JP2023085500A - Card drawing method and table game system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a card shooter apparatus capable of preventing a fraudulent act.SOLUTION: A card shooter apparatus 4 includes: a card guide unit 7 for guiding a card 1 drawn one by one from a card storage unit 5 toward a game table 6; a code reading unit 8 for reading a code indicating the number (number, rank) of the card 1 from the card 1 when the card 1 is drawn from the card storage unit 5; an authenticity determination unit for determining authenticity of the card from information on the authenticity of the card; a win/lose determination unit 10 for determining winning or lose of the card game on the basis of the number of the card 1 which is sequentially read by the code reading unit 8; and an output unit 11 for outputting a determination result of the win/lost determination unit 10. The card guide unit 7 is provided with card access restricting units 30, 40 for restricting the access of the card 1 from the card storage unit 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a card shooter device and method having fraud prevention functions in card games such as baccarat using playing cards (hereinafter simply referred to as cards).

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, card shooter devices suitable for use in card games in casinos have been proposed. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a card shooter device. In the device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the card shooter incorporates a CCD image sensor and related optical components. A card reading window is provided at the exit of the card shooter. When the card passes through the shooter exit, the suit (kind) and rank (number) of the card are read through the reading window.

Patent Document 1: Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 10-508236 (page 12, FIG. 1)

However, such a device cannot prevent fraud such as insertion of a counterfeit card through the outlet of the card shooter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made under the above background, and its object is to prevent the insertion or distribution of illegal cards into a card shooter used in a card game, and to prevent cards that should not be distributed from being distributed on a game table. To provide a card shooter device and method capable of preventing distribution to a third party.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the card shooter device of the present invention comprises: a card storage section for storing a plurality of cards; an opening for manually taking out the cards one by one from the card storage section; and the card storage section. a card reading unit for reading information on a card manually drawn out onto a game table from a card reading unit; a control unit for determining whether the card game is won or lost according to the rules of , a display unit for outputting the result of winning or losing determined by the control unit, and a card insertion/removal provided in the opening for restricting the insertion/removal of cards from/to the card storage unit. and a restriction section, wherein the card storage section, the card reading section, the control section, the display section, and the card insertion/removal restriction section are integrated, and the card insertion/removal restriction section includes: 1) the opening from the outside; 2) a function to prevent the insertion of a card that is inserted in the opposite direction toward the card storage portion through the card storage portion; and a function to prevent further cards from being withdrawn when they should not be withdrawn.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a card shooter device and method capable of preventing illegal acts such as illegal insertion of a card into the card shooter device and illegal or inappropriate card distribution on the spot.

1 is a block diagram showing the entire card shooter device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a card according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the card guide of the card shooter device according to the embodiment of the present invention, with a part of the card guide broken; (a) Side cross-sectional view of the card shooter device according to the embodiment of the present invention, showing a card insertion/removal restriction unit for limiting the insertion/removal of cards from the card storage unit, (b) Card shooter device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of a main part showing a modified example of a card insertion/removal restricting portion for restricting insertion/removal of a card from the card storage portion of FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between output waveforms of sensors and marks in the card shooter device according to the embodiment of the present invention;

An embodiment of the table game system of the present invention will be described in detail below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the entire card shooter device used in the table game system of this embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a card 1 used in the table game system of this embodiment. A card 1 used in a table game such as baccarat is provided with a code 2 composed of a mark M that is normally invisible on the upper side and the lower side of the card 1 in point symmetry. The code 2 encodes the number (number, rank) of the card 1 . In addition, the card 1 is provided with an authenticity determination code 3 which is arranged by printing or the like in an invisible state (for example, ultraviolet reactive ink) by coding information representing the authenticity of the card.

