Patent Application
20050155590
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
A portion of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and of other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does not hereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintained in secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 1.14.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to pneumatic markers or guns, and more particularly to a coupler that releaseably attaches a paintball hopper to a paintball marker.
2. Description of Related Art
Current paintball hoppers come with a fitting that attaches to the paintball marker, then the hopper is pressed into the fitting and is held in place by friction. Paintballs exit the hopper, traverse the fitting, and go into the marker for firing. Generally, hoppers are removed from the marker for storage or transport, thereby necessitating removal of the hopper from the fitting. A friction fit can at times make removing the hopper difficult. An object of this invention is to provide a method of quickly and easily disconnecting the paintball hopper from the paintball marker while at the same time holding the hopper immobile when in use.
An aspect of the invention is an apparatus, referred to as a coupler, that couples a paintball hopper to a paintball marker.
Another aspect of the invention are the quick connect and quick release characteristics of the coupler.
Another aspect of the invention is that the position of the hopper can be rotated between lockable positions and while the hopper is in a locked position it is immobile.
The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:
Referring more specifically to the drawings, for illustrative purposes the present invention is embodied in the apparatus generally shown in
Three possible embodiments of the invention are disclosed in this application. The first embodiment is the preferred embodiment. Turning to
A cross-section view in
Moving the retaining sleeve 12 against the force of the spring 20 places the coupler 10 in the unlocked position, as shown in
Once the feed neck 16 is moved past the spheres 18 and the retaining sleeve 12 is allowed to return to the locked position, the spheres are forced into the bores 24 and partially extend out each bore 24 into the cavity where the feed neck 16 was located. The spheres 18 are held in the bores 24 by a ledge 30, which is described below, so the spheres 18 do not fall out of the bores 24. When the feed neck 16 is inserted into the marker mount 14, the feed neck 16 easily slides into the marker mount 14 until the bottom of the feed neck 16 hits the spheres 18. The feed neck 16 stops inserting when it contacts the spheres 18, but the feed neck 16 still freely rotates because the spheres 18 are not pressed into the cavities. Moving the retaining sleeve 12 against the force of the spring 20 to the unlocked position allows the spheres 18 to retract into the bores 24 and the feed neck 16 to continue entering the marker mount 14 until the feed neck 16 stops. Even after the feed neck 16 is fully inserted into the marker mount 14, the retaining sleeve 12 is not in the locked position, and the feed neck 16 can freely rotate until the cavities 26 align with the bores 24 and the spheres 18 are forced into the cavities 26.
The use of individual cavities 26 in the feed neck 16 instead of an annular groove means that the feed neck 16 and the attached paintball hopper 36 are restricted to a limited number of locked positions. If the coupler 10 has four cavities 26, four bores 24, and four spheres 18, the paintball hopper 36 is limited to the four locked positions where the bores 24 align with the cavities 26. The number of possible locked positions increases with the number of bore 24 and cavity 26 pairs, or with the number of cavities 26 alone. For example, four bores 24 that align with four cavities 26 provide four locked positions. Six bores 24 that align with six cavities 26 provide six locked positions, etc. It is also possible to more cavities 26 than bores 24 to allow more positions. If more cavities 26 are used than bores 24, it is preferable that the number of cavities 26 be a factor of two greater than the number of bores 24, so that each bore 24 will align with a cavity 26 in all possible locked positions. The preferred embodiment uses six bores 24, six cavities 26, and six spheres 18.
A disassembled view of the coupler 10 is shown in
More details of the first embodiment are shown in
Another aspect of the first embodiment is the ramp 32, shown in
For the first embodiment, the retaining sleeve 12, the marker mount 14, and the feed neck 16 can be made of anodized aluminum, aluminum, titanium, brass, iron, steel, stainless steel, composite materials, or plastic. The preferable material is anodized aluminum.
The feed neck 16 is not limited in size or shape. The feed neck 16 can be of any size or shape required to connect to any paintball hopper 36. Preferably, the part of the feed neck 16 that inserts into the marker mount 14 is round. The exit hole of the part of the feed neck 16 that inserts into the marker mount 14 can be of any diameter in the range of one paintball diameter (approximately {fraction (680/1000)} of an inch) to two paintball diameters ({fraction (1360/1000)} of an inch). The preferred size of the feed neck 16 exit hole be slightly larger than one paintball diameter ({fraction (750/1000)} of an inch) to prevent two paintballs from getting jammed in the exit hole. The feed neck 16 can connect to the paintball hopper 36 using method known to the art such a with threads, clamping, or any other method. The preferred method is to have the feed neck 16 held to the paintball hopper exit tube by friction.
The marker mount 14 is not limited in size or shape. The marker mount 14 can be of any size or shape required to connect to any paintball marker 38 and to slidably accept any feed neck 16. Preferably, the part of the marker mount 14 that slidably accepts the feed neck 16 is round. Preferably, the part of the marker mount 14 that attaches to the paintball marker 38 is also round. The marker mount 14 can attach to the paintball marker 38 using any method known to the art. The preferred connection between the marker mount 14 to the paintball marker 38 is threaded. The diameter of the exit hole from the marker mount 14 into the paintball marker 38 may be set by the entrance hole to the paintball marker 38; however, if any discretion is allowed in the size of exit hole in the marker mount 14, the preferred size is slightly larger than one paintball diameter ({fraction (750/1000)} of an inch). Paintballs 40 range in size from {fraction (680/1000)} of an inch to {fraction (698/1000)} of an inch. An exit hole size of {fraction (750/1000)} of an inch ensures that paintballs will not jam in the coupler 10, but the space around the paintballs also allows any air escaping the paintball marker 38 into the coupler 10 to blow past the paintballs without disturbing them or interfering with their entrance into the marker.
