PAINTBALL LOADER FOR PAINTBALL MARKER

Abstract

A paintball loader for use on a paintball marker, including a refillable container defining an internal space for accommodating a plurality of paintballs, the container further including an outlet for enabling paintballs to sequentially exit the container towards the marker, an agitating member including at least one rotor fin rotatably disposed within the container, a drive mechanism including an electric motor, the drive mechanism being operable to rotate the agitating member so as to agitate one or more paintballs present in the container and facilitate their movement towards the outlet, and a protrusive housing extending inside the internal space, wherein the drive mechanism is at least partially located within the housing in the internal space. The loader may be modular and include a plurality of releasably attachable body portions. The loader may incorporate a speed feed system. The loader may include a piezoelectric sensor for shot detection.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Generally the invention pertains to the sport of paintball. In particular the invention concerns an electric paintball loader.

BACKGROUND

Paintball markers, or “guns”, are typically utilized for marking opponents with visually detectable, colored paint in the sport of paintball. The markers are specifically configured to eject paintballs, i.e. substantially spherical capsules filled with paint, for the purpose. Accordingly, each marker is provided with a paintball feeding device commonly known as a loader, or a ‘hopper’, that accommodates a plurality of paintballs and comprises an outlet, e.g. an outlet tube portion, for supplying paintballs to the marker with a compatible receiving part defining an opening for the paintballs to enter the marker. Typically the loader is configured, in use position, above the marker such that the paintballs are pulled from the container portion and the bottom outlet of the loader towards the receiving feed portion of the marker essentially by means of gravity, but also a number of assisted, e.g. force feed, solutions have been previously set forth.

Namely, purely gravity-trusted feed action is often not fast enough for modern paintball where the desired rate of fire may be tens of shots per second, or ‘BPS’ (balls per second), and the marker can be seldom maintained in exactly upright position upon sustained fire or movement, for instance. In addition, the paintballs may jam or clog at or adjacent to the outlet of the loader, whereupon the marker may not properly fire them until the situation is recognized by the user and the loader is manually shaken etc. to alter the mutual position of the balls within the loader thus potentially releasing the jam. In particular, re-usable training balls seem to have surface properties, such as a higher friction coefficient than standard paintballs, increasing the risk of jams.

Thereby some contemporary paintball loaders have been designed to contain a revolving electrically controlled agitator on a bottom portion of the paintball container thereof. The agitator may specifically comprise a plurality of fins for guiding the paintballs towards the outlet of the loader or for generally mixing them within the container to avoid jams around the outlet. The agitator may be actuated upon a ball feed (non-)activity as detected by a sensor, e.g. an optical sensor, coupled to the outlet neck of the loader for signaling the associated electronics of the feed action for triggering or adjusting the speed of the agitator as a response. The feed mechanism and related components may be powered by a number of batteries such as a standard nine-volt battery or a plurality of AA batteries.

Notwithstanding the various benefits the existent loaders may undoubtedly offer for enhancing the natural, i.e. merely gravity-assisted, feeding action of paintballs into the associated markers, there still exists a need for further solutions.

Namely, some drawbacks of current loaders actually at least partially arise from the electronics they are carrying. Even though the electronics and related components are generally useful for shot detection and related mixing of paintballs within the container among other potential purposes, they also requires space, add to the weight and height of the construction, and may be complicated and slow to fix upon problem situation in field conditions. Indeed, rather often the electronics are situated at a dedicated compartment below the agitator that unavoidably increases the height of the overall loader. Yet, even many modern loaders do not provide any easy way to check the condition of the loader internals including the remaining number and status of paintballs in addition to different loader elements and to execute related service actions.

SUMMARY

It shall be noted that this summary is generally provided to introduce a selection of concepts that are further described below in the detailed description. However, this summary is not intended to specifically identify most important or, in particular, essential features of the claimed subject matter and thus limit the scope of the claimed matter.

Accordingly, it is generally an object to alleviate one or more prior art problems identified above. The objective is achieved with a loader device according to the embodiments of the present invention.

In one aspect, a paintball loader suitable for use on a paintball marker, comprises

• • a refillable container defining an internal space for accommodating a plurality of paintballs, said container further comprising an outlet for enabling paintballs to sequentially exit the container towards the marker,
  • an agitating member, preferably including at least one rotor fin, rotatably disposed within said container,
  • a drive mechanism including an electric motor, said drive mechanism being operable to rotate the agitating member so as to agitate one or more paintballs present in the container and facilitate their movement towards the outlet, and
  • a protrusive housing extending inside the internal space, wherein the drive mechanism is at least partially located within the housing in said internal space.

