1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy gun to which a gas cartridge filled with compressed gas can be attached and which fires a bullet utilizing the injection pressure of the compressed gas.
2. Description of Related Art
Toy guns to which a gas cartridge filled with compressed gas of carbon dioxide or the like can be attached and which fire a bullet utilizing the injection pressure of the compressed gas conventionally exist. The compressed gas is discharged according to operation with the trigger provided in the toy gun and hits a bullet loaded in the toy gun to fire the bullet. In such a toy gun, the following are both important: that a gas cartridge is reliably attached and does not come off and that a gas cartridge can be easily replaced.
FIG. 4, FIG. 6, FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539 will be referred to. A cartridge housing portion 2 for housing a high-pressure gas cartridge A is formed in the grip portion 1 of the air gun G described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539. The cartridge housing portion 2 is open in a side surface of the grip portion 1.
A clamp lever portion 30 is attached to the area extended from the rear part to the lower part of the grip portion 1. The clamp lever portion 30 can be rotated around a lever rotation shaft 5 provided on the bottom surface 4 of the grip portion 1. For this reason, a user of the air gun G can pull down the clamp lever portion 30 to the rear side of the air gun G. A roller portion 6 is provided above the lever rotation shaft 5 in the clamp lever portion 30. The roller portion 6 has a rotating shaft in the center thereof and can be freely rotated around the rotating shaft. The roller portion 6 forms a pressing portion that presses the bottom portion A1 of the high-pressure gas cartridge A. Patent Document 1 describes that the pressing portion may be comprised of a columnar member that does not rotate.
When a back grip panel 3 is pulled down backward, the roller portion 6 retreats and a high-pressure gas cartridge A can be attached to or detached from the cartridge housing portion 2 from the lateral side of the grip portion 1. (Refer to FIG. 6 in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539.) When the back grip panel 3 is pushed back forward with the high-pressure gas cartridge A attached to the cartridge housing portion 2, the roller portion 6 presses the bottom portion A1 of the high-pressure gas cartridge A to push the high-pressure gas cartridge A upward. (Refer to FIG. 8 and FIG. 10 in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539.)
In the air gun G described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,539, the following procedure must be taken to reliably house the high-pressure gas cartridge A in the cartridge housing portion 2: with the roller portion 6 pushing the high-pressure gas cartridge A upward, the clamp lever portion 30 must be firmly fixed to prevent the displacement thereof. In this case, a user is required to move the clamp lever portion 30 with very strong force to attach or detach the high-pressure gas cartridge A. For this reason, the clamp lever portion 30 provided in the air gun G is hard for a user to handle.
To enhance the handiness of the clamp lever portion 30, a tab portion to be pinched by a user could be provided in the clamp lever portion 30. However, if the tab portion is provided, the design of the clamp lever portion 30 will be impaired.
It is an object of the invention to make it possible to firmly attach a gas cartridge to a toy gun through simple operation to facilitate the replacement of the gas cartridge.
A toy gun of the invention includes: an air chamber body that forms an air chamber for storing compressed gas; a discharge mechanism for discharging compressed gas in the air chamber; a cartridge housing portion that houses a cylindrical gas cartridge filled with compressed gas and slidably holds the circumferential surface of the gas cartridge; the cartridge attachment portion to which the first end portion of a gas cartridge housed in the cartridge housing portion is coupled and which guides compressed gas in the gas cartridge to the air chamber; a pressing portion that presses the second end portion of the gas cartridge housed in the cartridge housing portion; and an extended portion extended to a position opposed to the circumferential surface of a gas cartridge housed in the cartridge housing portion. The toy gun is provided with: a first arm element freely rotatable around a rotation shaft; and a second arm element including an abutment portion that slides on a sliding surface, a fulcrum portion rotatably coupled to the extended portion, and an operation portion positioned on the fulcrum portion on the opposite side to the abutment portion.
According to the invention, the following takes place when a user of the toy gun moves the operation portion to slide the abutment portion along the sliding surface: the fulcrum portion is broken away from the cartridge housing portion and the first arm element rotates. The distance between the abutment portion and the operation portion is longer than the distance between the abutment portion and the fulcrum portion; therefore, the user only has to apply small force. Since the operation portion is brought far away from the cartridge housing portion, a user can easily pinch the operation portion. Therefore, it is possible to firmly attach a gas cartridge to the toy gun through simple operation and the gas cartridge can be easily replaced. It is unnecessary to provide the first arm element with a part to be pinched by a user. For this reason, the design of the toy gun is not impaired.
