US2666645A - Prearranged card dealing device - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 19, 1954 c. PHILLIPS PREARRANGED CARD DEALING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 14. 1949 M 2 3 Wm 3 hm W I P A f s m m ,S N E m 2 w E c N S M M 2 d g m. f d 3 2 4 0 w w m m 2. 7

Jan. 19, 1954 PHILLIPS 2,666,645

' PREARRANGED CARD DEALING DEVICE Filed July 14. 1949 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Clair A. Phillips INVENTOR.

Patented Jam 19, 1954 umreo stares T.

assen PR-EARRANGED'CARD DEALING DEVICE -.Clair a. Phillips, Waco, Tex.

i 7 Application July '14, 1949, SerialN0. 104,631

9 7 Claims. (01. 273-149) 1 This invention relates to new and useful improvements in playing cards and more particularly to-carcls used in playing bridgegeithercon-- tract or'auction.

Oneobjectof the invention is to provide improved playing cards which are arranged to be dealt in a predetermined manner by means of an index member so "as to eliminate lucky distribution of the'cards and thereby tes't the skill (lithe-players. I

Another object of the. invention is to provide 7 improved playing card which have their loaclrs so marked that a multiplicity 'of pre-selected bridge hands maybe obtained by -changing the index member employed; additional differentdistributions of the hands being obtained-by substituting a deck of cards having their markings dissimilarly arranged.

,A particular'object of 'theinvention is to provide improved playing cards having indici'a 'displayed upon their backs in predetermined arrangements so as to coact with any or a plurality of templates in determining the'distributionofthe cardsto a given number of players.

An important object'of the inventionis to provid'e'a pluralityof improved templates for use with playing cards of the character described, wherein each template has a single window or opening adapted to be alined-with one of th indicia of each card whereby the remaining indicia are ooscured'and distribution of each of th cards may be readilyascertained.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide improved playing cards and templates, of the character described, "together with a holder for receiving the'cards and one'of'the templates and having means to prevent relativemovement o'fthe template, the holder and templatebeing of less size than said cards so as to facilitateidea'h ingof'the latter.

A'construction designed to -carry out th invention will be hereinafter described together with otherfeatures of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from La reading of the following specification and 'by reference to the accompanying drawings,

wherein examples of the invention are shown,

and wherein:

Fig. 1 is :a plan vievv'of aplaying card, marked in accordance with the invention,

Fig-21s a plan view'of a template constructed insacc'ordance with'the invention,

3 is 'a perspective "view of the template and a deck'ofplaying cards mounted in a holder, .Fig. '4 is a perspectiveview :o'f 'a slightly modifieditemplataand holder,

2; Fig. 5 is a plan View of a modified form of template,

Fig. 6 is a'perspective view of a portion of the modified template, shown in Fig. 5, in association with a modified holder, 7

g. "7 is a plan view of a modified playing card,

.-Fig. 8 is a perspective view of frnodified template and holder,

Fig. '9lis .a'plan View of the template shown in Fig.r8,:and

Fig. 191s a transverse, sectional view, taken D11 thefline 'l0 i|0 of Fig.9.

In the drawings, the numeral 7H] designates one card of a conventional deck of playing cards :I l. A plurality-of index .or templates l2 and afholder ['3 are provided for dealing members the deck H in a predeterm'inedmanner, whereby'preselected bridge hands .maybe obtained. As shown in Fig. 3 and :as will .'.be 'thereinafter more fully explainedlthe holder 13 is :adaptedto receiv the deckof cards'andon'e ofthe templates it. Instead of :the usual .designs, the-baclrl l of each card [6 has a -plurality .o'f indicia l5 printed or otherwise displayed thereupon and these indicia are shown in ttheform of the letters E,

S and W.'for.purposes of illustratiombut-any suitable symbol may be used. In printing the indiciathe samelare laid .outiin longitudinal and transverse, tparallelrows [,6 and i7, respectively, and are :tclosely "spaced so-as to cover the entire area of the 'back Hi, except for its margin i8. Thusalarge number of indiciamay be displayed upon the back of .each card and, as shown, sufficient space is :provided for one hundred indicia on each :half .of the ;car.d. :It is :noted that the back hf "the card is divided by an imaginary transverse, .medial 3.11116 19 into two halves or sections 20 and :Z Landthat each section has the same indicia t5 "arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows 15 and M, Bue-to'the identical arrangement .of theindicia'in each section, either end of the card "may he used in determining its destination inia given hand;

