Paintball Carrying Plate and Apparatus for Filling Paintball Pods

The present application is related to and claims priority from prior provisional application Ser. No. 63/639,277, filed Apr. 26, 2024 which is incorporated herein by reference.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).

This invention relates generally to paintball pods, and more specifically to apparatuses used for carrying and filling paintball pods.

Prior art methods and apparatuses for carrying and filling paintball pods by individuals or teams include secondary devices to carry and fill the paintball pods. In normal environments this is not a real issue but during tournaments, which is what this item main use would be, it would eliminate the need to carry at least three other separate pieces of equipment and allow one user the ability to fill 12 pods unassisted by another or without other equipment. Currently, the prior art uses multiple parts that are large and bulky. All paint in tournaments are sold in boxes, and currently people stack the pods in them sideways, but that only holds approximately 9 to 10 pods, and pod lids can get caught and release the paintballs. Further, the prior art is very bulky and have too many parts to be transported to an event without breaking or losing parts.

Accordingly, the present invention overcomes the disadvantages associated with the prior art, by providing a paintball carrying plate used for connecting to a paintball box for carrying and filling paintball pods and reducing the amount of paint wasted from spilling while carrying and filling the paintball pods.

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of methods and apparatuses for carrying and filling paintball pods, or the like, in the prior art, the present invention provides a paintball carrying plate used for connecting to a paintball box for carrying and filling paintball pods. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a paintball carrying plate used for connecting to a paintball box for carrying and filling paintball pods. The paintball carrying plate includes slits for accommodating lid flaps of a paintball box therethrough, notches and rubber bands to hold the lid flaps in a folded position to thereby secure the paintball carrying plate to the top of the paintball box, a series of holes adapted to securely hold paintball pods therein during the carrying and filling process, a series of bore sizing holes, and handles for holding and carrying the combination of the paintball carrying plate, the paintball box, and the paintball pods. When in use, a plurality of paintball boxes with respective paintball carrying plates attached thereto can be stacked one on top of the other for increasing the ability to carry and fill large quantities of paintball pods therein and reduce the amount of paint wasted from spilling while carrying and filling the paintball pods, with all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.

Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.

The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings.

The embodiments of the present disclosure described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present disclosure.

The following embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed and the subject invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

Turning now descriptively to drawing, referring to, the present invention discloses a paintball carrying platethat is used in combination with a paintball boxand a plurality of paintball pods.

The paintball boxincludes a front panel, a back panel, opposite side panels, a bottom panel, wherein the front panel, said back pane, said opposite side panels, and said bottom panel form a rectangular volume, a front edge lid flap, a back edge lid flap, and two opposite side lid flaps.

The plurality of paintball podseach include an elongated cylindrical bodythat forms an interior volume adapted to hold paintball paint therein, and a circular liplocated at a top edge of the elongated cylindrical body, and is adapted to contact an edge portion of a respective paintball pod aperture, to thereby hold the paintball pod therein.

The paintball carrying platecomprises two opposite side portions, two opposite edge portions, a center portion, a plurality of paintball pod apertureslocated within the center section and are sized and adapted to hold paintball podsrespectively therein, two side lid flap apertures, wherein the two side lid flap apertures are elongated and located respectively within the two opposite side portions, and are sized and adapted to allow respective side lid flapsof the paintball boxto pass therethrough, an edge lid flap aperture, wherein the edge lid flap aperture is elongated and located within one of the two opposite edge portions, and is sized and adapted to allow an edge lid flapof the paintball boxto pass therethrough, two side handle apertures, wherein the two side handle apertures are elongated and located respectively within s the aid two opposite side portions, and are sized and adapted to allow hands of a user to pass therethrough and grip the paintball carrying plate, two pairs of spaced edge notches, located respectively within opposite edge portions of said two opposite side portions, and are sized and adapted to hold attachment bandstherein and thereby thereon the two opposite side portions. Furthermore, the paintball carrying platemay include a series of bore sizing aperturesadjacent the edge lid flap apertureand are adapted to allow for fast paintball sizing.

In the preferred embodiment, there are twelve paintball pod apertureshaving a diameter of 2.5 inches each, and the series of bore sizing aperturesmay includeapertures having diameters ranging in succession from 0.679 mm through 0.691 mm.

When in use, the paintball carrying plateis adapted such that the side lid flapsand the edge lid flapof the paintball boxare able to be placed through and within the respective two side lid flap aperturesand the edge lid flap aperture, folded over respective the two opposite side portions, and held in place by the attachment bandsplaced respectively around the side lid flapsof the paintball box, around the respective two opposite side portions, and within the respective pairs of spaced edge notches, such that the side lid flapsare held in place in a folded position upon the opposite side portions, and as such the paintball boxis held in attachment to the paintball carrying plate. Further, when in use, the plurality of paintball pod aperturesare adapted to hold paintball podsrespectively therein, and which extend into the interior portion of the paintball box. And further, when in use, the two side handle aperturesare adapted to allow a user to carry and transport the paintball carrying platealong with the attached paintball boxand the paintball pods. Once the paintball podsare filled with paintball paint and the side lid flapsare secured, the entire setup can be transported to its next location. The paintball carrying platewill allow a user easier access to the paintball podsand when it's no longer in use, the paintball boxcan be removed and recycled while the paintball carrying plategoes back to your gear and prepare again.

In the preferred embodiment, the two attachment bandsare formed as rubber bands, though other types of releasable attachment bands can be used. Furthermore, the paintball carrying platecan be formed from wood, foam PVC, plastic, aluminum, or carbon fiber, and may be formed by methods including cutting on a water table, molded, or using 3-D printing.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement, which is calculated to achieve the same purpose, may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.