Toy projectile launchers

Abstract

A toy projectile launcher able to rapidly and sequentially launch a plurality of projectiles (such as four foam darts, each dart launched every 0.1 second) after being loaded and primed once, creating a machine gun effect. The launcher may be non-electronic, manually operated, and including a fluid compressor comprising a walled chamber holding a launch spring and a piston coupled to a priming actuator having a catch assembly with catch stops. A valve system may be coupled to the fluid compressor and an active barrel group comprising one or more launch barrels able to receive a plurality of projectiles. A trigger assembly may comprise a variable latch engaging the catch assembly, configured to single launch or sequentially launch the plurality of projectiles after the fluid compressor has been primed once by the priming actuator. Such structures also support electronic launchers and various projectiles (e.g., darts, balls, gel beads, etc.).

I claim: 
     
         1 . A toy projectile launcher comprising:
 a housing assembly;   a fluid compressor being at least partially received by the housing assembly, wherein the fluid compressor is structured to compress a fluid;   a priming actuator being at least partially received by the fluid compressor, wherein the priming actuator is configured to prime the fluid compressor to potentially generate one or more fluid flows in temporal sequence;   an active barrel group being at least partially received by the housing assembly, wherein the active barrel group is configured to receive a plurality of projectiles;   a valve system being at least partially received by the fluid compressor and the active barrel group, wherein the valve system is configured to be in fluid communication with the fluid compressor and the active barrel group;   a trigger assembly being at least partially received by the housing assembly, wherein the trigger assembly is configured to increase each fluid flow, of the one or more fluid flows, from the fluid compressor; and   a catch assembly being at least partially received by the housing assembly, wherein the catch assembly is configured to decrease each fluid flow, of the one or more fluid flows, from the fluid compressor, wherein the toy projectile launcher is able to launch each projectile, of the plurality of projectiles from the active barrel group, in temporal sequence after the fluid compressor has been primed once by the priming actuator.   
     
     
         2 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the priming actuator is further configured to be manually operated.   
     
     
         3 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the catch assembly comprises at least one catch stop, wherein at least a portion of the priming actuator is further coupled to the at least one catch stop of the catch assembly.   
     
     
         4 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the catch assembly comprises at least one catch stop, wherein at least a portion of the fluid compressor is further coupled to the at least one catch stop of the catch assembly.   
     
     
         5 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more storage clips coupled to at least a portion of the housing assembly, wherein the one or more storage clips are configured to hold at least the plurality of projectiles.   
     
     
         6 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more storage clips that are operatively coupled to the priming actuator, wherein the one or more storage clips are configured to hold at least the plurality of projectiles, and the priming actuator is further able to move the plurality of projectiles into at least a portion of the active barrel group.   
     
     
         7 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the fluid compressor is further configured to be primed once by at most two continuous movements of at least a portion of the priming actuator.   
     
     
         8 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the fluid compressor is further comprising a launch spring configured to be preloaded.   
     
     
         9 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the trigger assembly and the catch assembly are further configured to perform a plurality of launch cycles, where each launch cycle comprises the trigger assembly increasing each fluid flow, of the one or more fluid flows, from the fluid compressor and, subsequently, the catch assembly decreasing each fluid flow, of the one or more fluid flows, from the fluid compressor.   
     
     
         10 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the catch assembly comprising at least a first catch stop, a second catch stop, and a third catch stop such that a first distance, between the first catch stop and the second catch stop, is at least 1% greater than a second distance between the second catch stop and the third catch stop.   
     
     
         11 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the catch assembly comprising at least a first catch stop and a second catch stop such that a first dimension, of the first catch stop, is at least 1% greater than a second dimension of the second catch stop, wherein the first and second dimensions are measurable along a first and second spatial axis, respectively, where the first and second spatial axis are substantially parallel.   
     
     
         12 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the catch assembly comprising at least a first catch stop and a second catch stop that are configured such that a first spatial position, of the first catch stop, is substantially different on at least two spatial axis of a second spatial position of the second catch stop.   
     
