US3124354A - Shadow ball attachment for automatic pinsetters - Google Patents

Description

March 10, 1964 D. a. ASMUTH I 3,124,354

SHADOW BALL ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC PINSETTERS Filed Aug. 5, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 10, 1964 D. G. ASMUTH 3,124,354

SHADOW BALL ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC PINSETTERS Filed Aug. 3, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent f 3,124,354 SHADQW BALL ATTACHMENT FGR AUTQMATIC PENSETTERS David George Asnruth, Walker Road and Shoreaeres Drive, Hilton, NY. Filed Aug. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 129,039 7 Claims. (Cl. 273-43) This invention relates to automatic pinsetters as used in bowling alleys.

At times it is desired to roll some practice balls, usually called shadow balls, before beginning the actual game. In former years, when bowling pins were set up by hand, the rolling of shadow balls presented no particular problem. Under the present conditions, however, many bowling alleys use automatic pinsetters, so designed that rolling the ball will start the cycle of operation of the machine and will set pins on the alley, thus taking extra time which should not be required if the players desire to roll a series of practice balls or shadow balls in quick succession, without pins.

Certain makes or models of automatic pinsetters do have provision for permitting the rolling of shadow balls without causing the machine to go through its time-consuming cycle. But a certain other make or model of pinsetter, now widely used, does not have any such provision.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide simple and elfective mechanism whereby this last mentioned make or model of pinsetter can be operated in such a way that shadow balls will not result in normal cyclical operation of the machine and setting of pins.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such mechanism in a form which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and which can be easily and quickly installed on existing machines already in use, as well as new machines hereafter constructed.

A further object is the provision of such mechanism so designed and constructed that it can be operated with a minimum of time and effort on the part of the bowling hall attendant.

These and other desirable objects may be attained in the manner disclosed as an illustrative embodiment of the invention in the following description and in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the automatic pinsetter to which the present invention is applied, showing the mechanism of the present invention in its usual ineffective or rest position which it occupies While regular games are being bowled;

FIG. 2 is a similar view with the present mechanism in its effective position, permitting the rolling of shadow balls without causing the machine to perform its pinsetting cycle;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan View and partial section approximately on the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan and section approximately on the line 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of another portion of the pinsetter above and forwardly of the portion seen in FIG. 1.

The present invention may be applied to any appropriate make or kind of pinsetter, but the particular automatic pinsetter for which the mechanism of the present invention is specifically intended, is known the Brunswick pinsetter, and is now widely used and well known. The following description of the present invention will refer to only a few of the many parts of this existing pinsetter, since those skilled in this art are already familiar with the basic machine and will readily understand the 3,124,354 Patented Mar. to, 1964 present invention and its relation to the complete mechanism of the Brunswick pinsetter. The general features of the basic machine, at least insofar as necessary to an understanding of the present invention, are disclosed in Huck et al. Patent 2,949,300, granted August 16, 1960.

Referring now to the drawings of the present application, the basic pinsetter comprises a stationary frame member 141 (corresponding to the member 141 in the Huck patent) which projects upwardly and rearwardly at the left hand side of the machine (there being a similar frame member also at the right hand side of the machine) and which carries at its upper end a pivot bolt 11 on which is pivoted a pair of laterally spaced triangular plates 132 (corresponding to the plates 132 in the Huck patent).

The pivot 11 is near the forward corners of the triangular plates 132. At the upper rear corners of these plates is a pivot bolt 13 on which is pivoted the lower rear end of a pull rod or link which extends obliquely forwardly and upwardly to connect with a pin 15 on the arm 131 of a bell crank 126. The present arm 131 and bell crank 126 are the same as the parts bearing these same reference numerals in the Huck patent. The present link 130 is the same as the link 130 in the Huck patent, except that at the upper end of the link the slot 17 in the fixture 19 which embraces the pin 15 is made somewhat longer than the corresponding slot in the patent and in the pinsetter as commercially constructed heretofore, in order to allow a greater extent of travel of the rod 130 toward the bellcrank 126.

At the lower rear corners of the plates 132 is a third pivot bolt 21, to which is pivoted the bar or arm 136 which supports one end of the pit cushion, not shown here but shown at 135 in the Huck patent. The present bar 136 is the same as the bar 136 in the Huck patent, and because of its shape it is sometimes referred to as the hockey stick.

