Abstract:
The present invention provides an improved bowfishing arrow that prevents the bowfishing line from tangling with the bow string during release which can cause the arrow to snap back to cause serious injury. The improved arrow achieves this prevention by including a slide and a stop on the arrow shaft. The bowfishing line is tied to the slide which stays in front of the archer&#39;s hand and the arrow rest during drawback. After arrow release, the slide slides back to the stop, which is located close to the rearward end of the arrow. The stop is designed to not touch the arrow rest or the bow handle during release. Because the slide slides back to the rearward end of the arrow during release, the rubbing of the fishing line against the arrow shaft and thus the wear of the fishing line is greatly reduced.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
         [0001]    Not applicable.  
         STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not applicable.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The sport of bowfishing involves using a bow and arrow to catch fish. Bowfishermen typically tie a bowfishing line to the tail of the arrow. This is done to recover the arrow, and possibly a fish, following shooting an arrow into the water. The bow for bowfishing therefore includes a reel to recover the line attached to the arrow as a part of the equipment. U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,516 shows a reel for a bowfishing line that attaches to the bow and can be used to reel back in the line attached to the arrow.  
           [0004]    However, the attachment of the bowfishing line to the tail of the arrow can lead to dangerous conditions. In particular, if the line attached to the arrow tangles with the bow string during release of the arrow, such a tangle can result in a snap back of line, which can propel the arrow back at the fisherman. Since the arrow must be tethered in order to recover the arrow and any fish hit, providing a mechanism to minimize any tangle between the line and the bow is an important safety feature of bowfishing equipment.  
           [0005]    Juelg, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,397 disclosed a bowfishing arrow that allows the fishing line to be tied to the front portion of the arrow. However, a disadvantage of tying the fishing line to the front portion of the arrow is that the drag of the line can cause the arrow not to fly true to its target.  
           [0006]    Gannon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,413, disclosed a bowfishing arrow that has a sliding stop and a fixed stop on the arrow shaft. The sliding stop and the fixed stop are designed to prevent the arrow from completely passing through the fish. As is common in the prior art, the line is attached to the rear end of the arrow, which must lie in the bowstring during the pull of the bow, thereby requiring that the segment of the line adjacent to the arrow must pass closely by the bow during launch of the arrow.  
           [0007]    The prior does not provide a mechanism to minimize any possibility of the tangling of the line with the bowstring during arrow launch.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    The present invention provides an improved bowfishing arrow that prevents the bowfishing line from tangling with the bow string during release which can cause the arrow to snap back to cause serious injury. The improved arrow achieves this prevention by including a slide and a stop on the arrow shaft. The bowfishing line is tied to the slide which stays in front of the archer&#39;s hand and the arrow rest during drawback. During release, the arrow flies forward, through the slide until the slide hits the stop, which is located at the rearward end of the arrow. The stop is designed to not touch the arrow rest or the bow handle during release. Because the slide slides back to the rearward end of the arrow during release, the rubbing of the fishing line against the arrow shaft and thus the wear of the fishing line is greatly reduced during the period that the arrow is moving toward an intended target.  
           [0009]    Besides the safety benefit and low fishing line wear, other objects and advantages of the present invention, such as the prevention of sand wedging between the slide and the arrow shaft and the easiness and quickness of tying the fishing line to the slide, will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side view of the bowfishing arrow of the present invention showing that the bowfishing arrow has a slide and a stop with a bowfishing line tied to the slide.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the slide in FIG. 1.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines A-A of FIG. 1.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a fragmentary rear view of the relative position of the stop, the arrow rest, the bow handle and the bow string showing that the stop will not touch the arrow rest or the bow handle during release.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a rear view of a different embodiment of the slide in FIG. 1 showing the additional feature of internal grooves of the slide.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of this invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a top view of the slide in FIG. 6.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 is a rear view of the slide in FIG. 6.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 9 is a rear view of a different embodiment of the slide in FIG. 6 showing the additional feature of internal grooves of the slide.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of this invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another embodiment of this invention.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing another variation of this invention.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 13 is a side view of an arrow using the slide shown in FIG. 12. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0023]    Shown in FIGS.  1 - 4  is illustrated a bowfishing arrow  2  designed to be shot from a bowfishing bow. The bowfishing bow and reel is otherwise conventional and is preferably of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,516, the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The arrow has riding upon it a slide  3  that can slide along the shaft  1  of the arrow. A stop  11  is provided near the proximal end of the arrow  2 , the stop  11  serving to prevent the slide  3  from sliding back any further along the shaft  1 . The slide  3  is formed generally in the shape of an annular cylinder  12  with an outer wall surface  27  and an inner wall surface  29 . The inner wall surface  29  defines an opening  39  slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft  1  of the arrow  2  to allow the slide  3  to surround and sliding on an arrow shaft  1 . The slide  3  is provided with four vanes, designated  21 ,  22 ,  23  and  24 , projecting radially outwardly from the outer wall surface  27  of the cylinder  12 . The vanes on the slide  3  provide directional stability for the arrow  2  both in air and water, much like the feather or fletchings attached to arrows not intended for bowfishing. The vanes on the slide  3  are better for bowfishing than standard arrow fletchings would be because standard arrow fletchings do not stand up to the physical abuse which a bowfishing arrow will encounter. Although the slide  3  in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3 has four vanes, it should be understood that other numbers of vanes such as two, three, five, and six can also be used. Each of the four vanes shown in FIGS.  1 - 3  are separated into a larger front portion ( 13 ,  14 ,  15  and  16 ) and a smaller back portion ( 17 ,  18 ,  19  and  20 ) by a concave circumferential notch  25  in the vanes. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS.  1 - 3 , the back portion of each of the vanes is somewhat lower in height, or smaller radial direction, than the front potion of each of the vanes. The concave notch  25  extends all the way down to the outer wall surface  27  of the cylinder  12  in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but the concave configuration  25  does not need to extend all the way to the outer wall surface  27  of the cylinder  12 . Alternatively, if desired, the concave notch  25  can extend into the outer wall surface  27  of the cylinder  12  to form a groove on the outer wall surface  27  of the cylinder  12 . The front portion  14  of the vane  21  contains a line passage  26  at a position proximal to the cylinder  12  for passing through a bowfishing line  4 . The slide  3  can be made of any number of rigid and durable materials, but preferable is made of a durable molded plastic resin material.  
         [0024]    The fishing line  4  is attached at its proximal end to the bow reel and at its far end is attached to the arrow  2 . The line  4  is attached to the arrow by being looped through the passage  26  in the vane  22 , then looped around the notch  25 , and passed back through the passage  26 , after which the line  4  is attached by a knot to itself. To attach the fishing line  4  to the arrow  2 , a loop of the line  4  is passed through the passage  26  and slipped over the rear end of the slide  3  in the notch  25 , returned through the passage  26  and tied to itself.  
         [0025]    The stop  11  of the bowfishing arrow  2  is formed of a pad  5 , a cover or washer  6  to confine the pad  5 , and a screw  7  to hold the cover  6  and the pad  5  in place on the rearward end of the arrow shaft  1 . A preferred material for the pad  5  is urethane. The cover  6  may be made of any rigid and durable material. A preferable material for making the cover  6  is stainless steel.  
         [0026]    In the operation of a bowfishing bow and arrow in accordance with present invention, when the arrow  2  is drawn back in the bow, the slide  3  stays in front of an archer&#39;s hand and the arrow rest  9  during the draw. As the arrow is drawn back, the slide  3  slides forwardly along the shaft of the arrow  2  The slide  3  ends up relatively neat the front of the arrow when the bow is fully drawn. Then when the bow is released, the arrow proceeds forwardly with greater force than the slide  3 , and the slide slides rearwardly along the shaft of the arrow. Ultimately the slide abuts the slide stop  11 . The slide stop  11  is designed to not touch the arrow rest  9  or the bow handle  10  during release. Notice that at all time in this process, the connection between the line and the arrow, or really the connection between the line and the slide, remains in front of the bow and the bowstring. The line therefor only need extend from the bottle holding the line to the slide  3  on the arrow, which will at that point be located very close by. So the amount of line withdrawn from the reservoir or bottle is small and all that line stays in front of the bow. When the line is withdrawn by the arrow in flight, again all of the line is in front of the bow. Therefore, the present invention minimizes the possibility of dangerous tangling of the fishing line and the bow string since the two are always far apart from each other. The point of connection of the line to the arrow is at all times in front of both the bow handle and the bow string. This is in contrast to the prior art when the attachment of the line to the arrow is at the rear of the arrow, which is right next to the bowstring when the bow is drawn. The present invention also reduces the fishing line wear by reducing the rubbing of the fishing line against the arrow shaft when the arrow is launched toward an intended target. The fishing line wear can be further reduced by wrapping a tape  28  around the arrow shaft at a position immediately after the stop.  
