Fall away arrow rest system

The present invention is directed to a fall away arrow rest system for use with a compound bow having a string. The arrow rest system is adapted to support a shaft of an arrow while a tail section of the arrow engages with the string for shooting of the arrow. The arrow rest includes a housing, a rotatable shaft having a first portion mounted with and supported by the housing and a second portion extending from the housing, a launcher and a pair of arms defining a channel therebetween for accepting the arrow shaft, an activator operative to selectively urge rotation of the rotatable shaft and movement of the launcher from an upright arrow support position to a lowered position, and including a locking component moveable from an engaging position to releasably lock the position of the rotatable shaft when the launcher is at the upright arrow support position, and a disengaging position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Arrow rests for compound bows provide a steadying surface for the shaft of an arrow as the user prepares to fire the arrow at a target. More specifically, arrow rest launchers allow the user to make aiming adjustments based on the surrounding environmental conditions (e.g., wind speed and direction) while reducing the tendency of dropping of the arrow by the user or otherwise losing selected arrow positioning necessary for good aiming and maintaining the tail of the arrow in proper contact with the string of the bow for firing thereof.

One common problem with arrow rest launchers is that the fletching of the arrow, necessary for proper aerodynamic properties, may contact a launcher when firing and change the desired trajectory of the arrow. So-called “drop away” arrow rests and the like have been developed to reduce the tendency of fletching contacting the launcher when an arrow is fired. The movement of the launcher out of the way of the fletching takes place substantially after the arrow has been fired (by releasing the bow string) but before the tail region of the arrow where the fletching is located has passed the launcher. Traditional fall away rests lift the arrow into position as the bow is drawn. This eliminates the possibility of holding the arrow securely in the prelaunch position. Lifting the arrow as it is drawn also caused the arrow to “hop” off the rest when the archer reaches full draw if he has drawn the bow too quickly as is often the case when someone excitedly draws his bow on a game animal. Traditional drop away arrow rests are complicated in design and thus are prone to failure in the varied environmental conditions in which compound bows are often used. For instance, many hunters find themselves in many types of weather situations due to the fact that “big game” are located in mountainous terrain or other cold weather habitats. An arrow rest should be reliable and easy to use even in adverse weather conditions. Nevertheless, some drop away arrow rests only engage the “drop away” feature when the bow string is released at a certain rate or is “snapped back” when firing an arrow. The components necessary to effect this type of drop away feature are susceptible to failure in temperature extremes, and complicate the firing procedure for the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a fall away arrow rest system for use with a compound bow having a string. The arrow rest system is adapted to support a shaft of an arrow while a tail section of the arrow engages with the string for shooting of the arrow. The arrow rest includes a housing having a cavity and being adapted for coupling with the bow, a rotatable shaft having a first portion mounted with and supported by the housing and a second portion extending from the housing, a launcher having a base affixed on the second portion of the rotatable shaft and a pair of arms extending from the base in a direction away from the rotatable shaft, the arms defining a channel therebetween for accepting the arrow shaft, an activator disposed within the housing cavity and coupled with the rotatable shaft, the activator being operative to selectively urge rotation of the rotatable shaft and movement of the launcher from an upright arrow support position to a lowered position, and including a locking component moveable from an engaging position to releasably lock the position of the rotatable shaft when the launcher is at the upright arrow support position, and a disengaging position, a cord secured to the locking component of the activator and extending to a point exterior of the housing for coupling with the string of the compound bow. Further, when the locking component is in the engaging position, pulling of the string causes movement of the cord coupled therewith to disengage the locking component, and thereafter upon releasing of the string to shoot an arrow engaging with the string and resting on the launcher, the activator moves the launcher from the upright arrow support position to a lowered position. Moreover, when the locking component is in the disengaging position and the launcher is not in the upright arrow support position, pulling of the string with a force sufficient to overcome the rotational urging of the activator causes movement of the cord coupled therewith and movement of the launcher towards the upright arrow support position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With specific reference to the figures, and initiallyFIG. 1, there is shown a fall away arrow rest10for use with a compound bow200having a string202for shooting an arrow300.FIG. 2presents are more detailed illustration of the fall away arrow rest10, which generally includes a housing12for attachment with compound bow200, a shaft14rotatably mounted with housing12and extending laterally therefrom, a launcher16affixed to shaft14for rotation therewith, an activator18(best seen in FIGS.4and8-10) disposed within housing12and inducing rotation of shaft14to cause launcher16movement upon releasing of bow string202or when the user reduces the pulling force applied to bow string202, and a cord20connected with activator18and with bow string202to control unlocking of the activator when launcher16is at an upright arrow support position based on the bow string activity. The arrow rest10is used by placing a shaft302of an arrow300on launcher16and engaging a tail section304of arrow300with bow string202so that bow200fires or shoots arrow300in a longitudinal direction forwardly of launcher16.FIG. 1shows bow200being in a vertical orientation where arrow300aligned in the longitudinal direction on launcher16would be fired horizontally. Arrow300may obviously be fired from any number of orientations depending on the desired flight path. Activator18is configured to move launcher16from an upright arrow support position shown inFIG. 2and commonly used when firing arrow300to a lowered position shown inFIG. 3where launcher16is rotated downwardly out of the way of arrow300that has been fired.