According to the present invention, two similar plates 25 are arranged parallel to and spaced from each other, and are firmly and rigidly clamped to the stationary frame member 141 a little below the pivot bolt 11 thereof. Clamping is conveniently accomplished by four bolts 27 passing through the plates 25 and through spacer sleeves 29, to draw the plates firmly against two opposite faces of the stationary frame member 141, which at this point has a rectangular cross section as seen in FIG. 4. The sleeves 29 are of a length slightly less than the thickness of the frame member 141, so that the clamping pressure is exerted mainly against the frame member rather-than against the ends of the sleeves. The bolt holes are so placed that two of the bolts are on one side of the frame member 141 with their sleeves tightly engaged with the adjacent face of the frame, while the other two bolts are on the opposite side of the frame with their sleeves tightly engaged with the opposite face of the frame. To allow for possible slight variations in the cross sectional size of the frame member 141, in different pinsetters, the spacing of the bolt holes in the plates 25 may be so designed that the sleeves 29 will engage opposite faces of the frame member 141 of the smallest size likely to be encountered. If the pinsetter to which the attachment is to be applied happens to have a frame member 141 of slightly larger cross section in a front to rear direction, then upon installation two of the sleeves 29 can be filed down to form fiat spots (see the right hand sleeve in FIG. 4) until the sleeves will just engage snugly with the opposite faces of the frame member 141. With this arrangement it is seen that the plates 25 may be applied to existing pinsetting machines already in the field, without boring any holes in the machine or damaging or weakening the machine in any way whatever, yet the plates 25 are clamped stationarily to the machine frame with sutficient rigidity to withstand the expected pressures and impacts during use. Instead of forming fiat spots on the sleeves 29, these sleeves may be made eccentric, if desired, and may be rotated until they engage firmly with opposite faces of the stationary frame bar 141. Turning of the eccentric sleeves can also be utilized to adjust the angle of the bracket members slightly upwardly or downwardly.

In addition to the four clamping bolts 27, a fifth bolt 31 extends transversely through the two plates 25 and serves as a pivot for the latch dog or key 33 which is maintained in a plane centrally between the two plates 25 by two spacer washers 35 on the bolt 31. A stop member 41 extending laterally across the bottom edges of the two stationary plates 25 near their rear ends serves as an abutment to limit the swinging of the dog or key member 33 in a downward and rearward direction to the ineffective or rest position shown in FIG. 1. Another stop member 43 extending laterally across the top edges of the two stationary plates 25 a little forwardly of the pivot 31 serves as an abutment to limit the swinging of the member 33 in an upward and forward direction to the effective shadow bowling position shown in FIG. 2. The two stop members 41 and 43 are secured to the plates 25 in any convenient manner, preferably being in the form of rods having their ends bent at right angles so as to lie tight against the outer faces of the plates 25 and being welded, soldered, or brazed thereto.

The free end of the dog or key 33 is shaped as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to have a sort of angular notch with one face or edge 45 extending in a general direction radially with respect to the pivot 31, and another face or edge 47 at an angle thereto and extending in a general direction approximately perpendicular to a radial line from this edge to the pivot 31.

In the normal operation of the pinsetting machine, when the pins have been set up ready for the beginning of a game, the pit cushion is in its lowest position with the supporting bars 136 thereof in their lowest position and with the triangular plates 132 swung downwardly to the position shown in FIG. 1. The bottom edge of the pit cushion is sufficiently low so that it will be hit by the rolled ball, and it is the impact of the ball against the pit cushion which initiates the next cycle of the machine. During the cycle, the bell cranks 126 are operated to pull the rods 130 forwardly and upwardly, thereby swinging the triangular plates 132 upwardly on their pivots 11 and thereby raising the bars 136 to elevate the pit cushion far enough so that the ball may travel rearwardly beneath the elevated cushion. The pit cushion then descends to its lower position, and further operations and movements of the mechanism take place, the details of which are not important for the purposes of the present invention.

If the triangular plates 132 can be held in the upper position, instead of being allowed to descend in the normal way, a rolled ball will be able to pass freely below the lower edge of the pit cushion. There will still be an impact of the ball against the cushion, because the velocity of the ball along the alley will cause it to strike the cushion before it drops downwardly into the pit and rolls under the cushion. But in this elevated position of the cushion, the trigger mechanism (see parts 140, 253, 243, etc., Huck patent) is inoperative as well understood by those familiar with this make of machine, so that the impact of the ball does not trigger the mechanism and does not start a pinsetting cycle of operation. (This is because the elevation of the pit cushion raises the rod 139 and the rear end of the link 140 of the Huck patent, sufficiently far to withdraw the rear end of the slot 254 from the pin 253 so that the slight forward motion of the link 1411, caused by impact of the ball against the cushion, will no longer operate the trigger.) The dog or key 33 of the present invention serves to hold the triangular plates 132 and the pit cushion arms 136 in the above mentioned elevated position, and it is in this way that the present invention serves its purpose or object of enabling the rolling of shadow balls without triggering the pinsetting mechanism for normal operation, thereby saving the extra time that would be required for cycling the machine, and avoiding operation of the game counters or registers.

