Amf Bowling, Inc.

Steven Wayne Stuart

Ronald L Smith

Stephen F Caffrey

Leonid Feldman

David Russell VanDuyn

The ball lift device includes an improved track structure for stabilizing a bowling ball along a path of travel or guide path as it is lifted within the device. The device includes a means for lifting the ball by use of a pair of rotating V wheels and a drive means which rotates the V wheels through a drive belt which is driven by a motor. The V wheels are housed within a frame which has an entrance point for receiving the bowling ball to be lifted, and an exit point which ejects the bowling ball at a specified height. A guide support or single track structure defines the path of travel in which the ball is lifted through the device. The guide support includes a guide support bracket and a wear strip mounted over the bracket. A pair of side wear strips extend along the path of travel and are positioned so as to laterally stabilize the bowling ball as it is lifted along the guide support. The method of lifting includes the steps of providing a lifting device, introducing the ball into the lifting device along a path of travel, contacting the ball with a guide support assembly along a center line of the path of travel, and lifting the ball wherein the ball maintains contact against the guide support along the center line and is stabilized with at least one side wear strip.

Ball lift device and method

An apparatus applies dressing fluid to a bowling lane surface in a desired lane dressing pattern laterally across a plurality of zones on the bowling lane and longitudinally along a predetermined length of each of the zones. Each zone may be the width or a selected fractional width of one board across the bowling lane so that different discrete amounts of lane dressing can be applied to each board along a predetermined length. The apparatus includes a plurality of metering devices which supply lane dressing to corresponding lane dressing dispersion units which in turn supply lane dressing directly to an applicator. The applicator applies the lane dressing to the bowling lane according to the desired lane dressing pattern. A method is provided to supply discrete amounts of bowling lane dressing at desired incremental locations laterally across and longitudinally along a bowling lane. Further, a method is provided for calibration of the apparatus of this invention in order to achieve application of complex lane dressing patterns to the bowling lane.

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Arvada, CO, United States of America

Steven Wayne Stuart