Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6742512
-
Patent Number
6,742,512
-
Date Filed
Monday, June 23, 200321 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, June 1, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 124 45
- 124 48
- 124 49
- 124 511
- 124 73
- 124 74
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A paintball gun is disclosed, which includes at least one aiming and/or pointing device mount assembly connected to, affixed to or integral with a paintball gun's hopper, adapter, and/or feed tube.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paintball gun including an aiming mounting assembly for mounting an aiming apparatus and a timing apparatus.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a paintball gun including an aiming mounting assembly that attaches to or is integral with a hopper/magazine, an adapter, and/or a feed tube, where the assembly permits rotation about two axes so that the aiming device can be properly aligned and a timing apparatus mounted on the hopper/magazine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous types of paintball guns have been developed and used in a variety of manners, such as in simulated war games. These paintball guns are generally powered by CO
2
cartridges or cylinders which, generally, propel the paintballs at a specified velocity, such as three hundred (300) feet per second out of the gun barrel. In general, the prior art paintball guns include a typical firearm type mechanism including a bolt, spring and cocking handle.
Some of these prior art paintball guns include aiming devices such as laser pointing devices, scopes, flash lights, or the like. But due to the hopper, much of the paintball gun is not readily amenable to attachment of an aiming device.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improved paintball guns with mounting assemblies for aiming devices, where the mounting assembly are not obstructed by components of the gun, and especially where the mounting assemblies are attached to or integral with either the hopper, the adapter, and/or the feed tube of a paintball gun.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a paintball gun including at least one aiming device mounting assembly associated with the hopper, the feed tube, and/or the adapter and a timing apparatus attached to or integral with the hopper.
The present invention also provides a paintball gun apparatus including: a gun assembly having a handle, a barrel, and a paintball feed tube; a feeder/hopper or magazine; optionally an adapter, and at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounting assembly and a timing apparatus attached to or integral with the hopper. The mounting assemblies preferably have two axes of adjustment so that the aiming and/or pointing device can be adjusted up and down and side to side. The aiming and/or pointing assemblies can be attached to or integral with the hopper, the feed tube, and/or the optional adapter.
The present invention also provides a paintball gun apparatus including: a gun assembly having a handle, a barrel, and a paintball feed tube; a feeder/hopper or magazine; optionally an adapter; at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounting assembly; and at least one aiming and or pointing device detachably connected to the at least one mounting assembly. The mounting assemblies preferably have two axes of adjustment so that the aiming and/or pointing device can be adjusted up and down and side to side. The aiming and/or pointing assemblies can be attached to or integral with the hopper, the feed tube, and/or the optional adapter.
The present invention also provides a method for improving aiming and/or pointing of a paintball gun, including the steps of: attaching an aiming and/or pointing device to an aiming and/or pointing device mounting assembly attached to or integral with a hopper, an adapter and/or a feed tube and aiming the paintball gun and firing with the aid of either an aiming device such as a scope or a pointing device such as a laser pointer or both.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention can be better understood with reference to the following detailed description together with the appended illustrative drawings in which like elements are numbered the same:
FIGS. 1A&B
depict a preferred embodiment of a paintball gun including a hopper having a scope mounting assembly on a barrel side of the hopper, an aiming apparatus mounting assembly on a side opposite the barrel side, the non-barrel side, and a timing apparatus mounting assembly on a back side of the hopper, where the hopper is mounted on an angled adapter,
FIG. 1A
, or a straight adapter,
FIG. 1B
;
FIGS. 2A-B
depict another preferred embodiment of a paintball gun including a hopper, an adapter having a scope mounting assembly on a barrel side of the hopper, an aiming apparatus mounting assembly on a side opposite the barrel side, the non-barrel side, and a timing apparatus mounting assembly on a back side of the hopper, where the adapter is angled,
FIG. 2A
, or a straight,
FIG. 2B
;
FIGS. 3A-B
depict a front view and a hopper rotated side view another preferred embodiment of a paintball gun including a feed tube having a scope mounting assembly on a barrel side thereof, a hopper having an aiming apparatus mounting assembly on a side opposite the barrel side, the non-barrel side, an adapter and a timing apparatus mounting assembly on a back side of the hopper;
FIG. 3C
depict an expanded view of the hopper mounting assembly of
FIG. 3A&B
; and
FIG. 4
depicts a hopper preferred embodiment of a hopper having a scope mounting assembly on a barrel side of the hopper, an aiming apparatus mounting assembly on a side opposite the barrel side, the non-barrel side, and a timing apparatus mounting assembly on a back side of the hopper.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The inventors have found that a paintball gun can be constructed to include at least one aiming device mounting assembly associated with (connected to or integral with) the hopper, the feed tube, and/or the adapter and a timing apparatus attached to or integral with the hopper. The mounting assemblies on the hopper, the feed tube, and/or the adapter are designed to accommodate a scope like aiming device or a pointing like aiming device or a combination of both a scope type and a pointing type aiming device. The timing apparatus is designed to provide the user with time information clearly visible to the user when properly aiming, holding and firing the paintball gun.
