Three point bow sight

An archery sighting device which includes an elongated sight bracket fixedly attached to the bow above the hand grip portion. A horizontally disposed tab at the rear of the sight bracket has a "V" notch coplanar with the plane formed by the extended bow string and defines a central sighting point intermediate the bow and the relaxed position of the bow string. A pluraltity of pin sights are disposed at the front end of the sight bracket which define the forward sight point. The plurality of pin sights individually designate preselected shooting distances. The bow string in its extended or drawn position is the third sighting point. Sighting is achieved by the coplanar alignment of the extended bow string with the inverted apex of the "V" notch and the sight pin representing the desired shooting distances.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is related to archery sight and, in particular, to a three 
point adjustable sight compensating for different shooting distances to 
permit accurate shooting of an arrow. 
PRIOR ART 
Numerous sighting devices have been devised for use on archery bows. One of 
the disadvantages of the known sighting devices is their difficulty of 
adjustment so as to compensate for different shooting distances and/or the 
velocity of the released arrow by the different types of bows. Each archer 
has his or her own shooting style and therefore each will hold the bow 
with a different relationship to his or her body as well as with respect 
to the physical coordinates of the bow. Bow sights of the prior art range 
from simple markers attached to the bow which are aligned with a grommet 
attached to the string as taught by Stieber in U.S. Pat. No. 2,574,599 or 
Roloff, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,695. An adjustable front sight is 
disclosed by Helton in U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,985 and by Smith in U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,026,032. A multiple piece adjustable sight, is disclosed by James in 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,579. The James sight embodies a multiple pin front 
sight and a rear sight rigidly attached to the bow. The rear sight extends 
rearwardly a substantial distance behind the normal relaxed position of 
the bow string so that it can be positioned in close proximity to the 
archer's eye when the bow string is drawn back in its extended position. 
James' front sight includes multiple pins vertically positioned to 
represent preselected shooting distances. The rear sight is vertically 
adjustable and is convertible from a "V" notch to a circular aperture 
commonly known as a "peep" sight. The problem with the James sight is that 
the rear sight has to be displaced out of the string's return path after 
it is released otherwise the string will catch on the rear sight and 
deflect the arrows trajectory. To use this sight, the archer must hold his 
head in a position different from the standard position where the string 
is drawn back against his cheek or the corner of his mouth which positions 
the archer's eye above the arrow's shaft along its desired flight path. 
Another type of bow mounted sight is disclosed by Pelsue, U.S. Pat. No. 
4,294,222. The Pelsue sight is a pistol type sight for a cross bow having 
a "V" notch sight at the rear of the pistol outside of the extended 
position of the bow string. Still another type of bow mounted sight is 
disclosed by Mesler in U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,485. Mesler's sight includes a 
"U" shaped bracket attached to the bow with the legs of the bracket 
protruding transverse to the axis of the arrow. The forward leg of the 
bracket has three sight apertures representing different shooting ranges. 
The rear leg, the one closest to the archer, has a single sight aperture. 
Mesler's sight apertures are sufficiently large to receive the arrow for 
boresighting purposes. The problem with this sight is that the apertures 
are too large to give the sight any degree of accuracy and that the 
forward leg of the bracket obscures a considerable portion of the archer's 
view of the target. This makes it difficult for the archer to find and 
isolate the selected target with any speed. 
The bow sight described herein is an improvement over the sights disclosed 
in the prior art, permitting the archer to aim the arrow without changing 
the position of his head yet giving him an excellent view of the selected 
target while achieving his aim. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention is a bow mounted three point sight which in its preferred 
embodiment has a single sight bracket mounted to the bow on the side 
opposite the arrow rest and extending generally parallel to the axis of 
the arrow. The forward end of the bracket has at least one vertical slot 
receiving a plurality of sighting pins. Each of the sighting pins is 
transversely and vertically adjustable along the vertical slot to 
represent different shooting ranges. A tab at the rear of the bracket is 
bent normal to the axis of the arrow inside of the relaxed position of the 
bow string. A "V" notch is formed in the top surface of the tab with the 
inverted apex of the "V" being coplanar with the plane defined by the 
extended bow string. The tips of the sighting pins are transversely 
adjusted to be coplanar with the plane defined by the extended bow string 
and the "V" notch. 
The advantage of the three point bow sight is that the archer does not have 
to alter his shooting posture with the eye placed over and sighting 
parallel to the axis of the arrow. Another advantage of the three point 
bow sight is that the triple alignment of the bow string with the "V" 
notch and the sighting pins avoids accidental rotation of the bow about a 
vertical axis which would otherwise displace the trajectory of the arrow 
from the sight line path. 
These and other advantages of the three point bow sight will become 
apparent from a reading of the specification in conjunction with the 
drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown the three point bow sight 20 
attached to a conventional compound bow 10 by a pair of fasteners 
illustrated by screws 22. The structure of the compound bow 10 is well 
known and includes a central hand grip portion 12, an arrow rest 14, a 
relief portion 16 above the central hand grip portion 12 and a bow string 
18. 
The three point bow sight 20 has a sight bracket 24 having a tab 26 bent 
normal to the axis 28 of an arrow shaft 30 shown in phantom on FIG. 2. 
