US2727747A - Card shuffling device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 20, 1955 c. w. SEMISCH, JR

CARD SHUFFLING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 8, 1952 IN VEN TOR. Charles W. Semisch,zTr.

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Dec. 20, 1955 c. w. SEMISCH, JR

CARD SHUFFLING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 8, 1952 INVENTOR. Charles W. S mi$ch,tTr.

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United States Patent C) ice 2,727,747 emu) SHUFFLING DEVICE Charles w. Semisch, In, st. Petershut-g, Fla. ApplicationJulyth1952; Serial No. 297,623 3 claim.- (c1.2'7"3'-1'4s This invention relates to card shuffling devices and more particularly to ahand operated card shuttling device which will autcrnatieally trite-radix the cards in a deck. or pack of playing cards in an irregular manner.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved card shuttling device which is of small size and light Weight so that it can be easily carried place replace and can be placed on a card table when desired; which is hand operated to interniix the cards of a pack of playing cards in an irregular manner and can also be usedtc divide thecards into separate hands of a predetermined number of cards in each hand; which speeds up and facilitates the shuffling of the cards and maintains the' cards in full view while being shuttled or divided into hands; which provides means which holds the cards against scattering while being: shuffled; and which is simple and durablein construction economical to manufacture, easy to use; and neat and attractive in appearance.

other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fighre 1 is a side elevati'onal view of a card shufiling device illustrative of the invention with the device in closedxposition";

A Figure 2 is' a; front elevational view of the device illustrated in Figure 1; i

in Figures 1 and 2;

Figure4 is a side elevatiohal vieiv similar to Figure l but showing the device open position;

Figurefi is a perspective view-of a oard receivingfrarne constituting an operative component of the device;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a roller constituting an operative component of the device;

Figure" 7 is a cross: sectional view on an enlarged scale on thelinc' 7.- 7 of Figure 3;

Figure 3 's 2 top plan view of the device asillustrated Figure 8 is" a cross sectional: view on the line "with continued reference to' the drawings, the device c ofhiprises 2t rectangularho ener lly indicated at havingfspaced apart and substantially/ parallel side walls 11 and 12, spaced apart and substantially parallel top and benefit walls 13' and 14 and a back wall 15 per endicular tdtttl'ey side and h'iid walls', Thebox also hasiapart' i tioiijwall lfijdispojsed midway btweenthe' top and bottom walls 13" and 14 and parallel to the latter dividing the box 2,727,747 Patented Dec. 20, 1955 2 into two card-receiving chambers 17 and 18 of substantially equal size.

The box has no front wall and the top, bottom and partition walls have a width rna'terially less" than the Width of the side walls 11 and 12 and have their rear edges abutting the back wall 15 and their front edges in a plane spaced inwardly from and substantially parallel to the front edges of the side walls 11 and 12.

Rollers 20 and 21 of cylindrical shape extend transversely of the box and are joarn'aled at their opposite end in the side walls 11' and 12. The roller 20 is positioned immediately above the partition wall 16 and adjacent the front edge of the partition wall and the" roller 21 is p'tis'itioned immediately above the bottom wall14'andadjaoent the front edge of the bottom wall. The roller 20 has en circling bands 22 and 23 of friction material,- such as vulcanized rubber, disposed one near each end thereof and the roller 21 has similar bands 24 and 25 for engaging the bottom cards of stacks of cards placed on the rollers and moving the bottom cards of the stacks successively outwardly of the chambers 17 and 18 through the open front side of the box,

The roller 20 has a bore 26 extending coaxially therethrough and a shaft 27 extends through the bore 26 of the roller 20 and through apertures 28 and 29 in the side" walls 11 and 12 respectively and projects outwardly from the outer side of the side wall 12, as illustrated in Figure 8.

The roller 21 has a bore 3% extending coaxially therethrough and a shaft 31 extends through the bore of the roller 21 and through apertures 32 and 33 in'the side walls 11 and 12 and also extends at one end outwardly of the outer side of the side wall 12. A peripherally grooved pulley 35 is mounted on the shaft 27 at the outer side of the side wall 12 and a similar peripherally grooved pulley 36 is mounted on the shaft 31 at the outer side of the side wall ,12. A belt 38 in the form of an endless coil spring is entrained around the pulleys 35 and 36 to constrain the rollers 29 and 21 torotatein the same direction at substantially the same speed. s

A knob 40 of cylindrical shape projects outwardly from the shaft 27 at the outer side of the pulley 35 and this knob can be rolled between the fingers of a person using the device to impart rotation to the rollers 20 and 21.

