US2976043A

US2976043A - Archery arrow

Info

Publication number: US2976043A
Application number: US796083A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leonard S Meyer
Original assignee: PARALLEL PRODUCTS Co
Current assignee: PARALLEL PRODUCTS Co
Priority date: 1959-02-27
Filing date: 1959-02-27
Publication date: 1961-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 1978-03-21

Description

L. S. MEYER ARCHERY ARROW March 21, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27, 1959 INVENTOR LEONARD S- MEYER BY ggsggw nw-ggNEY, MILLER a.

1 Ln V 7 BY 7 lATTORNEY March 21, 1961 MEYER I 2,976,043

ARCHERY ARROW Filed Feb. 27, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LEONARD S. MEYER BY GORBETT, MAHONEY, MILLER &

RAMBO, ATTYS.

W24 72%! ATTORNEY INVENTOR Unit States atent 2,976,043 Patented Mar. 21, 1961,

ARCHERY ARRoW Leonard S. Meyer, Waverly, Ohio, assignor to Parallel Products Company, Columbia, S.C., a corporation of South Carolina Filed Feb. 27, 1959, Ser. No. 796,083

7 Claims. (Cl. 273106.5)

My invention relates to an archery arrow. It has to do, more particularly, with the fietchings of an arrow and to a method of applying the fletchings to the shaft of an arrow.

Fletchings are the feather vane members used adjacent the trailing ends of the shafts of arrows to improve their performance in flight and their accuracy. It is usual to make these fletchings of actual feathers or simulated feather material. The application of the feathers to the shaft is diflicult and time-consuming and cannot be adapted to economic production methods. Furthermore, it is difficult to firmly secure the feathers to the shaft in such a manner that they will not be displaced there- (from. Also, it has not been possible in the prior art to use materials which will withstand the wear and shock of repeated use of the arrow.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial .No. 661,712, filed May 27, 1957, which issued as Patent No. 2,882,055 on April 14, 1959.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an arrow which has fletchings mounted on the trailing end of the shaft accurately located and firmly secured thereon without danger of displacement during use, the fietchings being of material which will withstand repeated use and will still function properly as guide means and stabilizer means during the arrow flight.

An other object of my invention is to provide a simple arrangement for applying the fletchings to the arrow shaft which is capable of adaptation to production methods.

A further object of my invention is to provide a fletching made of elastic sheet material which is so designed and formed as to use the inherent nature of the material to permit mounting of the fletching on the shaft but to cause positive retention of the fletching on the shaft without danger of displacement during use.

Various other objects will be apparent.

According to my invention, the fletchings are made of sections of flexible plastic sheet material. The sections are properly shaped and one or more are inserted in a longitudinal slot or slots in the trailing end of the shaft. Each slot extends diametrically or radially of the shaft and both ends open at surfaces of the shaft. It is spaced longitudinally of the trailing end of the shaft as well as its leading end so that both ends of the slot are closed and the shaft is an integral unit with resulting maximum strength. Each fletching section is mainly flat and preferably has a pair of fletchings formed thereon along its opposed longitudinal edges. To retain the fletching section in position in the slot, stop shoulders or projections are provided which engage the shaft adjacent the outer ends of the slot and prevent lateral displacement of the fletching section relative to the shaft. Due to the nature of the material of the fletching section, these projections or shoulders may be formed by outward displacement of the material from the plane of the fletching section. The inherent elasticity of this material will permit deforming or flattening of the projections to facilitate insertion into the slot. However, as the deformed projections move out of the slot, they will again project from the plane of the section to serve as stops to engage the shaft at the ends of the slot to retain the fletching section in position in the slot.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 have illustrated fletchings on an arrow shaft in accordance with my in-. vention including several variations thereof. It is to be understood that other variations may be made without departing from the basic principles of my invention.

In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an arrow having fletchings thereon in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of a double fletching section before it is applied to the shaft.

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken along line 33 of Figure 1 through the fletching section and associated arroew shaft;

Figure 4 is a similar sectional view showing the use of two double-fletching sections in a cross-shaped slot arrangement in the shaft.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 but showing the use of four double fletching sections.

Figure 6 is a plan view similar to Figure 2 but showing a different type of stop projections on the fletching section.