In one embodiment, the protrusive housing has substantially conical or cylindrical shape either in overall or at least relative to one or more portions thereof.

In another, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the housing extending in the space may be a closed structure with no substantial holes or openings therein. Alternatively, it may be an open structure such as a skeleton structure with a number of openings.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the housing is located on and/or adjacent to the agitating member. These two may be integrated and/or fixed together. A protrusion of the housing may define at least one agitating member such as a fin. Additionally or alternatively, the housing may partially cover or enclose the agitating member, such as the rotor axis thereof. The housing may thus also be rotatable by the electric motor and it may rotate along with the agitating element. The enclosed driving mechanism may be configured to remain static within the rotating housing when in use.

Yet in a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the housing is configured to protrude in said space substantially from a predetermined bottom of the space. The housing may be configured to extent to a predetermined height therein. The height may correspond to at least one third, half, or two thirds of the space's total height.

Still in a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the housing may comprise a number of surface forms such as protrusions and/or holes or slits to provide dynamic contact surface for the paintballs inside the container that may facilitate shaking, or agitating, the paintballs and prevent jams thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the forms may be configured to direct the balls to a predetermined direction such as towards the agitating member and/or the outlet.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the container is of modular structure comprising at least two mutually attachable and de-attachable, i.e. releasably attachable, shell portions. Additionally or alternatively, the container may comprise an internal removable body portion that may optionally accommodate, or be a substrate for, the agitating member, protrusive housing and/or the drive mechanism. Further, the internal body portion may structurally strengthen the container instead of or to further support a preferably unibody shell. The removable internal body portion may be located substantially at the bottom of the space for the paintballs, where it may define at least part of the container inner surface defining the space.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment at least one shell portion of the container is made of or at least comprises optically substantially transparent or translucent material. For example, the transmittance of the shell portion may be at least about 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or 95%. The material may include polycarbonate or acrylic, for instance. Shell portions in general may include nylon, for example.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the loader may include a sensor utilized for shot detection. The shot sensor may include e.g. a piezoelectric sensor. The sensor may be configured to convert shot-induced pressure, acceleration, strain or force to an electrical charge, i.e. electrical output, which may be monitored. In response to a detected shot, a number of predetermined actions such as jam detection procedure and/or clearing sequence may be initiated.

The sensor may be located within the container. In particular, the sensor may be located as optionally removably attached to the aforesaid internal removable body portion. The sensor may be located in the frontal area of the body portion, and the loader in general, to detect the shots fired. Yet, the sensor may be applied for other purposes than shot detecting, such purposes being detectable via similar changes in the generated and measurable electrical charge, for instance.

In a further, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the loader may include a control entity. The control entity may include a processing device and a memory device as integrated or separate elements. The control entity may be configured to detect, in response to a shot detected utilizing the aforesaid sensor, a possible jam relative to movement of the agitating member in a first direction. Further, the control entity may be configured to operate, generally and/or in response to a detected jam, the drive mechanism so as to rotate the agitating member in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

In another aspect of the present invention, a paintball loader suitable for use on a paintball marker comprises

• • a refillable container defining an internal space for accommodating a plurality of paintballs, said container further comprising an outlet for enabling paintballs to sequentially exit the container towards the marker,
  • a rotatably disposed protrusive housing extending inside the internal space from a predetermined bottom of said space and being provided with at least one fin for contacting a paintball, and
  • a drive mechanism including an electric motor, wherein the drive mechanism is at least partially located within the housing in said internal space and being operable to rotate the housing in order to agitate one or more paintballs present in the container with said at least one fin and facilitate their movement towards the outlet.

In a further aspect of the present invention, a paintball marker comprises an infeed adaptor configured to sequentially receive paintballs from a loader to be fired by the marker and further comprising an embodiment of a loader as described herein.

The infeed adaptor may directly contact the loader, or an intermediate connector may be applied.

The utility of the present invention arises from various different issues depending on each particular embodiment of the present invention. For example, the internal housing that protrudes into the space for accommodating the paintballs within the loader, conveniently accommodates different elements of the driving mechanism for operating, typically rotating, the agitating member. Accordingly, the dimensions, especially the height, of the loader may be minimized.

When moving along with the agitating member, the housing may also dynamically contact the adjacent paintballs, shake them and prevent associated jams within the container.