The size of the dog is so proportioned that when the triangular plates 132 are in their extreme uppermost posltion (somewhat above the position illustrated in FIG. 2) the free end of the dog 33 can swing unobstructedly past the pivot 21 and past the hub portion of the bar 136 which surrounds this pivot, and can swing forwardly un-- til the dog engages the fixed abutment 43. If the dog 18 held in this position until the pull on the link is released and the plates 132 start their downward movement, the pivot 21 and the surrounding hub of the bar 136 will come down behind the face 45 of the dog (thus holding the dog against swinging rearwardly and downwardly) and will come to rest on the supporting face 47, which will hold the parts 21, 132, 136 in an intermediate position, not quite in their extreme uppermost position but nevertheless sufficiently elevated so that the cycle triggering mechanism is rendered inoperative. Thus the ob ect of the invention is achieved.

Various arrangements can be utilized for moving the dog 33 to its effective shadow bowling position and for moving it back to ineffective position at the conclusion of shadow bowling. For example, an attendant stationed at the side of the machine can raise the bar 136 by hand and then swing the dog upwardly to its effective position. The long slot 17 at the forward end of the link 130 permits the bar 136 to be raised in this way without movlng the bellcrank 126. Or again, the attendant may operate the starter button or switch to initiate the normal cycle of operation of the machine, and then in the course of this cycle, during the short interval that the triangular plates 132 dwell in their uppermost position, the at tendant may swing the dog 33 up to its effective posit1on and hold it there temporarily until the triangular plates start to descend. Other ways, including remote control of movement of the dog 33 by an electric solenoid, may be employed if desired.

It is preferred, however, to operate the dog 33 as fol lows: The pivot bolt 13 is extended leftwardly, to project beyond the left hand triangular plate 132, and on the leftward extension of the bolt there is pivotally mounted an arm 51 connected to one end of a coil tension spring 53, the other end of which is connected to an angular sheet metal clip 55 held by the pivot bolt 11. Secured rigidly to the arm 51 is the long arm 57 of a U-shaped loop of stiff wire, the other arm 59 of which is considerably shorter. This loop cooperates with a pin 61 which projects laterally from the left side of the dog 33 near the free end thereof.

When it is desired to make the pinsetter ready for rolling shadow balls, the attendant pulls the arm rearwardly (clockwise when viewed from the left as in FIG. 1) against the force of the spring 53, from the full line position to the dotted line position of FIG. 1, meanwhile slightly raising the dog 33 so that the pin 61 on the dog will clear the upper end of the arm 59 of the loop. When the dog 33 is manually released, the pin 61 will drop down into the loop, between the two arms 57 and 59 thereof, and this will serve to retain the arm 51 in its approximately vertical position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, notwithstanding the force of the spring 53.

The parts will remain in this pre-set position for an indefinite time, until the players are ready to begin. Assuming that the main motor switch has been closed, so that the motor is idling, the first player rolls the first practice ball or shadow ball. (Normally there are pins on the alley at this time.) The impact of the ball against the pit cushion triggers the machine in the normal way, to initiate a cycle, so that the bellcrank 126 is operated to pull the rod 130 forwardly, thereby swinging the triangular plates 132 upwardly to their highest position. This upward motion carries the arms 51, 57, 59 upwardly, carrying along the pin 61 so as to swing the dog 33 upwardly from the position shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. 2. Then as the cycle continues, the triangular plates 132 start to swing downwardly, and the pivot 21 and the hub surrounding it come down to the rear of the face 45 of the dog, preventing the dog from falling backwardly to its normal rest position or inoperative position. Further downward movement of the plates 132 and the pit cushion is soon stopped by engagement of the hub with the supporting face 47 of the dog. But shortly before such engagement takes place, the plates 132 and the arms 51, 5'7, 59 have come down far enough so that the top of the arm 59 clears the pin 61, and the spring 53 can now swing the arm 51 counterclockwise or forwardly, from the dotted line position to the full line position of FIG. 2, so that the loop 57, 59 is no longer in alinement with the pin 61.

