Adjustable bow sight

[57] ABSTRACT

A bow sight is provided with a sight mount which is both vertically and transversely adjustable with respect to a supporting bar. An anvil and base assembly serve to attach the support bar to an archery bow and include fastening means permitting of both forward and lateral tilting of the support bar and its sight mount.

Claims, 5 Drawing Figures

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PATENTED JAN 29 1974

3,787,384

SHEET 1 OF 2

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PATENTED JAN 2 9 1974

3,787,984

SHEET 2 fif 2

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3,787,984

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved adjustable bow sight assembly having hand-manipulatable means for providing both windage and elevation adjustment and including an intermedi5 ate extension assembly adjustable to vary the distance of the sight aperture from the archer’s eye.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novel con10 struction, combination, and arrangements of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

The preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in 15 which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the adjustable bow sight of the present invention as it appears when attached to the back side of a bow.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation similar to FIG. 1, but includ20 ing an intermediate adjustable extension assembly between the base assembly and forward sight assembly.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the adjustable bow sight assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the bow sight assembly 25 as it appears when removed from a bow.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the adjustable bow sight assembly as shown in FIG. 2.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

³⁰ Referring now to the drawings, more particularly FIG. 1, the present invention will be seen to comprise a bow sight device adapted to be removably attached to the back surface 1 of an archery bow 2 in the area immediately above the arrow rest 3. The suggested ³⁵ manner of providing for this attachment will be discussed hereinafter. The bow sight includes three principal components, namely, a base assembly 4 immediately adjacent the bow back 1, an intermediate anvil assembly 5, and a forwardmost sight assembly 6. Dur⁴⁰ ing use of the present invention, it will be understood that the base assembly 4 is rigidly affixed to the bow back 1 by means of the manually controlled mounting screw 7.

The forward sight assembly 6 is arranged to include ⁴⁵ appropriate means to fixedly support any suitable type of sight aperture 8 such as the beaded post element shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. However, it will be understood that any of numerous well known types of aperture elements may be substituted for that shown. The ⁵⁰ sight aperture 8 is contained within the aperture or sight mount 9 which is in turn attached for lateral movement by means of the keyway 10 to the vertically movable sight holder 11. The sight holder 11 is adapted to be movably positioned at any point upon the vertical ⁵⁵ support bar 12. This support bar is preferably of an Hbeam type of configuration and includes a symmetrical design providing on each side thereof a rear slide 13 and a front slide 14 which are separated by means of the groove 15. The aforementioned sight holder 11 is attached juxtoposed the face of the vertical support bar 12 and is retained thereagainst by means of a pair of clamping shoes 16 which are shown most clearly in FIG. 5 and will be seen to project behind the front slide 14 and extend into the grooves 15. These clamping shoes 16 are integral with the shaft of the lock screw 17 which passes forwardly through a smooth bore extending through the sight holder body and which includes

ADJUSTABLE BOW SIGHT

This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending Application Ser. No. 68,425, filed Aug. 31, 1970 and now abandoned.

This invention relates generally to an archery accessory and more particularly to an adjustable bow sight which may be readily attached to and removed from the stock of practically any type of archery bow.