Conventionally, the arrow shaft 30 rests on the arrow rest 14 adjacent to 
the inside surface of the relief portion 16. The tab 26 has a "V" notch 32 
formed in its upper surface as more clearly shown in FIG. 4. The inverted 
apex 34 of the "V" notch 32 is coplanar with the plane formed by the axis 
28 of the arrow shaft 30 and the bow string 18. This is the same plane 
defined by the angularly disposed segments of the bow string 18 when the 
bow string 18 is in its extended or drawn position. 
A plurality of sight pins 40 are attached to the front end of the sight 
bracket 24 in a pair of slots 36 and 38, as shown more clearly in FIG. 3. 
As shown in detail in FIG. 2, each of the plurality of sight pins 40 has a 
bead 42 formed at the end of a threaded shaft 44. The threaded shafts 44 
are captivated in the slots 36 and 38 by a threaded position nut 46 on one 
side of the sight bracket 24 and a threaded locking nut 48 on the other 
side of the sight bracket. The threaded locking nut 48 has an enlarged 
collar having a flat face normal to the axis of the threaded shaft 44 and 
an elongated body portion supporting the plurality of sight pins 40 normal 
to the surface of the sight bracket 24. The plurality of sight pins 40 are 
normally attached in the slots 36 and 38 in a staggered relationship 
permitting them to be positioned closer than would be permitted with a 
single slot. It is recognized that the sight bracket 24 may only have one 
slot 36 or 38 if the plurality of sight pins 40 can be positioned apart a 
distance greater than the diameter of the collars of the threaded locking 
nut 48. 
The slots 36 and 38 permit the plurality of sight pins 40 to be adjusted 
for different shooting ranges. 
The threaded shafts 44 permit the beads 42 to be adjusted laterally so they 
are coplanar with the plane defined by the axis 28 of the arrow's shaft 
and the bow string 18. The beads 42 may also be adjusted laterally to 
compensate for cross winds as is known in the art. 
The forward end of the sight bracket 24 is offset inwardly about 0.8 to 1.3 
centimeters by a pair of complementary bends in the sight bracket 24 as 
shown in FIG. 2. The bend locations are illustrated in FIG. 3 by the 
dashed lines 50 and 52. A pair of mounting slots 54 and 56 are formed 
intermediate the opposite ends of the sight bracket 24 for attaching the 
sight bracket 24 to the bow 10. The mounting slots 54 and 56 allow the 
sight bracket 24 to be adjusted longitudinally so that the tab 26 will not 
interfere with the bow string 18 in its relaxed position after release of 
the arrow. 
Referring now to FIG. 4, the three point bow sight 20 is shown as viewed by 
the archer prior to releasing the arrow. The sight bracket 24 and 
plurality of sight pins 40 are normally a dull black or other dark color 
to reduce glare and spurious reflections from distracting the archer from 
his target. When the bow sight is properly aligned, the image of the bow 
string 18 passes through the center "V" notch 32 and is coincident with 
the beads 42 of the sight pins. If the bow 10 is inadvertently twisted 
about its vertical axis by the archer, the alignment of the three sight 
points will be disturbed indicating a sighting error. 
To emphasize the inverted apex 34 of the "V" notch 32 a contrasting color 
triangle 58 may be disposed in the archer's side of the tab 26 having its 
apex coincident with the inverted apex 34 of the "V" notch 32. This 
contrasting color triangle 58 may be painted or printed on the rear 
surface of the tab 26 or applied by any other means known in the art. 
Preferably the contrasting color is white but may be any phosphorescent or 
luminescent color desired by the archer. 
An alternate embodiment of the three point bow sight is illustrated in FIG. 
5. In this embodiment, the forward portion of the sight bracket 24 having 
slots 36 and 38 is omitted and replaced with a commercially available pin 
sight mechanism 70 of the type disclosed by Smith in U.S. Pat. No. 
4,162,579. Referring to FIG. 5, the alternate configuration of the three 
point bow sight 20 has a sight bracket 60 having two mounting slots 66 and 
68 corresponding to the mounting slots 54 and 56 of the embodiment shown 
in FIG. 3. A tab 62 is formed at the end of the sight bracket 60 
corresponding to the tab 26. The tab 62, in a like manner, has formed in 
its upper surface a "V" notch 34 as previously described. 
A vertical pin sight mounting slot 64 is formed in the forward end of the 
sight bracket 60 to facilitate the attachment of the pin sight mechanism 
70 shown in phantom. 
The pin sight mechanisms 70 are commercially available and contain a 
plurality of sight pins 72 extending in a direction normal to the plane of 
the sight bracket 60. The plurality of sight pins 72 may be individually 
positioned along a vertical slot 74 to represent preselected shooting 
ranges. Functionally, the plurality of sight pins 72 are the same as the 
plurality of sight pins 40 discussed with reference to the embodiment 
illustrated in FIG. 2. 
It is recognized that a person skilled in the art may make structural 
changes to the three point bow sight illustrated in the drawings and 
described above without departing from the spirit of the invention as set 
forth in the appended claims.