Patent Grant
8783659
String loops provide several benefits to the archery sportsman and the professional alike and are a popular addition to archery bow strings. String loops are also known as rope loops, bow loops and/or D-loops. Some of the many benefits include the prevention of premature wear on the serving because the release is no longer attached directly to the bowstring and therefore the amount of time between changing a string is greatly increased. Also, the elimination of “nock pinch” when at full draw, prevents the arrow from failing off the bow string and also coming off the string when let down. Perhaps the most important benefit of a string loop is that it may also enhance shooting accuracy.
While string loops may be easily attached to the bow string via a pair of simple cinch knots, forming the rope loop on the bow string with the proper amount of tension in the loop may be problematic. However, care must be taken to install the string loop without damaging the bow string serving or the loop itself. Tapered needle nose pliers, screw drivers and T-handle Allen wrenches have been used to apply direct manual pressure on the rope to tighten the cinch knots. However, such impromptu procedures have the risk of damaging the bow string by separating the outer and inner string fibers. Also, the results from various impromptu procedures are not the most effective nor the best application of the user's time and effort.
A disclosed string loop tensioning pliers device includes a first member having a first handle section and a fixed arcuate jaw comprising an upper jaw and a lower jaw. The lower jaw has an arcuate claw end and the upper jaw has a first lateral dowel pin end, three in-line and lateral facing beveled prongs and a pivot boss extending from the upper jaw. A middle prong of the three is configured to join with a second lateral dowel pin of a second member. The second member is pivotally connected to the first member and comprises a second handle section, a notched end opposite the handle section and a pivot boss there between and a second lateral dowel pin configured to join with the middle prong when the first handle and the second handle are distally positioned.
A method of using the string loop tensioning pliers device includes tensioning a string knotted to the bowstring on one end by positioning the string through the arcuate claw end of the first member over a first knot on the bowstring and inserting a sacrificial knot into the notched end of the second member and squeezing the first handle toward the second handle. The method also includes spreading a loop created on the bowstring by removing the sacrificial knot and forming a second knot on the bow string in its place and positioning the claw to straddle the bowstring. The first lateral dowel pin is inserted through the formed string loop and the pliers device is rocked back against the arcuate claw and the bowstring to pre-tension the loop. The method further includes further tensioning the formed string loop by inserting the middle prong joined with the second lateral dowel through the created or formed loop and positioning the bowstring underneath the three prongs and squeezing the first handle against the second handle.
Other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrated by way of example of the principles of the disclosure.
a is an illustration depicting a step for tensioning a first knot of a string onto a bowstring using the pliers device in accordance with an embodiment of a method of the present disclosure.
b is an illustration depicting a step for spreading a string loop formed on a bowstring using the pliers device in accordance with an embodiment of a method of the present disclosure.
c is an illustration depicting a step for tensioning the formed string loop using the pliers device in accordance with an embodiment of a method of the present disclosure.
Throughout the description, similar reference numbers may be used to identify same and similar elements in the multiple drawings and figures above.
Reference will now be made to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.
The disclosed string loop tensioning pliers device allows for installation of a very small string loop to increase the power stroke of the bow and arrow velocity. In other words, as the length of the loop is shortened, the bows' effective draw length at rest is also shortened. Therefore the bows' active draw length to store potential energy may be further lengthened by the user thus increasing the bows power stroke and arrow velocity upon release. Loose string loops in the prior art may not be able to achieve the same bow active draw length and associated power stroke and arrow velocity.
The three in-line and lateral facing beveled prongs 6a, b and c are spaced apart approximately 8 to 10 mm to accommodate a string knot on either side of the middle prong. Each prong adjacent to the middle prong extends approximately 17 mm from the upper jaw 2 and each adjacent prong is approximately 6 mm wide by approximately 3 mm thick and a bottom side of each prong facing the lower jaw 3 is substantially flat. The middle prong rounded groove 7 is configured in a top surface of the middle prong in relation to the lower jaw 3, the rounded groove 7 measuring approximately less than 5 mm wide. All dimensions and measurements as specified herein may be adjusted plus or minus 10% for tolerance in manufacturing the pliers device as disclosed.
An inside distance between a first tip of the arcuate claw end 4 of the lower jaw 3 to a second tip of the claw end 4 measures approximately 8 to 10 mm plus or minus 10% to accommodate a knot tied in a string loop to a bow string. The bowstring is placed beneath the claw and the string loop string is brought up between the two tips of the claw end 4 toward the upper jaw 2 where it will make contact with the second member as further explained below.
