Patent Publication Number: US-2011056468-A1

Title: Paint ball feeding buffer device

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a paint ball feeding buffer device, and more particularly to a magazine which is used in a paint-ball gun to load a plurality of paint balls, and is provided with a roll-up device having a damping member to buffer an advancing device, so as to stably release a thrust in an advancing process such that the paint balls can be rammed smoothly. 
     b) Description of the Prior Art 
     To allow a paint-ball gun to emulate a real gun and to fire continuously, a magazine which can load a plurality of paint balls is used. The magazine is accessed below a gun to form a necessary design for emulation and firing continuously. The paint ball is normally a plastic polymer enclosing a dye, and its material can be deformed or broken when being squeezed by an external force, such that when hitting on a human body, the human body can be prevented from being harmed and a point of impact can be determined by a colored powder. Therefore, a shell of the paint ball is made by a non-hard material, and the paint ball will be easily deformed when being squeezed by the external force. The paint balls of an ordinary paint-ball gun are fed from a funnel located above a bore and into the bore by gravity, so as to maintain roundness by loading the paint balls into the bore from free falling. 
     However, as the funnel is located above the bore, the emulation is lost. Accordingly, recently there is an emulated magazine which is latched below the gun to form the emulation, and can load a plurality of paint balls for firing continuously. 
     An ordinary magazine is shown in  FIG. 1 , which includes primarily a cartridge  1 , an interior of which is formed with a U-shape loading chamber  5  for loading the paint balls. An outlet of the loading chamber  5  is connected to a connector  2  of a bore to feed the paint balls. The loading chamber  5  is a U-shape loop, and a quantity of the paint balls to be loaded is determined by a ratio of a length of the loading chamber  5  to a diameter of the paint ball. Before loading the paint balls, the loading chamber  5  should be emptied, and after loading, a pushing force should be available to push out the paint balls one by one. The pushing force is resulted by an advancing device  40 . 
     The advancing device  40  is arranged in a linear path of the loading chamber  5 , and includes a toggle spring  4 , an interior of which is sheathed with a pull string  41 . A free end of the pull string  41  is connected with a pushing head  42 , an end of the toggle spring  4  operates on the pushing head  42 , and the other end is abutted at a corner close to a roll-up device  3 . The roll-up device  3  is located at a rear end of the advancing device  40 , and can roll up the pull string  41  to resist a tension of the toggle spring  4  to pull back the pushing head  42  indirectly. In this process, the toggle spring  4  is compressed, and the pushing head  42  is pulled rearwards by the roll-up device  3  to empty the loading chamber  5 , thereby loading a plurality of paint balls by free falling. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the roll-up device  3  pulls back the pushing head  42  to compress the toggle spring  4 , allowing the loading chamber  5  to yield a space for loading a plurality of round-shape paint balls  100 . The roll-up device  3  can be restricted when the pushing head  42  is pulled back to any retreat point or an extreme point of retreat, and through releasing by a release button  342 , an outward expansion force will be formed to the pushing head  42  to squeeze out the paint balls  100 ,  100 A arranged in the loading chamber  5 . After the connector  2  enters into the bore for being locked into a position, the release button  342  will be pressed by a corresponding mechanism of the bore to release the roll-up device  3 , allowing the pushing head  42  to form a feeding thrust. 
     At an instant moment that the release button  342  is released, stored energy of the spring which is compressed will be released instantly. That instant pressure will at least compress a neighboring paint ball  100 A, and that paint ball  100 A will be deformed easily. After it is deformed, the paint ball  100 A will be expanded radially to rub at a corresponding inner chamber surface of the loading chamber  5  to form a blockage. Therefore, an agility for pushing the paint balls outwards will be lost. 
     Furthermore, if the expansion force of the toggle spring  4  is even bigger, then in addition to the aforementioned shortcoming, it is possible that all of the nearby paint balls will be deformed, thereby forming a more severe blockage that prevents from pushing the paint balls. 
     In addition, before the cartridge  1  enters into a barrel, if the release button  342  is touched mistakenly by an external force, then the toggle spring  4  will be released instantly, the outlet will not be restricted at all, and all of the paint balls will be forced out instantly. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the roll-up device  3  is provided with a winding wheel  31  which provides for winding the pull string  41 , and is coaxially assembled with a ratchet  32 . The ratchet  32  is pivoted coaxially with the winding wheel  31  on a roll-up seat  30  by a shaft  61 , the roll-up seat  30  is provided with a transfixing hole  33  to be fixed on the aforementioned cartridge. A toggle rod  34  is located at a side opposite to an operation side of the ratchet  32 , is assembled at the roll-up seat  30  through a pivot  340 , and is suppressed at a certain direction by an elastic member  35 . A toggle end  341  and the release button  342  are disposed respectively at two sides of the pivot  340 , and the toggle end  341  is locked at any groove of a tooth of the ratchet  32 . As a result, after the winding wheel  31  is rolled back, it will be limited at one direction by the toggle rod  34  to stop rotating, and when the release button  342  is pressed down, the toggle end  341  will be escaped from the ratchet  32 , allowing the ratchet  32  to operate freely, which is same as that the winding wheel  31  is released. 
