Importance

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Abstract

A pneumatically actuated clip for a paintball gun may include a driving member such as a soft sealing ball or a flexible drive piston that conforms in shape and size to a cross-sectional area of a passageway containing a supply of paintballs. The passageway preferably provides a paintball route (or pathway) inside the clip that supplies the paintballs to the paintball gun. In one embodiment, the driving member creates a pneumatic chamber (sealing as it moves) in the area behind the driving member. Pressurized gas supplied to the pneumatic chamber preferably drives the driving member and the supply of paintballs forward along the pathway. The pressurized gas that drives the driving member can, for instance, be controlled by means of an integrated regulator or can be a timed pulse of air supplied through a solenoid valve as controlled by a signal from a control board. The signal could be generated using a breech sensor to determine when a paintball has been loaded into the breech to determine when to actuate the supply solenoid. Alternatively, a pressure switch can control the supply of pressurized gas through a solenoid. Other features and embodiments are also disclosed.

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First Claim