1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates accessories to be utilized with archery bows and particularly to stabilizers utilized with archery bows.
2. Prior Art
In the prior art there has existed stabilizers for archery bows. The first of these stabilizers comprise essentially a long aluminum rod which was threaded into the riser of the bow and provided with a weight on the other end. While it provides some beneficial function, it had many drawbacks and disadvantages. Next, the stabilizer was made from carbon fiber which incorporated a vibration absorbing device and example of such a device is U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,022. While this device provided more beneficial use, it too had certain disadvantages.
Another type of stabilizer which was developed instead of the single rod type is commonly referred to as a multirod stabilizer. The examples of these kinds of multirod stabilizers are in U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,396; 5,611,325; and 6,431,163. While these multirod stabilizers provided some additional beneficial effects, they too had disadvantages. In particular, they were typically of complex construction which meant that after long use they tended to come apart and the parts thereof shifted in their location. Shifting their location of the parts caused a change in the tune of the stabilizer with a resulting change in the tune of the whole archery bow system. As a result, when there was a shift in part of the stabilizer, the entire archery bow would begin to shoot its arrows differently, which meant that the arrows would strike a target at different places than they did previously.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a multirod stabilizer for archery bow which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art while providing substantial damping.
It is another object of the present invention is to simplify the construction of the multirod stabilizer.
It is still another object of the present invention is to provide a multirod stabilizer which does not come apart with extended use.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide an archery bow stabilizer wherein even if some parts become loose, the parts do not shift in their location.
In keeping with the principles of the present invention, the objects are accomplished by a unit stabilizer for an archery bow. The stabilizer includes a base housing, at least one intermediate housing, at least one end housing and a plurality of longitudinally extending rods extending from the base housing, through the at least one intermediate housing and to the end housing. The base housing includes a coupling for coupling the base housing to a riser of the archery bow, a plurality of longitudinal bores provided in the base housing, a plurality of rods wherein an end of each of the plurality of rods inserted into one of the plurality of longitudinal bores in the base housing wherein a diameter of each of the plurality of rods is less than a diameter of each of the plurality of longitudinal bores, a resilient means provided in each of the plurality of bores surrounding each of the plurality of rods wherein the resilient means is in compression so as not only to engage inside surface of the bore but also to engage an outside surface of the rod such that the outside surface of the rod does not directly engage with the inside surface of the bore. The intermediate housing also has a plurality of bores through which a plurality of rods extend with the diameter of each of the plurality of rods wherein the diameter of each of the plurality of the rods is less than the diameter of each of the plurality of longitudinal bores and a resilient member provided in each of the plurality of bores in the intermediate housing surrounding each of the plurality of rods with each of the resilient members being in compression so as not only to engage an inside surface of the bore but also to engage an outside surface of the rod such that the outside surface of the rod is not directly engaged with the inside surface of the bore in the intermediate housing. The end housing has a plurality of bores into which an end of the plurality of the rods is inserted wherein the diameter of each of the plurality of the rods is less than a diameter of the plurality of bores provided in the end housing and the resilient members provided in each of the plurality of bores surrounding each of the plurality of the rods with each of the resilient members being in compression so as not only to engage an insider surface of the bore but also to engage an outside surface of the rod such that the outside surface of the rod does not engage directly with the inside surface of the bore.
The above-mentioned features and objects of the present invention, as well as other features and objections of the present invention, will become more apparent with reference to the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and in which:
Referring to
The base housing 6 comprises proximal portion 6a and distal portion 6b. The bores 12 are provided in both the proximal and distal portions 6a and 6b and resilient sleeves 14 are inserted into the bores 12. A mounting screw 18 is molded into the proximal portion 6a for mounting to a riser of an archery bow. The proximal and distal portions 6a and 6b are fastened together utilizing screws 6 which pass through screw holes in the distal end 6b and engage with making holes in the proximal portion 6a. The rods 4 extend through the bores 12 and the resilient sleeves 14. The bores 12 are larger in diameter than the rods 4 and the sleeves have a self-locking taper of preferably 7 degrees or less and have a resilience in the range of 20-60 Duros as measured on a Duro meter. Preferably, the sleeves 14 have a resilience of 50-80 Duros, particularly 60 Duros.
Similar to the base housing 6, the intermediate housing 8 comprises proximal end 8a and distal 8b, bores 20 provided in the proximal and distal ends 8a and 8b, resilient sleeves 22 provided in the bores 20 and screws 24 for fastening together the proximal and distal ends 8a and 8b. Preferably, the sleeves 22 of the intermediate housing 8 have a resiliency different than both the base and end housings 6 and 10 and is preferably 20 to 60 Duros. Still further, the bores 20 are substantially the same as the bores 12 and the sleeves 22 are substantially the same as the sleeves 14 in their construction and characteristics. Also and similar to the base housing 6, the rods 4 extend through the bores and the sleeves 22.
