US722340A - Bowling-alley. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAR; 10, 1903. W. H. WIGGINS.

BOWLING ALLEY.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5. 1903.

El) MODEL.

WITNESSES:

U BY

\ ATTORNEY scend or roll by gravity, thence downwardly U I-Tao STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. WIGGINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE BRUNS- WIOK-BALKE-COLLENDER COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A COR- PORATION OF OHIO.

BOWLING-ALLEY.

SEECIFIQATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 722,340, dated March 10, 1903. Application filed January 6, 1903. Serial No. 137N775. (No model.)

full, clear, and exact description of the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates wholly to those parts of an alley commonly known and designated as the ball return-way of the alley-rthat is, the track or runway on which the bowled balls are returned from the pit end to the players end of the alley for reuse-and the side buffers, arranged at eitherside of the pin-platform of every modern alley-bed. Previous to my invention these ball return-ways had been constructed in a variety of ways, and'always, of course, sothat a ball placed on the pit end of. the ball-track would doand along toward and onto the terminal of the return-way located at the players end of the alley; but in all constructions of return-ways heretofore made the ball-track has always been supported by means of some sort fers made as heretofore it has been found in practice and with the advance of the exof metallic or other yertical supports, arranged at intervals: on top of the-stringerbeam or partition-strip, which usually runs either at the side of one or between a pair of alleys and usually on topalso of a side buifer of the alley, said ball-track being properly secured in some manner to the upper ends of suchsupportingdevices, commonly denominated irons, and prior to my invention the side buifer, which isa sort of heavy hardwood partition or wall located one at each sideof the alley-bed at the vicinity of thepinplatform, has always been constructed to extend upwardly a little higher than the .upper ends of the spotted pins, theirons orsupports" for that portion of the ball return-way that is located over or near said side buifer projecting upwardlyfrom the top of the said side buffer. In :the'mor approved or latest styles of bowling-alleys these ball returnways have had the greater portion of their lengths supported a comparatively short dismaintain their original positions.

tance above the said stringer-beam or partition-strip, and hence above the level of the alley-hallways, so as toobstruct as little as possible a fair view by spectators at the sides of the alleys of the games being bowled on the latter. However, the said vertical supporting devices or irons (of a greater or less height) have always been necessary to the construction of the return way, and of course these supporting devices have necessarily been somewhat longer or higher at the inclined pit-end portion of the return-way than elsewhere, so that even'under the latest or mostapproved construction the ball-tracks have been liable to soon get out of order or lose their perfection or rigidity of position on account of the practical impossibility of having these vertical supports (either made ,of wood or-metal, although the latter is most always used) made sufficiently strong to Furthermore, this construction of return -way of course'involves, necessarily, considerable expense in the manufacture and use, in the manner explained, of these supporting devices or irons.

In the use of alleys having the side bufpertness in the sport or game of bowling, first, that the height of the side bnifer proves inadequate to serve all the purposes of the expert bowler, since the latter ofitimes is unable to cause a pin forcibly stricken by his ball to be deflected properly by the side buffor to effectuate the design or object of his stroke, and, second, that a pin which may 1 have been stricken very forcibly by an athlet-ic bowler will fly over'the top of the side bufier, often interfering with the game being played on an adjoining alley and sometimes infiicting serious bodily injury on the pit-boy of another alley, and experience has demonstrated that it is practically impossible to effectuate a rigid and durable maintenance in place of those irons which are arranged at the'vicinity of and on the side buffer, since at the pit-end portion of the return-way the throwing into the cage or onto the trough of way soon getting ehackelly and out of repair,

while at the same time rendering the side bufier more efficient in action and wholly preventing any flying of a pin from one alley to another and endangering the pit-boys.

To these main ends and objects my invention may be said to consist in a novel construction in which the ball-track or the rails of the ball return-way is or are during the long low -down horizontal portion mounted directl y on and securely fastened to a stringerbeam of the alley, in which the side buffer. is extended upward sufficiently to have comtion ofthe said ball-track and in which the latter is mounted directly on and securely fastened to the top of the side bulfer, all as will be hereinafter more fully explained and as will be most particularly pointed out in the claim of this specification.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use bowling-alleys involving either par-- which I have so far very successfully and very extensively practiced it, though mere modifications of form and detail may ofcourse be made without departing from my said invention so long as the construction involves the essential characteristics herein shown and described.

In the drawings, Figurel is a perspective view of a pair of bowling-alleys built accordingto my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail vertical cross-section, on an enlarged scale, taken at the dotted lines 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical cross-section, on the same scale as Fig. 2, taken at the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and in the several figures the same parts will be found always designated by the same referonce-letters.

