Patent Publication Number: US-6981493-B1

Title: Paintball backpack

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Not Applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not Applicable. 
   REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
   Not Applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Technical Field 
   This invention relates to a paintball storage containers and, more particularly, to a paintball backpack for storing and dispensing paintballs during a paintball game. 
   2. Prior Art 
   When engaged in any one of the numerous varieties of paintball games, one player attempts to hit another player with a spherical ball containing paint or some other type of marking material discharged from a compressed air or gas operated marking device. It is often advantageous to be able to fire rapidly and continuously in order to increase the chances of hitting an opponent with a paintball. 
   Although the compressed gas cylinders used to propel the paintballs can provide up to 1000 or more individual charges or shots, the magazines or hoppers attached to the paintball markers typically are limited to holding only about one or two hundred paintballs. This can create an undesirable situation wherein a player has sufficient compressed gas to continue shooting, but runs out of paintball ammunition. 
   In this scenario, a player without paintball ammunition is particularly vulnerable insofar as the distinctive sound of a paintball marker being fired with an empty hopper is easily recognized by other players. As a result, an opponent can rush upon and shoot the player with the empty marker without risk of being shot by that player. 
   In order to reduce the chance of being caught with an empty paintball hopper, paintball canisters holding about 100 paintballs have been made available to paintball enthusiasts. Several of these canisters are typically carried on a belt and are removed, opened and emptied into a paintball marker hopper before the hopper runs out of paintballs. 
   While such canisters provide an advantage, they are often difficult to access, open and dispense. Moreover, the opening of these canisters usually requires the use of two hands and thereby temporarily renders the player defenseless. 
   Another drawback associated with such canisters is the problem of their proper disposal. Once emptied, the canisters present disposal and potential safety issues. Proper disposal of the canister requires a player to reapply the canister&#39;s cap or cover and place it back into a pouch on the player&#39;s belt. As with dispensing the paintballs into a paintball marker hopper, this leaves the player defenseless for a brief period of time, thus providing more opportunity for an opposing player to score a mark. 
   An alternate means of disposal would be for the player to throw the empty canister on the ground in the playing area for later retrieval. This method can pose a safety problem. In the heat of action, a player, other team members or opponents could step on an empty canister, causing them to fall. 
   Accordingly, a need remains for a portable paintball container that stores and dispenses paintballs quickly and easily while playing a paintball game. The present invention fulfills such a need by providing a portable backpack capable of storing numerous paintballs and dispensing them quickly and efficiently as a user desires. The present invention decreases the number of times a user must reload and enables a user to carry surplus paint balls effortlessly for long periods of time. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In view of the foregoing background, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for storing and dispensing paintballs that can be worn by a user without inhibiting movement. These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are provided by a backpack including a housing including a plurality of isolated compartments having open top end portions for receiving paintballs therethrough. The compartments include a plurality of releasable flap portions connected adjacent the top end portions and being provided with a plurality of fasteners for selectively adjusting the housing between open and closed positions. The housing further has a lower cavity provided with an outlet positioned substantially medially thereof. The lower cavity is disposed subjacent the compartments and has a bottom surface sloping downwardly and inwardly towards the outlet. 
   The backpack further includes a harness formed from flexible material including a plurality of shoulder portions adjacent the flap portions of the housing and extending about a user&#39;s torso. The harness includes a belt section integral therewith and extending about a user&#39;s waist for adjustably tightening or loosening the harness. 
   The backpack further includes a mechanism for selectively moving paintballs from the top end portions to the lower cavity and a mechanism for dispensing paintballs outwardly and away from the lower cavity wherein the paintballs are projected from the housing at a predetermined velocity. 
   The moving mechanism includes a plurality of trap doors pivotally attached to the compartments respectively and being disposed above the lower cavity. A plurality of flexible pull cords having opposed end portions are connected to the trap doors and are freely movable along the harness respectively. The pull cords selectively cause the plurality of trap doors to toggle between open and closed positions and along an arcuate path and include a plurality of ring portions connected to one end portion thereof and for assisting a user to operate the trap doors during operating conditions. 
   The dispensing mechanism includes an elongated conduit formed from flexible material so that a user can selectively adapt a shape thereof. The conduit has proximal and distal portions connected to the outlet and extending downwardly and away therefrom respectively. A clip is connected to the belt section for receiving and maintaining the distal end of the conduit at a substantially stationary position during operating conditions. The dispensing mechanism further includes an electric motor positioned within the housing and having an output shaft extending vertically therefrom and into the lower cavity. 
