Crossbow quiver mounting bracket, screw connect and thumbscrew assembly

Abstract

A quiver is provided with a bracket for mounting to the central shaft, or picatinney rail, of a crossbow above yet immediately adjacent same, from either the left or right side, substantially parallel to that crossbow central shaft/picatinney rail.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/458,239, filed on Nov. 19, 2010 and entitled “Crossbow Quiver Mounting Bracket” and U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. ______, filed concurrently herewith and entitled “Crossbow Quiver Mounting Bracket, Screw Connect and Thumbscrew Assembly”, both disclosures of which are fully incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to crossbows for both hunting and competitive, recreational sports. More particularly, this invention relates to a quiver mounting mechanism or bracket by which a plurality of arrows can be held nearby and directly above one's crossbow for shooting/use. The invention further relates to a picatinney-mounted bracket for affixing a variety of arrow quivers onto one's crossbow.

RELEVANT ART

A quiver is a case used by an archer to carry/hold a supply of arrows for shooting with his/her bow. As such, it is important that the archer be able to quickly, yet safely and easily access arrows from one's quiver especially when hunting game.

Many conventional quivers are elongate with a protective arrowhead-holding sheath at one end. Depending on quiver make and model, that sheath may be filled with a foam or foam-like product or other means for protecting their arrows (heads and shafts). At an opposite end, the plurality of arrows held by this quiver may be spaced apart, along their shafts, by various arrow-holding means.

It is desirable that a quiver be mounted to a bow, especially a crossbow. Several devices for accomplishing that result are known. However, one main disadvantage with prior quiver mounts includes their position relative to the crossbow itself. Prior to this invention, most every known quiver mount attached below the crossbow proper. In that location, the quiver interferes with carrying over one's back and/or positioning on the ground when hunting game. A bottom-mounted quiver also poses a greater hindrance to laying one's crossbow down for rest, i.e. when not in use. When fully laid down on the quiver case along the crossbow's “belly”, there is a greater risk of causing damage to the arrow bodies or at least their fletchings. Bottom-mounted quivers are also more likely to have their arrows catch on trees and other brush when walking in the woods, to and from hunting sites.

There was one known brand of crossbow quiver that mounted to the top of the weapon. But for some unexplained reason, it ran perpendicular (or at a disruptive, distracting right angle) to the crossbow's central rail or barrel.

Other relevant disclosures to this invention include, but are not limited to: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,156,496, 4,607,606, 4,704,800, 4,796,598, 5,265,584, 5,544,641, 6,006,734, 6,672,299, 6,725,853, 6,763,817, 6,845,765 and 7,810,480.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a top-mounted crossbow quiver from which arrows may be conveniently removed. It is another object to make such quiver mounts interchangeable for either left or right-handed mounting atop the crossbow's central rail. It is another object to provide a crossbow quiver mount for the arrows to extend/run substantially parallel to, yet at least partially above, the crossbow's central rail. That is best accomplished with a bracket mount that affixes itself, preferably adjustably, along one of many points on the picatinney crossbow rail.

In many crossbow models, the upper central rail further includes a target sighting scope. With a top-mounted quiver that runs parallel, rather than perpendicular to the crossbow's central rail, this invention provides hunters with greater maneuverability and better overall balance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after reviewing the detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an upper left, perspective view of the quiver mounting bracket, screw connect and thumbscrew situated on its adjustable crossbow connector mount;

FIG. 2 is a left plan view of the bracket, screw connect, thumbscrew and connector mount from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a right plan view of the bracket, screw connect, thumbscrew and connector mount from FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the bracket, screw connect, thumbscrew and connector mount from FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the bracket, screw connect, thumbscrew and connector mount from FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an exploded, perspective view of the bracket, screw connect, thumbscrew and connector mount from FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an underside perspective view of the bracket, screw connect and thumbscrew laying on its left side before being installed onto a crossbow;

