Arrow Rest For Archery Bow

Abstract

A retractable arrow rest for an archery bow to support an arrow in proper position for shooting. The arrow rest includes an L-shaped member having an upright arm rotatably mounted in a sleeve that is connected to a bow mounting member. The arrow rest also includes an arrow supporting leg inclined outwardly from the bottom of the upright arm. The arrow supporting arm is spring biased outwardly from a bow to an angle extending generally along and across the direction of arrow flight and retracts out of the way upon forward movement of an arrow. The mounting member supports the upright arm and the arrow support leg and has adhesive for attaching it to a bow. The upright arm is housed in a friction-reducing sleeve. A spring for biasing the upright arm is positioned above the sleeve and has a cover there-over. The upper end of the upright arm has a member attached thereto for limiting the rotation of the upright arm. A friction-reducing cushion is positioned on the mounting member for engaging an arrow. The arrow supporting leg has a friction reducing sleeve positioned thereon.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the advent of the bow having a horizontal shelf for support of the arrow, it has been observed that the rigid horizontal shelf has an adverse effect on shooting accuracy in that the fletching on the arrow engages the rigid shelf and causes the arrow to be deflected in its attitude and deviate from its intended path. Due to this, there have been numerous attempts to attain the advantages of the support without the attendant disadvantages.

Many arrow rests have been devised that are to be used in conjunction with the horizontal shelf and have included pieces of fur, brushes or the like placed on top of the horizontal shelf that can be deformed by the fletching on the arrow to reduce the amount of deflection of the arrow. Other rests have had movable or stationary arms that are attached to the bow.

One of the difficulties with the above mentioned fur or brush arrow rests is that the fur or brush wears quickly so that an arrow rest may have a useful life as short as a few days, depending on the amount of use. In addition, there is not sufficient arrow rest deformation to completely eliminate the deflection of the arrow; and, if the fur or brush is made deeper, or with longer bristles to provide for more arrow rest deformation by the arrow fletching, the arrow is likely to be supported at a point too high on the bow when the arrow rest is not worn; and, as the arrow rest wears due to use, the level of support of the arrow becomes lower.

The mechanical devices that have been developed to provide an arrow rest usually are located above the bow shelf and raise the point along the bow at which the arrow rests, and generally have a relatively large amount of hardward that interferes with the proper placement of the arrow against the bow and interferes with the arrow fletching as the arrow is shot from the bow.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the drawn arrow normally rests on the bow at a predetermined point above the center of the bow, and bow manufacturers tiller their bow limbs in an attempt to provide balanced forces on the arrow through the bow string. If the arrow rests at a location significantly above or below the designed rest point, the forces applied to the arrow by the bow string will not be balanced, and the unbalanced forces on the arrow cause deflection of the arrow as it leaves the bow and the arrow flight is not true.

Since bows with horizontal shelves tend to crack in the vicinity of the shelves, bows with curved shelves have become popular. This type bow construction prevents the use of many of the prior art arrow rests, and requires that an arrow rest be attached to a vertical surface of the bow rather than being supported on a horizontal shelf. The arrow rest is much more difficult to properly attach to the bow since the bow shelf is not present for aligning the arrow rest and some other means for proper alignment must be determined.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The arrow rest of the present invention overcomes the above-mentioned and other difficulties with the prior art arrow rests by providing a resilient support arm that is rotatable about an axis parallel to the bow string when the bow is in normal strung position. The support arm is spring biased towards the arrow-receiving position and is provided with stop means to limit rotation in its biased direction while allowing sufficient rotation in the opposite direction for the support arm to lie along the bow and out of the way of the arrow and arrow fletching as the arrow is shot from the bow. The support arm is inclined slightly up from the horizontal to assure that the arrow will rest adjacent the bow, and the support arm is resilient so that, on release of the arrow, any downward force of the arrow against the support arm will be sufficient to overcome the resilience of the support arm and the support arm will not interfere with the normal flight of the arrow. Lateral cushioning means are also provided in conjunction with the arrow rest of the present invention. The lateral cushioning means serves the dual functions of giving horizontal cushioning to the arrow on release of the arrow and assuring that the arrow does not engage the mechanism of the arrow rest when the bow string is drawn and as the arrow moves across the bow.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an arrow rest constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the assembled arrow rest shown in FIG. 1 with the support arm in its arrow receiving position;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the arrow rest taken substantially along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a modified form of the arrow rest shown in conjunction with a fragmentary representation of a bow;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a conventional bow with an arrow rest of the present invention mounted thereon; and,

