for interrupting the connection of the cards to the underside of the conveyor belt, and/or

A gas blowing device for blowing out the connected cards from the conveyor belt.

The conveyor belt may be any belt from which cards may be suspended. It may be a conveyor belt with an underside provided with non-permanent glue or any type of similar adhesive. Alternatively, the conveyor belt may be a vacuum belt that draws air through the belt and draws cards to the underside of the belt. In the latter case, the interruption means may be means for locally interrupting the vacuum applied to the cards being carried.

The conveyor belt is a continuous belt or strip for transporting material from one place to another, may be an endless belt, or may be a continuous belt provided from a strip, the 2 ends of which are connected to each other, for example by thermal welding, by means of staples or the like, to form a continuous belt.

During movement of cards in the card moving system, such card moving system does not have mechanical elements or components that cause movement to contact the cards. No mechanical elements or parts would grasp or manipulate the carried cards. The cards are moved only by adhesion or air suction and air flow, which is milder to the card surface and causes little or no damage or marking to the card surface. The contact surface between the conveyor belt and the front or back of each card can be made relatively large, as a result of which low adhesion or low air pressure differences can be used to carry the cards.

According to some embodiments, the release device may be an activatable release device. Several such release devices may be installed along the length of the conveyor belt. Activation or deactivation of the release device may be used to separate the carried cards at the location along the conveyor where the cards need to be placed. It provides the possibility of conveying cards at different positions along the conveyor belt.

According to some embodiments, the width of the conveyor belt may be less than the length of the cards carried. The length of a card is the distance between the upper and lower edges of the card. The width of a card is the distance between the left and right sides of the card. The length and width are measured in the plane of the front and back of the card.

When the width of the conveyor belt is less than the length of the cards, the cards may be carried by the conveyor belt such that at one or both sides of the conveyor belt, a portion of the length of the cards extends beyond the edges of the conveyor belt. This extension of the cards may be used to separate the cards from the conveyor belt by a release device.

According to some embodiments, the card moving system may include a card providing device. The card supply may include a card printing device, such as a digital or offset printing apparatus, to print cards in a defined order or in a random order. The card supply may include a card retrieval device that supplies cards that have been used or that have been part of an earlier set of cards. The card supply means may include special card preparation means for periodically or randomly supplying cards having a special function or print, such as cutting cards in a playing card sequence. The card supply may include a combination of the above, i.e., one or more card printing devices, one or more card recycling devices, and/or one or more special card preparation devices.

According to some embodiments, the card moving system may include a card supply device that supplies cards to be shifted, wherein the length of the cards is perpendicular to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt.

When the width of the conveyor belt is less than the length of the cards, the cards may be carried by the conveyor belt such that on one or both sides of the belt, the length of the cards extends beyond the edges of the belt. The extension of cards may be used to separate cards from the conveyor belt by, for example, applying an air flow of an air knife over the extension of cards that is pushed away from the conveyor belt. When the air knife is more powerful than suction or adhesion, the card will fall under the drive of the air jet from the air knife.

According to some embodiments, the release device may be a gas blowout device. According to some embodiments, the air blowout device may be, for example, an air blowout device including a first air knife. According to some embodiments, the air blowout device may be an air blowout device including a first pair of air knives, the first and second air knives of the pair of air knives being positioned on opposite sides of the conveyor belt and at the same location along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt. According to some embodiments, the air-blowing device may be an air-blowing device comprising a plurality of pairs of air-knives, the first air-knife and the second air-knife of each pair being positioned at opposite sides of the conveyor belt and at the same position along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt.

The advantage of air knives is that they can be activated and deactivated quickly and accurately. In this way, a high shift speed of a series of cards can be applied, while separation of cards can be performed accurately. This is especially true when individual cards need to be separated at various places along the length of the conveyor.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for providing a set of randomly shuffled cards, the method comprising the steps of:

-providing a system for producing a plurality of sets of cards according to the first aspect of the invention;

-providing a series of randomly arranged cards to the system for producing a plurality of sets of cards;

-identifying each of the cards drawn by the conveyor belt and assigning a card collection to each of the identified cards;

-displacing the identified cards along a conveyor belt to a plurality of card collection devices;

-for each identified card, activating the release means at the same position along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt as the card passes the card collection means to which it is dispensed;

wherein the control means assigns a card collection to each card such that in each card collection a set of one or more decks of cards are generated.

Preferably, the cards are carried by a conveyor belt with the back facing the belt and the front being open for visual inspection. Possibly, the rank and suit (in the case of playing cards) or one or more identification elements (in the case of other cards) may be detected. The card being inspected can be identified.

