Design Example: Pinball Game

This abstracted example is a starting template for developing a laser-cut pinball game. It demonstrates an approach to cabinet and playfield construction, a purely mechanical flipper assembly, a solenoid-driven pop bumper, and incorporation of a commercial plunger. The lane structure is notional and not fully detailed; a final design would need to attach the lane and bumper elements to the playfield.

The small 12V solenoids we have available are not nearly as powerful as commercial pop bumper actuators, so the template includes bumpers which act as configurable obstacles rather than delivering impulse to the ball. This makes a possible a digitally-controlled gravity-powered game where the primary mechanic is the descent of the ball through obstacles, powered again to the top by the mechanical flipper impulse delivering human finger work.

Not included in this model: optical playfield ball sensors; the LED matrix display; digital LED lighting; controller and power placement; start button; coin collector.

The SolidWorks model files may be found in the FlatPackExamples/Pinball folder, or may be downloaded as a single file as Pinball.zip.

Illustrations

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An overall view of a laser-cuttable pinball game. The playfield is 575 mm wide.

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This sketch illustrates the flat-pack construction of the cabinet and component modules.

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Each flipper module is built around a common design including a human-actuated plunger, linkage-driven flipper, and a spring return. The two sides are different sizes to accommodate the off-center symmetry created by the ball launch lane on the right side.

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The actuation modules extend below the playfield.

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A notional basic lane layout including launch lane, side walls, and ball drain.