GB2293115A

GB2293115A - Pinball machine

Info

Publication number: GB2293115A
Application number: GB9516360A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ivor David Gershlick
Original assignee: METROCOIN LEISURE Ltd
Current assignee: METROCOIN LEISURE Ltd
Priority date: 1994-09-19
Filing date: 1995-08-09
Publication date: 1996-03-20
Anticipated expiration: 2015-08-09
Also published as: GB9418862D0; GB9516360D0; GB2293115B

Abstract

A pinball machine comprises a kicker for returning a ball to the play deck after it has fallen through the flipper channel or an outrun. To eliminate the element of chance and make the final score entirely dependent on the skill of the player, the kickers are operable by the player but only during a predetermined time interval after the ball has left the play deck.

Description

PINBALL MACHINE The present invention relates to a pinball machine.

Pin ball machines, as used in amusement arcades, are well known and do not require detailed description. To play the game, a ball is launched from a start position on an inclined play deck using a spring biassed plunger. During its travel, the ball comes into contact with various switches Points are scored on a scoreboard each time a switch is contacted by the ball and the switches are also designed to apply a force to the ball to send it on its way in a new direction. The ball eventually rolls down under gravity towards an exit chute but the player can keep the ball in play by operating a pair of flippers located at the mouth of the exit chute to push the ball back onto the board. A ball can leave the board either by falling through the central channel between the flippers (which is wider than the ball) or by falling into other outruns on the play deck.

The object of the game is to maximise the score achieved and the player is usually given a fixed number of attempts or lives before a game is completed.

Pinball games are regarded in the United Kingdom as being games of chance rather than games of skill. This is because the player cannot prevent a ball from falling into an outrun nor can he use the flippers to bring the ball back into play if it should lie in the channel between the flippers.

The present invention seeks to provide a pinball machine in which the chance element is removed so that the game may be regarded as one of skill rather than luck.

According to the present invention, there is provided a pinball machine comprising an inclined play deck, means for launching a ball onto the play deck, switches on the play deck arranged to augment the score achieved by a player when contacted by a ball, a flipper channel guarded by flippers controlled by the player and at least one outrun by way of which the ball may leave the play deck to terminate a game session, and means for returning a ball to the play deck after it has fallen through the flipper channel or an outrun, wherein the latter means are operable by the player only during a predetermined time interval after the ball has left the play deck.

It is known to provide kickers for returning a ball to the playing deck after it has fallen through an outrun but these have only previously been operated by the machine in a random fashion. The present invention places such kickers under the player's control and allows a player who can correctly time his response to bring a ball back into play, thereby removing the chance element and allowing the final score to be determined entirely by the players skill.

As a ball falls through an outrun, it preferably passes over a microswitch that initiates a time window, set for example by a timing circuit such as a one-shot multivibrator. The kicker that pushes the ball back onto the playing deck can be activated by a player operated switch through a gating circuit that is only enabled during the time window set by the timing circuit.

Because pinball machines are generally well know, including those with kickers in the outruns, it is believed that the invention will be clearly understood by the person skilled in the art with the need for further detailed explanation.

Claims

1. A pinball machine comprising an inclined play deck, means for launching a ball onto the play deck, switches on the play deck arranged to augment the score achieved by a player when contacted by a ball, a flipper channel guarded by flippers controlled by the player and at least one outrun by way of which the ball may leave the play deck to terminate a game session, and means for returning a ball to the play deck after it has fallen through the flipper channel or an outrun, wherein the latter means are operable by the player only during a predetermined time interval after the ball has left the play deck.

2. A pinball machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein a microswitch is arranged in each outrun and in the flipper channel to detect the passage of a ball and to activate a timing circuit to set a time window during which a kicker for pushing the ball back on to the play deck may be actuated by the player.