Abstract:
A paintball gun holder is disclosed that allows for one or multiple paintball guns to be held prior to or after competition. The holder can be mounted on a stand, wall or table. The holder is easily transportable and can be broken down into pieces for still easer transportation and storage. The holder consists of two “U” shaped cradles that hold the barrel and the tank or stock of the gun. The basic paintball gun holder can be expandable to accommodate various numbers of paintball guns to accommodate larger or smaller groups of players.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0000]     This application claims priority to provisional application Ser. No. 60/654,790 filed Feb. 22, 2005. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to new and useful improvements in apparatus for storing and holding paintball guns. More particularly, the present invention relates to a holder for paintball guns where one or multiple guns can be held without damaging the guns. The apparatus is versatile enough to operate as a stand-alone device, wall mount or table.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Simulated combat has become more popular with the invention of paintball guns. The paintball gun consists of a gun type device that uses compressed air, carbon dioxide or similar compressed gas to shoot paint balls. When the paint balls make contact with an object or person the paint ball breaks open and marks the object or person with the paint. When the person is substantially marked with paint they must stop playing since they have essentially been killed on the playing field.  
         [0003]     The guns that are used in the game can cost several hundred dollars or more. Prior to and after playing the game the guns may be set onto the ground or other surface. It is possible that dirt bugs or water can enter the guns and cause damage to them. To reduce or eliminate damage to the paintball guns an apparatus needs to be made that allows storage of the guns to keep them off of the ground and reduce the possibility of damaging the gun(s). The ideal device would also allow for the storage and holding of one or multiple guns.  
         [0004]     The prior art discloses many examples of apparatus to aid in the holding of paintball and other types of guns, but none providing the combination of features disclosed and claimed herein.  
         [0005]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,466 issued Apr. 9, 2002 to Nettles, Jr. discloses a paint gun cradle for supporting a paintball gun on a table. This invention satisfied the ability of keeping the paintball gun in an upright orientation, but it is intended only for use on a table. The invention also is only configured table used with a single paintball gun. This invention is required to be used on table because the invention only provides support for the barrel of the gun, and the table provides support for the tank.  
         [0006]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,580 issued Mar. 2, 1999 to Hill et al. discloses a rifle rest for use with a rifle or other similar firearm. The rifle rest comprises and an “X” shaped structure with a pad that rests inside the structure. Due to the shape of the invention, the invention is only intended for use with a single gun. While this invention satisfies the ability to support a gun it is not intended for use with multiple guns or for use with a paintball gun.  
         [0007]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,757 issued Sep. 16, 1997 to Helmstadter discloses a combination pistol and rifle shooting rest. The rest is configured to be driven into the ground and provides a secure structure to allow it easier sighting of the weapon. Due to the shape of the invention, the invention is only intended for use with a single gun. While this invention satisfies the ability to support a gun it is not intended for use with multiple guns or for use with a paintball gun.  
         [0008]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,777 issued Oct. 17, 1989 to Southard discloses a press fit in gun cradle for fire our maintenance and repair. This invention is intended for use with the maintenance and repairs a firearm. While this invention can be used to hold a paintball gun it is not configured for use with a paintball gun or for use with multiple paintball guns. It is further intended for use only on a table or similar flat surface.  
         [0009]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,314 issued May 22, 1984 to Sorenson discloses a fire our support. The invention is intended for use to display, clean and sight a gun. While this invention can be used to hold a paintball gun it is only intended for use with a single gun and is also only configured for use with a table or similar flat surface.  
         [0010]     U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,172 issued Aug. 6, 1974 to Howe discloses a bench rest device for firearms. The invention is primarily used to allow a support for the gun to enable the shoot to more accurately fire the gun. While this invention can be used to hold a paintball gun it is not configured for use with a paintball gun or for use with multiple paintball guns. It is further intended for use only on a table or similar flat surface.  
         [0011]     Other prior art inventions are available for use in the storing and/or displaying of multiple firearms. Examples of these prior art inventions are gun racks that can be mounted in a car or truck, and gun racks that are often found in safes, police stations or gun stores were the guns are secured and held for easy access. These devices provide the support for multiple guns but are not intended for paintball guns, nor are they configured for use in the field and are not expandable to accommodate more or less than intended number of gun holding positions.  