The present invention broadly relates to a paintball gun including at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounting assembly associated with (connected to or integral with) the hopper, the feed tube, and/or the adapter and a timing apparatus attached to or integral with the hopper. The present invention also relates to a paintball gun including a scope type device and/or a pointing type device mounted on the mounting assembly.
The present invention also broadly relates to a method for aiming a paintball gun including the steps of: mounting at least one aiming and/or pointing device on at least one mounting assembly associated with (connected to or integral with) the hopper, the feed tube, and/or the adapter.
The hopper can be constructed in any suitable material geometry, provided that the paintballs can reliably flow from the hopper/feeder apparatus through a delivery conduit to the barrel of the paintball gun for ultimate firing from the gun. Preferred geometric shapes include, without limitation, banana-shapes, spherical shapes, hemispherical shapes, quadrilateral shapes such as square or rectangular shapes, triangular shapes, or any other shape that provides a paintball reservoir and a conduit for paintballs to drop from the reservoir to the gun barrel one at a time. The hopper/feeder apparatus or magazine can be of a unitary construction or can be constructed of multiple parts that are fastened together by fasteners or snap together as is well known in the art.
The adapter can be constructed in either an angled shape or a straight shape depending on the type of paintball gun. The adapter and the hopper can have threaded connections as set forth in co-pending application U.S. application Ser. No. 10/117,673, incorporated herein by reference.
Suitable materials out of which,the hopper/feeder apparatus, the adapters, and the mounting assembly can be constructed include, without limitations, metals, plastics, composites, ceramics, or the like, or mixtures or combinations thereof. Preferably, the apparatuses are constructed out of plastics or composites or mixtures or combinations thereof. Suitable metals include, without limitation, aluminum and its alloys such as aluminum-magnesium alloys or the like, titanium, steel or other iron alloys, copper and its alloys such as bronze, brass or the like, or any other metal or its alloys and mixture or combinations thereof. Suitable plastics include, without limitation, polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyoutylene, polyhexylene, polystyrene, polyalphamethylstyrene, or the like or copolymers thereof, acrylics, urethanes, polyesters, thermoplastics, thermal setting resins, thermoplastic elastomers, liquid crystal polymers, polyalkyleneoxides, or any other structural plastic suitable for making a durable paintball hopper/feeder apparatus. Suitable composites includes, without limitation, polymer matrices selected from the plastics listed above reinforced by a fiber such as carbon fibers, polyamides such as Kevlar, boron-nitride fibers, glass fibers, or the like or mixture or combination thereof.
The hopper can also include a covering. Suitable material out of which the hopper/feeder apparatus covers can be made include, without limitation, elastomers such as natural or synthetic rubbers or the like, urethanes rubbers, silicon rubbers or any other resilient and shock absorbing materials or mixtures or combinations thereof.
The hopper can also include a locking device as set forth in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/187,386 and 10/430,681, incorporated herein by reference.
The mounting assemblies can be attached to or affixed to the feed tube, the hopper and/or the adapter by any method, apparatus or technique currently known in the art or that is yet to be invented. Such techniques include cementing or gluing, melt flowing the materials together, groove and tab connectors, threaded connectors, velcro connectors, or any other similar type mechanical or chemical connectors or connecting processes.
Suitable aiming and pointing devices include, without limitation, scopes such as normal scopes and night vision scopes, laser pointers, flash lights, other device capable of producing a columnated beam of light, an acoustic distance gauge or sensor, an IR distance gauge or sensor, IR or sonic motion sensors, or any other viewing device, pointing device or motion sensing device.