     For the prior art, at an instant moment that the release button  342  is released, the pull string  41  will be quickly moved out momentarily, as shown in  FIG. 2 , and the pushing head  42  will acquire a mechanical work, which is equal to a momentary force multiplied by a distance of displacement, to form an instant depression to a neighboring paint ball, allowing that paint ball to be deformed, thereby resulting in the aforementioned blockage condition. 
     The abovementioned is an ordinary design of a paint ball magazine, which will compress the paint balls to change their appearances, and form the blockage condition, accordingly. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a paint ball feeding buffer device utilizing a damping member located in a roll-up device, to form a damping function to a free rotating speed of a winding wheel or a shaft, thereby prohibiting a pushing head from forming a momentary pressure to a neighboring paint ball. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a paint ball feeding buffer device having a damping member, which is a ring and can be located at a side of a winding wheel or a ratchet opposite to a roll-up seat, so as to form a friction to result in a damping function. 
     A third object of the present invention is to provide a paint ball feeding buffer device having a damping member which can be located directly between a seat and a shaft, to slow down a rotating speed of the shaft by rubbing on a surface of the shaft with a radial force. 
     To enable a further understanding of the said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a front view of a magazine structure. 
         FIG. 2  shows a front view of a magazine loading paint balls. 
         FIG. 3  shows a schematic view of an operation of a roll-up device with respect to a ratchet. 
         FIG. 4  shows a schematic view of elements of the present invention that are assembled. 
         FIG. 5  shows a side view of a roll-up device of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  shows another side view of a roll-up device of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a roll-up device  3  includes primarily an inverted U-shape roll-up seat  30 , two sides of which are extended respectively with cross-over plates  30 A,  30 B, each having a through-hole  3 A,  3 B. An interior of the roll-up seat  30  is formed with a slot for pivoting with a winding wheel  31  which is pivoted at the seat  30  by a shaft  61  and a locking member  610 . A side of the winding wheel  31  is provided with a ratchet  32  which is further connected at the shaft  61 , along with the winding wheel  31 , to be assembled into one unit or to be formed into a linkage condition. 
     At an end surface of the winding wheel  31  or the ratchet  32  is disposed with a damping member  6  which is elastic and results in compression through a locking force by connecting the shaft  61  and the cross-over plates  30 A,  30 B. After compression, one tension operates at a direction on an opposite surface of the winding wheel  31 , and the other tension operates on an opposite side of the seat  30  or the cross-over plates  30 A,  30 B. The two tensions are back to back, and point toward the winding wheel  31 , to damp a rotating speed of the winding wheel  31 . By that damping function, at an instant moment that a release button  342  (as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 ) is released, an instant impulse of an advancing device  40  will be slowed down, so as to increase a time of displacement in a stroke of a pushing head  42 , thereby reducing impact energy of the advancing device  40  to keep an integrity of the paint balls. 
     The damping member  6  can be a ring, with its inner diameter crossing over an outer diameter of the shaft  61 , and rub on a side surface of an opposite end of the winding wheel  31  or the ratchet  32  (as shown in  FIG. 5 ). The winding wheel  31  provides for winding a pull string  41  which is collected and released through an auxiliary function of a toggle spring  4 . When operating the collecting and releasing, the pull string  41  can be rolled up by a roll-up button  62  located at an outer end of the shaft  61 . The roll-up button  62  can be provided with a turning plate  620  to be grabbed by fingers for rolling up the pull string  41 . 
     The damping member  6  is located at an end surface of the winding wheel  31 , opposite to a surface of the cross-over plate  30 B. After locking by the locking member  610 , an indirect damping function will be formed between the end surface of the winding wheel  31  and the opposite surface of the cross-over plate  30 B, to reduce a rotating speed of the winding wheel  31 , thereby acquiring the damping effect. A tightening force of the locking member  610  can change a locking force with which the cross-over plate  30 B compresses the damping member  6 , and when the winding wheel  31  is tightly locked, the rotating speed of the winding wheel  31  can be controlled significantly slowly. In addition, a friction force formed by the damping member  6  should be smaller than an expansion force of the toggle spring  4 . 
     The aforementioned damping member  6  can be disposed at the opposite surface of the winding wheel  31  and the cross-over plate  30 B, or the opposite surface of the ratchet  32  and the cross-over plate  30 A. By a locking force along an axis of the shaft  61  and the locking member  610 , the damping member  6  is compressed to form an elastic compression friction force. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , the cross-over plates  30 A,  30 B at the two sides of the seat  30  can be provided with a pivot  36  which is separated with the shaft  61  by the ring-shape damping member  6 . By an elastic deformation of the damping member  6 , a damping function can be formed to the shaft  61 , slowing down a rotating speed of the shaft  61 . Furthermore, the winding wheel  31  and the shaft  61  are connected coaxially, which can correspondingly reduce a rotating speed of the winding wheel  31 , thereby forming a radial damping function. 
     It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.