U.S. patent number 3,881,730 [Application Number 05/502,937] was granted by the patent office on 1975-05-06 for arrowhead.
Invention is credited to Richard F. Carella.
United States Patent |
3,881,730 |
Carella |
May 6, 1975 |
Arrowhead
Abstract
An archery arrow comprising a shaft having a circular cross
section with a forward end and rearward end. The improvement
comprises a vane system adjacent the rearward end of the shaft for
stabilizing the flight of the arrow. The vane system comprises
first and second vanes disposed diametrically opposite one another
on the vane shaft. Each vane is defined by an integral member
having an aerodynamic fin extending tangentially from one side of
the shaft and supporting the vane so that the vane is spaced from
the shaft, the spacing between the vane and the shaft decreasing
from the forward end of the vane to the rearward end thereof so as
to define a pocket between the vane and the shaft of decreasing
volume from front to rear to create pressures upon the vane and the
aerodynamic fin to cause the arrow to rotate. A hunting arrowhead
is also disclosed. The head includes two identical halves. Each of
the halves includes a pair of planar sections with the planar
sections of one-half abutting the planar sections of the other
half, one of the planar sections of each half includes an outwardly
extending fin. The fins are disposed on diametrically opposite
sides of the arrow shaft and are inclined inwardly toward each
other or toward the arrow shaft in a direction from front to
rear.
Inventors: |
Carella; Richard F. (Mt.
Clemens, MI) |
Family
ID: |
27033162 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/502,937 |
Filed: |
September 4, 1974 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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442419 |
Feb 14, 1974 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
473/585;
473/583 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F42B
6/08 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F42B
6/08 (20060101); F42B 6/00 (20060101); F41b
005/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;273/16.5B,16.5R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Shapiro; Paul E.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: McGlynn and Milton
Parent Case Text
This application is a division of co-pending application Ser. No.
442,419, filed Feb. 14, 1974.
Claims
The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or
privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. An arrowhead comprising first and second identical halves, each
of said halves having a pair of planar sections which abut a pair
of planar sections of the other half, one of said planar sections
of each of said pairs having an outward extremity thereof extending
laterally outwardly from the adjacent planar section of the other
half to define a fin, said fins of said halves being diametrically
oppositely disposed and inclined inwardly toward each other in a
direction from front to rear.
2. An arrowhead as set forth in claim 1 wherein said fins are
planar.
3. An arrowhead as set forth in claim 2 wherein each of said fins
is perpendicular to said adjacent planar section of the other
half.
4. An arrowhead as set forth in claim 3 wherein each of said
adjacent planar sections is completely planar.
5. An arrowhead as set forth in claim 4 wherein each of said halves
includes an arcuate central section for engaging an arrow
shaft.
6. An arrowhead as set forth in claim 5 wherein each of said halves
is an integral member.
Description
This invention relates to an improvement in archery arrows and,
more specifically, to an improved arrowhead attached to the forward
end of an arrow shaft.
It has been recognized that the flight of an arrow is much more
accurate as the rotation of the arrow increases. This is
particularly true with hunting arrows, which have points or
arrowheads which may plane or cause an aerodynamic affect upon the
arrow when the arrow is not properly rotated.
The subject arrowhead is of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.
2,589,137 to J. C. Ramsey and 2,874,968 to E. J. Zielinski. These
arrowheads are typical of the prior art arrowheads wherein the
arrowheads do not contribute to the rotation of the arrow.
In contradistinction, the subject invention relates to an arrowhead
having a simple construction but yet is configured to induce
rotation of the arrow shaft. Such is accomplished by an arrowhead
having first and second identical halves with each of the halves
having a pair of planar sections which abut the planar sections of
the other half with one of the planar sections of each half having
an outward extremity thereof extending laterally to define a fin.
