US2597072A

US2597072A - Bowling ball automatic retarder

Info

Publication number: US2597072A
Application number: US45675A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lewis F Cowgill
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1948-08-23
Filing date: 1948-08-23
Publication date: 1952-05-20
Anticipated expiration: 1969-05-20

Description

May 20, 1952 L. F. COWGILL 2,597,072

BOWLING BALL AUTOMATIC RETARDER Filed Aug. 25, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Inventor Lewis F. Cowg/l/ y 20, 1952 F. COWGILL BOWLING BALL AUTOMATIC RETARDER 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Aug. 25, 1948 3 Fig.2.

Fig. 3.

Inventor Lewis F. Cowgil/ F 'atented May 20, 1952 .z,591,072 BOWLING BALL uromn'r onn'rannan Lewis FllCowgill, Cleveland, om; ApplicationA ug ust 23, 1943, S e1 -ial 4 5, 67 5 A .5 Claims. (01. 273-47) .1. Th Pr s nt inve tion s a e e and-tis ul l p e eme i au oma 'bewl hs' :ba 'ar'd ii rs evie t r duc th mom n um o a bowling. a 1 it r i i tp he tan j qkir m hep n pfa w naal r s importa i th return of bcwlinsbaz-li th pail-r c t reduce th s d the o 1 a 1. ball approach s t erackt culminate th danger t bowlers whenre hin vt a balloon hei iack, Sev ra t pes. o ba l r tarder ih ve been desi ned, and placed in use, which fu iial y i volve theiprov s on of a overhead t ut i through wh ch, he h passesland it has be ound hat uc .overheadi triicture presents a physieal an mental h ard to the bowler nd tsapnearance is unsi htly Accord n l it is-an'obji'ect of this inve tion to provide'an autom t c b ll et'arde of thischarwe h,er the afo esaid objec iona l in au'res areyelimi at d:

' 'A'iur her o ct or the nvent on s to pr vi e a evice of'th s; cha ct r o m le'an practical onstruc io wi h is, ne t nd rac ive "i appearance, relatively.inexpens e o n i a'- iire andotherw well ad p edio th i i ti ese r whi h'th vsame tei e Other objectsandadvantages reside invthe d t V V of the, retar wt 4131's e-t ra iew: tepi qtee' eter flarm; I

ure; i a Perspetti e ,Yiew, gj 9f mg #Re e wherein for the purpose of illustration I have the'sidesl 8 of the housing. The pivoted end or th'ea'rni --I l at each side thereof is? provided with spacing platesilfix'edly securedito thearm, the plates being of substantially ovate 'formation through the widenportio'n of which .the pin '9 eXtendsthr-ough an opening Mand withthe narrow' portionof the plates extending upwardly and rearwardly from said pin; :The narrow upper portion "ofthe plates [3' are also formed with openingsflfi receiving a pin 16' to the ends of which are secured 'tha upper ends of a yoke li extendirig downwardly int'o the housing-l behind l p I v a The lower end of the yoke I'l {is pivotally attachedto the upper end era piston rod 18 which extends downwardly through the top of a oylinder [9 formed with apertur'edfear's '20 at its lower end for pivotally untmgpn'me lower pin' 10. A piston (not ,sho'wnS is earnedat the lower end of the piston ro d IBIOI worme a the cylinder I9 and the cylinder maybeeither-of'a'pneurnatic or hydraulic type to-provide a check for the downward movement of the piston rod 18 upon a downward swinging movement of' the arm H and having spring means n otfshown to return thepistonrod and armto theinupper'positions and to normally" maintain the arm; infalnflpsttijd- I ing positjiqn 855 shown in Figure-Bof-the drawings.

' Th l pp re i of t e i '1' v e. e hl is rovid w th P i wa h -2 "w i be fixedly secured to the arm' andihavingian opening 22 extending therethrough. p in23 is positioned in the opening22 and on thefends of which are pivotally mounted apair of 'ball contacting pads 24'.

The pads 2 4are of flat construction and of suitable material and positioned in spaced 'paral- I lel relation with respect to each other at opposite sides of the upper end of the arm I l.' The pads areformed' with an opening 25 substantially {at the center thereof 'for pivotally-mounting" on the pin 23 and the forward 'e'dges of the pads are curved inwardly as shown at 26 at their upper portion, the lower curved e'dgefterminating in a forwardly projecting hump ZTpositioned below the pivot n in o v .v ,w A' wire spring designated generally at 28 is f ormedintermediate' its ends with; a substantially U -'-'shaped portion 29' which straddles the front edge crime-a m u and with'thel lesser or said U'-shaped portion looped or coiled as at}! on the pin 23 at opposite sides of the arm; The age of the Springextend downwardlyfrom the coil-3 l and teimiiiate-irieys 32 engaging the ends are bolt or screw-33 carried openings adjaeeht the rear edges ofthe pads- 24. lhe s1o1'-inlg'. 25 normally :holds the pads: 24 in an upstanding IDQ'. sition with thewhum'p 21 projecting forwardly as 3 shown by the full lines in Figure 3 of the drawings.

