US Patent 11040271 Card intermixing device

A device and methods for intermixing playing cards in a card stack used in casino gaming. The device includes a card-edge lifting structure for lifting the edges of adjacent sub-stacks of playing cards and two push surfaces which translate the sub-stacks closer. When the cards from the adjacent sub-stacks slip past the shaft of the card-edge lifting structure, the cards fall and interleave. The cards are “squared up” and repositioned, completing the card intermixing cycle. The card stack goes through a plurality of card intermixing cycles to obtain the necessary card randomness. Because the card falling is only being acted upon by gravity, the device is simple and compact. A number of embodiments that change the card falling characteristics and the randomness of the card stack are described. A card funnel is further described that allows a card stack to be “squared up” prior to the card intermixing process, minimizing the misalignment of the card stack and potential failures in the card intermixing process.