FIG. 8 is a left side plan view of the three main components from FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a right side plan view of the three main components from FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the three main components from FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the three main components from FIG. 7;

FIG. 12 is a rear plan view, looking axially from the outside of the three main components from FIG. 7;

FIG. 13 is a front plan view, looking axially from the inside to the three main components from FIG. 7;

FIG. 14 is an upper left perspective view of the mounting bracket installed on a typical crossbow with its quiver affixed substantially perpendicular to said crossbow, said crossbow and quiver being shown in broken lines;

FIG. 15 is an upper left perspective view of the mounting bracket installed on a typical crossbow environment and with its crossbow quiver removed for better viewing of the invention, said crossbow being shown in broken lines;

FIG. 16 is a right plan view of the mounting bracket installed on a typical crossbow with bow scope or sight, said bracket being affixed substantially perpendicular to said bow scope bracket, said crossbow and bow scope being shown in broken lines; and

FIG. 17 is a rear plan view of the assembly from FIG. 16, from the back end of the crossbow and bow scope to show the relative angle of mounting bracket to said bow scope/sight bracket.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of preferred embodiments is exemplary and not intended to unnecessarily limit the invention or its end uses. Moreover, while the present invention is described with reference to one particular model of crossbow quiver, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other applications of quivers and/or arrow holders, retail or custom, may be used herewith.

A typical crossbow quiver for use with the present invention has an arrow protecting end (or sheath), typically towards the front end of the crossbow, and an arrow shaft-holding assembly. The sheath is meant to enclose and protect the crossbow arrowheads while not necessarily engaging same into the quiver proper. Two representative type quivers (though not necessarily for crossbows per se) are shown in Judson et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,584 and Sodaro U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,734.

For most known quivers, a typical arrow shaft-holding assembly extends outwardly from a base plate and includes a plurality of grooves for holding shafts separate from one another. Typically, such arrow shaft-holders extend from any desired longitudinal position along base support member and attach to same with a flange and set screw. While some quiver models allow for lateral adjustment of the arrow shaft-holding ends, it is preferable to have the rear assembly positioned just forward of the arrow fletchings to more stably hold the arrows therein.

The preferred manner in which the quiver of this invention would mount over, above or atop a crossbow is best seen in the accompanying FIGURES. While the item depicted therein may be seen as a shiny (or brushed), metal casting, it is to be understood that the same can be painted or coated to render the bracket black, brown or even covered with a camouflage print.

In one embodiment, the quiver bracket shown is made from a casting of aluminum or stainless steel. Alternatively, it can be made from a composite, or possibly even rigid plastic.

In various views, the bracket component of this invention is shown with a flat back or bottom and an inwardly curved (or notched) surface opposite of same for lightweighting. Alternatively, the bracket may be fitted with product logos, prints and/or other design elements.

Referring to FIGS. 1-13, there is shown a first embodiment of quiver mounting bracket, generally 10, according to the present invention. Each such bracket 10 is comprised of a first main component, angled bracket arm 20 that extends outwardly and upwardly from an adjustable crossbow connector mount 30. The latter connector mount 30 attaches to the upper central (or picatinney) rail P that extends axially along the top to a typical crossbow C. The connector mount 30 joins to angled bracket arm 20 via its own screw connector 40 held firmly in position using thumbscrew 50. As for particulars of these respective components, angled bracket arm 20 can be divided into roughly equal thirds by cross-section. The forward most end of bracket arm 20 includes a notched and beveled bracket bottom 21. Forward to that, at the end closest to picatinney rail P of crossbow C, is at least one thumbscrew aperture 22. A lowest most third, the ridged arm base 23 joins at an angle α of about 30-60 degrees, more preferably about 45 degrees, to a middle third, angled joint base 24. For light-weighting, at least one end of angled joint base 24 includes a hollowed out region 25 with raised sidewalls 26. At the opposite end from forward most, lower ridge arm base 22, there is connected a substantially planar, quiver bracket connector platform 27. Quiver bracket connector platform 27 joins to that opposite end at its own angle β, the latter being between about 30-60 degrees, more preferably about 45 degrees. Quiver bracket connector platform 27 includes a plurality of apertures 28 through which a typical arrow-holding quiver bracket mounts. Like the light-weighting of hollowed out region 25, the underside U of connector platform 27 includes several regions 29 that are similarly hollowed out from underneath. Such hollowing can be accomplished by machining from connector platform 27, or cast into same during initial manufacturing.