In FIG. 1, the card shooter device 4 includes a card guide portion 7 for guiding the cards 1 manually pulled out one by one from the card containing portion 5 toward the game table 6, and a card guide portion 7 for guiding the cards 1 from the card containing portion 5 to the casino. Based on the number of cards 1 read sequentially by the code reading unit 8 that reads the code 2 representing the number (number, rank) of the card 1 from the card 1 when the dealer etc. manually withdraws It includes a win/loss determination unit 10 for determining whether the card game is won or lost, and an output unit 11 for outputting the determination result of the win/loss determination unit 10 . The card guide portion 7 is provided with card insertion/removal restriction portions 30 and 40 (described later) for restricting the insertion/removal of the card 1 from/to the card storage portion 5 .

Next, details of the code reading section 8 for reading the code 2 representing the number (number, rank) of the card 1 from the card 1 when the card 1 is manually pulled out from the card housing section 5 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the essential parts of the card shooter device 4. As shown in FIG. In the figure, the code reading section 8 is provided in a card guide section 7 that guides the cards 1 manually taken out one by one from the opening 13 in front of the card storage section 5 onto the game table 6 . The card guide portion 7 is an inclined surface, and card guides 14 that also serve as sensor covers are attached to the edges on both sides. Each of the two card guides 14 can be attached and detached with a screw or the like (not shown). When the card guide 14 is removed, the sensor group 15 of the code reader 8 is exposed. The sensor group 15 is composed of four sensors, two ultraviolet reaction sensors (UV sensors) 20 and 21 and object detection sensors 22 and 23 .

The object detection sensors 22 and 23 are optical fiber type sensors for detecting the presence or absence of the card 1 and can detect the movement of the card 1 . The object detection sensor 22 is located on the upstream side of the card guide portion 7 along the flow direction of the cards 1, and the other object detection sensor 23 is located on the downstream side. As shown in the figure, both object detection sensors 22 and 23 are provided upstream and downstream of the UV sensors 20 and 21 . The UV sensors 20 and 21 include LEDs (ultraviolet LEDs) that emit ultraviolet rays and detectors. The mark M of the code 2 is printed on the card 1 with ultraviolet luminous ink that develops color when exposed to ultraviolet light, and the card 1 is irradiated with ultraviolet light (black light), and the mark M of the code 2 on the card 1 is reflected. Light is detected by the detector. The UV sensors 20 and 21 are connected to the controller 12 of the code reader 8 via cables.
It is connected to the. The code reading unit 8 determines the combination of the marks M from the output signals of the detectors of the UV sensors 20 and 21 and determines the number (rank) corresponding to each code 2 .

The code reading unit 8 is controlled by the controller 12 to start and end the reading of the UV sensors 20 and 21 based on the detection signals of the object detection sensors 22 and 23 . The control device 12 also determines whether or not the card 1 has passed through the card guide portion 7 normally based on the detection signals of the object detection sensors 22 and 23 . As shown in FIG. 2, square marks M representing the rank (number) and suit (heart, spade, etc.) of the card are arranged along the edge of the card 1 in two columns and four rows. When the UV sensors 20 and 21 detect the mark M, they output ON signals. The code reading unit 8 determines the relative relationship between the two signals input from the two UV sensors 20 and 21 . As a result, the code reading unit 8 identifies the code based on the relative difference between the two marks M detected by the two UV sensors 20 and 21, and determines the number (rank) and type (suit) of the corresponding cards 1. identify.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between Code 2 and the ON signal outputs of the two UV sensors 20 and 21 . A predetermined combination of marks M can be identified based on the comparison result of relative changes in the output of the ON signals of the UV sensors 20 and 21 . As a result, when four types of combinations of marks M in two upper and lower lines are printed in four lines, 256 types of codes can be constructed by multiplying the four types by the fourth power. 52 kinds of playing cards are assigned to one of 256 kinds of codes, respectively, and this is stored as a comparison table in a memory or a program, and the code reading unit 8 specifies each code 2, which is determined in advance. The number (rank) and type (suit) of cards 1 are identified from a comparison table (not shown). In addition, the 256 types of codes can be associated with 52 types of cards in a free combination and stored in a comparison table, so that the combinations can be complicated, and the 256 types of codes and 52 types of cards can be combined according to time and place. can be changed. The code is printed with a paint that can be visualized by receiving ultraviolet light, and is preferably printed at a position that does not overlap the card type indication or the index 102 .

