Patent ID: 8739769

Claim:
A compound archery bow comprising: a substantially rigid riser; a first resilient bow limb extending from a first end portion of the riser; a second resilient bow limb extending from a second end portion of the riser; a first pulley member connected to the first bow limb and rotatable relative to the first bow limb around a first rotation axis, which first pulley member includes a first draw cable journal, a cable let-out mechanism, and first and second axle segments arranged to extend from opposite sides of the first pulley member; a second pulley member connected to the second bow limb and rotatable relative to the second bow limb around a second rotation axis, which second pulley member includes a second draw cable journal; a draw cable engaged with the first and second draw cable journals and arranged to rotate the first and second pulley members as the bow is drawn and the draw cable is let out from the first and second draw cable journals; and an additional cable engaged to be let out by the cable let-out mechanism of the first pulley member and taken up by the second pulley member as the bow is drawn and the first and second pulley members rotate, wherein: the axle segments are substantially coaxial with the first rotation axis, and rotatably connect the first pulley member to a corresponding portion of the first bow limb; the first pulley member is arranged so that an effective lever arm of the cable let-out mechanism increases, during an initial portion of drawing the bow, from a first distance that is less than a radius of the axle segments to a second distance that is greater than that radius; and the first pulley member is further arranged so that, with the bow at brace, at least a portion of the additional cable passes through at least a portion of a space between the first and second axle segments.