When embodying modular construction, the loader may be easily given a field service including disassembly, assembly, part change such as damaged shell portion change or internal body part change that may also enable changing contained failed electronics by switching from a failed component-including body to a mint body, etc.

Optically transparent or at least translucent cover material enables assessing the load status conveniently without a need to open a loading cap and have a look therethrough. By providing only a part of the cover with transparent or translucent material, which are typically rather brittle, easily scratching or otherwise sensitive in contrast to other materials, the remaining portions may be kept opaque and potentially more robust as incorporating different material.

By a shot sensor, the shots fired may be reliably detected and associated actions such as jam detection and/or jam clearing actions automatically triggered. For example, rotation of the agitation member in a direction opposite to the normal agitation direction may facilitate unjamming it. Further advantageous features of the embodiments are described hereinafter.

The expression “a number of” refers herein to any positive integer starting from one (1), e.g. to one, two, or three.

The expression “a plurality of” refers herein to any positive integer starting from two (2), e.g. to two, three, or four.

The terms “a” and “an” do not denote a limitation of quantity, but denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item.

The term “paintball” refers herein to a paintball, a re-usable training ball, or a corresponding substantially spherical element that may be loaded into and ejected via a paintball marker.

The terms “first” and “second” do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

Different embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED DRAWINGS

Next the invention is described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings in which

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a portable paintball marker and a loader in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the internals of an embodiment of a loader according to the present invention.

FIG. 3a is an axonometric view of an embodiment of a loader according to the present invention.

FIG. 3b an axonometric view of the embodiment of the loader of FIG. 3a with shell portion removed and container internals thus better indicated.

FIG. 4 is an axonometric view of an embodiment of an internal, preferably removable body part of the container.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of a loader according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 represents two top views, one with top shell portion included and one the top portion removed, of an embodiment of the loader.

FIG. 7 represents axonometric and side views of an embodiment of the loader with speed feed—provided releasably attachable shell portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a portable paintball marker 102 and paintball loader 104 coupled thereto, whereupon a system comprising the marker 102 and the loader 104 has been thus established. The marker 102 incorporates an infeed adaptor 106 for receiving an outlet tube of the loader 104. In some embodiments an intermediate, preferably easily removable, connector part such as an elbow connector may be applied for interconnecting the marker 102 and the loader 104. The infeed adaptor 106 may be fixed or replaceable. The marker 102 is typically gas-operated and comprises or connects, optionally via a hose, to a compressed gas source such as an air or CO2 bottle, optionally through a regulator valve (not shown). Yet, the marker 102 comprises an actuator such as a trigger for activating the shooting mechanism to propel a paintball towards the target via the barrel of the marker 102.

With reference to FIG. 2, at 201, a block diagram of selected internals of an embodiment of the loader according to the present invention is shown with emphasis on functional aspects thereof.

The loader comprises a shot sensor 208 utilized to detect a shot fired with the marker. A shot detection by the shot sensor 208 may be optionally used to trigger the rotation of the agitating member 216, such as rotor-extending fin, in a first direction to facilitate feeding paintballs, i.e. facilitate their movement, towards the outlet of the loader. A shot detection by the shot sensor 208 may also be applied to trigger detecting a potential jam of the agitating member 216 in at least the first direction of rotation.

The shot sensor 208 may apply at least one detection-enabling technique or procedure selected from the group consisting of: optical detection, sound detection, movement detection, acceleration detection, shot-indicating signal acquisition from the marker or other external entity providing preferably an explicit indication of a shot, and mechanical detection. Movement detection may include feed, or in particular drive, mechanism movement detection or fin member movement detection, for example. Acceleration may be detected using an accelerometer. A skilled person will appreciate the fact that different detection techniques may be also combined and/or they may technically overlap.

In one preferred embodiment, the shot sensor 208 is configured to exploit piezoelectric effect. The sensor 208 includes a piezoelectric sensor with one or more elements translating mechanical stress induced by the shot into electricity.

