BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:
FIG. 1
a is a cross sectional view of a prior art paintball marker with the bolt in a rearward position;
FIG. 1
b is a cross sectional view of a prior art paintball marker with the bolt traveling to a closed position;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bolt assembly of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along Line 3-3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a front end view of a paintball marker with the bolt of the present invention;
FIG. 5
a is a cross sectional view of a paintball marker with the bolt of the present invention in a rearward position;
FIG. 5
b is a cross sectional view of a paintball marker with the bolt of the present invention traveling to a closed position; and
FIG. 5
c is a cross sectional view of a paintball marker with the bolt of the present invention in a fully closed position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Now referring to the drawings, FIGS. 2 and 3 depict a preferred embodiment of the improved bolt construction of the present invention while FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the improved bolt of the present invention in operation in the context of a pneumatic projectile launcher such as a paintball marker. It should be appreciated that while the term paintball marker will be used in the context of this description, this term is meant to encompass the broader general classification of pneumatic projectile launchers and is therefore not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the improved bolt 20 of the present invention can be seen generally to include a body that has an outer surface 22, a front end defining a front face 24 and a tapered portion 26 of the outer surface 22 proximate the location at which paintballs enter the breech of the paintball marker as is defined by the orientation in which the bolt is operably received into a paintball marker as will be described in more detail below. In addition, the principal improvement in the bolt 20 of the present invention can be seen in that a portion of the outer surface 22 of the bolt 20 is tapered downwardly adjacent said front face 24 of the bolt 20 such that the downwardly tapered surface forms a projectile ramp 26. In the context of the present invention it is only required that a portion of the outer surface 22 and not the entire outer surface 22 be tapered downwardly towards the front face 24 of the bolt 20. It can further be seen that in the preferred embodiment, the tapered surface of the projectile ramp 26 is also formed as a concavely curved surface relative to the outer surface 22 of the bolt 20. More preferably, the concavely curved surface of the projectile ramp 26 is formed to have a radius of curvature that substantially corresponds to the radius of the outer surface of the projectile with which the bolt 20 will be used. In this manner, as will be described in more detail below, the projectile ramp 26 cradles and gently displaces a projectile away from the bolt 20 as the bolt 20 advances to the forward position.
As can best be seen in FIG. 3, the improved bolt 20 of the present invention also includes a seat 28 that is formed circumferentially in the outer surface 22 of the bolt 20 adjacent the front face 24 thereof. The seat 28 is configured to receive and retain a resilient seal 30 therein. The resilient seal 30 serves to seal the gap around the outer surface 22 of the bolt 20 as it is displaced into the forward position in order to prevent the compressed air upon its release from escaping rearwardly along the bolt 20. The resilient seal 30 may be any type or material that is known in the art as being suitable for such an application but is preferably at least one flexible O-ring in the context of the present invention. More preferably, the resilient seal is formed as two adjacent flexible O-rings 30a,30b as depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3 as the use of two O-rings 30a,30b has been found to provide good results to serve as a gas sealing membrane in the context of paintball markers. Further, in accordance with the present invention, O-rings 30a,30b were used, as they are readily available in a broad range of hardness and size. However, many different types of structures can be employed for in the context of forming a resilient seal 30 such as spring-loaded seals and other constructions known in the art.
It can also be seen in FIG. 3 that the seat 28 and the resilient seal 30 crosses over the surface of the projectile ramp 26 on the outer surface 22 of the bolt 20. In this regard, it is possible that in operation, the resilient seal 30 may result in clipping a second paintball as the bolt 20 reciprocates between a rearward and forward position. In order to avoid this result, the bolt 20 of the present invention includes a relief cut 32 positioned beneath the resilient seal 30 at the point where the seat 28 and resilient seal 30 cross over the surface of the projectile ramp 26. The relief cut 32 allows the resilient seal 30 to move downwardly into the seat 28 to a position that is nearly flush with the surface of the projectile ramp 26 thereby allowing the resilient seal 30 to be cleared from the path of the second projectile as the bolt 20 is moved to the forward position. It can be further seen that in the context of the present invention wherein the resilient seal 30 includes two O-rings 30a,30b, the relief cut 32 is formed to include two relief cuts 32a,32b wherein each of the relief cuts 32a,32b corresponds to each of the two O-rings 28a,28b. Further, the first or front relief cut 32a is formed to be deeper than the second or back relief cut 32b in a manner that allows the O-rings 28a,28b to be displaced downwardly into the relief cuts 32a,32b while remaining substantially flush with the surface of the projectile ramp 26.
The bolt 20 can be further seen to include a hollow central core 34 with a gas port 36 therein. The gas port 36 allows for a charge of compressed air to be discharged into the core 34 of the bolt 20 once the bolt 20 has been moved to a forward position wherein the gas charge serves to launch the projectile from the barrel of the paint ball marker.
Turning now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the improved bolt 20 of the present invention is shown installed in the context of a paintball marker 38. The paintball marker 38 can be seen to include a launcher body 40 that supports a barrel 42 and includes a breech 44 therein such that the breech 44 is configured to receive a projectile 46a. A projectile feed tube 48 can be seen connected to the launcher body 40 and in communication with the breech 44 therein. The projectile feed tube 48 is configured to sequentially feed a plurality of projectiles 46a,46b,46c into the breech 44 one at a time. It can further be seen that as was the case in the prior art, a paintball 46a is gravity fed from a hopper (not shown), or the like, to the breech 44 while successive paintballs 46b,46c can be seen to be resting on each other during the loading process. In this regard a second paintball 46b can be seen to be touching a first paintball 46a that has already dropped into the breech 44 such that a portion of the second paintball 46b extends into the breech 44. The remaining details regarding the construction of paintball markers 38 and their breeches 44 are so well known in the art, they need not be discussed in further detail herein.
