What does this little Doo Hicky do?

[badpenny]

Whilst fiddle arsing with my Bryans 9 Cup I spotted this odd clamp on the vertical arm that links the winning ball release to the payout knob. So what's that all about then? It appears to have a swiveley bit which has a weight at one end, but isn't connected to anything else.

Sorry about the poor quality pictures (click on them to make them bigger and a lot more fuzzier), I'm told the youth of today utilise their phones as cameras, I used my kettle.

Confused of Derby

Edited one time as I forgot which forum I was on and needed to delete the bit about Golden Showers

[willborl]

I've seen quite a few Bryans Machines with those Doo Hicky's on BP.

I was told once that they were meant to weigh down the winning lever so that punters couldn't tip/bash the machine and make the lever fall into the winning position.

Effectively an anti-tilt device.

Not too sure if that's too true or the intended purpose of them but I'm sure someone else will be able to enlighten us on this matter

[13rebel]

I believe Willborl's answer to be correct. If the machine is tilted (yet wouldn't it be fixed to a wall or some other structure?) the ball would roll along, tilt the lever and so the holey arm cannot be moved when the payout knob is turned. Another case of Mr Bryan over-engineering methinks.
Note to Mr BP-it may be wise to ensure your kettle isn't boiling when you take a photo.