Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7494128?ie=ISO-8859-1
Timestamp: 2014-10-23 11:13:42
Document Index: 763030950

Matched Legal Cases: ['art.\n1', 'art 14', 'art 14', 'art 36', 'art 22', 'art 36', 'art 22', 'art 36', 'art 22', 'art 30', 'art 22', 'art 30', 'art 14', 'art 22', 'art 14', 'art 36', 'art 14', 'art 36', 'art 30', 'art 36', 'art 22', 'art 30', 'art 22', 'art 14', 'art 30', 'art 36', 'art 30', 'art 36', 'art 76']

Patent US7494128 - Paintball targeting system - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA paintball target holder includes a frame having plural parts that are movable relative to one another in order to fold the frame and thereby reduce a volume encompassed by the frame. The plural parts include a front part, a back part, and a bottom part. The paintball target holder includes a target...http://www.google.com/patents/US7494128?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7494128 - Paintball targeting systemAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7494128 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/298,917Publication dateFeb 24, 2009Filing dateDec 9, 2005Priority dateDec 9, 2005Fee statusLapsedAlso published asUS7980561, US8469365, US20070132187, US20080023154, US20120049459Publication number11298917, 298917, US 7494128 B2, US 7494128B2, US-B2-7494128, US7494128 B2, US7494128B2InventorsGeorge Byram, Brad GarveyOriginal AssigneeGeorge Byram, Brad GarveyExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (24), Non-Patent Citations (23), Referenced by (4), Classifications (9), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetPaintball targeting systemUS 7494128 B2Abstract A paintball target holder includes a frame having plural parts that are movable relative to one another in order to fold the frame and thereby reduce a volume encompassed by the frame. The plural parts include a front part, a back part, and a bottom part. The paintball target holder includes a target mounted to the front part, layers of material mounted between the target and the back part, where the layers of material receive a paintball through the target, and a paintball loader mounted to the bottom part. The paintball loader receives the paintball from the layers of material via the bottom part.
1. A paintball target holder comprising:
a frame having plural parts that are movable relative to one another in order to fold the frame and thereby reduce a volume encompassed by the frame, the plural parts comprising a front part, a back part, and a bottom part;
a target mounted to the front part;
layers of material mounted between the target and the back part, the layers of material for receiving a paintball through the target; and
a paintball loader mounted to the bottom part, the paintball loader for receiving the paintball via the layers of material.
2. The paintball target holder of claim 1, further comprising:
a structure attached to the bottom part and configured to direct paintballs to the paintball loader.
3. The paintball target holder of claim 2, wherein the structure is comprised of moldable plastic.
4. The paintball target holder of claim 1, further comprising:
a material stretching from the front part and around the back part to enclose at least part of the layers of material.
5. The paintball target holder of claim 1, further comprising:
sidewalls arranged at an angle relative to the layers of material, the sidewalls for restricting sideways motion of the paintballs relative to the layers of material.
6. The paintball target hold of claim 1, wherein the layers of material comprise at least one layer of mesh material; and
wherein at least one of the layers of material adjacent to the target is comprised of plural strips and at least one of the layers of material adjacent to the back part comprises a single contiguous piece of material.
7. A paintball target holder comprising:
a frame having plural parts that are movable relative to one another in order to fold the frame and thereby reduce a volume encompassed by the frame, the plural parts comprising a front part, a back part, and a bottom part, the front part being configured to hold a target;
layers of material mounted between the front part and the back part, the layers of material for receiving a paintball, wherein the layers of material are spaced from each other along a distance between the front part and the back part, at least some of the layers of material having substantially same lengths;
a paintball loader mounted to the bottom part, the paintball loader for receiving the paintball via the layers of material; and
a structure attached to the bottom part and configured to direct the paintball to a paintball loader.
8. The paintball target holder of claim 7, wherein the structure is comprised of moldable plastic. Description
Systems were therefore developed specifically for paintball target practice. These systems do not use actual paintballs, but rather use simulated paintballs, which are solid and which therefore do not break upon impact. Solid balls, however, do not �fly� the same way that real paintballs do and, thus, are not an accurate predictor as to how a real paintball will behave under similar circumstances (e.g., distance to target and weather conditions, such as wind, rain, etc.). Existing paintball target practice systems are therefore not always helpful when it comes to increasing a player's aim.