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view through a shaft having'three fletching sections like the one of Figure 6 positioned therein. 7

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 6 but showing a a different arrangement of stop projections on the fletching section.

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 but showing still another arrangement of projections on the fletching section.

With reference to the drawings, in Figure 1- I have illustrated the complete arrow which comprises the shaft 20 having the point 21, the fletchings 22 and the nock 23. As previously indicated, this invention deals with the fletchings 22 and the manner in which they are mounted on the arrow. The fletchings 22 extend radially from the arrow shaft and in Figures 1 and 3 they are shown as being diametrically opposed. They extend from a diametrically extending slot formed in the arrow shaft 20 adjacent its trailing edge but spaced therefrom and are fixed therein.

The shaft 20 may be of wood, plastic, or any other suitable material; The fletchings 22 may be formed of a suitable elastic sheet material which can have stop projections formed thereon that will be compressible. Various plastic or rubber materials may be used such as natural or artificial rubber film, and plastic film such as films of olefines or polyethylene. I prefer to use polyethylene aud I have actually used this material in producing the fletchings used according to this invention.

As indicated in Figure 2, a double fletching section 22a is provided for forming a pair of the fletchings 22-. This fletching section is preferably of the feather shape shown and, as indicated above, is preferably formed of relatively thin flexible plastic film material such as polyethylene film. The fletching 22a is of elongated form and has a central plane or flat band 25 extending the full length at the longitudinal center line thereof. This band 25 is just slightly greater in width than the diameter of the shaft 20 in which it is to be inserted. On' each side of the band 25 and extending the length thereof one of the fletchings 22 is formed and it will be noted that these fletching areas 22 are provided with corrugations 26. These corrugations serve to increase the strengthof each fletching 22 so as to better resist air pressure during flight. However, a main purpose of these corrugations is to serve as stop projections which will retain the fletching section 22a in a diametrically extending slot 24 in the shaft 20 as shown in Figure 3. The corrugations 26 are shown as extending outwardly from the band 25 toward both edges and are angularly disposed relative to the band 25. It will be apparent from Figure 3 that the projecting corrugations 26 are deeper than the width of the slot 24 formed in the shaft 29.

The slot 24 is formed in the shaft 20 in any suitable manner and it will be noted that this slot is elongated and extends diametrically through the shaft. It is formed just ahead of the trailing end of the shaft and both of its ends are closed so that the shaft is integral even between the rear end of the slot and trailing end of the shaft.

In inserting the fletching section 22a of Figure 2 into the slot 24 of the arrow of Figure 1, the outer edge of one fletching is passed transversely o1- radially inwardly into one open side of the slot 24 and at the same time the corrugations of one fletching area 22 are flattened to permit this transverse movement of the fletching section 22a. As soon as the corrugations 26 pass through the opposite open side of the slot they will start to expand and when the plane band 25 moves into coincidence with the entire area of the slot 24, the previously compressed corrugations of the one fletching area 22 will be completely expanded. Since the band area 25 is just slightly wider than that of the slot 24, the inner ends of the corrugations 26 on both of the fletchings 22 will now be on opposite sides of the slot 24 and will engage diametrically opposed surfaces of the shaft 20. These projection corrugations will now effectively retain the fletching section in the arrow shaft 20 and prevent displacement thereof during flight. However, by exerting suflicient outward pull on one of the fletchings 22 to compress the corrugations of the opposed fletching 22, the entire section 22a can be removed for replacement in case of damage.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated now two of the double fletching sections 22a can be used in a shaft 20:: which has a pair of diametrically extending slots 24a therein to provide a cross-shaped slot arrangement in cross-section. The slots 24a have closed leading and trailing edges as before. The fletching areas are provided with the corrugations 26 as before.

A method of the type illustrated in my said copending application Serial No. 661,712 may be used in inserting the fletching sections 22a into the slot arrangement 24a. By this method, one of the sections 220 will be in two radial portions of the slots with a pair of the fletchings 22 integral and at right angles to each other and extending around the included angle of the shaft. Another pair of fletchings 22 will be formed by the section 22a inserted in the remaining two radial slot portions at right angles to each other. The fact that one-half of each fletching section 22a is disposed in each adjacent radial slot portion, to form fletchings 22 at right angles to each other will tend to keep the fletching sections in position on the shaft. Furthermore, the extended corrugations 26 at the outer end of each of the radial portions of the slots 24a will keep the fletchings 22 in the positions shown unless they are positively pulled therefrom, since as before, the corrugations 26 are deeper than the width of the slots 24a.

