US3918427A

US3918427A - Slingshot

Info

Publication number: US3918427A
Application number: US483192A
Authority: US
Inventors: Don La Viere Turner
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-06-26
Filing date: 1974-06-26
Publication date: 1975-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-11

Abstract

The fork of a slinghsot is supported in a position forward of the handgrip thereof to increase the distance through which the elastic member of the slingshot can be drawn back, thereby increasing the force applied to a missile propelled through the fork by the elastic. The missile can be a bolt having a hook at its front end for engaging the elastic means member and having an enlarged, flattened tail fin with finger holes therein. The tail fin is aerodynamically tapered in cross-sectional shape and acts to stabilize the bolt in flight. Sighting along the shaft of the bolt significantly increases the accuracy of the slingshot and makes it possible to reliably hit game at reasonable hunting ranges. The slingshot has an arm which is attached to the top of the handgrip and extends forwardly to the fork and rearwardly to a forearm brace. The fork is cocked at such an angle to the axis of the arm that a central line to the eyes of a user is substantially perpendicular to the line between the attachment points of the elastic to the fork is directed toward the eyes of the user, thereby facilitating aiming of the slingshot and increasing the accuracy thereof.

Description

United States Patent [19] Turner Nov. 11, 1975 1 SLINGSHOT [76] Inventor: Don La Viere Turner, Rte. 1,

[52] US. Cl. 124/20 B; 124/30 R; 273/1065 C; 273/1065 R; 273/1065 B; 273/D1G. 10

[51] Int. Cl. F41B 7/00 [58] Field of Search... 124/20 A, 20 B, 20 R, 30 R, 124/41, 35 R; 273/1065 B, 106.5 C, 106.5 R

Primary ExaminerRichard .1 Apley Assistant Examiner-William R. Browne Attorney, Agent, or FirmWheeler, Morsell, House & Fuller [57] ABSTRACT The fork of a slinghsot is supported in a position forward of the handgrip thereof to increase the distance through which the elastic member of the slingshot can be drawn back, thereby increasing the force applied to a missile propelled through the fork by the elastic. The missile can be a bolt having a hook at its front end for engaging the elastic means member and having an enlarged, flattened tail fin with finger holes therein. The tail fin is aerodynamically tapered in cross-sectional shape and acts to stabilize the bolt in flight. Sighting along the shaft of the bolt significantly increases the accuracy of the slingshot and makes it possible to reliably hit game at reasonable hunting ranges. The slingshot has an arm which is attached to the top of the handgrip and extends forwardly to the fork and rearwardly to a forearm brace. The fork is cocked at such an angle to the axis of the arm that a central line to the eyes of a user is substantially perpendicular to the line between the attachment points of the elastic to the fork is directed toward the eyes of the user, thereby facilitating aiming of the slingshot and increasing the accuracy thereof.

6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures us. Patent Ndv.11,1975 SheetlofZ 3,918,427

U.S. Patent Nov. 11,1975 Sheet 2 012 3,918,427

rlllllllllmm-nullln SLINGSHOT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the past, slingshots have been used primarily as toys rather than as hunting weapons. This is due to the fact that prior art slingshots are not powerful enough to kill small game and also to the fact that prior art slingshots are not accurate enough to reliable hit small game at reasonable hunting ranges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a novel slingshot and a novel slingshot missile which are capable of killing small game and large game as well. The slingshot of this invention has a fork which is supported in a position forward of the handgrip thereof to increase the distance through which the elastic of the slingshot can be drawn back, thereby increasing the force applied to the missile when it is released. The missile of this invention is a bolt having a hook at its front end for engaging the elastic means and having an enlarged flattened tail fin with finger holes therein. The tail fin is aerodynamically tapered in cross-sectional shape and acts to stabilize the bolt in flight. A broadhead can be attached to the front end of the bolt, which is shot from the slingshot with sufficient velocity to kill small or large game at reasonable hunting ranges, e.g. up to 50 yards. The bolt provides a means of aiming which significantly increases the accuracy of the slingshot and makes it possible to reliably hit game at reasonable hunting ranges. The slingshot has an arm which is attached to the top of the handgrip and extends. forwardly to the fork and rearwardly to a forearm brace. Further increase in accuracy is provided by cocking the fork at such an angle to the axis of the arm that a central line perpendicular to the line between the attachment points of the elastic to the fork is directed toward the eyes of the user, thereby facilitating aiming of the slingshot and increasing the accuracy thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention showing a bolt engaged with the elastic means thereof prior to the stretching of the elastic means.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear end view ofthe embodiment shown in'FIGS. 1 and 2 with the elastic means removed.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1. g g g FIG. 5 is a longitudinalsectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT I Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. While the best known embodiment has been described, the details may be changed without departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims.