Referring now to
FIGS. 1A&B
, a preferred embodiment of a paintball gun of this invention, generally
100
, is shown to include a gun body
102
having a handle
104
, a barrel
106
and a hollow, paintball feeding tube
108
extending upward from the barrel
106
near its handle end
110
. The feeding tube
108
includes a male connector
112
at its distal end
114
, which can be threaded or unthreaded. The gun
100
also includes a paintball dispenser or hopper
116
and a bent connecting member or adapter
118
as shown in
FIG. 1A and a
straight connecting member or adapter
118
as shown in FIG.
1
B. The adapter
118
includes a female connector
120
for engaging the feed tube connector
112
, which can be threaded or unthreaded, and a female, threaded hopper connector
122
. The hopper
116
includes an opened first end
124
, a paintball reservoir
126
, and a lid
128
. The lid
128
is designed to engage the opened end
124
so that the opened end
124
can be closed after the hopper
116
is filled with paintballs (not shown). The hopper
116
further includes a paintball dispensing neck
130
depending from a lower central region
132
, where the neck
130
includes a male, threaded connector
134
at this distal end
136
, where the connectors
122
and
134
are designed to lockingly secure the paint dispenser
116
to the adapter
118
and the connectors
112
and
120
are designed to secure the adapter
118
to the feed tube
108
. The feed tube
108
also includes a safety
138
at its proximal end
140
and a view slot
142
. The gun
100
also includes a barrel side two axis rotatable mounting assembly
144
and a non-barrel side two axis rotatable mounting assembly
146
, attached to or affixed to or integral, with the hopper
116
. The assemblies
144
and
146
include a hopper extension member
148
having an aperture
150
designed to receive a post
152
of an aiming device receiving member
154
so that the member
154
can be rotated about the post
152
providing a first degree of rotational freedom. The extension member
148
also includes a locking member
156
adapted to hold the post
152
in place so that a particular orientation can be fixed. The receiving member
154
includes an aperture
158
designed to receive a second post
160
of a receiver
162
so that the receiver
162
can be rotated about the post
162
providing a second degree of freedom. The receiving member
154
also includes a locking member
164
adapted to hold the second post
160
in place so that the particular orientation can be fixed. The assembly
144
is shown holding a scope
166
; while the assembly
146
is shown holding a laser pointer
168
. The hopper
118
also includes a time keeping apparatus
170
affixed thereto or attached thereto or integral therewith in a center rear region
172
thereof.
Referring now to
FIGS. 2A&B
, another preferred embodiment of a paintball gun of this invention, generally
200
, is shown to include a gun body
202
having a handle
204
, a barrel
206
and a hollow, paintball feeding tube
208
extending upward from the barrel
206
near its handle end
210
. The feeding tube
208
includes a male connector
212
at its distal end
214
. The gun
200
also includes a paintball dispenser or hopper
216
and a bent connecting member or adapter
218
as shown in
FIG. 2A and a
straight connecting member or adapter
218
as shown in FIG.
2
B. The adapter
218
includes a female connector
220
for engaging the feed tube connector
212
, which can be threaded or unthreaded, and a female, threaded hopper connector
222
. The hopper
216
includes an opened first end
224
, a paintball reservoir
226
, and a lid
228
. The lid
228
is designed to engage the opened end
224
so that the opened end
224
can be closed after the hopper
216
is filled with paintballs (not shown). The hopper
216
further includes a paintball dispensing neck
230
depending from a lower central region
232
, where the neck
230
includes a male, threaded connector
234
at this distal end
236
, where the connectors
222
and
234
are designed to lockingly secure the paint hopper
216
to the adapter
218
and the connectors
212
and
220
are designed to secure the adapter
218
to the feed tube
208
. The feed tube
208
also includes a safety
238
at its proximal end
240
and a view slot
242
. The gun
200
also includes a barrel side two axis rotatable mounting assembly
244
and a non-barrel side two axis rotatable mounting assembly
246
, attached to or affixed to or integral with the adapter
218
. The assemblies
244
and
246
include an adapter extension member
248
having a spherical socket
250
designed to receive a ball
252
of an aiming device receiving member
254
so that the member
254
can be rotated about two independent degrees of freedom. The socket
250
includes a locking member
256
adapted to hold the ball
252
in place so that a particular orientation can be fixed. The receiving member
254
includes a receiver
258
adapted to receive and hold an aiming device and/or a pointing device. The assembly
244
is shown holding a scope
260
; while the assembly
246
is shown holding a laser pointer
262
. The hopper
218
also includes a time keeping apparatus
264
affixed or attached thereto in a center rear region
266
thereof.
