Abstract:
A paintball gun is made with a control circuit controlling the operation of the gun. The control circuit is provided substantially as a stiff circuit board installed through an opening of the gun housing. The circuit board performs some novel functions including storing and replaying sound clips from stored digital files, keeping track of the number of paintballs left and providing visual indications to a user. A button is provided on the gun handle and in alignment with a control switch on the printed circuit board. Pushing the button causes the activation of the control switch. The button may be implemented as a portion of the handle that is flexible. When this portion is depressed, it flexes inward to activate the control switch.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The subject matter of this application is related to the following applications: 
         [0002]    RELATED APPLICATIONS: The subject matter in this application is related to the following co-pending Applications: 
         [0000]    U.S. application Ser. No. ______ filed ______ and entitled AN IMPROVED PAINTBALL GUN WITH SOUND EFFECTS;
 
U.S. application Ser. No. ______ filed ______ and entitled AN IMPROVED PAINTBALL GUN WITH PAINTBALL MONITORING;
 
U.S. application Ser. No. ______ filed ______ and entitled AN IMPROVED PAINTBALL GUN WITH A FLEXIBLE PC BOARD; all incorporated herein by reference.
 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0004]    This invention pertains to a paintball gun with several new features to improve its ease of use and performance, including means for reproducing various new sound effects. 
         [0005]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0006]    Paintball is an exciting game which simulates actual warfare and involves players firing paintballs quickly and accurately upon each others using paintball guns or markers. A typical paintball gun includes a body including a handle, a tank holding a compressed gas (typically air or CO 2 ) and a barrel receiving paintballs from a hopper. Activation of a trigger on the handle causes compressed gas from the tank to propel paintballs through a barrel. Initially, paintball was played with paintball guns or markers that were purely mechanically-operated. 
         [0007]    The introduction of electronics into paintball guns has revolutionized the paintball gun and has completely changed the way the game of paintball is played. Electronics have allowed paintball guns to be more than simple mechanical guns. Guns now have electronic circuit boards with computer chips controlling the functions of the gun and providing the paintball player options that were not available with a traditional mechanical gun. However many other features can be provided electronically to improve a gun&#39;s functionality and modes of operation. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    In one embodiment, the present invention pertains to a paintball gun that provides selective generation of a large variety of sound effects electronically, including optionally playing music. For this purpose an electronic control circuit is provided that includes a microprocessor controlling the operation of the gun, a memory holding digital files defining characteristics of various sound effects, and an audio device that selectively receives and converts electrical signals corresponding to the digital files and generates corresponding sounds. 
         [0009]    Additional elements may be included that provide visual and/or tactile information to a user, as well as a counter for determining how many paintballs a magazine mounted on the gun still contains. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the control circuit of a known paintball gun; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a schematic illustration representative of the right side of an electronic paintball gun constructed in accordance with this invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows the left side of the gun of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4A  shows a block diagram of the electronic circuitry used to in the gun of FIGS.  2  and  3 A-C; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4B  shows a partial sectional view of the gun of  FIG. 3A ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4C  shows a partial sectional view of a gun having an alternate embodiment; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows a flow chart of the operation of the gun of  FIGS. 2-4 ; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  shows a flow chart of several alternate modes. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    Various preferred aspects and embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. It should be noted, however, that the following description is provided by way of example only and not of limitation, and that many other implementations and embodiments of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art based on the disclosure herein. The scope of the invention should therefore not be limited to the particular embodiments described herein. 
         [0019]    In  FIGS. 2 and 3  a paintball gun is portrayed somewhat diagrammatically in order to illustrate its operation and the various improvements provided by the present invention. A paintball gun  10  includes a body  11 , with a barrel  12  and a handle  14 . The body  11  is attached by standard tubes to a source of compressed gas. The source and the tubing have been omitted for the sake of simplicity. Alternatively, the compressed air source may be built into the handle  14  and replaced through a small hinged door (not shown) formed therein. 
