Solo plane pin head bow sight with improved visibility

Abstract

A pin-type bow sight has dog-leg pins and straight pins so that the heads of the pins align along a common axis. The bow sight has a generally circular pin guard with a highlight of a distinctive color applied on the archer side to assist in distinguishing from the target background. The pins are each provided with an optical fiber light guide that passes through an eye or aperture at the tip of the pin. The optic fiber is formed with a set bend at its tip to avoid light loss at the bend, the bend having a radius at least five times the radius of the fiber.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A bow sight comprising: 
 a pin holder; and a one or more pins situated in said pin holder, wherein each of said pins has a proximal end member that is mounted in said pin holder, and a distal end portion thereof having a pin head disposed at its end; and a pin guard attached onto said pin holder and surrounding said plurality of pins and forming a closed visual aperture around said plurality of pins to define a sight picture for the archer, the pin guard having a front surface facing the archer, and said front surface of said pin guard having a highlight of predetermined distinctive color applied thereto, the highlight being adapted to distinguish the pin visual aperture of the pin guard from said visual background.    
     
     
         2 . The bow sight of  claim 1 , wherein said pin guard is arcuate and forms at least a portion of a circle.  
     
     
         3 . The bow sight of  claim 2 , wherein said distinctive highlight is in the form a ring of color on said front surface.  
     
     
         4 . The bow sight of  claim 2 , wherein said highlight comprises a distinctive color applied to form substantial portions of a ring on said front surface.  
     
     
         5 . The bow sight of  claim 4 , wherein said highlight is applied onto the front surface of said pin guard as a bright color.  
     
     
         6 . The bow sight of  claim 5 , wherein said bright color is a high-visibility orange.  
     
     
         7 . The bow sight of  claim 1 , wherein said highlight extends around the entire front surface of said pin guard such that a ring of said distinctive color surrounds the entire periphery of said sight picture.  
     
     
         8 . The bow sight of  claim 1 , wherein said highlight is of a generally oblong shape.  
     
     
         9 . A bow sight through which an archer aims at a target situated in a visual background, comprising: 
 a pin holder;    one or more pins situated on said pin holder, each said pin having a proximal end member that is mounted on said pin holder and a distal portion that extends in a direction away from said pin holder, each said pin having a pin head at the distal end thereof; the heads of all of said pins lying along a common vertical axis; each said pin including an optical fiber that extends from the proximal end member of the pin to an eye at the distal portion thereof; and each said pin including means defining a permanent bent pathway for said fiber such that at said eye at the distal portion of the pin the fiber is oriented toward the archer; said means limiting the bend of said fiber to a radius that is no less than substantially five times the fiber diameter so as to minimize light loss due to the bend of the fiber.    
     
     
         10 . The bow sight of  claim 9  wherein said means limiting the bend of said fiber includes a factory-formed open bend set in the fiber.  
     
     
         11 . The bow sight of  claim 9  wherein said optical fiber has a proximal end extending along a shank of the pin, and a bend in a distal portion thereof that sweeps away from the pin shank and then curves back to pass through an aperture at a head of the pin.