In one embodiment of the loader, the agitating member 216, or “agitator”, is a rotatable element that may include a fin defining a surface for contacting a painball. The agitating member 216 optionally comprises a body such as a disc or wheel-shaped, or alternatively shaped, rotor with at least one, but preferably multiple, fin protrusions optionally evenly spread to point in different directions on a plane around the body, substantially covering a full circle. A plurality of fins may thus define intervening slots for accommodating paintballs, e.g. one or two paintballs per slot. The agitating member 216 may be jammed due to e.g. a plurality of paintballs located adjacent to the outlet in a jamming orientation mutually preventing their exit through the outlet and also locking the agitating member 216 in its place in spite of one or more activation attempts in a first direction of rotation, for instance. The activation attempts of the agitating member 216 in the first direction of rotation may have been configured to take place automatically, as controlled by a control entity 210, in response to a detected shot. Now, the rotation of the agitating member 216 in the opposite, second direction may clear the jam, enable a paintball to enter the outlet and provide rotation of the agitating member 216 again in the first direction for shifting other paintballs within the container. The control entity 210 may be configured to control the drive mechanism 214 and thus the rotation of agitating member 216 in said first and second directions.

The control entity 210 may be configured to incorporate jam detection and/or clearing control logic 212. In terms of hardware, the control entity 210 may comprise at least one processing device 220 and related memory 222, such as processor-integrated memory or a dedicated memory chip, for storing instructions and/or other data. A computer program product may be provided and stored in a carrier medium such as a floppy disc, memory card, a memory chip, a memory stick, a hard drive, or an optical disc, for controlling at least one processing element of loader, and thus the related functionality of the loader, via associated software.

The control entity 210 may comprise at least one processing element selected from the group consisting of: a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic chip, and a DSP (digital signal processor). The control entity 210 may apply an unjam sequence for clearing the jam, the sequence comprising the aforesaid rotation action of the agitating member 216 in the second direction and at least one other action such as a rotation action again in the first direction. The unjam sequence may thus comprise a plurality of actions, e.g. the actions of alternately rotating the agitating member 216 in said first and second direction. The sequence may be executed until a predetermined clear condition or multiple clear conditions are met or until the end of the sequence. A clear condition may relate to monitoring the voltage or current at the terminals of the used electric motor as to be explained hereinafter, for instance.

Indeed, the control entity 210 may be configured to operate the drive mechanism 214 so as to rotate the agitating member 216 in said second direction responsively to a single detected jam. Alternatively, the control entity 210 may be configured to operate the drive mechanism 214 so as to rotate the agitating member 216 in said second direction not until multiple, subsequent jams and/or generally, the fulfillment of two or more parallel or serial conditions have been detected, e.g. two or more jams, which may relate to two or more subsequent shots detected, respectively. In that case, multiple, subsequent jam detections having no intermediate non-jam detections between them may be utilized as an indicative of a jam situation that is to be solved by the rotation of the agitating member 216 in the second direction. Alternatively, e.g. a predetermined minimum number of jam detections per a predetermined time window may be utilized as the indicative of a jam situation to be solved by the rotation in the second direction no matter whether one or more shot-related non-jam detections have occurred within the time window as well.

In one embodiment the jam status may be determined based on an indication of the used electric motor's (in drive mechanism) terminal voltage or other measurable quantity such as current. Alternatively or additionally, one or more other techniques may be applied for determining the jam status. For instance, the rotor of the motor may be provided with a number of magnets, whereupon e.g. a Hall effect sensor may be applied for monitoring the changes of the associated magnetic field upon rotational movement of the rotor. Predetermined changes and/or lack of changes may be mapped into a jam free or jam condition of the rotor/motor and connected agitating member, respectively, for instance. As a further option, e.g. optical technology may be utilized.

The jam detector entity 212, as potentially physically implemented by the control entity 210, may be configured to detect a jam of the agitating member 216 in the first direction of rotation. Jam detection routine may be executed in response to a shot when the drive mechanism 214 should be able rotate the agitating member 216 in the first direction. The jam detector entity 212 may apply at least one jam detection technique selected from the group consisting of: optical detection, electrical detection, movement detection, and mechanical detection. The jam detector entity 212 may thus be connected to at least one sensor such as a sensor selected from the group consisting of: a movement sensor, an optical sensor, a mechanical sensor, and an electrical sensor. For example, the jam detector entity 212 may be configured to monitor the terminal voltage or other quantity, such as current, relative to the motor of the drive mechanism 214, and thus comprise a related sensing logic at least functionally electrically coupled to the terminals of the motor, for example.

