Secure closure system for paintball items

Abstract

A closure system according to the present invention comprises a lid and an associated opening defined in an upper surface of the paintball sport item. At least one of the lid and the upper surface includes at least one of a first magnetic portion having a first magnetic polarity or a first magnetically attractable insert. The other of the lid and the upper surface of the paintball sport item include at least one of a second magnetic portion or a second magnetically attractable insert, the at least one second magnetic portion or the second magnetically attractable insert positioned to magnetically engage one of the at least one first magnetic portion and the first magnetically attractable insert when the lid is in a closed position.

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application 60/490,177, filed Jul. 25, 2003, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to paintball sport equipment, and more particularly, to improved closures for paintball equipment.

BACKGROUND

Paintball is a sporting game having two teams of players usually trying to capture one another's flag. The sport is played on a large field with opposing home bases at each end. Each team's flag is located at the player's home base. In addition, all of the players have paintball markers that shoot paintballs. These paintballs are generally spherical gelatin capsules filled with paint. During play of the sport, the players on each team advance towards the opposing team's base in hopes of stealing the opposing team's flag, without being eliminated from the war game. A player is eliminated from the game when the player is hit by a paintball fired from an opposing player's marker. When the paintball hits a player, a “splat” of paint is left on the player.

Participating in the sport of paintball requires several pieces of equipment for carrying, transporting, storing and utilizing the necessary ammunition, namely, the paintballs. Paintball sport players require means for carrying paintballs during play of the sport. Accordingly, players often carry containers known as “guppies” or “pods”, which are elongate tubes with lids. Currently, the lids of such pods are held in place by friction, such as by “snap-on” plastic lids, or by screw on lids. There are several problems with such lids. During play, players may not be able to open the container in time to load paintballs into a paintball hopper or loader, and are therefore placed in a vulnerable position during sport play. Moreover, the lids may also open when a plastic container is squeezed or otherwise jostled, and a player may lose valuable paintballs. Players often have to fumble with the lids as well, particularly since most players wear cumbersome paintball sport gloves which compromise dexterity. In addition, the plastic lids wear over time, and the closure becomes less secure and prone to opening.

Paintball hoppers or loaders are used by paintball sport players to feed paintballs to a marker during play. During play, a player will have to reload the loaders once all of the paintballs in the loader are fired. Such loaders, like the containers, have “snap-on” plastic lids, or lids or covers which screw into place. These lids suffer the same drawbacks as the container lids. A player who has run out of paintballs is left vulnerable to opposing players.

In addition, transferring paintballs from a paintball container to the paintball loader requires some dexterity, and must often be done while wearing paintball sport gloves. If the paintball container and the opening of the paintball loader are not in proper alignment, the paintballs could spill during play.

Accordingly, there is a need for a closure for various paintball items that will contain paintballs, and yet can be opened easily during paintball sport play with limited requirements for manual dexterity.

There is further the need for a way to align a paintball container and paintball loader in order to avoid spilling paintballs during play.

SUMMARY

Briefly stated, the present invention is directed to a magnetic closure for use with items of paintball sport equipment, such as, by way of example, a paintball container and/or a paintball loader.

A closure system according to the present invention comprises a lid and an associated opening defined in an upper surface of the paintball sport item. At least one of the lid and the upper surface includes at least one of a first magnetic portion having a first magnetic polarity or a first magnetically attractable insert. The other of the lid and the upper surface of the paintball sport item include at least one of a second magnetic portion or a second magnetically attractable insert, the at least one second magnetic portion or the second magnetically attractable insert positioned to magnetically engage one of the at least one first magnetic portion and the first magnetically attractable insert when the lid is in a closed position.

A paintball container according to the present invention comprises a container body having an opening for receiving paintballs, and a lid. The lid may or may not be attached to the container body by a retaining element. A first magnetic portion or first magnetically attractable element is provided on the inner surface of the lid. A second magnetic portion or second magnetically attractable element is provided on a portion of the paintball container adjacent the opening for receiving paintballs. In an alternate embodiment, a piece of metal that can be attracted to one of the magnetic portions is provided on a portion of the paintball container surrounding opening for receiving paintballs or the lid.

