Aiming device for archery bows and other objects

An aiming device comprising a sight-supporting base adapted to be detachably secured to the central portion of the bow or a part of some other object, a rear sight positioned on the base, a light-emitting front sight, a member mounting the front sight on the base and being manually displaceable for adjusting the elevation of the front sight, and an adjusting screw and leveling pad arrangement for adjusting the base to a position where the line of aim established along the front and rear sights lies in a plane extending parallel to the bow and containing the longitudinal axis of an arrow in shooting position on the bow.

FIELD OF INVENTION 
This invention relates to aiming or sighting devices for archery bows and 
other objects. 
BACKGROUND 
Various archery bow sighting devices have been proposed in the past such as 
the ones described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,127 which issued to Phillip G. 
Spencer on Mar. 23, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,282 which issued to D. E. 
Gibson et al on Feb. 13, 1968, U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,122 which issued to C. 
Diamond on June 17, 1969, U.S. Pat. No. 3,058,221 which issued to W. R. 
McNeel on Oct. 16, 1962, U.S. Pat. No. 2,642,661 which issued to B. E. 
Fredrickson on June 23, 1953 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,542,501 which issued to 
B. E. Frederickson on Feb. 20, 1951. 
Some of the prior archery bow sighting devices, such as the ones shown in 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,542,501 and 2,642,661, are not suitable for attachment to 
existing bows of standard construction. Others such as the one shown in 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,282 tend to be bulky and relatively expensive and have 
numerous parts. Another problem experienced with detachable archery bow 
sights is that of adjustment for properly aligning the sight with the bow 
and the arrow in shooting position on the bow. 
Except for the construction shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,127 the sighting 
devices described in the foregoing patents do not provide for the 
illumination of the front sight to enable the front sight to be easily 
located or seen for accurate aiming particularly in poor lighting 
conditions. The aiming device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,127, 
however, has a number of drawbacks detracting from the advantage of the 
illuminated front sight. 
For example, the sighting device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,127 is 
relatively expensive and tends to be bulky. Furthermore, it does not have 
a rear sight for accurate aiming. Still further, it does not provide for 
the quick and easy vertical adjustment of the front sighting element and 
requires a tool such as a screwdriver for making vertical adjustments. 
The present invention has none of the foregoing drawbacks and additionally 
incorporates unique features that are usable with or without an 
illuminated front sight. Furthermore, the aiming device of this invention 
is applicable to other devices such as rifles and can also be used for 
aiming various other objects, as a surveyor's instrument. Additionally, it 
can be used to aim vehicles, such as a bulldozer, for movement along a 
straight path. 
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION 
The aiming device of this invention is particularly suitable for use with 
an archery bow and mainly comprises a sight-supporting plate or base, a 
light-emitting front sight unit mounted on the sight-supporting plate, and 
a leveling plate or pad. The assembly of the sight-supporting plate and 
the leveling plate is detachably secured by screws to the central portion 
of the bow on one side thereof. A special adjusting screw arrangement 
coacting with the leveling plate is used to accurately align the 
supporting plate and sight assembly on the bow. 
In the illustrated embodiment the front sight unit comprises a small 
incandescent sighting bulb positioned on the front sight at the upper end 
of a sight post. The sight post is threadedly mounted on the 
sight-supporting plate for adjusting the height or elevation of the front 
sight. A battery furnishing the electrical power for illuminating the 
front sight bulb is housed in a recess of a cap which is detachable 
threaded onto the lower end of the sight post. The sight post is tubular 
or hollow to receive a conductor which connects the battery to the bulb. 
The battery may be of any suitable, commercially available type and is 
easily replaceable simply by detaching the screw cap from the sight post. 
In place of a light-emitting bulb the front sight may be in the form of a 
pin or the like which is coated with a fluorescent or luminous material to 
emit light. 
Apart from the front sight unit and the mounting and adjustment screws 
mentioned above, the only parts of the aiming device of this invention are 
the sight-supporting and leveling plates themselves, each of which is of 
rugged one-piece construction. The aiming device of this invention 
therefore has relatively few parts and is of efficiently organized, 
simplified, inexpensive construction. 
Furthermore, the aiming device of this invention is easily and quickly 
attachable to the archery bow without requiring any significant 
modification to the bow itself. It also is lightweight and can be used 
with virtually any bow design. Additionally, it affords an unobstructed 
view of the target and the area around the target. 
With the foregoing in mind, it is the general aim and purpose of this 
invention to provide a novel aiming or sighting device which can easily be 
attached to virtually any make or design of bow and which can also be used 
to aim other objects such as a surveyor's instrument. 