Among other options, a monitored signal indicative of the aforesaid quantity that changes more rapidly or slower than a predetermined threshold rate may be deemed as an indication of a jam situation. The signal may, for example, decay or fade in depending on the polarity of the measurement arrangement relative to the terminal voltage, current, or derived other quantity. Additionally or alternatively, a monitored value that is lower or higher than predetermined threshold(s) (and/or optionally at the threshold) optionally at a predetermined instant e.g. subsequent to the activation of the motor for rotating the agitating member 216 in said first direction may be deemed as an indication of a jam situation. The jam may be caused by a jammed agitating member 216 effectively preventing also thereto mechanically connected and likewise jammed motor internals (rotor of the motor) from producing a characteristic non-jam situation voltage or other measurable quantity monitored relative to the terminals thereof. Respectively, a jam recovery may be detected from the re-appearance of the characteristic non-jam quantity at the motor terminals upon rotation of the agitating member 216 in the first direction.

The control entity 210 may be configured to operate the drive mechanism at least upon a jam as detected by the jam detector 212 thereof. Further, the control entity 210 may also be configured to control the drive mechanism in relation to the rotation of the agitating member 216 in the first direction.

The rotor, some other rotatable element of the drive mechanism 214, and/or the agitating member 216 itself may be optionally provided with at least one mirror element configured to reflect or otherwise redirect incident electromagnetic radiation such as light therefrom. A radiation source such as a laser may be provided and configured to emit radiation towards the mirror-provided entity such that upon rotation movement thereof the at least one mirror intermittently reflects at least part of the incident radiation towards a detector. The detector may be positioned in the loader so as to capture such radiation. From the properties of the detected radiation, e.g. from the frequency of the detected radiation, rotation of the rotor and connected agitating member may be determined and mapped into a jam and jam-free condition, the latter being a likely interpretation upon about zero frequency detection, for example.

A number of additional checks may be generally applied for judging a positive shot detection result. For example, predetermined orientation(s) of the marker, such as a predetermined upside or vertical position, which may also be detected using an accelerometer or gyroscope, for example, may preclude a positive shot detection and indicate e.g. misdetection if at least one positive shot detection indication such as a characterizing sensor 208 output was obtained, because the user of the marker 102 is hardly really shooting with such an unusual marker orientation typically indicative of merely inspecting or carrying the marker instead of shooting. Further, even if the user indeed was shooting, the operation of the drive mechanism 214 would not substantially facilitate feeding the paintballs to the marker or clearing the jam in that kind of unusual orientation.

The drive mechanism 214 such as one or more electric motors, drive shafts and/or gears are configured for rotating the associated agitating member 216, potentially comprising at least one fin protrusion configured to contact paintball(s) within the paintball container of the loader. The shape and/or size of the fins may be determined embodiment-specifically. For example, straight or curved shapes may be utilized.

In one embodiment, the drive mechanism 214 is operated intermittently. For instance, at least one triggering condition such as the aforementioned shot detection condition or a jam detection condition may be utilized for the purpose. The operation may be continued for a predetermined period and/or until some other termination condition, such as predetermined traveled angle of rotation or completion of an operation sequence such as an anti jam sequence, and/or detection of clear (unjam) status of the agitating member 216 relative to the first direction of rotation, is fulfilled.

In another embodiment, the drive mechanism 214 is operated in the first direction of rotation substantially continuously and/or at least independent from shots, i.e. it may be instructed to agitate the paintballs even if no shot has been detected or other triggering condition has been fulfilled. For example, user input via the UI of the loader, such as via a button or e.g. voice input, may be required for activating/deactivating the rotation. Then upon jam detection, the anti jam measure may be temporarily performed.

In one embodiment, the agitating member 216 may be configured to agitate paintballs in the loader such that the associated fin(s) shift the contacted paintballs substantially towards the outlet. The path of the paintballs may be curvilinear and follow the shapes of the agitating member 216 and/or support surface (e.g. at the bottom of the internal space), for example.

In another, either supplementary or alternative, embodiment the agitating member 216 is configured to agitate paintballs in the loader such that they are substantially mixed, or “shaken”, which still generally facilitates their movement towards the outlet as the mutual jams thereof and their probability around the outlet are decreased.

The loader 201 may optionally further comprise a UI being in at least functional connection with the control entity 210. The UI may include at least one UI element, such as an UI element selected from the group consisting of: a display, a touch display, a touch pad, a (status) light such as a LED, a microphone, a loudspeaker, a knob, a button, and a switch. Different settings of the loader may be controlled via the UI. For example, a training mode may be entered in response to a predetermined input through the UI. The UI element(s) may be at least functionally connected to one or more other entities and/or elements of the loader such as the control entity 210 and related processing element 220.

