Apparatus for distributing playing cards automatically

Claim 1

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table, said drive means being normally inoperative to drive said table; means responsive to partial preliminary rotation of the table for switching the drive means into an operative condition to drive the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; and means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device.

Claim 2

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table, said drive means being normally inoperative to drive said table; means responsive to partial preliminary rotation of the table for switching the drive means into an operative condition to drive the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; and means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device.

Claim 8

A device for distributing play cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device; an ejection outlet mounted to the table; said deck of cards being supported on the table by at least three supports, two of said supports being disposed in spaced relation at the ejection outlet, the third of said supports comprising a pallet mounted to the table rearwardly of and between the first two supports; each of said three supports each having an upper card-supporting surface, the card-supporting surfaces of said two of said supports being inclined downwardly and rearwardly and said card-supporting surface of said pallet being inclined downwardly and forwardly.

Claim 9

A device for distributing play cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device; an ejection outlet mounted to the table; said deck of cards being supported on the table by at least three supports, two of said supports being disposed in spaced relation at the ejection outlet, the third of said supports comprising a pallet mounted to the table rearwardly of and between the first two supports; each of said three supports each having an upper card-supporting surface, the card-supporting surfaces of said two of said supports being inclined downwardly and rearwardly and said card-supporting surface of said pallet being inclined downwardly and forwardly.

Claim 14

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device; a pressure plate constructed and arranged to be placed on top of the uppermost card in the deck; detent means carried by the pressure plate and extending through a hole in the pressure plate to rest on the uppermost card in the deck, said detent means being disposed such that as the uppermost card in the deck is ejected from the device the detent means will fall and project through the hole, the detent means being located so as to interfere with the ejection mechanism and lock the ejection mechanism from further operation; and the drive means being constructed and arranged to become disabled in response to locking of the ejection mechanism.

Claim 15

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device; a pressure plate constructed and arranged to be placed on top of the uppermost card in the deck; detent means carried by the pressure plate and extending through a hole in the pressure plate to rest on the uppermost card in the deck, said detent means being disposed such that as the uppermost card in the deck is ejected from the device the detent means will fall and project through the hole, the detent means being located so as to interfere with the ejection mechanism and lock the ejection mechanism from further operation; and the drive means being constructed and arranged to become disabled in response to locking of the ejection mechanism.

Claim 19

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device; the ejection means having an ejection outlet including an ejection slot dimensioned to pass at least one card therethrough; means enabling the height of the ejection slot to be varied to enable a selected number of cards to be ejected therethrough at the same time; said ejection station further comprising means for supporting the deck of cards on the table at at least three locations, two of said locations being disposed at the ejection outlet and being spaced with respect to each other, the third of said supports comprising a pallet mounted to the table rearwardly of the first two supports; a selector bar disposed above said two spaced supports; and means for varying the height of the selector bar above said two supports, said variable heightwise positioning means comprising: a flexible rod supported at its ends by the table and over said two supports; the selector bar having a pair of spaced projections extending forwardly therefrom; eccentric cam means mounted to the selector bar for rotation thereon about the two projections, the cam and two supports being disposed with respect to the flexible rod to grip the rod therebetween and to cause the rod to bow to an extent determined by the position of the eccentric cam means, the extent of bowing of the flexible rod determining the heightwise positioning of the selector plate.

Claim 20

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a fixed base; a table rotatably mounted on the base; drive means for rotating the table; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and operative in response to rotation of the table, said ejection means being constructed and arranged to engage the bottom card in the deck and eject the bottom card for each operation of the ejection means, the ejection means being constructed and arranged as to effect a predetermined number of complete cycles thereof for each complete rotation of the table; means responsive to ejection of the last card in the deck for disabling the drive means thereby automatically stopping the device; the ejection means having an ejection outlet including an ejection slot dimensioned to pass at least one card therethrough; means enabling the height of the ejection slot to be varied to enable a selected number of cards to be ejected therethrough at the same time; said ejection station further comprising means for supporting the deck of cards on the table at at least three locations, two of said locations being disposed at the ejection outlet and being spaced with respect to each other, the third of said supports comprising a pallet mounted to the table rearwardly of the first two supports; a selector bar disposed above said two spaced supports; and means for varying the height of the selector bar above said two supports, said variable heightwise positioning means comprising: a flexible rod supported at its ends by the table and over said two supports; the selector bar having a pair of spaced projections extending forwardly therefrom; eccentric cam means mounted to the selector bar for rotation thereon about the two projections, the cam and two supports being disposed with respect to the flexible rod to grip the rod therebetween and to cause the rod to bow to an extent determined by the position of the eccentric cam means, the extent of bowing of the flexible rod determining the heightwise positioning of the selector plate.

Claim 21

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a base; a platform rotatably mounted to the base; a first gear rigidly secured to the platform; a table rotatably supported by the platform; a ring gear secured to the table; a motor having a drive gear attached thereto, the drive gear being in mesh with the ring gear; means mounted to the table for supporting a deck of cards; an ejector mounted to the table, the ejector being reciprocable to sequentially eject cards from the deck in the direction away from the device; and means for reciprocating the ejector device including a crank mechanism mounted to the table for rotation therewith, the crank mechanism connected to the ejector, the crank mechanism further including a second gear in mesh with said first gear, said second gear being rotated in response to rotation of said table with respect to said platform.

Claim 22

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a base; a platform rotatably mounted to the base; a first gear rigidly secured to the platform; a table rotatably supported by the platform; a ring gear secured to the table; a motor having a drive gear attached thereto, the drive gear being in mesh with the ring gear; means mounted to the table for supporting a deck of cards; an ejector mounted to the table, the ejector being reciprocable to sequentially eject cards from the deck in the direction away from the device; and means for reciprocating the ejector device including a crank mechanism mounted to the table for rotation therewith, the crank mechanism connected to the ejector, the crank mechanism further including a second gear in mesh with said first gear, said second gear being rotated in response to rotation of said table with respect to said platform.

Claim 24

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a base; a platform rotatably mounted on the base; a table rotatably mounted on the platform; electrically powered drive means for rotating the table with respect to the base and the platform; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and being in engagement with the platform, said ejection means being operative in response to rotation of the table with respect to the platform to eject cards from the deck to a plurality of circumferentially spaced locations about the device; means responsive to ejection of the last card of the deck for precluding further operation of the ejection means; said platform including a cam; means for normally precluding rotation of the cam during operation of the ejection means; means responsive to stopping of the ejection means for rotating the cam; and switch means responsive to rotation of the cam for terminating operation of the drive means.

Claim 25

A device for distributing playing cards comprising: a base; a platform rotatably mounted on the base; a table rotatably mounted on the platform; electrically powered drive means for rotating the table with respect to the base and the platform; means for supporting a deck of cards on the table for rotation therewith; ejection means carried by the table and being in engagement with the platform, said ejection means being operative in response to rotation of the table with respect to the platform to eject cards from the deck to a plurality of circumferentially spaced locations about the device; means responsive to ejection of the last card of the deck for precluding further operation of the ejection means; said platform including a cam; means for normally precluding rotation of the cam during operation of the ejection means; means responsive to stopping of the ejection means for rotating the cam; and switch means responsive to rotation of the cam for terminating operation of the drive means.