In Figure 5, there is shown an arrangement similar to that of Figure 4 but the fletchings 2212 are each doubled. The fletching sections 22a for forming each pair of fletchings 22b can be inserted in the same manner as in Figure 4, but in this instance, there will be four sections 22:: used instead of two so that each radially projecting fletching 22b will be double with the corrugations 26 thereof nesting. The double fletching film will fit snugly in the slots 24b in the shaft 20b. The corrugations 26 will, in this example, again be deeper than the width of the slots 24b which are shown as being double the width of the slots 24a in Figure 4, and thus they will normally prevent displacement of the fletching sections 22a.

As previously indicated, a different number of slots can be used and these need not be diametrically disposed intersecting slots but may be radial slots which join at the center of the shaft. Thus, in Figure 7, 1 show three radial slots 240 in the shaft 200. Three sections 22c of film may be used in these slots which will result in double fletchings projecting outwardly from each slot. In this arrangement, the fletching sections may be of the corrugated form in Figure 2 or may be of a different nature, as shown in Figures 6 and 7.

In the fletching section 22c shown in Figures 6 and 7, instead of the stop or lock projections being corrugations, they are formed as a pair of elongated parallel ribs 26b. The hand area 2511 between the two ribs 26b will be slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft 20c in which it is mounted. Thus, one of the ribs 26b will be at the outer end of each radial slot 24c. Since the ribs 2612 will be deeper than the width of the slots with which they are associated, normal displacement of the fletching sections 22c will be precluded. The ribs 26b of adjacent fletching sections 220 may be opposed, as shown in Figure 7, or may be nested, if desired, and in either case they will serve as projections which can be compressed during insertion of the fletching sections 220 but which will expand after insertion to serve as stop projections.

In Figure 8, a similar fletching section 22d is provided but short stop ribs 26d are provided which are longitudinally spaced as well as laterally spaced. The lateral spacing is slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft into which the section 22d is to be inserted.

In Figure 9 another fletching section 22:: is ilustrated in which small teats or projections 26s are arranged in two rows of longitudinally spaced projections. The rows are spaced from each other slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft into which the section 22B is to be inserted. The teats 262 project from the plane of the fletching section 22a to an extent greater than the width of the slot into which the fletching section is to be inserted.

Any

fletching section

22a, 22c, 22d, or 22e, can be used in any of the slot arrangements shown and described or other equivalent slot arrangements in the arrow shaft.

It will be apparent from the above description that I have provided fletchings in the form of thin flexible material which will be of such a nature that it will function properly to guide and stabilize the arrow even after repeated use of the arrow. The fletchings will be formed by fletching sections, each of which provides a pair of the radially extending fletchings by being positioned in adjacent radial slot portions which meet at the center of the shaft. The radial slot portions may be angularly spaced at or at any angle less than 180. If at 180", the two halves of the fletching section will be diametrically opposed. If at any other angle, the two halves will be formed on a unitary fletching section which extends around a corner at the junction of the two adjacent radial slot portions. If at least two of said fletching sections are provided and at least three of said radially projecting slot portions are provided, two halves of different fletching sections can be in a common slot in face to face contact with each other.

The inherent elastic or resilient nature of the material of the fletching section is employed to prevent displacement from the slot of the shaft by forming the stop projections therein. These projections can be compressed as necessary to permit insertion into the slot of the shaft and final positioning of the fletching section therein when the projections will expand to serve as the stop projections. No other fastening means will be necessary but the fletching sections can be positively withdrawn for replacement in case of damage.

