Patent Application
20190234704
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).
This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 120, of the following provisional application for patent: “Modular Airsoft Reservoir System”, application No. 62/709,768, filed Jan. 31, 2018.
The present invention generally relates to gas-propelled Pellet Firing guns, and more specifically pellet gun magazines and high-pressure-air firing mechanisms.
It may be appreciated that one problem associated with conventional Pellet Firing gun magazine adapters and high pressure air firing adapters (HPA) is that they are limited to specific guns and magazines and require modification of either Gas Blow Back(GBB) magazines or Automatic Electric Gun magazines, in order to provide either larger capacity or an alternative firing propulsion medium.
In the prior art, there are tools to adapt existing gas magazines between gas blowback and high pressure air, and there are adapters to convert between different sizes of gun-specific magazines, as to AEG guns and GBB guns, separately. However, there has not been an adapter system or apparatus to alternatively allow engagement of alternative pellet capacities, magazine sizes and propulsion sources (nor as to magazines from alternative guns) in order to manage or minimize the detriments of alternative firing and limited options and cost with a single weapon, let alone provide an apparatus which is cross-compatible to provide the same advantages to an alternative weapon, with the same or interchangeable components.
Specifically, each of these design alternatives, and their adapters have their own problems, respectively.
Gas blowback guns suffer from performance degradation. Because of the small gas capacity and small capacity for contained pellet volume, discharging the compressed gas cools the chamber and decreases the firing power, especially with continuous firing. Short distance and speed and rate of firing (shots per unit time) all rapidly decrease, and can even jam or stall the flow of pellets.
Partially because of the desirability of realism in GBB guns, and particularly gas blowback replica rifles (GBBRs), gas blowback guns also have limited capacity, typically 40 shots or fewer. In fact, the GBB magazines are typically internally larger in gas capacity than in volume provided for the BBs/pellets themselves. Lower capacity means that the total number of shots fired during a match, or between reloadings, creates a much higher risk of being ambushed without an opportunity to defend oneself, as well as requiring greater efficiency in per-shot accuracy and effort.
Gas blowback guns also have a much more expensive operating cost. Compressed air/CO2 magazines are expensive, the valving is more complicated and fragile, gas-costs are significantly higher than simply re-loading pellets or simply buying AEG magazines, which are fully mechanical. By contrast, AEG guns provide the space for the propulsion-firing source in the gun itself, rather than in the magazines, so the firing mechanism is contained as part of the more durable part of the assembly. AEGs thereby provide better magazine-to-magazine consistency. GBB guns' performance is limited to the health and condition of each magazine, whereas AEG guns are consistent across all magazines, to whatever degree that the firing mechanism of the gun is reliable.
To minimize costs, GBB guns can be converted to cheaper High Pressure Air (HPA). HPA firing preserves much of the operating satisfaction and GBB firing-behavior, but these generally require routing air/reservoir/compressor gas through a line in a modified GBB magazine, thereby still imposing the capacity limitations of the GBB magazine. Also, as each installation is individually performed for each magazine, inconsistency in quality of assembly may result in inconsistency in gun performance, as well as in magazine-to-magazine reloading and sequentially swapping magazines during use.
There are also several steps required to swap magazines in a GBB gun using HPA-tapped magazines, including: removal of a first magazine, disconnecting the first magazine from the HPA source, connecting a second magazine to the HPA source, and then engaging the second magazine into the gun. These HPA-conversion mechanisms must pass gas into the magazine in the vicinity of where/how the gas reservoirs were arranged within the magazine, and are thereby are compromised in terms of ergonomics, typically requiring that the connection, and pressure line extend downward, from the bottom of the magazine. Geometrically, this means that the overall height of the weapon is significantly larger, particularly in the case of using a GBB magazine with relatively large pellet capacity.
For HPA-magazines which extend the pressure line a significant distance away from the weapon, there are increased odds of it being snagged on clothing or legs during a match, particularly in the case of where the reservoir must be carried in a backpack or other body type of harness, and particularly while running or crouching. This increased height also makes the gun difficult to hold upright and level when laying prone, or close to a surface, such as when hiding from a distant opponent.
Without a need to provide gas reservoirs internally, AEG gun magazines with similar capacity to any particular HPA-converted GBB magazine would have far less downward-extension of the pressure line. However, AEG magazines are not easily adaptable to gas/HPA this way, because both the guns and the magazines lack a direct way to pass gas or air from the magazine into the gun's firing chamber. The firing pressure in an AEG is provided by mechanisms inside the gun. Still, conversion of an AEG to HPA is desirable to those who would like the larger capacity per magazine (or smaller magazine size or form factor, for any particular desired capacity) because the conversion to HPA would allow the AEG to provide a Pellet gun with the bullet-gun-like firing feel of a GBB (or HPA-converted GBB).