As hasflbeenexplained, one of the indexinmhers or templates I2 is adapted to be used in dealing a rdeckiof cards marked in'accordance withlthe'invention. It is-notedthat a separate template is used for-'each-"deal and that the'num her of templates which :might be employed is dependent 1113011 the :number of indicia displayed on each section of the card. 'Eaeh'template is preferably :.rectangular, being of a width substantially *equal :to one-half the length of "one ofithe 'cards and 20f raslength substantially equal i to the 'width of :;said card, so -as to cover approximately one-half of the back of the uppermost card of the deck II when in overlying relation thereto (Fig. 3). Any suitable opaque or non-transparent material may be used to form the template. It has been found that paper board or plastic is suitable for this purpose. A window or opening 22 is formed in the template for registration or alinement with one of the indicia so as to expose or render the same visible while concealing the other indicia. Although it is preferable to employ a circular opening, it is pointed out that the shape of the opening is subject to variation and that a transparent window could be employed. Satisfactory results are obtained when only one of the indicia l5 of the uppermost card is visible or is more visible than the remaining indicia. The position of the illustrated window or opening 22 is such that it registers with the indicium or letter at the point of intersection of the fourth longitudinal row from the left with the third transverse row'from the center or top of the card. Manifestly, other templates would have their windows or openings at different locations. Indicia 23 are displayed upon the template to designate the dealer, while the letters S, W, N and E are arranged around the opening in conformity with the position of the players which are usually designated South, West, North and East. Since South is the dealer and the opening is alined with the letter N on the back of the uppermost card, it is readily apparent that said card would be dealt to North who is the player opposite the dealer. As will be explained, a sub stantially circular projection or enlargement 24 is formed on the right-hand, lower corner of the template for coacting with the holder i3 and maintaining said template in a fixed position.

The holder may be formed of metal, plastic, wood or other suitable material, and includes a fiat bottom 25 of substantially the same size as the template. A pair of upright side walls 26 and 21 are made integral with or are otherwise connected to the right-hand and lower or outer margins, respectively, of the bottom 25. Thus, the inner ends of the side walls 25 and 21 are contiguous. If desired, the contiguous ends of the side walls may be connected by a substantially cylindrical keeper or retaining element 28 which is complementary to and adapted to receive the projection 2 of the template. It is noted that the height of the side walls is sufficient to receive the entire deck II as well as the overlying template. The righthand and lower edge portions of the, deck and template are adapted to engage the side walls 26 and 27, respectively, whereby displacement of the deck is prevented when the holder is firmly held in the left hand of the dealer. Due to the coactionof the projection 24 and the retaining element 23, the template is held in a fixed position withits opening 22 in alinement or registration with a predetermined indicium 15 of the uppermost card. Since the arrangement of the indicia I5 is differenct on each card, it is manifest that different indicia or letters register with the opening so as to assure equal distribution of the cards among the players. Due to the relatively small size of the holder and templates, whereby substantially one-half of each card is exposed, dealing of the cards is facilitated.

As shown in Fig. 4, the retaining element of the holder may be omitted. A modified type of holder 29 is shown and includes a flat bottom 30 and upright side walls 3| and 32 similar to,

the bottom 25 and side walls 26 and 2'5 of the holder [3. The inner ends of the side walls 3| and 32 are spaced from each other to provide a recess 33 for receiving the projection or enlargement 24 of the template. Obviously, the projection or enlargement may be of any desired shape and may take the form of a substantially square tongue 34 provided on the right-hand, inner or lower corner of a modified template 35. A window or opening 36, similar to the opening 22, is formed in the template 35 and is located at a different position, being adjacent the tongue 34. The modified forms of holder and templates are used in the same manner as the template l2 and holder l3, the tongue 34 engaging in the re cess 33 in overlying relation to a deck of cards for maintaining said modified template in a fixed position. It is noted that the position of the projection or enlargement of the template is subject to variation. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a T-shaped tongue 3? may be formed on one of the margins of a template 38, such as the righ hand margin. A recess or slot as is provided in the right-hand side wall 48 of a holder 42 for receiving the neck or reduced portion of the tongue 31. The inner end of the right-hand side wall merges with or is connected to a side wall 43, similar to the side walls 21 and 32.

As stated hereinbefore, the form of the indicia displayed on the back of the playing card is subject to variation. A modified playing card 44 having indicia in the form of arrows 35 on its back is shown in Fig. 7. With the exception of the indicia, the card 44 is identical to the card l0 and is adapted to be dealt in the same manner by means of a template and bolder. Although it would be difficult for a person to memorize the arrangement of a plurality of letters or numbers upon a multiplicity of cards, it would be much more difficult, if not impossible, to memorize the arrangement of the arrows 45, or other symbols of a similar nature.