As one option a piezoelectric sensor or other shock sensor may be utilized as an UI element of the loader. Predetermined direction and/or amount of sensed rotational movement and/or axial movement, such as a knock, which may induce acceleration, may be configured to trigger an action such as controlling a predetermined setting of the loader. In one embodiment, predetermined shock or acceleration input may be converted into a selection of a setting to be altered. In a supplementary or alternative embodiment, the setting itself may be altered responsive to predetermined acceleration.

As one tangible example, rotation or knock of the loader in one direction may switch between several editable settings of the loader, whereas rotation or knock in another, e.g. reverse or transversal, distinguishable direction may change the value of the current setting.

Feedback concerning the received user input may be provided to the user via one or more LEDs, for instance. A LED may be switched on/off and/or dimmed in response to the input. A color of a multi-color LED may be adjusted. Feedback may be additionally or alternatively provided via tactile feedback (e.g. via a vibrating unit), other visual feeback (e.g. via a display), and/or audible feedback (e.g. via a loudspeaker or a buzzer).

FIG. 3a is an isometric view 301 of an embodiment of a loader, such as the loader of FIGS. 1 and 2. The loader comprises at least two removably attached shell portions defining a container with internal space for accommodating paintballs, namely a first portion 312a and a second portion 312b that may also incorporate e.g. a hinge-provided and/or spring-loaded lid 312c, or a speed feed arrangement as reviewed in connection with FIG. 7, on top for accessing the container internals and (re)filling the associated internal space with paintballs when necessary. For instance, the second portion 312b may consist of or comprise substantially optically transparent or translucent material for facilitating checking the internal status of the container by the user. In some embodiments, specific side window(s) with such material may be provided to either shell portion 312a, 312b. Alternatively or additionally, the lid 312c may comprise or be of the aforementioned material. Different portions 312a, 312b may be removably fastened together utilizing e.g. flexible, edge-provided protrusions or other configuration of locking protrusion in one portion to engage the compatible recess or hole in the other portion. Advantageously the fastening elements used enable tool-free coupling and decoupling of the associated parts being thus designed genuinely suitable for field conditions.

An outlet portion 324 funneling paintballs towards the marker may be positioned along the longitudinal axis of the (bottom of the) container, the axis optionally passing through the center of gravity of the loader. Further, the outlet 324 may be optionally positioned generally closer to the front than the rear of the loader. Still, the outlet 324 may be offset from the possibly centrally (center of gravity) positioned vertical axis of the agitating member and related optional abutment structure on the inner floor of the container space for guiding a paintball towards the outlet, e.g. an essentially circular sink-shaped structure, slightly towards the front of the loader. In return, manufacturing of the loader in view of size minimization and component placement may be facilitated. Yet, as the outlet portion 324 or an extension thereof may also form a substantially straight and vertical, when in use, tube co-operating with a compatible receiving infeed portion of the marker, it may function as a mounting member of the loader relative to the marker. The aforesaid offset thereby sets the loader towards the user in contrast to a central placement of the outlet tube 324. Consequently, the loader may be easier to maintain behind a cover during action such as firing, for instance.

FIG. 3b illustrates the embodiment of the loader of FIG. 3a with shell portion removed revealing some container internals for visual inspection. The space 330 for the paintballs may be at least partially limited by an internal body portion 318 that is preferably removable and/or accommodates the shot sensor such as piezoelectric sensor preferably in the frontal part thereof. The space 330, or the surface delimiting the space, may approximately have or contain an ellipsoidal shape that the internal body portion 318 may optionally re-shape or change. The internal body portion 318 may comprise or substantially form a planar, elongated shape. The body portion 318 or at least part thereof may be configured in a tilted (inclined) position relative to the horizontal plane, when the loader is in typical predetermined use position, i.e. upright position, to direct the paintballs substantially towards the agitating member and the outlet. The body 318 may indeed be further configured to host the drive mechanism, related protrusive housing 316 thereof and the agitating member as to be explained in more detail hereinbelow.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view 401 providing a closer look at an embodiment of the internal, preferably removable body 418 with accommodated optionally removable elements. First, the shot sensor may be 408 located in a dedicated slot, hole, or other attachment point of the body 418, optionally in the frontal portion thereof as shown. The housing 416b of the drive mechanism may be provided as a protrusion from the plane defined by the body 418 so as to protrude in the space defined by the body 418 and a number of shell portions when the body 418 is located within the container of the loader. Agitating member such as a fin 416c of a rotor 416a may also be provided to the body 418, e.g. to a hole or cavity thereof.