Similar to the base housing 6 and intermediate housing 8, the end housing 10 comprises proximal portion 10a and distal portion 10b, bores 26 provided in the proximal and distal portions 10a and 10b, resilient sleeves 28 of substantially the resiliency as the base housing are provided in the bores 26 and screws 30 for coupling together the proximal and distal ends 10a and 10b. In addition, the distal end 10b is provided with a coupling screw 32 for connecting a shock absorber device 34 to the distal portion 10b. In addition, a weight 36 can be coupled to the shock absorbing member 34. The structural and material characteristics of the bores 26 and the resilient sleeve 28 are substantially the same as those of the bores 12 and sleeve 14 of the base housing 6. In addition, an example of the shock absorbing means 34 would be a Doinker made by Leven Industries.
In assembly, the multirod stabilizer 2 of this embodiment is assembled essentially of the four rods 4, the base housing 6, intermediate housing 8 and the end housing 10. Each of the end housing 6, intermediate housing 8 and end housing 10 are substantially assembled in the same manner and accordingly, the assembly will be described in terms of an intermediate housing 8 and those differences between the end housing 10 and the base housing 6 and the assembly of the intermediate housing 8 will be described.
In particular, the rods 4 are first inserted through the sleeves 22 and the sleeves together with the rods 4 are inserted into the respective bores in the proximal end 8a and distal end 8b of the intermediate housing 8. The screws 24 are inserted into the holes in the proximal end 8a and are threaded into the distal end 8b. The tightening of the screws 24 causes the proximal end 8a to be drawn toward the distal end 8b to compress the sleeves 22 which have a self-locking taper. When the proximal end 8a and distal end 8b are completely drawn and locked together by the screws 24, the sleeves 22 are compressed and the self-locking taper thereof causes the sleeves 22 to be frictionally locked to the rods 4. As a result, even if the screws become slightly loose, the intermediate housing 8 does not move on the rods 4.
In addition, the proximal end 6a of the base housing 6 is provided with the bolt 18 which can be molded into the proximal end 6a for attaching the multirod stabilizer 2 to the rise of a bow. Similarly, the distal end 10b of the end housing 10 is provided with a bolt 32 which can be molded into the distal end 10b in order to attach the shocking absorbing device 34 to the end of the multirod stabilizer. Still further and to further isolate the rods 4 from the end housing 10 and the base housing 6, before the ends of the rods 4 are inserted into the base housing 6 and the end housing 10, the rods 4 can be additionally inserted into resilient caps which further isolate the rods 4 from the housings and prevent any direct contact therewith.
In operation, the multirod stabilizer affixed to the rise of an archery bow absorbs and dissipates the vibrational energy created during the shot of an arrow by the archery bow. The vibration travels from the rims to the rise and out through the multirod stabilizer 2 to dampen the vibration.
Referring to
Referring to
In assembly, the O-rings 46 are provided in the grooves 50 and the three pieces a, b, and c are loosely assembled together with a screw 16 inserted into the hole 48. The rods 4 are then inserted through the bores formed in each of the housings 40, 42 and 44 and at the same time inserted through the O-rings 46. The screws 16 are then tightened and the three pieces a, b and c of each of the housings 40, 42, 44 are drawn together to compress the O-rings 46. The base and end housings 40 and 44 are completely assembled by tightening down the screws 16 until the O-rings 46 are completely compressed and engaged with the rods 4. The intermediate housings 42 are then moved to the portions of the rod 4 wherein they will provide the most damping effect of any vibration traveling on the multirod stabilizer. At this point, they are also connected together by tightening down the screws 16. Once all the screws 16 are completely tightened, the position of all of the housings 40, 42 and 44 is fixed and immovable. As a result, when the multirod stabilizer is affixed to the riser of an archery bow by means of the screws 18, the multirod stabilizer will substantially absorb all of the vibration generated by the archery bow when an arrow is shot and provide a stable shot for the archer.
Referring to
In particular, the rods 4 extend through the sleeves 22 which are provided in the bores of the proximal ends a and distal ends b, but the proximal ends a and distal ends b are held together with an adhesive therebetween by a compression tool to compress the self-locking sleeve 22 while the adhesive polymerizes or drys. In this way the proximal end and distal end a and b are coupled together without the utilization of the screws and cannot come apart and effect the performance of the multirod stabilizer.
It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that various embodiments of the present invention represent only a few of the various embodiment and variation of the present invention which could be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3524441 | Jeffery | Aug 1970 | A |
3628520 | Izuta | Dec 1971 | A |
4615327 | Saunders | Oct 1986 | A |
4936283 | Izuta | Jun 1990 | A |
5090396 | Bickel et al. | Feb 1992 | A |
5611325 | Kudlacek | Mar 1997 | A |
6431163 | Chipman | Aug 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20070151553 A1 | Jul 2007 | US |