BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bow sighting device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in use with a compound bow;
FIG. 2
a is a front end view of an arrow shaft of the bow sighting device as in FIG. 1;
FIG. 2
b is a sectional view taken along line 2b-2b of FIG. 2a;
FIG. 3
a is another perspective view of the bow sighting device as in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3
b is an isolated view of a portion of the bow sighting device as in FIG. 3a;
FIG. 4
a is a perspective view of a bow sighting device according to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4
b is an isolated view of a portion of the bow sighting device as in FIG. 4a;
FIG. 4
c is a front end view of an arrow shaft of the bow sighting device as in FIG. 4a;
FIG. 4
d is a sectional view taken along line 4d-4d as in FIG. 4c;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bow sighting device as in FIG. 1 in use with a crossbow;
FIG. 6
a is a front end view of an arrow shaft of the bow sighting device according to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6
b is a sectional view taken along line 6b-6b of FIG. 6a with a nock in a compressed configuration urging a pushrod and battery into contact with a laser;
FIG. 6
c is a sectional view as in FIG. 6b with the pushrod in an extended configuration; and
FIG. 7 is a segmented sectional view of FIG. 2b illustrating a split-beam focusing lens.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A bow sighting device 100 according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 through 2b and FIGS. 5 through 7 of the accompanying drawings. More particularly, a bow sighting device 100 according to the current invention includes a laser 110, a power source 120, and an arrow shaft 130.
The laser 110 is in electrical communication with the power source 120 to actuate the laser 110. When actuated, the laser 110 produces a laser beam 112. The arrow shaft 130 has forward and rear ends 130a, 130b, and the laser beam 112 extends/projects from the shaft forward end 130a away from the shaft rear end 130b (FIG. 1). As best shown in FIG. 7, the laser beam 112 may extend from within the arrow shaft 130 through the shaft forward end 130a. The arrow shaft 130 may include fletching 132 at the shaft rear end 130b, a nock 134 at the shaft rear end 130b, and/or an arrowhead 136 at the shaft forward end 130a (FIG. 1).
It is understood that the arrowhead 136 may be removable (not shown), such as by a complementary threaded configuration. In such an embodiment, it is contemplated that a replacement arrowhead with laser may be re-attached to an arrow shaft if another one becomes damaged in use.
As shown in FIGS. 1 through 2b and FIGS. 6a through 6c, the laser 110 may be coupled to the arrow shaft 130. Though it may be possible to couple the laser 110 to the outside of the arrow shaft 130, it is currently preferred to place the laser 110 inside the arrow shaft 130, as shown in FIG. 2b.
FIGS. 1 through 2
b and FIGS. 6a through 6c show that the power source 120 may be a battery 120 coupled to the arrow shaft 130. A pushrod 125 may extend from the nock 134 to the battery 120 to move the battery 120 from an inactivated configuration 120a when the pushrod 125 is at an extended configuration 134a (FIG. 6c) to an activated configuration 120b when the pushrod 125 is at a compressed configuration 134b (FIG. 6b). Other switches or actuators may alternately or additionally be used. Similarly, power sources other than a battery may also be used, such a solar cell array.
A focusing lens 140 may be positioned at the arrow shaft forward end 130a. As shown in FIG. 1, the focusing lens 140 may be configured to focus the laser beam 112 and direct the laser beam 112 in a direction linear with the arrow shaft 130 to accommodate gravity-induced arrow drop, wind deflection, or other perturbing effects. As shown in FIG. 7, the focusing lens 140 may be a splitting lens for splitting the laser beam 112 into a plurality of split laser beams 112a. Each split laser beam 112a may correspond to a predetermined distance as discussed further below. The optic devices utilized to manipulate the laser beam may alternatively include mirrors, reflectors, prisms, lenses, optical fibers or light pipes.