As alluded in the figure by a dotted line representing a potential boundary between adjacent elements, the housing 416b may be provided on the agitating member 416a, 416c (or on portion thereof), whereupon they may rotate together and the housing 416b may be optionally configured to cover or enclose at least portion of the agitating member such as the rotor (body) 416a. Alternatively, the agitating member(s) such as the fin(s) 416c may be directly fixed to the housing 416b without dedicated separable rotor 416a as the housing 416b may act as such a rotor body for the fins 416c. In some embodiments, the fins 416c may be integrally formed from the protrusions of the housing 416b utilizing the same or different material. Generally, the agitating member 416c and the housing 416b may be thus integrated together. The electric motor within the housing 416b may be configured to remain static during the rotation of the housing 416b and/or agitating member 416a, 416c. The drive shaft of the electric motor may extend inside the housing 416b and be coupled thereto via the top of the housing 416b, for example.

In some embodiments the internal protrusive housing 416b may also contain one or more other elements of the loader such as the battery and/or control entity including e.g. a microcontroller and related memory. Alternatively, the control entity, various other electronics, and/or power source thereof, such as at least one battery, may be located elsewhere within the loader, optionally disposed at/attached to the preferably removable body 418.

In the shown example, the fins 415c are substantially cylindrical, solid or hollow, pieces made of preferably elastic material such as plastic. The flexibility of the fins may be adjusted by proper dimensioning and material selections as desired.

The fins should be rigid enough to direct the contacted paintballs but flexible enough not to break them upon contact. The shape and/or dimensions of the fins may generally differ depending on the embodiment and even mutually different fins may be applied together in the same embodiment.

In some embodiments, each fin may generally define a first contact surface, such as a substantially vertical surface when the loader is in intended use position, for contacting and propelling a paintball upon rotation in the first direction and a second contact surface for contacting and propelling a paintball upon rotation in the second direction. The second contact surface may comprise a curved and/or inclined surface configured to raise a contacted ball towards the container top during the rotation in the second direction via a wedge-like function. This configuration may thus further facilitate clearing the jam. Alternatively or additionally, the first contact surface may comprise a curved and/or inclined surface configured to guide a contacted paintball towards the bottom of the loader, i.e. towards the outlet.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway cross-sectional side view 501 of an embodiment of a loader according to the present invention. An outlet tube 524 protrudes from the container of the loader for contacting an intermediate connector or directly the infeed adaptor of the marker. Solid item 514 represents the drive mechanism within the housing 516b disposed over the agitating fin 516c.

FIG. 6 represents two top views of the elongated loader in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, i.e. one view 601a with top shell portion attached and the other 601b with top shell portion removed and the upper parts of the underlying agitating members 616c and housing 616b of the drive mechanism exposed. The preferred modular structure of the loader enables dynamically selecting proper parts for each gaming scenario and replacing damaged parts easily. For example, multiple alternative shell portions may be of different size or shape to facilitate adapting the paintball capacity and the overall size or shape of the loader on the fly. Additionally or alternatively, alternative shell portions may comprise different materials with different properties such as rigidity, transparency, etc.

FIG. 7 represents axonometric 701a and side 701b views of an embodiment of the loader with a speed feed feature 712. The speed feed 712 may define a substantially planar, circular or otherwise shaped opening for feeding paintballs into the loader. From the circumference of the opening a number of flexible fingers 714 may be arranged to extend towards the center optionally in the aforesaid plane.

The dimensions and flexibility of the fingers 714 may be configured so as to enable inserting a feed tube into the loader and maintaining the fed paintballs within the loader afterwards. Opening and closing a lid is thus unnecessary for supplying more paintballs into the loader. The fingers 714 may have a curved shape as illustrated in the figure, for example.

Generally the speed feed 712 may be provided instead of a e.g. a spring-loaded lid to the loader's top and/or back, optionally as/to a releasably attachable shell portion. Thus the speed feed 712 may be conveniently changed to a standard lid e.g. in wet conditions and vice versa.

The scope of the present invention is determined by the attached claims together with the equivalents thereof A person skilled in the art will appreciate the fact that the explicitly disclosed embodiments were constructed for illustrative purposes only, and the scope will cover further embodiments and equivalents that best suit each particular use case of the invention.

Yet, one shall understand that in some variants of the disclosed solution, the internal protrusive housing could cover elements other than the drive mechanism, be filled with solid material(s), include structural supports, or remain substantially empty, hollow structure. Moreover, in some variations there could be a plurality of generally suggested-like protrusive housings within the container with mutually substantially similar or different internals and/or functions.

