US5110134A — Card mark sensor and methods for blackjack

Claim 1

Independent Claim 158 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark on a playing card while the playing card is disposed face down during play of a game of Blackjack, said apparatus comprising: playing surface means where the cards are disposed in view of a dealer and at least one player; a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card which further comprises at least one mark detectable by said apparatus; means for sensing and indicating presence or absence of the at least one mark while the card is disposed face down on said surface, the sensing means further comprising: light reflective means; stop means whereat a playing card is positioned for sensing the at least one mark; means for detecting the presence of the card at the stop means; means for sensing the mark; means for indicating presence of the mark; the stop means comprising means for shielding ambient light from the reflective means.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 158 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark on a playing card while the playing card is disposed face down during play of a game of Blackjack, said apparatus comprising: playing surface means where the cards are disposed in view of a dealer and at least one player; a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card which further comprises at least one mark detectable by said apparatus; means for sensing and indicating presence or absence of the at least one mark while the card is disposed face down on said surface, the sensing means further comprising: light reflective means; stop means whereat a playing card is positioned for sensing the at least one mark; means for detecting the presence of the card at the stop means; means for sensing the mark; means for indicating presence of the mark; the stop means comprising means for shielding ambient light from the reflective means.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 48 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark according to claim 1 wherein the light sensing means comprise means for emitting light, means for detecting the intensity of reflected light, and means for differentiating between the at least one mark and no mark.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 152 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark on a playing card while the playing card is disposed face down during play of a game of Blackjack, said apparatus comprising: playing surface means where the cards are disposed in view of a dealer and at least one player; a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card which further comprises at least one mark detectable by said apparatus; means for sensing and indicating presence or absence of the at least one mark while the card is disposed face down on said surface, the sensing means further comprising: stop means whereat a playing card is positioned for sensing the at least one mark; means for detecting the presence of the card at the stop means; means for sensing the mark; means for indicating presence of the mark; the indicating means comprise at least one light emitting diode.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 152 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark on a playing card while the playing card is disposed face down during play of a game of Blackjack, said apparatus comprising: playing surface means where the cards are disposed in view of a dealer and at least one player; a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card which further comprises at least one mark detectable by said apparatus; means for sensing and indicating presence or absence of the at least one mark while the card is disposed face down on said surface, the sensing means further comprising: stop means whereat a playing card is positioned for sensing the at least one mark; means for detecting the presence of the card at the stop means; means for sensing the mark; means for indicating presence of the mark; the indicating means comprise at least one light emitting diode.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 157 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark on a playing card while the playing card is disposed face down during play of a game of Blackjack, said apparatus comprising: playing surface means where the cards are disposed in view of a dealer and at least one player; a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card which further comprises at least one mark detectable by said apparatus; means for sensing and indicating presence or absence of the at least one mark while the card is disposed face down on said surface, the sensing means further comprising: stop means whereat a playing card is positioned for sensing the at least one mark; means for detecting the presence of the card at the stop means; means for sensing the mark; means for indicating presence of the mark; the indicating means comprising means for audibly signalling detection of the at least one mark.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 157 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark on a playing card while the playing card is disposed face down during play of a game of Blackjack, said apparatus comprising: playing surface means where the cards are disposed in view of a dealer and at least one player; a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card which further comprises at least one mark detectable by said apparatus; means for sensing and indicating presence or absence of the at least one mark while the card is disposed face down on said surface, the sensing means further comprising: stop means whereat a playing card is positioned for sensing the at least one mark; means for detecting the presence of the card at the stop means; means for sensing the mark; means for indicating presence of the mark; the indicating means comprising means for audibly signalling detection of the at least one mark.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 28 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark according to claim 4 wherein the emitting means comprise at least one light emitting diode.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 28 words

Apparatus for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of at least one mark according to claim 4 wherein the sensing means comprise at least one light sensitive diode.

Claim 10

Independent Claim 182 words

A method for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of a mark on a playing card during play of the game of Blackjack, while the playing card is disposed face down comprising the steps of: providing a surface, upon which the cards are played, comprising card mark sensor means disposed and accessible to the playing card; providing a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card comprising at least one detectable mark; dealing the cards as in a game of Blackjack, whereby the dealer receives one face-up card and one hole card; when the dealer shows a card which comprises one-half of a Blackjack pair of cards, moving the hole card of the dealer to a detectable mark sensor, the moving step comprising angularly orienting the hole card for insertion into the detectable mark sensor, whereby the angle of orientation is dependent upon the value of the face-up card; detecting the presence or absence of the mark on the hole card indicating the other member of the blackjack pair; providing an discernable indication of the presence or absence of the mark.