Sighting devices adapted to be connected to archery bows, either in a permanent manner or for ready disconnection therefrom, are generally well known. The present invention provides an improved assembly for supporting a sight aperture in a two-way adjustably movable holder. It will be realized by those skilled in the art that the configuration and dimensions of bow backs vary from bow to bow. The present invention includes, generally, a base assembly with a mounting plate adapted to be attached to a bow back by means of appropriate fasteners, a vertical support bar adjustably mounted on the base assembly and a circular sight aperture movably positioned on the vertical support bar. The plane of the mounting plate relative to the bow string will vary between any two bows of different configuration. It is necessary to adjust the relative angle between the vertical support bar bearing the sigh aperture and the bowstring in order to permit the archer to properly align the sight aperture with the target. Archery targets commonly have a circular center ring and if the vertical support bar and the circular sight aperture on the bow are not properly adjusted the eye of the archer will be looking through an elliptical sight aperture which would be difficult to properly align with respect to the circular center ring of the target. In certain situations such as when the archer is close to the target, the vertical support bar will be parallel to the bow string. When shooting far from the target, however, the arrow would be aimed upwardly to an extent dependent upon the distance from the target and velocity of travel ofthe arrow. In such a situation, the vertical support bar would be adjusted so that the sight aperture would be axially aligned with the target and in making such an adjustment, the vertical slipport bar would not be parallel in a vertical plane to the bow string. The unique means included to permit adjustment of the vertical support bar and sight aperture in both vertical and transverse planes with respect to the bow string comprises releasable fasteners adapted to be readily adjusted by means of a simple tool even while in the field. Additionally, it is proposed to allow for ready conversion of the instant bow sight for use by either righthanded or lefthanded archers, which modification may be achieved without the addition of any other components or the alteration of the base mount of the device, while at all times it is possible to quickly provide for both windage and elevation adjustments of the sight aperture by the ready manipulation of appropriate finger knobs.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide an improved bow sight including manually controlled means for providing both windage and elevation adjustment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved adjustable bow sight including quickly manipulatable means to permit correct alignment of the sight aperture with the target in both vertical and transverse planes.

3.787.984 on its forwardmost portion the knob 18. A suitable compression spring 19 is disposed between the outer face of the movable sight holder 11 and the rear face of the knob 18, such that constant tension is exerted on the lock screw shaft 17 in a forward direction in order to maintain posqtive clamping pressure upon the shoe 16. It will thus follow that, with the internally threaded knob 18 spaced from the sight holder 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, rearward pressure upon the outer face of the knob 18 will produce a corresponding rearward displacement of the clamping shoe 16 away from the front slide 14 so that the retaining force securing the movable sight holder in place will be relieved, thereby permitting selective vertical adjustment of the entire forward sight assembly within the limits of the height of the vertical support bar 12. Quite obviously, by fully compressing the spring 19 with the knob 18, the forward sight assembly will be most rigidly affixed to the support bar.

In order to provide for appropriate windage adjustment of the sight aperture 8, means are included to permit lateral or transverse displacement of the aperture mount 9 along the aforementioned keyway 10. Such means includes a screw 20 disposed within a threaded bore extending throughout the transverse extent of the aperture mount 9 and having adjacent one end thereof an enlarged collar 21, as shown in FIG. 3. This collar will be seen to be spaced slightly inwardly of the windage adjustment knob 22 to provide a limited space therebetween. Disposed within this space is the lower forked portion of a plate retainer 23 which is rigidly attached to the side of the movable sight holder 11 by means of a screw 24. From the above description, it will be seen that upon rotary displacement of the windage adjustment knob 22, the attached screw will be rotated and, since this screw is axially captivated by means of the retainer 23, the aperture mount 9 will be transversely displaced.

In order to provide a point of reference to indicate to a particular archer the status of his windage and elevation adjustments, appropriate markings such as the indicia I may be formed on either the aperture mount 9 as shown in FIG. 3 or the adjacent lower edge of the sight holder 11 which indicia together with a suitable reference mark on the other of the elements, would reflect the degree of windage adjustment set into the sight. Likewise, means may be included to signify the degree of elevation adjustment being compensated for by a particular setting of the sight holder 11. A pointer P is shown comprising an angular wire element movable within a vertical bore in the holder 11 and which is selectively locked by means of the screw P'. Additionally, suitable indicia (not shown) may be formed in the face of the support bar 12 if desired.