Connector mount 30 is a substantially T-shaped bar having an elongate base 31 with a substantially vertical component 32 extending downwardly from the T-top crossbar component 33. Opposite ledges 34, 35 to T-top crossbar component 33 bevel to an arrow-like point designed to fit in correspondingly beveled edges of other elements to quiver mounting bracket 10. Along the horizontal plane across the uppermost surface of T-top crossbar component 33 are a plurality of ridges with raised teeth 36 separated from recessed teeth 37 in an alternating pattern that forms the plane through which location of the quiver mounting bracket 10 along picatinney rail P of crossbow C can be precisely situated. The underside 38 of connector mount 30 includes multiple longitudinal ridges 39a and 39b (best seen in FIG. 5), said ridges matching to and aligning with raised elements on the central/picatinney rail P of most, standard crossbow configurations.

Screw connector 40 has a flat front face 41 having a thumbscrew aperture 42 extending completely through same. A top lateral end 42 of screw connector 40 runs parallel to its bottom lateral end 43. Opposite flat front face 41, there was an interface 44 consisting of a series of beveled edges that form an A-shaped tip 45, followed by a notched recess 46 and ending in a half-raised ridge 47. Respective sections of interface 44 coordinate with matching sections of beveled bracket bottom 21 and a forward ledge 34 to T-top crossbar component 33. More particularly, A-shaped tip 45 fits within beveled bracket bottom 21 and half-raised ridge 47 into forward ledge 34.

Thumbscrew 50 includes a rotatable end 51 attached to a threaded shaft 52, said shaft extending through apertures in the screw connector 40 and forward-most end of angled bracket arm 20. A thumbscrew end 51 is preferred but a standard flat or Phillips screw head may be substituted therefor.

FIGS. 14 through 17 show one preferred method/angle for mounting quiver bracket 10 onto the central/picatinney rail P of crossbow C. Particularly, FIG. 14 shows the bracket situated substantially perpendicular (or at a ninety degree angle relative) to picatinney rail P. In that view, quiver bracket 10 is shown for a left side mount so that a right-handed shooter may extract the next arrow (not shown) from a representative arrow quiver Q (shown in dashed lines) mounted through bolts B to the top of bracket connector platform 27. In FIG. 15, the aforementioned arrow quiver has been removed for illustration purposes.

It is understood that bracket 10 may also be rotated 180 degrees for mounting from the right side of crossbow C. From that angle mount, it could be used by a left-handed shooter to extract the next arrow from his/her crossbow quiver.

From either direction, bracket 10 lets most any mounted arrow quiver run axially along, and substantially parallel to, picatinney rail P of crossbow C. As such, this invention provides a distinct improvement over the one known crossbow mount whose quiver extended perpendicular to its crossbow central rail. For that known arrangement, a perpendicular quiver interfered with shooting balance and possibly target sighting. It also compromised how to lay one's crossbow down at rest (when not in use).

FIGS. 16 and 17 show the relative angle of quiver bracket mounting to the rest of a typical crossbow assembly, particularly a crossbow C having a target sight S attached thereto. Note especially how the ridges for adjustable connector mount 30 allow for some lateral axial movement along the picatinney rail P as seen by arrow A in FIG. 16. With the dual tiers of quiver bracket 10, the shooting sight S can still be centered (as per FIG. 17) while providing a raised, yet level plane onto which a typical quiver mount may be attached.

