Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to compound archery bows, and is particularly related to holders mounted on such bows to receive arrows and to securely hold the arrows in a nocked position until drawn and released by an archer.
Archers, and particularly bow hunters must necessarily be concerned with and be able to quickly aim and shoot an arrow when game is spotted. Consequently, bows having devices mounted thereon that will grip and hold a nocked arrow to the bow and that will release the grip to allow free flight of the arrow after the arrow has been fired from the bow have been developed.
2. Prior Art
It is common for bow hunters to have an arrow positioned in a bow, ready to fire, even while the bow hunter is searching for, or waiting for game. This has generally meant that an arrow is nocked to the draw string of the bow, with the user grasping both the center portion (handle) of the bow and the shaft of the arrow to keep the arrow from falling from the bow prior to drawing and release of the arrow. Naturally, because of the need to traverse through brush or over rough terrain, or even to hold the nocked arrow for long periods it is not uncommon for the bow hunter to relax the grip on the arrow and for the arrow to fall from the ready to pull position. It then becomes necessary to reinstall the arrow to the ready position for quick shooting of the arrow.
Arrow holders may have been proposed in the past that will grip an arrow shaft until the arrow is fired, thus alleviating the need for the hunter to hold the arrow in place. However, such arrow holders, when opened to release the arrow shaft often are still engaged by the feathers or flexible vanes of the arrow as it leaves the bow. Such arrow holders may be satisfactory for use with arrows having flexible vanes, but they do no work well with arrows having rigid vanes configured to import rotation to the flying arrow. Consequently, there remains a need for an arrow holder having shaft gripping means that will fully release an arrow shaft upon firing of an arrow and that fully removes the arrow grasping means from the path of the vanes on the released arrow.
More recently, bows have been provided with holding devices that will grip the shaft of a nocked arrow to more firmly hold the arrow in place on a bottom guide as a hunter looks for, or waits for game. The holding devices often hold a nocked arrow, even as the draw string is pulled and then drop away from the arrow when the draw string is released. A release actuator is provided as part of the holding structure and the release actuator causes the holding means for the arrow to pull away from the arrow when the draw string is released.
Principal objects of the present invention are to provide a compound bow equipped with a centrally located arrow holder and means to release a nocked arrow from the arrow holder upon release of the draw string of the bow.
An additional object is to provide an arrow holder to be centrally located on a compound bow where it will support and hold a nocked arrow until the arrow has been fully drawn and released.
Still another object is to provide an arrow holder for a compound bow having a plurality of grippers radially spaced around an arrow shaft that will radially hold the shaft of a nocked arrow and that will release all grippers only upon release of a drawn nocked arrow.
Further objects are to provide a release mechanism for an arrow holder of a compound bow that will release all radially positioned gripping means from engagement with an arrow shaft upon release of the drawn arrow from engagement with the draw string of the bow and that will result in totally unobstructed flight of the released arrow from the bow, followed by resetting of the holder to be ready to receive and hold another nocked arrow.
Principal features of the invention include a compound bow having a central handle below an arrow holder and having the usual draw string secured to and passed over pulleys in usual compound bow fashion.
Other features include an arrow holder positioned to hold a nocked arrow against inadvertent release prior to pulling and release of the draw string.
Still other features include radially spaced grippers of the arrow holder that encircle and hold an arrow shaft to secure the arrow against inadvertent release; and a pivoted and biased gripper release to pivot each gripper out of engagement with the arrow shaft and out of the path of vanes on the arrow shaft as the arrow is released from the draw string and flies from the bow.
Still another feature is that as a released arrow flies from the bow the holder resets the grippers to be ready to hold a newly installed, nocked arrow.
Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from the following detailed description and claims.
In the Drawings
Referring now to the Drawings
In the illustrated preferred embodiment of the invention, a compound bow is shown generally at 10, having a central section 12 that includes a hand grip 14 beneath a shoulder 16.
An arrow support, shown generally at 18, includes an L-shaped bracket 20, with one arm 22 secured by a bolt 24 to the central section 12 of the bow. Arm 22 of bracket 20 is cantilevered rearwardly from the central section 12 and extends normal to the vertical axis through the central section 12. Bolt 24 extends through central section 12 and through a slot 28 in the arm 22 to receive a nut 34. Arm 38 of bracket 20 extends at a right angle to the arm 22 and has an elongate slot 40 formed therethrough. Slot 40 extends parallel to the elongate axis through the central section 12.
A generally U-shaped arrow gripper 44 has a bolt 46 projecting from one side 48. A nut 50 is threaded fully onto bolt 46 and the threaded end of the bolt is inserted through elongate slot 40. Another nut 52 is threaded onto the end of bolt 46 to hold the arrow gripper 44 to the bracket 20.
Arrow shaft grippers 54, 56, and 58 are each secured to the U-shaped arrow gripper 44 and are mounted to be equidistantly spaced around arrow shaft 59. The grippers each include a pivotally mounted tube 60 and a rubber tip 62 extending from the end of the tube. Each tip 62 is inserted into the end of a tube 60 and is held in the tube by a set screw 64 threaded through the wall of the tube and into locking engagement with the tip. Each tip 62 has a V-notch 66 formed in the projecting end to better engage an arrow shaft, as will be hereinafter further explained.
Gripper 54 is pivotally mounted in a notch 70 formed centrally of a bottom bar 72 of the U-shaped arrow gripper. The tube 60 of gripper 54 is pivotally mounted on a pivot shaft 74 and is biased by a coil spring 76 on the shaft 74. One end of the spring 76 is connected to the bar and the other end connected to the tube 60 to bias the gripper 54 to an arrow shaft engaging position.
