Patent ID: 7234219
Filing Date: 2007-06-26
Classification: B25B,F41B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of gripping and extracting a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow from a foam target with an arrow gripper and extractor, said arrow gripper and extractor comprising: a first lever arm having a first end and a second end, and being configured to be gripped by a user; said first lever arm comprising a first elongated arrow gripping portion; said first elongated arrow gripping portion being disposed substantially perpendicularly to said first lever arm, and extending substantially equally on both sides of said first lever arm; a second lever arm having a first end and a second end, and being configured to be gripped by a user; said second lever arm comprising a second elongated arrow gripping portion; said second elongated arrow gripping portion being disposed substantially perpendicularly to said second lever arm, and extending substantially equally on both sides of said second lever arm; each of said first and second elongated arrow gripping portions comprising a clamp section; each of said clamp sections having matching surface recesses and being configured to substantially closely surround the shaft of a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow; each of said clamp sections comprising a resilient gripping material being configured and disposed to grip a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow; said first lever arm and said second lever arm being substantially equal in length, and being configured and disposed to meet at a common pivot point at said first end of each of said first lever arm and said second lever arm; said first lever arm and said second lever arm, in conjunction with said arrow gripper, being sufficiently long to keep a user's hands away from the arrow head of the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow, to substantially minimize injury to the user's hands by the arrow head; said first elongated arrow gripping portion and said second elongated arrow gripping portion being disposed a substantial distance from said second end of said first and second lever arms, and being disposed substantially closer to said first end of said first and second lever arms than said second end of said first and second lever arms; said pivot point comprising a hinge and being configured to permit said first elongated arrow gripping portion and said second elongated arrow gripping portion to come into contact and to form an arrow gripper; said arrow gripper being substantially longer than said first and second lever arms are wide, and being configured to have the dimensions to grip a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow shaft; said arrow gripper being configured to grip on a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow along a substantial portion of its arrow shaft that is extending from a foam target, to evenly and linearly distribute a grasping force over a substantial portion of the arrow shaft, and being configured to minimize bending forces, which bending forces may break a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow shaft; said first lever arm comprising a forked end and said second lever arm comprising a protrusion, wherein said pivot point for connecting said first lever arm to said second lever arm is a hinge pin retaining said protrusion within said forked end; and said first and second lever arms and said arrow gripper being configured to be pulled by a user in order to pull an embedded lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow out of a foam target to remove the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow when the foam target has melted around the arrow, or when frost has frozen around the arrow, to substantially minimize breaking of the arrow shaft or the arrow head of the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow, said method comprising the steps of: opening said arrow gripper and extractor by pivoting said first and second lever arms away from one another; placing said first elongated arrow gripping portion about the shaft of a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow that is deeply embedded in a foam target, where the entire head of the arrow and at least a portion of the shaft is embedded in the foam target, and when the foam target has melted and resolidified around the arrow, or when frost has frozen around the arrow; closing said arrow gripper and extractor on the embedded lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow by pivoting said first and second lever arms toward one another; enclosing and clamping and gripping a substantial portion of the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow shaft in said arrow gripper such that the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow rests in and compresses said resilient gripping material about a substantial portion of the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow, and such that the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow is disposed substantially perpendicularly to said first and second lever arms; gripping said first and second lever arms with the hands of the user while maintaining the hands of the user away from the arrow head, and applying a force to evenly and linearly distribute a grasping force over a substantial portion of the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow shaft in order to minimize bending forces which may break a lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow shaft; turning the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction about the longitudinal axis of the shaft of the arrow by applying a rotational force to said first and second lever arms to loosen or break the lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow free from a stuck or frozen position within the foam target in order to minimize damage to the arrow; pulling the embedded lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow out of the foam target with said arrow gripper and extractor in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft of the arrow while substantially minimizing damage to the arrow; and opening said arrow gripper and extractor and removing the extracted lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow from said arrow gripper and extractor to permit further use of the extracted lightweight aluminum or carbon fiber arrow by a user.