   The dispensing mechanism further includes a propeller operably connected to the shaft and being disposed adjacent the outlet for directing paintballs therethrough and into the conduit. The propeller is rotatable in a selected radial path as the shaft rotates in a corresponding direction. A power source including a battery pack is disposed within the housing and electrically coupled to the motor. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a rear-end view showing a paintball backpack in a preferred environment, in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the present invention showing the shoulder harness and belt; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the present invention, taken along line  3 — 3 ; and 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the backpack illustrating the movement of paint balls from the compartments into the conduit, taken along line  4 — 4 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, this embodiment is provided so that this application will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the true scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the figures. 
   The apparatus of this invention is referred to generally in  FIGS. 1–4  by the reference numeral  10  and is intended to provide a paintball backpack for storing and dispensing paintballs. It should be understood that the backpack  10  may be used to store and dispense many different types of objects and should not be limited to only paintballs. 
   Initially referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the backpack  10  includes a housing  11  including a plurality of isolated compartments  12  having open top end portions  13  for receiving paintballs therethrough. The compartments  12  include a plurality of releasable flap portions  14  connected adjacent the top end portions  13  and being provided with a plurality of fasteners  15  for selectively adjusting the housing  11  between open and closed positions. The fasteners  15  are preferably formed from Velcro material as well known in the industry so that a user can easily open and close the flaps  14  when replenishing paintballs. The housing  11  further has a lower cavity  16  provided with an outlet  17  positioned substantially medially thereof. The lower cavity  16  is disposed subjacent the compartments  12  and has a bottom surface  17  sloping downwardly and inwardly towards the outlet  17 . The sloping surface  17  assists in directing paintballs released from the compartments  12  downwardly to the outlet  17  by force of gravity. 
   Now referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the backpack  10  further includes a harness  20  formed from flexible material including a plurality of shoulder portions  21  adjacent the flap portions  14  of the housing  11  and extending about a user&#39;s torso. The harness  20  includes a belt section  22  integral therewith and extending about a user&#39;s waist for adjustably tightening or loosening the harness  20 . The harness  20  ensures that the backpack  10  fits tightly about a user&#39;s torso so that an opponent&#39;s target area is diminished. 
   Now referring to  FIG. 4 , the backpack  10  further includes a mechanism for selectively moving paintballs from the top end portions  13  to the lower cavity  16  and a mechanism for dispensing paintballs outwardly and away from the lower cavity  16  wherein the paintballs are projected from the housing  11  at a predetermined velocity. 
   Now referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the moving mechanism includes a plurality of trap doors  30  pivotally attached to the compartments  12  respectively and being disposed above the lower cavity  16 . A plurality of flexible pull cords  31  having opposed end portions  32 ,  33  are connected to the trap doors  30  and are freely movable along the harness  20  respectively. The pull cords  31  selectively cause the plurality of trap doors  30  to toggle between open and closed positions and along an arcuate path as shown in  FIG. 3 , and include a plurality of ring portions  34  connected to one end portion  33  thereof and for assisting a user to operate the trap doors  30  during operating conditions. Advantageously, the ring portion  34  enables a user to quickly and easily grasp a pull cord  31  for releasing additional paintballs from the compartments  12  as needed. 
   Now referring to  FIG. 4 , the dispensing mechanism includes an elongated conduit  40  formed from flexible material so that a user can selectively adapt a shape thereof. The conduit has proximal  41  and distal  42  portions connected to the outlet  17  and extending downwardly and away therefrom respectively. A clip  43  is connected to the belt section  22  for receiving and maintaining the distal end  42  of the conduit  40  at a substantially stationary position within easy reach of a user during operating conditions, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The dispensing mechanism further includes an electric motor  44  positioned within the housing  11  and having an output shaft  45  extending vertically therefrom and into the lower cavity  16 . 
   Still referring to  FIG. 4 , the dispensing mechanism further includes a propeller  46  operably connected to the shaft  45  and being disposed adjacent the outlet  17  for directing paintballs therethrough and into the conduit  40 . The propeller  46  is rotatable in a selected radial path as the shaft  45  rotates in a corresponding direction. A power source  50  including a battery pack is disposed within the housing  11  and electrically coupled to the motor  44  for providing power in remote locations. 
   While the invention has been described with respect to a certain specific embodiment, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is intended, therefore, by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. 
   In particular, with respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the present invention may include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation. The assembly and use of the present invention are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art.