Claim 11

Independent Claim 182 words

A method for selectively ascertaining the presence or absence of a mark on a playing card during play of the game of Blackjack, while the playing card is disposed face down comprising the steps of: providing a surface, upon which the cards are played, comprising card mark sensor means disposed and accessible to the playing card; providing a deck of playing cards comprising at least one card comprising at least one detectable mark; dealing the cards as in a game of Blackjack, whereby the dealer receives one face-up card and one hole card; when the dealer shows a card which comprises one-half of a Blackjack pair of cards, moving the hole card of the dealer to a detectable mark sensor, the moving step comprising angularly orienting the hole card for insertion into the detectable mark sensor, whereby the angle of orientation is dependent upon the value of the face-up card; detecting the presence or absence of the mark on the hole card indicating the other member of the blackjack pair; providing an discernable indication of the presence or absence of the mark.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 52 words

A plurality of blackjack playing cards within the range of 4-20 cards each having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the plurality comprising additional face indicia representative in machine detectable form of only the blackjack numerical value of the card without regard to its suit.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 52 words

A plurality of blackjack playing cards within the range of 4-20 cards each having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the plurality comprising additional face indicia representative in machine detectable form of only the blackjack numerical value of the card without regard to its suit.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 29 words

A plurality of blackjack playing cards according to claim 8 wherein the additional face indicia of each card comprise a mark disposed in a corner area of the card.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 64 words

A plurality of blackjack playing cards according to claim 8 wherein cards having blackjack values of ten and eleven are included in the plurality and the additional corner face indicia are in at least one specific corner location for the cards having a blackjack value of ten and in at least one other specific corner location for cards having a blackjack value of eleven.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 27 words

A plurality of blackjack playing cards according to claim 8 wherein the additional face indicia of each card comprise an opaque mark which is statically optically detectable.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 27 words

A plurality of blackjack playing cards according to claim 8 wherein the additional face indicia of each card comprise a magnetic mark capable of being magnetically sensed.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 87 words

A deck of blackjack playing cards which are selectively value detectable comprising: a first plurality of blackjack playing cards within the range of 4-20 cards each having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the first plurality comprising additional face indicia representative in machine detectable form of only the blackjack numerical value of the card without regard to its suit; a second plurality of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck, excluding the first plurality, comprising normal playing cards.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 87 words

A deck of blackjack playing cards which are selectively value detectable comprising: a first plurality of blackjack playing cards within the range of 4-20 cards each having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the first plurality comprising additional face indicia representative in machine detectable form of only the blackjack numerical value of the card without regard to its suit; a second plurality of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck, excluding the first plurality, comprising normal playing cards.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 111 words

A deck of binarily yes/no value encoded blackjack cards comprising: a first plurality of blackjack playing cards within the range of 4-20 cards each having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the first plurality comprising a "yes" face region representative in machine detectable form of the blackjack numerical value of the card without regard to the suit; a second plurality of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck excluding the first plurality, each card of the second plurality comprising a "no" face region representative in machine detectable form that the card has a numerical value less than ten without regard to suit.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 111 words

A deck of binarily yes/no value encoded blackjack cards comprising: a first plurality of blackjack playing cards within the range of 4-20 cards each having a blackjack value within the range of ten to eleven, each card of the first plurality comprising a "yes" face region representative in machine detectable form of the blackjack numerical value of the card without regard to the suit; a second plurality of blackjack playing cards comprising the remainder of the deck excluding the first plurality, each card of the second plurality comprising a "no" face region representative in machine detectable form that the card has a numerical value less than ten without regard to suit.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 123 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection system by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: a detection head adapted for use at a blackjack table comprising means for receiving and holding a dealer's down card in a stationary position; card numerical value detecting means comprising means which sense, when down card is in said stationary position within the head, which sense only yes information carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least each ace card and only no information carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; player notification means by which a humanly intelligible signal occurs representative of the yes or no information detected from the card.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 123 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection system by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: a detection head adapted for use at a blackjack table comprising means for receiving and holding a dealer's down card in a stationary position; card numerical value detecting means comprising means which sense, when down card is in said stationary position within the head, which sense only yes information carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least each ace card and only no information carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; player notification means by which a humanly intelligible signal occurs representative of the yes or no information detected from the card.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 18 words

A system according to claim 15 wherein the means which sense comprise illumination means and illumination detection means.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 36 words

A system according to claim 15 wherein the card numerical value detecting means comprise switch means for enabling and disabling the means which sense responsive to insertion and removal of a card into the detection head.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 48 words

A system according to claim 15 wherein the detection head is adjacent the left side of the dealer and the means for receiving and holding is adapted to receive the dealer's down card in either a direction away from the dealer or right-to-left as viewed by the dealer.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 151 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection system by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: a detection head adapted for use at a blackjack table comprising means for accepting a dealer's down card from at least two directions and holding the accepted card in a stationary position; card numerical value detecting means comprising means which sense, when the down card is in said stationary position within the head, only yes information carried in machine detectable form at a first location on the face of each ace card and in machine detectable form at another location on the face of each card having a blackjack numerical value of ten and only no information carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; player notification means by which a humanly intelligible signal occurs representative of the yes/no information detected from the card.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 151 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection system by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: a detection head adapted for use at a blackjack table comprising means for accepting a dealer's down card from at least two directions and holding the accepted card in a stationary position; card numerical value detecting means comprising means which sense, when the down card is in said stationary position within the head, only yes information carried in machine detectable form at a first location on the face of each ace card and in machine detectable form at another location on the face of each card having a blackjack numerical value of ten and only no information carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; player notification means by which a humanly intelligible signal occurs representative of the yes/no information detected from the card.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 48 words