Another important object of this invention is to provide a novel aiming or 
sighting device of lightweight, efficiently organized, inexpensive 
construction. 
Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel sighting or 
aiming device having a unique adjustment for accurately aligning the 
support plate and sight assembly with respect to the bow and the shooting 
position of the arrow. 
Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel sighting or 
aiming device having a unique light-emitting front sight unit to make the 
front sight more visible in the dark or under poor lighting conditions. 
Further objects of this invention will appear as the description proceeds 
in connection with the appended claims and the below-described drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring to FIG. 1 the aiming device incorporating the principles of this 
invention is generally indicated at 10 and is shown to be detachably 
secured to the central portion or section 12 of a conventional archery bow 
14 having the usual upper and lower flexible portions 16 and 18. The 
central section 12 of the archery bow extends between and is joined to the 
upper and lower portions 16 and 18 as shown. Bow section 12 is formed with 
a handgrip 20 below an arrow rest 22. A bowstring 24 mounted on the bow is 
shown to be in engagement with the nocked end of an arrow 26 seated on the 
arrow rest 22. 
In the illustrated embodiment the aiming device of this invention mainly 
comprises a flat-sided one-piece leveling plate 30 or pad, a flat-sided 
one-piece sight-supporting plate 32, and a front sight unit 34 adjustably 
mounted on the forwardly facing end of plate 32. The subassembly of plates 
30 and 32 is detachably fixed to the bow section 12 above arrow rest 22 by 
a pair of mounting screws 36 and 37. Screws 36 and 37 may be of the 
flat-headed allen wrench type. Plates 30 and 32 may advantageously be 
formed from lightweight aluminum. 
As shown in FIG. 4, screw 36 extends through aligned smooth walled bores in 
plates 30 and 32 and is threaded into a blind tapped bore 38 which is 
formed in the left-hand side of the bow section 12. Screw 37 similarly 
extends through aligned smooth walled bores in plates 30 and 32 and is 
also threaded into a blind tapped bore 39 in bow section 12. The formation 
of bores 38 and 39 is the only bow modification required for detachably 
mounting the aiming device of this invention on the bow. 
As shown, the longitudinal axes of bores 38 and 39 and hence of screws 36 
and 37 lie in a common plane normally intersecting bow section 12. The 
bores formed through plate 32 for receiving screws 36 and 37 are indicated 
at 41 and 42 in FIG. 5 and may be countersunk as shown to receive the 
heads of the mounting screws. Bores 41 and 42 are formed through a 
generally rectangular body portion 40 of plate 32 as shown. The 
longitudinal axes of bores 41 and 42 are parallel and lie in a common 
plane which extends medially between the upper and lower straight parallel 
edges of the body portion 40. 
In the illustrated embodiment, which is particularly adapted for right-hand 
bows, leveling plate 30 is positioned between bow section 12 and the 
sight-supporting plate 32 and has a flat side face which seats against the 
left-hand side face of bow section 12 as best shown in FIG. 5. Plate 32 
extends or projects both forwardly and rearwardly of bow section 12. 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, front sight unit 34 is of compact, 
efficiently organized construction and mainly comprises a hollow or 
tubular, externally threaded metal sight post 46, a sight and electric 
light assembly 48, a metal screw cap 50 and a battery 52. Sight post 46 is 
threaded upwardly through a tapped bore 54 in plate 32. Bore 54 is formed 
through a forwardly projecting end portion 56 of plate 32 along an axis 
that normally intersects a plane containing the axes of bores 41 and 42. 
End portion 56 is disposed forwardly of the body portion 40 and also 
forwardly of the central bow section 12 such that front sight unit 34 is 
spaced forwardly of the forwardly facing edge of bow section 12 as best 
shown in FIG. 1. When bow 14 is held in its normal upright position as 
shown in FIG. 1, sight post 46 will be in an upright, essentially vertical 
position. Post 46 extends above and below the end portion 56 of plate 32 
as shown. 
Referring to FIG. 5, the sighting element and light assembly 48 comprises a 
metal sighting element 60, an electric light or bulb 62, and an elongated 
compression type electrically conductive contact element 64. Sighting 
element 60 terminates at its upper end in a rounded sighting head 68 and 
has an internally threaded depending annular skirt portion 70'. The upper 
end of sight post 46 is threaded into skirt portion 70' such that the 
sighting element 60 receives and covers the upper end portion of post 46. 
Sighting element 60 is therefore disposed at a level that is spaced above 
the upper straight edge 71 of the support plate portions 40 and 56. 