To convert an AEG to HPA firing, the gun itself must be tapped, because the shape of a replica rifle is already designed to be held in a particular way with both arms and shoulder and line of sight. Inevitably, the typical installation method for tapping an AEG gun is to tap the underside of the gun, near the handle. This generally does not extend as far downward from the gun as a HPA-converted magazine, but this places a pressure line near the hands, and is closer to the body. It can even more easily be snagged while moving or can compromise posture or adjusting grip, compared to a GBB gun with tapped magazines.
In addition to tapping the gun itself, HPA conversion typically requires replacement of the AEG internal mechanism with an HPA-firing mechanism. This means that the AEG gun can only be operated with an HPA source after the conversion, so there is no availability to remove a pressure line or reservoir, and immediately go back to AEG operation.
Also, it is typical for pellet gun enthusiasts to own more than one gun, and often of completely different style. This means that even if the guns of a single owner are both of the same firing mechanism, the magazines cannot be swapped between the two, rendering duplicate sets of magazines, at double the ownership cost. There is no opportunity to simply use a single cache of magazines that allows all of a user's magazines available to be used with either gun or any other gun.
Therefore, there are several unresolved and persistent needs in the art:
There is a persistent need in the art to provide a solution which allows HPA firing of a pellet gun with rapid swapping and reloading of magazines, provides large capacity and cheaper equipment costs, with bullet-like firing feel and feedback, but with consistent performance, provides a minimal form factor to better facilitate moving and crouching and firing from a low position, and which allows as many magazines as possible to be used, independently of the magazine being originally intended for any particular gun, and which can be used on many different guns, so that the owner does not have to own an apparatus for each gun, and which maintains the ability of the gun to fire as originally designed, with its original magazines and otherwise originally-compatible magazines.
The present invention provides an apparatus that can be used modularly with respect to many alternative GBB Pellet guns, by providing a gas frame that is adapted to being sized and arranged to engage the magazine wells of dissimilar guns, in the alternative. It also can be used modularly with respect to many alternative AEG Pellet gun magazines, by the gas frame being adapted to engage with alternate adapters that are each adapted to engage with AEG pellet gun magazines of a desired size and shape and capacity. In this way, the apparatus allows for any GBB Pellet gun to use any AEG pellet gun magazine.
Independently of the form factor of the gas frame or adapter engaged to the gas frame, the apparatus is adapted to allow HPA firing by the gas frame being assembled and arranged to receive an HPA pressure source, such as an air pressure line from a remotely-carried air pressure reservoir or compressor, bringing the pressure line into the gun via the well, rather than by a tapped GBB magazine or by tapping an AEG gun itself. Several embodiments run the pressure line into the gas frame at a location which is above the adapter. In such embodiments, the line connector resides inside the gas frame, within the interior of the well, rather than extending below the gun, such that the pressure line can more closely follow the underside of the gun, without having to extend very far vertically below the gun.
The apparatus allows for alternately larger capacity, by AEG magazines providing a greater quantity of pellets than the gun's original GBB magazines, for any given form factor of magazine, and the modular gas frame allows any gun to use an adapter for a magazine that may not even be one of proprietary association with any particular gun or replica.
The apparatus provides rapid swapping and reloading of magazines, because magazines are engageable and swappable in the same way as originally designed for AEG guns, and are unencumbered by connection to a pressure line, because the pressure line enters the gas frame, and the magazine connects to the adapter, the adapter connecting to the gas frame (rather than the pressure line connecting to the magazine). The apparatus also allows rapid swapping and reloading by the entire apparatus being removable from the well of the gun and the resulting empty well being unmodified from its original GBB configuration. The apparatus can simply be removed and a GBB magazine can be inserted, without any other modification or disconnection.
These solutions provide large capacity and cheaper equipment costs, with bullet-like firing feel and feedback, but with consistent performance, provide a minimal form factor to better facilitate moving and crouching and firing from a low position, and allow as many magazines as possible to be used, independently of the magazine being originally intended for any particular gun, and which can be used on many different guns, so that the owner does not have to own an apparatus for each gun.
The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.
The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding. However, in certain instances, well known or conventional details are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure are not necessarily references to the same embodiment; and, such references mean at least one.
Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not other embodiments.
Referring now to
With respect to each gun, alternative magazines are predominately identical in exterior geometry to the magazines for bullets that are specific to each of the bullet-firing guns that each gun replicates, respectively. Not shown here are the GBB-enabling magazines that are designed to provide pellets to these GBB guns, so that they are able to fire according to their original GBB mode of operation.
Referring now to
The M4 frame 21 comprises a two-piece construction, an upper section 82 and a midsection 84. The AK frame 23 also comprises a two-piece construction, an upper section 83 and a midsection 85. This two piece construction allows for a single gas frame to support other adapters later, as the field develops, and to allow for potential alternative propulsion sources to be used in the same apparatus, as desired. One contemplated example would be independently removable gas canisters, which may require a longer or differently shaped midsection.
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In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62709768 | Jan 2018 | US |
