EP0791799A1 - Bow body from two distinct pieces and bow with such body - Google Patents

Abstract

The bow consists of a central body and two branches to which the bowstring is attached. The body is made from front and rear sections (2, 3) which are joined together by matching surfaces. The two sections are of different materials or materials which have different densities, such as plywood for the front section and plastic or metal for the rear one. The rear face (2a) of the front section (2) is curved in the middle (2') and straight at its two ends (2"), and the body has a shock absorbing strip (9) between the two sections. The supports (10) to which the two branches are attached are located on the front section of the body, while accessories such as an arrow rest and sight are mounted on one side of the rear section.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of recreational bows, in particular in target shooting. It relates more particularly to a body for a bow.

Recreational arcs made up of two flexible branches, provided with a central handle, are generally assigned to initiation. By cons it is now conventional that a recreational bow consists of a rigid body on which are mounted two flexible branches between the ends of which is stretched the bow string. This one-piece body is made either of glued laminated wood or by molding, for example, from magnesium alloy, or by machining, for example, from aluminum.

This body has a particular configuration, since it comprises in its upper part a zone of small width constituting the window of the bow, where the arrow and aiming support accessories are fixed and, under this window, a shape handle, also called grip on which the palm of the hand is applied when using the bow. This handle can optionally be covered with an over-grip, for example with the possibility of elastic pivoting around an axis, as described in document FR.A.2.580.795.

A bow is finally the assembly of a body, two branches, a rope and a certain number of accessories coming to be fixed on the body: supports of arrow, aiming, stabilizers and possibly means of adjustment of power.

The goal that the applicant has set is to offer users an even wider choice of possibilities to build a given arc.

This object is perfectly achieved by the body according to the invention which is intended to equip an arc which further comprises two branches mounted on said body and a rope stretched between the two free ends of said branches.

• a) une pièce avant dont les parties extrêmes sont destinées à recevoir les branches flexibles, et
• b) une pièce arrière dont la face antérieure a le même profil que la face postérieure de la pièce avant en sorte de pouvoir être exactement appliquée sur ladite face et dont la face postérieure est localement en forme de poignée; de plus les faces latérales de la pièce arrière sont dans le prolongement des faces latérales de la pièce avant.

Typically according to the invention, the body is made up of two separate parts, fixed to each other, namely:

• a) a front part, the end parts of which are intended to receive the flexible arms, and
• b) a rear part, the front face of which has the same profile as the rear face of the front part so that it can be applied exactly to said face and the rear face of which is locally in the form of a handle; moreover, the lateral faces of the rear part are an extension of the lateral faces of the front part.

It is understood that each front or rear part can have different colors, shapes or styles provided that the above structural characteristics are respected. Thus it is possible, thanks to the invention, to obtain a very wide variety of combinations between front parts and rear parts to constitute a given arc body.

Apart from the purely aesthetic side, linked to alternating colors or shapes, the invention advantageously makes it possible to modify the behavior of the arc. For this, the two constituent parts of the body are made of materials and / or have different densities.

This possibility was completely impossible until now with monobloc bodies.

Preferably the front part of the body of the invention is made of glued laminated wood, while the rear part is made of plastic or metallic material.

In conventional arches, the body is either glued laminated wood or molded plastic or molded or machined metal. The behavior of the bow, its performance and the sensations it provides to the shooter are notably a function of this composition.

Thanks to the invention, it is therefore possible to obtain performance behavior and sensations which were hitherto impossible, by combining in the composition of the body two different materials or two densities of the same material.

We also know the problem of vibrations in an arc. In document FR.A.2.356.903, an attempt has been made to resolve this problem by separating the handle from the body and by mounting said handle on said body by means of elastic means. According to the patentee this handle being separated from the body must be able to vibrate independently of the body and the branches of the arch.

To the knowledge of the applicant, the arch which is the subject of this previous document has never found any practical application.

It is another object of the invention to provide a body for an arc which overcomes the aforementioned drawback of vibrations, which according to the applicant are mainly generated by the branches of the arc after the arrow is released.

This is obtained thanks to the body of the invention which comprises a damping sole disposed between the rear face of the front part and the front face of the rear part, before assembly thereof.

