Flexible cable guard for a compound archery bow

Abstract

A compound archery bow comprises a riser, limbs attached to the riser, pulley members mounted on the limbs, a draw cable, one or more additional cables, and a cable guard. The limbs, draw cable, and additional cables are arranged so that drawing the bow rotates the pulley members to let out the draw cable, takes up or lets out each additional cable with the pulley members, and bends the bow limbs toward one another. The cable guard comprises an elongated, resilient, non-articulated member attached to and extending backward from the riser, and a cable retainer. The cable guard displaces each additional cable laterally from a shooting plane of the bow sufficiently at brace to avoid fletching of an arrow, and bends inwardly when the bow is drawn but still displaces each additional cable laterally sufficiently to avoid the shaft of the arrow.

1 . A compound archery bow comprising:
 (a) a riser and first and second bow limbs attached to the riser;   (b) first and second pulley members rotatably mounted on the first and second bow limbs, respectively;   (c) a draw cable engaged with the first and second pulley members;   (d) one or more additional cables coupled to the first and second bow limbs; and   (e) a cable guard comprising (1) an elongated, elastically deformable, non-articulated member attached to and extending backward from the riser, and (2) a cable retainer engaged with the elongated member and with each additional cable,   (f) wherein the bow limbs, the draw cable, and the additional cables are arranged so that pulling the draw cable to draw the bow causes (1) the pulley members to rotate and let out the draw cable, (2) each additional cable to be taken up or let out by at least one of the pulley members, and (3) the first and second bow limbs to bend toward one another;   (g) wherein the cable guard is arranged with the bow at brace to retain a central portion of each additional cable displaced laterally from a shooting plane of the bow by a first cable displacement distance D1, which first cable displacement distance D1 is greater than or about equal to a distance F that fletching of an arrow nocked onto the draw cable extends transversely from the shooting plane toward the one or more additional cables;   (h) wherein the cable guard is arranged with the bow drawn to bend toward the shooting plane and to retain the central portion of at least one of the one or more additional cables displaced laterally from the shooting plane by a second cable displacement distance D2, which second cable displacement distance D2 is greater than or about equal to a distance S that a shaft of the arrow nocked onto the draw cable extends transversely from the shooting plane toward the one or more additional cables; and   (i) wherein the distance F is larger than the second cable displacement distance D2.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The bow of  claim 1  wherein the first cable displacement distance D1 is between about 0.5 inches and about 1.0 inches and the second cable displacement distance D2 is between about 0.2 inches and about 0.9 inches. 
     
     
         4 . The bow of  claim 1  wherein the cable retainer comprises one or more journaled wheels rotatably mounted on the elongated member, and each additional cable is engaged with a journal of one of the wheels. 
     
     
         5 . The bow of  claim 1  wherein the cable retainer comprises a cable block slidably mounted on the elongated member, and each additional cable is received through and slidable through a corresponding hole or slot in the cable block. 
     
     
         6 . The bow of  claim 1  wherein the elongated member comprises metal, alloy, polymer, plastic, wood, or composite material. 
     