The stop boss 10 is formed on an inside of the second member. The stop boss 10 is configured to overlap the second member with the first member upper jaw 2 and therefore limit a distal extension of the first handle 1 to the second handle 11. An embodiment of the present disclosure includes a low durometer material covering or coating on the stop boss 10 at least where it contacts the first member and therefore providing a cushioned closing of the first member upper jaw 2 against the second member and the second lateral dowel 13 into the rounded groove 7 of the middle prong.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first dowel pin 5 extends in an opposite lateral direction to the three in-line and lateral facing beveled prongs 6a, b and c and the second dowel pin 13 extends in the same lateral direction as the three beveled prongs, the first and second dowel pins are both secured at one end to a respective member and an unsecured respective end is beveled to facilitate the penetration of the respective dowel pin into a small loop of string. The first and second dowel pins measure approximately 3 mm in diameter and the first dowel pin 5 extends approximately 18 mm from the first member and the second dowel pin 13 extends approximately 16 mm from the second member of the pliers device. All dimensions and measurements include a 10% plus or minus manufacturing tolerance.
As can be seen in
An embodiment of a method of using the string loop tensioning pliers device on a bowstring additionally includes 130 tensioning a first knot of the string formed on the bowstring by placing a claw end of a first device member lower jaw over the first knot and inserting a sacrificial knot formed on a free end of the string into a knot recess or notched end of a second device member pivotally connected to a boss on an upper jaw of the first member and squeezing a first device handle toward a second device handle. The method further includes 140 spreading a string loop formed on the bowstring by removing the sacrificial knot and forming a second knot from the string free end on the bowstring and placing the claw to straddle the bowstring and placing a first lateral dowel pin of the first member upper jaw through the formed loop and rocking the pliers device back against the claw end and the bowstring. This step 140 pre-tensions the string loop in preparation for further tensioning. The method yet includes 150 further tensioning the formed string loop by inserting a middle prong of three in-line and lateral facing prongs on the upper jaw of the first member joined with a second lateral dowel of the second member through the loop and placing the bowstring underneath the three prongs and squeezing the first handle against the second handle.
a is an illustration depicting a step for tensioning a first knot of a string onto a bowstring using the pliers device in accordance with an embodiment of a method of the present disclosure. The user may cut a piece of string loop material to approximately five and ½ inches, burn both ends to seal the string fibers against unraveling and tie a sacrificial square knot in one end. The sacrificial knot is used to tension the string with the pliers device and is later removed when completing the string loop on the bowstring. The user may position the arrow on the bowstring and move the first cow hitch knot to where the arrow is perpendicular to the bowstring. The user may apply step 130 as discussed above to tension the first cow hitch knot and the string.
As can be seen in
b is an illustration depicting a step for spreading a string loop formed on a bowstring using the pliers device in accordance with an embodiment of a method of the present disclosure. A user of the pliers device may apply step 140 as discussed above in spreading the string loop. The user may cut the sacrificial square knot from the tensioned string, burn the newly cut end and tie the second cow hitch knot onto the bowstring. The user may insert the first lateral dowel into the string loop and rock the first member jaw backwards against the arcuate claw end against the bowstring creating an upward pull on the string loop. The rocking motion therefore puts a pre-tension on the string loop prior to further tensioning the string loop as discussed below. A distance between a tip of the claw end to a center of the first lateral dowel pin of the upper jaw measures approximately 65 to 70 mm to create a moment arm of at least the same length when the first lateral dowel pin is inserted into a string loop and the pliers device is rocked back against the claw end on a bowstring.
c is an illustration depicting a step for fully tensioning the formed string loop using the pliers device in accordance with an embodiment of a method of the present disclosure. A user of the pliers device may apply step 150 as discussed above in fully tensioning the strip loop. The user inserts the second dowel end recessed into the rounded groove and the middle prong into the string loop with the bowstring placed beneath the three prongs and parallel to the handles of the pliers device. The bowstring is therefore supported in between and on both sides of the first and second knots of the string loop providing a semi-rigid configuration for tensioning the string loop orthogonally to the bowstring. The user squeezes the first and second handles together to disjoin the second lateral dowel from the third prong and thereby lift the string loop to create a maximum tension in the string loop. The mechanical advantage of the pliers' long handles relative to the moment arm across the pivot pin to the lateral dowel is thus transferred to a maximum tension in the strip loop. This maximum tension applied to the strip loop using the pliers device is thus greater than the tension applied to the string loop in archery use on the bowstring on a strung bow.
