Patent Publication Number: US-2005132872-A1

Title: Inter-locking barrel system

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      This invention is an improved gun barrel for use in combination with an air gun body for firing soft walled projectiles having a substantially fluid interior such as paintballs. This barrel provides greater mobility and variability for the user. This barrel essentially provides 4 barrels in one.  
     PRIOR ART  
      Paintball is a growing sport that appeals to a variety of ages and personalities. Paintball is a game of speed and accuracy. The sport of paintball uses air or gas powered guns to project a soft paintball from the barrel to a target. The paintball enters the barrel at the breech end from a reservoir, and accelerated by compressed gas, there after exits the barrel from the muzzle end, toward the target. The barrel design greatly affects the accuracy of the paintball and how swiftly the player can maneuver. The player that has the most accurate barrel and can move around the most rapidly has the greatest advantage.  
      The length of the barrel affects both of these aspects of the game. A longer barrel has a greater accuracy but makes it more difficult for the player to maneuver. When participating in the sport of paintball, it is important for the player to have the ability to hide and move easily. This is difficult to perform with a longer barrel because it can get in the way. However, using a short barrel decreases the distance and accuracy of the gun being used. So the player picks a barrel that will help him or her most. The player may require more accuracy and range if they are playing a defensive position or may need to be able to maneuver quickly if they are on the offensive.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention herein is directed at an improved barrel configuration for use in combination with a gas or air powered gun that fires paintballs. The interlocking barrel allows the player to switch lengths quickly to achieve greater accuracy or remove sections in order to maneuver quickly. This invention provides a greater variability for the player without the purchase of separate barrels.  
      No other paintball barrel can provide this amount of variability without the purchase of separate barrels. No other paintball provides the owner the option of adjusting the length of his or her barrel by adding or removing sections. The unique design of the barrel still provides a high level of accuracy. The inside surface of a typical paintball barrel is smooth. This invention will follow in the conventional design of the barrel. What sets this paintball barrel apart from the others is how they connect together to form an extended barrel. The accuracy of this barrel will hold to that of typical barrels by the connection formed by the interlocking pieces, which will be described in greater detail. The interlocking barrel comes with 3 sections and a standard muzzle section for accuracy. The sections will have thread on the inside of the breech end, then on the outside of the muzzle end. They will fit together so that the inside of the breech end is completely smooth ensuring the accuracy of the barrel. The caliber of the barrel remains the same.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES  
       FIG. 1  is a side view of the muzzle end of the barrel for use with the inter-locking barrel system. This piece is required at the end of the barrel to ensure accuracy is maintained.  
       FIG. 2  is a side view of a standard inter-locking barrel extension. This piece varies in length and shows how the unique pieces of the inter-locking system will fit together.  
       FIG. 3  is a front view of the muzzle section of the barrel. All sections will have a front view as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 4  is a side view of what a typical inter-locking barrel will look like when fully assembled with the standard extension pieces.  
       FIG. 5  is a cut away view of how the sections fit smoothly together to ensure the accuracy of the barrel. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      The fore mentioned invention relates to the fast growing sport of paintball. This sport is played by using air or gas powered guns to deploy soft walled projectiles filled with paint at an opponent. This invention is a new barrel system that can be used with any paintball gun. This new barrel system uses a design that enables the owner of this barrel to alter the length of his/her barrel to the desired length by adding or removing sections. This new design offers this capability at little to no expense of accuracy.  
      The following description is that of one combination that can be used in conjunction with the inter-locking barrel system. As shown in  FIG. 1  the muzzle adapter (not to scale)  1  that is placed at the muzzle end of the barrel system. This piece is required to maintain the accuracy of the barrel. The air vents  9  at the end of the muzzle provide a constant escape of the pressure behind the soft projectile. This ensures that the air or gas pressure behind the projectile does not influence the flight path with a burst of pressure at the end of the muzzle. The breech end  6  of the muzzle adapter is equipped with a series of threads allowing it to connect with a combination of threads that come standard on all paintball guns and extension pieces  7 .  FIG. 2  shows a standard extension piece  3  (not to scale). These pieces can vary in lengths. A standard set is considered to contain a muzzle adapter, a 2″ extension, a 4″ extension and a 6″ extension. This will enable the owner the greatest combination allowing them to choose from a barrel of 8″, 10″, 12″, and 14″ with purchase of a standard set. There are virtually and endless amount of combinations that can be made with the purchase of extra sections. This is possible due to the simple design of the barrel system as shown in  FIG. 2 . The series of threads  6  found on the breech end of each section can be screwed into the forward end of any extension piece  7 . When tightly fitted together the breech end  11  will fit smoothly against the inner lip  8 , creating a smooth inner surface. The barrel will remain a constant bore dimension  10  through out the system. To provide a tight fit and a constant fit, an 0-ring  5  is placed on the breech end of the barrel. This 0-ring  5  will serve as means of absorbing some of the vibration that can occur with rapid firing of the paintball gun. Absorbing the vibration prevents the possible loosening of the connecting sections. The 0-ring  5  also provides a means of creating a tight and smooth fit between the two sections.  FIG. 4  shows what the inter-locking barrel system will look like when fully assembled with all standard extension pieces (not to scale). The cut away view  FIG. 5  shows that when assembled properly the series of threads create a tight connection. The barrel ends  11  and  8  fit smoothly together to reduce the imperfections that can occur inside a barrel that affect the accuracy of the projectile.  
      While the invention has been described to the designer&#39;s intent, and preferred embodiment, one skilled in the art can develop changes or modifications without straying from the initial intent of the designer of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.