Abstract:
An air chamber that increases the volume of air stored inside a paintball gun. An increased volume of air allows the use of low-pressure/high volume valves in the gun.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/882,672 filed Jun. 25, 1997 which has issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,904,133. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention pertains to paintball guns and more particularly to a gas holding chamber for use with CO2, nitrogen or compressed air powered paintball guns that replaces an existing bolt. 
     2. Background 
     Today&#39;s high tech paintball guns generally run off of CO2, 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 of fire the paintball. But, the pressure never got below 500 psi into the air chamber of the paintball gun because valves at the time were not built for efficiency at low pressures. At the same time paintball pressure regulators become available on the market, manufactures 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 paintball gun through an existing bolt hole into the air-chamber of the paintball gun thus increasing the chamber&#39;s volume capacity to allow paintball guns to use the more efficient lower 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 deg. 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, a plug to seal the end of the chamber and provide means of tightening the air reservoir to the gun. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG.  1 : A cross-section view showing the location of the air chamber on the paintball gun and the previous mounting bolt and air inlet. 
     FIG.  2 : A cross-section view showing the location of the air chamber on the paintball gun and the air reservoir location in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG.  3 : A cross-section view of the air reservoir for more detailed inspection. 
    
    
     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. FIGS. 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 out present invention, the air reservoir  8  where  9  indicates the threaded end the 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 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 also 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.