In use, the arrow shaft 130 may be coupled to a bow 10 in a conventional manner prior to its release. Specifically, the nock 134 may be aligned with a string 14 and the shaft forward end 130a may be placed at an arrow shelf 16. If a pushrod 125 is included, the string 14 may move the pushrod 125, and the pushrod 125 may in turn move the battery 120 to the activated configuration 120b as discussed above. The battery 120 may actuate the laser 110, which produces the laser beam 112. If the focusing lens 140 is configured to focus the laser beam 112 and direct the laser beam 112 in a direction linear with the arrow shaft 130 (as discussed above), the laser beam 112 may extend linearly from the arrow shaft 130 (FIG. 1). If the focusing lens 140 is a splitting lens (as discussed above), the split laser beams 112a may correspond to sighting of the bow at predetermined distances, each with a different gravity-induced drop in the arrow trajectory from a perfect line-of-sight parallel to the arrow shaft (FIG. 7). For example, one split laser beam 112a may correspond to a target thirty yards from the device 100, while another split laser beam 112 may correspond to a target forty yards from the device 100. The different split laser beams 112a compensate for the non-linear trajectory of the arrow shaft 130 over different distances when taking gravity into account. The arrow shaft 130 may be fired from the bow 10 using the laser beam 112 as a sight, or the laser beam 112 may be used to set physical sights on the bow 10.
A bow sighting device 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b and includes a construction substantially similar to the construction previously described except as specifically noted below. More particularly, the power source 120 may be a battery 120 coupled to the bow 10, and the bow sighting device 200 may include means for transferring energy from the battery 120 to the laser 110. In other words, the battery 120 is not positioned in the interior of the arrow shaft 130 in this embodiment. More particularly, a first electrical contact 221 may be coupled to the bow 10 and be in electrical communication with the battery 120; a second electrical contact 222 may be coupled to the arrow shaft 130 or a separate internal wire or conductor leading to the other post of the battery and be in electrical communication with the laser 110. The second electrical contact 222 may be in selective contact with the first electrical contact 221, such as when an arrow shaft 130 is positioned on the bow 10 prior to being shot, as best shown in FIG. 3b.
In use, the battery 120 may actuate the laser 110 only when the second electrical contact 222 is in contact with the first electrical contact 221. This embodiment may be advantageous over the first embodiment described above insofar as the arrow shaft 130 may be lighter since it does not house the power source 120.
A bow sighting device 300 according to yet another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 4a through 4d and includes a construction substantially similar to the construction previously described except as specifically noted below. More particularly, the laser 110 may be coupled to the bow 10 and the power source 120 may be coupled to the bow 10. The arrow shaft 130 may have a sidewall 331 that defines an opening 331a, as best shown in FIGS. 4b and 4d. Optics (e.g., mirror 335, a lens, and/or a fiberoptic cable) may be inside the arrow shaft 130 to direct the laser beam 120 from the sidewall opening 33 la to the forward end 130a of the arrow shaft 130 (FIG. 4d).
In use, the battery 120 may actuate the laser 110, which produces the laser beam 112. The laser beam 112 may travel through the sidewall opening 331a (FIGS. 4b and 4d), and the optics (e.g., mirror 335) may direct the laser beam 120 from the sidewall opening 331a to the forward end 130a of the arrow shaft 130 (FIG. 4d). This embodiment may be advantageous over the first two embodiments described above insofar as the arrow shaft 130 may be lighter since it does not house the laser 110 or the power source 120.
As shown in FIG. 5, it should be appreciated that the embodiment first described may be used successfully with a crossbow. Accordingly, the crossbow shown in FIG. 5 is also referred to with reference numeral 10 and includes a string 14 appropriate for coupling to the nock 134 of an arrow shaft 130. With laser turned on and aimed at a sighting target, the windage and elevation settings of a scope may be adjusted to coincide with the laser beam on the target. Then, during use, the cross-hairs of the scope may be trusted to be accurate for taking a shot.
While use of a laser in the present invention has been described throughout and is preferred, it is understood that other high intensity light emitting components may also be used, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs).
It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.
Patent Application
20080010842