As best shown in FIG. 5, bulb 62 is mounted in the head of sighting element 
60 and registers with a lateral aperture 66 which is formed in the head of 
sighting element 60 just below the rounded top of the sighting head. When 
energized, bulb 62 thus emits a beam of light through aperture 66. For 
normal operation sighting post 46 is adjusted to a position where the beam 
of light emitted by bulb 62 through aperture 66 aligns with and passes 
medially through a V-shaped rear sight 70. In this operating position of 
front sight unit 34, bulb 62 is shielded by sighting element 60 in such a 
way that bulb 62 cannot be seen at a position located forwardly of bow 14. 
Sight 70 is integrally formed with and projects upwardly from a rearwardly 
extending end portion 72 of the sight-supporting plate 32. 
The rearward end portion 72 of plate 32 is canted upwardly from the 
remainder of plate 32 such that the notched rear sight 70 is at a level 
and on a line of sight disposed above the support plate's upper edge 71. 
Still referring to FIG. 5, screw cap 50 receives and is detachably threaded 
onto the lower end of sight post 46. Cap 50 is formed with an inner recess 
74 which opens axially into the adjacent stepped bore portion of post 46. 
Battery 52 may be of any suitable type such as the disc configuration used 
in hearing aids and is removably seated in recess 74. As shown, battery 52 
extends into the lower stepped bore portion 76 of post 46. 
Contact element 64 is connected to one terminal or electrode of bulb 62 at 
its upper end and extends coaxially through the internal bore of sight 
post 46 in spaced apart relationship thereto. At the lower end of sight 
post 46 element 64 terminates in a tip 78 which contacts the central 
electrode of battery 52. Cap 50 is threaded on post 46 to a position where 
it is finger tight to thus establish firm electrical contact between the 
tip 78 of contact element 64 and the central electrode or terminal of 
battery 52. The other terminal or electrode of bulb 62 is connected to 
sighting element 60 to establish a circuit connection through post 46 to 
the outer terminal or electrode of battery 52. In illustrated position of 
parts an electrical circuit is therefore completed for conducting current 
through bulb 62. 
From the foregoing description of the front sight unit 34 it will be 
appreciated that the sighting element 60 is vertically adjustable along 
the axis of bore 54 by manually threading sight post upwardly or 
downwardly as desired along bore 54. The enlarged lower end of sight post 
46 is conveniently located to provide for the hand-manipulated threaded 
adjustment of sight post 46 without the use of tools of any kind. 
A lock nut 80 is threaded on sight post 46 and is tightened against the 
bottom edge of the support plate's end portion 56 to lock sight post 46 in 
its adjusted position. Vertical and rotational adjustment of sight post 46 
accurately positions and aligns the front sighting head 68 and the beam of 
light emitted by bulb 62 with respect to the rear sight 70. This 
adjustment may also be used for varying the trajectory of the arrow. 
From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the beam of 
light emitted by bulb 62 enables the front sighting element 60 to be 
quickly and easily located in the dark or in poor lighting conditions. 
Bulb 62 may be of any color to suit the eye and light conditions. 
Bulb 62 may be turned off simply by hand loosening cap 50 to a position 
where the contact end 78 no longer contacts or seats on the central 
terminal of battery 52. 
Removal or replacement of battery 52 is accomplished by simply removing or 
unthreading cap 50 from sight post 46. If bulb 62 burns out, assembly 48 
is replaceable as a unit simply by unthreading the existing assembly from 
sight post 46. 
Four adjusting screws 90, 91, 92 and 93 are provided for properly 
positioning the assembly of plate 32 and front sight unit 34 on bow 14. As 
will be described in detail below, screws 90-93 are arranged to provide a 
combined angular or tilting and rectilinear adjustment of the assembly of 
plate 32 and the front and rear sights thereon. 
As shown, screws 90-93 are threaded through tapped bores 94, 95, 96 and 97, 
respectively. Bores 94-97 are formed through the body portion 40 of plate 
32 along parallel spaced apart axes. 
The axes of bores 94-97 and hence the axes of the adjusting screws 90-93 
are located at the corners of a rectangle. With this arrangement the plane 
containing the longitudinal axes of bores 94 and 95 is parallel to a plane 
containing the axes of bores 96 and 97 and is also parallel to a plane 
containing the axes of bores 41 and 42. Additionally, a plane containing 
the axes of bores 94 and 96 is parallel to a plane containing the axes of 
bores 95 and 97. The plane containing the axes of bores 41 and 42 lies 
midway between two planes, one containing the axes of bores 94 and 95 and 
the other containing the axes of bores 96 and 97. Bores 41 and 42 also lie 
between the plane containing the axes of bores 94 and 96 and the plane 
containing bores 95 and 97. 
