Mechanical guns and projectors – Spring – Bow
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-18
2003-12-09
Ricci, John A. (Department: 3712)
Mechanical guns and projectors
Spring
Bow
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659096
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The field of the present invention relates to archery bows. In particular, a split-buss-cable single-cam archery bow is described herein including a splitter adjustable in position and width.
BACKGROUND
Solo or single-cam compound bows are well known in the art. A plurality of these have been previously disclosed, some of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,505,185, 5,368,006, 5,975,067, and 6,098,607, each of said patents being incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. Dual-cam compound bows are also well known in the art, some of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,739,744 and 5,040,520, each of said patents being incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. In these prior patents are described in detail the mechanics of a compound bow including non-circular single or dual cam members which impart dynamic forces on the bow limbs.
Whether single-cam or dual-cam, the purposes and advantages of compound bows are well known to those skilled in the art and need not be repeated herein. Compound bows typically comprise: a handle from which resilient bow limbs extend oppositely; pulley means comprising cams, levers, and/or pulleys and typically being disposed at the tips of the limbs of the bow; and one or more cables coupled to the bow limbs and/or pulley means to give assorted mechanical advantages. One important characteristic of compound bows is the “let-off” (i.e., an abrupt decrease) of the draw force at the end of the draw, thereby allowing an archer to more readily maintain the bow in a fully drawn position while accurately aiming the arrow and/or waiting for game to pass within shot.
A prior single-cam archery bow
1
is shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. Upper and lower bow limbs
11
a
and
11
b
are shown extending from central handle portion
10
and terminating at limb tips
12
a
and
12
b
. Each limb tip is divided to accommodate a pulley assembly
20
/
30
and is provided with an axle for rotatably mounting each pulley assembly thereon. In a typical single cam bow, one pulley assembly (pulley assembly
20
in this example) comprises a substantially circular idler wheel substantially concentrically mounted on the corresponding axle. The other pulley assembly (pulley assembly
30
in this example) typically includes multiple cams, pulleys, and/or levers and is eccentrically mounted on the corresponding axle. A draw cable
40
is secured to pulley assembly
30
and passes around pulley assembly
20
, continuing as cable
41
(sometimes referred to as a let-out/take-up cable). Cable
41
is secured to pulley assembly
30
. A buss cable
45
(also referred to as a power cable) is secured to the axle of pulley assembly
20
and to pulley assembly
30
. As the bow is drawn, draw cable
40
is let out by pulley assembly
30
, while cable
41
is let out by pulley assembly
30
and passes around pulley assembly
20
. Buss cable
45
is taken up by pulley assembly
30
. The lengths of the cables and size, shape, and configuration of pulley assembly
30
determines the force vs. draw distance characteristics of the bow.
Bow
1
may typically be provided with a cable guard
50
and cable guard slide
52
. Cable
41
and buss cable
45
may pass through cable guard slide
52
, which in turn slides along cable guard
50
. The cable guard and slide serve to pull cables
41
and
45
laterally out of a draw/flight path of the arrow. An undesirable effect of cable guard
50
and slide
52
is the torque exerted on the pulley assemblies and bow limbs due to the lateral displacement of the cables, and the additional stress and wear on the cables themselves. These may degrade the accuracy and velocity of the bow, and may increase the frequency of string failure and replacement. One solution to this problem for a dual-cam compound bow is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,915 (hereinafter, “Kudlacek”), said patent being incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. The buss cables (two in the case of a dual-cam bow) are split after leaving the pulley assembly and the two split ends are secured to the two ends of the axle of the other pulley assembly (see
FIGS. 1 and 2
of Kudlacek). A “splitter” holds apart the two split ends of the cable, preferably in a substantially parallel arrangement. The arrow may pass unimpeded between the split portions of the buss cables, and the substantially parallel arrangement and substantially symmetric attachment of the split ends to the axle substantially eliminates torque exerted on the bow by the buss cables as the bow is drawn. The location of the splitter is typically fixed along the length of the buss cables, and the width of the split buss cables often results in interference between the buss cables and the archer's arm as the bow is drawn and released.
It is desirable to provide a split buss cable and splitter adapted for use with a single-cam compound bow. It is desirable to provide a splitter that may be readily moved along the length of the buss cable and secured at varying locations thereof. It is desirable to provide a splitter having an adjustable width enabling its use with a variety of compound bows and bowstrings. It is desirable to position the splitter along the length of the buss cable so as to reduce interference between the buss cable and an archer's arm as the bow is drawn and released.
SUMMARY
Certain aspects of the present invention may overcome one or more aforementioned drawbacks of the previous art and/or advance the state-of-the-art of compound archery bows, and in addition may meet one or more of the following objects:
To provide a single-cam compound archery bow including a split-buss-cable;
To provide a single-cam compound archery bow including a split-buss-cable for reducing torque on the bow as it is drawn;
To provide a single-cam compound archery bow including a split-buss-cable for improving the accuracy and/or velocity of the bow;
To provide a single-cam compound archery bow including a split-buss-cable for reducing stress and wear on the buss cable;
To provide a single-cam compound archery bow including a split-buss-cable and an adjustable-width splitter;
To provide a single-cam compound archery bow including a split-buss-cable and an adjustable-position splitter;
To provide a single-cam compound archery bow including a split-buss-cable and a splitter positioned so as to reduce interference between the split buss cable and an archer's arm;
To provide an adjustable-width splitter for a split-buss-cable compound bow;
To provide a splitter than that may be used for a variety of different compound bows;
To provide an adjustable-position splitter for a split-buss-cable compound bow;
To provide a splitter for a split-buss-cable compound bow that may be positioned so as to reduce interference between the split buss cable and an archer's arm;
To provide a splitter for a split-buss-cable compound bow that does not require any splitter component to be tied directly into the buss cable;
To provide a splitter and a pre-stretched split buss cable for a compound bow, thereby reducing movement and/or misalignment of the splitter as the bow is used; and
To provide a splitter for a split-buss-cable compound bow that is adapted for tethering a fall-away arrow rest thereto.
One or more of the foregoing objects may be achieved in the present invention by a compound archery bow, comprising: a central handle portion; a first flexible bow limb and a second flexible bow limb terminating in first and second bow limb tips, respectively; a substantially circular pulley wheel rotatably mounted at the first bow limb tip; a cam assembly rotatably mounted eccentrically at the second bow limb tip; a draw cable secured to the cam assembly and passing around the pulley wheel; a let-out/take-up cable secured to the cam assembly and passing around the pulley wheel; a split buss cable having a first end secured to the cam assembly and a second end bifurcated into first and second split buss cable ends, each being secured at the first bow limb tip in a substantially bilaterall
Nealy, Sr. Thomas R.
Slinkard Michael D.
Alavi David S.
Ricci John A.
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