Bumper system for a bowling alley

A bowling alley bumper system comprising support means and a bowling alley disposed on said support means, said bowling alley including a longitudinally extending lane having an upper surface and two laterally spaced sides with a major axis on the upper surface of said lane, said lane having a foul line at one end and a pin deck at the other end thereof, a pair of elongated concave gutters extending along and substantially abutting the sides of said lane between the ends thereof for receiving a bowling ball which falls off of said lane, each of said gutters including a longitudinally extending bumper having extending and retracting means including a rotatable crank arm for moving said bumpers upwardly with respect to said alley into an extended position to thereby prevent a bowling ball from falling into one of said gutters and downwardly into a retracted position which allows bowling balls to roll into and along said one of said gutters, means for limiting the rotation of said rotatable crank arm through an angle of less than 90.degree. so that gravity assists the return of said bumpers to a retracted position, electromechanical means for moving said extending and retracting means to thereby move said bumpers from one of said positions to the other of said positions and remote actuating means for actuating said means for moving said extending and retracting means and damping means for damping the return of said bumpers to their retracted position.