Thus, the arrowhead has an aerodynamic fin extending laterally from
one side of the planar sections on one side of the arrow shaft and
a fin extending in the opposite direction from the planar sections
on the other side of the arrow shaft. Further, each of these
aerodynamic fins are inclined inwardly toward each other in a
direction from front to rear, i.e., they converge toward the axis
of the arrow shaft. The arrowhead of the subject invention has been
found to greatly stabilize the flight of an arrow.
Other advantages of the present invention will be readily
appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to
the following detailed description when considered in connection
with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a preferred
embodiment of the subject invention shown in the nocked position
with an archery bow;
FIG. 2 is a plan view taken substantially along line 2--2 of FIG.
1;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along line
3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along line
4--4 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a view of an integral element in the flat shape before
being folded along a crease or fold line for defining a vane member
of the instant invention;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along line
6--6 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along line
7--7 of FIG. 2.
Referring now to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate like
or corresponding parts throughout the several views, an arrow
constructed in accordance with the instant invention is generally
shown at 10.
The arrow 10 includes a shaft 12, which includes a circular outer
periphery as may be defined by a tubular or solid element
comprising tubular aluminum, solid wood or other material suitable
for use in archery arrows. The shaft 12 has a forward end upon
which is disposed a hunting head, generally indicated at 14, and a
rearward end upon which is disposed the vane system, generally
shown at 16. The arrow is supported in the nocked position by an
arrow support 17.
The hunting head 14 comprises two identical halves 18 and 20. Each
of the halves 18 and 20 have a pair of planar sections which abut a
pair of planar sections of the other half. One of the planar
sections of each of the pairs includes an outwardly extending
extremity or aerodynamic fin 22 which extends laterally outwardly
from the adjacent planar section of the other half. The planar
sections define aerodynamic fins or vanes as do the outwardly
extending extremities 22. The outwardly extending extremities 22 of
the halves 18 and 20 are diametrically disposed on opposite sides
of the arrow shaft and are inclined inwardly toward each other or
toward the arrow shaft in a direction from front to rear as is best
illustrated in FIG. 1. The central portion of each half is defined
by an arcuate or truncated cone section 24, which is adapted to
receive the arrow shaft 12. The halves are integral members and may
be secured together by an adhesive, brazing, welding, or the like,
depending upon whether the arrowhead is made of a plastic or metal
material.
The extremities 22 which extend laterally from the planar sections
of the arrowhead halves 18 and 20 are disposed so as to stabilize
the flight of the arrow by inducing rotation of the arrowhead and
consequently rotation of the arrow shaft.
The arrow assembly or system 16 is defined by a pair of identical
integral members which are formed from blanks of the shape shown in
FIG. 5. Each integral member defines a support means comprising an
aerodynamic fin 26 or 26'. Since each arrow shaft 12 employs two
identical integral members, the identical parts of the two integral
members will be designated by like numbers with one of the numbers
being designated by a prime (').
Each integral member also defines a vane 28 or 28' which extends
laterally from the associated fin 26 or 26'. Each vane portion 28
or 28' is spaced from the shaft 12 and on the same side of the
associated aerodynamic vane 26 or 26' as the shaft 12 so as to
extend over the shaft 12. More specifically, each vane 28 or 28' is
substantially coextensive with the diameter of the arrow shaft so
that when the arrow is in the nocked position illustrated best in
FIG. 3, the vanes will not interfere with the bow upon forward
movement of the arrow upon release. As actually illustrated, the
vanes 28 and 28' each extend beyond the extremity of the shaft as
shown at 29 but not enough to interfere with the bow upon release
of the arrow.
Each vane 28 and 28' is disposed so that the spacing between the
vane and the shaft 12 decreases from the forward end of the vane,
or the end of the vane nearest the forward end of the shaft 12,
toward the rear end of the vane, or the end of the vane nearest the
rearward end of the shaft 12, so as to define a pocket between each
vane 28 and 28' and the circumference of the shaft 12 which is of
decreasing volume in a direction from front to rear. As an
alternative, instead of the pocket of decreasing volume being
defined between the vane 28 or 28' and the shaft 12, the pocket may
be defined by the vane 28 or 28' and a second vane extending
laterally or transversely of the support fins 26 or 26'. Such a
second vane may be generally parallel to the arrow shaft 12 or may
be inclined or at an angle other than 180.degree. relative to the
axis of the shaft 12.
