Abstract:
The proposed invention is a new bolt and gas release valve mechanism for a projectile launching device, such as a paintball marker, that uses significantly less gas per shot than prior art devices. The open gas chamber between the projectile, such as a paintball, and the gas release mechanism is eliminated thereby requiring much less gas to be used for each launch of a given projectile. Thus, only the launching gas to propel the projectile is needed and not the additional gas required to fill the chamber in the bolt directly behind the projectile. This enables desirably smaller gas supply tanks to be used during use to launch the same number of projectiles. Also, with the present invention, more projectiles can be launched using the same gas supply tank.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 12/906,318, filed Oct. 18, 2010, which is related to and claims priority from earlier filed provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/252,750, filed Oct. 19, 2009, all of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to devices and apparatuses for launching projectiles, such as paintballs. These devices are commonly called paintball guns or paintball markers. The present invention, more specifically, relates to the bolt and valve mechanism in such devices and apparatuses that are employed for preparing the gas behind the projectile and then releasing the gas for launch of the projectile. For ease of discussion and illustration, the present invention will be discussed in connection with launching a paintball, as an example projectile, and a paintball marker as an example of a device that incorporates the mechanism of the present invention. However, it should be understood that this invention relates to and can be used in any type of gas projectile launcher for launching any type of projectile. 
         [0003]    In the prior art, gas powered guns or markers are well known in the art. In general, these devices include a supply of gas that fills a chamber, which is then emptied to launch a projectile, namely, a paintball. Valving is typically provided in the marker to control the flow of gas therein. In the prior art, various types of bolts and valving can be employed. For example, electrically operated solenoid valves and mechanical valves have been employed for this purpose. One example of such a mechanical valve used in paintball markers is a “spool” valve. These are so well known that they need not be discussed in detail herein. These spool valves are very common for use in connection with paintball markers. 
         [0004]    Gas within a marker not only provides power for launching a projectile but also is commonly used to control loading and launching of the projectile. In other words, gas can also be used to control bolt movement within a marker to, in turn, control position of a paintball. There are number of prior art patents that use this concept. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,035,843 and 5,613,483 both use the existing gas supply for bolt control. The gas pneumatically actuates the bolt back and forth, as desired. Also, springs can be used for actuation of the bolt in certain directions. In these sample prior art systems, a unitary bolt construction is used for the dual purpose of controlling flow of gas to a storage chamber to serve as the power to launch the projectile and as well as serving as a conventional bolt that moves the projectile to a launch position while preventing additional projectiles from entering the breech. 
         [0005]    Essentially, prior art bolt unitary constructions typically have a standard bolt at one end and a gas control at the opposing end so that its actuation back and forth can be pneumatically controlled. The bolt reciprocates back and forth within the marker. With the appropriate timing, gas fills the appropriate chamber with the bolt assembly when the bolt construction is rearwardly positioned. When the bolt moves forward, the paintball is moved forward into a launching position. This forward motion causes the appropriate passageways within the marker so that the stored gas is released behind the paintball for launching thereof. 
         [0006]    As can be seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , two examples of such prior art projectile launching devices are shown. More specifically, the prior art bolt and air release mechanisms are shown to illustrate the preparation and use of gas to launch a paintball. These existing prior art paintball markers typically have linear reciprocating bolt mechanisms. These prior art markers always have an empty volume within the marker that is situated between the back of the paintball and the air release valve. The air release valve is the device that releases the blast of gas that is used to propel the paintball. 
         [0007]    Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a prior art paintball marker  10  includes an outer housing  12  with a barrel  14  connected thereto with a breech  16  for receiving a paintball  18 , via a feed tube  19 , from a hopper (not shown) or the like. A sliding bolt  20  is provided inside the housing  12 . The first portion  20   a  of the bolt  20  communicates with the paintball  18  to be launched while the second portion  20   b  of the bolt  20  communicates with an o-ring  26  to form of a poppet valve. In this case, the second portion  20   b  of the bolt  20  provides an airtight seal to secure a firing gas chamber  24 . Gas is supplied, in the typical fashion and using known constructions, such as solenoid valves and the like (not shown), to the chamber  24  behind the seal. As the bolt  20  moves forward, the paintball  18  is moved into the launch position in the barrel  14 , as indicated by the arrows inside the bolt. With further forward movement of the bolt  20 , the second portion  20   b  of the bolt  20  separates from o-ring  26  at region  20   c  to break the seal  26  therebetween. This permits gas in chamber  24  to fill the empty chamber  28  inside the bolt  20  to, in turn, launch the paintball  18 . For this prior art configuration, filling chamber  28  for each firing cycle requires substantial amounts of additional gas. 
