Patent ID: 8459245

Claim:
An active paintball loader for use with a paintball marker, said loader operably connected to said marker and comprising: a hopper for containing paintballs; a feed tube for conveying paintballs from said hopper to the marker; a feed cone disposed within said hopper rotatable about an axis fixed in relation to said hopper, said feed cone configured for urging by rotation thereof paintballs from said hopper into said feed tube; a drive mechanism for rotating said feed cone, said drive mechanism further comprising: a rotor arranged for rotation about said axis, said rotor having a plurality of first magnetic driven elements and a plurality of second magnetic driven elements symmetrically, alternatingly spaced around a generally cylindrical circumferential periphery about said axis, said plurality of first magnetic driven elements having a polarity opposite to said plurality of second magnetic driven elements; a plurality of electro-magnetic drive elements connected to the loader, said plurality of electro-magnetic drive elements being switchable between first and second states; and a controller for managing said states of each of said plurality of electro-magnetic drive elements, said controller configured to sequentially switch said state of each of said plurality of electro-magnetic drive elements between said first and second states in a manner to cause rotation of the feed cone thereby urging paintballs from the hopper into the feed tube.