ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 3 -- United States Patent no. 12,564,782, issued on March 3, was assigned to Stern Pinball Inc. (Elk Grove Village, Ill.).
"Pinball machine ramp" was invented by J. Harrison Drake Jr. (Mount Prospect, Ill.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A pinball machine includes an inclined playfield having a pair of lower flippers located near a lower portion of the inclined playfield and at least one upper flipper. A ramp is mounted to the inclined playfield and arranged so that the ball propelled from each of the flippers may enter the ramp and travel the length of the ramp. The ramp includes a ramp surface having a ramp entrance configured to be disposed on the playfield, a ramp ma...