Patent Application
20090170619
This invention relates in general to bowling alleys, and more specifically involves a flat gutter support for raising bowling scores.
A bowling lane includes a flat gutter on each side of the pin deck. A kickback plate acts an outer side wall to each flat gutter.
Conventional flat gutters in most bowling centers are made of rather thin wood or plastic and are supported by three lateral supports: one at each end and one centrally. When pins are struck by a bowling ball or by other pins, they often bounce off the kickback plate and the flat gutter and interact with other pins.
A jack of selectively adjustable height firmly supports the midsection of the flat gutter or a support of the flat gutter in a bowling alley.
Supporting a flat gutter of a bowling alley with a jack increases the coefficient of restitution of the flat gutter such that more energy remains in the bouncing pins and the more likely they are to knock down other pins, thus increasing the score.
Other features and many attendant advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description together with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout.
With reference now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Pin deck area 19 generally includes a pin deck 20, flat gutter 40, kickback plate 90 and support structure 100 therefore. Support structure 100 includes a foundation 110, such as of concrete. A plurality of parallel, longitudinally-oriented, spaced, vertical supports 120, such as wooden 2×10s placed on side, project upward from foundation 110. A plurality of parallel, laterally-oriented, spaced lateral supports 130, such as wooden 2×4s placed on face, are disposed on top of vertical supports 120. A plurality of parallel, longitudinally-oriented, spacer supports 140, such as 2×6s placed on face, are disposed on top of lateral supports 130.
Bowling alley 10 includes a lane 12 for receiving a bowled ball from a bowler and for delivering it to pin deck 20. Pin deck 20 is supported by spacer supports 140. Pin deck 20 is generally comprised of a plurality of laminated boards and includes a planar upper surface 22 for supporting bowling pins 15. In
Flat gutters 40 abut each side 26 of pin deck 20. Flat gutter 40 is about 9.25 inches wide and has a top surface 41, a bottom 45, a front end 46, a back end 47, and a midsection 48. Top surface 41 includes a front end 42; a back end 43 and a midsection 44 therebetween.
Flat gutter 40 is supported by a plurality of supports 50. A front support 50F supports front end 46 of flat gutter 40 such that front end 42 of top surface is about 1.8 inches below the upper surface 22 of pin deck 20. A back support 50B supports back end 46 of flat gutter 40 such back end 43 of top surface 41 is about 3.5 inches below upper surface 22 of pin deck 20. A midsection support 50M supports midsection 48 of flat gutter 40 such that midsection 44 of top surface 41 is below front end top surface 42 and above back end top surface 43. Flat gutter supports 50 typically include shims 58, such as wood blocks, placed atop lateral supports 130. Flat gutter 40 typically is attached to shims 58, such as with screws.
As best seen in
The exemplary jacks 60 include a jack head 62 having a bearing surface 63 for bearing against the element to be supported and means, such as a linear actuator 64, for selectively adjusting the height of jack head 62. In jack 60A, linear actuator 64 includes body 65 and a vertical screw 66, such as screw 66A, threadably connected to body 65 such that the height of jack 60A is adjusted by rotating screw 66A relative to body 65. Screw 66A includes wrench engaging means 69, such as faces, such as hexagonal faces 69A or wrench receiving bore, such as hexagonal bore 69B, for receiving a wrench for rotating screw 66 for adjusting height of jack 60A. Midsection 48 of flat gutter 40 includes a bore 49 therethrough for access to the wrench receiving means 69. In jack 60B, linear actuator 64 includes body 65, a vertical screw 66, and a nut 67 bearing on body 65 such that the height of jack 60B is adjusted by rotating nut 67 relative to screw 66.
Jack head 62A of jack 60A is pivotable on ball 68 so as to align with a slanted bottom 45 on flat gutter 40. Jack head 62B is fixed to screw 66 and may have a horizontal bearing surface 63, shown, to bear against a support 50 or may have a slanted bearing surface 63 to bear against a slanted bottom 45 on flat gutter 40.
A method of increasing bowling scores for a bowling alley 10 includes procuring a jack 60 of selectively adjustable height and firmly supporting midsection 48 of flat gutter 40 or a flat gutter support 50 with the procured jack 60 for increasing the coefficient of restitution of midsection 48 for providing livelier pin action.
From the foregoing description, it is seen that the present invention provides an extremely simple and efficient device and method of retrofitting conventional bowling alleys to increase bowling scores.
Although particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, various changes may be made in the form, composition, construction, and arrangement of the parts herein without sacrificing any of its advantages. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims such modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
