Certain archery bows have a power cable in addition to a bowstring. The power cable and the bowstring are coupled to one or more rotational cams. The power cable can interfere with the passage of the arrow during shooting. For example, during flight, the fletching of the arrow can contact or become entangled with the power cable. A known cable guard is used to provide clearance for the arrow when passing the power cable. This known cable guard has a rod attachable to a bow, a wheel fork (i.e., yoke) connected to the rod, and a wheel connected to the wheel fork. The wheel contacts the power cable. To accommodate differently sized arrows, the position of the wheel fork is laterally adjustable relative to the rod.
This known cable guard has several problems and disadvantages. Based on its design, the wheel fork is subject to become decoupled from the rod during adjustment. For example, during adjustment, the wheel fork can totally slip off of the rod and drop to the ground. This creates challenges and inconveniences for users in their efforts to fine-tune their bows.
Also, this cable guard lacks positioning limits. As a result, users are prone to unintentionally push the wheel fork too far inward resulting or too far outward. An overly-inward position can cause problematic interference with the arrow. An overly-outward position can cause excessive lateral force on the power cable. The excessive lateral force can cause several disadvantages. The excessive lateral force can damage, bind or otherwise increase the wear and tear on the internal bearing components of the bow's cams. The excessive lateral force can also cause the cams to wobble during rotation, causing lateral movement in the bowstring which, in turn, can hinder shooting performance. In addition, the excessive lateral force can cause torque or bending in the riser of the bow which can also hinder shooting performance. Furthermore, these disadvantages can impair the trajectory of the arrow and generally make it more difficult for users to fine-tune their bows in efforts to achieve optimal shooting outcomes.
In addition, the wheel fork of the known cable guard is designed to lock and entrap the power cable. To install the power cable, the user must disassemble the wheel from the wheel fork, insert the power cable within the cavity between the wheel fork and the wheel, and then reattach the wheel to the wheel fork. This can be a time-consuming process which increases the labor and inconvenience of bow setup. This process also increases the inconvenience of changing power cables when they become worn or otherwise need to be replaced.
The foregoing background describes some, but not necessarily all, of the problems, disadvantages and shortcomings related to the known cable guard.
{Draft Note: When the claims are approved, we will add the summary as independent claims in sentence form.}
Additional features and advantages of the present disclosure are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Brief Description of the Drawings and Detailed Description.
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In the embodiment shown, the bow 10 is a compound bow, and both bow rotors 22 and 24 are eccentric cams that rotate about axes 28 and 30, respectively. Each such cam has one or more elliptical, asymmetric or non-circular lever portions configured to: (a) engage the drawstring or bowstring 32; (b) engage the power line, power cord set or power cable set 34; or (c) engage both the bowstring 32 and power cable set 34. The bowstring 32 and power cable set 34 are spooled on the bow rotors 22, 24. As described below, in an embodiment, the power cable set 34 includes power cables 35, 37.
The riser 12 has a front 36 facing in a forward direction 38 toward a shooting target (not shown) and a back 39 facing in a rearward direction 40 opposite the shooting target. The forward direction 38 and rearward direction 40 are directed along a shooting axis 44. The back 39 is positioned closer to the user who readies the archery bow 10 in position to fire a projectile or arrow 42 along or relative to the shooting axis 44. In an embodiment, the arrow 42 includes a shaft 43 and a fletching 45 (e.g., tail, fin, feather or other aerodynamic flight guide) attached to the shaft 43. During shooting, the bowstring 32 moves within a bowstring plane 46 from a retracted or drawn position (not shown) located a distance from the back 39 to a brace or undrawn position (
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In an embodiment, the proximal arm end 58 defines a plurality of fastener holes 74 (
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In an embodiment, the coupling portion 85 includes: (a) an inward adjustment stop 120 (e.g., an inwardly-located wall or surface); (b) a plurality of travel guide walls or guide surfaces 122; and (c) an outward adjustment stop 124 (e.g., an outwardly-located wall or surface). The inward and outward adjustment stops 120, 124 control, determine and define the adjustment zone 126 (
In an embodiment, the adjustment fastener 70 includes a head or retainer 128 (
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The intermediate portion 131 defines a threaded fastener hole 138 configured to receive a threaded fastener 140. Also, the cable retainer 132 defines a pilot or pass-through hole 142. By inserting the fastener 140 through the hole 142 and screwing it into the fastener hole 138, the cable retainer 132 can be screwedly attached to the intermediate portion 131. By unscrewing fastener 140, the cable retainer 132 can be detached from the intermediate portion 131.