Housing12, best seen inFIGS. 2-5, has a mounting component22with a horizontally-oriented threaded aperture24for accepting a fastener (not shown) to secure housing12with a frame204of compound bow200. An intermediate component28and a support component30also make up housing12. The mounting component22has a dovetail32that slides within a vertically-oriented slot34of intermediate component28. A containment arm36, seen inFIGS. 6-7B, is secured onto an upper surface38of intermediate component28. The containment arm36has a first lateral portion40pivotably mounted with upper surface38, an upward bend42and a second lateral portion44extending from the bend42. The containment arm36is configured for rotation generally about a vertical axis between a nonuse position where arm36overlies mounting component22and a working position generally 90 degrees from the first position where arm36directly overlies launcher16or overlies at a position immediately forwardly or rearwardly from launcher16. The function of containment arm36is to prevent the user from accidentally jarring arrow300off of launcher16when moving bow200. The containment arm36typically is placed in the nonuse position when loading arrow300onto launcher16and moved to the working position overlying arrow300when arrow containment is desired. In situations where arrows are repeatedly and quickly loaded onto launcher for rapid firing, or when the user is not concerned about arrow containment, (e.g., at a practice range where the user is stationary) the user may desire to keep containment arm36at the nonuse position.

Rotatable shaft14, to which launcher16is affixed, extends from support component30of housing12. Because mounting component22is rigidly secured with bow frame204, the sliding connection between dovetail32of mounting component22and vertically-oriented slot34of intermediate component28controls the vertical positioning of the remainder of arrow rest10, including launcher16, with respect to bow200. Vertical positioning of launcher16may be necessary to adjust for proper arrow tuning. A forward portion46of intermediate component28is bifurcated along a vertical plane into a pair of arms48which together form slot34. A horizontally-oriented threaded aperture50extends through arms48and accepts a fastener52. Tightening of fastener52within threaded aperture50causes arms48to move laterally toward one another and the width of slot34to constrict to fixedly position dovetail32at a selected height within slot34for desired vertical positioning relative to bow200. A set of spaced marks54may be provided on intermediate component28, as seen inFIG. 4, so that vertical positioning relative to mounting component22rigidly secured to bow200can be determined.

