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Solenoid operates paintball firing mechanism

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Aug 3, 2007

Magnet Schultz solenoids enabled the markers to provide acting times of 2-3ms, up to 25 shots per second and a 40% increase in battery life.

When it came to finding a company with the specialist knowledge to develop a solenoid to operate the firing mechanism of a new paintball "marker", Planet Eclipse turned to Magnet Schultz.

Magnet Schultz provided Planet Eclipse with a prototype within a matter of days and Planet Eclipse was able to ramp up full production within a matter of weeks.

Paintball is the world's third most popular extreme sport with over 12 million players.

Planet Eclipse has been at the forefront of developing and manufacturing paintball event equipment and accessories since the company was established in 1992.

Based in Manchester and with facilities in the USA and Taiwan, Planet Eclipse targets the high end of the market, focusing on competitions worldwide such as the SAPPL Sun City Open in South Africa and the PSP Paintball World Cup at Disney's World of Sports, Florida.

In order to maintain its position at the forefront of paintball, Planet Eclipse's designers are required to continually develop and manufacture new products within short lead times.

Having designed a new, lightweight 'marker' with extended battery life and excellent firing rate, Planet Eclipse's engineers needed a specialist solenoid to operate the firing mechanism.

With no proprietary solenoid available on the market, Planet Eclipse turned to Magnet Schultz for a rapid and cost-effective solution that would enable the company to keep its competitive edge.

Following a meeting with Planet Eclipse to determine its requirements and understand the functionality of the marker, Magnet Schultz technical team set about developing a solenoid that would fit within the tightly defined space envelope to be located in the handgrip of the 'marker'.

The solenoid also needed to provide extended playing times whilst not flattening the battery in the unit.

"At the outset it was necessary for Magnet Schultz engineers to fully understand the specification and the requirements of the application in which there were many dynamic factors affecting the performance of the solenoid", said Andrew Newton, Managing Director of Magnet Schultz .

"Detailed meetings with Planet Eclipse designers were held as only in this way could the application requirements be properly interpreted for the specifying and development of a suitable solenoid".

Magnet Schultz was quickly able to determine the parameters of the device needed and as a result developed the RP16x4 pushing solenoid.

Prototype samples were provided in days and Planet Eclipse carried out in-house field-testing over the following four weeks that verified that Magnet Schultz performance requirements were met first time.

The solenoids enabled the markers to provide acting times of 2-3ms, up to 25 shots per second and a 40% increase in battery life.

Within a matter of a few weeks Magnet Schultz was able to support Planet Eclipse's rapid ramp up programme to full production.

"Magnet Schultz provided us with their expertise and developed a solenoid that met the electrical requirements needed by us to produce a very successful product", said Steve Monks, Research and Development Manager at Planet Eclipse.

"We now have a supplier that fully understands the needs of the paintball market and as a partner is able to respond swiftly with new developments".