         [0008]    Similarly, in  FIG. 2 , this prior art paintball marker  50  includes an outer housing  52  with a barrel  54  connected thereto with a breech  56  for receiving a paintball  58  from a hopper (not shown) or the like. A sliding bolt  60  is provided inside the housing  52 . The front end  60   a  of the bolt  60  communicates with the paintball  58  to be launched while the rear end  60   b  of the bolt  60  communicates with a gas release member  62  to form of a poppet valve. In this case, the valve interconnection between the bolt  60  and the gas release member  62  is of a slightly different configuration where the free front end  62   a  of the gas release member  62  slidably engages with the inner surface  60   c  of the bolt  60 . The rear opening  60   d  of the bolt  60  still provides an airtight seal with the gas release member  62  via an o-ring  64 , for example. Gas is supplied, in the typical fashion, as above, and using known constructions, such as solenoid valves and the like (not shown), to the chamber  66  behind the seal between the gas release member  62  and the bolt  60 . As the bolt  60  moves forward, the paintball  58  is moved into the launch position in the barrel  54 , as indicated by the arrows inside the bolt. The gas release member  62  separates from the rear end  60   b  of the bolt  60  to open the seal therebetween thereby permitting release of the gas trapped in the chamber  66  to fill the empty chamber  68  inside the bolt  60  to, in turn, launch the paintball  58 . For this prior art configuration, filling chamber  68  for each firing cycle requires substantial amounts of additional gas. 
         [0009]    In both of these example prior art devices, in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a large chamber behind the paintball and within the bolt must be filled prior to a paintball launch with air released from the firing chamber, behind the seal, for later complete evacuation such launch. In these prior art bolt and valve constructions, gas is wasted during every shot by having to fill this empty chamber volume in the bolt from the air released from the firing chamber during every shot. This volume is not an inconsiderable amount and having to fill it every shot has a detrimental effect on the overall efficiency of the marker thereby drawing gas from the cylinder faster than necessary. It is highly desirable to avoid such wasted gas. 
         [0010]    While these prior bolt constructions effectively control gas flow and launching of a paintball, they suffer from many disadvantages that result from inefficiencies in the flow and use of gas within a marker. This is of high concern because paintball is played with paintball markers that operate off compressed air or compressed carbon dioxide. The presence or amount remaining of a source of gas is, therefore, of concern for operation of these markers. These gases are typically carried in compressed gas cylinders that are either mounted directly to the paintball marker, or to the paintball player who carries the cylinder on their person, and the gases are transferred to the marker via a length of hose. In either case it is beneficial to use as small a cylinder as is possible as the weight of the cylinder is an unwanted hindrance to the player as it is heavy and bulky. In order to have a small cylinder, and still be able to fire a high quantity of paintballs, it is essential that the paintball marker is as gas efficient as possible. The more efficient a marker is, the smaller the compressed gas tank can be. 
         [0011]    Therefore, it is envisioned that if this wasteful empty volume, located behind the paintball and, typically, inside the bolt, could be eliminated from the design of a paintball marker, it has the potential to significantly increase the efficiency of the marker, allowing more shots from a given cylinder size, or the use of smaller cylinders to be able to shoot the same number of shots. 
         [0012]    In view of the foregoing, there is a need to make a marker more efficient in its use of gas. There is also a need for a marker to use less gas for each paintball launch. There is a further need for a marker that requires smaller gas cylinders to provide operational gas. There is a need for a marker that has an improved bolt and valve mechanism that enables more paintballs to be launched from a given cylinder of gas than prior art markers. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]    An embodiment of the present invention preserves the advantages of prior art gas powered guns or markers. In addition, it provides new advantages not found in currently available gas powered guns or markers and overcomes many disadvantages of such currently available gas powered guns or markers. 
         [0014]    The proposed invention is a new bolt and air release valve mechanism for a paintball marker that uses significantly less gas per shot. The open gas chamber between the paintball and the air release mechanism is eliminated thereby requiring much less gas to be used for launching a given paintball. The construction of the bolt and gas release member is configured move the location of the seal between the bolt and the gas release member to right behind the paintball to be launched. Thus, only the launching gas to propel the paintball is needed and not the additional gas required to fill the chamber in the bolt directly behind the paintball. 
         [0015]    It is therefore an object of the embodiment to provide a bolt and valve mechanism that uses less gas. 
         [0016]    It is a further object of the embodiment to provide a marker with a bolt and valve system that uses less gas for each paintball launch than prior art markers. 
         [0017]    Another object of the embodiment to provide a marker that requires a smaller gas cylinder than prior art markers to launch the same number of paintballs. 
