Patent Publication Number: US-3875674-A

Title: Automatic range finding bow sight

Description:
United States Patent Davidson Apr. 8, 1975 1 AUTOMATIC RANGE FINDING BOW SIGHT 3.365.800 I/l968 Careila 33/265 [76] Inventor: Wilbur J. Davidson, 116 Fabiur St.,  
  Troy, Mi h, 43034 Primary Examiner-Richard E. Aegerter Assistant Examiner-Steven L. Stephan [22] Filed: May 1972 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Gerald R. Hershberger [21] App]. No.: 251,043  
 [57] ABSTRACT 52 U.S. Cl. 33 265 is 1i Int. Cl. F4lg 1/00- F4lb 5/00 My Sighm&#39;g device Pmvides a 581 Field of Search 33/265 261 Sigh which aummmically range i various distances from the shooter simultaneously with [56] References (med the aiming of the bow and arrow at the object by the UNITED STATES PATENTS ll/l95l Stieber 33/265 archer.  
 4 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENIEUAPR&#39; 81975 FIGUREIC FIGUREIA FIGURE-9K0) AUTOMATIC RANGE FINDING BOW SIGHT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention My invention relates to sighting devices for an archer&#39;s bow and more particularly to an automatic range finding sight for an archers bow which automatically finds the range of the object or target at the same time that the bow and arrow are aimed at the object or target by an archer.  
 2. Description of the Prior Art A long standing problem in the archery field resides in determining the range of the target, in other words, the distance of the target from the archer, because the trajectory or are of an arrow is much greater than that of a bullet from a gun which results in greater chance of inaccuracies in shooting an arrow from a bow than a bullet from a gun. The shooting characteristics of a bow, which involve the amount of force needed to bend the bow, the rate at which the force is applied, the forces released when the bow string is released, the spine of the arrow, all effect the trajectory and flight of the arrow when the arrow is released from the bow, and must be considered when aimed at a target. I am aware that there are many sighting devices heretofore pro posed which are offered to aid in aiming a bow to hit an object or target and in use the prior devices known to me generally provide a single sight adjustable to one target distance, or multiple sights in which the archer must sight the bow in for each known target range, and after sighting in the bow at each given or known target range, the archer must guess the unknown range of the new or different target once he has left the known range unless he carries a range finder separate from the sight.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the problems and difficulties of the prior art are obviated by the features of the present invention in which I incorporate a range finding feature as an integral part of the sight, and once my device is sighted in at the generally effective maximum and minimum range of the bow, the range of the target between the minimum and maximum range will be automatically found by sighting the bow at a target located at any range in between said minimum and maximum range.  
  Therefore, it is among the objects of my invention to provide an automatic range finder sight for a bow.  
  Another object of this my invention is to provide an automatic range finder bow sight for a hunting bow which is adjustable to suit the variable requirements of the bow and arrow, the archer, and the distance to the game being hunted.  
  Another object of this my invention is to provide a unique adjustment feature for adjusting my range finder bow sight to the hunting requirements of the game being hunted by the archer.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and claims, wherein:  
  FIGS. 1 (A, B, C) shows my range finder sight as it would appear in use in deer hunting.  
  FIG. la shows a deer at generally minimum range, FIG. 1b shows a deer at an inbetween range, and FIG. 1c shows the deer at the generally maximum range.  
  FIG. 2 is a front view of my range sight showing the sight mounted in a bow.  
  FIG. 3 is an end view of my sight taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.  
  FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken of the structure shown in circle F of FIG. 2.  
 FIG. 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2.  
 FIG. 6 is a view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 2.  
  FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the structure shown in circle E of FIG. 2.  
 FIG. 8 is a view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 2.  
  FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of the structure shown in circle D of FIG. 2.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the novel range finder sight of the present invention is generally denoted by the numeral 10. The sight I0 is mounted on conventional bow 11 adjacent the arrow rest 12, and includes an upper sight portion I3, and a lower sight portion 14. Said upper sight portion is formed generally in the outline of an annular or semi-circular greater are sighting portion 15 and the lower portion 14 is formed generally in a V outline 16 having an inner tangential arm 17 and an outer tangential arm I8 meeting said are portion at a theoretical inner arc point or free end 19 and a theoretical outer arc point or free end 20. Said upper arc portion is spaced outwardly from and adjacent to said bow rest, and further includes a generally straight cantilevered arm portion 21 extending from said inner arc point generally perpendicular to the length of said bow to a sight mount 22, which mount 22 is fixed to said bow. A guide means or hidden inner loop 23 and hidden outer loop 24 are formed in said upper arc portion at points 19 and 20 respectively, for guiding said tangential arms I7 and 18 therein to adjust and move said upper sight portion in relation to said lower sight portion. Said lower right portion further includes a generally straight cantilevered arm portion 25 which has its outer extremity fixed to said inner tangential arm at a juncture 26 substantially free end below each of said inner arc point 19, said arm extending parallel to said are arm portion with its inner end 27 extended to said mount. Said tangential arms 17 and 18 are frictionally disposed in said loops so that a substantial portion 28 of said arms extend upwardly through said loops to allow vertical adjustment of said lower sight portion and upper sight portion with respect to each other.  
  Said sight mount is provided with a vertical adjustment means or slot 29. Referring to FIGS. 3, 5, 6, and 8 each of said cantilevered arms extend beyond said slot on the side opposite said sight 10 and are fastened to said mount by two separate vertically adjustable clamping means including an upper slide fastener or clamp 30 and a lower slide fastener 31. Said upper and lower clamps secure said cantilevered arms in the location desired on said mount. The entire sight is also adjustable up and down on said mount without changing the relationship of said upper sight portion with respect to the lower sight portion by moving said clamps equidistantly along said slot.  