Intermediate component28slides laterally or horizontally on an upper surface56of support component30. A slot58elongated in the lateral direction extends vertically through a rearward portion60of intermediate component28and is configured for accepting a fastener62therein. A vertically-oriented threaded aperture (not shown) is formed in upper surface56of support component30beneath slot58for receiving a portion of fastener62extending beneath slot58. Tightening of fastener62extending through slot58into the threaded aperture in support component30causes a head of fastener62to abut and push downwardly on upper surface56of intermediate component28to compress intermediate component28against support component upper surface56and cause frictional engagement to inhibit sliding movement of intermediate component28relative to support component30. This action fixes the lateral position of support component30relative to intermediate component28which, through mounting component22, always maintains the same lateral position with respect to bow200. Therefore, the lateral position of launcher16with respect to bow200may be selected, for instance, to ensure that fletching306formed near tail section304of arrow300does not contact intermediate component28, mounting component22, or a portion of bow200, or to select the extent of overhang of containment arm36over arrow300resting on launcher16when containment arm36is in the working position. Loosening of fastener62to the extent necessary to alleviate the compression force applied to intermediate component28allows component28to slide laterally along support component upper surface56to change the horizontal position of support component30relative to intermediate component28and bow200. A set of spaced marks66may be provided on intermediate component28so that lateral positioning of support component30relative to intermediate component28can be determined.

Shaft14has a first portion68rotatably mounted within housing12and extends transversely out of housing12in a cantilevered fashion to a second portion70where launcher16is mounted. Launcher16has a base72which is rigidly attached to rotatable shaft second portion70and a pair of arms74extending from base72in a direction away from shaft14to terminal ends75thereof. Arms74define a channel76therebetween and converge at base72to form a notch78where arrow300may rest.

The activator18and actions provided by movement of cord20will now be described with continuing reference to the aforementioned figures, and with particular reference toFIGS. 8-10. A cavity86is formed in support component30of housing12into which first portion68of shaft14extends and within which activator18is housed. Activator18includes a body88rigidly affixed onto shaft first portion68, a torsional biasing element90, such as a torsion spring, affixed to both support component30and shaft first portion68to urge rotation of shaft14relative to housing12, and a locking component92to regulate rotation of shaft14provided by activator18. Locking component92includes a stop94movable linearly within a slot (not shown) of body88and a stop biasing element (not shown), such as a compression spring, for urging a portion of stop94out of body88. The portion of stop94that extends out of body88provides the locking feature for activator18by abutting a contact surface96of a notch98formed in housing cavity86, as seen inFIG. 8. Through the rotational urging of shaft14(and therefore body88of activator18affixed thereto) provided by biasing element90, stop94is engaged with notch98and only becomes disengaged through retraction of stop94out of notch98at least substantially fully into body88, as seen inFIG. 9. Retraction of stop94, by a force applied to stop94that is directly radially inwardly towards shaft14, must be sufficient to overcome frictional engagement between stop94and contact surface96and force of stop biasing element in body88. This retraction force is provided by attaching cord20to stop94and having cord extend through cavity86through a passageway100out of housing12for coupling with bow string202via a clip206. Passageway100may be positioning a sufficient lateral distance from launcher so that cord20does not interfere with the movement of arrow300fired from launcher16. The exit point of passageway100out of housing12directs the pulling force applied to cord20by drawn bow string202to be a force vector having a component directed radially inwardly towards shaft14, thereby retracting stop94into body88towards shaft14. Disengaging of locking component92(shown inFIG. 8) enables, upon releasing of the tension or pulling force applied to cord20, torsional biasing element90to cause rotation of shaft14and body88affixed thereto. Body88rotates through cavity86from a first position shown inFIGS. 8 and 9towards a second position shown inFIG. 10under the influence of torsional biasing element90. Cavity86has an arcuate sliding surface102which stop94freely slides against once stop94clears notch98and body88begins rotation towards the second position. Rotation of body88and shaft14to the second position is complete when body88reaches rotation limiting wall104of cavity86. A rubber damper106or similar object may be placed on rotation limiting wall104to reduce contact noise and cushion body88when reaching wall104. When activator body88is in the first position, shaft14positions launcher16at the upright arrow support position, and when activator body88is in the second position, shaft positions launcher16at the lowered position.