         [0018]    Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a marker that is more efficient than prior art markers due to use of less gas for each paintball launch. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0019]    The novel features which are characteristic of the pneumatic launching assembly are set forth in the appended claims. However, the pneumatic launching assembly, together with further embodiments and attendant advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0020]      FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a prior art marker with wasteful gas space between the projectile and the air release valve; 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of another example of a prior art marker with wasteful gas space between the projectile and the air release valve; 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a marker with the bolt and valve mechanism of the present invention in a position for projectile loading; 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the marker of  FIG. 3  with the bolt and air release mechanism moving together toward a projectile launching position; 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the marker of  FIG. 3  with the bolt and air release mechanism in a position with the air release at the end of its travel; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the marker of  FIG. 3  with the air release at the end of its travel with the bolt moving forward to separate air release therefrom to release air into projectile for launch. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]    The improved bolt and valve mechanism of the present invention allows for a marker design that has the potential to have zero empty volume to fill between the gas release mechanism, namely between a gas release member and the bolt, and the back of the paintball. As a result, a marker equipped with the bolt and valve mechanism of the present uses less gas for operation than prior art markers. 
         [0027]    In accordance with the present invention, the improved bolt and valve mechanism carries the air release mechanism inside the bolt mechanism rather than at the end thereof as in the prior art. As a result, and as the bolt moves, the air release mechanism moves with it. Namely, the sealing connection of the bolt and the free end of the gas release member is directly behind the paintball. The seal and sealing poppet of the air release mechanism are both sited, and move together with, the bolt body. 
         [0028]      FIGS. 3-6  illustrate the operation and construction of the system of the present invention in detail. Turning first to  FIG. 3 , a cross-sectional view of a paintball marker  100  that employs the improved bolt and valve mechanism of the present invention is shown. The marker includes an outer housing  102  with a sleeve  103  that is connected to a barrel  104  with a breech  106  disposed therebetween. Paintballs  110  are fed from, for example, a hopper (not shown) into the breech  106  via a feed tube. Uniquely, a bolt  112  and gas release member  114  are slidably disposed in the sleeve  103  in the housing  102 . The gas release member  114  and the bolt  112  provide a poppet-like valve construction, however, the chamber ( 28 , as seen in  FIG. 1 ) between the point of sealing and the paintball  110  is preferably substantially removed or even completely removed to, thereby, eliminate the need to fill it with gas. Front chamber  109  is substantially smaller, such as several times smaller, than the gas firing chamber  124 . As above, this avoids use of extra gas for each firing cycle. It is even possible to further reduce the size of completely eliminate front chamber  109  to further reduce the amount of gas behind the paintball  110  before launch down to a minimal or insignificant amount. 
         [0029]    The gas release member  114  includes an elongated stem portion  114   a  with a front sealing portion  114   b  with an O-ring  116  positioned therearound. A centering  114   c  pin is also provided on the front most portion  114   b  of the gas release member  114 . The gas release member  114  is slidably received in the bolt  112 , which has a slot  112   a  therethrough. It should be noted that the bolt  112  is shown with two portions that are threaded together to form the bolt structure. It should be understood that the bolt  112  may be of a unitary construction. The gas release member  114  includes a firing pin  120  that is fixed thereto. As a result, the extent of travel of the gas release member  114  relative to the bolt  112  is defined by the slot  112   a  in the bolt  112 , as will be further discussed below. Therefore, the gas release member  114  actuates back and forth within the bolt  112  and is spring-biased, by a spring  122 , into a forward position so that the front most portion  114   b  and centering pin  114   c  of the gas release member  114  resides on a seat  112   b  and with the O-ring sealing thereacross. A keyway  112   c  is also preferably provided to receive centering pin  114   c . Thus, along with numerous other sealing surfaces, the chamber  124  behind the front most portion  114   b  of the gas release member  114  is rendered airtight and is in condition for receipt of gas therein in preparation for paintball launch. 
         [0030]    It can also be seen in  FIG. 3  that the bolt  112  and gas release member  114 , together, actuate back and forth within the sleeve  103  residing in housing  102 . Still further, the firing pin  120 , affixed to the gas release member  114  also serves to limit the amount of travel of the mated bolt  112  and gas release member  114  because the firing pin also is slidably positioned within a slot  103   a  in the sleeve  103  inserted into housing  102 . In  FIG. 3 , the firing pin  120  is located at the rear of the slot  103   a  in the sleeve, which serves as a stop. 