The retainer sleeve 12 in the first embodiment moves axially between the locked and the unlocked positions. The locking mechanism is not limited to axial movement and the retaining sleeve 12 does not have to completely enclose the marker mount 14. The second embodiment shows a retaining sleeve 34 (see
Any type of device or source of force can be used to bias the retaining sleeve 12 into the locked position. Potential sources of force are springs, magnetic, latches, o-rings, rubber, urethane, or any other material or device. The prefer method of biasing the retaining sleeve 12 into the locked position is with a coil compression spring. The preferred spring provides a force of 70 pound/inches, and is used for the first embodiment.
The method of locking the feed neck 16 into position can also vary. Spheres 18 can be replaced by pins, wedges, pyramid shapes, levers or any other shape adapted to project from the marker mount 14 into the feed neck 16. The spherical cavities 26 can be substituted for square, triangular, rectangular, wedge, or any other shape. The preferred method is to use bores 24 with spheres 18 that moveably fit into the bores 24, and cavities 26 that align with the bores 24 and accept the spheres 18. The cavity 26 mirrors the shape and size of the fraction of the sphere 18 that touches the cavity 26. The depth of the cavity in the preferred embodiment is {fraction (50/1000)} of an inch.
Spheres 18 can be made of anodized aluminum, aluminum, titanium, brass, iron, steel, stainless steel, or plastic. The preferred material is stainless steel. The spheres 18 can vary in size from {fraction (1/16)} of an inch to ½ of an inch. The preferred size of the sphere 18 depends on the number of spheres used. Generally, the size of the sphere can decrease as the number spheres used increases. The preferred size of the sphere 18 for a four bore 24, four sphere 18 coupler 10 is {fraction (3/16)} of an inch. The preferred size of the sphere 18 for a six bore 24, six sphere 18 coupler 10 is ⅛ of an inch.
The ledge 30 that keeps the spheres 18 in the holes when the feed neck 16 is removed is not required. The ledge 30 is preferred because keeps the spheres 18 from getting out of the bores 24 and possibly getting lost each time the paintball hopper 24 is removed. The diameter of the bore 24 in the preferred embodiment is {fraction (189/1000)} of an inch. The preferred sphere diameter is {fraction (187.5/1000)} of an inch with a tolerance of approximately {fraction (3/10,000)} of an inch. The ledge 30 decreases the opening at the end of the bore 24, so the sphere 18 will not go out. Decreasing the size of the ledge 30 increases the size of the opening at the end of the bore. Increasing the size of the ledge decreases the size of the opening at the end of the bore. Very small ledges form a burr that protrudes into the interior of the marker mount 14. The maximum size of the ledge 30 is the size where the sphere 18 no longer fully engages the cavity 26 while in the locked position. The ledge 30 size can be varied to produce openings at the end of the bore 24 can range from {fraction (177.5/1000)} of an inch down to {fraction (95/1000)} of an inch for a cavity depth of {fraction (50/1000)} of an inch. The preferred ledge 30 decreases the opening of the bore 24 to {fraction (166/1000)} of an inch.
Because paintball hoppers and paintball markers are not standardized, it is necessary to make different versions of the coupler 10 to fit the various guns available on the market. It is possible to manufacture and sell a coupler individualized for each paintball hopper and paintball marker combinations available; however, manufacturing and parts management is simplified by having some common features between the retaining sleeve 12, the marker mount 14, and the feed neck 16 versions. Preferably, the outside diameter of the feed neck 16 is the same for all versions and the inside diameter individualized to fit the various paintball hoppers 36 available on the market.
Preferably, the inside diameter of the part of the marker mount 14 that slidably accepts the feed neck 16 is the same for all versions and adapted to slidably accept the constant outside diameter of the feed neck 16. Preferably, the outside diameter of the marker mount 14 part that accepts the feed neck 16 is also the same for all versions. Preferably, the outside diameter of the lower part of the marker mount 14 is the same for all versions, and any variations required to connect to different types of paintball markers is made on the inside of the lower part of marker mount 14.
Because the preferred outside diameters of the marker mount 14 are the same for all versions, the retaining sleeve 12 can be the same for all versions. The spring 20 and the retaining ring 22 can also be the same for all versions because the outside diameter of the lower part of the marker mounts 14 are the same for all versions.
It is possible to produce versions of the coupler 10 with different numbers of bores 24, spheres 18, and cavities 26; however, it is preferable that all versions of the coupler 10 have the same number of bores 24 in the marker mount 14 and the corresponding number of cavities 26 in the feed neck 16. As mentioned above, all feed necks 16 could be manufactured with a factor of two more cavities than bores 24 without creating manufacturing or parts management problems.
Referring to
The third embodiment retains the marker mount 14 and the feed neck 16, but uses pins and grooves for locking and providing a fixed number of locked positions. The cross-sectional diagram of
The force to keep the feed neck 44 in the locked position is provided by the o-ring 48 and the wave spring 46. It is possible that an o-ring 48 along would provide the necessary force. The o-ring 48 additionally holds the wave spring 46 in place. The same types of materials and techniques disclosed for the first and second embodiments can be used for the third embodiment.
Although the description above contains many details, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.”