A system according to claim 19 wherein the means which sense comprise illumination means and first illumination detection means for detecting the yes information on the ace cards and second illumination detection means for detecting the yes information on the cards having a blackjack numerical value of ten.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 42 words

A system according to claim 19 wherein the card numerical value detecting means comprise switch means for enabling and disabling the means which sense responsive to insertion and removal of a card into the detection head independent of the direction of insertion.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 108 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection method by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: manually placing a dealer's down card into a stationary position at a card numerical value detection site at a blackjack table; machine detecting yes information representative of a blackjack numerical value of eleven carried on the face of each ace card and no information representative of a blackjack numerical value of less than ten carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; machine issuing a human intelligible signal at the blackjack table representative of the yes/no information detected from the card.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 108 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection method by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: manually placing a dealer's down card into a stationary position at a card numerical value detection site at a blackjack table; machine detecting yes information representative of a blackjack numerical value of eleven carried on the face of each ace card and no information representative of a blackjack numerical value of less than ten carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; machine issuing a human intelligible signal at the blackjack table representative of the yes/no information detected from the card.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 133 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection method by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: manually placing a dealer's down card into a stationary position at a card numerical value detection site at a blackjack table; machine detecting yes information representative of a blackjack numerical value of eleven carried in machine detectable form on the face of each ace card, yes information representative of a blackjack numerical value of ten carried on the face of each ten, jack, queen and king card, and no information representative of a blackjack numerical value less than ten carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; machine issuing a human intelligible signal at the blackjack table representative of the yes/no information detected from the card.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 133 words

A binary yes/no blackjack detection method by which the game of blackjack is accelerated comprising: manually placing a dealer's down card into a stationary position at a card numerical value detection site at a blackjack table; machine detecting yes information representative of a blackjack numerical value of eleven carried in machine detectable form on the face of each ace card, yes information representative of a blackjack numerical value of ten carried on the face of each ten, jack, queen and king card, and no information representative of a blackjack numerical value less than ten carried in machine detectable form on the face of at least all cards having a numerical value less than ten; machine issuing a human intelligible signal at the blackjack table representative of the yes/no information detected from the card.

Claim 35

Independent Claim 77 words

A method of playing a game of twenty-one at a more rapid pace comprising the steps of: during the game, ascertaining when a dealer's up card is an ace; thereafter inserting the dealer's down card while face down into a reading device; ascertaining via the reading device if the down card has a value of ten; when it is so ascertained that the value of the dealer's down card is ten, declaring immediately the dealer the winner.

Claim 36

Independent Claim 77 words

A method of playing a game of twenty-one at a more rapid pace comprising the steps of: during the game, ascertaining when a dealer's up card is an ace; thereafter inserting the dealer's down card while face down into a reading device; ascertaining via the reading device if the down card has a value of ten; when it is so ascertained that the value of the dealer's down card is ten, declaring immediately the dealer the winner.

Claim 37

Independent Claim 135 words

A method of playing a game of twenty-one at a more rapid pace comprising the steps of: during the game, ascertaining when a dealer's up card is an ace; thereafter, inserting the dealer's down card while face down into a reading device; ascertaining via the reading device if the down card has a value of ten; when it is so ascertained that the value of the dealer's down card is ten, declaring immediately the dealer the winner; during the game, ascertaining when the dealer's up card has a value of ten; thereafter, inserting the dealer's down card while face down into the reading device; ascertaining via the reading device if the down card is an ace; when it is so ascertained that the dealer's down card is an ace, declaring immediately the dealer the winner.

Claim 38

Independent Claim 135 words

A method of playing a game of twenty-one at a more rapid pace comprising the steps of: during the game, ascertaining when a dealer's up card is an ace; thereafter, inserting the dealer's down card while face down into a reading device; ascertaining via the reading device if the down card has a value of ten; when it is so ascertained that the value of the dealer's down card is ten, declaring immediately the dealer the winner; during the game, ascertaining when the dealer's up card has a value of ten; thereafter, inserting the dealer's down card while face down into the reading device; ascertaining via the reading device if the down card is an ace; when it is so ascertained that the dealer's down card is an ace, declaring immediately the dealer the winner.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1995-05-05	1995-11-04	1996-05-05	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1999-05-05	1999-11-04	2000-05-05	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2003-05-05	2003-11-04	2004-05-05	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Card mark sensor and methods for blackjack

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