Cylinder accommodation magazine and toy gun using the same

A cylinder accommodation magazine is provided for containing at least one cylinder. The magazine includes a magazine body and a cylinder chamber. The magazine body includes at least one cylinder container. The cylinder chamber is disposed at one end of the magazine body and away from the at least one cylinder container. A shape of the cylinder chamber conforms to a shape of the at least one cylinder container so as to selectively receive the at least one cylinder, thereby containing more projectiles and achieving easy arrangement of the projectiles.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a toy gun and, in particular, to a cylinder accommodation magazine, capable of containing more projectiles, and a toy gun using the magazine.

2. Related Art

In conventional toy guns which can shoot plastic projectiles, there are two common types of structures, i.e. pneumatic and mechanical structures. A pneumatic toy gun utilizes an affixed air bottle to provide high pressure air to the toy gun. The plastic projectiles are ejected by the pressure generated by the high pressure air. The mechanical toy gun utilizes the elastic force, generated by stretching of a compressed spring, to push a piston so as to generate high pressure air to eject the plastic projectiles. Because the two types of toy guns operate by different power sources, their structures have obvious differences.

The pneumatic toy gun and the mechanical toy gun operate based on different working principles. In the working principle of the pneumatic toy gun, when triggering a trigger of the pneumatic toy gun, a hammer drives a firing pin to move forward, the firing pin hits a stricken portion disposed inside an upper portion of the magazine to drive the stricken portion to move a piston forward, and the gun is pushed backward to eject the plastic projectile. In an example structure of the mechanical toy gun, the spring is compressed by the piston by means of hand operation, and the movement of the piston generates high pressure air to eject the plastic projectile. Such kind of structure simply provides one single shot, and is less fun to use. There is another structure for the mechanical toy gun, which employs an electric motor to drive the piston by means of a driving mechanism to compress the spring, the mechanical toy gun has a single shot mode and a continuous shooting mode and can be switched to operate in either mode, so it is more fun to use.

In the present product, no matter whether it is a pneumatic or mechanical toy gun, the plastic projectiles loaded in the magazine of the toy gun are usually disposed linearly, and therefore only a small number of the plastic projectiles can be loaded in the toy gun. Furthermore, when loading the plastic projectiles in the magazine, the plastic projectiles are tend to suffer deformation due to the fact that they are easily deformed and are light. Thus, when the plastic projectiles have wrinkles, the pushing force generated by the high pressure air cannot push the plastic projectiles evenly and properly; therefore, the ejection force of the plastic projectiles is insufficient, and consequently, the products lacks flexibility and competitiveness.

In view of the foregoing, the inventor made various studies to improve the above-mentioned problems to overcome the above-mentioned drawback, on the basis of which the present invention is accomplished.

BRIEF SUMMARY

It is one objective of the present invention to provide a cylinder accommodation magazine for containing more projectiles and allowing easy arrangement of the projectiles, and to provide a toy gun using the cylinder accommodation magazine.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a cylinder accommodation magazine for containing at least one cylinder. The magazine includes a magazine body and a cylinder chamber. The magazine body includes at least one cylinder container. The cylinder chamber is disposed at one end of the magazine body and away from the at least one cylinder container. A shape of the cylinder chamber conforms to a shape of the at least one cylinder container so as to selectively receive the at least one cylinder.

In a broad embodiment, the present invention provides a toy gun including a toy gun body and a magazine. The toy gun body includes a grip having a magazine container. The magazine is assembled in the magazine container. The magazine includes a magazine body, at least one cylinder, and a cylinder chamber. The magazine body includes at least one cylinder container. The cylinder is detachably connected to the cylinder container and includes a plurality of projectile chambers arranged circularly. The cylinder chamber is disposed at one end of the magazine body for rotatably disposing the at least one cylinder. A shape of the cylinder chamber conforms to a shape of the cylinder container so as to selectively receive the cylinder.

