Abstract:
An archery bow stand is provided with an upright guide extending from a base. An upright support cooperates with the upright guide for selective adjustment of an upright position, with a support member sized to receive an archery bow to pivot relative thereto. A horizontal guide extends from the base. A horizontal support having a rest portion, cooperates with the horizontal guide for selective adjustment of a horizontal position. A method for securing a bow to the bow stand is provided by adjusting a vertical position of the support member relative to the upright guide. A horizontal position of the rest portion is adjusted to contact the intermediate portion of the bow thereby limiting the bow from pivoting due to an offset center of gravity, without removing any components from the bow or attaching any fasteners to the bow.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/096,104 filed Sep. 11, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    Embodiments of the invention relate to a stand for supporting an archery bow. 
         [0004]    2. Background Art 
         [0005]    In the sport of archery, a user utilizes a bow to shoot an arrow at a target. A bow typically includes an intermediate member called a riser with a handle that is connected to opposing limbs, whereby the limbs are connected by a bow string. With respect to function, potential energy is created by the tension in a bow string and limbs as the bow string is pulled away from the riser. When the bow string is released, the potential energy converts to kinetic energy and is applied to an arrow to project it forward at a target. 
         [0006]    Archery bows, particularly compound archery bows, include a plurality of adjustable features to allow the user to match the characteristics of the bow to the physical characteristics of the user. Some examples of the adjustable features of a compound bow include: sighting mechanisms, anti-vibration devices, bow string tension and draw length. 
         [0007]    There are a variety of bow stands currently available in the market. One example of such prior art, is a stand whereby the user must remove the stabilizer bar from the riser of a compound bow and attach the stand to the stabilizer attachment on the riser to retain the bow. Repeated removal of the stabilizer arm to mount the bow is inconvenient and prevents the user from maintaining a desired adjustment of the stabilizer bar. Also this stand is not applicable for bows that do not use stabilizer bars, such as longbows and recurves. 
         [0008]    Another prior art bow stand is one that includes a plurality of clamps to restrain portions of the riser or limbs. These stands typically require the bow to be laid flat on its side, and the clamps are located relatively close together. Since a bow is typically a large flexible object, there can be significant vibration in the bow when making adjustments using such a stand. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    In at least one embodiment an archery bow stand is provided with a base for resting upon an underlying support surface and an upright guide extending from the base. An upright support cooperates with the upright guide for selective adjustment of an upright position relative to the upright guide, with a support member sized to receive an archery bow to pivot relative thereto. A horizontal guide extends from the base. A horizontal support cooperates with the horizontal guide for selective adjustment of a horizontal position relative to the horizontal guide. A user can seat a limb of the archery bow upon the support member and adjust the upright and horizontal supports so that an intermediate member of the archery bow rests against a rest portion of the horizontal support, thereby limiting the archery bow from pivoting relative to the support member. 
         [0010]    In another embodiment a method for securing a bow to a bow stand is provided by adjusting a vertical position of a support member attached to an upright support relative to the upright guide of a bow stand. An upper limb of a bow is rested upon the support member such that an intermediate position of the bow is oriented in a first direction, and the bow is free to pivot relative to the support member. A horizontal position of a first rest portion is adjusted to contact the intermediate portion of the bow thereby limiting the bow from pivoting relative to the support member due to an offset center of gravity, without removing any components from the bow or attaching any fasteners to the bow. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a side perspective view of an archery bow stand according to an embodiment of the present invention, illustrated supporting an archery bow; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is another side perspective view of the archery bow stand of  FIG. 1 , illustrated without an archery bow; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged perspective view of locking mechanisms of the archery bow stand of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is another side perspective view of the archery bow stand of  FIG. 1 , illustrated supporting the archery bow of  FIG. 1  in another position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]    As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. 
         [0016]    With reference now to  FIG. 1 , an archery bow stand is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention and is referenced by numeral  10 . The stand  10  is adjustable to support various archery bows, such as a compound bow  12 . 
         [0017]    The bow stand  10  allows the user to quickly and easily secure the bow  12  in an upright position so that the user can adjust the features of the bow  12 . The stand  10  also allows the user to easily remove the bow  12 . Since the compound bow  12  has some features that are more readily accessible on one side than the other, the stand  10  allows the user to reverse the bow  12  about the stand  10 . 