         [0012]     What is needed it is a simple to erect and set-up and expand holder for one or more paintball guns where both the barrel and tank are supported. The ideal device would also provide expandability to accept more guns, and be configurable for use on a wall or table. The proposed device satisfies these needs.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]     The present invention relates to holding apparatus for one or multiple people guns. The apparatus is easily configured for placement on the ground and can also be mounted on a wall or rest on a table.  
         [0014]     One of the objects of this invention is to provide a simple to erect multiple paintball gun holding and/or storage device that allows multiple users to safely store their guns without damage.  
         [0015]     Another object of the invention is to provide support for the paintball guns were both the barrel and tank are both supported.  
         [0016]     Another object of the invention is to provide an expandable paintball gun holding apparatus they can easily be configured to hold more or less paintball guns.  
         [0017]     Another object of the invention is to provide that the paintball gun holding apparatus will also allow mounting on a wall or vertical surface.  
         [0018]     Another object of the invention is to provide a paintball gun holding apparatus that will support the paintball gun when the paintball gun rests on a table or similar flat surface.  
         [0019]     Still another object of the invention is to provide a multiple paintball gun holding apparatus that can be easily broken down for transportation or storage.  
         [0020]     Still another object of the invention is to provide easy and simple adjust ability to accommodate paintball guns of various shapes and sizes.  
         [0021]     Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of the gun rack.  
         [0023]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view of a single holder with a paintball gun installed on the holder.  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the barrel holding portion of the holder.  
         [0025]      FIG. 4  is a front view of the tank holding portion of the holder.  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  is an alternate isometric view of the paintball gun holder shown above a wall mountable adapter.  
         [0027]      FIG. 6  is an alternate isometric view of the paintball gun holder shown above a table mountable adapter.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0028]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown an isometric view of the gun rack. The gun consists of a tubular member with a resting location for the barrel of the gun  10  and a separate resting location for the compressed air or Co2 tank  20 . The details of these resting locations will be described in more detail in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . Both the barrel and tank resting components are essentially open “U” shaped members that allow the barrel of the gun or the tank from the gun to be placed vertically into the gun rest. The barrel holding member  10  connects to the tubular structure with fastener  15  that provides retention of the holder to tube  30 . This tube then bends  40  to attach to a horizontal joining tube  35 . In this embodiment the tube is shown with a bend, but it is also contemplated that tube  30  joins tube  35  with a perpendicular fish mouth type connection. The tube  35  connects into the tank holding member  20  with a fastener  25 . Fasteners  15  and  25  can be threaded fasteners, or any variety that allows members  10  and  20  to be held in the desired orientation. While threaded fasteners have been disclosed a variety of other fasteners are contemplated including welding bonding and interference fit type arrangements that do not allow the pieces to move. A vertical tubular member  50  connects to the bottom of tube  35 . This vertical tube slides over the end of member  65  until it rests on a flat surface  62  on member  60  that is attached to horizontal tube member  70 . The horizontal tube  70  is shown in sections with connection joints  72  showing where the horizontal tube members can be added or removed to allow for holding additional paintball guns.  
         [0029]     Multiple sets of these studs including items  60 ,  62  and  65  are located along the top of tube  70 . The studs allow for multiple paintball gun holders&#39; to be placed onto tube  70 . From this  FIG. 3  sets of paintball gun holder&#39;s are shown, but a location for a fourth, is shown with the paintball gun holder  62 . One of the unique attributes of this invention is the ability to increase the number of paintball gun holder&#39;s by simply adding more studs to tube or connecting multiple tubes  70  together and placing the paintball gun holder&#39;s on to the studs. Tube  70  extends horizontally and joins the end of member  75  that then connects to legs  80 . The legs  80  are basically a set of sawhorse shaped legs that allows the entire assembly to be easily installed and removed from one location to another. Alternative methods for locating the paintball gun holding rack are shown and described in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . The legs  80  may be replaced with a single legs that can be driven into the ground by way of a mallet, hammer or by using the way to the person to press the leg into the ground. This and other configurations of legs allow the multiple paintball gun holder to be quickly set-up and taken down for easy transportation.  
         [0030]     The invention shown is fabricated using tubes or tubular type construction, but other methods of fabricating the components are contemplated. The method of fabrication should include but not be limited to molding, forging, casting, welding, bending and machining. The materials used include but are limited to plastics, Ferris and nonferrous metals, fiberglass and wood.  