The bolt 20 of the present invention is positioned within the breech 44 such that the bolt 20 is movable between a rearward position and a forward position. With the bolt 20 in the rearward position, a first projectile 46a can enter the breech 44 from the projectile feed tube 48 as is depicted in FIG. 5a. As the bolt 20 is displaced to the forward position as depicted in FIG. 5b the first projectile 46a is displaced to a launching position. More importantly, as described above, the bolt 20 includes a front face 24 and an outer surface 22 wherein a portion of the outer surface is tapered downwardly adjacent the front face 24 forming a projectile ramp 26. FIG. 4 shows that the surface of the projectile ramp 26 is concavely curved and has a radius that is substantially the same as the radius of the paintballs 46a,46b employed in the paintball marker 38. It can be seen that as the bolt 20 advances, the front face 24 displaces the first paintball 46a, now positioned within the breech 44, forward to the barrel 42 to ready the first paintball 46a for launch. In addition, rather than impacting the side of the second paintball 46b with the leading edge of the bolt 20, as was the case in the prior art, the projectile ramp 26 contacts a lower portion of the exterior surface of the second projectile 46b in a manner that cradles the second paintball 46b and displaces it back up and into the feed tube 48 and out of the way of the reciprocating bolt 20. In this manner, the projectile ramp 26 on the bolt 20 of the present invention greatly reduces the possibility of damaging or clipping the second paintball 46b.
It should be appreciated to one skilled in the art that while the figures depict an arrangement wherein the paintballs 46a,46b,46c are fed into the breech 44 from the top and therefore the projectile ramp 26 is formed on the top of the outer surface 22 of the bolt 20, other configurations also fall within the present disclosure. For example, the projectile feed tube 48 may be slightly offset from the top center portion of the breech 44 or may be positioned to feed into the side of the breech 44. In any of these cases, the teachings of the present invention are still applicable and the position of the projectile ramp 26 on the bolt 20 only need be reoriented to a position that is proximate the location where the feed tube 48 meets the breech 44.
Referring again to FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c, the leading edge portion of the bolt 20 includes the circumferential seat 28 and resilient sealing member 30 as discussed above. Further, it can be seen that the seat 28 includes relief cutouts 32a,32b at the location wherein the seat 28 crosses the projectile ramp 26. The position of the projectile ramp 26 and the relief cutouts 32a,32b are positioned to correspond to the position of the second paintball 46b as it resides in the feed tube 48 awaiting transfer to the breech 44. As a result, the second paintball 46b that is being forced into contact with the first paintball 46a within the breech 44 by the force feed loader 50 is able to ride upwardly along the projectile ramp 26 being displaced back into the feed tube 48 as the bolt 20 cycles forward to fire the first paintball 46a. It can also be seen that the resilient seal 30a,30b is provided with room, as a result of the relief cuts 32a,32b, to downwardly flex out of the path of the second paintball 46b (shown at FIG. 5b). This allows the second paintball 46b to be gently guided up the shallow projectile ramp 26 and out of harms way to avoid bursting and jamming. Once the projectile ramp 26 portion of the bolt has cycled past the second paintball 46b, the resilient seal 30a,30b is allowed to expand to its previous shape (shown at FIG. 5c) and back into a sealing position allowing the bolt 20 to fully seal in the front of the breech 44 as the first paintball 46a is being fired. It should also be noted that the flexible portion of the resilient seal 30a,30b need to only be in the region where the resilient seal 30a,30b crosses the projectile ramp 26 and has a possibility of contacting the second paintball 46b. Such flexibility further serves to urge the second paintball 46b away from the moving bolt 20 in a cushioned manner. In terms of a method, the present invention discloses a method of operating a pneumatic projectile launcher 38 that includes a body 40 having a breech 44 therein for receiving a projectile. A projectile feed tube 48 is connected to the launcher body 40 and is configured to sequentially deposit a plurality of projectiles 46a,46b,46c into the breech 44 one at a time. A bolt 20 is provided and movably positioned within the breech 44 wherein the bolt 20 includes a front face 24 and an outer surface 22 such that the outer surface 22 proximate the feed tube 48 is tapered downwardly adjacent its front face 24 to form a projectile ramp 26. The bolt 20 is displaced to a rearward position to allow a first projectile 46a to enter the breech 44 from the projectile feed tube 48. The bolt 20 is then displaced to a forward position wherein the front face 24 of the bolt 20 displaces the first projectile 46a to a launch position and the projectile ramp 26 displaces a second projectile 46b that is positioned within the feed tube 48 and in contact with the first projectile 46a back into the projectile feed tube 48. In this manner, the first projectile 46a is readied for launch while the second projectile 46b is protected from clipping or bursting.
It can therefore be seen that the improved bolt assembly 20 for a paintball marker 38 of the present invention is unique and novel as compared to the prior art as it is formed in an manner that prevents the bolt 20 from clipping or otherwise damaging a second incoming paintball projectile 46b as the bolt 20 reciprocates forward to ready a first paintball 46a that is already loaded into the breech 44 in preparation for launch. As a result, a paintball marker 38 that uses the bolt 20 construction of the present invention operates in a more reliable manner while allowing for faster cycle times. For these reasons, the present invention is believed to represent a significant advancement in the art, which has substantial commercial merit.
While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.
Patent Application
20080053423
