With Control For Discharge Of Fluid Pressure Patents (Class 124/71)
  • Patent number: 5348059
    Abstract: The invention is an attachment for airguns and/or similar devices powered by compressed gas. The unit is multi functional in that it facilitates rapid refilling of a connected gas supply vessel from a bulk supply source, without the necessity of removing the supply vessel from the airgun. The adaptor also provides the basic benefits of a simple expansion chamber, effectively providing compensation for periodic introduction of any liquid gas propellant from the gas supply vessel caused by handling or orientation of the airgun and/or aerosol supercharging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 20, 1994
    Assignee: Air America
    Inventor: Kent L. Carroll
  • Patent number: 5333594
    Abstract: A pneumatic gun containing a variable gas flow valve, adjustable in-situ within the gun for regulating air pressure into the barrel. The valve includes a body with a passageway through which gas flows and a screw which is rotated through an aperture or inspection hole in the gun itself to adjust the size of a gas flow passageway, thereby supplying a continuously variable amount of gas pressure to power a projectile, such as a paint ball, at a range of controlled velocities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1994
    Inventor: Robert Robinson
  • Patent number: 5311856
    Abstract: A large diameter gas gun has a triggering mechanism for quickly and effecely releasing a large bore projectile which is accelerated under gas pressure to impact upon a target area to produce a substantial shock field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1992
    Date of Patent: May 17, 1994
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Howard G. White, Alan P. Ohrt, Charles R. Welch
  • Patent number: 5285766
    Abstract: A gun is provided with a removable rotary ammunition clip assembly and a slidably mounted barrel to permit the clip assembly to be removed if a pellet jams in a position partially out of the clip and partially in the barrel. The clip assembly is an integral unit and includes a cylindrical loader which is rotatably mounted on the clip housing, an index lever and pawl for rotating the loader, and a transfer bar for translating sliding movement of the trigger into pivoting movement of the index lever. Sliding movement of the trigger moves the trigger link against a hammer for cocking the hammer, and the trigger link moves a hammer latch out of a latching position in which it will engage the hammer to prevent accidental discharge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: February 15, 1994
    Assignee: Crosman Corporation
    Inventor: Keith L. Milliman
  • Patent number: 5280778
    Abstract: A compressed gas powered gun is disclosed having a semi-automatic firing mechanism for enabling successive firing sequences. The firing mechanism includes a sear having a latch arm, with a cam at one end and an interlocking element at the other end. The cam is positioned to close a firing chamber as the latch arm is rotated. The interlocking element is positioned to concomitantly release an actuating bolt as the latch arm is rotated. A recoil spring repositions the actuating bolt for engagement with the interlocking element upon discharge of the firing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 25, 1994
    Inventor: Thomas G. Kotsiopoulos
  • Patent number: 5230324
    Abstract: A weapon system which utilizes pressurized gas to propel a projectile from a barrel and which utilizes a shearable diaphragm member to permit the pressure of gas in the weapon to increase to a selected point before the gas propels the projectile from the barrel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1993
    Inventors: Arden D. Van Horssen, Charles A. Van Horssen
  • Patent number: 5228427
    Abstract: An improved barrel for guns which do not have standard internal rifling is disclosed. The barrel has a plurality of apertures which extend a first longitudinal distance along the barrel from the muzzle end toward the breech end. The apertures may define a pair of parallel helixes. The sum of the cross-sectional areas of all apertures in the barrel exceeds the cross-sectional area of the barrel itself. Additionally, each aperture is bored at an angle so that its longitudinal axis defines an acute angle with a plane which is tangent to the barrel and which intersects the aperture. The apertures expel ambient air from the barrel and allow for expansion of compressed gas to stabilize a projectile, such as a paintball, thereby improving the accuracy of the gun. The barrel may also include two-staged honing, as well as a removable choke adjacent the breech end of the barrel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1993
    Assignee: Smart Parts, Inc.
