Automatic bowling alley

An automatic bowling alley having a bowling lane with two ends and a plurality of pins, said bowling alley further comprising:

• a pin setup frame provided at one end of the bowling lane for handling a plurality of bowling pins, and having:
• a pin magazine for releasably retaining a number of the pins therebelow;
• a pin support plate located below said pin magazine;
• means for vertically moving said pin support plate out of an initial, lower horizontal position and upward toward said pin magazine into an upper horizontal position to receive the pins from said pin magazine, and for vertically moving said pin support plate downward away from said pin magazine and back into the initial position;
• means for tilting said pin support plate during the upward vertical movement into an intermediate tilting position to clear any pins therefrom;
• sorting means located beneath said pin support plate for separating and arranging the pins received therein into an aligned position;
• and
• pin conveyor means for transporting, in a predetermined position, the pins from said sorting means to said pin magazine.