Grippers 56 and 58 are respectively pivotally mounted in notches 78 and 80 formed at in-turned ends 82 and 84 of the U-shaped arrow gripper 44. Grippers 56 and 58 are each pivotally mounted on a pivot shaft 86 that extends across and into opposite sides of the respective notches 78 or 80 in which the gripper is mounted. A coil spring 92 is mounted on each pivot shaft 86, with one end fixed to the gripper and the other end fixed to an in-turned end 82, or 84. The grippers 56 and 58 are positioned to engage an arrow shaft with the grippers 54, 56, and 58 equally spaced around the arrow shaft when the grippers are respectively biased by the springs 76 and 92 against walls of the respective notches 78 and 80 in which they are mounted.
A generally U-shaped arrow shaft gripper actuator is shown at 100. Actuator 100 includes a web 102 and arms 104 and 106. Web 102 includes spaced ears 108 that align with ears 110 of the arrow gripper 44. A pivot shaft 112 extends through the ears 108 and 110 and the actuator 100 pivots on the shaft 112 with respect to the arrow gripper 44.
Coil springs 76 and 92 bias the arrow shaft gripper actuator 100 to return projections 120, 122 and 124 to position them out of drawing engagement with the arrow shaft gripper. The coil springs 76, 78 and 80 then bias the shaft gripper into arrow shaft engaging position.
An actuator arm 130 has one end 132 fixed at 134 to and cantilevered from a rear surface 136 of the arrow shaft gripper actuator 100. The actuator arm 130 projects to extend alongside and beyond a vertical length 134 of the draw string 136 of the compound bow 10. Actuator arm 130 is preferably made of stainless steel, or other suitable strong, weather resistant material and preferably has a circular cross-section. The weight of actuator arm 130 acts to pivot the arrow shaft gripper actuator 100 after the grippers have been moved by the springs 76 and 92. The weight of the cantilevered actuator arm 130 pivots the arrow shaft gripper actuator 100 away from the arrow gripper 44.
A loop 140 formed in the actuator arm 130 serves as a spring intermediate the length of the actuator arm so that when the actuator arm is activated during the action cycle of the bow, the loop will absorb some of the lifting force applied to the actuator arm and avoid permanent bending of the arm.
An actuator cam 150 is affixed to the vertical length 134 of draw string 136. Cam 150 is preferably made of stainless steel or other suitably strong, durable and lightweight material. The cam 150 has an abrupt upper shoulder surface 152 that is angled slightly from a shoulder rim 154 upwardly to the top end 156 of a central bore 158 that extends fully through the cam from the top 156 to a bottom end 160. The exterior surface 162 of the actuator cam, below the shoulder rim 154, is gradually sloped to the bottom end 160 of the bore 158. As best shown in
A vertical slot 166 formed in the sidewall of cam 150 extends through the surfaces 152 and 162, and into central bore 158. Slot 166 is sufficiently wide to allow the draw string 136 of the compound bow to be inserted through the slot and into the central bore 158. Spaced set screws 168 and 170 threaded through the tapered surface 162 and into central bore 158 to engage the bow string 140, and to hold the cam 150 in properly set position on the vertical length 138 of bow string 140.
With bow 10 in an upright use position, cam 150 is secured by set screws 168 and 170 on vertical length 134 of the draw string 136. Cam 150 is affixed just below the end 174 of actuator arm 130 remote from the arrow gripper actuator 100 when the arrow gripper actuator is fully biased out of engagement with the arrow shaft grippers 54, 56 and 58 by coil springs 76 and 92.
As shown best in
In shooting the loaded arrow, the archer user grasps the central section of the bow with one hand; draws the pull length 182 of the draw string 136 back with his other hand; aims the arrow; and releases the pull length of the draw string.
As the archer user draws the pull length 182 of the draw string 140 rearwardly, the actuator cam 150 that is secured to the vertical length 138 of the draw string moves downwardly, below the actuator arm 130. At this time the arrow gripper actuator 100 is biased by coil springs 76 and 92 and the weight of the actuator arm 130 out of engagement with the arrow shaft grippers 44. Consequently, the arrow shaft grippers 54, 56 and 58 that are biased by coil springs 76 and 92 secure the arrow shaft 59 until they are pivoted out of engagement with the arrow shaft.
When the pull length 182 of the pulled draw string 140 is released by the archer, the actuator cam 150 on the vertical length of the draw string rapidly travels upwardly so that the abrupt shoulder 152 engages and lifts the actuator arm 130. Upward movement of the actuator arm pivots the arrow gripper actuator on pivot shaft 112. Continued upward movement of the actuator cam and lifting of the actuator arm 130 moves pivot shaft grippers 54, 56, and 58 out of engagement with the arrow shaft just prior to the pull length of the draw string returning to its start position, during which time the arrow is released from the draw string to fly from the bow.
Immediately before the pull length 182 returns to its start position and as the actuator cam continues to move up, the actuator arm slides off the abrupt shoulder 152 and moves down the tapered exterior surface 162 under the weight of the actuator arm and the bias of coil springs 76 and 92. The arrow gripper actuator 100 is thus biased away from the arrow grippers 54, 56 and 58. This allows the arrow grippers to be biased by springs 76 and 92 into position to receive and grip a next inserted arrow shaft 59.
A plastic sleeve 170 may be provided to telescope snugly over the length of actuator arm 130 contacted by cam 150. With the sleeve 170 in place, engagement of the cam 150 with the plastic sleeve 170 on the actuator arm 130 is quiet and game being hunted is not alerted by any noise during use of the bow for game hunting.
Although a preferred embodiment of our invention has been herein described, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is by way of example and that variations are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, which subject matter we regard as our invention.