Referring now to
FIGS. 3A&B
, a front and side view of a preferred embodiment of a paintball gun of this invention, generally
300
, is shown to include a gun body
302
having a handle
304
, a barrel
306
and a hollow, paintball feeding tube
308
extending upward from the barrel
304
near its handle end
310
. The feeding tube
308
includes a male connector
312
, which can be threaded or unthreaded, at its distal end
314
. The gun
300
also includes a paintball dispenser or hopper
316
and a bent connecting member or adapter
318
. The adapter
318
includes a female connector
320
, which can be threaded or unthreaded, for engaging the feed tube connector
312
and a female, threaded hopper connector
322
. The hopper
316
includes an opened first end
324
, a paintball reservoir
326
, and a lid
328
. The lid
328
is designed to engage the opened end
324
so that the opened end
324
can be closed after the hopper
316
is filled with paintballs (not shown). The hopper
316
further includes a paintball dispensing neck
330
depending from a lower central region
332
, where the neck
330
includes a male, threaded connector
334
at this distal end
336
, where the connectors
322
and
334
are designed to lockingly secure the paint dispenser
316
to the adapter
318
and the connectors
312
and
320
are designed to secure the adapter
318
to the feed tube
308
. The feed tube
308
also includes a safety
338
at its proximal end
340
and a view slot
342
. The gun
300
also includes a barrel side two axis rotatable mounting assembly
344
(shown in
FIG. 3A
, but not in
FIG. 3B
) and a non-barrel side two axis rotatable mounting assembly
346
. The assembly
344
is attached to or affixed to or integral with the feed tube
308
, while the assembly
346
is attached to non-barrel side
317
of the hopper
316
. The assembly
344
includes a feed tube extension member
348
having a spherical socket
350
designed to receive a ball
352
of an aiming device receiving member
354
so that the member
354
can be rotated about two independent degrees of freedom. The socket
350
includes a locking member
356
adapted to hold the ball
352
in place so that a particular orientation can be fixed. The receiving member
354
includes a receiver
358
adapted to receive and hold an aiming device and/or a pointing device. The assembly
344
is shown holding a scope
360
. Looking at
FIG. 3B&C
, the assembly
346
includes a groove
362
in the hopper
316
for receiving a tab
364
of a detachable mounting sub-assembly
366
. The sub-assembly
366
also includes an extension member
368
, the distal end
370
of which is the tab
364
, having an aperture
372
for receiving a first post
374
of an aiming device receiving member
376
so that the member
376
can be rotated about the post
374
providing a first degree of rotational freedom. The extension member
368
also includes a locking member
378
adapted to hold the post
374
in place so that a particular orientation can be fixed. The receiving member
376
includes an aperture
380
designed to receive a second post
382
of a receiver
384
so that the receiver
384
can be rotated about the post
382
providing a second degree of freedom. The receiving member
376
also includes a locking member
386
adapted to hold the second post
382
in place so that the particular orientation can be fixed. The sub-assembly
364
is shown holding a laser pointer
388
. The hopper
316
also includes a time keeping apparatus
390
affixed thereto or attached thereto or integral therewith in a center rear region
392
thereof. The hopper
316
has a modified banana shape with a straight rear section
394
where the time keeping apparatus
390
is located. The member
368
also includes a baised locking tab
396
and an associated locking groove
398
in the hopper
316
.
