US20110056468A1

US20110056468A1 - Paint ball feeding buffer device

Info

Publication number: US20110056468A1
Application number: US12/003,789
Authority: US
Inventors: Chao-Hsiung Cho
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-12-31
Filing date: 2007-12-31
Publication date: 2011-03-10

Abstract

A paint ball feeding buffer device, especially used for a paint-ball gun, is a magazine which loads a plurality of paint balls and provides for firing continuously. The magazine includes a roll-up device which restricts a stroke of an elastic advancing device, and the roll-up device is provided with a damping device which allows an initial stroke of the advancing device to be buffered, so as to prevent the paint balls from being squeezed, deformed, and ejected, by pressure which is released instantly.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paint ball feeding buffer device, and more particularly to a magazine which is used in a paint-ball gun to load a plurality of paint balls, and is provided with a roll-up device having a damping member to buffer an advancing device, so as to stably release a thrust in an advancing process such that the paint balls can be rammed smoothly.
b) Description of the Prior Art
To allow a paint-ball gun to emulate a real gun and to fire continuously, a magazine which can load a plurality of paint balls is used. The magazine is accessed below a gun to form a necessary design for emulation and firing continuously. The paint ball is normally a plastic polymer enclosing a dye, and its material can be deformed or broken when being squeezed by an external force, such that when hitting on a human body, the human body can be prevented from being harmed and a point of impact can be determined by a colored powder. Therefore, a shell of the paint ball is made by a non-hard material, and the paint ball will be easily deformed when being squeezed by the external force. The paint balls of an ordinary paint-ball gun are fed from a funnel located above a bore and into the bore by gravity, so as to maintain roundness by loading the paint balls into the bore from free falling.
However, as the funnel is located above the bore, the emulation is lost. Accordingly, recently there is an emulated magazine which is latched below the gun to form the emulation, and can load a plurality of paint balls for firing continuously.
An ordinary magazine is shown in FIG. 1, which includes primarily a cartridge 1, an interior of which is formed with a U-shape loading chamber 5 for loading the paint balls. An outlet of the loading chamber 5 is connected to a connector 2 of a bore to feed the paint balls. The loading chamber 5 is a U-shape loop, and a quantity of the paint balls to be loaded is determined by a ratio of a length of the loading chamber 5 to a diameter of the paint ball. Before loading the paint balls, the loading chamber 5 should be emptied, and after loading, a pushing force should be available to push out the paint balls one by one. The pushing force is resulted by an advancing device 40.
The advancing device 40 is arranged in a linear path of the loading chamber 5, and includes a toggle spring 4, an interior of which is sheathed with a pull string 41. A free end of the pull string 41 is connected with a pushing head 42, an end of the toggle spring 4 operates on the pushing head 42, and the other end is abutted at a corner close to a roll-up device 3. The roll-up device 3 is located at a rear end of the advancing device 40, and can roll up the pull string 41 to resist a tension of the toggle spring 4 to pull back the pushing head 42 indirectly. In this process, the toggle spring 4 is compressed, and the pushing head 42 is pulled rearwards by the roll-up device 3 to empty the loading chamber 5, thereby loading a plurality of paint balls by free falling.
Referring to FIG. 2, the roll-up device 3 pulls back the pushing head 42 to compress the toggle spring 4, allowing the loading chamber 5 to yield a space for loading a plurality of round-shape paint balls 100. The roll-up device 3 can be restricted when the pushing head 42 is pulled back to any retreat point or an extreme point of retreat, and through releasing by a release button 342, an outward expansion force will be formed to the pushing head 42 to squeeze out the paint balls 100, 100A arranged in the loading chamber 5. After the connector 2 enters into the bore for being locked into a position, the release button 342 will be pressed by a corresponding mechanism of the bore to release the roll-up device 3, allowing the pushing head 42 to form a feeding thrust.
At an instant moment that the release button 342 is released, stored energy of the spring which is compressed will be released instantly. That instant pressure will at least compress a neighboring paint ball 100A, and that paint ball 100A will be deformed easily. After it is deformed, the paint ball 100A will be expanded radially to rub at a corresponding inner chamber surface of the loading chamber 5 to form a blockage. Therefore, an agility for pushing the paint balls outwards will be lost.
Furthermore, if the expansion force of the toggle spring 4 is even bigger, then in addition to the aforementioned shortcoming, it is possible that all of the nearby paint balls will be deformed, thereby forming a more severe blockage that prevents from pushing the paint balls.
In addition, before the cartridge 1 enters into a barrel, if the release button 342 is touched mistakenly by an external force, then the toggle spring 4 will be released instantly, the outlet will not be restricted at all, and all of the paint balls will be forced out instantly.
Referring to FIG. 3, the roll-up device 3 is provided with a winding wheel 31 which provides for winding the pull string 41, and is coaxially assembled with a ratchet 32. The ratchet 32 is pivoted coaxially with the winding wheel 31 on a roll-up seat 30 by a shaft 61, the roll-up seat 30 is provided with a transfixing hole 33 to be fixed on the aforementioned cartridge. A toggle rod 34 is located at a side opposite to an operation side of the ratchet 32, is assembled at the roll-up seat 30 through a pivot 340, and is suppressed at a certain direction by an elastic member 35. A toggle end 341 and the release button 342 are disposed respectively at two sides of the pivot 340, and the toggle end 341 is locked at any groove of a tooth of the ratchet 32. As a result, after the winding wheel 31 is rolled back, it will be limited at one direction by the toggle rod 34 to stop rotating, and when the release button 342 is pressed down, the toggle end 341 will be escaped from the ratchet 32, allowing the ratchet 32 to operate freely, which is same as that the winding wheel 31 is released.
For the prior art, at an instant moment that the release button 342 is released, the pull string 41 will be quickly moved out momentarily, as shown in FIG. 2, and the pushing head 42 will acquire a mechanical work, which is equal to a momentary force multiplied by a distance of displacement, to form an instant depression to a neighboring paint ball, allowing that paint ball to be deformed, thereby resulting in the aforementioned blockage condition.
The abovementioned is an ordinary design of a paint ball magazine, which will compress the paint balls to change their appearances, and form the blockage condition, accordingly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a paint ball feeding buffer device utilizing a damping member located in a roll-up device, to form a damping function to a free rotating speed of a winding wheel or a shaft, thereby prohibiting a pushing head from forming a momentary pressure to a neighboring paint ball.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a paint ball feeding buffer device having a damping member, which is a ring and can be located at a side of a winding wheel or a ratchet opposite to a roll-up seat, so as to form a friction to result in a damping function.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a paint ball feeding buffer device having a damping member which can be located directly between a seat and a shaft, to slow down a rotating speed of the shaft by rubbing on a surface of the shaft with a radial force.
To enable a further understanding of the said objectives and the technological methods of the invention herein, the brief description of the drawings below is followed by the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a magazine structure.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of a magazine loading paint balls.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of an operation of a roll-up device with respect to a ratchet.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of elements of the present invention that are assembled.

