Paintball guns

Abstract

An electronically controlled pneumatic paintball gun, comprising means for monitoring and/or controlling one or more parameters of the gun's operation and alphanumeric display means for displaying data related to said monitoring or control on a display panel integral with the gun.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A pneumatic paintball gun comprising: 
 a trigger;    an electronic switch upon which the trigger acts;    an electronic processor in communication with the electronic switch for controlling and monitoring at least one operating parameter of the pneumatic paintball gun; and    a display for displaying one or more characters representing the one or more operating parameters of the pneumatic paintball gun's operation, the characters selected from the group consisting of letters, numbers, icons, symbols, and combinations thereof.    
     
     
         2 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  further comprising a timer.  
     
     
         3 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 2  wherein the timer is activated by the trigger.  
     
     
         4 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  wherein the operating parameters are selected from the group consisting of: firing mode, valve dwell time, ambient temperature, whether the gun is in live or safe mode, whether or not a fault has been detected, shot velocity, maximum rate of fire, battery status, shots fired, average rate of fire, and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         5 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  comprising at least two operating parameters and further comprising a switch for switching the display between the at least two operating parameters.  
     
     
         6 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  further comprising a switch for entering a control parameter.  
     
     
         7 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 6  wherein the switch is mounted in a normally inaccessible position.  
     
     
         8 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 6  wherein the switch is mounted behind means selected from the group consisting of anti-tamper and tamper-indicating means.  
     
     
         9 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 7  wherein the switch is located behind a plate which requires the use of a tool to access the switch.  
     
     
         10 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  further comprising a power saving feature.  
     
     
         11 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  further comprising a rechargeable battery.  
     
     
         12 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  wherein the display further comprises a backlight feature.  
     
     
         13 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 1  further comprising an electronically programmed identification.  
     
     
         14 . A pneumatic paintball gun comprising: 
 means for electronically controlling a parameter of the pneumatic paintball gun's operation selected from the group consisting of: firing mode, valve dwell time, whether the gun is in live or safe mode, shot velocity, maximum rate of fire, hopper control, and combinations thereof; and    a display for displaying one or more characters representing the one or more control parameters of the pneumatic paintball gun's operation, the characters selected from the group consisting of letters, numbers, icons, symbols, and combinations thereof.    
     
     
         15 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 14  further comprising a timer.  
     
     
         16 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 15  wherein the timer is activated by a fired shot.  
     
     
         17 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 14  further comprising a switch for entering a control parameter.  
     
     
         18 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 17  wherein the switch is located behind a plate which requires a tool to access the switch.  
     
     
         19 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 18  wherein the switch is mounted behind means selected from the group consisting of anti-tamper and tamper-indicating means.  
     
     
         20 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 19  further comprising means for electronically monitoring an operation parameter of the pneumatic paintball gun's operation selected from the group consisting of: firing mode, valve dwell time, ambient temperature, whether the gun is in live or safe mode, whether or not a fault has been detected, shot velocity, maximum rate of fire, average rate of fire, battery status, shots fired, and combinations thereof.  
     
     
         21 . A pneumatic paintball gun comprising: 
 means for electronically controlling a control parameter of the pneumatic paintball gun's operation selected from the group consisting of: firing mode, valve dwell time, whether the gun is in live or safe mode, shot velocity, maximum rate of fire, hopper control, and combinations thereof;    means for electronically monitoring an operation parameter of the pneumatic paintball gun's operation selected from the group consisting of: firing mode, valve dwell time, ambient temperature, whether the gun is in live or safe mode, whether or not a fault has been detected, shot velocity, maximum rate of fire, battery status, shots fired, average rate of fire, and combinations thereof; and    a display for displaying one or more characters representing the one or more control parameters of the pneumatic paintball gun's operation, the characters selected from the group consisting of letters, numbers, icons, symbols, and combinations thereof.    
     
     
         22 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 21  further comprising at least one switch for entering a control parameter.  
     
     
         23 . The pneumatic paintball gun of  claim 22  wherein the switch is located behind a plate which requires a tool to access the switch.