In one method of use, a user first grasps launcher16and rotates it upwardly from the lowered position (shown inFIGS. 3,4and7B) to the upright arrow support position (shown inFIGS. 2,6and7A). If containment arm36has been rotated away from the working position so that it does not overlap launcher16, then an arrow300can be loaded onto launcher16in the upright arrow support position to prepare for arrow firing. Then, containment arm36may be swung to the working position to overlap arrow300positioned on launcher16. On the other hand, if containment arm36is already the working position, then arrow300may be loaded onto launcher16in the lowered position prior to rotating launcher16to the upright arrow support position. As shown inFIG. 7B, raised lateral portions80and82of arms74and base72, respectively, aid in maintaining arrow300on launcher16when arrow loading commences in the lowered position for the launcher16. In either case, once the arrow is loaded on the launcher16, containment arm36is in the working position, and launcher16is in the upright arrow support position, a vertical gap formed between terminal ends75of launcher arms74and containment arm36is preferably less than the diameter of a standard arrow300, so that the arrow may not slip over the launcher arms74and fall off of the launcher16.

Corresponding to launcher16being in the upright arrow support position, activator18is in the first position shown inFIG. 8where body88has been rotated away from rotation limiting wall104and stop94has engaged with housing cavity notch98. The user will then engage tail section304of arrow300with bow string202to prepare for arrow firing. As the user draws the bow string202, to which cord20is attached through clip206, stop94is retracted into body88as shown inFIG. 9. Drawing of bow string202must be of a sufficient magnitude for stop94to retract far enough to clear notch98, and the magnitude may be selected by the user according to the location where cord20is clipped to bow string202. Releasing of drawn bow string202releases the tension on cord20, allowing torsional biasing element90to move body88towards rotation limiting wall104to the second position shown inFIG. 10. As a result of this motion, shaft14and launcher16are rotated to the lowered position. Because releasing of bow string202will immediately propel arrow300forwardly, the fact that launcher16begins to rotate downwardly does not significantly affect the flight path or trajectory of fired arrow300. Launcher16provides the support and positioning of arrow300right up to the time of release of bow string202. Launcher16rotates downwardly upon firing at a sufficiently fast rate as to allow arrow fletching306to clear launcher as arrow300is moving forwardly and traveling to the intended target. Containment arm36is configured so that arrow fletching will not contact arm36when traveling therebeneath upon arrow firing.

In another method of use, arrow300is first loaded onto launcher16in the lowered position. Tail section304of arrow300is also engaged with bow string202to prepare for firing. Drawing the bow string202causes cord20to pull on stop84with a force vector having a component directed radially inwardly towards shaft14and a component directly rearward, thereby rotating body88from the activator second position shown inFIG. 10towards the position shown inFIG. 9where stop84is aligned with notch98but remains retracted in housing88due to the tension on cord20. Thus, bow string202drawing moves launcher from the lowered position to the upright arrow support position. The raised lateral portions80and82of arms74and base72, respectively, aid in maintaining arrow300on launcher16as launcher is rotating upward to the upright arrow support position. Releasing of bow string202to fire arrow causes corresponding release of the tension on cord20, enabling torsional biasing element90to move body88towards the second position shown inFIG. 10, thereby rotating shaft14and launcher16to the lowered position. With this method, stop84doesn't engage with notch98(unless the user holds launcher16once in the upright arrow support position and lets down bow string202), but activator body88may rotate through a desired range of rotation within housing cavity86depending on the magnitude of motion of bow string202to which cord20is attached. In other words, activator body88may rotate fully from the second position shown inFIG. 10to the position shown inFIG. 9(corresponding with the first position but with stop84retracted into body88), and then back to the second position.

Therefore, it can be seen that the fall away arrow rest10provides the archer with various customized features in an arrow rest for a compound bow while avoiding undesirable arrow fletching contact. Furthermore, since certain changes may be made in the above invention without departing from the scope hereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that the following claims are to cover certain generic and specific features described herein.