U.S. patent application number 11/656203 was filed with the patent office on 2007-08-02 for compact compressed gas launching device.
Invention is credited to Kerry A. Johnson, Michael Vincent Quinn.
Application Number | 20070175465 11/656203 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38320789 |
Filed Date | 2007-08-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070175465 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Quinn; Michael Vincent ; et
al. |
August 2, 2007 |
Compact compressed gas launching device
Abstract
A paintball gun comprised of a simplified firing system that
eliminates many of the seals and complexity of a typical gun that
uses the bolt as a spool type valve. The gun contains a bolt with a
gas chamber around it, one seal inside of it, and one seal on its
outside. A cylinder rod inside the bolt pushes the bolt forward
against a spring using pressurized gas routed via a pilot valve,
moving the bolt into the fire position. In the fire position the
rear of the bolt moves off the inner seal, allowing compressed gas
stored around the bolt to move into and thru the bolt, firing the
paintball. Releasing pressure from behind the cylinder rod allows
the spring to push the bolt rearward and seal the gas chamber. The
simplified mechanism should be more consistent, allow more shots
per tank and require less maintenance than other guns.
Inventors: |
Quinn; Michael Vincent;
(East Hanover, NJ) ; Johnson; Kerry A.; (Madison,
NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Michael Quinn
42 Tiffany Drive
East Hanover
NJ
07936
US
|
Family ID: |
38320789 |
Appl. No.: |
11/656203 |
Filed: |
January 22, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60763430 |
Jan 30, 2006 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
124/74 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F41B 11/724 20130101;
F41B 11/723 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
124/74 |
International
Class: |
F41B 11/00 20060101
F41B011/00 |
Claims
1. A gas powered gun comprising: a gun barrel, a cylinder
containing a piston slidably movable between a loading position in
which the leading edge of the bolt is sufficiently withdrawn to
permit a projectile to be fed into the cylinder through an opening
in the side thereof, and a firing position in which the piston has
moved fowardly to cause the leading edge of the piston to engage
the projectile and move the projectile fowardly into the barrel, a
trigger operable to cause the piston to move from the loading
position to the firing position, a pressurized gas supply, said
cylinder having a primary chamber thru which the piston extends,
said pressurized gas supply supplying pressurized gas to the
chamber, said piston having a longitudinally extending passage
extending from the front to the rear of the piston. said chamber
containing a tube that extends from the rear of the chamber into
the inside of the piston, said chamber containing a seal on the
forward end that seals against the outside of the piston preventing
gas from the chamber flowing around the outside of the piston to
the barrel, said tube containing a seal on its outside that seals
against the inside passage of the piston and prevents gas from the
primary chamber flowing thru the piston when the piston is in the
load position and allows gas to flow thru the piston when the
piston is in the fire position,
2. A gun according to claim 1 wherein the piston is moved forward
from the load to the fire position by a the application of the
pressurized gas to the rear of a secondary piston that extends
axially from the front of the piston rearward thru the piston
internal passage toward the rear of the piston and whose end
resides inside a cylinder in the tube that extend from the rear of
the primary chamber
3. A gun according to claim 2 wherein said application of the gas
supply to secondary piston is achieved via a valve that is
operatively connected to the trigger whereby movement of the
trigger causes the valve to supply pressurized gas to the rear of
the secondary piston via the cylinder in the tube.
4. A gun according to claim 3 wherein the forward seal of the
primary chamber has a sealing diameter equal to the sealing
diameter of the seal on the outside of the tube, allowing the
piston to have zero net forces imposed on it from the gas in the
primary chamber and containing a compression spring coiled around
the outside of the piston that acts against the front of the
primary chamber and a lip on the outside of the piston, constantly
biasing the piston rearward with enough force to move it and keep
it rearward when the secondary piston is not being acted upon by
pressurized gas, but weak enough that it will compress and allow
the piston to move forward when the secondary piston is acted upon
by pressurized gas.
5. A gun according to claim 3 wherein the forward seal of the
primary chamber has a sealing diameter less than the sealing
diameter of the seal on the outside of the tube, creating a cross
section of the piston that the gas in the primary chamber can act
upon, pushing it rearward with enough force to move it and keep it
rearward when the secondary piston is not being acted upon by
pressurized gas, but weak enough that it will allow the piston to
move forward when the secondary piston is acted upon by pressurized
gas.
