Card shuffler

Claim 3

A card shuffler as in claim 1 including means to divide the pack of playing cards into substantially equal portions, said dividing means including: said top edge of each of said separators having a surface that forms an angle with a surface of said compartments substantially greater than 90°, such that a line drawn along said top edge surface intersects the back surface of an adjacent separator a distance below the top edge equal to a T divided by n, where T is a thickness of the pack of cards and n is the number of compartments.

Claim 4

A card shuffler as in claim 2 wherein the back surface of each of said compartments is substantially bi-planar.

Claim 5

A card shuffler as in claim 1 wherein said runners include an upper surface intersected by said imaginary extensions, said upper surfaces being bi-planar.

Claim 6

A card shuffler as in claim 2 wherein said top edge surface of each of said separators is substantially bi-planar.

Claim 7

A card shuffler as in claim 2 wherein the inner case can move in said outer case in only one additional direction, said additional direction being perpendicular to said sliding motion.

Claim 8

A card shuffler as in claim 4 wherein the bottom edge of said separator is of a bi-planar shape that is substantially the mirror image of the bi-planar shape of said runners.

Claim 9

A card shuffler comprising: an outer rectangular case; an inner rectangular case slidably disposed in said outer case; a plurality of parallel separators in said inner rectangular case dividing said inner rectangular case into a series of compartments having front and back surfaces, said separators lying at an acute angle to the direction said inner rectangular case slides in said outer rectangular case; a plurality of runners in said outer rectangular case, each of said runners: located below one of said compartments, and having a bi-planar upper surface of orientation and width such that if imaginary extensions of the front and back surfaces of the compartment above the runner were extended toward the runner, they would intersect said upper surface at substantially right angles; a bottom edge on each of said separators substantially parallel to the upper surface of said runner, said bottom edge being of a bi-planar shape that is substantially the mirror image of the bi-planar shape of the upper surface of said runners.

Claim 10

A card shuffler comprising: an outer rectangular case; an inner rectangular case slidably disposed in said outer case; a plurality of parallel separators in said inner rectangular case dividing said inner rectangular case into a series of compartments having front and back surfaces, said separators lying at an acute angle to the direction said inner rectangular case slides in said outer rectangular case; a plurality of runners in said outer rectangular case, each of said runners: located below one of said compartments, and having a bi-planar upper surface of orientation and width such that if imaginary extensions of the front and back surfaces of the compartment above the runner were extended toward the runner, they would intersect said upper surface at substantially right angles; a bottom edge on each of said separators substantially parallel to the upper surface of said runner, said bottom edge being of a bi-planar shape that is substantially the mirror image of the bi-planar shape of the upper surface of said runners.

Claim 11

A card shuffler as in claim 8 wherein the bi-planar shape of all surfaces and edges is substantially the mirror image of the concavity or convexity of the surface or edge, respectively, of the playing card that rests or faces that particular surface or edge of the card shuffler.

Claim 14

means for preventing the cards from falling out the bottom of said compartments when said inner case is fully inserted in said outer case and permitting said cards to fall out of said compartments, one card substantially simultaneously falling from each of said compartments, as said inner case is slid out of said outer case.

Claim 15

means for preventing the cards from falling out the bottom of said compartments when said inner case is fully inserted in said outer case and permitting said cards to fall out of said compartments, one card substantially simultaneously falling from each of said compartments, as said inner case is slid out of said outer case.

Claim 16

An apparatus as in claim 10 wherein said separators are substantially parallel to each other, and said preventing means comprise a runner associated with each compartment, said runner wider than the perpendicular distance between said front and back surfaces of said compartments.