FIG. 5 shows a side view of a roll-up device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows another side view of a roll-up device of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 4, a roll-up device 3 includes primarily an inverted U-shape roll-up seat 30, two sides of which are extended respectively with cross-over plates 30A, 30B, each having a through- hole 3A, 3B. An interior of the roll-up seat 30 is formed with a slot for pivoting with a winding wheel 31 which is pivoted at the seat 30 by a shaft 61 and a locking member 610. A side of the winding wheel 31 is provided with a ratchet 32 which is further connected at the shaft 61, along with the winding wheel 31, to be assembled into one unit or to be formed into a linkage condition.
At an end surface of the winding wheel 31 or the ratchet 32 is disposed with a damping member 6 which is elastic and results in compression through a locking force by connecting the shaft 61 and the cross-over plates 30A, 30B. After compression, one tension operates at a direction on an opposite surface of the winding wheel 31, and the other tension operates on an opposite side of the seat 30 or the cross-over plates 30A, 30B. The two tensions are back to back, and point toward the winding wheel 31, to damp a rotating speed of the winding wheel 31. By that damping function, at an instant moment that a release button 342 (as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) is released, an instant impulse of an advancing device 40 will be slowed down, so as to increase a time of displacement in a stroke of a pushing head 42, thereby reducing impact energy of the advancing device 40 to keep an integrity of the paint balls.
The damping member 6 can be a ring, with its inner diameter crossing over an outer diameter of the shaft 61, and rub on a side surface of an opposite end of the winding wheel 31 or the ratchet 32 (as shown in FIG. 5). The winding wheel 31 provides for winding a pull string 41 which is collected and released through an auxiliary function of a toggle spring 4. When operating the collecting and releasing, the pull string 41 can be rolled up by a roll-up button 62 located at an outer end of the shaft 61. The roll-up button 62 can be provided with a turning plate 620 to be grabbed by fingers for rolling up the pull string 41.
The damping member 6 is located at an end surface of the winding wheel 31, opposite to a surface of the cross-over plate 30B. After locking by the locking member 610, an indirect damping function will be formed between the end surface of the winding wheel 31 and the opposite surface of the cross-over plate 30B, to reduce a rotating speed of the winding wheel 31, thereby acquiring the damping effect. A tightening force of the locking member 610 can change a locking force with which the cross-over plate 30B compresses the damping member 6, and when the winding wheel 31 is tightly locked, the rotating speed of the winding wheel 31 can be controlled significantly slowly. In addition, a friction force formed by the damping member 6 should be smaller than an expansion force of the toggle spring 4.
The aforementioned damping member 6 can be disposed at the opposite surface of the winding wheel 31 and the cross-over plate 30B, or the opposite surface of the ratchet 32 and the cross-over plate 30A. By a locking force along an axis of the shaft 61 and the locking member 610, the damping member 6 is compressed to form an elastic compression friction force.
Referring to FIG. 6, the cross-over plates 30A, 30B at the two sides of the seat 30 can be provided with a pivot 36 which is separated with the shaft 61 by the ring-shape damping member 6. By an elastic deformation of the damping member 6, a damping function can be formed to the shaft 61, slowing down a rotating speed of the shaft 61. Furthermore, the winding wheel 31 and the shaft 61 are connected coaxially, which can correspondingly reduce a rotating speed of the winding wheel 31, thereby forming a radial damping function.
It is of course to be understood that the embodiments described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be effected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A paint ball feeding buffer device, especially a buffer device which forms a damping effect to an elastic advancing device in a paint-ball magazine, comprising a cartridge, with a connector disposed at an outlet; a U-shape loading chamber for loading a plurality of paint balls; an advancing device which is distributed along a linear path of the loading chamber by a pull string, with a free end of the pull string being assembled with a pushing head, a path of the pull string being provided with a toggle spring, an end of the spring expanding the pushing head, and the other end being abutted at a rear end of the loading chamber; a roll-up device, which is provided with a winding wheel connected at the other end of the pull string to resist an expansion force of the toggle spring and to pull and release the pushing head through the pull string, with the winding wheel being provided with a toggle rod to restrict a rolling and releasing of the winding wheel; the roll-up device further including a damping member to restrict a rotating speed of the winding wheel.