Adjusting screws 90-93 are threaded through their respective bores 94-97 to 
positions where they seat against the flat side of leveling plate 30 that 
lies adjacent to the sight-supporting plate 32. Screws 90-93 may be of any 
suitable type and preferably are of the cup point type which terminate in 
an annular edge or lip for non-rocking seating engagement against the 
adjacent flat side face of leveling plate 30. Screws 90-93 may be of the 
Allen head type. The outer ends of bores 94-97 may be countersunk to 
receive the heads of screws 90-93. 
When the mounting screws 36 and 37 are loosened, plate 32 together with the 
sights positioned thereon may be adjusted as a unit laterally of the 
cental bow section 12. This is accomplished by threading all four of the 
adjusting screws 94-97 inwardly towards leveling plate 30 or by threading 
all four of the adjusting screws outwardly in the opposite direction. In 
this manner plate 32 is bodily shiftable or reciprocable along a line that 
may extend parallel to the axes of bores 38 and 39. 
In addition to the foregoing rectilinear adjustment, screws 90-93 provide a 
plural-way tilting or pivotal adjustment of plate 32 about mutually 
perpendicular axes. For example, the upper edge of plate 32 may be tilted 
relative to a vertical plane (i.e., a plane normally intersecting bores 38 
and 39) by threading screws 90 and 91 in one direction and by threading 
screws 92 and 93 in the opposite direction or by just threading screws 90 
and 91 in a common direction. Alternatively, the forward edge of plate 32 
may be swung relative to the vertical plane mentioned above by threading 
screws 91 and 93 in a common direction. Still further, the rearward edge 
of plate 32 may be swung relative to the vertical plane mentioned above by 
threading screws 90 and 92 in a common direction. 
By adjusting screws 90-93 in varying combinations it therefore will be 
appreciated that plate 32 is selectively pivotal about either one or both 
of two transversely or normally intersecting pivot axes, one extending 
horizontally and the other extending vertically when bow 14 is in its 
illustrated upright position. Both of these pivot axes lie in a plane 
normally or transversely intersecting the axes of bores 94-97 and 
extending longitudinally of bow 14 rather than transversely of the bow. In 
other words both of these pivot axes extend transversely with respect to 
the axes of bores 94-97 and also with respect to a line transversely 
intersecting or extending laterally of the central bow section 12. 
Adjustment of screws 90-93 thus has the effect of canting plate 32 in a 
horizontal plane and/or a vertical plane as well as bodily shifting plate 
32 laterally of bow section 32 (i.e., along a line parallel to bores 38 
and 39). In this manner the line of aim established along the front and 
rear sights 60 and 70 may accuately be located in a plane containing the 
axis of arrow 26 in its shooting position and extending parallel to bow 
14. In other words, when bow 14 is held in its normal upright or vertical 
position shown in FIG. 1, the axis of arrow 26 and the line of aim along 
sights 60 and 70 will lie in a common vertical plane. This adjustment 
together with the height or elevation adjustment of the frong sight or 
sighting element 60 thus assures accurate aiming. 
After the adjustments are made with screws 90-93, mounting screws 36 and 37 
are tightened to secure or clamp the assembly of plate 32 and screws 90-93 
in place against the side of leveling plate 30 to thereby firmly fix plate 
32 in its adjusted position. When screws 36 and 37 are tightened plate 30 
will be clamped in place between the side of bow section 12 and the ends 
of screws 90-93. In its adjusted position, plate 32 may be spaced from 
and/or canted with respect to plate 30. The mounting and adjusting screw 
clearances in plate 32 are large enough to permit the foregoing 
adjustments. 
From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the aiming or 
sighting device of this invention is of compact, simplified, efficiently 
organized, inexpensive construction. Additionally, it affords an 
unobstructed view of the target and the region or area around the target. 
Furthermore, it is of lightweight, well balanced construction having 
unique, easily manipulatable adjustments as well as providing for a 
light-emitting front sight to enable the front sight to be easily located 
and viewed in the dark or in poor lighting conditions. 
From the foregoing description it also will be appreciated that the 
sight-supporting plate 32, or sight-supporting base as it may be called, 
is elongated in a direction to position the front sight 60 forwardly of 
bow section 12 and the rear sight 70 rearward of bow section 12. Finally, 
it will be noted that mounting screws 36 and 37 are arranged to prevent 
rotational or pivotal motion of plate 32 and an axis extending parallel to 
the axes of bores 41 and 42. 
The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing 
from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present 
embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative 
and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the 
appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes 
which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are 
therefore intended to be embraced therein.