6. A gun according to claim 1 also including a secondary gas
chamber located rearward of the primary chamber and rearward of the
center tube that is in communication with the primary chamber via
gas passages that extend thru the rear of the primary chamber and
into the secondary chamber
7. A gun according to claim 6 also including a pressure regulator
connected between the pressurized gas supply and the first
chamber
8. A gun according to claim 7 also including a second pressure
regulator connected between the pressurized gas supply and the
valve that actuates via the trigger with said second regulator
having gas fed from the primary gas chamber, the secondary gas
chamber, the first pressure regulator, or directly from the
pressurized gas supply
9. A piston and cylinder assembly for a gas powered gun, said
piston assembly comprising: a cylinder containing a piston slidably
movable between a loading position in which the leading edge of the
piston is sufficiently withdrawn to permit a projectile to be fed
into the cylinder through an opening in the side thereof, and a
firing position in which the piston has moved fowardly to cause the
leading edge of the piston to engage the projectile and move the
projectile fowardly into an extended portion of the cylinder, said
cylinder having a primary chamber thru which the piston extends,
said chamber being pressurized from a pressurized gas supply, said
piston having a longitudinally extending passage extending from the
front to the rear of the piston. said chamber containing a tube
that extends from the rear of the chamber into the inside of the
piston, said chamber containing a seal on the forward end that
seals against the outside of the piston preventing gas from the
primary chamber flowing around the outside of the bolt to the
leading edge of the cylinder or the projectile, said tube
containing a seal on its outside that seals against the inside
passage of the piston and prevents gas from the primary chamber
flowing thru the piston when the piston is in the load position and
allows gas to flow thru the bolt when the bolt is in the fire
position,
10. A piston and cylinder assembly according to claim 9 wherein the
piston is moved forward from the load to the fire position by a the
application of the pressurized gas to the rear of a secondary
piston that extends axially from the front of the first piston
rearward thru the piston's internal passage toward the rear of the
piston and whose end resides inside a cylinder in the tube that
extend from the rear of the primary chamber
11. A piston and cylinder assembly according to claim 10 wherein
said application of a gas supply to the secondary piston is
achieved via a valve that is connected to the primary chamber and
said application of the gas supply to the secondary piston causes
both pistons to move from the load to the fire position.
12. A piston and cylinder assembly according to claim 11 wherein
the forward seal of the primary chamber has a sealing diameter
equal to the sealing diameter of the seal on the outside of the
tube, allowing the piston to have zero net forces imposed on it
from the gas in the primary chamber and containing a compression
spring coiled around the outside of the piston that acts against
the front of the primary chamber and a lip on the outside of the
piston, constantly biasing the piston rearward with enough force to
move it and keep it rearward when the secondary piston is not being
acted upon by pressurized gas, but weak enough that it will
compress and allow the piston to move forward when the secondary
piston is acted upon by pressurized gas.
13. A piston and cylinder assembly according to claim 11 wherein
the forward seal of the primary chamber has a sealing diameter less
than the sealing diameter of the seal on the outside of the tube,
creating a cross section of the piston that the gas in the primary
chamber can act upon, pushing it rearward with enough force to move
it and keep it rearward when the secondary piston is not being
acted upon by pressurized gas, but weak enough that it will allow
the piston to move forward when the secondary piston is acted upon
by pressurized gas.
14. A piston and cylinder assembly according to claim 9 also
including a secondary gas chamber located rearward of the primary
chamber and rearward of the center tube that is in communication
with the primary chamber via gas passages that extend thru the rear
of the primary chamber and into the secondary chamber
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This Patent application claims priority to Provisional
Application #60763430 filed on Jan. 30, 2006
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] This invention was not developed under any federal
sponsorship, grant, or funding
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
[0003] 1. Field of the Invention
[0004] The present invention relates to valves used in compressed
gas operated launching devises. Including but not limited to
devices used for launching gelatin capsules containing paint,
commonly referred to as "paintballs".
[0005] 2. Related Art
[0006] The game of paintball as a form of recreation uses pneumatic
guns that launch gelatin capsules containing paint (paintballs).
Participants fire these "guns" at each other. Such guns have two
basic mechanisms; One for chambering a capsule or "ball" into the
breach of the gun, the other to release a burst of gas behind the
ball in order to propel it.
[0007] A vast number of paintball guns use a valve that is
comprised of chambering device or "bolt" that also acts as the
valve that releases the gas to fire the ball. These are commonly
referred to as "spool valve" style guns. The bolt is moved axially
forward to chamber the ball into the breach. At the apex of the
motion, once the ball is in the breach, the bolt moves past some
form of seal that allows high pressure gas to enter the breach and
propel the ball out of the barrel. The bolt is usually moved by
means of applying gas pressure to a chamber on the outside of the
bolt which then acts against a lip on the bolt's exterior. The main
gas pressure chamber is usually behind the bolt or around a rear
section of the bolt. While this design provides for a fast
actuation and a simple design, it also requires a significant
amount of axial length to accommodate the necessary components.
Furthermore, the number of seals required for these designs
introduces a large amount of friction force. The friction force can
vary from shot to shot. This variation can cause variation in how
long the bolt is forward and how much gas is released to the ball.
