Abstract:
A paintball marker using a gas combination chamber having multiple inputs for sealably connecting to multiple gas supply canisters. Multiple seals and piercing needles are provided to release the compressed gas from the separate canisters into the combination chamber. A single release valve is then provided for launching the paintball marker using the combined gas supply. A body including an alignment chamber and a screw on back cover is provided for aligning the canisters in position and then generating the pressure for sealing and piercing the multiple canisters. The multiple canister connection provides an increased gas capacity over known markers while still using the low supply capacity of the commercially available gas canisters. The simple guided alignment provided by the marker body and the screw on pressure cap provide for quick field replacement of the canisters in the rough playing environment associated with the game of paintball.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not Applicable.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not Applicable.  
       REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX  
       [0003]     Not Applicable.  
       RESERVATION OF RIGHTS  
       [0004]     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limited to copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0006]     The present invention relates to the field of paintball markers. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to paintball markers using gas provided by a gas canister. Known art may be found in U.S. Class 124 Mechanical Guns and Projectors: Subclass 53 Having Cut-Off, Subclass 63 Provided by Movement of User-Actuated, Projector-Mounted Pressure Member, Subclass 73 By Valve Means; Class 141 Fluent Material Handling, with Receiver or Receiver Coacting Means: Subclass 290 With Flue or Vent Externally Returning to Supply as well as in other classes and subclasses.  
         [0007]     2. Description of the Known Art  
         [0008]     As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, gas cartridges have been used to supply gas to paintball markers. Patents and Applications disclosing information regarding various canister or marker configurations include U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0131834, issued to Rice on Jul. 17, 2003; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/0178018, issued to Cherry on Sep. 25, 2003; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0144012, issued to Adams on Jul. 29, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,576, issued to Smith on Jul. 14, 1927; U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,344, issued to Vadas on Feb. 10, 1970; U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,145, issued to Stelcher on Dec. 7, 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,609, issued to Tippmann on Apr. 11, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,456, issued to Perrone on Jun. 3, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,422, issued to Ferris on Nov. 24, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,194, issued to Shipachev on Dec. 17, 2002. Each of these patents and publications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.  
         [0009]     This prior art shows the desire to use a gas cartridge because a filled cartridge may be shipped within the department of transportation guidelines. However, the prior art fails to teach the limitations imposed by these cartridges and how to overcome these limitations. Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved marker is needed to overcome these limitations.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     The present invention is directed to an improved paintball marker having an increased gas supply through a sealing and piercing connection with multiple gas canisters. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a paintball marker is provided using a pressurized gas supplied from a plurality of gas cartridges. Each of the gas cartridges has a gas containment body that needs to be pierced to release the pressurized gas. The inventive aspect of the marker uses a plurality of gas inputs to connect to multiple gas cartridges. The marker uses a unique construction such that each of the multiple gas inputs is sealably connectable to one gas cartridge and then a piercing needle is used to puncture the sealed gas cartridge. The gas is then directed by the needle and the input to a common chamber. In this manner, the gas inputs are fluidly connected to a gas combination chamber. This combined gas flow is then used to launch paintballs. As noted by this invention, one inventive aspect of the invention is provided by a pressure application device which applies the sealing pressure to the gas cartridges and then applies the piercing pressure to the gas cartridges.  
         [0011]     A method is also taught that uses the elements of providing multiple inputs for accepting the pressurized gas from each of gas cartridges; releasing the pressurized gas from the cartridges; combining at least a portion of the pressurized gas from each of the gas cartridges to form a combined gas supply; and selectively releasing the combined gas supply to act on the paintball. Other elements that may be included in this method include sealing at least a portion of the multiple gas cartridges and then piercing the sealed portion of a plurality of the multiple gas cartridges to release the pressurized gas; providing a piercing needle and pressing the gas cartridge against the piercing needle; or providing a gas expansion chamber and using a combined volume chamber to provide a launching volume of gas.  
