Drive cone for paintball loader

Abstract

A drive cone for use on a paintball loader loading paintballs into a conventional paintball gun. The drive cone is located at a bottom portion of the container and is rotated by a motor. The drive cone includes at least one fin which forms a gap for which a plurality of paintballs may fit. The drive cone feeds the paintballs into an exit tube located at the bottom of the container which feeds into the paintball gun.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A rapid feed paintball loader for use on a paintball gun, the paintball loader comprising: 
 a container for holding a plurality of paintballs;    a paintball agitating device mounted on a bottom portion of the container;    an exit tube exiting from the bottom portion of the container and leading to an inlet tube of the paintball gun;    a motor that rotates the paintball agitating device; and    means for actuating the motor upon demand, said means for actuating the motor upon demand including: 
 a sensor for sensing the presence of at least one paintball at a selected location within the exit tube; and,  
 a microprocessor for activating the motor when receiving a signal from the sensor that a paintball is not present at the location in the exit tube.  
   
     
     
         2 . The rapid feed paintball loader of  claim 1 , wherein the microprocessor turns the motor off when receiving a signal from the sensor that a paintball is present at the selected location within the exit tube.