In the operation of the device, the housing I is mounted under the rack 6 with the arm ll projecting upwardly between the sides of the rack as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings and with the pads 24 positioned in the path of a bowling ball 35 travelling on the track 5 onto the rack.

As the ball enters the front end of the rack 6 the ball will engage the hump 21 of the pads 24 whereby to swing the upper ends of the pads forwardly as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 3 of the drawings so that the balls will seat in the curved upper edge 26 of the pads.

The momentum of the ball will swing the arm H downwardly as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 of the drawings and move the piston in the cylinder I9 downwardly to thus check the momentum of the ball. The momentum of the ball and the weight thereof will move the pads 24 downwardly between the rack '6 and below the upper edge thereof as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1, the engagement of the ball with the pads 24 placing the spring 28 under tension and as the arm II and pads 24 reach their lowermost positions the spring will exert its influence on the pads to swing the edge thereof provided with the hump 21 upwardly and to thus lower the outer ends of the pads to release the ball therefrom and to push the ball in a direction toward the rear end of the rack.

After the ball passes from the pads '24 the action of the spring projected piston rod in the cylinder will return the arm H and pads 24 to their normal upstanding positions.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A bowling ball retarder for call return racks comprising a fluid check device mounted beneath the rack, an arm pivotally connected to said check device and normally held thereby in an upstanding position, and a spring biased pad rockably mounted at the upper end of the arm and disposed edgewise in the path of a ball entering the rack to retard movement of the ball and actuated by impact by the ball to move the pad out of the path thereof, said pad including upper and lower portions positioned respectively above and below the pivot of the pad, and said pad being rockably actuated by a ball passing thereover independently of the movement of the arm to move the rear portion of the pad upwardly behind the ball, and spring means engaging the pad and having its biasing action increased as a result of the impact by the ball with the pad to rockably actuate the pad in a direction to impart forward momentum to the ball.

2. A bowling ball retarder for ball return racks comprising a fiuid check device mounted beneath the rack, an arm pivotally connected to said check device and normally held thereby in an upstanding position, and a fiat spring biased pad 7 rockably mountedin an upstanding position at the upper end of the arm and disposed in edgewise position in the path of a ball entering the rack to retard momentum of the ball and actuated by impact thereof to move the pad out of the path of the ball upon impact of a ball with the pad, said pad having a forwardly projecting portion initially contacted by the ball and actuating the pad in a direction to increase the biasing action of its spring for subsequently imparting momentum to the ball following its retarding action.

3. A bowling ball retarder for ball return racks comprising a fluid check device mounted beneath the rack, an arm pivotally connected to said check device and normally held thereby in an upstanding position, and a flat spring biased pad rockably mounted in an upstanding position at the upper end of the arm, said arm and said pad being disposed in edgewise position in the path of balls entering the rack to individually retard momentum of the ball and actuated by impact thereof to move the pad out of the path of the ball upon impact of a ball with the pad, and said ball actuating the pad upon initial contact thereby to increase the biasing action of the pad, and said pad subsequently subjecting the ball to such action for imparting momentum to the ball following its retarding action.

4. In a bowling ball retarder, means mounted on a ball return rack in the path of a ball moving thereon for initially retarding movement of the ball and subsequently imparting momentum thereto, said means comprising an upstanding vertically swingable arm, a flat upstanding pad pivoted to the'upper end of the arm, said arm and said pad being positioned in the path of the ball for actuation thereby to lower the arm and pad, spring means engaging the pad and opposing downward movement of the pad, a fluid check device connected to and opposing downward movement of the arm, and a ball seat at the contacting edge of the pad and including a lower edge urged upwardly behind the ball by said arm during passage of the ball over the pad.

5. A bowling ball retarder for ball return racks comprising an upstanding arm, means pivotally connecting the arm for vertical swinging movement to a supporting structure under a ball rack, a fiat upstanding pad pivoted substantially at its central portion to the upper end of said arm and disposed in edgewise position in the path of a ball entering the rack and actuated by the momentum of a ball to swing the pad downwardly to permit passage of the ball over the pad, spring means engaging the pad and opposing downward movement of the pad, the lower end of the pad being swung upwardly behind the ball by a downbehind the ball during passage of the ball thereover to impart a forward momentum to the ball.

LEWIS F. COW GILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,979,466 Hedenskoog Nov. 6, 1934 2,292,753 Gerald Aug, 11, 1942