A U-sha-ped frame, generally indicated at 42, is pivotally connected at its open end to the box 10 by pivotal connections 43 and 44 mounted on the side walls 11 and 12 adjacent the lower front corners of the corresponding side walls.

The frame 42 comprises a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel legs 45 and 46 and a Bight or intermediate portion 47 secured to the legs 45 and 46 at corresponding ends of the latter and extending above and below the legs with the corners of its portion below the legs cut off. The legs have apertures, as indicated at 48 and 49 respectively, at their ends remote from the intermediate portion 47 to receive screws constituting the pivotal connections 43 and 44.

The intermediate portion 47 has a length greater than the distance between the outer surfaceof the side walls 11 and 12 of the box by the thickness of the flat legs 45 and 46 so that the legs can be disposed at the outer sides of the corresponding side walls of the box and swing about the pivotal connections 43 and 44 and has awid'th substantially equal to twice the distance from the front edge of the top wall 13 of the box to the front edges of the side walls 11 and 12-. The frame can be swung to a position in which the intermediate portion 47 thereof rests on the top ends of the side walls 11 and- 12 of the box with its upper edge engaging the front edge of the top wall 13 and closes the space between the front edge of the top wall 13 and the front 3 edges of the side walls 11 and 12 of the box, as shown in Figure 3. The frame can be swung downwardly from the above position to a position in which the lower edge of its intermediate portion rests on an associated table and its legs incline upwardly from their pivotal connections with the side walls to said intermediate portion. In this position the frame is adapted to receive cards moved out of the chambers 17 and 18 by the rollers 20 and 21 during shuffling and to preventthe cards from scattering.

In using the device to shuffle cards, the box is set in upright position on a table and the frame 42 is moved to its position in which the intermediate portion 47 rests on the top of the table. In this position the lower corners of the legs 45 and 46 adjacent the pivotal connections 44 engage the top of the table and slightly raise the front of the box 10. The pack of cards to be shufiled is then divided into two substantially equal parts and one part, as indicated at 53, is placed in the chamber 17 with its bottom surface near the end thereof adjacent the front side of the box resting on the roller 20. The other part of the deck, constituting a stack 54, is placed in the chamber 18 with the bottom card thereof resting on the roller 21 near the end of the stack adjacent the open front side of the box. The rollers 20 and 21 are then rotated in a direction, as indicated by arrows in Figure 11, to move the bottom cards of the two stacks 53 and 54 outwardly of the chambers 17 and 18 and into the frame 42.

As the rollers are rotated the bottom cards of each stack are successively moved from the chambers 17 and 18 into the frame 42 with each bottom card from one stack falling upon the corresponding bottom card from the other stack. The bottom card from the upper stack will not, however, always fall upon the corresponding bottom card from the lower stack, the relative positions of the corresponding bottom cards from the two stacks being irregularly reversed and it may also happen at times that two cards will be moved from one stack during an interval in which only one card is moved from the other stack. This provides an irregular intermixing of the cards which would render any attempt to fix or stack the deck unsuccessful. Also, as the cards are shuffled in full view of all of the players there is no opportunity to intentionally arrange the cards before they are dealt.

When the device is used for dividing the pack of cards into separate hands a stack of cards which may be less than the entire pack is placed in the upper compartment 17 and rests on the upper roller 20, as illustrated in Figure 7, and the frame 42 is positioned so that its intermediate portion overlies the upper edges of the side walls 11 and 12 at thefront edge of the top wall 13. The rollers are then rotated in a direction such that the top roller 20 moves the bottom cards from the stack 56 one at a time out of the chamber 18 and into the frame 42. Engagement of the front ends of the cards with the under surface of the intermediate frame portion 47 singles the cards out as they are removed from the bottom of the stack by the roller 20. The cards are counted as they fall on the table when a predetermined number of cards have been moved out of the box onto the table and the cards, constituting one hand of playing cards, are removed andhanded to a player.