         [0012]     One object of the present invention is to provide an increased gas supply by combining multiple cartridge supplies while still providing a single valve assembly that is easily and inexpensively controlled.  
         [0013]     A further object of the invention is a method for sealing and piercing multiple cartridges without prematurely releasing gas from one of the canisters.  
         [0014]     These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]     In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification and which are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible to indicate like parts in the various views:  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a paintball marker.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the paintball marker of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of the multiple cartridges and combination chamber arrangement before connection.  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of the connected arrangement for the multiple cartridges and combination chamber.  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a cut away schematic view of the paintball marker of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a an exploded view of the combination chamber area of  FIG. 5 .  
         [0022]      FIG. 7  is an isometric view of the combination chamber.  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a top view of the combination chamber.  
         [0024]      FIG. 9  is a front view of the combination chamber.  
         [0025]      FIG. 10  is a right side view of the combination chamber.  
         [0026]      FIG. 11  is a back view of the combination chamber.  
         [0027]      FIG. 12  is a left side view of the combination chamber.  
         [0028]      FIG. 13  is a bottom view of the combination chamber.  
         [0029]      FIG. 14  is a cutaway view of the combination chamber of  FIG. 11  along line B-B.  
         [0030]      FIG. 15  is a cutaway view of the combination chamber of  FIG. 14  along line A-A.  
         [0031]      FIG. 16  is an expanded view of the gas input on the combination chamber of  FIG. 14  with the cartridge ready to be inserted.  
         [0032]      FIG. 17  is an expanded view of the gas input on the combination chamber of  FIG. 14  with the cartridge contacting the seal.  
         [0033]      FIG. 18  is an expanded view of the gas input on the combination chamber of  FIG. 14  with the cartridge compressing the seal.  
         [0034]      FIG. 19  is an expanded view of the gas input on the combination chamber of  FIG. 14  with the needle piercing the cartridge.  
         [0035]      FIG. 20  is a flow chart of the preferred method of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0036]     As shown in  FIGS. 1 through 19  of the drawings, one exemplary embodiment of the present invention is generally shown as a multiple canister supply paintball marker  100  for using pressurized gas  22  for launching a paintball  10 . The gas is provided in commercially known and available gas cartridges  20  shown in  FIGS. 2 through 6  that hold a pressurized gas  22  within a gas containment body  24 . The gas cartridges  20  are also known as gas containers  20 . The pressurized gas  22  may be seen in its initial position within the gas container  20  through the cutaway section of the gas containment body  24  shown in  FIG. 3 . The gas containment body includes a release neck  26 , an elongated central compartment  28  and a domed end  30 . The gas cartridges  20  are designed so that they will release the pressurized gas  22  upon puncturing of the release neck  26 . The release neck  26  is flowably connected to the elongated central compartment  28  which is capped by the domed end  30  of the cartridge  20 .  
         [0037]      FIG. 1  shows an external overview of the multiple canister paintball marker  100  having a marker body  102 . Extending downward from the marker body  102  is the grip  110  which houses the trigger  112 . The safety  124  interacts with the trigger  112  to selectively lock the marker  100  in an inoperable condition. On top of the marker body  102  is mounted the hopper  116  which is selectively attached and released by the hopper release button  118 . Extending from the front of the marker body  102  is the barrel  120  and the cocking pump handle  122 . The back of the marker body  102  is covered by the piercing screw cartridge cap  172 . This is the area where the multiple gas cartridges  20  are mounted in, sealed to, and pierced by the marker  100 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 2  of the drawings shows an exploded view of the multiple cartridge apparatus  100 . This figure shows how the cartridges  20  are mounted into a fixed position in the marker body  102  such that the piercing cap  172  can apply the sealing pressure and the piercing pressure to release the gas into the marker  100 . The marker body  102  is made up of a left housing  104  and a right housing  106  which are connected together by screws  108 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the grip  110  is molded as an integral part of the marker body  102 . The trigger  112  pivots within a cavity in the housings  104 ,  106  and is biased by a trigger spring  114  to engage the hammer assembly  130 . The hopper  116  slides into the housings  104 ,  106  and is releasably held in place by the hopper release button  118 . The back of the hopper release button  118  is designed with a pivot axis and the front of the hopper release button  118  slides in the housings  104 ,  106  such that the release button  118  downwardly flexes to provide the necessary movement for releasing the hopper  116 . The barrel  120  is molded into the left housing  104  to provide a smooth barrel without a molding separation line. The cocking pump handle  122  slides over the barrel and uses an extended arm  123  to connect with the bolt assembly  132  for cocking the marker  100 . The safety  124  slides sideways in the housings  104 ,  106  to selectively block the movement of the trigger  112 .  