         [0020]    The barrel  12  consists of a tube mounted on the body  11  and is selectively connected to the air tank by valves (not shown) and a pipe  16 . Attached to the body  11  (or the tube  12 ) is a magazine  19  containing paintballs (not shown). Although the magazine  19  is shown mounted right on top of the body  11  for the sake of simplicity, in most configuration, the paintballs are fed into the barrel  12  from a closed paintball holder through a hopper. The gun  10  is also provided with a trigger  20  protected by a guard  22 . A user aims the gun  10  at a target and pulls the trigger  20 . This action causes the valves and other mechanisms within the body  11  to feed paint balls from the magazine  19  to be loaded into the tube and then ejected at a high speed through the barrel  12 . The gun  10  can be normally operated in various modes, such as a manual mode in, a semi-automatic mode, an automatic mode in which as long as the trigger is depressed, the balls are ejected continuously as well as other modes. 
         [0021]    The handle  14  is formed with two removable panels  24 A,  24 B. Alternatively, the front portion of the handle is removable and the two panels  24 A,  24 B can be connected to form a single U-shaped assembly. The panels  24 A,  24 B are removable to allow access to the interior of the handle  14 . This interior is used to hold a source of power (e.g., a battery), an electronic circuit board, and other accessories. 
         [0022]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a typical circuit board  30  includes a microprocessor  32  that receives an input from a manual switch  34  on the handle  14 , a trigger sensor  36  and a state counter  42 . The microprocessor  32  also generates control signals to an interface  38  that controls the air valves and other equipment used to expel the balls from the barrel  12 . The microprocessor  32  also activates an audio device  40  to provide various indications to a user. Typically, when a gun  10  is first turned on, the state counter  42  is activated. The state counter can have several states, each one defining a different mode of operation for the gun, as defined by certain preselected parameters. Each of these modes is defined in the written documentation for the user. The different modes may provide various rates of firing, the number of paintballs fired in each round, etc. The user has a choice of selecting one of these modes by activating the trigger  20  and/or manual switch  34  on the handle. Each time the user activates these elements, the state counter  42  advances to a next mode. Preferably, the microprocessor  32  causes a sound, e.g., a beep to be generated by the audio device  40  to provide a verification means of the mode selected by the user. 
         [0023]    The gun  10  and operation described so far and its mode of operation is fairly generic to all paintball guns. 
         [0024]    In the present invention several improvements are provided to the structure of the gun and its modes of operation. Preferably, these improvements are implemented by changing the circuit board  30  in an existing gun and, optionally, changing the panel(s)  24 A,  24 B on the handle  14 . Of course, all or some of the improvements may be implemented by elements disposed in other portions of the gun body  11 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 4A  shows a schematic block diagram of a circuit board  100  for the paintball gun of  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Referring to these figures, the board  100  includes a microprocessor  102  controlling essentially all the functions of the gun  10  as described above, unless otherwise noted. The microprocessor  102  receives inputs from a manual switch  104  on the handle  14 , as well as the trigger switch  106  and a state counter  112 . The state counter  112  (as well as state counter  42  in  FIG. 1 ) is preferably implemented by software within the microprocessor  102  (or  32 ) but is shown as a separate element for the sake of clarity. The board  100  contains several additional elements which shall now be described. Preferably, sounds are generated in the present invention not by a buzzer but by an audio device  115 . This audio device  115  may be provided on the board  100  or may be mounted on one of the panels  24 A,  24 B. The board  100  is further provided with a memory  120  that is connected to the microprocessor  102  and an audio device driver  110 . The memory  120  may be used to store various data and other information required for the operation of the gun  10 , however, for the purposes of this invention, its main purpose is to store files defining various preselected sounds associated with the operation of the gun  10 . Preferably, at least some of the operations of the gun are associated with a corresponding file. 
         [0026]    In operation, the paintball user turns on the gun  10  using the switch  104 . As described previously, when the gun is first turned on, an initialization period may be used to set or selected various parameters of the gun, each set corresponding to a mode. The user selects each mode by pushing on the switch  104  or actuating the trigger  20 . These actuations cause the state counter  112  to step through the modes of the gun. As each mode is selected, the microprocessor  102  selects an appropriate file from memory  120  and sends it to the audio driver  110 . This latter element then causes the audio device  115  to emit a corresponding sound. In one embodiment of the invention, the device  115  is a buzzer. In this case, the driver causes several different types of sounds to be generated by the buzzer corresponding to an appropriate action. In another embodiment of the invention, the files received by driver  110  are digital files, and the driver includes a D/A converter that converts these digital files into actual sounds replayed by speaker  113 . These sounds may range from relatively simple beeps to an actual or synthesized voice announcing modes, e.g., “MODE ONE”, “MODE TWO,” etc. Alternatively, the different modes can be given names which are then pronounced when the appropriate mode is selected. 
