This invention relates generally to the field of archery, and more particularly to an archery sight and a support bracket for mounting the sight to a bow.
The typical support bracket for archery sights is constructed either completely of metal or completely of plastic. On one hand, metal brackets have the advantage of being stronger and thinner than their plastic counterparts, and can be constructed more precisely with fewer problems during manufacture, but suffer from excessive weight, which can affect user performance, especially when aiming for prolonged periods of time, such as in the field when the user is waiting for the precise location and position of the game being hunted.
On the other hand, plastic support brackets, although generally lighter in weight than their metal counterparts, suffer from undesired thickness, torsional forces during aiming and shooting, as well as warpage and other problems during the manufacturing process, which may render the bracket unsuitable for use, or when used may become deformed, thus leading to aiming inaccuracies. Warpage and other problems during the manufacturing process may also generate waste as molded parts are rejected and ultimately increase the cost of the bowsight.
In the highly competitive field of archery equipment and accessories, reducing cost and weight while improving strength, durability, and accuracy are of major importance. It would therefore be desirous to provide a bracket for an archery sight that overcomes one or more disadvantages of the prior art.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a hybrid bracket assembly for mounting an accessory to an archery bow, such as an archery sight, includes a core having a plurality of first holes for mounting the hybrid bracket to a riser of a bow, and a frame surrounding at least a portion of an outer peripheral edge of the core and overlapping an area of the core coincident with the plurality of first holes. The frame has a plurality of corresponding second holes that are coincident with the first holes. The core and frame have different material properties.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a hybrid bracket assembly for mounting an accessory to an archery bow, such as an archery sight, includes a core and a frame. The core has a plate constructed of a material having a first stiffness. The plate has a first side, an opposing second side, and a peripheral edge located between the first and second sides, and at least one set of mounting holes extending through a thickness of the plate for mounting the hybrid bracket assembly to the archery bow. The frame includes a moldable material with a second stiffness less than the first stiffness. The moldable material extends around at least a segment of the peripheral edge and overlaps an area of the first and second sides of the plate.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the invention, a bowsight includes the hybrid bracket assembly first described above, and further comprises a sight assembly having at least one sight pin for aligning with a distal target by a user during aiming, and an adjustment member connected to the sight assembly and the hybrid bracket assembly. The adjustment member and sight assembly have first cooperating structure for selectively adjusting an elevation position of the sight assembly with respect to the hybrid bracket assembly. Likewise, the adjustment member and the hybrid bracket assembly have second cooperating structure for selectively adjusting a windage position of the sight assembly with respect to the hybrid bracket assembly.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a method of forming a hybrid bracket assembly for mounting an archery accessory to an archery bow comprises providing a core with a first material having a first stiffness; forming a first set of openings in the core for mounting the hybrid bracket to a riser of a bow; forming at least one retaining aperture in the core; forming a frame around at least a portion of a peripheral edge of the core, the frame having a second material with a second stiffness lower than the first stiffness; and extruding material from the frame into the at least one retaining aperture while forming the frame to thereby create at least one retaining bump in the frame so that the core and the frame function as an integral structure.
The foregoing summary as well as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be best understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements throughout the drawings, and wherein:
It is noted that the drawings are intended to depict only typical embodiments of the invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope thereof. It is further noted that the drawings may not be necessarily to scale. The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to the drawings, and to
The sight assembly 16 preferably includes a frame 34 connected to the adjustment member 14 and a sight portion 36 connected to the frame 34. The adjustment member 14 preferably includes an outer jaw portion 38 and an adjustable inner jaw portion 40 with a dovetail-like groove 42 formed therebetween that is shaped to receive a complementary dovetail-like projection 44 of the frame 34. A bolt 46 (
A threaded micro-adjustment rod 49 (
The sight portion 36 preferably includes one or more alternating sight pin assemblies 50, 52 (
The frame 34 preferably has an annular wall 60 that forms a sight window 62 through which the sight assembly 16 and a distal target can be viewed by a user. Preferably, the sight assembly 16 is mounted to the sight frame within the sight window 62. A plurality of openings 64 can be provided in the annular wall 60 to reduce the weight of the sighting device 10, while advantageously allowing the passage of radial light therethrough for naturally illuminating the sight assembly 16.
