Movable Flipper Drain Device for Pinball Machines
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Solution Overview
Problem
In pinball machines, stationary drains and flippers lead to decreased game interest and interactivity over time, as the ball can easily pass between fixed flippers and into the drain, making the game less challenging and less engaging.
Innovation Solution
A movable flipper drain device with a drain and ball-striking assembly mounted on a guide rod, allowing the drain and flippers to move leftward and rightward, featuring controllable flippers and an operation table with buttons to enhance game interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the drain and flippers are made stationary and fixed, then the structure is simple and stable, but the game interest and challenging decrease over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by transforming the stationary drain and flippers into movable components. The drain assembly is mounted on a guide rod allowing it to move leftward and rightward, while the flippers are designed to rotate about their longitudinal axes. This dynamic capability enables the drain and flippers to change positions during gameplay, increasing game interest and挑战性 while maintaining structural reliability through controlled movement mechanisms.
2Device complexity
If the drain and flippers are made stationary, then the device complexity is low, but the interactivity and challenging of the game are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamics by enabling the drain assembly to move along the guide rod and the flippers to rotate, transforming a static structure into a dynamic interactive system. The operation buttons allow players to control these movements, significantly enhancing game interactivity and challenging while adding only moderate structural complexity through the guide rod mounting and rotation mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses operation buttons as intermediaries between the player and the drain-flipper system. These buttons serve as the interface that translates player input into controlled movements of the drain assembly and flippers, enhancing game interactivity without requiring complex direct control mechanisms.
3Productivity
If the flippers are fixed, then the ball can easily pass between them and enter the drain, but making them movable adds device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the flippers rotatable about their longitudinal axes and the drain assembly movable along the guide rod. This allows the flippers to actively redirect the ball away from the drain opening rather than passively allowing balls to easily fall in. The rotation mechanism and guide rod mounting add moderate complexity but significantly improve game flow by giving players active control over ball redirection.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The movable design enhances game interest and interactivity by allowing players to strategically move the drain and flippers, improving the chances of scoring and reducing the likelihood of the ball entering the drain prematurely, thus extending gameplay engagement.
Implementation Method 1
the drain and ball-striking assembly is mounted to and supported on the guide rod between the two fixed rack, such that the drain and ball-striking assembly is movable leftward or rightward on the guide rod and the drain and ball-striking assembly is not rotatable frontward and rearward
Implementation Method 2
the flippers being controllable and drivable to rotate
Implementation Method 3
a player may operate the flippers to strike and redirect a ball up back to the playing field
Implementation Method 4
the drain and ball-striking assembly is provided with a cushion member on each of a left side and a right
Data Source
AI summary
A flipper drain device of a pinball machine is provided, including a fixed rack and a drain and ball-striking assembly. The fixed rack is mounted in the pinball machine and includes guide rods. The drain and ball-striking assembly is mounted to the guide rods, such that the drain and ball-striking assembly is leftward/rightward movable but not rotatable on the guide rods. The drain and ball-striking assembly has a drain opening and a flipper provided at each of a left part and right part thereof. The drain and ball-striking assembly includes an operation table, which is provided with an operation member. The operation member controls the drain and ball-striking assembly to selectively move leftward/rightward. The operation table is provided with an operation button on each of a left part and a right part thereof for respectively controlling the flippers of the drain and ball-striking assembly to rotate.