Magazine

Abstract

A magazine for storing and feeding paintballs to a paintball marker is disclosed. The magazine includes at least one channel that is open to an opening and a follower configured to travel within the at least one channel and contact a column of paintballs. The magazine can further include a door biased to cover the opening so as to prevent the paintball from passing through the opening. The magazine can include a retainer that is movable between at least a first position and a second position. The retainer prevents the follower from moving towards the opening when in the first position and allows the follower to move towards the opening when in the second position.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]The invention relates generally to feed systems for paintball markers, and, more particularly, to quick release magazines for use with bottom fed paintball markers.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]This invention relates to pneumatic paintball markers, which typically are used for target practice and in mock war games. The markers use a compressed gas, such as air or nitrogen, to propel spherical projectiles called paintballs out of the barrel of the device. Paintballs are typically comprised of a colored liquid enclosed in a fragile casing made from materials including gelatin and polystyrene. The casing can have different outer shapes. For example, paintballs have a round shape with a diameter of 0.50″ or 0.68″. Other paintballs have a front hemisphere for carrying the colored liquid and a hollow rear cylindrical section. The paintballs are designed to rupture upon impact to mark the target. Further, in military style war g...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]One embodiment is a magazine for storing and feeding paintballs to a paintball marker. The magazine comprises a casing having at least one opening located near an end of the casing. The at least one opening is sized and shaped to allow a paintball to pass therethrough. The magazine further comprises at least one channel disposed in the casing and being open to the at least one opening. The at least one channel is adapted to hold a column of paintballs. The magazine further comprises a follower configured to travel within the at least one channel and contact the column of paintballs and a member disposed so as to bias the follower to move towards the opening. The magazine further comprises a door biased to cover at least a portion of the at least one opening so as to prevent the paintball from passing through the opening and a retainer disposed in the casing and being movable between at least a first position and a second position. The retainer prevents the follower from moving towards the opening when in the first position and allows the follower to move towards the opening when in the second position at least when the at least one channel is full of paintballs.

[0011]Another embodiment is a magazine for storing and feeding paintballs to a paintball marker. The magazine comprises a casing having a plurality of openings sized to allow a paintball to pass therethrough and a plurality of channels disposed in the casing. Each channel is open to one of the plurality of openings and being adapted to hold a column of paintballs. The magazine further comprises a plurality of followers configured to travel within the plurality of channel and being biased to move towards the opening and a plurality of doors being configured to reduce the size of each opening so as to prevent the paintball from passing through the opening. The magazine further includes a plurality of retainers disposed in the casing with each retainer be associated with one of the plurality of channels. Wherein movement of each door moves one of the plurality of retainers between a first position and a second position so as to selectively prevent the follower from moving towards the opening at least when the channel is full of paintballs.

[0012]Another embodiment is a magazine for storing and feeding paintballs to a paintball marker, the magazine comprises a casing having a top side and a bottom side and a plurality of channels and a plurality of slots therebetween with each channel being adapted to hold a column of paintballs. The magazine further comprises a plurality of openings in the top side of the casing with each opening being sized to allow paintballs to pass therethrough and a plurality of sliding doors disposed in the plurality of slots and being movable between a first position and a second position. The plurality of sliding doors reduces the size of the plurality of openings when in the first position so as to prevent the paintballs from passing therethrough. The magazine further comprises a plurality of movable retainers disposed closer to the bottom side of the casing than the top side and being configured to selectively prevent the columns of paintballs from moving towards the plurality of openings at least when the channels are full of paintballs and the plurality of sliding doors are in the first position, wherein each of the plurality of sliding doors and each of the plurality of movable retainers are coupled together via a linkage.

[0013]Another embodiment is a method of aligning an outlet of a magazine with an inlet port of a paintball marker. The magazine has a movable door blocking at least a portion of the outlet so as to prevent paintballs from exiting the outlet. The method includes coarsely aligning the magazine with a receptacle in the paintball marker. The inlet port is disposed in the receptacle. The method further includes contacting at least a portion of the door with the receptacle, inserting the magazine into the receptacle, and moving the door a sufficient amount as the magazine is being inserted into the receptacle to allow the paintballs to exit the outlet and enter the paintball marker.

Problems solved by technology

However, the loader often blocks the sightlines down the marker and provides a large target for the other team to hit.

A reason to provide a feeding mechanism is that the feeding of paintballs only by force of gravity does not always work satisfactorily.

Another disadvantage of a conventional loader is that they are generally permanently affixed to the marker, meaning that the only way to reload paintballs once the loader is empty is to flip open a cap and pour paintballs into the loader.

Further, it requires dexterity to pour paintballs from the storage container into the loader.

Paintballs are therefore often wasted when they are dropped on the ground during reloading.

Thus, providing a magazine which has a lower profile, can accept different shaped paintballs, and can be quickly engaged and disengaged from the marker remains a significant challenge in the paintball industry.

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