Abstract: A module for announcing when a dealer has blackjack without exposing the face of the dealer's down-card. The module scans a character from the dealer's face-down standard playing card, compares the result of the scan with a set of references, and identifies the down-card. The module also receives input from the dealer as to the identity of the dealer's up-card, and announces whether the dealer has blackjack or the hand continues. The module is designed to be mounted to a blackjack table such that the surface of the module on which the standard playing card rests while being scanned is in the plane of the surface of the blackjack table, allowing the dealer to slide the down-card across the table and onto the scanner without lifting, and potentially exposing, the card's face. The module also removes the noise generated by a casino's heat, dust, cigarette and cigar ashes, and lint from the felt of the blackjack table, during the scanning process.

Abstract: A printing system incorporates a character generator having circuitry for the generation of proportional width printing. Further circuitry is utilized in conjunction with the foregoing circuitry to operate the system in a tabular mode for the columnar presentation of printed material. Two memories are employed. One memory stores data as to the components of characters which are to be printed, the data being stored in predesignated sets of addresses. Each of these components may be addressed by an address counter preset for counting through the set of addresses of a selected character. A tabbing or print signal is stored in the second memory to serve as position data in the tabbing mode. The second memory is addressed concurrently with a scanning of a print line whereby the stored data corresponds to a position on the print line.

Abstract: Proportional spacing of characters, for example by a laser-xerographic printer, is achieved using a character generator memory, for example a random access memory (RAM), to store the characters of a font in a plurality of variable-size binary matrices. Each column includes at least one parity bit and at least two pitch bits or end of character (EOC) bits. After a character matrix is selected for printing: the columns are transmitted sequentially from the RAM, the bit patterns are decoded as valid and invalid EOC indication signals or as valid and invalid NON-EOC signals, and the parity of each column is checked. Also, stop printing circuitry inhibits operation of the dot matrix printer when the parity checker indicates no error but the pitch bit decoder derives an invalid EOC or NON-EOC SIGNAL.