         [0018]    A typical compound bow  12  includes an intermediate member called a riser  80  with a handle  32  that is connected to opposing upper  24  and lower  70  limbs, whereby the limbs are connected by a bow string  60  and tension cables  62 . 
         [0019]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , the archery bow stand  10  includes a base  14  for supporting the stand on an underlying support surface. The base  14  is flat, and designed to have a surface area that is large enough so that the stand does not require mounting for stability. However an array of clearance holes  16  can be included in the base  14 , to allow the user to mount the stand  10  to a bench or table using fasteners, if needed. 
         [0020]    An upright guide  18  is mounted to the base  14 , and cooperates with an upright support  20  for selective adjustment of an upright position. The guide  18  and the support  20  are of different cross sectional dimensions so that one can envelop the other. In this embodiment, the upright guide  18  is a hollow tube whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the upright support  20 . The upright support  20  includes a hook  22  at the upper end of the support  20 . The hook  22  comprises a series of four segments extending from the upright support  20 , whereby each segment is bent to extend perpendicularly from the preceding segment. A first segment  82  is welded at a perpendicular orientation to an upper portion of the upright support  20 . A second segment  84  extends downward and is perpendicular from the first segment  82 . A third segment  86  extends horizontally from the perpendicular second segment  84 . A fourth segment  88  extends upwards and is perpendicular from the third segment  86 . The hook  22  is sized to receive the upper limb  24  of the bow  12 , whereby the limb  24  rests on the third segment  86 , and is aligned by the fourth and second segments  88 ,  84 . The support  20  slides within the guide  18  to position the hook  22  at a vertical position. The components of the stand  10  are made of suitable materials such as cold rolled steel. The upright guide  18  is welded to the base  14 . For additional support, one or more gussets  76  are welded between the guide  18  and base  14 . 
         [0021]    A horizontal guide  26  is mounted, for example, welded to an intermediate portion of the upright guide  18 . Guide gusset  78  connects the upright guide  18  to the horizontal guide  26  for additional support. A horizontal support  28  cooperates with the horizontal guide  26  for selective adjustment of a horizontal position. In this embodiment, the horizontal guide  26  is a hollow tube whose inner diameter is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical horizontal support  28 . The horizontal support  28  includes a first rest portion  30  that is bent perpendicular from the support  28 . A user can seat an intermediate portion of the bow  12  against the first rest  30 , while an upper limb  24  of the compound bow  12  rests upon the hook  22 . In most bows, the center of gravity of the compound bow  12  is directed towards the riser  80  ( FIG. 1 ). If the bow  12  were supported, only by the hook  22  of the bow stand  10 , then the bow  12  would pivot about the hook  22 . The first rest portion  30  prevents the compound bow  12  from pivoting about the hook  22  in a first direction. As seen in  FIG. 1 , the inner portion of the riser  80  is resting against the first rest support  30 , to prevent the bow  12  from pivoting about the hook  22 . 
         [0022]    To provide further constraint of the bow  12  on the stand  10 , the horizontal support  28  also includes a second rest portion  72 . The second rest portion  72  can be adjusted to contact an additional intermediate portion of the bow  12 . In this embodiment the second rest portion  72  comprises a cylindrical shaft  68  extending from and welded to a rest collar  66 , whereby the axes of the shaft  68  and collar  66  are perpendicular. The rest collar  66  has a inner diameter designed to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the horizontal support  28  to allow the second rest portion  72  to be adjusted along support  28 . A set screw (not shown) is included in the collar  66  to allow the user to tighten the screw against the horizontal support  28  to temporarily retain an adjusted position of the second rest  72 . 
         [0023]    The archery bow stand  10  may also include contact material  34  on portions of the hook  22 , and rest portions  30  and  72 , that make contact with the bow  12 . This contact material  34  is selected from a wide variety of thermosets and thermoplastics known in the art with low abrasion properties, to prevent the stand  10  from scratching contact surfaces on the bow  12 . In at least one embodiment the contact material  34  is a rubber that is applied in liquid form and solidifies over time. The outer surfaces of the guides  18  and  26  and base  14  are painted to prevent corrosion. 
