Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 and 4-5, a pneumatic paintball gun or bullet gun device 1 in accordance with the present invention comprises a gun body or housing 10 with a gun barrel 11 secured to and projecting from the forward end of the housing 10. The housing 10 includes a longitudinal or inner chamber 12 formed therein and a firing chamber 13 provided or formed in the front portion of the housing 10 or of the gun barrel 11 for receiving a paintball or a bullet 80 therein, and a feed tube 14 attached or coupled to the front or middle portion 15 of the housing 10 for feeding or supplying the paintball or bullet 80 into the firing chamber 13 of the housing 10 one by one.
The housing 10 further includes a hand grip or handle 16 for being held or grasped by the users, and includes a trigger 17 for being pulled or actuated by the users, and includes a gas supplying passage 18 formed therein and communicating with the inner chamber 12 of the housing 10 for coupling to a pressurized air or gas supplying source 88 (
A loading assembly or device 20 includes a cylinder 21 disposed or secured in the inner chamber 12 of the housing 10, a sealing ring or gasket 22 disposed or secured in the inner space 23 of the cylinder 21, and includes a piston 24 slidably received or disposed in the inner space 23 of the cylinder 21 and movable relative to the cylinder 21 and the housing 10 for separating the inner space 23 of the cylinder 21 into a front compartment 25 that is located between the gasket 22 and the piston 24 and a rear compartment 26, and an end cap 27 attached or secured to the rear portion of the cylinder 21 for enclosing the inner space 23 and the rear compartment 26 of the cylinder 21.
A piston rod or actuating rod 30 is slidably received or engaged in the inner space 23 of the cylinder 21 and slidably received or engaged in the gasket 22 for allowing the actuating rod 30 to be sealingly and longitudinally moved relative to the cylinder 21 and the housing 10, the actuating rod 30 is secured or coupled to the piston 24 and thus movable in concert with the piston 24. The housing 10 and/or the cylinder 21 may further include two gas flowing paths 28, 29 formed therein and communicating with the front compartment 25 and the rear compartment 26 of the cylinder 21 respectively for being controlled to selectively supply the pressurized air or gas into the front compartment 25 and the rear compartment 26 of the cylinder 21 respectively with such as the electric or pneumatic control device 89. The supplying or the controlling of the pressurized air or gas into the front compartment 25 and the rear compartment 26 of the cylinder 21 with the electric or pneumatic control device 89 is also not related to the present invention and will not be described in further details.
The actuating rod 30 includes a guide depression 31 formed therein, and the housing 10 and/or the cylinder 21 may further include a key 32 disposed therein or extended inwardly therefrom for slidably received or engaged in the guide depression 31 of the actuating rod 30 and for guiding and limiting the actuating rod 30 to move relative to the cylinder 21 and the housing 10. The actuating rod 30 further includes a pin 33 attached or secured to the front portion 34 thereof and disposed or arranged perpendicular to the actuating rod 30 and having a length greater than the outer diameter of the actuating rod 30 for allowing the pin 33 to have one or two ends 35 extended out of the actuating rod 30. The actuating rod 30 further includes an actuating end or member 36 provided or formed in the front end portion of the actuating rod 30.
A rotatable follower or tubular member 40 is rotatably received or engaged in the inner chamber 12 of the housing 10, such as engaged in the middle portion of the inner chamber 12 of the housing 10, and located in front of the cylinder 21, and rotatably secured to the housing 10 with one or more retaining rings or sealing rings 41, or the housing 10 includes an inner peripheral shoulder 19 formed therein for engaging with the rotatable tubular member 40 and for rotatably securing or anchoring the rotatable tubular member 40 to the housing 10 and for preventing the rotatable tubular member 40 from being moved longitudinally relative to the housing 10.
The tubular member 40 includes a bore 42 formed therein for slidably receiving the front portion 34 of the actuating rod 30, and includes one or more (such as two) helical grooves 43 formed therein, such as oppositely formed therein (
The peripheral channel 44 of the tubular member 40 may be directly communicated with the bore 42 of the tubular member 40 for allowing the pressurized air or gas to flow into the bore 42 of the tubular member 40, or the tubular member 40 includes a peripheral fence 45 for forming or defining the peripheral channel 44 of the tubular member 40, and the peripheral fence 45 includes one or more apertures 46 formed therein for communicating the peripheral channel 44 with the bore 42 of the tubular member 40 and for allowing the pressurized air or gas to indirectly flow into the bore 42 of the tubular member 40 through the apertures 46 of the peripheral fence 45 and for allowing the pressurized air or gas to be supplied to fire the paintball or bullet 80.
The tubular member 40 further includes an opening 47 formed therein and communicated with the bore 42 of the tubular member 40 for selectively aligning with the feed tube 14 (
A valve device 50 includes a valve stem 51 received or engaged in the bore 42 of the tubular member 40, an enlarged valve member 52 formed or provided on or attached or secured to the front end of the valve stem 51 for selectively engaging with a valve seat 53 of the tubular member 40 (
In operation, as shown in
The tubular member 40 may then be caused to be rotated relative to the housing 10 by the sliding engagement of the ends 35 of the pin 33 in the helical grooves 43 of the tubular member 40 when the actuating rod 30 is longitudinally and forwardly moved relative to the cylinder 21 and the housing 10, and the opening 47 of the tubular member 40 may be caused or rotated to be disengaged from the feed tube 14 as shown in dotted lines in
When the actuating rod 30 is further moved forwardly relative to the cylinder 21 and the housing 10, as shown in
It is to be noted that the typical pneumatic paintball guns or bullet guns failed to provide and to engage a tubular member 40 in the inner chamber 12 of the housing 10 and failed to provide an opening 47 in the tubular member 40 to selectively receive the paintball or bullet 80 and to selectively block and prevent the other paintball or bullet 80 from entering into the inner chamber 12 of the housing 10. The sliding engagement of the ends 35 of the pin 33 in the helical grooves 43 of the tubular member 40 may be used or acted as a rotating means for selectively rotating the tubular member 40 relative to the housing 10. The valve device 50 may be used or acted as a controlling means for selectively controlling the pressurized air or gas to flow into the bore 42 of the tubular member 40 and to fire the paintball or bullet 80.
Accordingly, the pneumatic paintball gun or bullet gun device in accordance with the present invention includes a simplified loading and firing mechanism for allowing the paintball or bullet to be easily and quickly loaded into the firing chamber and to be effectively fired by pressurized air or gas.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.