Pinsetting machines have largely done away with pinsetting as a manual profession, although a small number of bowling alleys still uses human pinsetters. The first mechanical pinsetter was invented by Gottfried (Fred) Schmidt, who sold the patent in 1941 to AMF. Prior to the machine's invention, pinsetters were boys or young men ( pin boys) hired at bowling alleys to manually reset pins and returned balls to the player. In bowling, a pinsetter or pinspotter is an automated mechanical device that sets bowling pins back in their original positions, returns bowling balls to the front of the alley, and clears fallen pins on the pin deck. JSTOR ( August 2007) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī 5-pin bowling pinsetter in use at a bowling alley in Toronto Pinsetters in operation at a bowling alley as seen from behind the lanes.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.
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