Hopper feeder

A jam free feeder system for use with a paintball gun having an infeed portion for receiving paintballs to be fired by the paintball gun, comprising:

• a housing for internally storing a quantity of paintballs;
• a feed tube connected to said housing, said feed tube being connectable to said hollow infeed portion to form therewith a paintball feed passageway for receiving and holding a stack of and sequentially delivering said paintballs to said paintball gun;
• a jam free feeder which is selectively operable to prevent a paintball feed jam comprising an agitator disposed in said housing, wherein the agitator comprises a rotatable paddle with upward slanting sidewalls, said sidewalls substantially overlapping a bottom outlet of the housing;
• a sensor for sensing the firing of the paintball gun;
• and
• a controller for operating said jam free feeder in response to a firing of said paintball gun.

A hopper feeder apparatus for use with a paintball gun having an infeed portion for receiving paintballs to be fired by the paintball gun, comprising:

• a housing for internally storing a quantity of paintballs, said housing having a bottom outlet opening through which the stored paintballs may sequentially drop;
• a feed tube connected to said bottom outlet opening and extending downwardly therefrom, said feed tube being connectable to said hollow infeed portion to form therewith a paintball feed passageway for receiving and holding a stack of paintballs dropped through said bottom outlet opening and sequentially delivering said paintballs to said paintball gun;
• an agitator disposed in said housing and selectively operable to prevent a paintball feed jam therein, said agitator substantially overlapping the bottom outlet;
• a sensor for sensing the firing of the paintball gun;
• and
• a controller for operating said agitator in response to a firing of said paintball gun.

A hopper feeder apparatus for use with a paintball gun having an infeed portion for receiving paintballs to be fired by the paintball gun, comprising:

• a housing for internally storing a quantity of paintballs, said housing having a bottom outlet opening through which the stored paintballs may sequentially drop;
• a feed tube connected to said bottom outlet opening and extending downwardly therefrom, said feed tube being connectable to said hollow infeed portion to form therewith a paintball feed passageway for receiving and holding a stack of paintballs dropped through said bottom outlet opening and sequentially delivering said paintballs to said paintball gun;
• an agitator disposed in said housing and selectively operable to prevent a paintball feed jam therein, wherein the agitator comprises a rotatable paddle with upward slanting sidewalls;
• a sensor for sensing the firing of the paintball gun;
• and
• a controller for operating said agitator in response to a firing of said paintball gun.