    Inventor: William M. Gardner, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5224701
    Abstract: Apparatus for launching a football on a predetermined trajectory comprises a receptacle for holding a football in an axial alignment such that each end of the football is substantially aligned on an initial arc of a predetermined trajectory. The receptacle is coupled to a piston of a pneumatic cylinder for rapidly accelerating the receptacle along the predetermined trajectory for a preselected relatively small distance from a loading point to a release point. A threaded shaft is positioned between the piston and receptacle and driven through a nut for effecting a relatively rapid spin of the receptacle about an axis coincidental with the initial arc of the trajectory during acceleration over the relatively small distance. The football is released from the receptacle at the release point by suddenly stopping movement of the receptacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 1992
    Date of Patent: July 6, 1993
    Inventors: Gerald Sciarrillo, Michael G. Woolford
  • Patent number: 5133330
    Abstract: An economical relief pitcher in which there is employed a plurality of tubes, at least one of them being employed as a firing tube and at least one being employed for storing balls to be fired, the firing tube being connected with a high volume source of air. A remote push actuator can be employed to actuate a rocker arm and actuator device for allowing a single ball at a time into the firing tube which is connected with a high volume source of air for firing. A delay is employed for effecting a delay from the pushing of the push actuator until the ball is fired. A lower tapered orifice is preferably employed for creating a suction pressure to help the balls get into the firing tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 28, 1992
    Inventor: John C. Sharp
  • Patent number: 5086749
    Abstract: An arrow gun and method for propelling arrows or harpoons in which the gun includes a compressed gas source such as compressed air or CO.sub.2, a handle and trigger arrangement, and a high pressure air passageway system for linking the barrel to the gas source to propel or discharge the arrow. The arrow or harpoon is hollow and is slid over the barrel of the gun so that the barrel guides the arrow upon firing. The air passageway system is responsive to the actuation of the trigger such that the gun when loaded is not subject to pressure build-up and thus avoids accidental discharge hazards. Arrows with or without fletching may be used and are held in place when loaded without latching or locking. Arrows without fletching are held in the loaded position by a gripping means arranged in the vicinity of the point where the barrel connects to the gun, while arrows with fletching are engaged in a shroud cover which surrounds the barrel at the gun handle end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 1989
    Date of Patent: February 11, 1992
    Inventor: Glen Ekstrom
  • Patent number: 5078117
    Abstract: A projectile propellant device is adapted to supply a compressed gas from a compressed gas container for providing the propulsion force for a projectile or for providing the operating force for a gas powered device. The propellant device includes a gas container containing a volume of gas at sufficient pressure for applying a desired force upon release, and a compressed gas releasing structure for producing a release opening in the compressed gas container in response to the detonation of a pyrotechnic material. The release opening releases the compressed gas for applying the desired force, such as a propulsion force to propel a projectile. The gas releasing structure preferably includes a pyrotechnic charge device and a puncturing device both mounted within a suitable device housing along with the gas container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1992
    Inventor: John H. Cover
  • Patent number: 5000155
    Abstract: A connector to an external air source for a gas-operated gun having a cartridge piercing receiving assembly, including a threaded flange skirt and a hollow cartridge piercing-needle, and an opening to permit extension of an air conduit from the gas-operated gun to a pressurized air source external of the gun comprises a connector body and a nose bushing intregal to one end thereof. An air conduit extends through axially aligned passage bores of the nose bushing and connector body, a seating end of which is internal to the gun and is fixly held in air tight communication over the hollow piercing-needle of a cartridge piercing assembly when the nose bushing, which is threaded at its outer annual periphery, is threadedly engaged with a threaded annular inner wall of the flange skirt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1991
    Inventor: Denis R. Gallagher
  • Patent number: 4890597
    Abstract: An arrow gun and method for propelling arrows or harpoons in which the gun includes a compressed gas source such as compressed air or CO.sub.2, a handle and trigger arrangement, and a high pressure air passageway system for linking the barrel to the gas source to propel or discharge the arrow. The arrow or harpoon is hollow and is slid over the barrel of the gun so that the barrel guides the arrow upon firing. The air passageway system is responsive to the actuation of the trigger such that the gun when loaded is not subject to pressure build-up and thus avoids accidental discharge hazards. Arrows with or without fletching may be used and are held in place when loaded without latching or locking. Arrows without fletching are held in the loaded position by a tapered seating gap arranged at the point where the barrel connects to the gun, while arrows with fletching are engaged in a shroud cover which surrounds the barrel at the gun handle end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1988
    Date of Patent: January 2, 1990
    Assignee: Swivel Machine Works, Inc.
    Inventor: Glen Ekstrom
  • Patent number: 4886269
    Abstract: A table tennis training device comprises a frame (10) extending the width of the table and having a pliant screen (28) associated therewith to provide a back stop for table tennis balls. A wall (18) of L-shape cross-section is attached to and extends between frame (10), and has a series of alternate rises and falls in its base portion. A table tennis ball projecting device attached to frame (10) comprises a source of compressed air having first and second outlets. The first outlet is in operative communication with a first type ejector tube (42) having foot-operated means for regulating the entry of balls therein. The second outlet is in operative communication with a plurality of second type ejector tubes (66) extending through wall (18) and located to correspond to the gully formed between adjacent falls of the base portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 1988
    Date of Patent: December 12, 1989
    Inventor: Claude C. A. Marocco
  • Patent number: 4733382
    Abstract: The liquid slug projector apparatus is entirely pneumatically operated. It comprises a generator having a main housing whose main port fluidly communicates with a liquid body. A first shuttle and a second shuttle are slidably mounted inside the main housing. The first shuttle forms with the main housing a slug chamber for confining therein a liquid slug. A pneumatic source together with a pneumatically-operated valve cyclically cause the shuttles to move relative to or in locked condition with each other, thereby applying during each cycle of operation an abrupt propulsion force to the confined liquid slug which becomes expelled as a very high-velocity liquid jet through the main port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 22, 1988
    Inventor: Adrien P. Pascouet
  • Patent number: 4616622
    Abstract: A gas gun includes a pressure regulator assembly which controls the velocity of projectiles fired by the gun by adjusting the pressure within the gas chamber of the gun. The regulator assembly includes a spring-biased piston which is slidable within a gas seal between a source of pressurized gas and the gas chamber. The piston is movable between a first position in which gas can flow from the source of pressurized gas to the gas chamber and a second position in which gas is prevented from flowing from the source of pressurized gas to the gas chamber. The force exerted on the piston by the spring can be adjusted to control the gas pressure at which the piston moves to its second position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 14, 1986
    Assignee: The Coleman Company, Inc.
