Paintball gun air reservoir

A bolt-on air chamber that increases the volume of air stored inside a paintball gun. The increased volume of air allows the use of low pressure/high volume valves in the gun. The bolt-on air chamber also holds the gun together.

BACKGROUND 
1. Field of invention 
The present invention pertains to paintball guns and more particularly to a 
gas holding chamber for use with CO.sub.2, nitrogen or compressed air 
powered paintball guns that replaces an existing bolt. 
2. Background 
Today's high tech paintball guns generally run off of CO.sub.2, nitrogen or 
compressed air as a power source. These power sources require a specific 
volume of gas or a specific pressure of gas to fire the paintball at the 
correct velocity. You can use one or the other. Most paintball guns use 
the higher pressure/low volume method to shoot a paintball. Then, a few 
years ago, miniature pressure regulators became available for use on 
paintball guns allowing players to use a lower pressure gas to fire the 
paintball, thus relying on more volume of air to fire the paintball. But, 
the pressure never got below 500 psi into the air chamber of the paintball 
gun because valves at that time were not built for efficiency at lower 
pressures. At the same time paintball pressure regulators became available 
on the market, manufacturers and after-market customizers shortened the 
paintball guns to reduce weight by cutting off part of the air chamber, 
thus reducing the amount of stored gas. At that time there was no problem 
caused by reducing the length of the chamber because high pressure/low 
volume was being used. But as the newer, more gas efficient air valves 
that operate on a lower pressure/high volume (ranging from 100 psi to 400 
psi) started to become available, the lack of air-chamber space has caused 
the paintball guns not to be able to shoot the paintball at the proper 
velocity using a lower pressure/high volume setting less than 500 psi. 
What is needed is a reservoir chamber that bolts onto the the paintball gun 
through an existing bolt hole into the air chamber of the paintball gun 
thus increasing the chamber's volume capacity to allow paintball guns to 
use the more efficient low pressure/high volume air valves. The chamber 
should not significantly increase the weight or change the balance of the 
paintball gun and work without modifying the paintball gun by drilling out 
the air chambers. The air chamber needs to allow air to rush from the 
reservoir more rapidly through a straight-line passage to the valve; 
unlike the previous mounting bolt that allows air to enter the gun 90 
degrees from the valve and pass through a small hole in the front mounting 
block bolt thus restricting air flow. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention accomplishes these objectives by providing a 
reservoir that can thread into an existing bolt hole on the air chamber of 
the paintball gun, replacing the old bolt. The air reservoir has threads 
for the bolt hole, inlet holes to allow air into the air-chamber, a flange 
to hold an o-ring on the gun to seal air inside, a large chamber space to 
store a large volume of air, and a plug to seal the end of the chamber and 
to provide means of tightening the air reservoir to the gun.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to FIGS. 1-3 of the accompanying drawings, the air reservoir 
chamber of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 and 2 
essentially shows where and how the air reservoir 8 is located in place of 
the previous bolt 4. The paintball gun body 1 is shown to show location of 
valve chamber 2 and the air chamber 3 and location of front mounting block 
7 and the older design mounting block bolt 4. The front block mounting 
bolt 4 screws into paintball gun body 1 and has a small air transfer hole 
5 to allow air to flow through from air inlet 6 to the air chamber 3. The 
air transfer hole 5 is small which restricts air flow and reduces 
performance, so people have to increase air flow through the bolt by 
drilling the holes larger. That works to increase flow rate but also 
reduces the strength of the bolt and still does not solve the problem of 
the reduced chamber space. 
For a comparison, FIG. 2 shows the present invention, the air reservoir 8 
mounted in the same location as the older front mounting block bolt 4 to 
pictorially show the increased size of the air chamber. 
FIG. 3 shows a cross section view of our present invention, the air 
reservoir 8 where 9 indicates the threaded end that attaches to the 
paintball gun body 1 which is shown on FIGS. 1 and 2. A turned down 
diameter 15 which allows air to flow around the whole diameter and enter 
through multiple holes 10 and fill the air chamber 3 and the air reservoir 
chamber 12. A flange 11 has been turned on the air reservoir chamber 12. A 
flange 11 has been turned on the air reservoir to secure an o-ring 16 in 
place and seal air inside and apply pressure to keep the mounting block 
secured to the paintball gun body 1. The transfer tube 14 has been 
enlarged over that of the old mounting block bolt 4 which allows air to 
rush from the air chamber 12 in a straight line path to the air chamber 3 
in less time and with less restriction than in previous designs referred 
to in FIG. 1. The air reservoir has a plug 13 to seal air inside the 
reservoir and provide the air reservoir with the means of being tightened 
down to the paintball gun body.