         [0027]    Once the user completes his selection, the selected mode is stored and used each time the gun is turned on until another mode is selected. The user may select through the mode using the trigger  20  or the switch  104 . In an alternate embodiment, two switches similar to  104  are used, one to increment the modes (1, 2, 3, . . . ) and the other to decrement the modes (4, 3, 2, . . . ). 
         [0028]    In this manner, the electronic circuit board  102  acts as the central controlling agent, linking the various features of the paintball gun and assuring that it operates correctly. In addition, various new modes of operations are described below. 
         [0029]    The speaker  113  may be used to generate many other audio signals as well. For example, various audio signals may be stored in RAM  120  or another similar device and then, on command from the microprocessor  102 , they can be downloaded and played by the speaker  113 . Examples of such audio signals may include instructions on how to use the gun, or how to play a game. Other signals may include music and other sound effects. These signals may be stored as voice clips in an MPEG format or any other suitable format. In addition, or instead of playing these voice clips may be transmitted to a user&#39;s ear phone via a wired earphone output (jack)  116 , through the USB port  130  or a wireless connector (which may be, for example, a Bluetooth connector)  131 . 
         [0030]    In one embodiment of the invention shown in  FIG. 4B , the PC board  102  is disposed below the removable panel  24 B. One or more control switches used to operate the device, such as switch  34  are implemented as a microswitches disposed on the board  102 . For example, the board  102  may be provided with a momentary microswitch  102  that is activated by depressing it. In addition, at a least a portion of panel  24 B, such as portion  104  is flexible so when pressed with a finger, it flexes inwardly as shown at  104 A. The portion  104  and switch  103  are sized and positioned so that when the portion  104  is flexed inward, it activates microswitch  103 . Several such microswitches can be provided as need. 
         [0031]    In another embodiment shown in  FIG. 4C , panel  24 C is formed with a window  25 . The PCB  102 A is connected to one end of a flexible PC board  107 . The other end of the flexible PC board (FPC)  107  is mounted to the underside of panel  24 C as shown, and has one or more electronic elements mounted thereon. These elements may include switch  104 , tactile resonator  118 , display  132 , etc. The elements are then available through the window  25  so that they present information to the user and/or are actuated by the user as described. The electronic elements are connected by conductors of FPC  107  (not shown) to other elements of the board  102 C. 
         [0032]    While the gun is in operation at least some of its functions are accompanied by sound effects emitted by audio device  115 . This feature is illustrated in the flow chart of  FIG. 5 . In step  200  the microprocessor performs a predetermined activity (these activities are of course commanded by the microprocessor&#39;s software). Next, in step  202 , a look-up table of other similar means is used to determine what sound effect (if any) is desirable for the corresponding activity. These sound effects can be selected by the user, can be preset as part of the initiation period, and maybe in fact one of the selected parameters, or can be set by other means. In any event, the corresponding digital file is then obtained from memory  120 . In step  204  the digital file is sent to the audio converter  110  which then causes the audio device  115  to play a corresponding sound clip in step  206 . For example, one sound clip may be played each time the trigger  20  is pulled. A different sound clip is played as the gun continues to shoot. Additionally, the board may be used to play various theme songs at will. During a match, different teams may have their guns set to play different theme songs. The number, length and complexity of the songs depend on the size of memory  120  and the compressions schemes used for the songs. 
         [0033]    Various other features may be provided on the board  100  as well. For example, the memory  120  can be removable with different songs and other digital files of sound clips being provided on different memory hardware. Alternatively, the board may be provided with a standard connector such as USB port  130  or other standard means of connecting the board  100  to a PC or other digital equipment. In a preferred embodiment, of the invention, the board  100  is connected by the connector  130  to a PC (not shown). A user, retailer or service center then contacts the manufacturer of the board or other service center and downloads to the microprocessor sound clips and any firmware updates as necessary. 
