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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from house starks dot com where

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Speaker 1: smart Happens. Hi, I'm Marshall Brain with today's question, how

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Speaker 1: does the ball return work on a coin operated pool table?

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Speaker 1: If you've ever played one of those coin operated pool

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Speaker 1: tables in a place like a restaurant or an arcade,

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Speaker 1: then you know that the obvious question is how the

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Speaker 1: heck does this thing return the cube all to me?

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Speaker 1: If you look inside the table, there is a system

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Speaker 1: of shoots that connect to all six pockets on the table.

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Speaker 1: Each shoot sends a pocketed ball from the pocket to

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Speaker 1: a collection chamber where the numbered balls are lined up

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Speaker 1: in single file. These numbered balls remain locked in the chamber,

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Speaker 1: which you can see behind a piece of plexiglass, until

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Speaker 1: someone wants to play a game and insert some coins.

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Speaker 1: Of course, the cue ball can't get stuck in this chamber.

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Speaker 1: If a player accidentally pockets the cue ball, called a scratch,

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Speaker 1: the cue ball needs to come back out so the

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Speaker 1: players can continue playing. Table manufacturers needed a way to

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Speaker 1: allow the cue ball to be returned to play while

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Speaker 1: keeping the pocketed numbered balls locked in that storage compartment.

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Speaker 1: Many solutions have been proposed to solve this problem, including

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Speaker 1: light sensors that since the light reflected from the que ball,

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Speaker 1: a metallic core ball that would trigger a separating mechanism

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Speaker 1: when it passed through an electromagnetic field, a balanced mechanism

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Speaker 1: that would separate a heavier cue ball from lighter number balls,

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Speaker 1: and so on. For the most part, though, coin operated

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Speaker 1: tables used two types of que balls that can be

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Speaker 1: easily separated. The first is an oversized ball that can

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Speaker 1: be separated by the radius of the ball using a

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Speaker 1: radius gauging device. The second is a magnetic cube ball

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Speaker 1: that triggers a magnetic detector. The oversized ball is approximately

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Speaker 1: two and three ace inches or six centimeters in diameter,

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Speaker 1: and it's about one eighth of an inch or two

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Speaker 1: millimeters larger than a normal ball. This slight difference in

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Speaker 1: size allows the cube ball to be separated before it

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Speaker 1: gets to the storage compartment. The smaller numbered balls are

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Speaker 1: able to pass through a gauging mechanism, while the larger

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Speaker 1: cue ball is directed through a second shoot where it

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Speaker 1: falls out into an opening on the side of the table.

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Speaker 1: For players who dislike using a slightly larger cue ball,

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Speaker 1: there's also coin operated machines that can use a magnetic

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Speaker 1: ball in which a magnet is built into the core

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Speaker 1: of the cue ball. Magnetic cue balls that go into

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Speaker 1: a pocket are separated from number balls by a magnetic detector.

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Speaker 1: As the magnetic ball passes this detector, the magnet triggers

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Speaker 1: a deflecting device that separates the cue ball and again

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Speaker 1: sends it into an opening on the side of the table.

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Speaker 1: Both the oversized and magnetic cubeballs can be used interchangeably

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Speaker 1: on most of today is coin operated tables, but each

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Speaker 1: has its shortcomings. If you're a beginning pool player, the

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Speaker 1: larger ball might not affect your play, but it can

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Speaker 1: disrupt the play of some advanced players who are used

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Speaker 1: to playing with the normal two and a quarter inch

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Speaker 1: cue ball. Likewise, some players will notice the difference in

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Speaker 1: the properties of a magnetic cube ball, which sometimes lacks

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Speaker 1: a true role. Also, because the magnetic cubeball has a

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Speaker 1: magnetic material inserted into it, it has a greater tendency

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Speaker 1: to shatter if you drop it on a hard floor.

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