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  Compact compressed gas launching deviceUSPTO Application #: 20070175465Title: Compact compressed gas launching device Abstract: A paintball gun comprised of a simplified firing system that eliminates many of the seals and complexity of a typical gun that uses the bolt as a spool type valve. The gun contains a bolt with a gas chamber around it, one seal inside of it, and one seal on its outside. A cylinder rod inside the bolt pushes the bolt forward against a spring using pressurized gas routed via a pilot valve, moving the bolt into the fire position. In the fire position the rear of the bolt moves off the inner seal, allowing compressed gas stored around the bolt to move into and thru the bolt, firing the paintball. Releasing pressure from behind the cylinder rod allows the spring to push the bolt rearward and seal the gas chamber. The simplified mechanism should be more consistent, allow more shots per tank and require less maintenance than other guns. (end of abstract)
Agent: Michael Quinn - East Hanover, NJ, US Inventors: Michael Vincent Quinn, Kerry A. Johnson USPTO Applicaton #: 20070175465 - Class: 124 74 (USPTO) The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070175465. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]This Patent application claims priority to Provisional Application #60763430 filed on Jan. 30, 2006 STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002]This invention was not developed under any federal sponsorship, grant, or funding BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0003]1. Field of the Invention [0004]The present invention relates to valves used in compressed gas operated launching devises. Including but not limited to devices used for launching gelatin capsules containing paint, commonly referred to as "paintballs". [0005]2. Related Art [0006]The game of paintball as a form of recreation uses pneumatic guns that launch gelatin capsules containing paint (paintballs). Participants fire these "guns" at each other. Such guns have two basic mechanisms; One for chambering a capsule or "ball" into the breach of the gun, the other to release a burst of gas behind the ball in order to propel it. [0007]A vast number of paintball guns use a valve that is comprised of chambering device or "bolt" that also acts as the valve that releases the gas to fire the ball. These are commonly referred to as "spool valve" style guns. The bolt is moved axially forward to chamber the ball into the breach. At the apex of the motion, once the ball is in the breach, the bolt moves past some form of seal that allows high pressure gas to enter the breach and propel the ball out of the barrel. The bolt is usually moved by means of applying gas pressure to a chamber on the outside of the bolt which then acts against a lip on the bolt's exterior. The main gas pressure chamber is usually behind the bolt or around a rear section of the bolt. While this design provides for a fast actuation and a simple design, it also requires a significant amount of axial length to accommodate the necessary components. Furthermore, the number of seals required for these designs introduces a large amount of friction force. The friction force can vary from shot to shot. This variation can cause variation in how long the bolt is forward and how much gas is released to the ball. To minimize the variations in how much gas is released to the ball, some of these "spool valve" markers incorporate an "on-off" mechanism as part of the bolt. When the bolt is rearward a gas chamber is allowed to fill with gas. When the bolt moves forward it closes the chamber off to any more incoming gas. The chambered gas is what propels the ball when the gun fires. This on-off mechanism necessitates more seals, and hence more complexity to the paintball gun. Finally, the use of an exterior lip on the bolt to propel it forward and rearward usually makes the gas passages from the air chamber to the ball smaller then they might otherwise be. The small passages create the need for higher gas pressures to move the needed gas from the chamber to the ball. These higher pressures tend to wear-out O-rings and further contribute to friction. These higher pressures also make it necessary to use high pressure solenoid valves to actuate the bolt or a secondary pressure regulator to allow use of standard, low pressure solenoid valves. Both situations increase the cost of a paintball launching device. [0008]What would be advantageous is valve that could be used in place of the current spool valves that would be more compact in size and reduce the overall length and complexity of the gun. Said design should not require an on-off mechanism and should operate with the minimum amount of seals. Furthermore it should have large air passages to minimize the pressure needed to operate the marker. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0009]The object of this invention is to provide a ball chambering and valve mechanism for paintball launching devices that has a bolt and valve mechanism combined into a simple and consistent gas powered gun [0010]According to the present invention, a gas powered gun comprises a gun barrel, a cylindrical breach, a cylindrical bolt movable between a loading position in which the end of the bold is withdrawn from the breach to permit a paintball to be fed into the breach through an opening in the side of the breach, and a firing position in which the bolt has moved forward to cause the front of the bolt to engage the paintball and move the paintball forward into the barrel, a trigger operable to cause the bolt to move forward from the loading position to the firing position and a pressurized gas supply [0011]In the load position a paintball would be in the breach. The bolt is comprised of an outer shell, a raised lip on the rear of the outer shell, an inner surface of the shell, a front face with axial holes permitting connecting the front of the bolt to the inside of the shell, and a tappet or rod of a diameter significantly smaller than the inside if the bolt that extends from the front face of the bolt rearward. [0012]The bolt is held rearward in the body of the gun by a compression spring acting against the outside lip of the bolt. Compressed gas is allowed to flow into a compressed gas chamber via a primary compressed gas inlet that brings gas in from the compressed gas supply. The chamber is around outside of the bolt and the inside of the rear of the bolt. The gas is prevented from flowing out of the bolt via a cylinder that protrudes from the rear of the gas chamber into the inside of the bolt. The end of this cylinder contains a main seal that acts on the inside of the bolt to prevent gas from flowing thru the holes in the face of the bolt. The tappet extends inside this protruding cylinder. [0013]To fire a paintball, compressed gas would be routed via a valve from the gas supply to the area directly behind the tappet. The compressed gas would push the tappet and in turn the bolt forward. As the bolt moves forward it would push the paintball into the breach and seal off any other paintballs from being loaded. At the end of the forward stroke of the bolt, the rear of the bolt is no longer in full contact with the main seal, either by means of coming off the seal completely or by means of radial holes a the rear of the bolt. With the bolt off the seal compressed gas from the main chamber can flow rapidly thru the bolt, around the tappet, and thru the gas passages in the face of the bolt. This burst of gas will propel the paintball down and then out of the barrel. [0014]After the paintball is fired the gas pushing the tappet is vented out the secondary inlet and the spring is allowed to push the bolt and tappet rearward. This seals off the main chamber and prevents any more gas from venting, and returns the bolt to the ready-to-fire position. [0015]The gun may also include an adjustable pressure regulator connected between the pressurized gas supply and the first chamber. Furthermore a second pressure regulator could be included between the gas supply and the valve that allows gas to the rear of the piston. Said secondary regulator could also be positioned such that it used gas from the first pressure regulator. [0016]This invention overcomes the shortcomings of the existing art by the following means; There are only two seals acting on the bolt and one on the tappet, as opposed to as many as six seals in existing designs. The reduction in seals reduces the potential variance in friction and bolt travel times. The position of the tappet down the center of the bolt allows for a compact mechanism both in length and in diameter. The position of the air chamber around the outside and inside of the bolt allows a large air chamber in a small space. The need to compress a spring on the forward stroke of the bolt necessitates a higher amount of force than the dual acting pistons of existing designs by approximately two to one. This higher force needed to move the bolt forward halves the effect of variances in friction on the bolt travel time, and hence the amount of time compressed gas is allowed to flow to the paintball. The position of the main seal inside the bolt and the air chamber outside the bolt allows for passages between the air chamber and the paintball to be wide and short, essential to low pressure operation. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING [0017]FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of a paintball gun showing the bolt in the loading position [0018]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic sectional view similar to FIG. 1 that shows the bolt in the firing position Continue reading... Full patent description for Compact compressed gas launching device Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Compact compressed gas launching device patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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