It is the front part, which is the seat of the vibrations caused by the branches. The damping sole allows in a way to isolate the rear part with respect to the front part so that the vibrations of the front part do not affect or to a lesser degree on the rear part and therefore on the handle .

The fixing of the two constituent parts of the body can be either final thanks for example to self-tapping screws or removable thanks to conventional fixing means.

Furthermore advantageously, the shooting accessories such as arrow supports, aiming supports, are mounted only on the rear part. In this case, the manufacture of the front part is thereby simplified.

Advantageously, the body of the arch according to the invention also comprises two branch supports, each support being fixed to one end of the front part, on the front face of the latter.

It is another object of the invention to propose an arc which comprises two branches, mounted on the body in two distinct parts mentioned above, and a cord which is stretched between the free ends of the two said branches.

• la figure 1 est une vue schématique de côté du corps ,
• la figure 2 est une vue schématique de face du corps et
• la figure 3 est une vue schématique arrière du corps.

The present invention will be better understood on reading the description which will be given of a preferred embodiment of a body for an arc, consisting of two separate parts, illustrated by the appended drawing in which:

• FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the body,
• FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the body and
• Figure 3 is a schematic rear view of the body.

A leisure bow, now conventional, is composed of a central element, generally called the body of the bow, to which are fixed two flexible branches between the ends of which the bowstring is stretched. The body presents towards the middle zone a form of handle on which the shooter comes to apply the hand during the arming of the bow and the throwing of the arrow.

These are the flexible branches which are deformed during the arching of the arch. They are for example made of a composite material formed of hard wood and glass fibers with high elasticity modulus or else of glass fibers and laminated graphite.

The body ensures the rigidity of the bow, its balance, and more generally the comfort of the shooter. It is a one-piece element which can be made of glued laminated wood, or else of a plastic or metallic material, molded or machined, for example made of magnesium alloy or aluminum.

The body 1 of the present invention differs from the arc bodies known hitherto in that it consists of two separate parts 2,3, fixed to one another, a front part and a rear part . The front part 2 has a rear face 2 a which is, in the example illustrated, curved in an arc of a circle in its central part 2 'and planar in its end parts 2 ". The rear part 3 has its front face 3 a who has the same profile that the rear face 2 has of the front part 2 so that it can be exactly applied to said face 2 a during assembly and its rear face 3 b which is hollowed out in the form of a handle 4.

The concept of front and rear (and front and rear) is to be taken into account depending on the direction of the arc facing the target. The rear part 3 and the front face is therefore that which is closest to the shooter, while the front part 2 and the rear face is that which is closest to the target.

As can be clearly seen in FIG. 1, the rear face 2 a of the front part 2 has, in its central part 2 ′, a curvature in an arc centered on the axis DD ′ of the body 1. Beyond this curvature, the posterior face 2 is flat in the end portions 2 'of the front piece 2.

The rear part 3 has an anterior face 3 a which has strictly the same profile as the rear face 2 a of the front part 2 so that the rear part 3 can be applied exactly to the front part 2, and fixed to this by any means of attachment. In the example illustrated, this rear part has a height h which is significantly less than the height H of the front part and a depth l , taken at the level of the axis DD ', which is substantially equal to or less than the distance L between the rear face 2 a of the front part and the plane 5 passing through the rear edges 6 and more of the front part 2. Thus the body 1 is included in a volume of the rectangular parallelepiped type which is defined by the front part 2, which notably facilitates its storage.

The front 2 and rear 3 parts have exactly the same configuration, in width as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rear part 3 being exactly in line with the front part 2.

Above the axis DD ', the front 2 and rear 3 parts are hollowed out, in width, to form the window 7. Preferably, the shooting accessories such as arrow support and aiming support are fixed laterally on the rear part 3 at this window 7.

The handle 4 is hollowed out in the rear part 3 substantially from the axis DD 'and below it. Optionally at this handle 4, the front piece 2 may have a slight narrowing 8 in its thickness in order to allow better grip of the bow by the shooter when he grasps the body 1 at the handle 4.