         [0034]    Another feature of the invention is a digital screen  132  that may be a screen for displaying alphanumeric characters and/or other images. The screen can be an LCD screen, or other similar screen (e.g. an OL screen). As seen in  FIG. 2 , the screen is preferably incorporated or mounted on one of the panels, e.g. panel  24 A. The screen may be used to provide instructions to the user and to show other information such as the mode being selected, a current time, etc. The digital screen  132  is preferably a color screen. 
         [0035]    Instead of, or in addition to the screen  132 , the gun  100  may be provided with an LED or other visual indicator  114 . The indicator  114  and the screen  132  are driven by the microprocessor  102 . The indicator  114  can be on all the time to show that the gun is on, or part of the time to provide various messages in conjunction with or separately from the audio device  115 . 
         [0036]    Normally gun  100  is used in a loud, noise environment and may be noisy itself. In addition, the users must wear helmets which may mask any sounds produced by the audio device  115 . Therefore, in one embodiment, the gun  100  can be provided with a standard audio jack  116  driven by the audio device driver  110 . An audio device  115  or earphone (not shown) can then be worn by the user that is connected to the gun  100  via the jack  116  to allow the user to hear any sound clips better. 
         [0037]    In another embodiment, the gun  100  is also provided with a tactile pad  118 . Pad  118  is preferably mounted on one of the panels, as shown in  FIG. 3  and it is driven by the microprocessor  102 . The pad  118  produces vibrations that are felt by the user as he holds the gun  10  and is used to provide the user with various indications in conjunction with or in addition to the audio signals provided by the audio device  115 , or jack  116  or the visual indications provided by the screen  132  or indicator  114  (step  208  in  FIG. 5 ). 
         [0038]    One on-going problem with the paintball guns is that it is difficult to determine when they run out of the paintballs. This problem is resolved in the present invention by providing a paintball counter  134 . The paintballs are fed into the gun responsive to control signals from the microprocessor  102 . In the present invention, the counter  134  also receives these signals. The gun  10  uses either standard magazines  19 , or the number of paintballs in the magazine is provided to the microprocessor and the counter  134  as part of the initialization process. Then, the counter  134  monitors the number of paintballs that have been ejected. When a certain number of such balls have been ejected, and hence when a threshold number of balls remain in the magazine the counter then produces an alarm indicating that either that the magazine has X number of balls left, or that it is empty. In step  208  an indication is then generated to the user via the audio device  115 , jack  116 , screen  132 , pad  118  and/or indicator  114 . Thus, the user is notified that he has to either quit soon or get a new magazine of paintballs in place. 
         [0039]    As disclosed above, a paintball gun may have several modes of operation. During initiation, a user can be given the choice of selecting any of one of several modes. Some of the modes are discussed above. Other modes include a standard shooting mode, a demo mode in which various functions of the gun can be demonstrated, a drill mode, in which the user can practice or drill various operations, etc. These modes are shown in the flow chart of  FIG. 6 . 
         [0040]    In summary, a paintball gun is disclosed with several important improvements. One improvement such improvement is that the gun can store and play several sound clips using MP3 or other formats. These clips can provide music, voice instructions, control indications and conformations and many other sound effects. The sounds are actually heard either on a speaker built into the gun or through an external speaker or earphone communicating via a wired or wireless channel with the gun. 
         [0041]    A further improvement is the provision of one or more buttons built into the handle or grip of the gun. The buttons are used to provide various functions for the gun, such as selecting a mode of operation, e.g., a drill mode, a learning mode, a standard shoot mode; to select various sound clips, etc. 
         [0042]    Another improvement pertains to a handle or grip formed with a window and a flexible printed circuit board having an electronic element accessible through the window and extending to the regular printed circuit board. The electronic element could be an LED or a display providing operational information to the user, could be tactile resonator, or a switch. 
         [0043]    Yet another improvement pertains to a reload warning or indicator. This improvement is implemented by providing a counter that monitors and counts the number of paintballs that have been fired. Based on this information, a visual, tactile, or audible signal is generated to warn the user when this number exceeds a certain limit, and that he will run out of paintballs soon. 
         [0044]    Numerous other modifications and variations to the foregoing embodiments are possible and will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, ear phones and/or other devices can be connected to the microprocessor not only through an audio connector, but via other connection means as well including, e.g. a USB connector. The appended claims should therefore be interpreted to cover all such modifications and variations.