Claims

1. A paintball loader suitable for use on a paintball marker, comprising

a refillable container defining an internal space for accommodating a plurality of paintballs, said container further comprising an outlet for enabling paintballs to sequentially exit the container towards the marker,

an agitating member including at least one rotor fin rotatably disposed within said container,

a drive mechanism including an electric motor, said drive mechanism being operable to rotate the agitating member so as to agitate one or more paintballs present in the container and facilitate their movement towards the outlet, and

a protrusive housing extending inside the internal space, wherein the drive mechanism is at least partially located within the housing in said internal space.

2. The paintball loader of claim 1, wherein the protrusive housing or at least portion thereof defines a substantially conical, truncated conical or a cylindrical shape extending within the internal space.

3. The paintball loader of claim 1, wherein the protrusive housing comprises a number of surface forms, optionally recesses, projections, slits or holes, to provide dynamic contact surface for the paintballs so as to move them.

4. The paintball loader of claim 1, wherein the protrusive housing is attached to or integrated with the agitating member and configured to rotate along with the agitating member.

5. The paintball loader of claim 1, wherein the protrusive housing is attached to or integrated with the agitating member and configured to rotate along with the agitating member, and further wherein the drive mechanism located within the housing is configured to remain static upon rotation of the housing.

6. The paintball loader of claim 1, wherein the agitating member comprises at least one flexible, optionally cylindrical, fin to contact and guide a paintball.

7. The paintball loader of claim 1, wherein the protrusive housing protrudes from a predetermined bottom of said internal space for the paintballs.

8. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising a modular shell structure with at least two releasably, optionally tool freely, attachable shell portions optionally of different material.

9. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising a removable shell portion containing optically substantially transparent or translucent material, optionally polycarbonate or acrylic, to enable investigating the status of loader internals, optionally paintballs.

10. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising an internal, removable body portion configured to accommodate at least one element selected from the group consisting of: agitating member, protrusive housing, drive mechanism, electric motor, and shot sensor.

11. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising an internal, removable body portion forming at least portion of the inner surface of the container defining the internal space for paintballs.

12. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising a shot sensor for shot detection.

13. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising a shot sensor incorporating a piezoelectric sensor.

14. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising a shot sensor and being configured, in response to a detected shot, to trigger the drive mechanism to rotate the agitating member in a first direction.

15. The paintball loader of claim 1, configured to determine a jam condition of the agitating member at least partially based on terminal voltage, terminal current, or other measurable quantity associated with the electric motor.

16. The paintball loader of claim 1, wherein the agitating member is configured to agitate one or more contacted paintballs present in the container based on at least one technique selected from the group consisting of: shifting the contacted paintballs substantially towards the outlet, and displacing the contacted paintballs so as to prevent or clear their mutual jams relative to the outlet.

17. The paintball loader of claim 1, configured to rotate the agitating member in a first direction to facilitate one or more paintballs' movement towards the outlet of the loader, and to apply an unjam procedure for clearing a jam, the procedure comprising a rotation action of the agitating member in a second, opposite direction.

18. The paintball loader of claim 1, comprising a cover portion defining an opening for feeding paintballs into the internal space with a number of flexible finger members extending in the plane of the opening from the circumference thereof substantially towards the center thereof.

19. A paintball loader suitable for use on a paintball marker, comprising

a refillable container defining an internal space for accommodating a plurality of paintballs, said container further comprising an outlet for enabling paintballs to sequentially exit the container towards the marker,

a rotatably disposed protrusive housing extending inside the internal space from a predetermined bottom of said space and being provided with at least one fin for contacting a paintball, and

a drive mechanism including an electric motor, wherein the drive mechanism is at least partially located within the housing in said internal space and being operable to rotate the housing in order to agitate one or more paintballs present in the container with said at least one fin and facilitate their movement towards the outlet.

20. A paintball marker comprising

an infeed adaptor configured to sequentially receive paintballs from a loader to be fired by the marker, and

the loader comprising a refillable container defining an internal space for accommodating a plurality of paintballs, said container further comprising an outlet for enabling paintballs to sequentially exit the container towards the marker, an agitating member including at least one rotor fin rotatably disposed within said container, a drive mechanism including an electric motor, said drive mechanism being operable to rotate the agitating member so as to agitate one or more paintballs present in the container and facilitate their movement towards the outlet, and a protrusive housing extending inside the internal space, wherein the drive mechanism is at least partially located within the housing in said internal space.