Adjustable sighting device for archery bow

Abstract

An adjustable sighting device which may readily be attached to all types of bows is described. A movable sighting element carries a front bead and a back bead for aiming. The sighting elements are attached to a carrier block engaged over a lead screw for fine adjustment. Means are provided for rapid disengagement of the carrier block for coarse adjustment of the height of the sighting element.

Parent Case Text

This application is a continuation-in-part of my pending application, Ser. No. 381,252, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,849,894 filed on July 20, 1973.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In archery, aiming is one of the most difficult things to execute. The technique varies with the individual, some utilizing the tip of the arrow as a sighting aid and others concentrating both eyes on the target. The first of these techniques is generally referred to as the gap system, or point of aim shooting, and the other is known as instinctive shooting.

It has long been recognized that following the principles of the sights of a rifle, bows may also be equipped with mechanical aids in the form of sighting devices. A variety of these have been suggested in the past -- some rather simple and others of complicated form.

Mention is made here, for example, of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,056,206; 3,488,853; 3,212,190; and 3,579,839, representing a variety of bow sights, each having the common purpose of aiding the archer in scoring.

The present invention is directed toward improving the ease of handling a bow and the accuracy of hitting the target used in archery or for the purpose of hunting. It consists of an adjustable sight which may be easily mounted on the bow and readily adjusted by the user for the distance desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational sectional view of the bow sight construction attached to the side of the bow opposite the sight window. The bow portion is shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1 looking down the bow sight assembly.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a view showing the superposition of the face and back beads for sighting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT:

As seen in the figures, the bow sight construction comprises a housing 11 which may be conveniently mounted by screws 12 and 13 onto the side 15 of the bow which is opposite the sight window 16.

Placed within the housing 11 and rotatably mounted in bearings 18 and 19 is a lead screw 20 having a shaft 21 extending downwardly and terminating in a knurled knob 23.

A carrier block 25 is loosely fitted over the lead screw 20 for riding up and down. As will be seen, the block 25 carries the bead support bar 26 affixed thereto by means of the bolt 27.

In addition, the block 25 has a laterally-extending member 29 to which is affixed the L-shaped locking lever 30 pivotally mounted over the pin 31. The shank of the lever 30 is biased by the spring 33 nesting in a bore of the carrier block 25.

The lower extremity of the lever 30, indicated by reference 34, has a threaded face 35 matching the thread of the lead screw 20. The spring 33 maintains engagement of the face 35 with the lead screw 20.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it is seen that the bar 26 carries a sighting bead at each end, namely, the face bead 38 and the back bead 39. The beads consist of solid spheres supported at the end of pins. The face bead 38 is affixed to a pin 40 bent at an angle and mounted in a threaded rod 41 of a larger diameter. The latter fits into a similarly threaded bore of the support bar 26. A lock nut 43 is provided for securing the rod 41 against turning. The effective length of the rod 41 with respect to the bar 26 may be adjusted by loosening the lock nut 43 and turning the rod 41 inwardly or outwardly so as to place the bead 38 in proper alignment with the shaft of the arrow 45 placed on the arrow rest 46.

The back bead 39 is similarly constructed, the component elements being indicated by like reference characters bearing primary indices.

The pin 40, as well as the pin 40', are bent at an angle so as to fall in line with the face bead when properly adjusted and thus form a line of sight for aiming purposes. FIG. 4 illustrates the appearance of the sighting device when the beads 38 and 39 are superposed. In practice, a slight positional difference between the beads allows the correction of parallax in sighting inasmuch as the face bead 38 is closer to the eye of the user than the back bead 39.

The sighting device herein described is extremely simple to use and provides great accuracy.

At the start, the bow is firmly held by the user and the carrier block 25 is set at a particular selected position. This may be effected quickly by pressing down on the locking lever 30 at the place where it is engaged by the spring 33. The lever 30, pivoted over the pin 31, is thus displaced so that the threaded face 35 of the extremity 34 is disengaged from the lead screw 20. The carrier block 25 is thus free to slide over the lead screw 20 in any desired up or down position for the approximate aiming distance needed for the arrow to hit the target. This operation represents the coarse adjustment.

Upon release of the locking lever 30, the spring 33 places it into threaded engagement with the lead screw 20. Fine adjustment for vertical movement of the carrier block 25 may then be obtained by turning the knurled knob 23 in either direction so as to lower or raise the carrier block 25. Since the latter carries the support bar 26 to which the beads 38 and 39 are affixed, the desired position of these may be accurately set.

The angular displacement between the beads 38 and 39 may then be established by loosening either of the lock nuts 43 or 43' and turning the rods 41 and 41' in order to obtain the superposition of the beads for the correction of parallax as well as to provide an alignment for accurate sighting of the target at the distance determined by the position of the carrier block 25.

In practice, the face bead 38 is sighted in on the target first and then the back bead 39 is lined up with it. Both beads are lined up over the center of the arrow 45 and sighted in for the shortest range. The vernier adjustment by means of the knob 23 can then be used for trimming and setting.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific embodiments herein shown and described but changes may be made within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An archery bow sight adapted to be mounted on the side of a bow, comprising:

a. an elongated channel housing having a U-shaped cross section defined by a bottom wall and side walls;

b. mounting means for attaching the housing to the bow;

c. an elongated lead screw disposed longitudinally within the housing having a shaft extending therefrom;

d. a knob affixed to said shaft;

e. bearings mounted on the respective end portions of said housing for rotatably supporting said lead screw;

f. a carrier block having an opening therethrough for slideably mounting said carrier block on said screw, and being dimensional to cooperate with said channel housing to prevent rotation of said carrier block with respect to said lead screw;

g. a support bar mounted on said block transversely disposed with respect to said housing, said bar carrying a sighting bead at each end;

h. an L-shaped locking lever mounted on said block and pivotally supported thereon;

i. said lever having at one end a threaded face portion engaging said lead screw and, at the other end, a shank in contact with a biasing spring, tending to maintain said face portion in engagement with said screw, whereby, upon manually depressing said shank, said face portion becomes disengaged from said lead screw, allowing the free movement of said carrier block over said screw for coarse adjustment of the height of said bar and, upon releasing the pressure from said shank, engagement thereof is effected, permitting fine adjustment of the height of said bar by the turning of said knob.

2. A bow sight in accordance with claim 1 wherein each sighting beads comprises a solid sphere attached to a pin member affixed to and extending at an angle to a rod threadably supported in said bar, wherein upon rotation of said rods, said beads may be displaced relative to each other to be superposed in the line of sight to the extent desired for the correction of parallax.