According to a preferred embodiment, the front part 2 is made of glued laminated wood while the rear part 3 is made of a plastic or metallic material, molded or machined. Thus thanks to the dissociation of the body 1 into two distinct parts 2,3, it is possible to create bodies having a different aesthetic appearance, thanks to a combination of front part 2 and rear part 3. In particular for the same front part 2 it is possible to add a rear piece 3 from a range of colors, shapes and different styles. Much more this dissociation allows any combination of different materials between the front part 2 and the rear part 3, which makes it possible to combine the performance and behavior specific to each of these materials. We know that the weight of the bow is an important parameter for the comfort of the shooter, the balance of the bow and also the natural damping of vibrations. Thanks to the invention, it is possible to change this weight by choosing for example a rear piece (3) more or less heavy, depending on the constitution, the ability of the shooter.

Another advantage of the dissociation of the body 1 into two distinct parts lies in the possibility of interposing between these two parts 2.3 a damping sole 9 which is applied exactly between the respectively posterior faces 2 a of the front part 2 and anterior 3 a of the rear part 3. This damping sole has the function of damping any vibrations caused by the branches when the arrow is released. This cushioning sole 9 is for example in a material having a certain elasticity, of the rubber type. Thanks to this sole 9 the vibrations do not reach or very attenuated the rear part 3 and therefore the handle 4, which improves the comfort of the shooter.

In the example illustrated, the flexible arms, not shown, are mounted on the 2 "ends of the front part 2 by means of arm supports 10 which are fixed to the front face 2 b of the front part 2.

Each branch support 10 has an interior housing into which the end of a flexible branch can be inserted by sliding, in an adjusted manner. A window 11 formed on the top of the branch support 10 provides access to the means for fixing the corresponding flexible branch on the front part 2. This fixing means, which can for example be a folding ear mounted on the upper part of a screw, no longer projects laterally from the body of the arch.

Furthermore, the presence of these two branch supports 10 makes it possible to give the body 1 an additional aesthetic appearance, thanks to a judicious choice of colors and shapes, in combination with those of the front 2 and rear 3 parts. In the example illustrated, the branch supports 10 are in the same color as the rear body 3 and possibly in the same material.

The present invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment which has been described by way of non-exhaustive example. In particular, the shape, dimensions and materials of the front and rear parts can be determined according to the type of use desired, the performance to be achieved and the desired aesthetic appearance. In particular if the curved shape of the front part is preferred to give the flexible arms the desirable inclination, it is not however compulsory.

It should also be noted that the invention will significantly modify the methods of manufacturing the body of the arch, knowing that it will be possible to make glued laminated wood a front piece 2 much simpler to manufacture, since it no longer comprises the complicated shapes of the handle and that moreover the molding or machining of the rear part 3 requires molds of smaller sizes and therefore less expensive. Finally it is possible to consider that the front piece 2 is in a way a standard part, while the rear part 3 and possibly the branch supports 10 are complementary parts, making it possible to decline the full range of colors and shapes, a range which may change over time.

Claims (8)

Body intended to equip an arc which further comprises two branches mounted on said body and a rope stretched between the two free ends of said branches, characterized in that it consists of two distinct parts, fixed to one another, to know : a) a front part (2) whose end parts (2 ") are intended to receive the flexible arms, and b) a rear part (3) whose front face (3 a ) has the same profile as the rear face (2 a ) of the front part (2) so that it can be exactly applied to said face (2 a ) and the rear face (3 b ) of which is locally in the form of a handle (4) and in that the lateral faces of the rear part (3) are in line with the lateral faces of the front part (2). Body according to claim 1 characterized in that the two front (2) and rear (3) parts are made of materials and / or have different densities. Body according to claim 2 characterized in that the front part (2) is made of glued laminated wood, and the rear part (3) is made of plastic or metallic material. Body according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the rear face (2 a ) of the front part (2) is curved in an arc of a circle in its central part (2 ') and planar in its end parts (2 "). Body according to one of claims 1 to 4 characterized in that it comprises a damping sole (9) disposed between the rear face (2 a ) of the front part (2) and the front face (3 a ) of the rear part (3). Body according to claim 1 characterized in that the shooting accessories such as arrow supports, aiming supports, are mounted laterally on the rear part (3). Body according to claim 1 characterized in that it comprises two branch supports (10), each support (10) being fixed at one end (2 ") of the front part (2), on the anterior face ( 2b ) thereof. Bow comprising a body according to one of claims 1 to 7, two branches mounted on said body and a rope stretched between the two free ends of said branches.

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