Alternatively, the face of each card may display a unique card identity that is set (e.g., printed) one or more times on the face of that card. The card identity may be set with visible ink, or with ink that is visible only under certain lighting conditions (e.g., visible only under UV or IR light).

The card recognition device will recognize the card by its rank and suit and/or one or more recognition elements and/or card identity and assign this information to the position of the card in the sequence of cards passing through the card recognition device and thus to the stream of cards within the conveyor belt. Each card passing through the card recognition device will generate a data set that includes the position of the card in the string of cards and the rank and suit and/or one or more recognition elements and/or the identity of the card. The control means will allocate a card collection to which cards are to be provided and add this to the data set. The control means will activate the release means for each of the cards passing through its assigned card collection means.

Upon identifying a card, the card identification device may detect a defect in the card being detected. Cards with defects cannot be part of any set of cards and need to be removed from the system. Defective cards may be all assigned to a card drawing device, which may alternatively be a particular card collection device that will function as a card drawing device.

Alternatively, the system for producing multiple sets of cards includes a card defect recognition device preferably positioned upstream of the card recognition device. The system may include a card removal device for removing defective cards, also preferably upstream of the card recognition device.

Alternatively, the card recognition device may obtain a signal regarding the presence or absence of a defect for each card from the card defect recognition device. The card recognition device may assign all defective cards to a card-drawing device, which may optionally be a particular card collection device.

Cards identified and having a known position in the sequence of cards will be brought to the assigned card collection device. The control means knows at which position in the sequence of cards which identified card is brought to which card collection means, which is capable of generating a sequence of rank and suit and/or one or more identification elements and/or card identities in accordance with the card collection means. Thus, for each set of cards generated by the system, the sequence of cards in the set is known.

The control device may track the number of cards having a given rank and suit and/or one or more identification elements that have been sent to each card collection device. In this way, the control device will be able to generate a plurality of sets of cards containing, even consisting of, a given number of decks of cards, and shuffle the cards randomly at a set level.

One of the card collection devices may be used as a card evacuation case. Because all card collection devices include a threshold number of cards having the same card identifying element(s), the control device cannot assign cards of the card collection device thereto, which are assigned and directed to this card drop bin. The withdrawn cards may be later reintroduced by one of the card supplies to enable the cards to become part of a set of cards. Moreover, in the event that a card cannot be identified or in the event of any error in identifying, identifying or handling the card, the card may be directed to an overflow card drop bin.

A system for producing multiple sets of cards may include a set removal device for removing a complete multiple set of cards from a card collection device.

According to some embodiments, the card supply system may provide cards with the front face of the cards facing away from the conveyor belt. In this way, the cards are facilitated to be readily identified by their rank and suit and/or one or more identification elements and/or card identities.

The card supply may obtain its cards from a printing apparatus, such as a digital printing apparatus or an offset printing apparatus, and/or may include a recycling apparatus in which cards that have been used in other sets of cards are included in the card stream. The card supply may generate a series of cards that are personalized (i.e., not in contact with another card during transportation of the card).

According to some embodiments, at least a portion of the cards provided to the system for producing multiple sets of cards may be recycled cards.

According to some embodiments, cards provided to a system for producing multiple sets of cards may be randomly arranged.

According to some embodiments, the control device may generate a sequence of card identities for each set of cards generated in each card collection device.

The control means knows for each card to which card collecting means it is to be and has been provided. In this way, the control device can provide each set of cards with a sequence of cards present in the set.

Such a sequence of cards in each of the plurality of sets may be used to verify whether the sequence of cards has been manipulated during transportation or storage of the set. The sequence of cards displayed during play may be compared to the known sequence of cards of the set. Sequence incompatibility is an indication of fraud.

Drawings

Figure 1 schematically illustrates a system for producing multiple sets of cards according to the present invention.

Figures 2 and 3 show details of a card moving system that is part of the system of figure 1 for producing multiple sets of cards.

Like reference numerals refer to like or identical features.

Detailed Description

In fig. 1 and 2, a system for producing multiple sets of cards 100 is shown. The system 100 includes three card supplies 101, 102, 103 that provide a plurality of cards 200. It should be appreciated that the system may include only one card supply, two card supplies, or more than three card supplies. The card supply may include a system for retrieving retrieved cards (e.g., cards from a shoe that includes playing cards that have been used for playing a card game at a card game table). The card supply may include a printing unit, such as a digital printing unit, that prints the original cards.

New or recycled cards may be provided by these card supply means 101, 102, 103. The card supply 101, 102, 103 organizes the cards face down into a series of cards on a conveyor 104. The conveyor 104 brings the series of cards to a vacuum conveyor 105, which is a card carrier. Where the width of the belt 105 is less than the length of the cards, the cards drawn by the vacuum belt 105 may extend out of the belt at both edges of the vacuum belt.