As above explained, the dog 33 thus holds the pit cushion at an intermediate elevated position, not quite at the top of its range of movement but yet sufficiently high so that the triggering mechanism is rendered inoperative. All the other parts of the pinsetter mechanism may complete their full cycle of normal operation and come back to normal rest position, leaving only the pit cushion in an abnormal elevated position.

The players may now roll shadow balls for necessary practice before beginning the game. Although such balls do hit the pit cushion, the impact does not initiate a new cycle, so the players can roll their shadow balls in quick succession.

When the shadow bowling has been completed, the usual control button or switch is operated, to initiate a cycle independently of the impact of a ball against the pit cushion. During such a cycle, the bellcrank 126 is again operated to pull the rod 130 forwardly to raise the triangular plates 132 to their highest position. This raises the pivot 21 and the surrounding hub up above the face 45 of the dog 33, and allows the dog to drop back by gravity to its normal rest position shown in FIG. 1, which it will do because the center of gravity of the dog in its upright position (FIG. 2) is still somewhat to the rear of a vertical line through the pivot 31. Then with the dog 33 out of the Way, the triangular plates 132 may now complete their full normal movement as the cycle continues, and may swing all the way down to their normal rest position, lowering the pit cushion bars 136 so that the pit cushion is down in normal position, so that when it is struck by a rolled ball, the impact will initiate another cycle in the normal manner.

Thus it is very simple and quick to make the pinsetter ready for rolling shadow balls, by simply engaging the pin 61 of the dog in the loop 57, 59, and then the next cycle of operation will automatically leave the pit cushion suspended or elevated in the shadow ball position. To resume normal bowling, the machine is simply cycled, without any further special attention or manual movement of the dog 33, and the dog will automatically drop back to its normal ineffective position and remain in this position until the pin 61 is once more engaged in the loop 57, 59.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the above mentioned objects of the invention are well fulfilled. It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only, rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from the inven-. tion, the details may be varied within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bowling pinsetter machine of the type having a pit cushion movable between a lower position wherein impact of a ball against the pit cushion will trigger the machine to initiate a pinsetting cycle and an elevated position wherein impact of a ball against the pit cushion will be ineffective to initiate a pinsetting cycle, a stationary frame member, and a plate pivoted to said frame member to swing upwardly and downwardly to raise and lower the pit cushion, characterized by a bracket stationary mounted on said frame member, and a support pivotally mounted on said bracket for swinging movement between an inoperative position and an operative position effective to hold said pivoted plate at a sufficiently elevated position to keep said pit cushion sufficiently elevated so that impact of a bowling ball will not initiate a pinsetting cycle, to permit the rolling of a shadow ball.

2. A bowling pinsetter machine of the type includ ing a stationary frame member, a triangular plate pivoted at one corner to said frame member, a pit cushion supporting bar pivoted to a second corner of said plate, a pull link pivoted to a third corner of said plate, and means for pulling said link to swing said plate upwardly to raise said bar to an upper position wherein impact against a pit cushion connected thereto will be ineffective to cause a pinsetting cycle of operation and for releasing said link to permit said plate to swing back downwardly to lower said bar to a lower position wherein impact against a pit cushion connected thereto will cause a pinsetting cycle of operation, characterized by the provision of a bracket rigidly mounted on said frame member, and a pivoted dog mounted on said bracket for swinging movement from an ineffective position to an effective position blocking downward movement of said plate at an intermediate position thereof and holding said bar at a sufficient elevation above its lower position so that impact against a pit cushion connected to said bar will be ineffective to cause a cycle of operation, so that shadow balls for practice purposes may be rolled without causing pinsetting cycles of operation.

3. A construction as defined in claim 2, further characterized by the fact that said dog is so formed that gravity tends to swing it back from its effective position to its ineffective position and so that if said link is pulled to swing said plate upwardly while said dog is in its effective blocking position, said dog will be released and will automatically return by gravity to its ineffective position.