According to the provisions of the patent statues, the principles of this invention have been explained and have been illustrated and described in what is now considered to represent the best embodiment. However, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed 1s:

1. An arrow shaft having fletchings thereon, said fletchings being disposed in a longitudinally extending slot in the shaft which has at least two radially disposed portions that communicate at the axis of the shaft, said slot being disposed longitudinally within the length of the shaft so that both the leading and trailing ends thereof are closed to provide unslotted shaft portions ahead of and behind the slot to give adequate strength to the shaft, said fletchings being on a single fletching section which is disposed within the two radially disposed slot portions and extends radially outwardly therefrom, each of said fletchings having stop projections formed integrally in one piece with the fletching adjacent the outer ends of the cooperating radial slot portions to prevent normal displacement of the fletching section from the slot, said fletching section having a band area between the stop projections of said fletchings which is free of the projections and is disposed substantially within said slot and is of a radial extent just slightly greater than the radial extent of the two radial portions of said slot, said stop projections projecting a distance greater than the width of the cooperating radial portions of the slot but being compressible to a degree that they are of lesser extent than the width of the slot to permit passage therethrough in the initial positioning of the fletching section in the slot.

2. An article according to claim 1 in which the projections are corrugations throughout the area of the radially projecting fletchings.

3. An article according to claim 1 in which the projections are elongated ribs,

4. An article according to claim 1 in which the projections are rows of longitudinally spaced projections.

5. An arrow shaft having fletchings thereon, said fletchings being disposed in longitudinally extending angularly spaced radial slots which extend into the shaft and meet at the axis thereof, said slots being disposed longitudinally within the length of the shaft so that both the leading and trailing ends thereof are closed to provide unslotted shaft portions ahead of and behind the slots to give adequate strength to the shaft, two halves of said fletchings being formed by a unitary flexible fletching section which extends around a corner at the junction of the two adjacent slots and the corner being included within the two angularly related halves of the fletching section that extend out through the angularly related slots to project nadially outwardly beyond the surface of the shaft, at least two of said fletching sections being provided and at least three of said slots being provided, two halves of difierent fletching sections which are in two of said slots being in a common slot in face to face con- 6 tact with each other, said fletching sections having projections thereon formed integrally in one piece with the fletchings which engage the shaft at the outer end of each radial slot.

6. An arrow shaft having fletchings thereon, said fletchings being disposed in longitudinally extending angularly spaced radial slots which extend into the shaft and meet at the axis thereof, said slots being disposed longitudinally within the length of the shaft so that both the leading and trailing ends thereof are closed to provide unslotted shaft portions ahead of and behind the slots to give adequate strength to the shaft, a pair of said fletchings being formed by a unitary flexible fletching section which extends around a corner at the junction of the two adjacent slots and which is included within the two angularly related halves of the fletching section that extend out through the angularly related slots to project radially outwardly beyond the surface of the shaft, and projections on said fletching section formed integnally in one piece with the fletching section which engage said shaft adjacent the outer ends of said radial slot.

7. An arrow shaft having fletchings thereon, said fletching being disposed in a slot in the shaft which has at least two outwardly extending portions that extend outwardly to the surface of the shaft and communicate with each other within the shaft, said slot being disposed longitudinally within the length of the shaft so that both the leading and trailing ends thereof are closed to provide unslotted shaft portions ahead of and behind the slot to give adequate strength to the shaft, said fletchings being on a single fletching section which is disposed within the two slot portions and extends outwardly therefrom, each of said fletchings having a stop projection formed integrally in one piece with the fletching adjacent the outer end of each cooperating slot portion to prevent normal displacement of the fletching section from the slot, said fletching section having a band area between the stop projections of said fletchings which is free of the projections and is disposed within the slot and is of an extent just slightly greater than the combined extent of the two outwardly extending slot portions, said stop projections projecting a distance greater than the width of the cooperating outwardly extending portions of the slot but being compressible to a degree that they are of lesser extent than the width of the slot to permit passage therethrough in the initial positioning of the fletching section in the slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,444,913 Hampel Feb. 13, 1923 2,182,296 Lowy Dec. 5, 1939 2,882,055 Meyer Apr. 14, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 514,085 Great Britain Oct. 30, 1939 628,041 Great Britain Aug. 22, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATION OF CORRECTION Patent No 2,976,043 March 21, 1961 Leonard Sm Meyer It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered petent reqiiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 3 line 58, for ,"extended" read expanded Signed and sealed this 8th day of August 1961,

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer DAVID L. LADD Commissioner of Patents