Having described above the structure associated with both the windage and elevation adjustment of the present bow sight, the mechanism providing for the orientation of the forward sight assembly 6 with the bow string will now be described. Assuming that the mounting plate 25 of the base assembly 4 is rigidly attached with respect to the back 1 of the bow 2, it will be apparent that appropriate means must be provided between the rear face of the mounting plate 25 and forward sight assembly 6 in order to pivot the plane of the vertical support bar 12 both forwardly and transversely with respect to the bow string. Accordingly, the anvil assembly 5 includes adjustable means providing for its attach4 ment to the base assembly 4. The anvil assembly comprises a forwardmost vertical track 26 which engages the rear slide 13 of the vertical support bar 12, an intermediate neck 27, and a rearwardly disposed attaching 5 plate 28. This attaching plate in effect comprises, together with the neck, a Y-shaped element including a pair of arcuate arms which are adapted to abut one side of the arcuate support plate 29 of the base assembly 4. A significant portion of each side of the arcuate sup10 port plate 29 is occupied by an arcuate adjusting slot 30 such that, when appropriate releasable fasteners 31 are passed through the respective slots 30 and into the underlying arms of the attaching plate 28, it will be seen that a wide angle of adjustment will be permitted 15 between the vertical forward plane of the support bar 12 and the bow string (not shown). This structure permits the orientation of the plane of the support bar 12 in a forward or rearward direction with respect to the bow string and thus permits proper alignment of the de20 vice regardless of the size or curvature of the surface of the bow back to which the base assembly is secured.

In order to orient the plane of the vertical support bar 12 transversely with respect to the bow string, means are included to laterally tilt the arcuate support plate ²⁵ 29 and thereby tilt the remainder of the bow sight structure. As will be seen most clearly in FIGS. 1 and 4, the arcuate support plate 29 of the base assembly 4 is attached to the mounting plate 25 by means of a pair of releasable screws 32 and 33. The uppermost screw ³⁰ 32 provides a fixed point of connection between the mounting plate 25 and the foot 34 of the arcuate support plate 29, while the lowermost screw 33 provides an adjustable point of connection between the mounting plate and the other foot 34 of the arcuate support ³⁵ plate 29. As shown in FIG. 4, a transversely extending slot 35 is included in the lower portion of the mounting plate 25 such that, upon loosening of the screw 33, the entire bow sight assembly may be tilted laterally about the axis of the upper screw 32 prior to tightening of the ⁴⁰ screw 33.

Often, it is desirable to vary the distance of the sight aperture from the eye of the archer, particularly in the case of target shooting, wherein an increase in this distance produces a significant increase in the accuracy of ⁴⁵ the sighting device. Accordingly, the present invention proposes the use of an adjustable extension assembly 36 shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, which assembly includes a longitudinal base element 37 releasably attached to the _&lt;;n vertical track 26 of the anvil assembly and upon which is mounted the longitudinal slide element 38. The rear of the longitudinal base element 37 is provided with a rear slide 39 of a configuration identical to the rear slide 13 of the vertical support bar 12, whereby the same lock screw 40 that provides for vertically positioning the support bar 12 now serves to lock the rear slide 39 of the base element 37 in the selected vertical position within the vertical track 26. A recess 41 is provided on one side of the base element 37 and is of a vertical height selected to provide a close sliding fit of the slide element 38. The forwardmost portion of the slide element is provided with a vertical track 42 of a construction similar to the vertical track 26 of the anvil assembly and within which track the support bar 12 is now disposed and retained by means of the lock screw 43. From the foregoing, it will be seen that variation of the distance of the line of sight between the archer’s eye and the sight mount 9 is readily achieved by releas3,787,984 ing and re-securing the adjustment screw 44 which passes through the slide element elongated slot 45 and into the longitudinal base element 37. Suitable indicia 46 may be included in either the slide element 38 or the base element 37 to permit a source of reference to the user.

As previously mentioned, the preferred method of attaching the bow sight of the present invention to the back of a bow insures a quick yet positive attachment of the device. The mounting screw 7 which freely turns through an opening in the mounting plate 25 of the base assembly 4 is utilized to firmly retain the base assembly against the back 1 of the bow 2 by its engagement within suitable nut means anchored within the bow stock such as the internally threaded bushing B. A pair of locator pins 47 project rearwardly from the base of the mounting plate 25 adjacent the top and bottom edges thereof and are adapted to be disposed within close fitting holes provided in the back of the bow whereby it will be seen that positive means are provided for accurately positioning the bow sight upon the bow even during repeated applications and removal therefrom. Preferably, a relief area 48 is formed in the base of the mounting plate 25 and extends substantially the area intermediate the two locator pins 47, 47. This construction further insures a rigid anchoring of the base assembly 4 to the bow 2, particularly in view of the irregular curvature present in this area of many bow stocks.