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:
Nov. 10, 1998
Filed:
Aug. 28, 1997
Barry Oursler, Lake Zurich, IL (US);
Dwight Sullivan, Streamwood, IL (US);
Williams Electronics Games, Inc., Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A wrecking ball play feature for a pinball game includes a crane disposed upon the playfield of the pinball game. A wrecking ball is suspended from the crane by a cable so that it may be impacted by a game ball rolling upon the playfield. After being struck by the game ball, the wrecking ball swings in a pendulum-like fashion so as to strike targets near the crane, thus increasing the player's score. Alternatively, the wrecking ball may block a passage, the access of which by the game ball increases the player's score. The wrecking ball may be raised or lowered so that the pinball game features two or more modes of play. In one embodiment, the wrecking ball is raised and lowered by pivoting the crane arm about a pivot connection with the crane tower by way of a solenoid connected between the crane arm and the playfield. In another embodiment, the wrecking ball is raised by retracting the cable into the crane arm by way of tilting a crank to which the cable is connected.