As best illustrated in FIG. 3, the support means dedefined by the
aerodynamic fins 26 and 26' extend tangentially from the shaft 12
in a direction which is opposite to one another but yet parallel to
one another. In other words, the aerodynamic fin 26 extends
tangentially from the shaft 12 in a direction which is opposite to
but parallel to the direction in which the aerodynamic fin 26'
extends from the shaft 12. As illustrated, the aerodynamic fins 26
and 26' are adhesively secured to the arrow shaft 12.
As alluded to hereinabove, each vane unit is defined by an integral
member comprising, for the purpose of description, an aerodynamic
fin 26 or 26', which defines support means, and a vane 28 or 28'.
As will be appreciated, however, both the aerodynamic fins 26 and
26' and the vanes 28 and 28' are air foils producing an aerodynamic
result upon movement through the air. The integral member as shown
in FIG. 5 has a crease or fold line 30, which extends
longitudinally therealong. The vane 28 extends from the crease or
fold line 30 to an outer edge 32, which extends generally parallel
to the crease or fold line 30. The aerodynamic fin 26 extends in
another direction from the crease or fold line 30 to a lower edge
34. The lower edge 34 is inclined or slanted toward the crease or
fold line 30 in a direction from the front to the rear. The
integral member as shown in FIG. 5 is shown in the position before
being folded along the crease or fold line 30 to dispose the vane
28 in a direction substantially 90.degree. to the plane of the
aerodynamic fin 26. The aerodynamic fin 26 includes a nose portion
defined by an upper edge 36 which extends in an inclined direction
downwardly and forwardly from the forward end of the crease or fold
line 30 toward the lower edge 34. The nose portion of the
aerodynamic fin includes a front edge 38 which extends between the
forward end of the upper edge 36 and the forward end of the lower
edge 34. Also included is a rear edge 40 extending between the
rearward end of the lower edge 34 and the rearward end of the
crease or fold line 30.
Preferably, the lower edge 34 or 34' of each integral member
includes a strip of adhesive which may be pressed against the arrow
shaft 12 for retaining the integral unit to the shaft. The lower
edge 34 is disposed generally parallel to the axis of the shaft 12
so that the associated vane 28 or 28' is disposed in spaced
relationship to the shaft but in a plane which slants downwardly
from front to rear to define a pocket of decreasing volume. As the
arrow moves through the air, pressure builds up in the pocket to
create a pressure against each aerodynamic vane 26 and 26' to urge
the arrow to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in
FIGS. 3 and 4. Of course, the pressure buildup also acts radially
outwardly against the vanes 28 and 28'.
The notch 42 at the end of the arrow shaft 12 is disposed in a
direction which is parallel to the aerodynamic fins 26 and 26'
whereby the vane assembly is disposed as shown in FIG. 3 so that
the vanes 28 and 28' do not interfere with the bow upon release of
the arrow, yet are disposed diametrically on opposite sides of the
arrow shaft 12. As alluded to above, the aerodynamic fins 26 and
26' are generally parallel to one another and perpendicular to a
diameter of the arrow shaft, which is, in turn, perpendicular to
the notch 42 in the end of the arrow shaft.
The vane units are preferably made of a thin pliable plastic
material which may flex but returns to its original configuration.
In fact, actual tests have shown that the arrow as shown at 10 may
be pulled through a bale of straw and the vanes system will not be
damaged because each vane wraps itself tightly about the shaft to
pass through the bale and returns to its original shape upon
leaving the bale.
The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it
is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is
intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of
limitation.
Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is,
therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended
claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as
specifically described.
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