A and B are respectively the hallways, while 0 is the back end or swinging buifersupport of an ordinarily-constructed pair of modern alleys having the balk-lines located, as usual, at f f and being provided with the usual newel-post at a for the proper support of the players end of the ball-terminal and lower terminal-rack, lettered, respectively, b and a, while F F are the usual swinging bnli'ers at the rear of the alley-pits, and D D are the two outer side buffers, and E the intermediate or middle side buffer, the latter of which, as shown, has mounted directly on it and fastened securely thereto the rails of the pit-endportion (or sweep, as it is generally called) t' ofj the ball track or returnway. Thisball-track, as will be readily seen, after descending at its sweep portion i passes rearwardly in a horizontal direction at h until it about reaches the locality of the balklines f f, from which, by preference, it slopes upwardly, as seen at g, and then runshorizontally to the newel post, said latter horizontal portion constituting the terminal b,

heretofore alluded to, and during all the.

horizontal portion hof the track it is securely fastened in place both to the floor of the alley and to an intermediately-arranged piece or pieces m, as best seen atFig. 3,.where it will also he observed that on either side of the ways h h of the return-way are located the usual ball-gutters G of the'alleys, allof these parts being securely fastened together and to the floor of the alley-room in any proper and substantial manner. bined directly with it the inclined pit-end por- At Fig. 3 I have'illustrated bya dotted. circle the position occupied by one of the largestsized balls while traveling homeward on the low-down horizontal portion h of the returnway, and by a smaller dotted circle one of smallest-sized or pony balls, also traveling homeward or to the players end of the alley, which pony-ball, however, does not (like the larger one),pass up the upgrade g and thence onto the terminalb of the returnway, but passes through a yoke inorenlargementof. the space between the ways of the return-way, -.where the inclined portions g merge into the horizontal portion h, and continues rolling rearwardly along and remains on the rearmost portion thereof or on the rack c, all as plainly illustrated in Fig. 1, the construction I have shown thus involving this sort of separation of the larger from well known to those skilled in the art and heretofore invented and patented by myself.

It will be understood, however, that this preferable form and arrangement of the parts of the return-way are not at all peculiar to my present invention, the essence of which lies in having the horizontal track-rails h, as well as the rearward obliquely-ascending portions or the sweep i, placed directly on and securely fastened, respectively, to the fioor or stringer-beams, or both, of an alley or pair of alleys and to either the top of the intermediate side bufier of a pair of alleys or to the top portion of one of the sidebuffers of a single alley,whereby, as heretofore remarked, not only do I produce a return-way more stable, more economical to manufacture, and more desirable in all other structural qualities than any heretofore made, but one in which while all vertically-arranged supporting devices are dispensed with the long substantially horizontal portion of the return-way or ball-track may be placed as close to the level of the floor and hallways as may be desired and as may be possible without any conflict between a misplayed ball which may be rolling down one of the ball-gutters? and a home-coming ball on the return-way, th us producing a con struction of bowling-alley in which the ball ret urn-ways do not in the least interfere with the perfect view of the games progressing on the hallways, no matter how many of the latter nor how many return-ways may be involved in the bowling-alley or bowling-alley room in which my invention may be used, and whereby, furthermore, I provide for use a bowling-alley structure in which the side bulier is rendered more efiicient as an operative element of the alley, while at the same time rendered capable of preventing the flying of a pin from one alley to another to the detriment of the game and to the possible injury of a pit-boy.

The detailed construction of the side bnfier device, which permits an easy, permanent, and economical direct combination therewith of the pit-end portions or sweep of the balltracks 11, may be varied inthe discretion or judgment of the skilled constructor, though the precise form which I have shown and which is best seen at Fig. 3 I have found to be admirable in the practical use of my invention.

What I claim, broadly, as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patgnt,is-

In a bowling-alley, the combination, with the usual bed, or ballway, and pit, of a side bulfer which extends upwardly to the elevation at which the sweep, or pit-end portion, of the ball return-way must be located; and a ball return-way having its sweep, or inclined pit-end portion, mounted directly on, and permanently secured to the top of said upwardly-extended side bufier, and having its lowermost main, horizontal portion mounted directly on the floor, or stringer-beam of the alley; all in substantially the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

' In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand'this 29th day of November, 1902.

WM. H. WIGGINS.

Witnesses:

J. N. MCINTIRE,

EDWARD F. BAYER,

Images