ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,667,774, issued on June 30, was assigned to Stern Pinball Inc. (Elk Grove Village, Ill.).
"Collapsible ramp for an amusement game device" was invented by Keith Elwin (Elk Grove Village, Ill.), J. Harrison Drake Jr. (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) and Richard J. Naegele (Elk Grove Village, Ill.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A collapsible ramp assembly for use with a pinball machine having a playfield and a ball which moves across a surface of the playfield. The collapsible ramp assembly includes a base mountable to the surface of the playfield, a first ramp portion pivotally coupled to the base and including a first ramp surface, a second ramp...