Next, the configuration of the control device 12 will be described. The control device 12, the code reading unit 8, the winning/losing determining unit 10, and the like are computer devices. This program is executed by the processor of the computer. The code reader 8 uses UV sensors 20 and 21 to obtain the number of cards that are sequentially taken out to the game table 6, and the obtained number of cards is sequentially stored in a memory. At this time, information as to which player each card 1 has been dealt is also stored. The number of cards is stored in association with the player to whom it is dealt. In the baccarat game, there is a player and a banker. The rank (number) of the cards dealt in association with each player is stored in memory, and the rank (number) of the cards dealt to both players is summed to determine who wins from the programmed rules. A draw is also determined.

Next, the card insertion/removal restricting section 30 for restricting the insertion/removal of the card 1 from/to the card storage section 5 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4( a ), the card insertion/removal restriction unit 30 is provided in the card guide 14 of the card guide unit 7 that guides the cards 1 taken out one by one from the opening 13 in front of the card storage unit 5 onto the game table 6 . It is The card insertion/removal restriction unit 30 prevents the card 1 from entering/exiting the slot 33 by pressing the card 1 with the lock member 34 when the card 1 passes through the slot 33 between the card guide unit 7 and the guide cover of the card guide 14 . It has a structure that prevents The lock member 34 is driven by a drive unit 35 such as an electromagnetic solenoid or a piezoelectric element so that it can take two states: a position where the card 1 is pressed (restricted position) and a passable position where the card 1 can pass. Move as indicated by arrow M. The driving unit 35 is controlled by the control device 12 to move the locking member 34 between two states, a position for pressing the card 1 and a passable position for allowing the card 1 to pass. The control device 12 pre-programs and stores the rules of the baccarat game.

Next, a modified example of the card insertion/removal restriction unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 4(b). The card insertion/removal restriction unit 40 in the modified example has a lock member 36 that protrudes into the slot 33 when the card 1 passes through the slot 33 between the card guide unit 7 and the card guide 14 guide cover to prevent the card 1 from moving. It has a blocking structure. The locking member 36 can take two states, a position (restricted position) to block movement of the card 1 and a passable position to allow the passage of the card 1, by a driving portion 37 such as an electromagnetic solenoid or a piezoelectric element. , move as indicated by arrow M. The drive unit 37 is controlled by the control device 12 to move the lock member 36 between two states, a position for pressing the card 1 and a passable position for allowing the card 1 to pass.

The program of the control device 12 controls the drive units 35 and 37 to prevent unauthorized insertion and removal of the card 1, thereby causing the card insertion/removal restriction unit 30 (40) to function. The card insertion/removal restriction unit 30 (40) is provided with object detection sensors 22 and 23 as sensors for detecting movement of the card 1. The movement of the card 1 is detected by these sensors and movement of the card 1 is restricted. It has the function to Contents (programmed contents) to be controlled as unauthorized entry/exit of the card 1 include at least the following 1) and 2).

1) A function to prevent the card 1 from being inserted from the outside through the opening 13 toward the card storage portion 5 in the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow S.
In this case, when the card 1 is inserted for fraudulent purposes, the card 1 passes through the slot 33 between the card guide portion 7 and the card guide 14. Movement in the direction opposite to the normal direction (the direction opposite to the arrow S in FIG. 3) is detected, and the drive units 35 and 37 move the lock members 34 and 36 to positions where the card 1 is pressed or blocked by the program of the control device 12. do.