A description will be given to an embodiment with reference to
The primary shape of the toy gun 101 is formed of a main frame 102. The main frame 102 forms each part, such as a muzzle 103, a trigger guard 104, and a grip 105. A left grip panel 106 is installed on the left side surface of the grip 105. A right grip panel 107 is installed on the right side surface of the grip 105.
The left grip panel 106 can be freely attached to and detached from the grip 105. A tab portion 106a is provided at the lower part of the left grip panel 106. The tab portion 106a is protruded downward from the lower side of the left grip panel 106. A user of the toy gun 101 can pinch the tab portion 106a to remove the left grip panel 106 from the grip 105.
The right grip panel 107 may be detachable from the grip 105 or may be fixed on the grip 105.
The toy gun 101 includes a trigger 108. The trigger 108 is positioned in a circular space formed by the trigger guard 104. The trigger 108 is moved in the front-rear direction of the toy gun 101.
The cylindrical portion 117 is provided therein with a cartridge attachment portion 118. The cartridge attachment portion 118 is in the shape of a hollow needle. The lid portion B1 (Refer to
A puncture frame 114 is fit into the grip 105. The puncture frame 114 forms the above-mentioned cartridge housing portion 111 and is long to the shape of the grip 105. A sliding surface 114a is formed on the wall surface of the puncture frame 114 on the rear side. The sliding surface 114a is not covered with the main frame 102 and is exposed on the rear side of the toy gun 101. The sliding surface 114a is parallel with the circumferential surface B0 (Refer to
In another embodiment, the sliding surface 114a may be not formed in the puncture frame 114 but may be formed on the side surface of the main frame 102 on the rear side of the toy gun 101. In this case, the wall surface of the puncture frame 114 on the rear side may be exposed on the rear side of the toy gun 101 or may be covered with the main frame 102.
An insertion portion 115 is formed in one end portion of the puncture frame 114. The cylindrical portion 117 is fit into the insertion portion 115.
A clamp arm 121 as first arm element P1 is installed in the end portion of the puncture frame 114 on the opposite side to the insertion portion 115. The clamp arm 121 is in an L shape as laterally viewed and is placed in the area extended from the rear part to the lower part of the grip 105. The portion of the clamp arm 121 positioned on the rear side of the grip 105 will be designated as extended portion 121a. The portion of the clamp arm 121 positioned on the lower side of the grip 105 will be designated as arm lower part 121b. The extended portion 121a is extended from the arm lower part 121b so that the extended portion is opposed to the sliding surface 114a.
A rotation shaft 122 couples together the arm lower part 121b and the portion of the puncture frame 114 located below the cartridge housing portion 111. The clamp arm 121 is rotatable around the axis of the rotation shaft 122.
A roller shaft 123a is extended in the arm lower part 121b of the clamp arm 121 above the rotation shaft 122. The roller shaft 123a is extended from the arm lower part 121b in parallel with the rotation shaft 122. A roller 123 is installed on the roller shaft 123a. The roller 123 is rotatable around the axis of the roller shaft 123a. The roller 123 is positioned between the bottom portion B2 (Refer to
The front side of the upper end of the raising lever 125 functions as an abutment portion 126. The abutment portion 126 slides on the sliding surface 114a and the inclined surface 114c. A description will be given to this regard later with reference to
The raising lever 125 has an operation portion 125b. The operation portion 125b is positioned on the opposite side to the abutment portion 126 with respect to the installation shaft 124. The operation portion 125b is extended to below the installation shaft 124 and covers the side surface of the arm lower part 121b on the rear side. When a user holds and pulls backward the operation portion 125b, the operation portion 125b is broken away from the extended portion 121a and the abutment portion 126 is moved to ahead of the installation shaft 124. A torsion spring 127 is placed so that the torsion spring is wound around the installation shaft 124. The torsion spring 127 pushes backward the portion of the raising lever 125 located above the installation shaft 124. For this reason, when the user releases the operation portion 125b, the abutment portion 126 is moved backward and the operation portion 125b is brought close to the extended portion 121a.