It is preferable that the toy gun further comprises at least one projectile arrangement member positioned in the at least one cylinder container and respectively disposed corresponding to the at least one cylinder container. The projectile arrangement member includes a through hole and a plurality of cones, wherein the cones are disposed circularly around the through hole.

It is preferable that the magazine body further includes a plurality of guiding pillars and a plurality of positioning protruding points. The guiding pillars are respectively disposed in the cylinder chamber and the at least one cylinder container. Each of the positioning protruding points protrudes from a bottom of the at least one cylinder container, and the positioning protruding points, arranged circularly, surround the guiding pillar. Each cone of the at least one projectile arrangement member is correspondingly inserted in each projectile chamber of the cylinder. The guiding pillar is inserted through the through hole to bring each cone of the projectile arrangement member into engagement with each positioning protruding point.

The present invention further provides the following effects. The first magnet element disposed in the cylinder container or the cylinder chamber and the second magnet element disposed in the cylinder are employed so as to allow the cylinder to be rapidly positioned in the cylinder container or the cylinder chamber, thereby achieving convenient and time-saving replacement of the cylinder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed descriptions and technical contents of the present invention are illustrated below in conjunction with the accompany drawings. However, it is to be understood that the descriptions and the accompany drawings disclosed herein are merely illustrative and exemplary and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 5, the present invention provides a cylinder accommodation magazine10for containing at least one cylinder30. The magazine10comprises a magazine body12and a cylinder chamber16. The magazine body12includes at least one cylinder container14. The cylinder chamber16is disposed at one end of the magazine body12and away from the at least one cylinder container14, wherein a shape of the cylinder chamber16conforms to a shape of the at least one cylinder container14so as to selectively receive the at least one cylinder30.

As shown in the figures, the magazine body10further includes a reservoir18and a base plate20. The reservoir18is provided for installation therein of a high pressure air bottle (not illustrated, e.g. a CO2bottle or a gas bottle) and is disposed adjacent to the at least one cylinder container14. However, in other embodiments, the magazine body10can includes no reservoir18where the high pressure air bottle is installed, depending on practical requirements. The base plate20is connected to a bottom of the magazine body12. One end of the base plate20protrudes from one side of the magazine body12and together with the magazine body12form an included angle A. According to the present embodiment, the included angle A in the present embodiment preferably ranges from 60 degrees to 80 degrees. However, in different embodiments, the angle A can be 90 degrees, and the angle A can vary depending on the types of the toy gun50. When assembling the magazine body12into the magazine container54of the toy gun50, the magazine10with the included angle A not only fits to the structure design of the grip56, but also suits ergonomic design to facilitate easy grip.

According to the present embodiment, it is preferable that the magazine body12includes three or more than three cylinder containers14; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. Referring toFIG. 3, a pair of spacing pillars28is disposed between two cylinder containers14for spacing the cylinders30apart and for disposing the same. The single cylinder chamber16and the plurality of the cylinder containers14are shaped to conform to a shape of the cylinder30, and are preferably shaped into a cylindrical shape, but can change in shape to conform to a different shape of the cylinder30. The cylinder container14is oriented in a direction substantially the same as a direction of the cylinder chamber16, i.e. being oriented in a direction of ejecting the projectiles B. Thus, when pressing a magazine release58to remove the magazine body12, it is convenient and time-saving to replace the cylinder30. However, in order to increase the number of the loaded projectiles B or achieve other purposes, additional cylinder containers14can be added in other places of the magazine body12, e.g. in the rear of the magazine body12.