As best shown in
The sight pin assemblies 50, 52 are identical in construction with the exception of the location of the threaded opening (not shown) into which the bolts 54 thread. For example, the threaded opening of one sight pin assembly 50 can be aligned with the slot 56, while the threaded opening of another sight pin 52 can be aligned with the slot 58. Accordingly, each sight pin 50, 52 preferably includes a light collector 70, preferably in the form of a fluorescent-doped optical fiber or the like. Each light collector 70 has a length of optical fiber terminating at a sight point or dot 72 coincident with an inner free end of its associated sight pin 50 or 52. The sight point or dot 72 can be naturally illuminated by collecting ambient light along the length of the light collector and/or artificially illuminated with a battery-powered light assembly 74. The light assembly 74 is of conventional construction and includes a LED or the like (not shown) that is selectively energized by the user to project radiant energy either along the lengths of the light collectors 70 or into opposite ends thereof to artificially illuminate the sight points 72. Each light collector 70 extends along a forward edge of its associated sight pin 50 or 52 out of sight of the user during aiming. The light collectors are wrapped around the annular wall 60 within a circular channel 76 formed in the annular wall at a position forwardly of the sight points, i.e. a position closer to the target than the sight points, and surrounds the sight window 62. A transparent cover 78 (
Each light collector 70 preferably comprises an optical fiber constructed of a fluorescent-doped core with a transparent outer cladding. A suitable fluorescent-doped optical fiber may be constructed of a polystyrene-based or polymethyl methacrylate core containing one or more fluorescent dopants surrounded by a polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, or fluoropolymer cladding. When such an optical fiber receives radiation along its length, energy is absorbed in the optical fiber at a certain wavelength and is re-emitted at both ends of the optical fiber at a longer wavelength. Thus, depending on the amount of radiation absorbed by the optical fiber along its length, a proportionate amount of radiation is emitted at the ends of the optical fiber. In use, light incident on the portions of the light collectors is absorbed in the fluorescent-doped optical fibers and is re-emitted at their proximal and distal ends. Light emitted from the distal ends 72 of the optical fibers 70 serve as separate illuminated sight dots or points that are adjustable for different distances to a target for a particular bow and arrow or the like. Further details of a suitable pin assembly can be found for example in U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/009,638 filed on Jun. 9, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Although a particular sight assembly has been shown and described, it will be understood that the hybrid sight bracket 12 can be used with a different sight assembly or with different archery accessories of any desired type and configuration without departing from the broader aspects of the invention.
With particular reference to
As shown in
Likewise, as shown in
As best shown in
Referring now to
The frame 84 also includes a pair of opposing jaws, as denoted by a frame upper jaw section 124 and a frame lower jaw section 126 that are molded over the core upper jaw section 106 and core lower jaw section 108, respectively. The frame upper and lower jaw sections are also separated by an adjustment slot 125 and an adjustment hole 127 that are formed in the frame 82 at a forward connection end 129 thereof during the forming or molding operation. The adjustment slot 125 and adjustment hole 127 intersect with each other so that the forward connecting end of the frame 84 has some flexibility in opposing directions to thereby allow movement between the frame jaw sections 124 and 126.
The frame upper jaw section 124 preferably includes an upper clamping surface 128 and the frame lower jaw section 126 preferably includes a lower clamping surface 130 that faces the upper clamping surface 126. The upper and lower clamping surfaces are complementary in shape with respect to the outer surfaces 132 of a windage arm 131 of the adjustment member 14 (see
As best shown in
In use, the windage knob 138 is rotated in one direction to loosen the core and frame jaw sections so that the windage arm 130 can be grasped and roughly slid to the desired position with respect to the hybrid bracket assembly 12. The knob 138 is then rotated in the opposite direction to move the jaw sections towards each other and hold the windage arm 130 under frictional forces. The micro-adjust windage knob 156 can then be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise to move the windage sleeve 142 along the longitudinal slot 45 of the windage arm 130, thereby moving the sight assembly 16 in a more precise manner for finely tuning the windage position.
In accordance with an exemplary method of constructing the hybrid bracket assembly 12, the core 82 can be formed using one of the methods previously described, then finished, which may include deburring, deflashing, anodizing, painting, coating, and so on. The core 82 is then placed into an injection mold, and a second material, such as described above, is over-molded around the core 82 to form the frame 84. In this manner, the two materials are permanently joined together, and work together to produce a sight bracket that is strong, light weight, and aesthetically pleasing to the purchaser or end user. Post processing of the combined two-part assembly can then be performed, such as tapping, masking, coating or the like. Preferably, retaining apertures or slots 160 (
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the plate material for the core 82 can be selected from the group of metals, ceramics, and composites, as well as combinations thereof, and the moldable material for the frame 84 can be selected from the group of plastics, thermoplastics, composites, and elastomers, as well as combinations thereof. However, it will be understood that other materials for the plate and frame components can be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the broader aspects of the invention.
It will be understood that the term “preferably” as used throughout the specification refers to one or more exemplary embodiments of the invention and therefore is not to be interpreted in any limiting sense. In addition, terms of orientation and/or position as may be used throughout the specification denote relative, rather than absolute orientations and/or positions.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. For example, although the hybrid bracket assembly is described herein as being primarily useful for mounting an archery sight assembly to a bow, it will be understood that the bracket assembly can be used for mounting other accessories to a bow without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Moreover, although the openings and retaining apertures in the core are shown as extending through the thickness of the plate, it will be understood that the openings and retaining apertures can be in the form of depressions or the like that do not extend entirely through the plate, and yet function to securely retain the frame on the core. In addition, although a particular number, configuration, and location of retaining apertures, holes, and retaining bumps have been described and shown, it will be understood that more or less holes and/or retaining apertures and corresponding retaining bumps can be provided in various configurations and locations. It will be understood, therefore, that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but also covers modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim(s).
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/931,050 filed on Jan. 24, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61931050 | Jan 2014 | US |