         [0039]     The launching device  126  includes a hammer compression spring  128  mounted between a hammer assembly  130  and a bolt assembly  132 . In the basic operation of the marker  100 , the extension  123  of the cocking pump handle  122  engages the bolt assembly  132  and is pushed back until the hammer release  131  engages the bolt assembly  132 . This rearward movement of the bolt assembly  132  also allows a paintball (not shown in this Figure) to drop from the hopper into the breech area. The coking pump handle  122  is then moved forward which moves the paintball  10  into the firing position and carries the compressed spring  128  and hammer assembly  130  forward with the cocking pump handle  122 . The firing position of the paintball is shown in  FIG. 5 . The hammer release  131  then engages the trigger  112  and the marker  100  is ready to fire. Pulling the trigger  112  releases the hammer assembly  130  such that the energy of the compressed spring  128  moves the hammer backwards to contact and open the pressure release valve  146  in the valve body assembly  134  to allow the pressurized gas to launch the paintball  10 .  
         [0040]     As shown in  FIGS. 3 through 19 , the valve body assembly  134  provides a unique combination of elements to allow for multiple cartridges  20  to be used to supply the pressurized gas  22 . While any number of multiple inputs could be utilized, the preferred embodiment uses two gas inputs  136 . As shown in the sealing and then piercing of  FIGS. 16 through 19 , each gas input  136  includes a gas seal  138  mounted to seal the cartridge to the gas flow structure  140 . The gas seal  138  is a compression seal that is adapted to seal the gas flow structure  140  to the gas cartridge  20  before puncturing of the cartridge  20  to release the pressurized gas  22 . The cartridge  20  is shown in  FIG. 16  before insertion into the gas input  136 .  FIG. 17  then shows the cartridge  20  contacting the seal  138 , and  FIG. 18  shows the cartridge  20  compacting the seal  138  to seal the cartridge to the gas input  136 .  FIG. 19  then shows the needle  142  piercing the cartridge  20  to release the gas  22 . The present invention uses a hollow piercing needle  142  to puncture the cartridge  20  and the hollow center body of the needle provides the gas flow structure  140 . The released pressurized gas  22  is guided to the gas combination chamber  144 . The gas combination chamber  144  and its expansion volume  156  are shown in  FIG. 14 . Because the pressurized gas may be in liquid form, the gas combination chamber  144  is designed not only to mix the multiple gas flows together to form a combined gas supply  158 , but also provides an expansion volume  156  to allow for the gas to expand to become a more viscous gaseous flow.  
         [0041]     A releasable chamber seal  154  is formed in one end of the chamber  144  that allows for selectively releasing the combined gas supply  158 . This chamber seal  154  is formed as a pressure release valve  146  that is mounted to the hammer end of the gas combination chamber  144 . The pressure release valve  146  has a valve seal  148  that is biased into a sealed position by the seal biasing spring  150 . In this manner, the hammer may impact the seal driving rod  149  to move the valve seal backwards to a released position  151  to release the combined pressurized gas supply  158 . The seal biasing spring  150  then returns the valve seal  148  to the sealed position.  
