Patent Application
20230258438
The present description is directed toward arrows, arrow components, and arrowheads for target archery or bow hunting, and, more particularly, to an arrow component system with a reinforced insert assembly to provide improved alignment and strength. Additionally, the description is directed toward a new design for an arrowhead for use with small or micro diameter arrows.
Arrowheads have long been used for target archery and hunting when mounted on arrows and fired from a variety of bow designs. An ongoing challenge is how to improve the ease of attachment of the arrowhead upon the end of an arrow while maintaining alignment and without negatively impacting the overall strength of the assembled unit.
A conventional arrow has a shaft with a fletching and a knock at one end to receive the bow string. At the other end, the arrow typically will include a threaded insert or outsert to accept a threaded arrowhead, which may include a field point or broadhead. The advantages of employing a hidden or concealed-from-view are known by the archery industry and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,055. These advantages include improved alignment of the arrowhead to the arrow shaft since the arrowhead shank aligns directly to the inner diameter of the arrow shaft.
Present designs, however, for such hidden inserts have failed to meet all the demands of users and manufacturers of arrow components. Hence, there remains a need for a new design for arrow components including the hidden insert used to attach an arrowhead to an arrow shaft.
The inventor recognized that one of the key disadvantages of conventional or prior hidden inserts is that the arrowhead, upon assembly with the arrow shaft, is supported only by the carbon shaft from the front of the insert to the end of the arrow shaft. With this design issue in mind, the inventor further understood that arrowheads include field points for practice and broadheads for hunting, and, when used for hunting, it is desirable for the arrowhead to have a higher strength due to the possibility of bone impact.
To address these and other needs of the archery industry and of users of arrows and arrow components, an arrow component system is described, along with a new broadhead design, to achieve improved alignment and strength when compared with prior hidden insert configurations. In brief, the arrow component system described herein may include an arrow with a shaft having a first end (or fletching end) configured to receive a bow string. The system further includes an insert disposed completely within a second end of the arrow shaft, and this insert may be labeled “a hidden insert.” Further, the system may include a collar over the second end of the shaft, and the collar has a flange covering the front of the shaft and a tapered section at the rear of the collar.
More particularly, an arrow component system is described that provided several advantages including providing enhanced strength and alignment for an arrow used for target practice as well as hunting. The system includes an insert that is cylindrical shaped and configured (e.g., with an outer diameter some amount (e.g., 0.001 inches or more) less than an inner diameter of the arrow shaft (or its sidewall defining a hollow interior or core) for insertion into an open end of a shaft of the arrow. The insert includes a threaded end positioned proximate to the open end of the shaft upon insertion of the insert into the open end of the shaft, and the threaded end of the insert is configured for receiving a threaded end of a shank of an arrowhead.
Significantly, the arrow component system also includes an impact collar for fitting over the open end of the arrow's shaft prior to attachment of an arrowhead to the insert. The collar includes a hollow cylindrical-shaped sleeve with a first end and a second end. The collar also includes a flange with ring-shaped body affixed to the first end of the sleeve. The sleeve has an inner diameter at least as large as an outer diameter of the open end of the shaft to allow the sleeve to be slid over the open end of the shaft prior to threading the arrowhead into the threaded end of the insert. In use, the ring-shaped body of the flange abuts the open end of the shaft when an entire length of the sleeve is slid over the open end of the shaft.
In some embodiments, the ring-shaped body of the flange has a width that is in the range of 75 to 100 percent of the thickness of a sidewall of the shaft, whereby the flange extends orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the shaft of the arrow without extending beyond the inner diameter of the open end of the shaft. The sleeve has a length as measured from the first end to the second end in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 inches, with some useful embodiments using 1.0 inches as the sleeve length. The sleeve and the flange are formed of a metal with a tensile strength greater than about 100 ksi such as titanium (e.g., Grade 5) or hardened steel.
The sleeve can be attached to an outer surface of the shaft of the arrow with adhesive (e.g., an epoxy or the like). The sleeve may also include a taper extending from the second end of the sleeve. In such embodiments, within the taper, the sleeve has a first outer diameter distal to the second end of the sleeve and a second outer diameter at or proximate to the second end of the sleeve that is less than the first outer diameter. In these or other embodiments, the insert can further include a second end opposite the threaded end, with the insert having a solid core extending inward a distance from the second end toward the threaded end, whereby the insert reinforces the open end of the shaft of the arrow and sets (e.g., with the size and/or weight of the solid core as well as the rest of the insert material) a total upfront weight of the arrow.