Instead of the projections or tongues 24, t l and 3'! and the coacting retaining element 23 or recesses 33 and 39, other means of maintaining the template in a fixed position relative to the holder may be employed. In Fig. 8, a holder ll, substantially identical to the holder i3, is shown and includes a similar flat bottom 43 and upright side walls 49 and St. The inner ends of the walls 49 and 50 may be connected by a substantially cylindrical retaining element 5| similar to the retaining element 28. An upright pin 52 is axiallydisposed within the element 5| and is adapted to be engaged by a complementary eye 53 carried by the substantially circular projection or tongue 5 of a template 55. As is most clearly shown in Fig. 9, the template 55 has a window or opening 56, similar to the opening l5, for registration with one of the indicia IE or 45. The eye 53 may be in the form of a grommet as shown in Fig. 10. Due to the coaction of the pin and eye, it is manifest that the retaining element 5! and tongue 54 are unnecessary for the purpose of maintaining the template 55 in a fixed position relative to the holder 41.

From the foregoing, it is readily apparent that an economical, simple means has been provided for obtaining pre-arranged and pre-selccted bridge hands without the necessity of sorting the cards. It is desirable that the pre-selected hands be played and analyzed by experts in advance and that the analysis be furnished to the players after completion of the play, whereby said players may determine whether they correctly bid and plates and holder may be used with any number.

of decks marked in accordance with the invention. These other decks would have the same or similar indicia arranged in difierent orders so as to provide distributions of the cards entirely different from that obtained with the deck i I.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a template having a single opening therein at a predetermined position, a holder for receiving the template, a deck of playing cards, each card-having indicia on its back arranged in a predetermined manner so as to indicate a plurality of possible destinations,

the cards being insertable in the holder beneath 4 opening for denoting the destination of said card,

and a lateral projection on said template, said holder having a recess for receiving the lateral projection to detachably connect said template to said holder and an open top to permit insertion of the cards and template from above, said template being substantially square and one-half the size of said cards so as'to overlie one end portion and expose the other end portion of said cards and facilitate dealing thereof.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein the holder is of substantially the same size as the template to facilitate holding of the cards and holder during dealing.

3. In combination with a deck of playing cards, each card having indicia on its back in a predetermined arrangement for indicating its distribution, indicia on some of the cards being difierent from indicia on other cards, a plate adapted to overlie the uppermost card and having a single opening so as to conceal all exceptone of the indicia on the back of the uppermost card, a holder for receiving thedeck and plate, the

holder havinga bottom wall and a pair of upright Walls on its adjacent margins for engaging adjacent edge portions of said cards and plate to aline the same, the remaining margins and top of said holder being open to facilitate insertion and dealing of said cards, and means detachably' connecting said plate to said holder in overlying relation to said cards and adjacent said open top.

w 4. In combination, a relativelyflat holder rectangular in shape having a pair of adjacent,

cards whereby a Portion of the back of the upper- I most card is exposed beyond the holder and may be grasped for ready removal through the open sides of said holder, each card having indicia on its back side, a template inserted in said holder upon the uppermost card and concealing one end portion of said card, the template having a single opening located to expose a single indicium on the underlying card to indicate its destination, and a single projection on said template engaging a wall of the holder to retain said template when a card is slid from thereunder.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4, wherein the template has indicia disposed around its opening, one of which indicia coincides and coacts with the card indicium exposed through said opening to determine the destination of the card.

6. In combination with a deck of playing cards, each card having indicia on its back in a predetermined arrangement for indicating its destination in accordance with a pre-selected distribution, the indicia being regularly spaced, a template adapted to overlie the cards and having a window for registration with one of the indicia of the uppermost card so as to expose said indicium and indicate the destination of said card, a holder having an open top for receiving the playing cards and template, and an upright pin beyond'the margin of the holder supported thereby, the template having an eye beyond its margin for receiving the pin to detachably connect said template to said holder and permit insertion of cards from above.

7. In combination with a template having a single opening therein at a predetermined position, a holder for receiving the template, a deck of playing cards, each card having indicia on its back arranged in a predetermined manner so as to indicate a plurality ofv possible destinations, indicia on some of the cards being difierent from indicia on other cards, the cards being ins'ertable in the holder beneath said template so as to aline one of the indicia of the uppermost card with the template opening and render said indicium visible through said opening for denoting the destination of said card, and concealing other indicia. on said card, and means for detachably securing said template to said holder inoverlying relation to said deck and in a predetermined position relative thereto, said template being substantially square and one-half the size of said cards so as to overlie one end portion and expose cards and facilitate the other end portion of said dealing thereof.

CLAIR A. PHILLIPS.

- References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS

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