2) The card 1 read by the card reading unit (meaning the code reading unit 8 that reads the code 2 representing the number (number, rank) of the card 1 from the card 1 when the card 1 is pulled out from the card storage unit 5) A function to prevent the card 1 from being drawn when it should not be drawn out from the card accommodating part 5 based on the information on the suit and rank of the card.
In this case, the rules of the baccarat game are programmed in advance in the control device 12 as described above. In the baccarat game, whether or not the banker and the player should draw two or more cards 1 each is uniquely determined by the total rank (number) of the two cards already distributed to the banker and the player. Therefore, if the dealer of each table tries to distribute card 1 when the third card should not be drawn, the movement of card 1 is restricted because it violates the rules. When the card 1 is about to be pulled at a timing and situation where it should not be pulled, the movement of the card 1 is detected based on the detection signal of the card 1 from the object detection sensor 22, and the program of the controller 12 controls the drive unit 35, The lock members 34 and 36 are moved to positions where the card 1 is pressed or blocked by the card 37 . As a result, the locking members 34 and 36 are moved to the position where they push or block the card 1, blocking further distribution of the card 1 (the position shown in FIG. 4). In this way, the withdrawal of the card 1, which is a violation of the dealer's rules, is detected and the withdrawal of the card 1 is prevented. Less wear and tear.

When the card insertion/removal restriction unit 30 (40) is activated, an error signal output unit 50 is provided to inform the outside (lights a lamp and emits an alarm sound), and the operation is controlled by the controller 12.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the card shooter device according to the present invention has the effect of preventing fraudulent acts such as illegally inserting a card into the card shooter device or illegally or inappropriately distributing cards on the spot. It is used and useful for card games in casinos and the like.

1 card 2 code 3 authenticity determination code 4 card shooter device 5 card storage unit 6 game table 7 card guide unit 8 code reading unit 10 win/loss determination unit 11 output unit 12 control device 13 opening 14 card guide 15 sensor group 20 ultraviolet reaction sensor (UV sensor)
21 Ultraviolet reaction sensor (UV sensor)
22 object detection sensor 23 object detection sensor 30 card insertion/removal restriction unit 33 slot 34 locking member 35 driving unit 36 locking member 37 driving unit 40 card insertion/removal restriction unit 50 error signal output unit 102 index

Claims (10)

A method for pulling out a card from a card storage part,
a card guide portion in which the card is manually pulled out;
an opening through which the cards are manually drawn one at a time;
including
automatically detecting attempts to manually withdraw a card from the opening when the card should not be withdrawn;
outputting a signal when an attempt to manually withdraw a card from the opening is detected when the card should not be withdrawn;
provided that
A method of withdrawing cards from said card compartment when said card should not be drawn, when further card drawing would be against the rules. The card storage section further includes:
a lock member for selectively restricting movement of the card by hand at the card guide;
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating a locking member when the signal is output. automatically detects when a card is inserted through an opening,
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising, based on automatic detection, activating a feature that restricts inappropriate card movement. retrieving card information associated with each individual card that is manually pulled from the opening;
4. The method of any one of claims 1-3, further comprising activating a function to limit inappropriate card distribution based on the obtained information. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the card information includes at least a code indicative of one of card rank and suit. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising comparing the code obtained in the card information obtaining step with a predetermined code stored in memory. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the card information includes an authenticity determination code for each card. A method for drawing out a card from a card storage unit in a card game,
The card storage section has a card guide section in which the card is manually moved,
an opening through which the cards are manually drawn one at a time;
including
determining whether or not it is inappropriate based on information on the suit and rank of the card read by the card reader;
automatically detecting attempts in a card game to manually pull a card out of an opening at an inappropriate time;
output a signal when it detects an attempt to manually withdraw a card at an inappropriate time;
A method of drawing a card, comprising: 9. The method of claim 8, wherein an inappropriate time is when drawing an additional card is against the rules. The card storage section further includes:
a lock member for selectively restricting movement of the card by hand at the card guide;
10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising activating a locking member as a function of restricting distribution of said cards.

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