The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other and further features and advantages thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The scope of the embodiments will be pointed out in the appended claims.
In brief, the present description teaches an arrow component system, along with a new broadhead design, to achieve improved alignment and strength when compared with prior hidden insert configurations. The arrow component system may include an arrow with a shaft having a first end (or fletching end) configured to receive a bow string. The system further includes an insert disposed completely within a second end of the arrow shaft, and this insert may be labeled “a hidden insert.”
Additionally, the system may include a collar over the second end of the shaft, and the collar has a flange covering the front of the shaft and a tapered section at the rear of the collar. The inner diameter of the sleeve portion can be the same diameter of the arrow shaft or slightly larger such as by 0.001 to 0.008 inches. Preferably, the outer diameter of this sleeve is tapered to a smaller diameter at the rear (i.e., toward the fletching end of the arrow shaft when attached) to aid in removal from a target. The typical length of the sleeve is 0.50 to 1.5 inches with some useful embodiments have a sleeve with a length of 1.0 inches.
In some embodiments, the flange is configured so that it extends in from the front end of the sleeve and covers the front of the arrow shaft adjacent to the arrowhead. The flange functions to protect the end of the arrow shaft and to also allow the flange to be held in place by an arrowhead, after the arrowhead is screwed into the hidden insert. The flange is designed so that it extends inward beyond the outer diameter of the arrow shaft but does not extend beyond the inner diameter of the arrow shaft. The collar (or “impact collar”) and its components may be made of a high strength material such as steel or titanium. Epoxy or another adhesive can also be used to secure the collar to the arrow shaft and to fill any diametral clearance between the collar and outer surfaces of the arrow shaft.
Hunters commonly use field points for practice and broadheads for hunting. Although the arrow components described herein are advantageous when field points are used, arrows or arrow assemblies with the new components are particularly useful when using broadheads because broadheads can exacerbate many shaft-insert-point alignment problems and often require higher impact strength to avoid failure due to the possibility of bone contact during a hunt. The arrow components provided by this description further may include an improved arrowhead that can be used with the reinforced hidden insert (or hidden insert assembly/system).
The archery or hunting industry standard replacement point system specifies a maximum shank length of 0.375 inches. The shank is the portion of the arrowhead between the threaded portion provided for attachment to the arrow shaft and the shoulder, where the arrowhead becomes larger in diameter than the arrow shaft. In contrast to the industry standard, an arrowhead was designed by the inventor that has a shank length greater than 0.5 inches (or, stated differently, an increase of over 33 percent in shank length) such as in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 inches with some implementations of the new arrowhead having a shank length of about 1.0 inches.
This significantly increased shank length can provide several surprising advantages. For a given amount of diametral clearance between the arrow inside diameter and the arrowhead shank, a longer shank will reduce the amount of angular misalignment that can possibly occur between the axis of the arrow shaft and the arrowhead. This is proportional to the ratio of the shank lengths. For example, a shank length of 1.0 inches will reduce the maximum angular misalignment by 1.0/0.375 or 2.67 times compared to a standard shank arrowhead. The axis of the arrow shaft becomes the axis of rotation in flight, and angular misalignment will cause the arrowhead tip to have undesirable runout (i.e., to move up and down and/or side to side during this rotation). This condition often decreases a bowhunter's accuracy since it causes drag forces that are not symmetric.
As another important advantage, the longer shank of the broadhead reinforces the core of the arrow for longer distance, which improves arrow strength. This is true because it will readily be understood that an arrow with a solid metal core is stronger than a thin-walled carbon shaft by itself. In some implementations, the longer broadhead shank, the hidden insert, and the collar are all made of metal. More specifically, preferred embodiments may form these arrow components from a higher strength metal such as titanium (e.g., Grade 5 or higher strength) and/or hardened steel with a tensile strength greater than about 100 ksi.
Presently, there are at least two arrow sizes that use hidden inserts, and the hidden inserts described herein are readily compatible with these smaller sized arrow shafts. These arrows are known in the industry as small diameter arrows, which have shafts with a 0.2045-inch inner diameter, and micro diameter arrows, which have shafts with an inner diameter of approximately 0.1655 inches. Note, the micro diameter arrows from some manufacturers are about 0.165 inches in inner diameter while others are about 0.166 inches in inner diameter such that the 0.1655-inch inner diameter is an average value. In one useful embodiment of the arrow component system, the diameter of the arrowhead shank is approximately 0.2035 inches so that it fits inside and aligns well with small diameter arrows (which have a 0.2045-inch inner diameter). In a second useful embodiment, the diameter of the arrowhead shank is approximately 0.1645 inches so that it fits inside and aligns well with micro diameter arrows (which have a 0.1655-inch inner diameter).