     
         7 . The bow of  claim 1  wherein the elongated member comprises a material having an elastic modulus less than about 10 Mpsi. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 (a) attaching an elongated, elastically deformable, non-articulated member of a cable guard to a riser of a compound archery bow so that the elongated member extends backward from the riser, which compound archery bow comprises
 (i) the riser and first and second bow limbs attached to the riser, 
 (ii) first and second pulley members rotatably mounted on the first and second bow limbs, respectively, 
 (iii) a draw cable engaged with the first and second pulley members, and 
 (iv) one or more additional cables coupled to the first and second bow limbs, 
 (v) wherein the bow limbs, the draw cable, and the additional cables are arranged so that pulling the draw cable to draw the bow causes (1) the pulley members to rotate and let out the draw cable, (2) each additional cable to be taken up or let out by at least one of the pulley members, and (3) the first and second bow limbs to bend toward one another; 
   (b) engaging a cable retainer of the cable guard with the elongated member and with each additional cable;   (c) arranging the cable guard with the bow at brace to retain a central portion of each additional cable displaced laterally from a shooting plane of the bow by a first cable displacement distance D1, which first cable displacement distance D1 is greater than or about equal to a distance F that fletching of an arrow nocked onto the draw cable extends transversely from the shooting plane toward the one or more additional cables;   (d) arranging the cable guard with the bow drawn to bend toward the shooting plane and to retain the central portion of at least one of the one or more additional cables displaced laterally from the shooting plane by a second cable displacement distance D2, which second cable displacement distance D2 is greater than or about equal to a distance S that a shaft of the arrow nocked onto the draw cable extends transversely from the shooting plane toward the one or more additional cables; and   (e) arranging the cable guard so that the distance F is larger than the second cable displacement distance D2.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 (e) attaching the first and second bow limbs to the riser; 
 (f) rotatably mounting the first and second pulley members on the first and second bow limbs, respectively; 
 (g) engaging the draw cable with the first and second pulley members; 
 (h) coupling the one or more additional cables to the first and second bow limbs; and 
 (i) arranging the bow limbs, the draw cable, and the additional cables so that pulling the draw cable to draw the bow causes (1) the pulley members to rotate and let out the draw cable, (2) each additional cable to be taken up or let out by at least one of the pulley members, (3) the first and second bow limbs to bend toward one another. 
 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the first cable displacement distance D1 is between about 0.5 inches and about 1.0 inches and the second cable displacement distance D2 is between about 0.2 inches and about 0.9 inches. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the cable retainer comprises one or more journaled wheels rotatably mounted on the elongated member, and each additional cable is engaged with a journal of one of the wheels. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the cable retainer comprises a cable block slidably mounted on the elongated member, and each additional cable is received through and slidable through a corresponding hole or slot in the cable block. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the elongated member comprises metal, alloy, polymer, plastic, or composite material. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the elongated member comprises a material having an elastic modulus less than about 10 Mpsi. 
     
     
         16 . A method comprising:
 (i) nocking an arrow onto a draw cable of a compound archery bow at brace;   (ii) pulling the draw cable to draw the bow with the nocked arrow; and   (iii) releasing the draw cable to shoot the arrow,   (iv) wherein the compound archery bow comprises:
 (a) a riser and first and second bow limbs attached to the riser; 
 (b) first and second pulley members rotatably mounted on the first and second bow limbs, respectively; 
 (c) the draw cable engaged with the first and second pulley members; 
 (d) one or more additional cables coupled to the first and second bow limbs; and 
 (e) a cable guard comprising (1) an elongated, elastically deformable, non-articulated member attached to and extending backward from the riser, and (2) a cable retainer engaged with the elongated member and with each additional cable; 
 (f) wherein the bow limbs, the draw cable, and the additional cables are arranged so that pulling the draw cable to draw the bow causes (1) the pulley members to rotate and let out the draw cable, (2) each additional cable to be taken up or let out by at least one of the pulley members, and (3) the first and second bow limbs to bend toward one another; 
 (g) wherein the cable guard is arranged with the bow at brace to retain a central portion of each additional cable displaced laterally from a shooting plane of the bow by a first cable displacement distance D1, which first cable displacement distance D1 is greater than or about equal to a distance F that fletching of an arrow nocked onto the draw cable extends transversely from the shooting plane toward the one or more additional cables; 
 (h) wherein the cable guard is arranged with the bow drawn to bend toward the shooting plane and to retain the central portion of at least one of the one or more additional cables displaced laterally from the shooting plane by a second cable displacement distance D2, which second cable displacement distance D2 is greater than or about equal to a distance S that a shaft of the arrow nocked onto the draw cable extends transversely from the shooting plane toward the one or more additional cables; 
 (i) wherein the distance F is larger than the second cable displacement distance D2. 
   
     
     
         17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the first cable displacement distance D1 is between about 0.5 inches and about 1.0 inches and the second cable displacement distance D2 is between about 0.2 inches and about 0.9 inches. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the cable retainer comprises one or more journaled wheels rotatably mounted on the elongated member, and each additional cable is engaged with a journal of one of the wheels. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the cable retainer comprises a cable block slidably mounted on the elongated member, and each additional cable is received through and slidable through a corresponding hole or slot in the cable block. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the elongated member comprises metal, alloy, polymer, plastic, or composite material. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the elongated member comprises a material having an elastic modulus less than about 10 Mpsi.