Gun sight

Abstract

A sighting device for a paint ball or other gun which uses optics to allow a user to sight along the top of the paint ball gun, around the feed tube or other obstruction along the top of the gun. The device is an optical reflective device which reflects an image around the paint ball feed tube to present an image to the gun user which appears directly above the top of the gun.

1 . A sighting device for a gun with a top-of-barrel obstruction to sighting, the gun being comprised of a gun barrel with a longitudinal axis, a gun handle with a longitudinal axis attached to the gun barrel, forming a sighting plane which passes through both the axis of the gun barrel and the gun handle, and a gun body, with the sighting device comprising:
 a sight body;   a gun mount bracket for securing the sight body to the gun body; and   an optics system, comprising a plurality of reflective surfaces for presenting an image to an eyepiece adjacent the rear of the barrel and above said gun barrel and in said sighting plane, by reflecting an image horizontally around said top-of-barrel obstruction.   
   
   
       2 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said sight body includes an input window in the sighting plane in front of said top-of-barrel obstruction. 
   
   
       3 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said sight body includes an input window positioned to one side of the sighting plane. 
   
   
       4 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said gun mount bracket secures the sight body to the feed tube of a paint ball gun. 
   
   
       5 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said gun mount bracket secures the sight body to the gun body. 
   
   
       6 . A sighting device for a paint ball gun with a top-of-barrel sighting obstruction in the form of a feed tube, the paint ball gun being comprised of a gun barrel with a longitudinal axis, a gun handle with a longitudinal axis attached to the gun barrel, forming a sighting plane which passes through both the axis of the gun barrel and the gun handle, a gun body, a paint ball hopper, and a feed tube connected to said hopper and attached to the top of said gun barrel, with the sighting device comprising:
 a sight body;   a gun mount bracket for securing the sight body to the gun body; and   an optics system, comprising an input window in the sighting plane in front of said top-of-barrel obstruction, and a plurality of reflective surfaces for presenting an image to an eyepiece adjacent the rear of the barrel and above said gun barrel and in said sighting plane, by reflecting an image horizontally around said top-of-barrel obstruction.   
   
   
       7 . The sighting device of  claim 6  in which said gun mount bracket secures the sight body to the feed tube of a paint ball gun. 
   
   
       8 . The sighting device of  claim 6  in which said gun mount bracket secures the sight body to the gun body. 
   
   
       9 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said sight body is configured to be reversible, so it can be turned 180 degrees and go around said top-of-barrel obstruction to the left or to the right. 
   
   
       10 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said optics system further comprises a front lens on an input end of said sight body which magnifies an image and passes it to said reflective surfaces of said optics system, and a rear lens in an output end of said sight body, for focusing and displaying said image in an eyepiece. 
   
   
       11 . The sighting device of  claim 10  in which said front lens, reflective surface, and said rear lens are configured as a single unitary optics piece with a hollow interior. 
   
   
       12 . The sighting device of  claim 10  in which said front sight, rear sight and reflective surfaces are comprised of a transparent solid, configured to bend the light of an image entering the front lens around the feed tube, with the rear lens reforming the image in the eyepiece. 
   
   
       13 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which the optics system comprises at least three reflective surfaces for routing an image around said top-of-barrel obstruction. 
   
   
       14 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which the optics system comprises four reflective surfaces for routing an image around said top-of-barrel obstruction. 
   
   
       15 . The sighting device of  claim 10  in which the optics system further comprises four reflective surfaces which direct an image through four right angle turns around the feed tube to display the image in the eyepiece. 
   
   
       16 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said sight body includes one or more input windows and in which light from an image takes a path to the left of the top-of-barrel obstruction, and a second path to the right of the top-of-barrel obstruction, and in which a single image is formed in an eyepiece at the rear of the gun barrel, and behind said top-of-barrel obstruction and in the sighting plane of said gun. 
   
   
       17 . The sighting device of  claim 16  in which the optics system further includes three or more reflective surfaces which direct an image around one side of said top-of-barrel obstruction and a second set of three or more reflective surfaces which direct an image around an opposite side of said top-of-barrel obstruction, with the images being joined at an eyepiece for display to a user. 
   
   
       18 . The sighting device of  claim 1  in which said reflective surfaces are formed by surfaces of a prism. 
   
   
       19 . The sighting device of  claim 14  which further includes two input windows mounted on either side of the feed tube and not in the sighting plane of the paint ball gun, with reflective optics which route a target image to an eyepiece at the rear of the barrel with the eyepiece centered in the sighting plane of the gun. 
   
   
       20 . The sighting device of  claim 6  in which said mounting bracket comprises at least two feed tube contacts that are configured for tightening around said feed tube. 
   
   
       21 . The sighting device of  claim 6  in which said sighting device includes a feed tube configured to be compatible with said sighting device and with a feed tube receiver of a selected paint ball gun. 
   
   
       22 . The sighting device of  claim 21  which further includes a mounting bracket for tightening around said feed tube for attachment of said sighting device to said feed tube. 
   
   
       23 . The sighting device of  claim 22  in which said mounting bracket includes an attachment ring and a tightening bolt for securing said attachment ring to said feed tube. 
   
   
       24 . The sighting device of  claim 6  in which said sighting device includes a feed tube assembly incorporated into said sighting device, with said feed tube assembly configured to interfit with a paint ball gun. 
   
   
       25 . The sighting device of  claim 6  in which said sighting device includes a feed tube assembly for attachment to said sight body with an upper portion sized to fit said feed tube sight body, and a lower portion sized to fit a selected paintball gun, so that when selecting a feed tube assembly, a feed tube opening of any size can be accommodated.