Referring to FIGS. 13, one embodiment of the invention has a cast aluminum handgrip 10 which is shaped to be securely gripped by a hand and is preferably cored as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 1 to reduce its weight. A cast alumumim arm 12 is attached to the top of handgrip 10 by means of a pin 14 and screw 16 and extends both forwardly and rearwardly from handgrip 10. The forward end of arm 12 is divided and turned up to form a fork 18 which has two branches 20. The rear end of arm. 12 is widened and flattened to form a forearm brace 22 which is curved as shown in FIG. 3 to comfortably bear against the top of the forearm. Fork 18 and forearm 22 are integrally cast with arm 12.

Two lengths of elastic tubing 24 are attached to the upper ends of fork branches 20 by means of threaded studs 26 (FIG. 6) which are secured to threaded holes 28 in the upper portion of fork branches 20. Studs 26 have tapered annular shoulders 30 (FIG. 6) which are slightly larger in diameter than the inside diameter of elastic tubing 24, which is forced over shoulders 30 as shown in FIG. 6. Pulling the elastic tubing 24 away from stud 26 causes a reduction in the inside diameter of elastic tubing 24 whichcauses the tubing 24 to more securely grip the tapered shoulders 30.

At the other end of elastic tubing 24, plugs 32 (FIG. 6) having tapered annular shoulders 34, similar to shoulders 30, are forced within the end of elastic'tubing 24. Plugs 32 have a central hole 36 through which a length of piano wire 38 passes. Wire 38 is shaped in the form of a V (FIG. 2) and is securely heldwithin plugs 32 by enlarged ends 40 (FIG. 6) which bear against the forward end of plugs 32. Enlarged ends 40 can be formed by mushrooming. the ends of wire 38 after it has been passed through the holes 36 in plugs 32.

The V'-shaped wire 38.is provided to adapt the slingshot for use with bolts 42 such as shown in FIG. 1. Bolt 42 is made of cast aluminum and has an elongated shaft 43 with a hook 44 projecting transversely from its front end. Hook 44 is dimensioned to engage the apex of V- shaped wire 38. The rearend of shaft.43 is'enlarged and flattened to form a vertical tail fin 46 having finger holes 48 therein. Asshown in FIG. 5, tail fin 46 is aerodynamically tapered and serves to stabilize bolt 42 in flight. Tail fin 46 can be oriented horizontally if desired by rotating the position of hook 44 by Also, both horizontal and vertical tail fins could be'used if desired.

The bolt 42 shown in FIG. 1 has a blunt headfor stunning game. For killing game, a broadhead 50 such as shown in FIG. 9 can be employed. Broadhead 50 is attached to a removable head 52 which. is attached by screw threads to a threaded stud 54 on the front end of shaft 43. The blunt stunning head and a target head can missiles held in a pouch such as were used in the past. The increase in accuracy achieved through the use of bolt 42 helps to transform the slingshot from a toy into a hunting weapon. The bolt 42 also provides a mounting and vehicle for the broadhead point 50, which is capable of killing or mortally wounding both small game and large game. The broadhead point 50 cannot be launched from a pouch such as used in the prior art slingshots. The finger holes 48 in bolt 42 also provide a means for drawing the missile back against the heavy forces that are required for killing large game. Through the use of finger holes 48, forces comensurate with those developed by hunting bows can be comfortably supported and smoothly released.

Another important factor which makes the slingshot of this invention a hunting weapon rather than a toy is the fact that fork 18 is supported in a position that is spaced forward of handgrip by a substantial distance A (FIGS. 1 and 7). This increases the distance through which elastic tubing 24 can be drawn back, and thus increases the force that is applied to bolt 42 in the fully stretched condition of elastic 24. The forward displacement A of fork 18 makes it possible to achieve forces that are commensurate with those generated in hunting bows, e.g., pounds or more. This is adequate for killing or mortally wounding deer or bear at reasonable hunting ranges.