The system 100 includes a plurality of card collection devices, in this embodiment five card collection devices 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, for collecting a set of cards. Card collection devices 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 are disposed at various positions along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt 105 below the vacuum conveyor belt 105. Other numbers of card collection devices may be provided.

For each card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, the release device 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 is positioned at the same location along the direction of movement of the conveyor as the associated card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110. The release means 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 are activatable release means, more specifically air knives, which blow a stream of compressed air down to the edge of the card that extends beyond the edge of the vacuum belt 105. The release devices 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 are positioned at the front ends of the card collection devices 106, 107, 108, 109, 110. Cards to be removed from the belt are blown off the vacuum belt 105 and fall. For each release 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, a second mating release is positioned at the opposite edge of the vacuum belt, at the same location in the direction of movement of the vacuum belt 105 (not shown in fig. 1 and 2). The release devices work in synchrony in pairs, the pairs of release devices being at the same position in the direction of movement of the vacuum belt 105. Thus, the two sides of the card are suspended from the vacuum belt 105 and the extended portion of the card is blown off. Due to its speed in the direction of movement of the vacuum belt, the cards will drop obliquely downward into the card collection devices 106, 107, 108, 109, 110.

This arrangement of the vacuum belt 105 and the release devices 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 causes the cards to be manipulated without any mechanical elements grasping or striking the surface or edge of the cards. In this way, the vacuum belt 105 and the release devices 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 handle cards more gently and avoid damaging cards sorted in the card collection devices 106, 107, 108, 109, 110.

The system 100 further includes a card recognition device 117 for recognizing cards carried by the vacuum belt 105. The card recognition device 117 may include at least one camera, and optionally more than one camera. The image of the front face captured by the camera or cameras is converted and/or analyzed such that one or more cards identify elements on the front face of the card. In the case of playing cards, the card recognition elements may be rank and suit. Alternatively, the card identification device 117 may obtain a card identity code readable on the front face of the card. Alternatively, the card identification apparatus 117 may read the card identification code by UV light only. The card recognition device 117 may be a UV perceivable camera or may be mated with a UV lighting apparatus. The system 100 may include a defect detection unit 118 for detecting defective cards, which may optionally be integral with the card recognition device 117. The defect detection unit 118 may be adapted to detect defects on both the front and back sides of the card. The card recognition device 117 and the defect detection unit 108 may be combined into the same device. The card recognition device 117 and the defect detection unit 108 may be the same camera. To check for defects on the back of the card, a further camera (not shown) is optionally provided above the conveyor 104 just before the point where the card passes from the conveyor 104 to the vacuum belt 105. The system 100 further comprises a control device 120 adapted to assign each of the identified cards carried by the card moving system 105 to a card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 and to activate a release device 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 positioned at the card collection as the card passes the card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 assigned thereto.

One of the card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 may be used as a card draw bin (or discard bin or removal bin). Defective cards are dispensed by the control device 120 and directed to the card draw bin. The defective cards may be removed, disposed of, or used for another purpose.

One of the card collection devices 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 may be used as a card evacuation bin. For cards for which the control device 120 is unable to dispense a card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 in which a set of cards is compiled or assembled, the cards are dispensed by the control device 120 and directed to the card drop bin. This may occur where all of the card collection devices 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 already include a threshold number of cards having the same card identifying element or elements (number of dots and suit). The withdrawn cards may later be reintroduced into the card string to enable the cards to become part of a set of cards.

Alternatively, in the moving direction of the vacuum conveyor 105, a first card detection device is provided before each of the discharge devices 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, and a second card detection device is provided after the discharge devices 112, 113, 114, 115, 116. In this way, the control device 120 can check whether a card assigned to a given card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 is placed in the assigned card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110. This may be checked by verifying whether the card detection device upstream of the discharge device 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 detects a card and the card detection device downstream of the discharge device 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 does not detect a card.

The control device 120 may track the number of cards stacked in each card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110 with one or more given card identification elements (dot count and suit). When a given threshold number of cards having one or more given card identifying elements have been provided to a given card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, the next card having the one or more card identifying elements will no longer be assigned to that card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110. For each card having one or more given card identification elements, when a threshold number of such cards are collected in a given card collection 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, a set of cards having a given (threshold) number of decks of cards is generated. Cards in the set are randomly arranged at a set level. The control means may also generate a data set comprising card identities in the order in which cards are present in the set of cards.