Referring toFIGS. 3 and 4, the present invention further includes, integrally formed with the magazine body12, a plurality of guiding pillars22and a plurality of positioning protruding points24. The guiding pillars22are disposed in the cylinder chamber16and the cylinder containers14respectively, and preferably located in the center of the cylinder chamber16and in the center of each cylinder container14. When the cylinder30is assembled into the cylinder chamber16, it is rotatable around the guiding pillar22as an axis. It should be noted that, the cylinder chamber16does not include the positioning protruding point24, or the cylinder30cannot rotate. Furthermore, a plurality of engagement portions36are disposed on a top surface of each cylinder30. The number of the engagement portions36of each cylinder30corresponds to the number of projectile chambers32of each cylinder30. A firing assembly (not illustrated) of the toy gun50can rotate the cylinder30by using the engagement portions or other elements (not illustrated) so as to fire each projectile B loaded in the corresponding projectile chamber32.

Each positioning protruding point24protrudes out of a bottom of the cylinder container14, and the positioning protruding points24, arranged circularly, surround the guiding pillar22. The embodiment shown inFIG. 3includes at least one projectile arrangement member40disposed in the cylinder container14. The number of the projectile arrangement members40corresponds to the number of the cylinder containers14; that is to say, each projectile arrangement member40is disposed in a respective corresponding one of the cylinder containers14. The projectile arrangement member40includes a through hole42and a plurality of cones46, wherein the cones46are disposed circularly around the through hole42. The guiding pillar22is inserted through the through hole42to bring each cone46of the projectile arrangement member40into engagement with each positioning protruding point24, whereby the horn-shaped projectile B can be inserted through the projectile chamber32to engage the cone46, as shown inFIG. 5. Moreover, when the cylinder30is removed from the cylinder container14, each of the hollow cones46is engaged with a respective one of the positioning protruding point24, and thus is not removed from the cylinder container14along with the cylinder30.

Referring toFIG. 5, since the projectile B has a plastic projectile rim B1to engage the cone46, easy arrangement of the projectiles B can be achieved. Each guiding pillar22includes a first magnet element26disposed therein. The first magnet element26is preferably a hard magnet, i.e. a permanent magnet. Certainly, in other embodiments, the first magnet element26can be a soft magnet or made of non-magnetic metal such as iron or other metallic alloy. The cylinder30includes a second magnet element34disposed between each projectile chamber and disposed corresponding to the guiding pillar22. The second magnet element34is preferably a soft magnet or made of non-magnetic metal such as iron or other metallic alloy. Certainly, in other embodiments, the first magnet element26and the second magnet element34can be interchanged to achieve the same magnetic attraction effect. When the cylinder30is replaced or placed in the cylinder container14or the cylinder chamber16, the first magnet element26and the second magnet element34are magnetically attracted to each other, whereby the cylinder30can be positioned in the cylinder container14or the cylinder chamber16, thereby making replacement of the cylinder30convenient and time-saving.

In another broad embodiment of the present invention, a toy gun50is provided, comprising a toy gun body52and a magazine10. The toy gun body52includes a grip56including a magazine container54. The magazine10is assembled in the magazine container54. The magazine body12can be removed from the magazine container54by pressing the magazine release58at one side of the grip56. The structure of the magazine10and the connection relationship thereof are described in the above-mentioned embodiment, and hence detailed descriptions are omitted herein.

As shown in the figures, each cylinder30preferably includes 8 projectile chambers32; however, the present invention is not limited thereto. The number of the projectile chambers32corresponds to the number of the positioning protruding points24, the number of the cones46of the projectile arrangement member40, and the number of the engagement portions36. In the toy gun50of the present invention, when the toy gun50includes the cylinder chamber16and three cylinder containers14, the cylinders30totally contain thirty two projectiles B. The number of the projectiles B depends on the number of the cylinder containers14. It should be noted that, when replacing an old cylinder30having no projectiles B therein and getting a new cylinder30from the cylinder container14, the projectile arrangement member40is engaged with the positioning protruding points24, so the projectile arrangement member40is not removed from the cylinder container14along with the cylinder30.

It is to be understood that the above descriptions are merely preferable embodiment of the present invention and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Equivalent changes and modifications made in the spirit of the present invention are regarded as falling within the scope of the present invention.