In general, in another aspect, the invention is directed to a method of preserving paintballs during target practice. The method includes receiving a paintball in layers of material, where the paintball is received via a target mounted in front of the layers of material, slowing forward motion of the paintball via the layers of material without breaking the paintball, where gravity causes the paintball to fall downward during motion of the paintball through the layers of material, receiving the paintball from the layers of material without breaking the paintball or causing substantial damage thereto, and directing the paintball to a paintball loader. The layers of material may be capable of absorbing at least 153 pounds from a paintball without breaking the paintball.
FIG. 8 is back perspective view of the paintball targeting system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a paintball targeting system. In this example, the paintball targeting system is implemented via device 10, which holds a paintball target. Device 10 includes a frame 11, a target mount (not shown), and layers 12 of material. Frame 11 may be constructed from a relatively sturdy material, such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or other type of plastic, metal, wood, or the like. For the-purposes of this description, frame 11 will be considered to include front, back, top and bottom parts.
Referring also to FIG. 2, front part 14 faces the paintball player during target practice. Front part 14 includes a target mount 15 for holding a target, such as target 16 (FIG. 3). The target may be made of paper, such as tracing paper or blueprint paper, which is thin enough to permit a standard paintball to pass through without breaking. In this regard, a standard paintball, such as the paintballs produced by RPS Paintball (www.RPS-paintball.com circa October 2005), can withstand about 153 pounds (lbs) of force without breaking (i.e., approximately 153 pounds of force is imparted to the paintball when the paintball is fired from a gun). Target 16 should permit penetration at less than or equal to 153 pounds of force without breaking the paintball. Of course, the structure and/or material of target 16 may be modified for use with paintballs that are capable of withstanding more or less than 153 pounds of force without breaking.
In this implementation, target mount 15 includes Velcro� or-other similar material, to which target 16 may be adhered and then removed relatively easily (e.g., in order to replace it with a new target). Both target mount 15 and target 16 may contain Velcro� which, when mated, holds target 16 onto the front part of frame 11. It is noted, however, that device 10 is not limited to using adhesive material to holding target 16. Any suitable mechanism may be used to mount target 16. For example, mechanical devices, such as slots, screws, clamps, pins, etc. may be used to hold target 16 in place.
As shown in FIG. 4, the material that makes-up layers 17 to 21 may be a relatively light mesh-like cloth, plastic, or other perforated or non-perforated material. For example, the material may be a �Poly DK Solids� polyester material manufactured under the name Golden D'or Fabrics by Murray A. Goldenberg Textiles, Inc. in Farmer's Branch, Tex. (www.goldendor.com circa October 2005). In this example, the combination of layers 17 to 21 should be sufficient to absorb at least 153 pounds of force from a paintball fired at target 16 (however, this number may vary based on the amount of force a particular type of paintball can withstand without breaking upon impact). More specifically, as noted above, one type of standard paintball is capable of withstanding about 153 pounds of force without breaking. Therefore, in order to preserve such a paintball fired at target 16, layers 17 to 21, when taken in combination, should be able to absorb at least 153 pounds of force from the impact of a paintball without causing the paintball to break. In other implementations, the type and number of layers of material may be changed to absorb different amounts of force.
Bottom part 36 of frame 11 includes a mount 39 for holding a speedloader 34 in position such that an open end of the speedloader is positioned to receive paintballs from structure 32. In this example, structure 32 receives paintballs and directs (e.g., funnels) the received paintballs to the open end of speedloader 34. Mount 39 may be a simple mechanical device (e.g., a clamp) and/or Velcro� strips, which is capable of supporting the weight of a fully-loaded speedloader. In the implementation shown in the figures, mount 39 is a sleeve, into which speedloader 34 may be inserted.
In any case, mount 39 is configured such that speedloader 34 can be easily removed when it is full, and such that a full speedloader can be easily replaced with an empty speedloader. Thus, during target practice, a player may fire numerous rounds at target 16, and those rounds that hit device 10 are automatically loaded into speedloader 34. When the player is ready for additional target practice, the player need simply remove the speedloader from mount 39 and install the speedloader in a paintball gun. A new speedloader may (or may not) be installed in mount 39 at that point. In some implementations, device 10 may include two or more mounts for holding additional speedloaders. Typically, only one of these mounts will be positioned to hold a speedloader at a position to receive paintballs from structure 32; however, the invention is not limited as such.