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the arrow rest taken substantially along the line 6--6 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and to those embodiments of the invention here chosen by way of illustration, it will be seen that the device shown in FIGS. 1-3 comprises arrow rest assembly 9 including substantially rectangular connecting plate 10 with rounded corners 11. Plate 10 is preferably formed of a very thin metal that is sufficiently malleable to allow the plate 10 to conform to the surface of the bow on which the plate is to be mounted, regardless of the single or multiple curvatures of the surface of the bow on which the plate 10 is to be mounted. One successful embodiment of the invention is formed with the plate 10 made of stainless steel of approximately 0.003 inch in thickness. This material provides sufficient durability and wear resistance while allowing the necessary malleability of the plates to conform to virtually any bow surface.

The rear surface 12 of plate 10 is connected to the bow by a pressure sensitive adhesive 14. The adhesive 14 is covered with a paper 15 or the like which is to be removed just before mounting plate 10 on a bow. Though the pressure sensitive adhesive 14 can take many forms, there being numerous such materials readily available, it has been found that the use of a woven fabric having a pressure sensitive adhesive on each side thereof is particularly desirable in that the fabric can be pressed to plate 10 for ease in manufacture of the arrow rest, and the woven fabric, having some noticeable thickness, provides some cushioning, or give, to the plate 10 with respect to the bow when the arrow rest is attached to the bow.

Carried by the plate 10 on its front surface 16 is a cylindrical journaling sleeve 18. Sleeve 18 is mounted with its centerline substantially parallel to the rear edge 19 of the plate 10 and is soldered or otherwise fixed to the plate 10. The lower end 20 of sleeve 18 coincides with the lower edge 21 of the plate 10.

Journaling sleeve 18 receives arrow support means 22. It will be seen that arrow support means 22 comprises an approximately L-shaped rod 23 with a vertically disposed rectilinear support arm 24 having its upper end provided with a stop means such as elbow 25. As here shown, the stop means 25 is bent from the upper end of support arm 24 though it will be understood that other constructions could be used with equal success. The support means 22 also includes a rectilinear arrow support arm 26 which is again provided simply by bending the material of the rod 23. Though this too could be provided by other constructions, it will be seen that the support means 22 is readily provided by a single piece of wire with two bends, making construction and assembly very simple and inexpensive.

A primary feature of the arrow rest of the present invention is the smoothness of operation of all mechanical parts. To provide this smoothness of operation, the support arm 24 must rotate smoothly within the friction-reducing sleeve 18 without binding or chatter. The tube 18 is fabricated from stainless steel and has an inside diameter of 0.036 inch while rod 23 is formed of stainless steel wire having an outside diameter of 0.035. It will also be seen that the sleeve 18 is circumferentially enclosed to assure further that the operation is smooth. It will be seen from this that a very smooth operation will be provided, and, due to the use of stainless steel, there will be no corrosion to hamper this operation and use.

FIG. 3 of the drawings shows substantially the true angular relationship between the stop means 25 and arrow support arm 26. From this it will be seen that, when stop means 25 is against the plate 10 to prevent further motion in a counterclockwise direction, arrow support arm 26 extends out at an angle of approximately 45.degree.; thus, stop means 25 and the support arm 26 are about 135.degree. apart. This angle can be varied with particular designs. With the arrangement shown, the arrow rest lies flat against the bow to lessen the likelihood of the apparatus's interfering with the flight of the arrow.

Arrow support arm 26 may be provided with a sleeve 28 as a friction-reducing cover to reduce the frictional drag of the arrow across the support arm. The sleeve can be made of various plastics such as a fluorinated hydrocarbon plastic material or the arrow support arm 26 can be dip coated in a similar substance.

Coil torsion spring 30 surrounds the upper end of the support shaft 24 adjacent the stop means 25 and functions as a biasing means and urges arrow support arm 26 away from the bow. The spring 30 has its lower end terminating in a straight finger 31 which bears against the plate 10 while the upper end 32 of the spring 30 is arranged to be attached to the support arm 24 as indicated at 34. The attachment can conveniently be made by spot welding, or by soldering the last few turns of the spring to the rod 23.

