US 7,461,843 B1
Automatic card shuffler
Thompson Baker, Meridian, Id. (US); Steven J. Blad, Henderson, Nev. (US); Lynn Hessing, Boise, Id. (US); Phil Price, Boise, Id. (US); and Carl W. Price, Boise, Id. (US)
Assigned to Elixir Gaming Technologies, Inc., Las Vegas, Nev. (US)
Filed on Jul. 08, 2004, as Appl. No. 10/887,062.
Application 10/887062 is a continuation in part of application No. 10/757785, filed on Jan. 14, 2004, granted, now 6,959,925.
Application 10/757785 is a continuation of application No. 10/226394, filed on Aug. 23, 2002, granted, now 6,698,756.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A63F 1/12 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 273—149R 9 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for randomly arranging a plurality of playing cards comprising:
a card input unit for receiving and supporting a first stack of playing cards therein, the card input unit defining a first side location adjacent thereto and a second side location adjacent thereto, wherein the first and second side locations are on substantially opposing sides of the card input unit;
a random card ejection unit positioned in the first side location for causing at least a portion of a card to protrude from the first stack of playing cards substantially in the direction of the second side location and at a varying position in the first stack;
a pair of vertically positioned rollers positioned in the second side location and defining a card receiving space between the rollers for receiving the protruding cards at any position in the first stack of playing cards, said rollers rotatable about a vertical axis and being operable to move the cards by contacting opposing edges of the protruding playing cards wherein at least one roller is adjustable to change a horizontal distance between the rollers to accommodate cards having different heights or widths;
a motor for driving said rollers; and
a collection unit for retaining a second stack of playing cards, wherein the second stack of playing cards includes randomly arranged cards.