         [0024]    Referring to the  FIG. 3 , a first locking mechanism  36  allows the user to maintain a selected position of the upright support  20  relative to the upright guide  18 . The first locking mechanism  36  includes a first threaded fastener  44  that extends from a first handle  46  and mates with first lock collar  38 . Lock collar  38  slides over upright guide  18 , and the collar  38  is held in position by tightening a set screw (not shown). Lock collar  38  includes a threaded aperture (not shown) for accepting the threaded fastener  44 . The threaded aperture of the collar  38  is aligned with a corresponding aperture (not shown) of the upright guide  18 . The threaded fastener  44  cooperates with the threaded aperture of the collar  38  and the aperture of the guide  18  to contact the upright support  20  and maintain an adjusted position of the support  20 . 
         [0025]    A second locking mechanism  48  allows the user to maintain a selected position of the horizontal support  28  relative to the horizontal guide  26 . The second locking mechanism  48  includes a second threaded fastener  56 , that extends from a second handle  58  and mates with a second lock collar  50 . Lock collar  50  slides over the horizontal guide  26 , and the collar  50  is held in position by tightening a set screw (not shown). Lock collar  50  includes a threaded aperture (not shown) for accepting threaded fastener  56 . The threaded aperture of collar  50  is aligned with a corresponding aperture (not shown) of the horizontal guide  26 . Fastener  56  is inserted into the threaded aperture of the collar  50 , and by rotating the handle  58 , the fastener  56  translates through the aperture of the guide  26  to contact the horizontal support  28  to maintain an adjusted position of the support  28 . 
         [0026]    Locking mechanisms  36  and  48  may be implemented in a variety of different ways, as known in the art. As described above for  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the locking mechanisms may utilize collars  38  and  50  that are attached to the guide tubes  18  and  26 . Alternately locking mechanisms may be implemented without collars, whereby the guide apertures are threaded to mate with the fasteners  44  and  56  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4 . 
         [0027]    Common threaded fasteners that are designed to be operated by hand, without additional tools, include a variety of styles of handles.  FIGS. 1 and 4  illustrate “T” shaped handles, whereas  FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate “knob” handles. 
         [0028]    By comparing  FIGS. 1 and 4  one can see the versatility of the archery bow stand  10 . In  FIG. 1 , the bow  12  is orientated so that a first side is facing toward the user, with the upper limb  24  resting in the hook  22  and the inner portion of the riser  80  seated against the first rest portion  30  of the horizontal support  28 . The second rest portion  72  can be adjusted to contact the bow string  60  for further constraint.  FIG. 4  shows the compound bow  12  reversed about the hook  22 , with the cables  62  seated against the first rest portion  30 , and the outer portion of the riser  80  contacting the second rest portion  72 , whereby the user can access a second side and corresponding components of the compound bow  12 . 
         [0029]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , the compound bow  12  includes a wide variety of components that require regular maintenance and adjustment including: cables  62  and cams  64  for adjusting string tension and draw length, sighting mechanisms  90 , anti-vibration equipment  94  and a stabilizer bar  92 . 
         [0030]    Often during adjustment an individual will need to make multiple changes to fine tune a certain mechanism. Therefore it is advantageous for the archery bow stand to be designed such that one can quickly and easily mount the bow to the stand and also remove it. It is also common for an archery enthusiasts to own multiple archery bows of different shapes and styles. Therefore an archery bow stand that is easily adjustable to accommodate a variety of bows is ideal. The archery bow stand  10  according to one embodiment of the invention, utilizes a hook  22  and rest portions  30  and  72  to constrain the bow while allowing the user to quickly and easily mount and remove the bow. These constraints, in combination with the flexibility of the adjustment features of the bow stand  10 , allow the user to use one archery bow stand  10  to accommodate a wide variety of bows. 
         [0031]    The archery bow stand  10  presented herein addresses the deficiencies of the prior art by allowing a user to quickly and easily mount and remove the bow  12  from the stand  10  in an upright position, while also allowing the user to access both sides of the bow  12 . Additionally, the bow stand  10  accommodates longbows and recurves, in addition to compound bows  12 . 
         [0032]    While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the invention.