The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion, and from the accompanying drawings and claims, that various changes, modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A mounting bracket for a crossbow to which an arrow-holding quiver may be axially mounted substantially parallel to a central shaft of the crossbow, said mounting bracket comprising:

an angled bracket arm that extends outwardly and upwardly from an adjustable connector mount on the crossbow central shaft; and means for manually connecting a forward end of the bracket arm to one end of the connector mount.

2. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 1 which can be mounted to either side of the crossbow central shaft.

3. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 1 wherein the angled bracket arm has a substantially planar, arm base connected to an angled joint base whose opposite end is connected to a substantially planar, quiver bracket connector platform.

4. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 3 wherein the arm base and the joint base of the bracket arm are connected at an angle between about 30-60 degrees.

5. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 4 wherein the arm base and the joint base of the bracket arm are connected at about a 45 degree angle.

6. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 3 wherein the joint base and the bracket connector platform of the bracket arm are connected at an angle between about 30-60 degrees.

7. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 6 wherein the joint base and the bracket connector platform of the bracket arm are connected at about a 45 degree angle.

8. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 3 wherein at least one of the joint base and the bracket connector platform include one or more hollowed out regions.

9. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 8 wherein the hollowed out regions may be cast or machined into the bracket connector platform.

10. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 3 wherein the connector mount includes a substantially T-shaped bar section with an elongate base and a vertically extending component that has purposefully beveled edges and a plurality of ridges onto which the forward end of the bracket arm may be connected.

11. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 10 wherein the plurality of ridges on the vertically extending component of the connector mount includes alternating sections of raised and recessed teeth.

12. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 11 wherein the connector mount further includes at least one longitudinal ridge on its underside that aligns with a raised element on the crossbow central shaft.

13. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 3 wherein the manual connecting means includes a screw connector having a flat front face with a thumbscrew aperture there through, top and bottom lateral ends and a beveled face, opposite the flat front face, said beveled face including an A-shaped tip followed by a notched recess and a half-raised ridge ending.

14. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 13 wherein the A-shaped tip of the screw connector coordinates with a matching shaped section in the forward end of the bracket arm.

15. A crossbow quiver mounting bracket onto which an arrow-holding quiver may be mounted substantially parallel to a picatinney rail of the crossbow, said mounting bracket extending substantially perpendicular to the picatinney rail from either side of said rail, said mounting bracket comprising:

(a) a bracket arm having a substantially planar, arm base with a forward end, said arm base connected to an angled joint base whose opposite end is connected to a substantially planar, quiver bracket connector platform;

(b) a connector mount that includes a substantially T-shaped bar section with an elongate base and a vertically extending component that has purposefully beveled edges and a plurality of ridges onto which the forward end of the bracket arm may connect;

(c) a screw connector having a flat front face with a thumbscrew aperture there through, top and bottom lateral ends and a beveled face, opposite the flat front face, said beveled face including an A-shaped tip followed by a notched recess and a half-raised ridge ending; and

(d) a threaded screw for connecting the bracket arm and the connector mount onto the picatinney rail of the crossbow.

16. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 15 wherein:

(i) the arm base and the joint base of the bracket arm are connected at an angle between about 30-60 degrees; and

(ii) the joint base and the bracket connector platform of the bracket arm are connected at an angle between about 30-60 degrees.

17. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 16 wherein:

(i) the arm base and the joint base of the bracket arm are connected at about a 45 degree angle; and

(ii) the joint base and the bracket connector platform of the bracket arm are connected at about a 45 degree angle.

18. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 15 wherein the connector mount further includes at least one longitudinal ridge on its underside that aligns with a raised element on the crossbow picatinney rail.

19. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 15 wherein the plurality of ridges on the vertically extending component of the connector mount includes alternating sections of raised and recessed teeth.

20. The crossbow quiver mounting bracket of claim 15 wherein the A-shaped tip of the screw connector coordinates with a matching shaped section in the forward end of the bracket arm.