Paintball markers

Abstract

A paintball marker comprises a main body 110 and a barrel 112 defining a firing axis X-X, a trigger 122, and a grip 120 arranged to be held in a hand of a user which operates the trigger. The grip 120 has a rear edge 134 arranged to engage the palm of the hand of a user, the rear edge 134 being substantially vertical so as to enable the marker to be held in a comfortable and controlled manner during use.

1 . A method of using a paintball marker for firing a fracturable dye pellet for use in playing a paintball game, comprising the steps of: 
 providing a user a paintball marker having a barrel with a firing axis; a trigger; a main body without a stock portion which enables holding the marker close to the user's face for aiming the marker; a compressed gas system having inherently low recoil and for propelling a fracturable dye pellet with the compressed gas system actuated by the user pulling the trigger; and a trigger grip frame which is coupled to the main body in a position to extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the barrel and the firing axis;    positioning the user's trigger hand on the trigger grip frame while the marker is held close to the user's face with the trigger hand held in an unstrained position as a result of the trigger grip frame being substantially perpendicular to the barrel;    holding the paintball marker up close to the face of the user and avoiding injury to the face of the user as a consequence of using the low recoil compressed gas system to propel the fracturable dye pellet and at the same time the user accurately aiming the marker to propel the dye pellet from the paintball marker during the game as a result of the unstrained positioning of the trigger hand on the trigger grip frame and being comfortably maintained, while holding the paintball marker close to the user's face; and    holding the paintball marker with the user's arms such that both arms are folded in close to the body of the user to minimize the user's profile to another game player and the paintball marker is enclosed therebetween the body and the arms of the user.    
     
     
         2 . The method as defined in  claim 1  wherein both the trigger hand below the fingers and the forearm of the user are positioned substantially in a vertical plane when the user is actuating the trigger.  
     
     
         3 . The method as defined in  claim 2  wherein the arrangement of the trigger grip frame causes the user to position the wrist to turn substantially within the vertical plane of the forearm and the trigger hand during aiming and firing the paintball marker.  
     
     
         4 . The method as defined in  claim 1  wherein the thumb and fingers of the user's trigger hand are positioned substantially symmetrically about the trigger grip frame as a result of the trigger grip frame being perpendicular to the barrel.  
     
     
         5 . A paintball marker for use in playing a paintball game, comprising: 
 a paintball marker main body having no stock portion;    a supply of dye pellets;    a barrel defining a firing axis;    a trigger;    compressed gas means having inherently low recoil for propelling one of the dye pellets from the paintball marker by the user actuating the trigger to fire the system;    trigger grip means arranged for holding by a user's trigger hand which operates the trigger and wherein the trigger grip means is positioned to extend in a direction substantially perpendicular to the firing axis with the trigger grip means for positioning the user's trigger hand wrist in substantially an unstrained orientation when the paintball marker is held near the user's face for aiming and firing and also for causing the user's hand below the fingers to be substantially in a vertical plane with the user's forearm when the user actuates the trigger; and    means for enabling the user to hold the paintball marker up close to and in front of the user's face during the game to obtain accurate aiming of the paintball marker while the compressed gas means propels the dye pellet without any substantial recoil and also avoiding injury to the user's face and the means for enabling comprising the paintball marker main body having no stock, the compressed gas system and the trigger grip means.    
     
     
         6 . The paintball marker according to  claim 5  wherein the trigger grip means includes a rear edge and at least a portion of the rear edge extends substantially perpendicular to the firing axis.  
     
     
         7 . The paintball marker according to  claim 5  wherein the trigger grip includes a front edge and at least a portion of which is substantially perpendicular to the firing axis.  
     
     
         8 . The paintball marker according to  claim 7  wherein the paintball marker includes a trigger guard and the grip includes a lower portion which is below the trigger guard and which includes a front edge, and wherein the front edge of said lower portion is substantially perpendicular to the firing axis.  
     
     
         9 . The paintball marker according to  claim 8  wherein the front edge of said lower portion defines a plurality of finger positions in which fingers of the user's trigger hand rest when the marker is in use, and wherein said finger positions are substantially aligned in said direction.  
     
     
         10 . The paintball marker according to  claim 5  wherein the trigger grip includes a rear edge arranged to engage a palm of said trigger hand, the rear edge including an upper part and a lower part which is inclined to the upper part, thereby enabling the angle of the user's palm to the firing axis to be changed by moving the position of the trigger hand on the trigger grip.  
     
     
         11 . The paintball marker according to  claim 10  wherein the upper part and the lower part are together formed as a continuous curve, thereby providing a range of hand positions on the trigger grip and with an associated range of angles for the user's palm.  
     
     
         12 . The paintball marker according to  claim 5  wherein the grip defines at least two trigger hand positions, and wherein the angle of the palm of the users trigger hand relative to the firing axis differs by at least 100 between the two positions.  
     
     
         13 . The paintball marker according to  claim 5  wherein the means for enabling comprises means for causing the user to position his arms close to his body thereby establishing a minimal body profile for another player aiming at the user.  
     
     
         14 . The paintball marker according to  claim 5  further comprising a gas propellant port extending downwards from the main body and forming a support arranged to be held by a user's non-trigger hand, wherein said means for enabling further comprises the gas propellant port.  
     
     
         15 . The paintball marker according to  claim 14  including a compressed gas bottle mounted on at least one of the trigger grip means, wherein said means for enabling is arranged to enable the user to obtain accurate aiming of the paintball marker while the gas bottle extends between a trigger arm and a non-trigger arm of the user.  
     
     
         16 . The paintball marker according to  claim 6  wherein said rear edge has a length in the direction extending substantially perpendicular to the firing axis over which it can support the user's trigger hand, and the rear edge extends substantially in said direction over at least a third of said length.  
     
     
         17 . The paintball marker according to  claim 16  wherein the rear edge is within ten degrees of said direction over at least a third of its length.  
     
     
         18 . A paintball marker according to  claim 5  wherein the grip has a rear edge having an upper end and a lower end, and the rear edge is arranged such that, if an equilateral parallelogram is constructed having two opposite corners vertically aligned one above the other and level with said upper and lower ends respectively, and being symmetrical about a vertical line through said opposite corners, and having its sides each inclined at 5° to said vertical line, then a single length of the rear edge can be contained within the parallelogram which length has a vertical height equal to at least one third of the height of the rear edge of the grip.  
     
     
         19 . A paintball marker according to  claim 18  wherein said upper end is the highest point on the grip rear edge which can be contacted by said hand while it is firing the marker, and said lower end is the lowest point on the grip rear edge which can be contacted by said hand while it is firing the marker.