     
         13 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the catch assembly is further comprising one or more catch supports, wherein a first catch support, of the one or more catch supports, is configured to hold the trigger assembly in a position of a partially triggered state.   
     
     
         14 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the catch assembly further comprising an at least one catch stop that comprises an at least one catch wedge.   
     
     
         15 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the trigger assembly further comprising an at least one variable latch that comprises an at least one trigger wedge.   
     
     
         16 . A toy projectile launcher comprising:
 a housing assembly of the toy projectile launcher;   a fluid compressor being at least partially received by the housing assembly, wherein the fluid compressor is configured to potentially compress a fluid;   a priming actuator being at least partially received by the fluid compressor, wherein the priming actuator is configured to prime the fluid compressor to potentially generate a fluid flow;   an active barrel group being at least partially received by the housing assembly and comprising one or more launch barrels, wherein the active barrel group is configured to receive a plurality of projectiles;   a valve system being at least partially received by the fluid compressor and the active barrel group, wherein the valve system is configured to be in fluid communication with the fluid compressor and the active barrel group;   a loading actuator being at least partially received by the housing assembly, wherein the loading actuator is configured to be operatively coupled to one or more storage clips configured to hold at least the plurality of projectiles, wherein the loading actuator is able to move the plurality of projectiles, from the one or more storage clips, into at least a portion of the active barrel group;   a trigger assembly being at least partially received by the housing assembly and including an at least one variable latch, wherein the trigger assembly is configured to increase the fluid flow from the fluid compressor based on one or more start movements of the at least one variable latch of the trigger assembly; and   a catch assembly being at least partially received by the housing assembly and including one or more catch stops, wherein the catch assembly is configured to decrease the fluid flow from the fluid compressor based on one or more stop movements of the one or more catch stops of the catch assembly, wherein the toy projectile launcher is able to launch each projectile, from the plurality of projectiles from the active barrel group, in temporal sequence after the fluid compressor has been primed once by the priming actuator.   
     
     
         17 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the priming actuator is further configured to be manually operated.   
     
     
         18 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 at least a portion of the priming actuator is further coupled to the one or more catch stops of the catch assembly.   
     
     
         19 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 at least a portion of the fluid compressor is further coupled to the one or more catch stops of the catch assembly.   
     
     
         20 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the fluid compressor is further comprising a launch spring configured to be preloaded.   
     
     
         21 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the trigger assembly and the catch assembly are further able to perform a plurality of launch cycles, where each launch cycle comprises the trigger assembly increasing the fluid flow from the fluid compressor and, subsequently, the catch assembly decreasing the fluid flow from the fluid compressor.   
     
     
         22 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the catch assembly comprising at least a first catch stop, a second catch stop, and a third catch stop such that a first distance, between the first catch stop and the second catch stop, is at least 1% greater than a second distance between the second catch stop and the third catch stop.   
     
     
         23 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the catch assembly is further comprising one or more catch supports, wherein a first catch support, of the one or more catch supports, is configured to hold the trigger assembly in a position of a partially triggered state.   
     
     
         24 . The toy projectile launcher of  claim 16 , wherein:
 at least a first catch stop, of the one or more catch stops, comprises at least one catch wedge.   
     
     
         25 . A method for assembling a toy projectile launcher comprising the steps of:
 providing a launcher with a housing assembly;   providing a fluid compressor being at least partially received by the housing assembly;   supporting a priming actuator being at least partially received by the fluid compressor;   providing an active barrel group being at least partially received by the housing assembly and comprising one or more launch barrels;   providing a valve system being at least partially received by the fluid compressor and the active barrel group;   supporting a trigger assembly being at least partially received by the housing assembly and including an at least one variable latch; and   supporting a catch assembly being at least partially received by the housing assembly and including one or more catch stops.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising the step of:
 providing a loading actuator being at least partially received by the housing assembly.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein:
 the fluid compressor is further comprising a launch spring; and including the step of: installing the launch spring such that the launch spring is preloaded.