System and method to handle playing cards, employing manual movable cover

Abstract

A card shoe handling device includes a cover that is manually movable from a closed position to an opened position and a locking mechanism operable to selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system. In the closed position the cover limits access to playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver from an exterior of the playing card handling system and in the opened position the cover does not limit access to playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver from an exterior of the playing card handling system.

1 . A playing card handling system, comprising:
 a playing card input receiver sized and positioned to receive a number of playing cards to be handled by the playing card handling system;   a playing card output receiver sized and positioned to receive a number of playing cards handled by the playing card handling system;   at least one playing card transport path between the playing card input receiver and the playing card output receiver, along which at least some of the playing cards pass from the playing card input receiver to the playing card output receiver;   at least one intermediary playing card receiver positioned in the at least one playing card transport path between the playing card input receiver and the playing card output receiver;   a cover manually movable from a closed position to an opened position, where in the closed position the cover limits access from an exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver and in the opened position the cover does not limit access from the exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver; and   a locking mechanism operable to selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system.   
   
   
       2 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the locking mechanism is operable selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position in response to a total number of playing cards on the playing card output receiver being equal or greater than an output playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       3 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the locking mechanism is operable selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position in response to a total number of playing cards arranged in an order being equal or greater than an output playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       4 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the locking mechanism is operable selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position based at least in part on a comparison of a total number of playing cards in the intermediary playing card receiver to an intermediary playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       5 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the locking mechanism is operable selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position based at least in part on a comparison of a total number of playing cards in the intermediary playing card receiver being less than an intermediary playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       6 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is mounted for sliding movement between the opened and the closed positions. 
   
   
       7 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is mounted for pivotal movement between the opened and the closed positions. 
   
   
       8 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the cover is mounted to another portion of the playing card handling system for pivotal movement between the opened and the closed positions. 
   
   
       9 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least one spring physically coupled to bias the cover into the closed position.   
   
   
       10 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein in the opened position the cover forms an acute angle with respect to a gravitational vector, such that a gravitational force biases the cover toward the closed position. 
   
   
       11 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the cover in the opened position is not biased toward the closed position. 
   
   
       12 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1  wherein the playing card handling system is operable to provide playing cards to the playing card output receiver in an order, wherein the order is at least one of a sorted order or a random order. 
   
   
       13 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an elevator mechanism physically coupled to the playing card output receiver and operable to selectively move the playing card output receiver between a lowered position and a raised position, where in the lowered position the playing card output receiver is positioned below a surface of a gaming table and in the raised position at least some of the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver are positioned above the surface of the gaming table.   
   
   
       14 . The playing card handling system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an elevator mechanism physically coupled to the playing card output receiver and operable to selectively move the playing card output receiver between a lowered position and a raised position, where in the lowered position the playing card output receiver is positioned below a surface of a gaming table and in the raised position at least some of the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver are positioned above the surface of the gaming table, and wherein the switch is coupled to cause the elevator mechanism to move the playing card output receiver to the raised position in response to the cover being in the opened position.   
   
   
       15 . The playing card handling system of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a switch operable to cause the elevator mechanism to move the playing card output receiver to the raised position in response to a position of the cover.   
   
   
       16 . The playing card handling system of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 a switch operable to cause the elevator mechanism to raise the playing card output receiver to the raised position in response to the cover being in the opened position.   
   
   
       17 . A playing card handling system, comprising:
 a playing card input receiver positioned to receive a number of playing cards to be ordered by the playing card handling system;   a playing card output receiver positioned to provide a number of playing cards ordered by the playing card handling system;   ordering means for providing the playing cards received in the playing card input receiver to the playing card output receiver in an order different from an order of the playing cards in the playing card input receiver;   a cover manually movable from a closed position to an opened position, where in the closed position the cover substantially limits access from an exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver and in the opened position the cover does not substantially limit access from the exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver;   means for causing a delivery of at least some of the playing cards externally from the playing card handling system in response to at least one of a movement or a position of the cover; and   locking means for selectively locking and unlocking the cover in the closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system.   
   
