Pinsetter

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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. 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. The first mechanical pinsetter was invented by Gottfried (Fred) Schmidt,^[1] who sold the patent in 1941 to AMF. Pinsetting machines have largely done away with pinsetting as a manual profession, although a small number of bowling alleys still use human pinsetters. While humans usually no longer set the pins, a pinchaser (or "pin monkey") is often stationed near the equipment to ensure it is clean and working properly, and to clear minor jams.

Beginning in the 1970s, modern pinsetters were integrated with electronic scoring systems of varying sophistication. Many pinsetters have a manual reset button in case they do not automatically activate after a ball is rolled. Others have no automatic tracking of the state of the game, especially in candlepin and duckpin bowling sports, which use smaller balls, and in which the machines are manually activated.