Apparatus and method for adapting a card shuffler for table mounting

Abstract

Installing a flush-mounted table-top shuffler in an oversized aperture in a card table top may result in a gap between an edge of the shuffler top plate and a side of the aperture opening if the shuffler is not well centered in the aperture. The table may be covered with a felt having an underlying resilient pad. The pad may be compressed by a lip of the shuffler top surface so that a thickness of the shuffler top surface plate is subsumed in the depression in the table top covering caused by the weight of the shuffler. The range of horizontal motion of the shuffler in the aperture may be restricted by spacers so that a gap does not form and that the force applied to the resilient pad by the weight of the shuffler is more evenly distributed around the periphery of the top surface of the shuffler.

1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 an enclosure of a card shuffler with a bottom portion, a top portion having a horizontal lip and sides joining the top portion and the bottom portion; and   a pair of spacers attached to the enclosure at opposing sides of an underside of the horizontal lip or to opposing sides of the enclosure proximal to the underside of the horizontal lip,   wherein the pair of spacers are sized and dimensioned such that, when attached to the enclosure and the enclosure inserted in a table top having an aperture with planar dimensions greater than a horizontal spacing between opposing sides of the bottom portion of the enclosure without the attached pair of spacers, the enclosure is substantially centered in the aperture such that the horizontal lip covers the aperture and the horizontal lip is in contact with an upper surface of the table top.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a spacer of the pair of spacers has an elongate shape with a longitudinal dimension and a first transverse dimension and a second transverse dimension orthogonal to an elongate dimension,
 wherein the aperture has a dimension, A, greater than a horizontal width W of a side of two opposing side surfaces of the enclosure, and one of the first transverse dimension or the second transverse dimension, T, of the spacer is determined such that the aperture is covered by the horizontal lip.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pair of spacers are removably attachable to the shuffler apparatus. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the pair of spacers are fixedly attachable to the shuffler apparatus. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a spacer of the pair of spacers is sized and dimensioned so as to result in a substantially same spacing between a surface of opposing a wall of the aperture as is obtained between a side of another shuffler apparatus for which the aperture has been sized to fit without a sized spacer. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5  where the same spacing is between about 1/16 inch and about ¼ inch. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the spacers are fabricated of at least one of a wood, a plastic, a metal or a composite material. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the spacers are attached to the shuffler apparatus by a glue, an epoxy, by machine screw and nut fasteners or by rivets. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the table top is covered with a fabric material. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , there the fabric material is underlain with a resilient material. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the resilient material is one of a closed-cell foam or other solid or composite material having substantially a same value of modulus of resilience. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , where the closed-cell foam is a sheet of polyethylene material having a thickness of between about ⅛ inch about ¼ inch. 
     
     
         13 . A method for flush mounting a shuffler apparatus in an aperture in a table top the aperture having planar dimensions greater than a horizontal spacing of two opposing sides of the shuffler apparatus, the shuffler apparatus comprising an enclosure accessible to a user through a top surface thereof, the top surface of the shuffler apparatus extending a horizontal distance from side surfaces of the shuffler apparatus to form a lip, comprising;
 providing a pair of spacers attachable to an underside of the lip or to the side surfaces of the shuffler apparatus and sized such that the shuffler apparatus is sufficiently centered in the aperture such that the lip covers the aperture when the shuffler apparatus is inserted in the aperture;   attaching the pair of spacers to the underside of the lip or to opposing side surfaces; and   lowering the shuffler apparatus into the aperture.   
     
     
         14 . A system, comprising:
 a shuffler having an rectangular cross section enclosure having pairs of opposed sides and a bottom portion;   a table top having an aperture in a surface thereof, the aperture having planar dimensions greater than a horizontal width between two opposing side surfaces of the lower portion of the enclosure and extending through the table top;   a top surface of the enclosure orthogonal to the opposing sides of the enclosure and extending a horizontal distance from side surfaces of the enclosure to form a horizontal lip, a width of the top surface including the horizontal lip being greater than a width of the aperture in a corresponding direction; and   a pair of spacers disposed on an underside of the horizontal lip, the spacers disposed between the sides of the enclosure and sides of the table top aperture, each spacer of the pair of spacers sized such that a shuffler enclosure is sufficiently centered in the aperture such that the horizontal lip covers the aperture when the shuffler is inserted in the aperture,   wherein the shuffler enclosure is insertable into the table top through the aperture.   
     
     
         15 . A kit comprising:
 a shuffler enclosure with a bottom portion, a top portion having a horizontal lip and opposing sides joining the top portion and the bottom portion; and   a pair of spacers, attachable to the enclosure at opposing sides of an underside of the horizontal lip or to opposing side surfaces of the enclosure proximal to the underside of the horizontal lip,   wherein the spacers are sized and dimensioned such that, when attached to the enclosure and the enclosure inserted in a table top having an aperture with planar dimensions greater than a horizontal dimension between the opposing side surfaces of the bottom portion of the enclosure without the spacers being attached, the enclosure is sufficiently centered in the aperture such that the horizontal lip covers the aperture and the lip is in contact with an upper surface of the table top.   
     
     
         16 . The kit of  claim 15 , further comprising a glue, double sided adhesive tape, epoxy, or a machine screw compatible with a nut pressed into the s of the shuffler enclosure.