Referring now to
FIG. 4
, a preferred embodiment of a paintball gun hopper of this invention, generally
400
, is shown to include an opened first end
402
, a paintball reservoir
404
, and a lid
406
. The lid
406
is designed to engage the opened end
402
so that the opened end
402
can be closed after the hopper
400
is filled with paintballs (not shown). The hopper
400
further includes a paintball dispensing neck
408
depending from a lower central region
410
, where the neck
408
includes a male, threaded connector
412
at this distal end
414
, where the connector
412
is designed to lockingly secure the hopper
400
to an adapter (not shown) or a feed tube (not shown). The hopper
400
also includes a left side socket
416
, a right side socket
418
and a time keeping apparatus
420
. The left and right side sockets
416
and
418
are designed to receive two axis rotatable mounting assemblies
422
and
424
. The assemblies
422
and
424
include an extension member
426
having a ball
428
of a receiver
430
, where the ball
428
and the socket
416
or
418
allow the member
426
to rotated about two independent degrees of freedom. The sockets
416
and
418
includes a locking member
432
adapted to hold the balls
428
in place so that a particular orientation can be fixed. The assembly
422
is shown holding a scope
434
; while the assembly
424
is shown holding a laser pointer
436
. The time keeping apparatus
420
is shown with a display
438
and can also include other audio and/or visual components as well as GPS components and wireless communication components.
All references cited herein are incorporated by reference. While this invention has been described fully and completely, it should be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. Although the invention has been disclosed with reference to its preferred embodiments, from reading this description those of skill in the art may appreciate changes and modification that may be made which do not depart from the scope and spirit of the invention as described above and claimed hereafter.
Claims
- 1. A paintball gun comprising a handle, a barrel, a feed tube, a paintball hopper or magazine and at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounting assembly connected to or integral with the feed tube and/or the hopper.
- 2. The gun of claim 1, further comprising at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounted on the at least one mounting assembly.
- 3. The gun of claim 1, further comprising an aiming device mounting assembly connected to or integral with a barrel side of the feed tube or the hopper and a pointing device mounting assembly connected to or integral with a non-barrel side of the feed tube or the hopper.
- 4. The gun of claim 3, wherein the aiming device is a scope and the pointing device is a laser pointer.
- 5. The gun of claim 1, wherein the mounting assemblies comprise a receiver and two perpendicularly oriented swivels with locking devices so that the receiver can be rotated up and down and from side to side and locked into place with the locking devices.
- 6. The gun of claim 1, wherein the mounting assemblies comprise a socket, a ball having a receiver protruding therefrom, and a locking device, where the socket is designed to receive a ball and the locking device is designed to lock the ball at a desired orientation.
- 7. A paintball gun comprising a handle, a barrel, a feed tube, a paintball hopper or magazine, an adapter and at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounting assembly connected to or integral with the feed tube and/or the hopper.
- 8. The gun of claim 7, further comprising at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounted on the at least one mounting assembly.
- 9. The gun of claim 7, further comprising an aiming device mounting assembly connected to or integral with a barrel side of the feed tube, the hopper or the adapter and a pointing device mounting assembly connected to or integral with a non-barrel side of the feed tube, adapter or the hopper.
- 10. The gun of claim 9, wherein the aiming device is a scope and the pointing device is a laser pointer.
- 11. The gun of claim 7, wherein the mounting assemblies comprise a receiver and two perpendicularly oriented swivels with locking devices so that the receiver can be rotated up and down and from side to side and locked into place with the locking devices.
- 12. The gun of claim 7, wherein the mounting assemblies comprise a socket, a ball having a receiver protruding therefrom, and a locking device, where the socket is designed to receive a ball and the locking device is designed to lock the ball at a desired orientation.
- 13. A method for aiming a paintball gun comprising the steps of:mounting at least one aiming and/or pointing device on a paintball gun comprising a handle, a barrel, a feed tube, a paintball hopper or magazine, an adapter and at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounting assembly connected to or integral with the feed tube and/or the hopper; and aiming the gun with the aiming and/or pointing device.
- 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising at least one aiming and/or pointing device mounted on the at least one mounting assembly.
- 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising an aiming device mounting assembly connected to or integral with a barrel side of the feed tube, the hopper or the adapter and a pointing device mounting assembly connected to or integral with a non-barrel side of the feed tube, adapter or the hopper.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the aiming device is a scope and the pointing device is a laser pointer.
- 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the mounting assemblies comprise a receiver and two perpendicularly oriented swivels with locking devices so that the receiver can be rotated up and down and from side to side and locked into place with the locking devices.
- 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the mounting assemblies comprise a socket, a ball having a receiver protruding therefrom, and a locking device, where the socket is designed to receive a ball and the locking device is designed to lock the ball at a desired orientation.
- 19. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of:firing paintballs from the paintball gun at a target added by the aiming and/or pointing device.
US Referenced Citations (49)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 909 936 |
Oct 1998 |
DE |