A groove portion 128 agreeing with the shape of the inclined portion 114b of the puncture frame 114 is formed both in the clamp arm 121 and in the raising lever 125.
Attention will be paid to the roller 123 with reference to FIG. 4,
The user can also pinch the operation portion 125b, overlap the raising lever 125 with the extended portion 121a (Refer to
When the clamp arm 121 is rotated upward, the bearing ball 121e hits the puncture frame 114. The bearing ball 121e is pushed by the puncture frame 114 and pushes the spring 121f and gets into the ball receiving portion 114d. When the clamp arm 121 is further rotated upward in this state, the bearing ball 121e slides on the inside surface of the puncture frame 114 and eventually meets the ball receiving portion 114d. At this time, the spring 121f pushes the bearing ball 121e toward the ball receiving portion 114d. As a result, even though the user releases the raising lever 125 (Refer to
A description will be given to the procedure for attaching the gas cartridge B to the toy gun 101. A user first pinches the tab portion 106a (Refer to
Attention will be paid to the movement of the roller 123 relative to the bottom portion B2 of the gas cartridge B.
When the user pulls the trigger 108 with the cartridge attachment portion 118 stuck into the lid portion B1, the gas spout mechanism 116b is actuated and compressed gas PA in the air chamber 116a spouts out toward the muzzle 103. The spouted-out compressed gas PA pushes a bullet W (Refer to
First, the user removes the left grip panel 106 (Refer to
The user subsequently pulls up the operation portion 125b of the raising lever 125 to the direction indicated by the arrow RC in
The user subsequently touches the circumferential surface B0 (Refer to
According to the toy gun 101 in this embodiment, the following takes place when a user of the toy gun 101 moves the operation portion 125b to slide the abutment portion 126 along the sliding surface 114a: the fulcrum portion 124a is broken away from the cartridge housing portion 111 and the clamp arm 121 (first arm element P1) is rotated. The distance between the abutment portion 126 and the operation portion 125b is longer than the distance between the abutment portion 126 and the fulcrum portion 124a. For this reason, the user only has to apply small force. Since the operation portion 125b is brought far away from the cartridge housing portion 111, the user can easily pinch the raising lever 125. Therefore, it is possible to firmly attach a gas cartridge B to the toy gun 101 through simple operation and the gas cartridge can be easily replaced.
It is unnecessary to provide the clamp arm 121 (first arm element P1) with a part to be pinched by a user. For this reason, the design of the toy gun 101 is not impaired.
In the toy gun 101 in this embodiment, the pressing portion 123b is comprised of the roller 123 rotatably provided on the clamp arm 121. As a result, the roller 123 rolls along the bottom portion B2 without the bottom portion B2 of the gas cartridge B being shaven. For this reason, when a user moves the raising lever 125, the gas cartridge B is smoothly moved in the cartridge housing portion 111.
The toy gun 101 in this embodiment includes the inclined portion 114b. The inclined surface 114c formed by the inclined portion 114b is inclined from the sliding surface 114a so that the following is implemented: the inclined surface is brought farther away from the circumferential surface B0 of a gas cartridge B housed in the cartridge housing portion 111 as it goes toward the rotation shaft 122. For this reason, the clamp arm 121 is largely rotated and the clamp arm 121 and the raising lever 125 are largely protruded from the grip 105 just by the operation portion 125b being slightly pulled up.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3999534 | Chapin et al. | Dec 1976 | A |
6029645 | Wonisch et al. | Feb 2000 | A |
6494194 | Shipachev et al. | Dec 2002 | B2 |
7290539 | Maeda et al. | Nov 2007 | B2 |
7757682 | Kaminker et al. | Jul 2010 | B2 |
20060260596 | Maeda et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
20070181116 | Wei | Aug 2007 | A1 |
20080141991 | Liu | Jun 2008 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
195 42 326 | May 1997 | DE |
Entry |
---|
Extended European Search Report in EP application No. 12000324.9, dated Jun. 29, 2012. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20130192578 A1 | Aug 2013 | US |