Referring to side 29 in FIG. 1, a back section 44 of top part 22 is connected to a diagonally-opposite front section 45 of bottom part 36 via tension device 46. A front section 47 of top part 22 is connected to a diagonally-opposite back section 49 of bottom part 36 via tension device 50. An identical configuration is implemented for side 28 (see FIG. 8). The resulting tension causes device 10 to maintain its shape. In this implementation, the tension devices can be detached, thereby allowing the device to be folded. Folding promotes portability and also makes device 10 easier to store.
In one example, �foldable� means that frame 11 has plural parts that are movable relative to one another in order to collapse the frame and thereby reduce the volume encompassed by the frame. As shown in FIG. 8, the top part 22 of frame 11 is removably attached to the back part 30 of the frame. The attachment may be via pins (e.g. wooden dowels or one or more types of metal pins), hinges, bolts, or by whatever mechanism or mechanisms permits top part 22 to detach from back part 30 and to rotate around front part 14. In FIG. 8, the attachment is via pins, such as pin 52 on side 28 and a counterpart pin on side 29 (not shown). Top part 22 is rotatably mounted to front part 14 at point 54; bottom part 36 is rotatably mounted to front part 14 at point 55; and bottom part 36 is rotatably mounted to back part 30 at point 56. As above, mounting may be implemented via pins, hinges, bolts, or by whatever mechanism or mechanisms support movability of the parts relative to one another at the points of mounting.
To fold device 10, the tension devices are detached, at least partly, from frame 11. In this example, the tension devices are detached from bottom part 36; however, the invention is not limited as such. The material comprising sidewalls 40 and 41 and backwall 42 may also need to be detached at predetermined points from device 10. Also, pin 52 and its counterpart on side 29 are removed, thereby detaching top part 22 from back part 30. Top part 22, therefore, is permitted to rotate about point 54 and, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, may be brought over, and in front of, front part 14. Back part 30 rotates at point 56 and bottom part 36 rotates at point 55. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, back part 30 may be brought down (arrow 59 in FIG. 9) and bottom part 36 may be brought up (arrow 60 in FIG. 9), causing device 10 to collapse in the manner shown in FIG. 10. The speedloader may, or may not, need to be detached from device 10.
More specifically, in one example, through repetitive testing, it was determined that one standard paintball could be recycled through a version of device 10 78 times. This paintball, recycled 78 times, would effectively cost approximately $0.03. The approximate cost is determined by determined based on the $15 cost of 500 paintballs. Multiplying the number of repetitions by the amount an individual paintball costs yields: 78�$0.03=$2.34. Thus, each paintball, retailing at $0.03, would have an equivalent value of $2.34. Since each paintball has an equivalent value of $2.34, and since an average bag of paintballs includes 500 paintballs, it can be determined, using multiplication that an average bag of 500 paintballs purchased for $15 would have an equivalent value of $1,170 using device 10. In other words, a player wasting one paintball per practice shot would have to spend $1,170 on paintballs, whereas a player reusing paintballs via device 10 would only need to spend $15 to make the same number of practice shots.
The invention is not limited to the paintball targeting system described above. For example, in another implementation, shown in FIG. 12, a device 70 includes a frame 71 and material 72. Frame 71 may be constructed from a relatively sturdy material, such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride) or other type of plastic, metal, wood, or the like. As above, material 72 may be a relatively light mesh-like cloth, plastic, or other perforated or non-perforated material, and may be padded. Material 72 may be mounted to include various pinch points 74, which may be implemented by attaching the material to the frame at those points and by connecting adjacent pinch points via sturdy (e.g., plastic, metal, wood, etc.) strips. The attachment may be via tension devices 75 (e.g., elastic bungee strings) that are connected to both the material and a back part 76 of frame 71, which is shown in FIG. 13.
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(Mar. 1, 2005), [online] Retrieved from the Internet:<URL:http://www.vballs.com/default.html> [retrieved on Jul. 7, 2008].Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7980561May 14, 2007Jul 19, 2011George ByramPaintball targeting systemUS8469365May 18, 2011Jun 25, 2013George ByramPaintball targeting systemUS20130187336 *Dec 21, 2012Jul 25, 2013Daniel Isaac DREIBANDRound Absorbing Airsoft Target Trap AssemblyUS20140054859 *Aug 22, 2013Feb 27, 2014Jeffrey Paul KantorPortable support frame for archery target and backstop* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification273/404, 273/410, 273/394, 273/407International ClassificationF41J1/14Cooperative ClassificationF41J13/00, F41J1/10European ClassificationF41J13/00, F41J1/10Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionApr 16, 2013FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20130224Feb 24, 2013LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesOct 8, 2012REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedRotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google