Paintball gun with a flexible pc board

Abstract

A paintball gun is made with a control circuit controlling the operation of the gun. The control circuit is provided substantially as a circuit board installed through an opening of the gun housing. The circuit board performs several functions including storing and replaying sound clips from stored digital files, keeping track of the number of paintballs left and providing visual indications to a user. A flexible printed circuit board is provided to connect either a switch or an indicator on the handle, with conductors on the board connecting the switch or indicator to an electronic circuit mounted on a standard stiff printed circuit board.

1 . A paintball gun comprising:
 a body with a barrel selectively ejecting paintballs and a handle, said handle including a window;   a stiff printed circuit board disposed in the body and including an electronic circuit configured to control the paintball ejection in response to commands; and   a flexible printed circuit board having one end connected to said electronic circuit and another end fixed to said handle, said flexible printed circuit board including an electronic element presented to the user through said window, said electronic element being connected to said electronic circuit by conductors on said flexible printed circuit board.   
   
   
       2 . The paintball gun of  claim 1  wherein said electronic element provides a visual indication of a preselected event or condition to the user. 
   
   
       3 . The paintball gun of  claim 1  wherein said electronic element is a light emitting diode. 
   
   
       4 . The paintball gun of  claim 1  wherein said electronic element is a switch. 
   
   
       5 . The paintball gun of  claim 1  wherein said electronic element is a tactile vibrator. 
   
   
       6 . The paintball gun of  claim 1  wherein said electronic element is a two-dimensional display. 
   
   
       7 . The paintball gun of  claim 6  wherein said display is selected from an LCD display and a polymer display. 
   
   
       8 . The paintball gun of  claim 6  wherein said electronic element is a color screen. 
   
   
       9 . A paintball gun comprising:
 a body with a handle having a replaceable cover;   a barrel attached to said body and selectively ejecting paintballs in response to the activation of said trigger; and   a control circuit including a control switch, a stiff printed circuit board disposed inside said body, wherein said control circuit includes several modes of operation selected by said control switch, at least some of said modes determining characteristics of the paintball ejections, an indicator for indicating to a user an operation associated with said control circuit and a flexible printed circuit board connecting said stiff printed circuit board to said control switch, wherein at least one of said control switch and said indicator is mounted on said flexible printed circuit board adjacent to said removable cover.   
   
   
       10 . The paintball gun of  claim 9  wherein said indicator is a visual display providing information from said control circuit to an operator. 
   
   
       11 . The paintball gun of  claim 10  wherein said replaceable cover has an aperture and said visual display is aligned with said aperture. 
   
   
       12 . The paintball gun of  claim 10  wherein said visual display is a two dimensional LCD display. 
   
   
       13 . The paintball gun of  claim 10  wherein said visual display is a color screen. 
   
   
       14 . The paintball gun of  claim 9  wherein said indicator is a tactile resonator.