With the above described construction it will be understood that the finger 31 of the spring 30 will bear against the plate 10 while the end 32 of the spring 30 will cause the support 22 to rotate counterclockwise (as viewed in FIG. 3) until stop means 25 rests against plate 10. Support arm 22 can then be rotated clockwise (as viewed in FIG. 3) against the force of the spring 30. It will also be seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings that the lower end of the spring 30 rests against the upper end of the journaling sleeve 18. With this arrangement it will be seen that there will be no longitudinal play in the shaft 24.

Though a coiled torsion spring is illustrated as a means to provide a force on the support 22 it will be readily understood that substantially any elastic means will provide the necessary biasing force. For example, a leaf spring would be admirably suited to such use since the motion of the stop means 25 is well within the limits of an ordinary leaf spring. Further, some resilient means can be placed between the stop means 25 and the plate 10 to provide the bias. It will thus be seen that virtually any elastic means can provide the needed force.

Cover 35 is attached to plate 10 and shields spring 30 and stop means 25 and prevents there elements from contacting the arrow. The cover 35 includes a mounting flange 36 with a central bulbous deformity 38 closed at its upper end and open at its lower end. This housing 35 encloses the upper end of the support 22, overlapping slightly with the sleeve 18, and the bulbous deformity 38 presents a smooth surface to the arrow. As best seen in FIG. 6 of the drawings, the housing 35 tapers in so that the lowermost edge of the housing 35 is substantially in contact with the journaling sleeve. Again, this arrangement simply further reduces the likelihood that the fletching, or other portions of the arrow, will snag on any portion of the mechanical apparatus.

Since the housing 35 is wider than the diameter of the journaling sleeve 18, it will be seen that there will be some space on at least one side of the journaling sleeve 18. This space will allow access to the spring for occasional lubrication if necessary.

In the embodiments of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-3, a cushion 40 is carried by the plate 10 and disposed forwardly of the sleeve 18. Cushion 40 can conveniently be made of leather or the like and coated with a material to reduce the frictional drag of the arrow, such as a fluorinated hydrocarbon. The cushion 40 forms a vertical rest for the arrow and provides horizontal cushioning between the arrow and the bow at the moment of release of the bowstring.

There is a device currently in use by some archers to provide a horizontal shock cushion. The device is known as a cushion plunger and is generally a spring biased plunger that is mounted through the bow and is, for the most part, simply a more sophisticated version of the cushion 40. For use in conjunction with the standard cushion plunger, there is shown in FIG. 4 a modified form of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the bow 50 (shown only fragmentarily) is provided with a conventional cushion plunger 51. Adjacent to the cushion plunger 51 is a plate 10A that is similar to the plate 10 previously described except that the lower front corner of the plate 10A is omitted so there will be no interference of the plate 10A with the cushion plunger 51. Other parts of the arrow rest shown in FIG. 4 are the same as previously described and given the same reference numerals with an A suffix. It will thus be seen that the arrow rest of the present invention is readily adaptable to be used with its own cushion 40 or with the cushion plunger 51 of the bow.

To install the arrow rest on a bow, the paper 15 would be peeled off to expose the adhesive 14, and the plate 10 could then be placed into position on the bow. As shown in FIG. 5, the rear edge 19 of the plate 10 should be mounted to be parallel to the string 55 of the bow 56 when the bow is in normal strung condition. The string 55 thus provides an aligning guide. With the arrow rest thus mounted, the arrow support arm 26 will be inclined slightly up from the horizontal so that an arrow will tend to slide towards the plate 10 rather than off the arm 26. Though this up angle is not critical, it has been found that an angle of approximately 2.degree. is sufficient to hold an arrow on the arm. The arrow will of course rest against the cushion 40 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, or against the cushion plunger 51 in the embodiment of FIG. 4.

Since the plate 10 is very thin, the arrow will rest very close to the bow. This is important in some bow structures because the bows are designed for the arrow to pass through the centerline of the bow, and any deviation from the intended position of the arrow will distort this feature causing inaccuracies in the flight of the arrow.

The spring 30 will hold the arrow support means 22 in position so that arrow support arm 26 is extended away from the bow as shown in FIG. 3 to receive an arrow while the arrow is placed on the arrow support arm 26 and the bow is drawn. Due to the presence of the friction-reducing material 28 on arrow support arm 26, if the arrow is allowed to slide slightly forward, arrow support arm 26 will not rotate but will remain in its full outward position under the influence of its spring 30 to continue to provide maximum holding ability for the arrow. When the bow string 55 is released to set the arrow in flight, the forward movement of the shaft of the arrow sliding along arrow support arm 26 causes the arrow support arm to pivot towards the bow so the arrow support arm will not be engaged by the fletching. If the engagement of the arrow shaft against the arrow support arm 26 is not sufficient to pivot arrow support arm 26, the engagement of the fletching against arrow support arm will pivot the support arm.