Smaller and tighter string loops are thus possible using the disclosed tensioning pliers device and method for multiple reasons. The mechanical advantage in rocking the pliers in step 140 and tensioning the string loop in step 150 allows a much tighter string loop than possible in the prior art. Also, the disclosed device and method of use pulls all the available creep out of the knot and string fiber when creating the string loop rather than in using the string loop. Furthermore, the combined but reduced profile of the second lateral dowel pin 13 recessed into the rounded groove of the middle prong 7 allows for much smaller initial loops to be tied on the bowstring. Therefore, the disclosed string loop tensioning pliers device and method provide a novel and non-obvious device and method for producing smaller and tighter string loops on bowstrings.
Although the operations of the method(s) herein are shown and described in a particular order, the order of the operations of each method may be altered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse order or so that certain operations may be performed, at least in part, concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructions or sub-operations of distinct operations may be implemented in an intermittent and/or alternating manner.
Notwithstanding specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the claims and their equivalents to be included by reference in a non-provisional utility application.
This application claims the benefit of the priority date of earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/390,674, filed Oct. 7, 2010 for Ben D. Blosser, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 131188 | Sneider | Sep 1872 | A |
| 1095054 | Wissenfield | Apr 1914 | A |
| 1929163 | Diskin et al. | Oct 1933 | A |
| 2327368 | Olson | Aug 1943 | A |
| 2737917 | Steele | Mar 1956 | A |
| 3022510 | O'Malley | Feb 1962 | A |
| 3149015 | Lindsay | Sep 1964 | A |
| 3217519 | Demler | Nov 1965 | A |
| 3233313 | Roth | Feb 1966 | A |
| 3263535 | Zurcher | Aug 1966 | A |
| 3540106 | Goldman | Nov 1970 | A |
| 3599935 | Walker | Aug 1971 | A |
| 3647186 | Hartman | Mar 1972 | A |
| 3656679 | Minasy | Apr 1972 | A |
| 4086904 | Suski et al. | May 1978 | A |
| 4179782 | Forman et al. | Dec 1979 | A |
| 4181046 | Lamb | Jan 1980 | A |
| 4235073 | Tracy | Nov 1980 | A |
| 4317986 | Sullivan | Mar 1982 | A |
| 4365411 | Muldoon, Jr. | Dec 1982 | A |
| 4386461 | Plummer | Jun 1983 | A |
| 4769891 | Corral | Sep 1988 | A |
| 5020508 | Greene, Jr. | Jun 1991 | A |
| 5165155 | Adams | Nov 1992 | A |
| 5220906 | Choma | Jun 1993 | A |
| 5249720 | White | Oct 1993 | A |
| 5277089 | McGushion | Jan 1994 | A |
| 5327802 | Yu | Jul 1994 | A |
| 5367755 | Wood | Nov 1994 | A |
| 5474637 | Soodak | Dec 1995 | A |
| 5724870 | Wiebe et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
| 5822865 | Bosch et al. | Oct 1998 | A |
| D408239 | Steiner et al. | Apr 1999 | S |
| 5937842 | Summers et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
| 6272738 | Holliday et al. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
| 6412375 | Wang et al. | Jul 2002 | B1 |
| 6792837 | Battistone | Sep 2004 | B2 |
| 7055413 | Wang | Jun 2006 | B1 |
| D557579 | Steiner | Dec 2007 | S |
| 7398956 | Clark et al. | Jul 2008 | B2 |
| 7536896 | Hung | May 2009 | B1 |
| 7571505 | Hiller | Aug 2009 | B2 |
| D605917 | Sands | Dec 2009 | S |
| 7641176 | Clark et al. | Jan 2010 | B2 |
| 8087137 | Wang | Jan 2012 | B2 |
| 20030041702 | Kang | Mar 2003 | A1 |
| 20070187660 | Clark et al. | Aug 2007 | A1 |
| 20080277635 | Clark et al. | Nov 2008 | A1 |
| 20090301272 | Chen | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20100108964 | Clark et al. | May 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20120085982 A1 | Apr 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61390674 | Oct 2010 | US |