         [0027]    Another advantage of the slide  3  is that it helps to prevent the arrow passing completely through of the fish. Arrow passage completely through the fish is not normally desired. Arrow passthrough makes it more difficult to recover the fish and remove it from the equipment.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 shows a variation on the slide  3  in FIG. 1. The slide in FIG. 5 has internal grooves  27  formed in its interior surface. These grooves are formed so that grains of sand do not wedge between the slide and the arrow shaft.  
         [0029]    Referring to FIGS.  6 - 8 , another embodiment of the slide and another embodiment of the stop of a bowfishing arrow are shown. A slide  30  in FIGS.  6 - 8  again is formed as a cylinder  31  which embraces the arrow shaft  1  and can slide on the arrow shaft  1 . The slide  30  has only two vanes  32  and  33  that project radially outwardly from an outer wall surface  37  of the cylinder  31 . The vane  32  has a fishing line passage  34  that is located at a position proximal to the cylinder  31 . The vane  33  has a fishing line passage  35  that is located at a position proximal to the cylinder  31 . A groove  36  on the outer wall surface  37  of the cylinder  31  extends from the vane  32  to the vane  33  on one side of the surface of the cylinder  31  defined by the vanes  32  and  33 . The fishing line  4  attaches to the slide  30  by passing through one of the holes  34  and  35 , tracking the groove  36  and then passing through the other hole. The line is then tied to itself to complete the attachment. Notice that since the fishing line  4  is entirely received within the groove  36 , if the depth of the groove is approximately equal to the diameter of the line  4 , that the aerodynamic shape of the cylinder of the slide  30  is maintained. Thus the slide  30  is more streamlined and less likely to impede the flight of the arrow. A stop  40  includes a pad  41  and a screw  42  which holds the pad  41  in place on the rearward end of the arrow shaft  1 . The pad  41  can again be made of a resilient material such as urethane. As the bowfishing arrow in FIG. 1, the arrow  2  in FIG. 6 can be similarly wrapped with a tape  38  at a position immediately behind the stop  40  to further reduce wear on the fishing line.  
         [0030]    The slide  30  in FIG. 6 can also be similarly improved as the slide  3  in FIG. 1 by introducing internal grooves  43  to the slide to reduce the wedging of sand grains between the slid and the arrow shaft. The improved slide with the internal grooves  43  is shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0031]    Referring to FIG. 10, another embodiment of a bowfishing arrow comprises a slide that has two interconnected welded wire rings  50  and  51  and a slide stop  52 . The ring  50  embraces the arrow shaft and can slide back and forth on the arrow shaft. The ring  51  hangs from the ring  50  and receives fishing line  4 , which is simply tied to it. The sizes of the rings  50  and  51  are such that binding of the ring  50  on the shaft is avoided. Preferably, the rings  50  and  51  are made of stainless steel. Using the rings as the slide of the bowfishing arrow can reduce the water drag in comparison to the bowfishing arrow shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. The stop  52  is a cap screw screwed onto the arrow shaft. The bowfishing arrow  2  in FIG. 10 can be improved by wrapping a tape  53  around the arrow shaft  1  at a position immediately behind the stop  52  to reduce wear on the fishing line and arrow shaft.  
         [0032]    Referring to FIG. 11, another embodiment of the slide is shown. A slide  61  in FIG. 11 comprises a single wire ring  62 . The ring  62  is in proper size so that when receiving a fishing line  4  to pass through it, it can slide on the arrow shaft  1  freely and avoid binding at the same time. A stop  63  in FIG. 11 is the same as the stop  52  in FIG. 10. A tape  64  may also be wrapped around the arrow shaft  1  at a position immediately behind the stop  63  to reduce fishing line and arrow shaft wear. The single ring arrangement can further reduce water drag in comparison to the bowfishing shown in FIG. 10.  
         [0033]    Shown in FIG. 12 is another variant of the slide of the present invention. This variation is similar to that shown in FIG. 7, with the addition that wing grooves  70  have now been provided in the wings  32  and  33  of the slide. Shown in FIG. 13 is how the bowfishing line  4  attaches to the slide in this embodiment. Note that the provision for the wing grooves  70  permits the line  4  to travel inside those grooves and to be, in essence, hidden in the grooves as the arrow enters the fish. This is a particular advantage when bowfishing for fish with extremely sharp scales, like gar, since the line is protected from the scales during entry of the arrow into the fish. In addition, this arrangement allows the line to trail the arrow true on the center of flight of the arrow to help avoid any torque on the arrow which might alter its flight.  
         [0034]    It is understood that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described above, but embraces all such modifications and variations thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.