         [0031]    In the paintball loading step seen in  FIG. 3 , the bolt  112  and the gas release member  114  are both in their rearward most position. A newly loaded paintball  110  is delivered into the breech  106  and is positioned in front of the bolt  112 , preferably at a curved leading surface  112   e , and the system is prepared for launch. The chamber  124  is defined inside the bolt  112  and rearward of the sealing location at the O-ring  116 . In this position, the front portion  114   b  of the air release member  114  at the head of the bolt  112  is sealed off so no air is being released yet from the firing chamber  124  within the bolt  112  and surrounding the stem portion  114   a  of the gas release member  114 . At this point, the firing chamber  124  of gas is ready for release to push the paintball  110  forward through the barrel  104 . 
         [0032]    Turning now to  FIG. 4 , a cross-sectional view of the paintball marker  100  of  FIG. 3  is shown during the next step of moving the paintball  110  to a position in the barrel  104  in preparation for launch. The marker  100  has been fired and the launch cycle has been started. The bolt  112  and gas release member  114  are shown moving forward together, with the paintball  110  being pushed ahead of the bolt  112  towards the barrel  104  ready for launching. The firing chamber  124  remains full of gas as the gas release member  114  is still serving to seal off gas flow to behind the paintball  110 . Thus, a fully contained firing chamber  124  is travelling forward in a sealed condition along with the bolt  112  and gas release member  114  in unison. Thus, the bolt  112  and gas release member  114 , in  FIG. 4 , travel together as a single unit with the firing pin  120  moving forward within the slot  103   a  in the sleeve residing in the housing  102 . 
         [0033]    Now turning to  FIG. 5 , the paintball  110  has been moved forward so that it is now loaded in the barrel  104  and the breech  106  is closed off from the feed of additional paintballs (not shown) and the paintball  110  is ready to be actually launched. At this point, the front most portion  114   b  of the gas release member  114  and the O-ring  116  are still in contact with the seat  112   b  of the bolt  112  to maintain the sealed integrity of the gas chamber  124 . It can be seen in  FIG. 5  that the bolt  112  and the gas release member  114  are still travelling together. However, the firing pin  120 , fixed to the gas release member  114 , has reached its forward most limit and has contacted the front edge of longitudinal the slot  103   a  in the sleeve  103 . 
         [0034]    As a result, the air release member  114  cannot travel any further forward. However, due to the further slidable engagement of the firing pin  120  relative the longitudinal slot  112   a  in the bolt  112 , further forward travel of the bolt  112  is possible, which will result in the gas release member  114  separating from the bolt  112  thereby opening the seal and allowing the gas from the firing chamber  124  to be released directly behind the paintball  110  for launching. 
         [0035]    This separation of the bolt  112  and the gas release member  114  is shown in  FIG. 6 , which illustrates the actual release of gas from chamber  124  and the subsequent launch of the paintball  110 . It can be seen that the front edge of the firing pin  120  remains in contact with the front edge of the longitudinal slot  103   a  in the sleeve, serving as a stop, to prevent further forward travel of the gas release member  114  while the rear edge of the firing pin  120  remains in contact with the rear edge of the longitudinal slot  112   a  in the bolt  112 . The use of the slots  112   a  and  103   a  and the firing pin  120  connected to the gas release member  114 , the actuating travel of the bolt  112  relative to the gas release member  114  and the actuating travel of both the bolt  112  and the gas release member  114  together can be controlled with precision. 
         [0036]    Still referring to  FIG. 6 , the bolt  112  is shown in its forward most position. Because the gas release member  114  cannot move further in the forward direction, the bolt  112  continues on forward on its own to cause the aforementioned release of the seal of the front portion  114   b  of the gas release member  114  with the seat  112   b  at the front of the bolt  112 . As can be understood, once this seal is opened, the gas from the chamber  124  is free to exit forward through the front of the bolt  112  to supply gas directly behind the paintball  110  to launch it forward through the barrel  104 . 
         [0037]    It should be noted that the configuration of the bolt  112  and gas release member  114  are preferred embodiments of the present invention. It is possible to modify the mating configuration, such as the structure of the seat  112   b  and the front portion  114   b  of the gas release member  114  and the location and construction of the firing pin mechanism and still be within the scope of the present invention. 
         [0038]    The paintball marker  100  can then be configured to reset in preparation for launch in a number of different ways known in the prior art. For example, springs or pneumatics can be used to move the bolt  112  and gas release member  114  back to the condition see in  FIG. 3  in preparation for receipt of a new paintball  110 . Movement of such bolts  112  and other components for marker reset are so well known in the art that they need not be discussed herein. 
         [0039]    In view of the foregoing, the construction of the present invention can result in a significant increase in marker efficiency due to the fact that there is little or no air lost in filling an empty volume between the back of the paintball  110  and gas release member  114  on every paintball launch. This is made possible by moving the sealing point to a position directly behind the paintball  110 . 
         [0040]    It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be covered by the appended claims.