         [0042]     An important aspect of the present embodiment is the alignment and pressure sealing of all of the canisters  20  into one of the inputs  136  before piercing of any of the canisters  20 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5  of the drawings, the present invention utilizes a cartridge housing  160  with ribs  161  guiding the canisters  20  into position within a multiple cartridge holding area  162 . A pressure application device  164  is then used with a first range of motion  166  to seal the canisters  20  and a second range of motion  168  for piercing the canisters. The preferred embodiment uses a first thread  170  on a piercing screw cartridge cap  172  that engages a second thread  174  on the body  110  of the marker  100 . The piercing cap  172  has a circular interior area forming a multiple cartridge contact area  176  which slideably engages the domed end  30  of the cartridges  20  to apply the necessary compression pressure to first seal and then pierce the cartridges  20 . Thus, the cartridges  20  are put into the housing  160  and then the piercing cap  172  is screwed onto the marker body  110 . As the cap is tightened, the length of the housing  160  is reduced and both of the cartridges  20  are equally forced into the gas inputs  136 . This provides for the sealing on both cartridges and the piercing of both cartridges to occur substantially simultaneously. This provides the necessary seal and the piercing function to avoid the use individual gas valves in each of the gas inputs. It is envisioned that the present invention could be embodied with these multiple valves, but the unique design of the preferred embodiment shown here provides a less expensive alternative.  
         [0043]     From the embodiment of the present invention, it may be seen that a multiple cartridge launching method  180  is taught as shown by the flow chart of  FIG. 20 . The basic method includes the elements of providing inputs  182  for connecting to the multiple canisters and then releasing gas  184  from the canisters. The method continues by combining the gases  194  from the multiple cartridges and then selectively releasing the gases  200  to launch the paintball. The element of releasing the gas  184  from the cartridges may include the elements of sealing the cartridge  186  into the inputs and then piercing the cartridges  188 . Piercing the cartridges  188  may include the elements of providing a needle  190  and then pressing the needle  192  against the cartridge to puncture the cartridge. The method  180  may also include the elements of providing an expansion chamber  196  and using the volume chamber  198  to provide the necessary initial quantity of gas to ensure the appropriate launching speed for the paintball. The volume chamber  198  should be sufficiently sized in accordance with the release valve as is well known in the art of single tank supplies such that the launching speed of the paintball is within the applicable ASTM standards.  
         [0044]     Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and the drawings correspond to the following elements: 
        a paintball  10      gas cartridge/gas container  20      a pressurized gas  22      a gas containment body  24      release neck  26      elongated central compartment  28      domed end  30      a paintball marker apparatus  100      marker body  102      left housing  104      right housing  106      screw  108      grip  110      trigger  112      trigger spring  114      hopper  116      hopper release button  118      barrel  120      cocking pump handle  122      an extended arm  123      safety  124      a launching device  126      hammer compression spring  128      hammer assembly  130      bolt assembly  132      valve body assembly  134      gas inputs  136      a gas seal  138      a gas flow structure  140      a piercing needle  142      a gas combination chamber  144      a pressure release valve  146      a valve seal  148      seal driving rod  149      a seal biasing spring  150      a release position  151      a releasable chamber seal  154      an expansion volume  156      a combined gas supply  158      a cartridge housing  160      ribs  161      a multiple cartridge holding area  162      a pressure application device  164      a first range of motion  166      a second range of motion  168      a first thread  170      a piercing screw cartridge cap  172      a second thread  174      a multiple cartridge contact area  176      a multiple cartridge launching method  180      Providing inputs  182      Releasing gas  184      Sealing cartridge  186      Piercing cartridge  188      providing needle  190      pressing needle  192      combining gases  194      providing expansion chamber  196      using volume chamber  198      selectively releasing gases  200         
 
         [0105]     From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.