It has been found that when an arrow is released from a bow, only a portion of the arrow will actually remain engaged with an arrow rest. The arrow tends to move upwardly and to be in free flight, not touching the arrow rest. Further, immediately on release of the string, there is usually a down force on the arrow, this force being perhaps in the vicinity of about 5 ounces at the instant of release. It has been found in rigid arrow rests such as the rigid horizontal arrow support shelf, that the arrow will tend to bounce upwardly off the shelf, causing deviation of the arrow from its intended path. In the device of the present invention, the use of the very thin wire having a bendable quality, the arrow support arm 26 will flex to absorb the down force of the arrow and prevent arrow bouncing. The approximate force required to deflect the arrow support arm 26 from its two degrees up angle to the horizontal is approximately three ounces.

In the design of the arrow rest of the present invention, the spring 30 is arranged so that it will just overcome the rotational friction of the support arm 24 within the journaling sleeve 18. This, combined with the very low inertia of the support 22, will allow the support means 22 to rotate when engaged by even the most delicate of fletching used on arrows so that arrow support arm 26 will be moved completely out of position and when engaged by the fletching.

Despite the ease of moving the support arm 26 out of the arrow's path, arrow support arm 26 will return to the supporting position almost immediately after the arrow has passed since the only force preventing the return is the friction of the arm 24 within the sleeve 18, and the spring 30 is sufficient to overcome this force.

It will now be seen that the arrow rest of the present invention provides an extremely simple and relatively inexpensive device that will adequately support an arrow while the arrow is static and will be moved completely out of the path of the arrow when the arrow is discharged from the bow. Once the arrow rest is in its folded position, there are no supports or other obstructions within the path of the arrow that could deflect the arrow from its intended path.

It will of course be understood that the embodiments of the invention here presented are by way of illustration only and are meant to be in no way restrictive; therefore, numerous changes and modifications may be made and the full use of equivalents resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. An arrow rest including mounting means for attaching the arrow rest to a bow, a circumferentially enclosed journaling sleeve fixed to said mounting means, an arrow support member including a shaft received in said journaling sleeve and rotably carried by said mounting means, an arrow support arm for supporting an arrow thereon attached to and extending outwardly from said shaft at the lower terminal end of said journaling sleeve, stop means extending from said shaft and disposed above said journaling sleeve for limiting rotation of said support arm in one direction, biasing means for urging said support arm in one direction and comprising a coil spring having a lower end and an upper end, said lower end of said coil spring being contiguous with and resting on the upper end of said journaling sleeve and said upper end of said coil spring being fixed to said shaft, and a cover enclosing said stop means and said biasing means, said mounting means being conformable to the surface of a bow onto which it is to be mounted.

2. An arrow rest as claimed in claim 1 and said journaling sleeve is a friction-reducing sleeve.

3. An arrow rest as claimed in claim 2 and further including a cushion fixed to said mounting means forwardly of said journaling sleeve and above said arrow support arm such that an arrow placed on the arrow support arm will bear against said cushion, said cushion having a friction-reducing surface.

4. An arrow rest according to claim 2 and further including adhesive means on the rear surface of said mounting means for securing the mounting means to a bow.

5. An arrow rest for a bow comprising mounting means for attaching the arrow rest to a bow, an arrow supporting member comprising a single piece of wire including a first rectilinear arm connected to said mounting means and normally oriented approximately parallel to a bowstring of a bow in its undrawn condition, said first rectilinear arm for rotation about its longitudinal axis, and a second rectilinear arm extending at an angle approximately perpendicular to said first rectilinear arm at the lower most terminal end of said first rectilinear arm when the second rectilinear arm is in a position to receive an arrow, spring means engaging said arrow supporting member and said mounting means biasing said second rectilinear arm outwardly from a bow and said mounting means, and stop means for limiting the outward rotation of said second rectilinear arm from a bow, said mounting means including cover means enclosing a substantial portion of said first rectilinear arm and said spring means.

6. The arrow rest of claim 5 and wherein said mounting means is conformable to a portion of a bow onto which said mounting means is to be mounted.

7. The arrow rest of claim 5 and further including a friction-reducing sleeve inserted over said second rectilinear arm.