The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 23, 1995
Filed:
Jul. 07, 1994
Kent L Widrick, Castorland, NY (US);
AMF Bowling, Inc., Mechanicsville, VA (US);
Abstract
A bowling alley bumper system which can be used for conventional bowling and for bumper bowling is disclosed. The bowling alley bumper system includes a pair of gutters having longitudinally extending portions and spring biased extending and retracting mechanisms for moving those portions (bumpers) into an extended position to prevent a bowling ball from falling into a gutter and downwardly into a retracted position which allows bowling balls to fall into and roll along one of the gutters. In one embodiment, the portion is moved upwardly or downwardly along an arc in an XZ plane with little or no lateral movement, and the spring biased mechanism retains the bumpers in their extended and retracted positions. The spring biased mechanism also causes the bumpers to 'pop-up' when moved out of the recessed position.