The frame is raised to the uppermost position, as illustrated in Figure 1, when the two stacks of cards 53 and 54 are placed in the box to facilitate placing the cards in the box by moving the intermediate portion 47 of the frame out of the way at this time and is then lowered for shufiling of the cards.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather thanby the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A shufiiing device for a deck of cards comprising a box of rectangular shape having top, bottom, side and back walls and having the front side thereof open, a partition wall in said box substantially parallel to said top and bottom walls dividing the interior of the box into substantially equal card-receiving chambers, card engaging rollers for tangential engagement with a pair of said cards, said rollers extending transversely of said box and journaled at their ends in said side walls one above and adjacent to the front edge of said partition wall and one above and adjacent to the front edge of said bottom wall, said rollers being parallel and vertically aligned, means interconnecting said rollers for simultaneous rotation in the same direction, and means connected to one of said rollers at one end thereof for manually rotating said rollers to move cards outwardly of said chambers through the open front side of said box, and a U-shaped frame pivotally connected at its open end to said box by pivotal connections disposed one adjacent the lower front corner of each side wall and movable to a position in which it extends outward from the bottom end of the front side of said box to receive cards from said rollers, said tangential engagements being on a line contained in a plane extending at an acute angle to the vertical plane of the longitudinal axes of said rollers.

2. A shuifiing device for a deck of cards comprising a box of rectangular shape having top, bottom, side and back walls and having the front side thereof open, a partition wall in said box substantially parallel to said top and bottom walls dividing the interior of the box into substantially equal card-receiving chambers, card engaging rollers for tangential engagement with a pair of said cards, said rollers extending transversely of said box and journaled at their ends in said side walls one above and adjacent to the front edge of said partition wall and one above and adjacent to the front edge of said bottom wall, said rollers being parallel and vertically aligned, means interconnecting said rollers for simultaneous rotation in the same direction, and means connected to one of said rollers at one end thereof for manually rotating said rollers to move cards outwardly of said chambers through the open front side of said box, and a U-shaped frame pivotally connected at its open end to said box by pivotal connections disposed one adjacent the lower front corner of each side wall and movable to a position in which it extends outward from the bottom end of the front side of said box to receive cards from said rollers, said top, bottom and partition walls having their front edges disposed substantially in planes spaced inwardly from and substantially parallel to the front edges of said side walls, said tangential engagements being on a line contained in a plane extending at an acute angle to the vertical plane of the longitudinal axes of said rollers.

3. A shufiling device for a deck of cards comprising a box of rectangular shape having top, bottom, side and back Walls and having the front side thereof open, a partition wall in said box substantially parallel to said top and bottom walls dividing the interior of the box into substantially equal card-receiving chambers, card engaging rollers for tangential engagement with a pair of said cards, said rollers extending transversely of said box and journaled at their ends in said side walls one above and adjacent to the front edge of said partition wall and one above and adjacent to the front edge of said bottom wall, said rollers being parallel and vertically aligned, means interconnecting said rollers for simultaneous rotation in the same direction, and means connected to one of sa id rollers at one end thereof for manually rotating said rollers to move cards outwardlyof said chambers through the open front side of said box, and a U-shaped frame pivotally connected at its open end to said box by pivotal connections disposed one adjacent the lower front corner of each side wall and movable to a position in which it extends outward from the bottom end of the front side of said box to receive cards from said rollers, said top, bottom and partition walls having their front edges dis posed substantially in planes spaced inwardly from and substantially parallel to the front edges of said side walls and said frame including fiat legs disposed in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship and a flat intermediate portion disposed perpendicular to said legs and having a length greater than the distance between the outer surfaces of said side walls by the combined thickness of said legs and a width substantially equal to the distance from the front edge of said top wall to the front edges of said side walls, said frame being movable from said horizontally disposed position to a position in which said intermediate portion is disposed on the top ends of said 6 side walls between the front edges of the latter and the front edge of said top wall, said tangential engagements being on a line contained in a plane extending at an acute angle to the vertical plane of the longitudinal axes of said rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 636,749 Bowden Nov. 14, 1899 1,385,623 Kellogg July 26, 1921 1,885,276 McKay Nov. 1, 1932 1,955,926 Matthaey Apr. 24, 1934 1,984,702 Ruckman et al. Dec. 18, 1934 2,159,958 Sachs May 23, 1939 2,646,988 Phelps July 28, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 183,739 Germany Apr. 2, 1907

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