ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,246,262, issued on March 11.
"Illuminated support rails for pinball machines" was invented by Eric M. Meunier (Oak Park, Ill.), Daniel E. Molter (Elmhurst, Ill.), Keith P. Johnson (South Elgin, Ill.) and Duncan F. Brown (Mundelein, Ill.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Support rails are provided for pinball machine playfields that provide mechanical support as well as light-emitting elements, such as LEDs, that generate additional light for illuminating the playfield and/or decorative features affixed to the rails. At least a portion of the support rail is preferably made of a transparent or translucent material to facilitate transmission...