The extension 134 defines a shaft-receiving hole 144, and the rotor assembly 136 includes: (a) a shaft 146, such as an axle, screw, bolt, rod or tube, configured to be at least partially inserted into the shaft-receiving hole 144; (b) a plurality of rotational members or rotors 148 (e.g., wheels, disks or pulleys) that receive the shaft 146; (c) a plurality of bearings 150 that fit within the rotors 148 and also receive the shaft 146; and (d) one or more spacers or retainers, such as the illustrated washer 152, that also receives the shaft 146.
In an embodiment, the shaft-receiving hole 144 is threaded, and at least the end of the shaft 146 is threaded. To attach the rotor assembly 136 to the extension 134, the assembler inserts the shaft 146 through the rotors 148, bearings 150 and washer 152, and the assembler securely screws the shaft 146 into the threaded shaft-receiving hole 144.
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In an embodiment, to install, adjust and use the archery cable director 50, the following steps are performed:
(a) attach support 64 to arm 60 using adjustment screw 70 as described above, wherein the adjustment fastener 70 can be partially or fully screwed into either one of the position-setting holes 86, 87 of the arm 60;
(b) at this stage, keep the cable retainer 132 detached from the support 64, resulting in access space 170 (
(c) securely attach the arm 60 to the bow 10 using the mount fasteners 68;
(d) move the cables 35 and 37 laterally outward 47, inserting the cables 35 and 37 through the access space 170 (
(e) using fastener 140 (
(f) using the visual aids 100, 101, freely slide the support 64 relative to the arm 60 within the adjustment zone 126 (
(g) when reaching the second lateral position, tightly screw the adjustment fastener 70 into the arm 60 to secure, fix or lock the support 64 in the second lateral position for operation of the bow 10.
(h) when desiring to change or replace either cable 35 or 37, or when desiring to dismount the archery cable director 50 from the bow 10 (such as for transporting the bow 10), detach the cable retainer 132 from the support 64, resulting in the access space 170 (
(i) when desiring to use a different arrow with a fletching larger or smaller than fletching 45 (
Referring to
As described above, the user can use the inward position-setting hole 86 or the outward position-setting hole 87 for attaching the support 64 to the arm 60. For an arrow 42 with a relatively small fletching 45, the user can insert the adjustment fastener 70 into the inward position-setting hole 86; this results in a reduced amount of potentially harmful lateral force acting on the rotors 22, 24 of the bow 10. For an arrow 42 with a relatively large fletching 45, the user can insert the adjustment fastener 70 into the outward position-setting hole 87 to generate a suitable amount of distance 172 (
Therefore, the archery cable director 50 has a plurality of adjustment modes. A first adjustment mode involves the adjustable selection of the inward position-setting hole 86 or the outward position-setting hole 87. A second adjustment mode involves the sliding movement of the support 64 relative to the arm 60 along the adjustment zone 126. These adjustment modes facilitate the setup, ease of use, adjustment and calibration of the archery cable director 50 for different types or sizes of arrows or for different user preferences.
It should be appreciated that in other embodiments not shown, the cable engager 135 includes a cable engagement surface (e.g., a hook or grasp) instead of rotor assembly 130. It should also be appreciated that, in an embodiment, the coupling portions 84 and 85 are interchangeable. For example, in embodiments not shown, the structure, elements and function of coupling portion 85 are incorporated into the distal arm end 62 of arm 60, and the structure, elements and function of coupling portion 84 are incorporated into the proximal support end 65 of support 64. Furthermore, the separate components of the archery cable director 50 can be connected or coupled together through the use of any suitable types of fasteners, including, but not limited to, fully-threaded, partially-threaded, or non-threaded bolts, screws, pins, clips, and wires. In addition, when a component's hole is threaded, as described above, to mate with a threaded fastener, it should be appreciated that, in other embodiments, such hole is not threaded. Rather, a primary fastener is inserted through the non-threaded hole, and a secondary fastener (e.g., a nut or clip) is attached to the end of the primary fastener.
Additional embodiments include any one of the embodiments described above and described in any and all exhibits and other materials submitted herewith, where one or more of its components, functionalities or structures is interchanged with, replaced by or augmented by one or more of the components, functionalities or structures of a different embodiment described above.
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
Although several embodiments of the disclosure have been disclosed in the foregoing specification, it is understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and other embodiments of the disclosure will come to mind to which the disclosure pertains, having the benefit of the teaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings. It is thus understood that the disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein above, and that many modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although specific terms are employed herein, as well as in the claims which follow, they are used only in a generic and descriptive sense, and not for the purposes of limiting the present disclosure, nor the claims which follow.
This application is a continuation of, and claims the benefit and priority of, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/407,697 filed on Oct. 13, 2016. The entire contents of such application are hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62407697 | Oct 2016 | US |