Parts of a Claw Machine – Labeled Diagram, Claw to Chute

All 13 parts on the diagram

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Behind the glass 6

Claw It then carries what it holds back to the prize chute. There it opens.
Prizes Most machines hold soft toys or other small prizes.
Prize chute A prize dropped here falls down past the prize detector. It lands in the prize box below.
Glass Claw machines today are upright cabinets with a glass box on top.
Lights The glass box is lit from the inside.
Rails The carriage rides on them. It carries the claw from side to side.

Controls and cabinet 7

Joystick Push it the way you want the claw to go.
Drop button On this machine it is the cap on top of the joystick. If no one presses it before the time runs out, the claw drops by itself.
Cabinet The glass box sits on top of it. The coin door and the prize door are in its front.
Coin door The operator unlocks it to look inside the machine.
Coin mechanism Operators call it the coin mech for short.
Bill acceptor On many machines it is an extra, mounted on the coin door.
Prize detector It is how the machine knows a prize has been won.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 and kept only where at least two independent sources use it: (1) Smart Industries Corp., 7th Generation Crane Manual (manual P/N 14294), full text at https://archive.org/details/7th-generation-manual-output, and the same maker's Bear Claw manual, https://archive.org/details/bear-claw-claw-machine-manual (counted as one source); (2) Grayhound Electronics, Candy Shop crane documentation, full text at https://archive.org/details/grayhound_crane_candy_shop_ptm; (3) Wikipedia, text only: Claw machine. The manuals were read for the names of parts only. No maker is named or drawn on the page, and the page gives no playing advice and no operator settings. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's machine, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a claw machine, which its makers call a crane, on one arcade cabinet drawn from the front. A panel of the lower cabinet is cut away to show where a prize goes after the claw lets go.

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From the claw to the coin door

Numbers 1 to 3 are what you play with: the claw, the joystick that moves it and the drop button. Numbers 4 to 8 are behind the glass: the prizes, the prize chute, the glass itself, the lights and the rails. Numbers 9 to 13 are the cabinet and its front: the coin door with the coin mechanism and the bill acceptor, and the prize detector inside the chute.

The claw always comes back to the prize chute before it opens.
Coins and paper money both go in at the coin door: the two dark plates are the bill acceptor and the coin mechanism.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a claw machine called?

The claw hangs behind the glass and rides on rails at the top of the cabinet. The joystick and the drop button control it. Prizes fall through the prize chute, and the coin mechanism and the bill acceptor sit on the coin door.

How does a claw machine work?

The player moves the claw over the pile of prizes with the joystick. The claw then drops into the pile, closes and lifts. It returns to its home position and opens, and anything it carried falls into the chute.

What is the prize chute on a claw machine?

The opening in a corner of the glass box where the claw lets go. A prize dropped there falls past the prize detector, a beam across the chute, which is how the machine knows a prize has been won.

Where does the money go in a claw machine?

Into the coin mechanism, the coin slots on the coin door. Many machines also have a bill acceptor on the same door for paper money.