  When said upper sight portion and said lower sight portion are assembled together on said bow they form a vertically elongated closed annular opening and a theoretical line 32 bisecting said upper arc portion and the V portion lies generally parallel lengthwise lateral to and adjacent said bow.  
  Referring now to FIGS. 4, 5, 7, and 9 said upper and lower sight portions are preferrably formed of small gauge tempered wire strands. Upper sight portion strands 33 and 34 are twisted together for strength and to facilitate forming said inner loops 23 and outer loop 24 from said wire strands as shown in FIGS. 4 and S. Said V portion wire strands 35 and 36 are separated at juncture 26 with a single strand 35 extending upwardly through said inner loop 23 to form the upper portion 37 of said inner tangential arm, and strand 36 extending downwardly to form the semi-circular small bottom are sighting portion 38 which is inscribed in the bottom 39 of said V sighting portion, and the entire outer tangential arm 18.  
  The clamps 30 and 31 of said clamping means shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 6, and 8 are identical to each other and include a plunger 40 actuated by a screw 41 threaded in bracket 42. The bracket 42 has two reversely bent flanges 43 which straddle and grip the opposite sides 44 and 45 of said mount. Said wire strand arm 25 is introduced between the bottom 46 of said plunger and the top 47 of said mount through openings 48 and 49 in said bracket. and when said screw is turned, force is exerted to grip arm between said top surface 47 of said mount and said bottom face 46 of said plunger. Said plunger is guided in said slot by tangs 50 and 51 depending therein. Said mount of elongated outline and is bridged to clear the front face 52 of said bow.  
  The mount includes downwardly bent flanges 53 and 54 and flat feet 55 and 56, through which holes 57 of said feet, screws 58 are inserted and screwed into said bow front face to secure said mount and said bow sight thereto.  
  In operation said how sight of my invention is mounted on and secured to a bow in generally an estimated location adjacent said arrow rest and arrow 64 for initial test shooting.  
  A target 63, shown as superimposed on zone 59 is placed at preferrably yards from the shooter. Said target is preferrably of 13 inches in diameter for white tailed deer. At the 15 yard range, said upper sight portion is adjusted to coincide with said 13 inch circle until the shooter is consistently hitting the target with arrows. The adjustment of said upper sight portion depends upon the shooting characteristics of the bow and arrow used, and the technique of the archer. When the 15 yard range has been determined and the upper sight portion set and clamped in said adjusted position, the shooter moves back or places the target at the 45 yard range where he shoots and adjusts said lower sight portion until the arrows are consistently hitting the target at 45 yards with said lower sight portion coinciding with said 13 inch circle, and said lower sight portion is then securely clamped to said mount in lower arc position on said mount. As shown in FIGS. 1a, lb, and 1c, the vital organ portion 59 of a white tailed deer lie generally within a 13 inch theoretical circle 61 placed just above the foreleg and said circle will then encompass the heart, lungs and back of the deer. It is apparent that this vital organ portion does not change in size when a deer is near or far although it appears to do so to the observer. It is this apparent changing of size of said vital organ that is utilized between said 15 yard range and said 45 yard range to determine the intermediate range of the target. As shown in FIG. 1b, the vital organ portion or zone 59 appears to the shooter to be between said upper arc and said lower arc and he adjusts the elevation of the bow until the inner walls 60 of said tangential arms 17 and 18 visually touch tangentially the circumference 61 of theoretical 13 inch circle 62 and shoots said arrow in accurate trajectory to hit the target, object, or deer. It is understood that the initial size of said upper and lower arc will depend upon the size of the animal being shot at, that is, larger with the larger animal and smaller with the smaller animal. Said sight can be the same proportions for all conventional standard sized archery targets. Said upper sighting arc is preferrably 5/8 inches in diameter. Said lower arc is preferrably 3/16 inches in diameter, and overall height of the arcs 2 and A inches adjustable down to l inch for white tailed deer.  
  The scope of the invention is not to be considered as limited by the preceding detailed description.  
 i claim:  
  1. in a bow sight, the combination of, an upper near sight opening formed generally in the outline of an upwardly turned greater are having ends, a lower sight portion opening formed generally in the outline of a pair of non-parallel arms connected at their bottom ends and having their top ends upwardly turned, said lower sight being adjustably mounted with said arms being slidably connected to said ends of said greater are so that said lower sight can be adjusted toward said greater arc, thus increasing the angle between said arms, and adjusted away from said greater are, thus decreasing the angle between said arms.  
  2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said ends of said are terminate in loops defining eyes, an upper lateral support arm depends outwardly from one of said loop eyes, said arms of said lower sight portion are adjustably mounted in said eyes, and one of said arms has a lateral support arm extending therefrom on the same side of said sight as said upper lateral support arm and generally parallel thereto.  
  3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said are portion, said loops and said upper lateral arm are formed by twisting two strands of wire together, and&#39; said lower sight lateral arm is formed by twisting two strands of wire together, the wires being separated at the junction of said lateral arm with said inner intersecting arm into two separate single wires which form said lower sight portion.  
  4. The invention as set forth in claim 1, including means for adjustably mounting said sight on a bow to accomodate and secure adjustment of said lower sight arms in sighting relationship with respect to said greater are ends.