Figures 2 and 3 schematically show some details of the card moving system. The system includes a conveyor belt adapted to carry one or more cards that are individually attached to an underside of the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt is a vacuum belt 105. The system includes a plurality of release devices, in fig. 2 and 3 activatable release devices 205. Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of such a release device 205, and fig. 3 schematically shows a top view of such a release device 205.

Each of the release devices 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 of fig. 1 may be such an activatable release device 205, more particularly an air knife 201. These air knives are air blowing devices for blowing out connected cards from a conveyor belt (in this embodiment, vacuum belt 105). Each air knife 201 blows a stream or pulse 206 of compressed air down to the edge 203 of the card 200 that extends beyond the edge 204 of the vacuum belt 105. The cards 200 will disengage from the vacuum belt 115 and fall into the corresponding card collection device 202 due to the force exerted by the air flow.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the illustrative embodiments described above, and that the present invention may be embodied with various changes and modifications without departing from the scope thereof. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. In other words, it is intended to cover any and all modifications, variations, or equivalents that fall within the scope of the basic underlying principles and whose essential attributes are claimed in this patent application. Furthermore, the reader of this patent application will understand that the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, that the term "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality, and that a single element (such as a computer system, processor or another integrated unit) may fulfill the functions of several means recited in the claims. Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the associated claim. When the words "first," "second," "third," "a," "b," "c," etc. are used in the specification or in the claims, they are introduced to distinguish between similar elements or steps, and do not necessarily describe a sequential or chronological order. Similarly, the words "top," "bottom," "above," "below," and the like are introduced for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for indicating relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention are capable of operation in other sequences or in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.

Claims

1. A system for producing a plurality of decks, the system comprising:

-a card supply device providing a plurality of cards;

-a card moving system comprising a card carrying device and at least one release device, the at least one release device being an activatable release device to separate the card from the card carrying device;

-a card recognition device for recognizing the cards carried by the card moving system;

-control means for assigning each of the identified cards carried by the card moving system to a card collection means;

wherein for each card collecting device a release device is positioned at the same position along the direction of movement of the conveyor belt, the control device being adapted to activate the release device positioned at the card collecting device when a card passes the card collecting device to which it is dispensed.

2. The system for producing multiple sets of cards according to claim 1, wherein the system comprises a defect detection unit for detecting defective cards.

3. A system for producing multiple sets of cards according to claim 2 wherein the system further comprises a card extraction bin disposed at a given position along the direction of movement of the conveyor below the conveyor, a release device positioned at the same given position along the direction of movement of the conveyor, the control device being adapted to activate the release device at a position along the direction of movement of the conveyor as the defective card passes the card extraction bin.

4. A system for producing multiple sets of cards according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein for each releasing means, a first card detecting means is provided before the releasing means and a second card detecting means is provided after the releasing means in the moving direction of the conveyor belt.

5. The system for producing multiple sets of cards according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the card moving system comprises:

-a conveyor belt adapted to carry one or more cards, the one or more cards being connected to an underside of the conveyor belt, respectively;

-at least one release device for releasing the cards from the conveyor belt, the at least one release device being:

6. The card moving system of claim 5, wherein the release is an activatable release.

7. A card moving system according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the width of the conveyor belt is less than the length of the cards carried.

8. A card moving system according to claim 7, wherein the card moving system includes a providing card providing device that provides cards to be shifted in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the conveyor belt with the length of the cards.

9. The card moving system according to claim 8, wherein the releasing means is a gas blowing means.

10. The card moving system according to claim 9, wherein the air blowing device is an air blowing device including a first air knife.

11. The card moving system according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the air blowing device is an air blowing device including a first pair of air knives, the first air knife and the second air knife of the pair of air knives being positioned at opposite sides of the conveyor belt and at the same position along the moving direction of the conveyor belt.

12. The card moving system according to claim 11, wherein the air blowing device is an air blowing device including a plurality of pairs of air knives, the first air knife and the second air knife in each pair of air knives being positioned on opposite sides of the conveyor belt and at the same position along a moving direction of the conveyor belt.

13. A method for providing a set of randomly shuffled cards, the method comprising the steps of:

-providing a system for producing a plurality of sets of cards according to any one of claims 1 to 12;

-displacing the identified cards along the conveyor belt to the plurality of card collection devices;

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the card supply system provides cards with a front face of the cards facing away from the conveyor belt.

15. The method of claim 13 or 14, wherein at least a portion of the cards provided to the system for producing multiple sets of cards are recycled cards.

16. The method of any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the cards provided to the system for producing multiple sets of cards are randomly arranged.

17. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein the control means generates a sequence of identities of the cards for each set of cards generated in each card collecting means.