2. The paint ball feeding buffer device according to claim 1, wherein the roll-up device further includes an inverted U-shape roll-up seat, two sides of which are extended with cross-over plates, each having a through-hole; the winding wheel and a ratchet being pivoted by a shaft and a locking member, and the damping member being located between inner sides of the cross-over plates.

3. The paint ball feeding buffer device according to claim 1, wherein a damping size of the damping member is adjusted by the locking member.

4. The paint ball feeding buffer device according to claim 1, wherein the damping member is a ring of an elastic body, and is coaxially located at an end of the winding wheel.

5. The paint ball feeding buffer device according to claim 2, wherein the damping member is a ring of an elastic body, and is coaxially located at an end of the winding wheel.

6. The paint ball feeding buffer device according to claim 1, wherein the damping member is a ring of an elastic body, and is coaxially located at an end of the ratchet.

7. The paint ball feeding buffer device according to claim 2, wherein the damping member is a ring of an elastic body, and is coaxially located at an end of the ratchet.

8. The paint ball feeding buffer device according to claim 1, wherein the roll-up device further includes an inverted U-shape roll-up seat, two sides of which are extended with the cross-over plates, each having a through-hole; the winding wheel and the ratchet being pivoted by the shaft and the locking member, the damping member being in a ring shape and located on a pivot between the shaft and the cross-over plate, and an inner ring surface of the damping member operating on an outer circumference of the shaft.