To minimize the variations in how much gas is released to the ball,
some of these "spool valve" markers incorporate an "on-off"
mechanism as part of the bolt. When the bolt is rearward a gas
chamber is allowed to fill with gas. When the bolt moves forward it
closes the chamber off to any more incoming gas. The chambered gas
is what propels the ball when the gun fires. This on-off mechanism
necessitates more seals, and hence more complexity to the paintball
gun. Finally, the use of an exterior lip on the bolt to propel it
forward and rearward usually makes the gas passages from the air
chamber to the ball smaller then they might otherwise be. The small
passages create the need for higher gas pressures to move the
needed gas from the chamber to the ball. These higher pressures
tend to wear-out O-rings and further contribute to friction. These
higher pressures also make it necessary to use high pressure
solenoid valves to actuate the bolt or a secondary pressure
regulator to allow use of standard, low pressure solenoid valves.
Both situations increase the cost of a paintball launching
device.
[0008] What would be advantageous is valve that could be used in
place of the current spool valves that would be more compact in
size and reduce the overall length and complexity of the gun. Said
design should not require an on-off mechanism and should operate
with the minimum amount of seals. Furthermore it should have large
air passages to minimize the pressure needed to operate the
marker.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The object of this invention is to provide a ball chambering
and valve mechanism for paintball launching devices that has a bolt
and valve mechanism combined into a simple and consistent gas
powered gun
[0010] According to the present invention, a gas powered gun
comprises a gun barrel, a cylindrical breach, a cylindrical bolt
movable between a loading position in which the end of the bold is
withdrawn from the breach to permit a paintball to be fed into the
breach through an opening in the side of the breach, and a firing
position in which the bolt has moved forward to cause the front of
the bolt to engage the paintball and move the paintball forward
into the barrel, a trigger operable to cause the bolt to move
forward from the loading position to the firing position and a
pressurized gas supply
[0011] In the load position a paintball would be in the breach. The
bolt is comprised of an outer shell, a raised lip on the rear of
the outer shell, an inner surface of the shell, a front face with
axial holes permitting connecting the front of the bolt to the
inside of the shell, and a tappet or rod of a diameter
significantly smaller than the inside if the bolt that extends from
the front face of the bolt rearward.
[0012] The bolt is held rearward in the body of the gun by a
compression spring acting against the outside lip of the bolt.
Compressed gas is allowed to flow into a compressed gas chamber via
a primary compressed gas inlet that brings gas in from the
compressed gas supply. The chamber is around outside of the bolt
and the inside of the rear of the bolt. The gas is prevented from
flowing out of the bolt via a cylinder that protrudes from the rear
of the gas chamber into the inside of the bolt. The end of this
cylinder contains a main seal that acts on the inside of the bolt
to prevent gas from flowing thru the holes in the face of the bolt.
The tappet extends inside this protruding cylinder.
[0013] To fire a paintball, compressed gas would be routed via a
valve from the gas supply to the area directly behind the tappet.
The compressed gas would push the tappet and in turn the bolt
forward. As the bolt moves forward it would push the paintball into
the breach and seal off any other paintballs from being loaded. At
the end of the forward stroke of the bolt, the rear of the bolt is
no longer in full contact with the main seal, either by means of
coming off the seal completely or by means of radial holes a the
rear of the bolt. With the bolt off the seal compressed gas from
the main chamber can flow rapidly thru the bolt, around the tappet,
and thru the gas passages in the face of the bolt. This burst of
gas will propel the paintball down and then out of the barrel.
[0014] After the paintball is fired the gas pushing the tappet is
vented out the secondary inlet and the spring is allowed to push
the bolt and tappet rearward. This seals off the main chamber and
prevents any more gas from venting, and returns the bolt to the
ready-to-fire position.
[0015] The gun may also include an adjustable pressure regulator
connected between the pressurized gas supply and the first chamber.
Furthermore a second pressure regulator could be included between
the gas supply and the valve that allows gas to the rear of the
piston. Said secondary regulator could also be positioned such that
it used gas from the first pressure regulator.