   
       18 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the locking means is operable to selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position in response to a total number of playing cards on the playing card output receiver being equal or greater than an output playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       19 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the locking means is operable to selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position in response to a total number of playing cards arranged in the order being equal or greater than an output playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       20 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the locking means is operable to selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position based at least in part on a comparison of a total number of playing cards in an intermediary playing card receiver to an intermediary playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       21 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the locking means is operable to selectively lock and unlock the cover in the closed position based at least in part on a comparison of a total number of playing cards in an intermediary playing card receiver being less than an intermediary playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       22 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the locking means comprises a mechanical lockout mechanism. 
   
   
       23 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the locking means comprises a set of instructions stored on a memory device. 
   
   
       24 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the means for causing a delivery of at least some of the playing cards externally from the playing card handling system in response to at least one of a movement or a position of the cover comprises a switch that is activated by the position of the cover. 
   
   
       25 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the means for causing a delivery of at least some of the playing cards externally from the playing card handling system in response to at least one of a movement or a position of the cover comprises elevator means for selectively moving the playing card output receiver between a lowered position and a raised position, where in the lowered position the playing card output receiver is positioned below a surface of a gaming table and in the raised position at least some of the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver are positioned above the surface of the gaming table. 
   
   
       26 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17  wherein the ordering means comprises at least one intermediary playing card receiver positioned in at least one playing card transport path between the playing card input receiver and the playing card output receiver. 
   
   
       27 . The playing card handling system of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 cover biasing means for biasing the cover into the closed position.   
   
   
       28 . A method of operating a playing card handling system that comprises a playing card input receiver and a playing card output receiver, the method comprising:
 receiving a number of playing cards to be handled by the playing card handling system at the playing card input receiver;   providing at least some of the playing cards received at the playing card input receiver to the playing card output receiver in an order different from an order of the playing cards in the playing card input receiver; and   selectively locking and unlocking a cover in a closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system, where the cover is manually movable from the closed position to an opened position, and where in the closed position the cover substantially limits access from an exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver and in the opened position the cover does not substantially limit access from the exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver.   
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28  wherein selectively locking and unlocking a cover in a closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system comprises locking the cover in the closed position in response to a total number of playing cards on the playing card output receiver being less than an output playing card threshold value and unlocking the cover in response to the total number of playing cards on the playing card output receiver being at least equal to than the output playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 28  wherein selectively locking and unlocking a cover in a closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system comprises locking the cover in the closed position in response to a total number of playing cards arranged in the order being less than an output playing card threshold value and unlocking the cover in response to the total number of playing cards arranged in the desired order being at least equal to an output playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 28  wherein selectively locking and unlocking a cover in a closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system comprises locking the cover in the closed position based at least in part on a comparison of a total number of playing cards in an intermediary playing card receiver to an intermediary playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 28  wherein selectively locking and unlocking a cover in a closed position in response to a state of the playing card handling system comprises locking the cover in the closed position based at least in part on a comparison of a total number of playing cards in the intermediary playing card receiver being less than an intermediary playing card threshold value. 
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 delivering at least some of the playing cards externally from the playing card handling system in response to at least one of a movement or a position of the cover.   
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 33  wherein delivering at least some of the playing cards externally from the playing card handling system comprises selectively moving the playing card output receiver between a lowered position and a raised position, where in the lowered position the playing card output receiver is positioned below a surface of a gaming table and in the raised position at least some of the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver are positioned above the surface of the gaming table. 
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 28 , further comprising:
 biasing the cover towards the closed position.   
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 28  wherein providing at least some of the playing cards received at the playing card input receiver to the playing card output receiver in an order different from an order of the playing cards in the playing card input receiver comprises providing at least some of the playing cards received at the playing card input receiver to the playing card output receiver in at least one of a sorted order or a random order.