         [0031]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is shown an isometric view of a single holder with a paintball gun  5  installed on the holder. This figure shows the barrel of the gun  2  being supported by the barrel holder  10 . The fingers of the holder  11  are shown on opposite sides of the barrel of the paintball gun. The tank  4  of the paintball gun is shown in the tank holder  20  with vertical fingers  22  shown on the sides of the tank. Various different configurations of paintball guns are currently available, and the paintball gun holder disclosed accommodates a large variety of these different paintball guns. The paintball gun holder disclosed may also be adjustable to accommodate current and future configurations of paintball guns. These adjustments may allow for the vertical tube  30  to be extendable, as well as horizontal tube  35  and  37  to be extendable. These adjustments will allow accommodation of virtually any size and shape paintball gun.  
         [0032]     Referring to  FIG. 3  there is shown a front view of the barrel holding portion of the holder  10 . This portion of the holder comprises a U-shaped holder with two vertical components  11 A and  11 B. The vertical components prevent the barrel of the gun from sliding out of the holder. The trough of the holder  18  is where the barrel of gun rests. Recess  12  provides a location for a felt or rubber pad to be placed that will provide a softer surface to reduce the possibility of scratching or damaging the barrel of the paintball gun. Recess  14  provides a location for a horizontal tube to be clamped. The hole  15  provides an attachment location for hardware such as a screw to hold the barrel rest on to the remainder of the holder.  
         [0033]     Referring to  FIG. 4  there is shown a front view of the tank holding portion of the holder  70 . This portion of the holder comprises a U-shaped holder with two vertical components  22 A and  22 B. These vertical components prevent the tank of the gun from sliding out of the holder. The trough of the tank holder  22  is where the tank for the paintball gun is held. Recess  28  provides a location for a felt or rubber pad to be placed that will provide a softer surface to reduce the possibility of scratching or damaging the tank of the paintball gun. The whole  25  provides attachment location for hardware such as a screw to hold the tank holding portion of the paintball gun rest. The radius of the tank holder can also be adjusted to accommodate several different sizes of paintball tanks. It is also contemplated that the tank holder be field replaceable or adjustable to allow for different size paintball gun tanks. The adjustment may be with a spring, band or gravity adjustment to accommodate the various tanks.  
         [0034]     In the preferred embodiment the paintball gun holder components  10  and  70  are made from a plastic resin. Other materials are contemplated including but not limited to wood machine plastic fiberglass and metals.  
         [0035]     Referring to  FIG. 5  there is shown an alternate isometric view of the paintball gun holder shown above a wall mountable adapter. The bottom tube section of the paintball holder can be placed onto a variety of holding components. In this figure the paintball gun holder is shown being brought down  110  on to a wall mountable fixture. The paintball gun holder is brought down over tube section  63  until it rests on horizontal surface  66 . A fastener can be placed through whole  64  and whole  63  to keep the paintball gun holder for rotating. A horizontal brace  90  spaces the holder away from wall. The back portion of the wall-mounted holder  95  provides support and a mounting surface for the apparatus. Holes  97  are used for mounting the apparatus on to a wall rock or other vertical or near vertical surface. In this embodiment the vertical barrel holding portion is fish mouthed  42  onto the horizontal tube  38 . Tube  38  is shown extending beyond the fish mouth connection. This extension of tube allows a user to hang goggles, clothing, tools or other devices in the same holder where they place their paintball gun.  
         [0036]     Referring to  FIG. 6  there is shown an alternate isometric view of the paintball gun holder shown above a table mountable adapter. This configuration is intended for mounting the paintball holder on a table or other flat surface. The lower portion of this figure shows a threaded clamped type mechanism. The bottom of the paintball gun holder is slid over to  65  and brought down onto the surface  68  of the clamp. Holes  64  and  67  allow for hardware such as screws or other fasteners to retain the paintball gun holder onto the clamping mechanism. Clamping pad  104  is moved by turning handle  102  to drive the pad  104  into the underside of a table to clamp the device and prevent it from moving.  
         [0037]      FIGS. 5 and 6  show two alternate embodiments on how the paintball gun can be moved and mounted. These are just two alternative examples on how the paintball gun holder can be attached, but other embodiments that provide for similar mounting are possible. In another contemplated embodiment of the clamping mechanism, a spring loaded clamp is utilized to hold the mount onto a vertical, horizontal, or angular oriented surface.  
         [0038]     Thus specific embodiments and applications for a paintball gun holder that can cradle multiple paintball guns, and can expand to accommodate additional paintball guns have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.