Cards to be played
This isn’t just any deck of cards; according to the patent’s description, it’s a deck of cards related to… chemistry. Yes, this is essentially a deck of cards with chemical symbols on them, with the goal of laying “atoms on the table.” Good luck, and remember not to split your hand.
Card game on a computer
Something a little more contemporary: The electronic playing card, which “provides an electronic playing card comprising electronic paper that displays a playing card,” according to the patent. An electronic playing card deck can be made up of two or more of these electronic playing cards.” For further information, follow the link.
A system for playing card games over the internet.
A system for playing card games remotely includes a multimedia communication system that allows players who are physically separated from each other to see and hear each other, as well as a “card toaster” and associated image recognition system at each game site that receives and manages a physical deck of cards. The toaster can (1) read cards (for example, by scanning them), (2) locate specific cards (and, if necessary, sort them), and (3) distribute cards (for example, by dealing them). The technique allows the players to deal and then play a game, such as bridge, in a manner that closely resembles how a game is played when all players are present at the same time. As a result, once play begins, the image recognition system reads the cards that are being played on a table at any of the sites and sends information about those cards to the other sites. The card toaster is signalled and set up at the other locations to distribute the identical cards, face up on the table.
Machines a sous
The Liberty Bell (patented by Charles Fey) was the first slot machine to be mass-produced in 1895. Since then, thousands of attempts have been made to create new gadgets within the machines – or totally new machines.
Stopping mechanism for a slot machine’s reels
The reels of a slot machine can’t merely spin and spin and spin… We’re guessing they’ll have to cease whether they win or lose. A patent for “stopping the reels of a slot machine” was filed in 1986. We can only assume that before that, small aliens were waiting within slot machines, similar to the scene in Men in Black.
