Patent ID: 7445002

Claim:
A paintball loader for use on a paintball gun, the paintball loader comprising: a container for holding a plurality of paintballs; a feed mechanism for feeding paintballs into a gun, the feed mechanism comprising: a feeder mounted to the container that is rotatable about a central axis, the feeder including at least one indexing member that is a reflector and at least one fin for conveying a paintball toward an exit in the loader, a drive mechanism including a drive member adapted to rotate about the central axis relative to the feeder, and a spring having one end engaged with the feeder and the other end connected with the drive member, wherein rotation of the feeder with respect to the drive member causes winding and unwinding of the spring, the winding of the spring creating potential energy in the spring that is used to rotate the feeder and thus feed paintballs out of the loader; a motor engaged with the drive member for rotating the drive member about the central axis; a first sensor for sensing rotation of the feeder and providing a first signal indicative of the sensed rotation of the feeder, the first sensor detecting the at least one first indexing member by emitting a beam; a second sensor for sensing rotation of the drive member and providing a second signal indicative of the sensed rotation of the drive member; and a controller in communication with the first and second sensors for receiving the first and second signals, the controller determining the position of the feeder relative to the drive member based on the first and second signal differential, the controller in communication with the motor for controlling activation of the motor.