In these and other useful embodiments of the arrow component system described herein, the hidden insert length and/or weight can be varied to further extend the reinforced core of the arrow and achieve the desired upfront weight and total arrow weight. The hidden insert can be inserted into the arrow shaft with an installation tool and bonded in place with an adhesive such as an epoxy. In other implementations, the hidden insert is configured to be threaded onto the arrowhead. Then, both the arrowhead and the attached hidden insert can be bonded together into an interior space of the arrow shaft, with, in some cases, adhesives such a 2-part epoxy, hot melt adhesive, or the like.
The arrow assembly 100 further includes arrow system components in the form of an impact collar 120 and a hidden (or “threaded”) insert 140. The impact collar 120 is shown to be mated or affixed to the open end 114 of the arrow shaft 110, and the collar 120 includes a cylindrical (and hollow) sleeve 122 extending, from an end 125 proximate to the open shaft end 114 to an end 124 distal to the open shaft end 114, a length or distance along the outer surface of the shaft sidewall 112 (or arrow shaft 110). The sleeve 122, generally, has an inner diameter that matches or is somewhat larger than the outer diameter of the shaft sidewall 112 or arrow 110 proximate to the open end 114 such that it can be attached to the arrow shaft 110. In some preferred embodiments, the outer diameter of the sleeve 122 can be tapered (or become smaller and smaller) from a first value to a second value toward the distal or rear end 124.
Integral with the sleeve 122, the collar 120 includes a flange 128 that mates with the proximate end 125 of the sleeve 122 and is circular in shape with a maximum thickness selected to be the same or less than the thickness of the shaft sidewall 112. The flange 128 acts as a physical stop during application of the sleeve 122 onto the arrow shaft 110 as acting as a force or shock receiving surface for the impact collar 120 while leaving the end 114 of the shaft open.
The arrow assembly 100 includes a hidden insert 140 that includes a cylindrical hollow body with a first end 142 inserted into the interior space of shaft sidewall 112 via the open shaft end 114. The insert 140 is “hidden” by the sidewall 112, and the body of the insert 140 has an outer diameter that is a small amount less than the inner diameter of the shaft sidewall 112 to allow its insertion during fabrication of the assembly 100. The insert 140 has a second end 144 positioned proximate to the open shaft end 114 after assembly that is open with female threading to receive a threaded first end of the shank 132 of an arrowhead 130.
Upon assembly as shown, the second end 144 of the insert is located a desired distance from the open shaft end 114, and this offset distance may be selected such that the bottom or base of the broadhead 138 of the arrowhead 130 abuts the flange 128 of the collar 120 and the shank 132 is fully inserted into the arrow shaft 110 (with its second end 134 adjacent the flange 128). In the assembly 100, the arrowhead 130 has a shank 132 with a standard or conventional length (as typically measured from the second shank end 134 to proximate portion of the threaded first end 133), which, as discussed above, is 0.375 inches or less. In the assembly 100, the arrowhead 130 includes a broadhead 138 attached to a second end 134 of the shank 132 (distal to the threaded end 133) or is a standard shank broadhead. However, the assembly 100 may be modified to include a field point in place of the broadhead 138.
As can be seen, the long shank arrowhead 230 is useful, when combined with the hidden insert 140, to reinforce a much longer portion of the arrow shaft 110 than is the case with assembly 100. As discussed above, the impact collar may be formed of hardened steel or other material useful for withstanding large impact forces so as to reinforce the open end of the arrow shaft 110. The longer shank 232 may also be formed of metal or other higher strength material and may be a solid cylinder to provide a long and solid core to the arrow shaft 110 at the open end to provide improved strength and also enhance alignment of the broadhead 238 with the arrow shaft 110.
The insert 140 may be hollow as shown in
This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The example embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain principles and practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Thus, although illustrative example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying figures, it is to be understood that this description is not limiting and that various other changes and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Pat. Appl. No. 63/311,093, filed Feb. 17, 2022, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63311093 | Feb 2022 | US |