A paintball loader according to the present invention comprises a loader body having an opening for receiving paintballs, and a lid. The lid may or may not be attached to the loader body by a retaining element. A first magnetic portion or first magnetically attractable insert is provided on the inner surface of the lid. A second magnetic portion or second magnetically attractable insert is provided on a portion of the loader body adjacent the opening for receiving paintballs.

A system for aligning two paintball sport equipment items is also provided. By way of example, a paintball container and paintball loader are also provided. A paintball container has a surface surrounding an opening for receiving paintballs. The paintball container surface has a magnetic portion or magnetically attractable insert. A paintball loader has a surface surrounding the opening for receiving paintballs. The paintball loader surface has a magnetic portion or magnetically attractable insert for magnetically engaging the magnetic portion of the paintball container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangement shown.

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a closure for a paintball container according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the paintball container of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of an embodiment of a lid according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross section through a paintball container according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the inner surface of a lid according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the inner surface of a lid according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the opening of a paintball container body according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the opening of a paintball container body according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross section view of a portion of a lid according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a paintball loader and lid according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a paintball container body or loader body according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a paintball container body or loader body according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of a paintball container body according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a partial perspective view of a closure for a paintball container according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a paintball loader and paintball container according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a partial cross-section view of an alternate embodiment of a paintball container according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Certain terminology is used in the following detailed description for convenience only and is not considered limiting. The word “upper” and “lower” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. Additionally, the terms “a” and “one” are defined as including one or more of the referenced item unless specifically noted.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of a paintball container 10 having a closure of the present invention is shown. The paintball container 10 is generally formed from plastic or another suitable material. In one embodiment, the paintball container 10 includes a container body 12 which holds paintballs 16, as shown in FIG. 2. The container body 12 has an opening 14 at one end for receiving or dispensing paintballs. The upper portion 36 of the container body 12 has an upper surface 18 provided adjacent the opening 14. The container may also have a lip 72 extending adjacent the upper surface 18.

A lid 20 is provided for closing the opening 14 and securing paintballs 16 within the container body 12. The lid 20 may be sized to be slightly larger than the upper surface 18, or may be of equal size, so long as the lid 20 will not allow paintballs to fall out of or otherwise be emptied from the paintball container 10 when the lid 20 is in place. The lid 20 may also be connected to the container body 12 via a retaining element 92, such as a hinge, a lanyard, a piece of flexible plastic, a piece of cloth, or any other suitable means, so that the lid is not lost or does not drop when disconnected from the container body 12, as depicted in FIG. 1. The lid 20 has an inner surface 22 which faces the container body 12 when the lid is in a closed position, and an outer surface 24 which faces away from the container body 12. The lid may also have an annular wall 26 extending along the outer edge 28 of the inner surface 22, as shown in FIG. 4. The annular wall may be used to “snap” the lid onto the container body, as is known in the art. The annular wall 26 has an inner side 32 facing the container body 12 when the lid is in a closed position. All portions of the lid 20 facing the container body 12 when the lid 20 is in a closed position are considered part of the inner surface 22, hence the inner side 32 of the annular wall 26 is considered part of the inner surface 22.

In a preferred embodiment, the lid 20 includes a first magnetic portion 30 for securing the lid 20 to the container body 12. The first magnetic portion 30 may be located at any position on the inner surface 22 of the lid 20 but is preferably adjacent the outer edge 28 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Alternately, the first magnetic portion 30 may extend from the outer edge 28 of the lid, as shown in FIG. 3. In another embodiment, the first magnetic portion 30 may be located on the inner side 32 of the annular wall 26, as shown in FIG. 4. It is appreciated that the first magnetic portion 30 may extend along only a portion of the inner surface 22. Alternately, the first magnetic portion 30 may extend along the entire length of the inner surface 22 adjacent the outer edge 28, as shown in FIG. 5, or along the entire length of the inner side 32 of the annular wall 26. In addition, it is appreciated that a plurality of first magnetic portions may be positioned spaced apart on either the inner surface 22 adjacent the outer edge 28, or along the inner side 32 of the annular wall 26, as shown in FIG. 6.

The upper portion 36 of the container body 12 is provided with at least one second magnetic portion 34 adjacent the opening 14 that is sized and positioned to magnetically engage the first magnetic portion 30 when the lid 20 is in a closed position, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The second magnetic portion 34 may be positioned along the upper portion 36 of the container body 12 adjacent the opening 14 either on the inside 84 or outside 86 of the container body 12, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The second magnetic portion 34 may also be positioned adjacent or on the upper surface 18, or in another position elsewhere adjacent the upper portion 36 of the container body 12 adjacent the opening 14. Any position is acceptable, so long as the second magnetic portion 34 is accessible to the first magnetic portion 30.

The second magnetic portion 34 is of opposite polarity as compared to the polarity of the first magnetic portion 30, such that when the lid 20 is placed on the container body 12, the first magnetic portion 30 and second magnetic portion 34 hold the lid securely on the container body 12 through magnetic attraction. A plurality of second magnetic portions 34 may be positioned spaced apart adjacent the upper surface 18 to magnetically engage a respective plurality of first magnetic portions 30. A plurality second magnetic portions 34 may further be positioned spaced apart adjacent the upper portion 36 of the container body 12 to magnetically engage a respective plurality of first magnetic portions 30 positioned spaced along the inner side 32 of the annular wall 26 when the lid 20 is in a closed position, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In addition, the second magnetic portion 34 may be partially or wholly embedded or otherwise molded into the container body 12 during manufacture, as shown in FIG. 2, which shows a portion of the second magnetic portion 34 exposed to magnetically engage the first magnetic portion 30. However, depending on the strength of one or both of the magnetic portions 30, 34, one or both could be fully embedded.

During paintball sport play, lid 20 is held in place by the force of the first magnetic portion 30 and second magnetic portion. Players do not have to fumble to overcome the presently known “flip top” lids, while still maintaining the paintballs securely within the paintball container 10. In addition, even if the player is wearing paintball gloves, the closure of the present invention is easily removed by applying enough force to overcome the force of the magnetic attraction. Where a lid is formed also having an annular wall, the magnetic portions may act as a supplement to the frictional action of the annular wall snapping onto the container body.

In another embodiment, the lid 20 may be reversible, whereby the lid has magnetic portions 38 on both the inner 22 and outer 24 surfaces of the lid 20, as shown in FIG. 9. In that manner, a paintball sport player does not have to fumble with the lid to align it properly for closing the paintball container 10. Rather, either the inner or outer side of the lid 20 will be able to engage the upper portion of paintball sport item surrounding the opening 14 for receiving paintballs.

The closure system of the present invention may also be used in connection with a paintball loader 40, as shown in FIG. 10. The paintball loader 40 may be of any suitable type, such as agitating, gravity feed or active feed paintball loaders. Examples of paintball loaders are U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,042; U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,252; U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,110; U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,567; and, U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,907, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

A closure system for a paintball loader according to the present invention comprises a paintball loader 40, having a loader body 42, with an opening 44 for receiving paintballs. A lid 46 is provided for closing the opening 44 and securing paintballs 16 within the loader body 42. The lid 46 may be sized to be slightly larger than the opening 44, or may be of equal size, so long as the lid 46 will not allow paintballs to fall out of or otherwise be emptied from the paintball loader 40 when the lid 46 is in place. The lid 46 may also be connected to the loader body via a retaining element such as a hinge, a lanyard, a piece of flexible plastic, a piece of cloth, or any other suitable means, so that the lid is not lost or does not drop when disconnected from the loader body 42. The lid 46 has an inner surface 48 which faces the loader body 42, and an outer surface 50 which faces away from the loader body 42. The lid may also have an annular wall 52 extending along the outer edge 54 of the inner surface 48. The annular wall may be sized to “snap” the lid onto the loader body.

The lid 46 further has at least one first magnetic portion 94 for securing the lid 46 to the loader body 42. The first magnetic portion 94 may be located at any position on the inner surface 48 of the lid 46 adjacent the outer edge 54, as discussed previously in connection with lid 20. In another embodiment, the first magnetic portion 94 may be located on the inner side 32 of the annular wall 52. It is appreciated that the first magnetic portion 94 may extend along only a portion of the inner surface 48, or the first magnetic portion 94 may extend along only a portion of the inner side 56 of the annular wall 52. Alternately, the first magnetic portion 94 may extend along the entire length of the inner surface 48 adjacent the outer edge 54, or the first magnetic portion 94 may extend along the length of the inner side 56 of the annular wall 52. In addition, it is appreciated that a plurality of first magnetic portions may be positioned spaced apart on either the inner surface 48 adjacent the outer edge 54, or along the inner side 56 of the annular wall 52.

The upper portion 58 of the loader body 42 adjacent the opening 44 is provided with at least one second magnetic portion 96 that is sized and positioned to magnetically engage the first magnetic portion 94. The second magnetic portion 96 may be positioned, for example, at any location along the loader body 42 adjacent the opening 44. The second magnetic portion 96 is of opposite polarity as compared to the polarity of the first magnetic portion 94, such that when the lid 46 is placed on the loader body 42, the first magnetic portion 94 and second magnetic portion 96 hold the lid securely on the loader body 42. The second magnetic portion 96 may be positioned inside 88 of the paintball loader body 42 or the outside 90 of the paintball loader body 42, or both.

A plurality of second magnetic portions 96 may be positioned spaced apart adjacent the opening 44 to magnetically engage a respective plurality of first magnetic portions 94. A plurality second magnetic portions 96 may further be positioned spaced apart on the loader body 42 adjacent the opening 44 to magnetically engage a respective plurality of first magnetic portions 94 positioned spaced along the inner side 56 of the annular wall 52. The closure system will operate as described above in connection with the paintball container 10. The upper portion 58 surrounding the opening 44 may also have a lip 74 for releasably engaging the annular wall 52.

The second magnetic portion 34, 96 may be affixed to the container body 12 or loader body 42 by any acceptable means such as, for example, an adhesive or by molding or otherwise forming the second magnetic portion 34, 96 integrally with the container body 12 or loader body 42. The second magnetic portion 34, 96 may be held by, for example, the container body 12 or loader body 42 in a pocket 76, such as shown in FIG. 11. The second magnetic portion 34, 96 is held within the pocket 76, which may be sized and formed so that the second magnetic portion 34, 96 fits securely within the pocket 76, while a portion of the second magnetic portion 34, 96 protrudes. The pocket 76 may also be formed with receiving channels 78, as shown in FIG. 12, so that both the upper side 80 and outer side 80 of the second magnetic portion 34,96 are open and may be magnetically engaged by, for example, a first magnetic portion 30, 94 on the inner surface 22, 48 of the lid 20, 46 and/or a first magnetic portion 30, 94 on the inner side 32, 56 of the annular walls 26, 52. Where first magnetic portions 30, 94 are provided on both the inner surface 22, 48 of the lid 20, 46 and the inner side 32, 56 of the annular walls 26, 52, a secure closure is provided with several magnetic surfaces in magnetically engage. The pocket may be formed on the inside 84 of, for example, the container body 12 or loader body 42 as shown in FIG. 13, or the outside 86 of container body 12 or loader body 42, or both.

It is appreciated that the closure system of the present invention could be utilized for any item of paintball sport equipment, where a first surface is provided defining an opening for receiving paintballs, and a lid is provided for covering the opening. First and second magnetic portions of opposite polarity are positioned on any lid and any surface defining an opening for receiving paintballs, where the first and second magnetic portions are aligned to be in magnetically engage when the lid is in a closed position. Alternately, a magnetic portion and a respective magnetically attractable insert are positioned on a lid and a paintball sport item.

In an alternate embodiment, a magnetically attractable insert 60 may be provided in place of a first magnetic portion or second magnet portion, so long as a corresponding magnetic portion is provided in order to create an attraction for closing the lid. The magnetically attractable insert 60 may be formed as a metallic insert, preferably of a magnetically attractable ferrous metal. As shown in FIG. 14, a magnetically attractable insert 60 may be provided sized and positioned to magnetically engage the first magnetic portion 30, 94 when lid 20, 46 is in a closed position on either a paintball container or paintball loader, or another paintball sport equipment item. The magnetically attractable insert 60 will attract the first magnetic portion 30, 94 when the lid is in a closed position, maintaining a secure closure. Alternately, the lid may include a magnetically attractable insert, which is positioned to magnetically engage one of a second magnetic portion 34, 96 on, for example, a container body 12 or loader body 42.

In addition, the closure system of the present invention also acts as an alignment system for assisting in aligning a paintball container with a paintball loading during a paintball loading operation. As shown in FIG. 15, a paintball container body 12 is provided with at least one magnetic portion 98 of a first magnetic polarity, or a magnetically attractable insert 100. A paintball loader body 42 is provided with at least one magnetic portion 102 of a an opposite magnetic polarity, or a magnetically attractable insert 104, positioned to magnetically engage the magnetic portion 98 or magnetically attractable insert 100 of the container body 12 when the container body is positioned to pour paintballs from the paintball container into the paintball loader. The magnetic attraction between either two magnetic portions, or a magnetic portion and a magnetically attractable insert, will therefore aid in aligning the paintball container into the paintball loader during loading.

In another embodiment of the present invention, shown in FIG. 16, a paintball container 10 has a lid 20 with at least one extension flap 62 extending therefrom. The extension flap 62 is sized to reach from the lid 20 to the container body 12. The flap 62 has a first magnetic portion 64 on the inner side 66 of the flap 62 facing the container body 12. A second magnetic portion 68 of opposite polarity to the first magnetic portion 64, is positioned on the container body 12 adjacent the upper portion 36 to magnetically engage the first magnetic portion 64 when the lid 20 is in a closed position. The lid 20 may also have a hinge for attaching the lid 20 to the container body 12. A plurality of flaps with a plurality of first magnetic portions may be provided, with a corresponding plurality of second magnetic portions positions on the container body 12 to magnetically engage the first magnetic portions. This arrangement provides an additional secure closure for the lid of a paintball sport item. This same arrangement, using flaps, can be used with the lid of a paintball loader, as previously described.

The closure system of the present invention is described for illustrative purposes in connection with a paintball container and a paintball loader. However, the closure system described and claimed herein may be adapted for any paintball sport item that is used to hold paintballs or other paintball sport accessories such as valve pins, front bolts, velocity adjusters, expansion chambers, barrels, trigger frames, barrel adaptors, power feed adaptors, marker scopes, marker covers, marker holsters, cocking bolts, sight rails, springs, o-rings, turbo valves, air tanks, ball detents, drop forwards, sears, actuator rods, air block screws, shafts, push pins, air regulators, grips, elbows, or butt plates. The closure system of the present invention may be used with any paintball sport item having a lid and an opening for receiving paintball sport accessories.

Having thus described in detail several embodiments of the secure closure of the present invention, it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changes, only a few of which are exemplified in the detailed description of the invention, could be made without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. It is also to be appreciated that numerous embodiments incorporating only part of the preferred embodiment are possible which do not alter, with respect to those parts, the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. The present embodiment and optional configurations are therefore to be considered in all respects as exemplary and/or illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all alternate embodiments and changes to this embodiment which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of said claims are therefore to be embraced therein.

Claims

1. A closure system for a paintball sport item, comprising:

a lid and an associated opening defined in an upper surface of the paintball sport item, at least one of the lid and the upper surface including at least one of a first magnetic portion having a first magnetic polarity or a magnetically attractable insert adjacent thereto;

and the other of the lid and the upper surface of the paintball sport item including at least one of a second magnetic portion or a second magnetically attractable insert adjacent thereto, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or the second magnetically attractable insert positioned to magnetically engage one of the at least one first magnetic portion and the first magnetically attractable insert when the lid is in a closed position.

2. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion has a polarity opposite the polarity of the at least one first magnetic portion.

3. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, wherein the lid further comprises at least one first magnetic portion on an outer surface thereof.

4. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, the lid further comprising an annular wall along an outer edge of an inner surface for engaging the paintball sport item adjacent the opening.

5. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, wherein the item is a paintball container.

6. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, wherein the item is a paintball loader.

7. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, wherein the lid is connected to a paintball sport item via a retaining element.

8. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or second magnetically attractable insert is embedded in the paintball sport item.

9. The closure system for a paintball sport item according to claim 1, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or second magnetically attractable insert is held within a pocket adjacent the opening

10. A paintball container, comprising:

a lid and an associated container body comprising an opening for receiving paintballs, at least one of the lid and the container body including at least one of a first magnetic portion having a first magnetic polarity or a magnetically attractable insert;

and the other of the lid and the container body having at least one of a second magnetic portion or a second magnetically attractable insert, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or the second magnetically attractable insert positioned to magnetically engage one of the at least one first magnetic portion and the first magnetically attractable insert when the lid is in a closed position.

11. The paintball container according to claim 10, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion has a polarity opposite the polarity of the at least one first magnetic portion.

12. The paintball container according to claim 10, wherein the lid is connected to the container body via a retaining element.

13. The paintball container according to claim 10, wherein the lid further comprises at least one first magnetic portion or first magnetically attractable insert on an outer surface of the lid, the at least one first magnetic portion or first magnetically attractable insert positioned to magnetically engage the at least one second magnetic portion and second magnetically attractable insert when the outer surface of the lid faces the container body and is in a closed position.

14. The paintball container according to claim 10, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion second magnetically attractable insert is embedded in the container body.

15. The paintball container according to claim 10, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion second magnetically attractable insert is held within a pocket adjacent the opening.

16. A paintball loader, comprising:

a lid and an associated loader body comprising an opening for receiving paintballs, at least one of the lid and the loader body including at least one of a first magnetic portion having a first magnetic polarity or a first magnetically attractable insert;

and the other of the lid and the loader body having at least one of a second magnetic portion or a second magnetically attractable insert, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or the at least one second magnetically attractable insert is positioned to magnetically engage one of the at least one first magnetic portion and the at least one first magnetically attractable insert when the lid is in a closed position.

17. The paintball loader according to claim 16, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion has a polarity opposite the polarity of the at least one first magnetic portion.

18. The paintball loader according to claim 16, wherein the lid is connected to the paintball loader item via a retaining element.

19. The paintball loader according to claim 16, wherein the lid further comprises at least one first magnetic portion or first magnetically attractable insert on an outer surface of the lid, the at least one first magnetic portion or first magnetically attractable insert positioned to magnetically engage the at least one second magnetic portion and second magnetically attractable insert when the outer surface of the lid faces the paintball loader and is in a closed position.

20. The paintball loader according to claim 16, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or second magnetically attractable insert is embedded in the loader body.

21. The paintball loader according to claim 16, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or second magnetically attractable insert is held within a pocket adjacent the opening.

22. An alignment system for paintball sport equipment, comprising:

a first item of paintball sport equipment, said first item of paintball sport equipment having an upper surface defining an opening, the first item of paintball sport equipment including at least one of a first magnetic portion having a first magnetic polarity or a first magnetically attractable insert adjacent the opening;

a second item of paintball sport equipment, said second item of paintball sport equipment having an upper surface defining an opening, the second item of paintball sport equipment including at least one of a second magnetic portion or a second magnetically attractable insert adjacent the opening, wherein the at least one second magnetic portion or second magnetically attractable insert is positioned to magnetically engage the at least one first magnetic portion and first magnetically attractable insert when the first paintball sport item and second paintball sport item are aligned.