[0016] This invention overcomes the shortcomings of the existing
art by the following means;
There are only two seals acting on the bolt and one on the tappet,
as opposed to as many as six seals in existing designs. The
reduction in seals reduces the potential variance in friction and
bolt travel times. The position of the tappet down the center of
the bolt allows for a compact mechanism both in length and in
diameter. The position of the air chamber around the outside and
inside of the bolt allows a large air chamber in a small space. The
need to compress a spring on the forward stroke of the bolt
necessitates a higher amount of force than the dual acting pistons
of existing designs by approximately two to one. This higher force
needed to move the bolt forward halves the effect of variances in
friction on the bolt travel time, and hence the amount of time
compressed gas is allowed to flow to the paintball. The position of
the main seal inside the bolt and the air chamber outside the bolt
allows for passages between the air chamber and the paintball to be
wide and short, essential to low pressure operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[0017] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a paintball gun
showing the bolt in the loading position
[0018] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view similar to FIG. 1
that shows the bolt in the firing position
[0019] FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic sectional view similar to FIG. 1
that shows the bolt in the about-to-fire position
[0020] FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sectional view close up from FIG. 3
showing the bolt in the about-to-fire position
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by
way of example, with references to the accompanying drawings
[0022] A paintball gun has a housing 1 with a barrel 2 secured to
the front of the housing 1. A hand grip with trigger guard 3 is
secured to the bottom of the housing 1, with a trigger 4.
Paintballs 5 are fed downwardly into the housing 1 thru a supply
passage 6 in a manner known in the art. Pressurized gas such as
compressed air, nitrogen, or CO2 would be supply to the pressure
regulator 7 from a tank or supply line known in the art. The
pressure regulator 7 is attached to the bottom of the housing 1
forward of the hand grip and trigger guard 3. The pressure
regulator can be of any style know in the art and will not be shown
in detail
[0023] The housing 1 contains a main gas passage 20 that allows gas
to flow from the outlet of the pressure regulator 7 to the main
chamber 9 and the chamber extension 18
[0024] The housing 1 contains a bolt 8 which is slidably mounted in
the main chamber 9 of the housing 1. The bolt 8 has a front portion
that projects into the breach 10 of the housing 1. On the outside
of the bolt 8 a sealing ring 11 seals compressed gas in the main
chamber 9. A second sealing ring 12 is positioned on the inside of
the bolt 8 and is held on the cylinder 13. The outside diameter of
the sealing ring 12 and the inside diameter of the sealing ring 11
are the same diameter so that when compressed gas is present in the
main chamber 9, the gas does not bias the bolt either forward or
rearward.
[0025] The bolt 8 has gas passages 14 allowing communication
between the inside of the bolt 8 with the front of the bolt 8. A
spring 15 is positioned on around the outside of the bolt 8 and
bias' the bolt rearward until it stops against the cylinder 13. A
tappet 16 is positioned inside the cylinder 13 and is sealed
against the cylinder with a seal 17. The tappet 16 extends forward
and is presses against the face of the bolt 8.
[0026] The cylinder 13 resides in the main chamber 9 and has gas
passages 21 thru it allowing communication with the main chamber
extension 18. The chamber extension 18 is sealed off in the rear
with the rear cap 19.
[0027] A valve 22 is contained in the grip frame 3 and is attached
to the housing 1. The valve 22 is a solenoid 3-way valve as known
in the art. The valve 22 is normal closed to the main chamber 9 and
open to the gas passage 25, allowing the space behind the tappet to
be in communication with atmospheric pressure. The valve 22 is
operable by the trigger 4 and trigger switch 24 mounted on a
circuit board 26. When the trigger 24 is pressed, an electrical
signal is sent via the circuit board 26 to the valve 22. The valve
22 shifts to the open position causing pressurized gas to be
supplied from the main chamber 9 to passage 25. The gas being
supplied thru passage 25 acts on the rear of the tappet 16. The
tappet 16 pushes against the bolt 8 and propels them both forward.
The bolt 8 compresses the spring 15 as it moves forward. The bolt 8
chambers a paintball 26 into the rear of the barrel 2. At the apex
of the bolt 8's travel the rear of the bolt 8 moves past the
sealing ring 12, allowing compressed gas to flow from the main
chamber 9 thru the bolt's gas passages 14 and to the paintball 26.
This burst of gas propels the paintball 26 thru the barrel 2,
effectively shooting the paintball.
[0028] After a fraction of a second determined by the circuit board
26, the valve 22 shifts back to its normally closed position,
closing off the main chamber 9 and venting the compressed gas from
behind the tapped 16. The spring 15 is then free to push the bolt 8
and tappet 16 rearward. Almost immediately the rear of the bolt 8
re-seals against the sealing ring 12, preventing any more
compressed gas from flowing out of the main chamber 9. The bolt 8
and tappet 16 continue rearward until they return fully to the
loading position.
[0029] The burst of compressed gas released from the main chamber 9
causes the gas pressure in the main chamber 9 to drop and in turn
drops the pressure in the main chamber extension 18 and the gas
passage 20. The pressure regulator 7 senses the pressure drop in
the main chamber 9 via the gas passage 20 and opens flow from a
pressurized gas tank or supply line until the gas pressure in the
main chamber 9 reaches the pre set limit determined by the pressure
regulator 7. The paintball gun has now completed one full
cycle.
* * * * *