4. A bowling pinsetter machine of the type including a stationary frame member, a triangular plate pivoted at one corner to said frame member, a pit cushion supporting bar pivoted to a second corner of said plate, a pull link pivoted to a third corner of said plate, and means for pulling said link to swing said plate upwardly to raise said bar to an upper position wherein impact against a pit cushion connected thereto will be ineffective to cause a pinsetting cycle of operation and for releasing said link to permit said plate to swing back downwardly to lower said bar to a lower position wherein impact against a pit cushion connected thereto will cause a pinsetting cycle of operation, characterized by the provision of a bracket rigidly mounted on said frame member, and a pivoted dog mounted on said bracket for swinging movement from an ineffective position to an effective position blocking downward movement of said plate at an intermediate position thereof and holding said bar at a sufficient elevation above its lower position so that impact against a pit cushion connected to said bar will be ineffective to cause a cycle of operation, so that shadow balls for practice purposes may be rolled without causing pinsetting cycles of operation, and further characterized by a pin projecting laterally from said dog, an arm pivoted to said triangular plate and having an open loop thereon, said pin and said loop being in such relation to each other that said pin may be engaged in said loop while said triangular plate is in its lower position and that upon subsequent upward movement of said plate while said pin is engaged in said loop, said arm and loop will swing said dog to its effective position and maintain it in its effective position until said plate subsequently swings downwardly sufficiently far to engage said dog.

5. A construction as defined in claim 4, further characterized by spring means tending to disengage said loop from said pin and effective to cause disengagement thereof when said plate swings downwardly sufficiently far to engage said dog and hold said dog in its effective position without reliance upon said loop.

6. A shadow ball attachment for a bowling pinsetter of the type comprising a stationary frame member, pit cushion supporting means movable upwardly and downwardly with respect to said frame member, and operating means for elevating said supporting means to an upper position wherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby is ineffective to trigger a cycle of operation and for releasing said supporting means for return thereof by gravity to a lower position wherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby is effective to trigger a cycle of operation, said attachment comprising a bracket adapted to be secured in stationary position on said frame member, and a dog pivotally mounted on said bracket for swinging movement from an ineffective non-blocking position to an effective blocking position engaging said supporting means near the beginning of its downward return movement to hold said supporting means at a sufficient elevation so that a practice shadow ball may be rolled without triggering a cycle of operation notwithstanding rearward movement of the pit cushion upon impact of the ball.

7. A shadow ball attachment for a bowling pinsetter of the type comprising a stationary frame member, pit cushion supporting means movable upwardly and downwardly with respect to said frame member, and operating means for elevating said supporting means to an upper position wherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby is ineffective to trigger a cycle of operation and for releasing said supporting means for return thereof by gravity to a lower position wherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby is effective to trigger a cycle of operation, said attachment comprising a bracket adapted to be secured in stationary position on said frame member, and a dog pivotally mounted on said bracket for swinging movement from an ineffective non-blocking position to an effective blocking position engaging said supporting means near the beginnng of its downward return movement to hold said supporting means at a sufficient elevation so that a practice shadow ball may be rolled without triggering a cycle of operation nothwithstanding rearward movement of the pit cushion upon impact of the ball, said attachment further comprising holding means mounted on said supporting means for detachably engaging said dog to move the dog from ineffective position to effective blocking position upon movement of said supporting means upwardly to its upper position and for disengaging from said dog upon partial downward movement of said supporting means to the elevation determined by the effective blocking position of said dog.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,559,274 Broekhuysen July 3, 1951 2,705,146 Montooth et a1 Mar. 29, 1955 2,949,300 Huck et al. Aug. 16, 1960

Claims (1)

1. A BOWLING PINSETTER MACHINE OF THE TYPE HAVING A PIT CUSHION MOVABLE BETWEEN A LOWER POSITION WHEREIN IMPACT OF A BALL AGAINST THE PIT CUSHION WILL TRIGGER THE MACHINE TO INITIATE A PINSETTING CYCLE AND ELEVATED POSITION WHEREIN IMPACT OF A BALL AGAINST THE PIT CUSHION WILL BE INEFFECTIVE TO INITIATE A PINSETTING CYCLE, A STATIONARY FRAME MEMBER, AND A PLATE PIVOTED TO SAID FRAME MEMBER TO SWING UPWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY TO RAISE AND LOWER THE PIT CUSHION, CHARACTERIZED BY A BRACKET STATIONARY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME MEMBER, AND A SUPPORT PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID BRACKET FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT BETWEEN AN INOPERATIVE POSITION AND AN OPERATIVE POSITION EFFECTIVE TO HOLD SAID PIVOTED PLATE AT A SUFFICIENTLY ELEVATED POSITION TO KEEP SAID PIT CUSHION SUFFICIENTLY ELEVATED SO THAT IMPACT OF A BOWLING BALL WILL NOT INITIATE A PINSETTING CYCLE, TO PERMIT THE ROLLING OF A SHADOW BALL.

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