Amusement devices: games – Games accessories – All video game accessories
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-26
2003-04-08
McMahon, Marguerite (Department: 3713)
Amusement devices: games
Games accessories
All video game accessories
C273S14900R, C273S309000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06543770
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a mechanism for a full-automatic card game machine, and to a card game machine located in a place of entertainment such as an amusement arcade.
BACKGROUND ART
At a place of entertainment such as an amusement arcade, card game machines that play card games such as poker, blackjack, or fortune telling, are found.
In those card game machines, a plurality of cards are displayed on a CRT display, so that players can enjoy a card game by exchanging the cards displayed on the device or distributing and then reversing the cards to show the faces of the cards.
However, in the above conventional card game machine, the faces of the cards are displayed on the CRT display device. Compared with an actual card game in which the cards are actually distributed, the cards displayed on the CRT display device lack reality. As a result, players can feel no excitement when reversing a card, or no satisfactory feeling when wining a game.
Also, in the conventional card game machine, the faces of the cards can be freely changed by a computer-controlled operation, it seems to the players that the faces of the cards displayed on the CRT display device are easily changed. As a result, the players cannot trust the fairness of the game.
Furthermore, in the conventional card game machine, it is difficult to perform automatically a series of operations from the distribution of the cards to the collection of the cards. Especially, in a card game, dividends change with stakes, and if a human hand intervenes in the distribution of the cards, the players might suspect that the cards are manipulated according to the stakes. As a result, the players become less enthusiastic about participating in the card game.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a card reversing device, a card game machine, and a card reversing method, in which the above problems are eliminated.
A specific object of the present invention is to provide a card reversing device, a card game machine, and a card reversing method, by which players can enjoy a card game with reality and also visually enjoy the card game.
Another specific object of the present invention is to automatically perform a series of movement of transporting a card to a location in front of each player, reversing the card, adjusting the orientations of cards collected after each game, and distributing the cards again to the players.
To achieve the above objects, a card having a magnetic material buried therein is reversed by magnetic force, so that real cards, instead of make-believe cards displayed on a display device, can be transported and distributed to players, making the card game look like an actual game. According to the present invention, the cards can be transported and reversed, with no one touching the cards, players can enjoy the card game while marveling at the transportation and reversal movements of the cards. Also, since actual cards are transported and reversed, the credibility in the game is higher than in the case where the cards are displayed on a display device. Furthermore, since the transportation and reversal of the cards can be automatically performed, the present invention can be applied not only to a card game machine but also to a placement of entertainment such as a casino.
To achieve the above objects of the present invention, the cards are reversed by magnetic force on the table, so that the cards appear as of they spontaneously reversed themselves. In this manner, players can also visually enjoy the card game.
To achieve the above objects of the present invention, each card placed on the table is pulled by magnetic force, and a mechanism that pulls each card is moved, thereby moving each card placed on the table. Thus, each card can be transported to a desired position, with no one touching the card.
To achieve the above objects, a virtual rotational axis for reversing each card by pulling a linear-type magnetic material buried in the card toward a magnet located below the table is formed. A mechanism that discharges air to the bottom surface of each card to reverse the card is also employed. In this manner, the cards can be moved as if they spontaneously reverse themselves, and players can also visually enjoy the card game.
To achieve the above objects of the present invention, a card supply mechanism in accordance with the present invention includes: a first card orientation adjusting mechanism that adjusts cards in a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction; a second card orientation adjusting mechanism that adjusts the cards so that the face sides of all the cards face in the same direction; and a third card orientation adjusting mechanism that adjusts the orientations of the card in the same direction. The cards to be supplied to the card discharging mechanism are stacked in the same direction, so that the magnetic members buried in the cards can be stacked on one another at the same location.
Further, to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a card game machine that comprises: a card discharging mechanism that discharges one out of a plurality of cards each having a magnetic material buried therein; a table on which each card supplied from the card discharging mechanism is placed; a magnetic force generating unit that is located below the table and attracts each card supplied from the card discharging mechanism onto the table by magnetic force; a card transportation mechanism that moves the magnetic force generating unit so as to transport each card placed on the table; a magnetic force control unit that switches the magnetic force of the magnetic force generating unit so as to reverse each card transported to a location in front of a player by the moving of the magnetic force generating unit; a card collecting mechanism that collects the cards reversed on the table; and a card supply mechanism that adjusts the orientations of all the cards collected by the card collecting mechanism and supplies to the card discharging mechanism. The card discharging mechanism discharges one of the cards onto the table, and the card is then transported from the table to a location in front of a player. After the end of the game, the cards are collected, and the orientations of the collected cards are adjusted. The cards are then returned to the card discharging mechanism.
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patent: 6361044 (2002-03-01), Block et al.
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Kaji Toshiyuki
Kawakami Takuya
Kawano Tomoyuki
Nakamura Naoki
Ueda Noriaki
Dickstein , Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky, LLP
McMahon Marguerite
Sega Corporation
LandOfFree
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