System and method to handle playing cards, employing elevator mechanism

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 positionable to receive a number of playing cards handled by the playing card handling system, the playing card output receiver comprising a playing card support surface, a ceiling at least partially disposed relatively over the playing card support surface, and at least one member physically extending from the ceiling to the playing card support surface for movement therewith;
• 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, wherein the at least one intermediary playing card receiver receives at least one of the number of playing cards received at the playing card input receiver via a first portion of the at least one transport path, and wherein at least one of the number of playing cards received at the playing card output receiver is transported from the at least one intermediary playing card receiver to the playing card output receiver via a second portion of the at least one transport path;
• an elevator mechanism physically coupled to the playing card output receiver, to selectively move the playing card output receiver between a lowered position and a raised position, where in the lowered position the ceiling limits access from an exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the card support surface of the playing card output receiver and in the raised position the ceiling is at least partially disposed relatively over the playing card support surface and does not limit access from the exterior of the playing card handling system to at least some of the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver;
• a switch, accessible from an exterior of the playing card handling system, to cause the elevator mechanism to raise the playing card output receiver to the raised position;
• and
• a locking mechanism to selectively lock and unlock the playing card output receiver in the lowered position in response to a state of the playing card handling system.

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 positionable to receive a number of playing cards handled by the playing card handling system, the playing card output receiver comprising a playing card support surface, a ceiling at least partially disposed relatively over the playing card support surface, and at least one member physically extending from the ceiling to the playing card support surface for movement therewith, wherein the at least one member of the playing card output receiver comprises three sidewalls, each of the sidewalls extending between the playing card support surface and the ceiling, a first and a second one of the sidewalls opposed to one another, and a third one of the sidewalls positioned between the first and the second one of the sidewalls;
• 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, wherein the at least one intermediary playing card receiver receives at least one of the number of playing cards received at the playing card input receiver via a first portion of the at least one transport path, and wherein at least one of the number of playing cards received at the playing card output receiver is transported from the at least one intermediary playing card receiver to the playing card output receiver via a second portion of the at least one transport path;
• and
• an elevator mechanism physically coupled to the playing card output receiver, to selectively move the playing card output receiver between a lowered position and a raised position, where in the lowered position the ceiling limits access from an exterior of the playing card handling system to the playing cards carried by the card support surface of the playing card output receiver and in the raised position the ceiling is at least partially disposed relatively over the playing card support surface and does not limit access from the exterior of the playing card handling system to at least some of the playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver.

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, the playing card output receiver comprising a playing card support surface, a ceiling at least partially disposed relatively over the playing card support surface, and at least one member physically coupling the ceiling to the playing card support surface for movement therewith;
• and
• 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 method of operating a playing card handling system that comprises a playing card input receiver and a playing card output receiver having a playing card support surface, a ceiling disposed relatively above the playing card support surface, and at least one member physically extending from the ceiling to the playing card support surface for movement therewith, the method comprising:

• receiving a number of playing cards at the playing card input receiver, the number of playing cards to be handled by the playing card handling system;
• positioning the playing card output receiver in a lowered position, where in the lowered position the ceiling of the playing card output receiver is disposed relatively above the playing card support surface and limits access from an exterior of the playing card handling system to playing cards carried by the playing card output 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 when the playing card output receiver is in the lowered position different from an order of the playing cards in the playing card input receiver, where the playing cards received by the playing card output receiver are at least partially between the ceiling and the playing card support surface and are carried by the playing card support surface;
• and
• positioning the playing card output receiver in a raised position, where in the raised position the ceiling of the playing card output receiver is disposed relatively above the playing card support surface and does not limit access from an exterior of the playing card handling system to playing cards carried by the playing card output receiver.