Multiple-inlet shuffling machine

Abstract

The multiple-inlet shuffling machine has a shuffler and at least two card inputs. The shuffler has a base, a shuffling wheel mounted rotatably on the base and has multiple card slots formed radially around which, and a controller having at least one random number generator (RNG) that generates at least one random number. The card inputs are mounted oppositely on the base of the shuffler adjacent to the shuffling wheel and are controlled by the at least one random number generator (RNG) of the controller to randomly place cards into a same wheel further raising a randomness of the cards. relative to a number of compartments to number of cards ratio. Furthermore, operations are made via gears, so the multiple-inlet shuffling machine has improved precision of movement.

1 . A multiple-inlet shuffling machine comprising
 a shuffler having
 a base having
 a drive gear; 
 
 a rotary driver being mounted on the base and driving the drive gear; 
   
     a controller comprising at least one random number generator (RNG) and being connected to and controlling the rotary driver;
   a shuffling wheel being mounted rotatably on the base, engaging the drive gear and being driven to rotate in a random direction by a random number of preset degrees and comprising multiple card slots; and   a discharging device having a discharging rod comprising an arm selectively aligning with one of the card slots to push at least one card out of a corresponding card slot; and   
 at least two card inputs being mounted on the base adjacent to the shuffling wheel, selectively aligning with one of the card slots and each card input comprising a conveyer having input rollers being connected to the at least one RNG of the controller and being controlled to selectively transfer a card into a corresponding card slot by predetermined selection rules to perform card inputting. 
 
   
   
       2 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the discharging device further has
 a discharging rod being mounted pivotally on the base, being mounted adjacent to the shuffling wheel and having an elongated slot being formed longitudinally through the discharging rod; and   a rod driver having
 a rotating disk; and 
 a pin being eccentrically mounted securely on the rotating disk and mounted slidably in the elongated slot of the discharging rod, wherein 
 the arm protrudes transversely from the discharging rod and selectively aligns with one of the card slots. 
   
   
   
       3 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 1  further comprises at least two wedges being movably arranged respectively in the card inputs ensuring cards are sequentially drawn. 
   
   
       4 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 1  further comprises two insertion panels, each insertion panel being securely mounted on the base between one of the card inputs and the shuffling wheel and having
 at least one tangent surface being formed on the insertion panel adjacent to the shuffling wheel; and   a bottom portion.   
   
   
       5 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein one of the input rollers of the conveyer of each card input is connected to and rotated by a second driving device via gears of a second separator. 
   
   
       6 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the shuffling wheel further has multiple resilient elements and multiple retainers being mounted respectively in the card slots, each retainer is pushed by a corresponding resilient element to abut an inner surface of the card slot. 
   
   
       7 . A multiple-inlet shuffling machine comprising
 a shuffler having
 a base comprising
 a drive gear being mounted rotatably on the base; 
 a rotary driver driving the drive gear; and 
 
 a controller being mounted securely on the base, controlling the rotary driver to drive the drive gear to rotate in a random direction by a random number of preset degrees; and 
 a shuffling wheel being mounted rotatably on the base, engaging and being driven by the rotary driver and having
 multiple teeth being formed around the shuffling wheel and engaging the drive gear of the rotary driver of the base; 
 multiple card slots being formed radially around the shuffling wheel, and each card slot selectively storing at least one card; 
 
   two card inputs being mounted on the base of the shuffler adjacent to the shuffling wheel, each card input having
 a slope being defined slantwise in the card input for placing a deck of cards thereon and having
 an upper end; and 
 a lower end selectively aligning with one slot of the shuffling wheel; 
 
 two side walls being oppositely formed beside the slope; 
 a drawing roller being mounted rotatably between the side walls of the card input and being connected to and being rotated by a first driving device via gears of a first separator; and 
 a conveyer having at least two conveying assemblies being mounted in the card input adjacent to each other along the slope, each conveying assembly comprising two input rollers being mounted rotatably between the side walls of the card input and an input gap being formed between the input rollers. 
   
   
   
       8 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the shuffler further has a discharging device having
 a discharging rod being mounted pivotally on the base, being mounted adjacent to the shuffling wheel and having
 an elongated slot being formed longitudinally through the discharging rod; and 
 an arm protruding transversely from the discharging rod and selectively aligning with one of the card slots; and 
   a rod driver having
 a rotating disk; and 
 a pin being eccentrically mounted securely on the rotating disk and mounted slidably in the elongated slot of the discharging rod. 
   
   
   
       9 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 7  further comprises at least two wedges being movably arranged respectively in the slopes of the card inputs and selectively move toward the lower ends of the slopes. 
   
   
       10 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 7  further comprises two insertion panels, each insertion panel being securely mounted on the base between the card input and the shuffling wheel and having
 at least one tangent surface being formed on the insertion panel adjacent to the shuffling wheel; and   a bottom portion of the insertion panel being disposed in a passage between the input gap of each conveying assembly of the conveyer of each card input and a corresponding one of the card slots of the shuffling wheel.   
   
   
       11 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein one of the input rollers of each conveying assembly of the conveyer of each card input is connected to and rotated by a second driving device via gears of a second separator. 
   
   
       12 . The multiple-inlet shuffling machine as claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the shuffling wheel further has multiple resilient elements and multiple retainers corresponding to and being mounted in the card slots, each retainer being pushed by a corresponding resilient element to abut an inner surface of the card slot.