Open-Elbow Inlanes

Open-elbow inlanes are Inlanes whose divider from the Outlanes stops short at the bend, leaving the two lanes joined so a ball can cross from one into the other in either direction.^[1]

The gap cuts both ways, which is what makes it interesting: a ball on the safe side of the divider can wander out into the drain lane, and a ball already in the outlane can wander back. Gottlieb used the layout from Extra Inning (1971) into the middle 1980s, and Spanish and Italian makers — Recreativos Franco, Zaccaria, Maresa and INDER among them — built it into machines through the 1970s. Right Open-Elbow Inlanes open the right pair alone and keep the divider on the left.