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.

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.