For large game, or for small game at long ranges, the increased accuracy and killing power of bolt 42 and broadhead are preferred. However, for stunning small game at short ranges, spherical missiles can be employed through the use of a leather pouch 56 (FIG. 8) which is attached to elastic tubing 24 by slotted plugs 58, the slot in each of the plugs 58 being passed through a corresponding opening in the ends of pouch 56, and each of the plugs 58 having tapered annular shoulders 60 for securely engaging the inside of elastic tubing 24 as described previously in connection with shoulders 30 (FIG. 6) of stud 26. When spherical missiles are used in connection with the slingshot of this invention, an increase in the force applied to the missiles when they are launched is effected through the forward displacement A of fork 18. In addition, an increase in accuracy is also realized through a cocking of the angle of fork 18 with respect to the axis of arm 12 as described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, a line 62 through the attachment points of elastic tubing 24 and fork branches 20 is cocked at an acute angle B to the axis 64 of arm 12, the angle B being selected to orient a central line 66 which is perpendicular to line 62 toward the eyes of the user as shown in FIG. 7 to facilitate aiming of the slingshot and to improve the accuracy thereof. The angle C shown in FIG. 2 between line 62 and line 66 is a right angle. The line 66 passes through the center of line 62 between the attachment points of elastic tubing 24 and fork branches 20 and is the line along which the bolt 42 should be launched for best accuracy. When line 66 is directed toward the aiming eye of the user in his or her natural stance for shooting the slingshot, as shown in FIG. 7, the conditions for maximum accuracy are obtained.

Because of the cocking of line 62 with respect to the axis 64 of arm 12, it is necessary to manufacture different slingshots for right and left handed shooters, the version shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 7 being for right handed shooters, who hold the handgrip 10 in their left hand and the bolt 42 in their right hand. For left handed shooters, the fork 18 is cocked in the opposite direction i.e., toward the left in FIG. 7 rather than toward the right. However, the angle B of cocking is the same in either case. An angle B of approximately 7585is preferred.

As shown in FIG. 1, the axis 68 of handgrip 10 is preferably cocked forwardly at an acute angle D to the axis 64 of arm 12 to match the natural angle at which a human hand holds a grasped cylindrical object with the arm extended. As shown in FIG. 3, the axis 68 of handgrip 10 is also preferably cocked clockwise at an acute angle E to the central tangent plane 70 to forearm brace 22 to match the natural angle at which the human hand holds a grasped cylindrical object with the arm extended. The line 62 between the centers of studs 26, i.e., the attachment points of elastic 24 and fork branches 20, is preferably parallel to the central tangent plane 70 to forearm brace 22 so that line 62 will be horizontal when handgrip 10 is held in a natural position with the arm extended.

Although the handgrip l0, arm 12, fork l8, forearm brace 22 and bolt 42 are made of cast aluminum in the disclosed embodiment, other materials can be used including stainless steel, wood, plastic, etc. The elastic tubing 24 can be rubber or neoprene or the like. Studs 26, plugs 32, wire 38, slotted plugs 58, and broadhead 50 are made of stainless steel or other suitable material.

I claim:

1. In a slingshot including; a handgrip, a fork having branches and located forwardly of the handgrip with respect to a user, an arm connecting the fork and handgrip, a forearm brace attached to said handgrip and extending rearwardly therefrom, an elastic means attached to said arms for propelling a missile therethrough, the terminal end of one of the branches of said fork being positioned more rearwardly toward a user than the other branch, whereby an imaginary line connecting the attachment points of said elastic means is substantially perpendicular to an imaginary line extending to the eyes of a user, said imaginary line connecting the attachment points forming an acute angle with the axis of the arm, thereby facilitating aiming of the slingshot and increasing the accuracy thereof, said forearm brace being curved and there being a central plane tangent to said forearm brace, the axis of said handgrip being cocked forwardly to one side with respect to the axis of said arm and laterally with respect to the central plane.

2. The slingshot of claim 1 wherein said elastic means comprises two lengths of elastic tubing each attached at one end to a corresponding branch of said fork, and further comprising a rigid V-shaped member attached to the other end of said lengths of elastic tubing, and an elongated bolt adapted to be removably engaged in the apex of said V-shaped member to stretch said elastic tubing and propel said bolt through said fork.

3. The slingshot of claim 2 wherein said bolt has a hook projecting transversely from the forward portion thereof for removably engaging the apex of said V- shaped member.

4. The slingshot of claim 2 wherein said bolt has an enlarged, flattened rear end portion which constitutes a tail fin, there being finger holes in said tail fin.

5. The slingshot of claim 4 wherein said tail fin is areodynamically tapered in cross-sectional shape and serves to stabilize said bolt in flight.

6. The slingshot of claim 2 and further comprising a broadhead attached to the front end of said bolt.

Claims

3. The slingshot of claim 2 wherein said bolt has a hook projecting transversely from the forward portion thereof for removably engaging the apex of said V-shaped member.