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:
Sep. 05, 2000
Filed:
Jan. 14, 1999
John R Krutsch, Lake Villa, IL (US);
James M Shird, Oak Park, IL (US);
Thomas W Uban, Valparaiso, IN (US);
Williams Electronics Games, Inc., Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A pinball machine has been designed with several novel mechanical and electrical features such that it is easily retrofittable or convertible between a first pinball game and a second pinball game. The pinball machine includes a playfield mounted to a cabinet. Unlike previous pinball machines, electrical wires and their associated 'playfield-side' connectors extending from input/output elements mounted to the playfield are limited in movement to a region generally beneath and in close proximity to the playfield. This allows the playfield to be more easily handled than prior playfields, which had long dangling electrical wires and connectors which could be easily tripped over or severed. Additionally, the plurality of playfield-side connectors are configured for easy installation and integration with corresponding 'cabinet-side' connectors. The cabinet-side connectors are electrically connected to a driver electronics board mounted within the cabinet and carry all input/output functions of the driver electronics board.