    Inventor: Keith Milliman
  • Patent number: 4594697
    Abstract: The liquid slug projector apparatus is entirely pneumatically operated. It comprises a generator having a main housing whose main port fluidly communicates with a liquid body. A first shuttle and a second shuttle are slidably mounted inside the main housing. The first shuttle forms with the main housing a slug chamber for confining therein a liquid slug. A pneumatic source together with a pneumatically-operated valve cyclically cause the shuttles to move relative to or in locked condition with each other, thereby applying during each cycle of operation an abrupt propulsion force to the confined liquid slug which becomes expelled as a very high-velocity liquid jet through the main port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 1983
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1986
    Inventor: Adrien P. Pascouet
  • Patent number: 4240599
    Abstract: A pneumatic system for launching aircraft wherein an elongated frame having pressurized interior chamber is volumetrically related and communicatively connected to a longitudinally-slotted cylinder supported within the frame so that expansion of air into the cylinder produces a desired thrust pressure therein that is equalized by the residual pressure external of the cylinder within the chamber. A piston member slidably contained within the cylinder is adapted to receive the compressed air and is connected to a shuttle for accelerating the aircraft to be launched. The shuttle is releasably restrained at the rearward end of the cylinder and is adapted to travel longitudinally through the slot which is dynamically sealed by a flexible strip as the shuttle passes through the slot to preserve thrust pressure within the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1979
    Date of Patent: December 23, 1980
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
    Inventor: Joseph Hammond
  • Patent number: 4110929
    Abstract: A fishing rod, having a longitudinal bore for the reception of an elongated projectile, replaces the conventional barrel and is secured to the magazine of a compressed gas fired pistol. The bore includes a lateral port communicating with a charge of gas under pressure. The elongated projectile is closed at its forward end and includes an axial socket open at its other end. A tubular bolt is slidably received in the bore of the fishing rod and the axial socket of the projectile. The bolt is closed at its rearward end but includes a lateral port communicating with the lateral port in the bore and with the axial socket of the projectile, whereby the bolt transfers the charge of gas to the projectile for firing thereof. A monofilament line, wound on a spin-cast reel supported by the fishing rod, has its free end attached to the projectile for retrieving the projectile after being fired at a target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 1977
    Date of Patent: September 5, 1978
    Inventor: Dwayne R. Weigand
  • Patent number: 4083349
    Abstract: A rapid-fire B.B. pellet-type machine gun operated from a source of gas propellant preferably a canister of liquefield gas, has a trigger-operated valve releasing propellant gas from the source to a pellet containing magazine for projecting the pellets in rapid succession through a barrel passageway to be ejected from the gun at high speed at a target to which the gun is pointed. The pellets underlie and surround a sleeve in the magazine acting as a cofferdam to maintain a local level of the pellets below the gas inlet and the gas outlet so that the gas will impinge against and actuate the pellets causing them to be successively swept into the gas outlet for discharge through the barrel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 1976
    Date of Patent: April 11, 1978
    Inventor: Eugene Russett Clifford
  • Patent number: 4046131
    Abstract: A tennis ball retrieving and propelling device for placement on a surface having a ball delivery tube and a carrousel type ball retriever positioned below the ball delivery tube for receiving balls to be pneumatically transported to the ball delivery tube. The delivery tube is provided with a mechanism for constricting the effective cross sectional area thereof. The mechanism is provided with a releasing element for releasing the constriction to permit a ball to be pneumatically propelled through the tube. The mechanism includes a section of flexible tubing attached to the delivery tube, a cable surrounding the flexible tubing and a device attached to the cable for tensioning and releasing the cable to restrict and release a ball traveling through the flexible tube. The balls are pneumatically retrieved and propelled from the propelling device. The propelling device has elements for controlling the speed, azimuth and elevation of a ball delivered therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 1975
    Date of Patent: September 6, 1977
    Assignee: American Tennis Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas S. Clark, William S. Kennedy, Robert L. Piziali