US 7,115,040 B1 · Pit cushion follower assembly

Abstract

A pit cushion assembly of an automatic pinsetter is fitted with a pit cushion follower assembly that includes a cam and roller assembly that allows a pit cushion of a pin setting mechanism to move toward and away from a support arm on which the pit cushion is movably mounted without restricting a range of motion of the pit cushion away from the support arm. The cam is operative, upon movement of the pit cushion toward the support arm from an initial position thereof, to ride along the roller while driving the support arm to move. The cam is also operative to permit return movement of the pit cushion to the operative position thereof without restricting the range of pit cushion motion. The cam and roller-based follower assembly allows the pinsetter to operate more efficiently with less moving parts and with less maintenance requirements than with a traditional link-based follower assembly.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A pit cushion follower assembly, comprising:

a cam and roller assembly that allows a pit cushion of an automatic pinsetter to move toward and away from a support arm on which the pit cushion is movably mounted without restricting a range of motion of the pit cushion away from the support arm, wherein the cam and roller assembly comprises:
(A) a roller that is configured to be mounted on the support arm;
(B) a cam that is configured to be mounted on the pit cushion at a location in which the cam contacts and rides along the roller when the pit cushion moves toward the support arm from an initial position thereof;
and
(C) a bolt that is configured to mount the cam on the pit cushion and that is also configured to support an end of a link coupling the pit cushion assembly to a rake assembly.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Pit cushion follower assembly

Life of this patent

Pit cushion follower assembly

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims13