Electronic display paintball loader with sensors
A paintball hopper apparatus for supplying paintballs including a hopper body with a feed neck and sensors displaying information about the paintball loader's operating condition. Sensors are provided for sensing the force of the driven impeller, the quantity of paintballs or the open space inside the hopper body, the number of balls discharged from the container, the rate of discharge of the paintballs, the speed of discharge of the paintballs, and the available power supply for the loader operation.
This application claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/197,648, filed on Oct. 29, 2008, the content of which is which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable.
REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIXNot Applicable.
RESERVATION OF RIGHTSA portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limited to copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in paintball loaders. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements particularly suited for displaying information about the loader operation, history, and current status. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to an electronic sensing and display system for providing information to the user.
2. Description of the Known Art
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art paintball loaders are known in various forms. Patents disclosing information relevant to paintball loaders include: U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,130 issued to Broersma on Apr. 15, 2008 entitled Spring-assisted paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,129 issued to Neumaster, et al. on Apr. 15, 2008 entitled Active feed paintball loader with flexible impeller; U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,909 issued to Christopher, et al. on Mar. 18, 2008 entitled Mechanical drive assist for active feed paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,347 issued to Broersma on Jan. 29, 2008 entitled Adjustable capacity loader for paintball markers; U.S. Pat. No. 7,021,302, issued to Neumaster, et al. on Apr. 4, 2006, entitled Active feed paintball loader with flexible impeller; U.S. Pat. No. 7,017,569, issued to Jong on Mar. 28, 2006, entitled Paintball marker loader apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,083, issued to Ho, et al. on Mar. 14, 2006, entitled Paintball refillers and method for making and using same; U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,776, issued to Hamilton on Dec. 27, 2005, entitled Multiple column helical feeder; U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,680 issued to Christopher, et al. on May 10, 2005 entitled Differential detection system for controlling feed of a paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,258 issued to Farrell on Mar. 1, 2005 entitled Paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,933 issued to Christopher, et al. on Sep. 21, 2004 entitled Drive cone for paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,907 issued to Christopher, et al. on Mar. 9, 2004 entitled Spring loaded feed mechanism for paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,852, issued to Yokota, et al. on Apr. 27, 2004, entitled Free-flowing paintball hopper; U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,293 issued to Jong on Nov. 11, 2003 entitled Paintball marker loader apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,567 issued to Christopher, et al. on Jan. 7, 2003 entitled Rapid feed paintball loader with pivotable deflector; U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,432 issued to Rushton, et al. on Nov. 19, 2002 entitled Paintball hopper; U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,919 issued to Perrone on Jul. 16, 2002 entitled Paintball loader with vibrating mechanism to prevent jamming; U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,781 issued to Perrone on Jul. 9, 2002 entitled Bulk loader for paintball gun; U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,157 issued to Parks on May 22, 2001 entitled Paintball gun loader speed collar; U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,110 issued to Christopher, et al. on Apr. 10, 2001 entitled Rapid feed paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,042 issued to Harvey on Sep. 21, 1999 entitled Paintball loader; U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,232, issued to Bell on Oct. 6, 1998, entitled Paintball loader having active feed mechanism; U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,983 issued to Stoneking on Sep. 22, 1998 entitled Lighting loader system; U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,720 issued to Bell, et al. on Apr. 7, 1998, entitled Loader mounted paintball game scorekeeper and an associated paintball game playing system; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,454, issued to Bell, et al. on Feb. 1, 1994, entitled Jam-free bulk loader for a paintball gun. Each of these patents is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. These prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved loader with operational sensors and user display is needed to overcome these limitations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to an improved paintball loader using a display. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a paintball loader is provided using a hopper body with a feed neck and a driven impeller that is mounted in the hopper body to drive paintballs through the feedneck. A force sensor is connected to the driven impeller for generating a signal output that is communicated to a display driver for illustrating a visual interpretation or graph of the tension level on the display. A fill level sensor can also be used inside the hopper body. The fill level sensor is also connected to the display driver to drive the display to present a fill level indicator such as a graph on the display. Another sensor is the ball discharge sensor to provide information for an incremental counter representation on the display. A clock or timer may be used to combine with the information from the ball discharge sensor to generate rate-of-fire graphs or displays. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention.
In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification and which are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible to indicate like parts in the various views:
As shown in
A hopper shell 192 is made up of a right housing 200 connected to a left housing 230 by housing screws 240. The housings mount to the base 110 to form the drive compartment 196.
The upper interior of these housings 230, 240 form a ball compartment 194 accessed by a fill aperture 195. Paintballs are directed from this interior space by the ball ramp 210 and ball guide 220 into the feedneck 142 for supply outside of the hopper 100. A weight sensor 336 is mounted under the ball ramp 210 to measure the weight of the paintballs on the ball ramp 210. The weight sensor 336 includes a coupling wire for connection to the primary loader controller printed circuit board 160. The input aperture 249 is covered by the lid assembly 250 that is biased open with the flip lid spring 260 and which clips over the hopper shell 192 to be secured in a closed position.
Input for the motor controller and the display may be made through the preferred embodiment's loader mode input button 270. This mechanical switch is used in this preferred embodiment because it has a proven track record in actual play on the paintball field. Note that capacitance sensing of pressure on the display unit 350 can also provide input for the microprocessor on the primary loader controller printed circuit board 160. The display controller printed circuit board 130 is a driver for an oled or electronic paper type of display with both image display control and capacitance information sensing input from the display 350. This sensed information is transferred across the interface cable connecting harness 290 to the primary loader controller printed circuit board 160 for control input. Similarly, a reverse flow of information across the interface cable connecting harness 290 provides display information back to the display controller printed circuit board 130 from the primary loader controller printed circuit board 160.
A ball movement detector 162 is used to detect ball movement and ball discharge in the feedneck using a sensor 164 comprised of an infra-red emitter 332 and infra-red receiver 334. The quantity of available balls is determined by using the weight sensor 336 mounted underneath the ball ramp 210 or as shown in
As shown in
The display 350 is illustrated in
Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and the drawings correspond to the following elements:
Paintball loader 100
Base 110
Mount Adapter 120
Display Controller PC Board 130
Display connection 131
Raceway 140
Feed Neck 142
Motor Assembly 150
Drive Speed Detector 152
Primary Loader Controller PC Board 160
Driven Ball Sensor 162
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- Neck sensors 164
Raceway screws 170
Impellor assembly 180
Impeller screw 190
Hopper shell 192
Ball compartment 194
Fill aperture 195
Drive compartment 196
Right housing 200
Ball Ramp 210
Ball Guide 220
Left Housing 230
Screw 240
Input aperture 249
Lid Assembly 250
Flip lid spring 260
Loader Mode Input Button 270
Primary battery harness 280
Batteries 281
Interface cable connecting harness 290
Screw 320
Ball detector 330
IR Emitter 332
IR Receiver 334
Weight sensor 336
Display 350
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- Display harness 351
- Battery indicator 352
- Force Mode indicator 354
- Speed Mode indicator 356
- Average Rate of Fire Indicator 358
- Maximum Rate of Fire Indicator 360
- Logo 362
- Timer 364
- Clock 366
- Present Capacity indicator 368
- Starting Capacity indicator 370
From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
When interpreting the claims of this application, method claims may be recognized by the explicit use of the word ‘method’ in the preamble of the claims and the use of the ‘ing’ tense of the active word. Method claims should not be interpreted to have particular steps in a particular order unless the claim element specifically refers to a previous element, a previous action, or the result of a previous action. Apparatus claims may be recognized by the use of the word ‘apparatus’ in the preamble of the claim and should not be interpreted to have ‘means plus function language’ unless the word ‘means’ is specifically used in the claim element. The words ‘defining,’ ‘having,’ or ‘including’ should be interpreted as open ended claim language that allows additional elements or structures. Finally, where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element of the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Claims
1. A paintball hopper apparatus for supplying paintballs, the apparatus comprising:
- a hopper body with a feed neck;
- a driven impeller mounted in the hopper body to drive paintballs through the feedneck;
- a force sensor connected to the driven impeller, the force sensor including a signal output;
- a display driver connected to the signal output;
- a tension level display connected to the display driver.
2. A paintball hopper apparatus for supplying paintballs, the apparatus comprising:
- a hopper body;
- a fill level sensor including a signal output;
- a display driver connected to the signal output; and
- a fill level display connected to the display driver.
3. A paintball hopper apparatus for supplying paintballs, the apparatus comprising:
- a hopper body;
- a ball discharge sensor supported off of the bopper body, the ball discharge sensor including a signal output;
- a display driver including an incremental counter connected to the signal output;
- a discharge display connected to the display driver.
4. A paintball hopper apparatus for supplying paintballs, the apparatus comprising:
- a hopper body;
- a ball discharge sensor supported off of the bopper body, the ball discharge sensor including a signal output;
- a display driver including a timer, the display driver connected to the signal output;
- a rate of fire display connected to the display driver.
5. A paintball hopper apparatus for supplying paintballs, the apparatus comprising:
- a hopper body;
- a ball discharge sensor supported off of the bopper body, the ball discharge sensor including a signal output;
- a display driver including a timer, the display driver connected to the signal output;
- a speed of discharge display connected to the display driver.
6. A paintball hopper apparatus for supplying paintballs, the apparatus comprising:
- a hopper body;
- a battery supported off of the hopper body
- a battery sensor including a signal output,
- a display driver connected to the signal output;
- a battery charge display connected to the display driver.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 28, 2009
Publication Date: May 27, 2010
Inventor: Terry Neumaster (Lowell, AR)
Application Number: 12/589,802
International Classification: F41B 11/02 (20060101);