to transfer the pins from the characteristic, cage-like Brunswick-design rotating pin storage turret above the table downwards into the deck for transfer onto the pin deck. Pit – a collection area behind the lane where balls and struck pins collect for sorting. Pin elevator – brings pins upwards out of the lane's pit to the top of the unit for re-setting for subsequent frames to deliver pins upwards from the pit into the pin storage system. In ten-pin units, it is usually in the form of a vertically-oriented toroid-shaped system at the extreme rear of the pinspotter. A pin storage system that receives fallen pins from the pin elevator system, and stores them to be used as the next full rack of pins. It may be within or part of the table, or above and/or behind the table. Ball return – removes the bowler's ball from the lane's pit and returns it to the bowler via the ball return track, located between paired lane beds, back to the ball return unit at the heads of the lanes. The ball lift is designed to separate the ball from the fallen pins in the pit, and does not send pins into the ball return track. The track is normally below the lane, although earlier pinsetters (both mechanical and automatic) have above-lane tracks similar to those of older manual lanes. Above-lane ball returns remain in use today as a low-cost alternative for miniature arcade bowling lanes, which use scaled-down balls and pins. Pin turret (Brunswick A series only) - a form of pin storage used by Brunswick's Model A-series ten-pin pinspotters (A/A2/JetBack) and emulated in part by some other manufacturers. Scoring sensor - Sensors that detect standing pins and sends it as scoring information to the scoring system. A scoring sensor may be integrated into the pinsetter mechanism itself, or using a small camera that captures the image of standing pins. Early designs In the mid 1800s, various alternatives to free-standing pins received U.S. patents to solve perceived problems in pinsetting and ball return, aiming to avoid the need for human pinsetters. One scheme (1851) involved pins with spherical bases that, when hit by a ball, merely fell over in place, then were rotated back to a vertical position. A second arrangement (1853) involved resetting the pins via cords descending from respective pin bottoms to weights beneath the pin deck. Another design (1869)