Safety trigger for a crossbow
First Claim
1. A trigger assembly for a crossbow, the trigger assembly comprising:
- (a) a caliper moveable between a firing position and a non-firing position, the caliper being arranged in its non-firing position to retain a bowstring of the crossbow and arranged in its firing position to release the bowstring;
(b) a trigger mechanism moveable between a firing arrangement and a non-firing arrangement, the trigger mechanism being arranged in its non-firing arrangement to hold the caliper in its non-firing position, and arranged in its firing arrangement to enable the caliper to move to its firing position;
(c) a safety mechanism moveable between a safety-off arrangement and a safety-on arrangement, the safety mechanism being arranged in its safety-on arrangement so as to block movement of the trigger mechanism into its firing arrangement, and arranged in its safety-off arrangement so as to allow movement of the trigger mechanism into its firing arrangement; and
(d) a bolt sensor moveable between a bolt-present position and a bolt-absent position and biased toward the bolt-absent position, the bolt sensor being arranged to remain in its bolt-absent position in response to its bias in the absence of a bolt loaded onto the crossbow and to be held in its bolt-present position against its bias by a bolt loaded onto the crossbow, the bolt sensor being arranged in its bolt-absent position to bias the safety mechanism toward its safety-on arrangement and arranged in its bolt-present position to allow unbiased movement of the safety mechanism into its safety-off arrangement.
15 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A trigger assembly for a crossbow comprises a caliper, a trigger mechanism, a safety mechanism, and a bolt sensor. The caliper retains or releases a bowstring. The trigger mechanism holds the caliper against its bias to retain the bowstring, or releases the caliper to release the bowstring and fire the crossbow. The safety mechanism in a safety-on arrangement blocks the trigger mechanism or in a safety-off arrangement enables movement of the trigger mechanism. The bolt sensor biases the safety mechanism toward its safety-on arrangement when no bolt is present, or is held against its bias by a bolt to enable movement of the safety mechanism into its safety-off arrangement.
98 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A trigger assembly for a crossbow, the trigger assembly comprising:
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(a) a caliper moveable between a firing position and a non-firing position, the caliper being arranged in its non-firing position to retain a bowstring of the crossbow and arranged in its firing position to release the bowstring; (b) a trigger mechanism moveable between a firing arrangement and a non-firing arrangement, the trigger mechanism being arranged in its non-firing arrangement to hold the caliper in its non-firing position, and arranged in its firing arrangement to enable the caliper to move to its firing position; (c) a safety mechanism moveable between a safety-off arrangement and a safety-on arrangement, the safety mechanism being arranged in its safety-on arrangement so as to block movement of the trigger mechanism into its firing arrangement, and arranged in its safety-off arrangement so as to allow movement of the trigger mechanism into its firing arrangement; and (d) a bolt sensor moveable between a bolt-present position and a bolt-absent position and biased toward the bolt-absent position, the bolt sensor being arranged to remain in its bolt-absent position in response to its bias in the absence of a bolt loaded onto the crossbow and to be held in its bolt-present position against its bias by a bolt loaded onto the crossbow, the bolt sensor being arranged in its bolt-absent position to bias the safety mechanism toward its safety-on arrangement and arranged in its bolt-present position to allow unbiased movement of the safety mechanism into its safety-off arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A trigger assembly for a crossbow, the trigger assembly comprising:
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(a) a sear moveable between a firing position and a non-firing position and biased toward the non-firing position; (b) a hammer moveable between a firing position and a non-firing position and biased toward the firing position; (c) a safety mechanism moveable between a safety-on arrangement and a safety-off arrangement; (d) a bolt sensor moveable between a bolt-absent position and a bolt-present position and biased toward the bolt-absent position; (e) a jam moveable between a firing position and a non-firing position and biased toward the non-firing position; (f) a trigger sear moveable between a firing position and a non-firing position; and (g) a caliper mounted on a carrier reciprocally moveable along the crossbow between a drawn position and a rest position, the caliper being moveable between a firing position and a non-firing position and biased toward the firing position, wherein; the jam and the trigger sear are mounted on the carrier; the caliper is arranged in its non-firing position to retain a bowstring of the crossbow, and arranged in its firing position to release the bowstring; the jam and the trigger sear are arranged and engaged in their respective non-firing positions to hold the caliper in its non-firing position against its bias, and arranged in their respective firing positions to enable the caliper to move in response to its bias to its firing position; the hammer is arranged, with the carrier in its drawn position, to hit the jam as the hammer moves from its non-firing position to its firing position to disengage the jam from the trigger sear, thereby enabling the jam and trigger sear to move to their respective firing positions in response to the caliper bias; the sear is arranged in its non-firing position to hold the hammer in its non-firing position against its bias, and arranged in its firing position to enable the hammer to move to its firing position in response to its bias; the safety mechanism is arranged in its safety-on arrangement to block movement of the sear to its firing position, and arranged in its safety-off arrangement to enable movement of the sear to its firing position; the bolt sensor is arranged in its bolt-absent position to bias the safety mechanism toward its safety-on arrangement, and arranged in its bolt-present position to enable unbiased movement of the safety mechanism to its safety-off arrangement; and the bolt sensor is arranged to remain in its bolt-absent position in response to its bias in the absence of a bolt loaded onto the crossbow, and arranged to be held in its bolt-present position against its bias by a bolt loaded onto the crossbow. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A trigger assembly for a crossbow, the trigger assembly comprising:
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a string retainer movable between a non-firing arrangement and a firing arrangement, the string retainer being arranged in its non-firing arrangement to retain a bowstring of the crossbow and arranged in its firing arrangement to release the bowstring; a trigger mechanism moveable between a firing arrangement and a non-firing arrangement, the trigger mechanism being arranged in its non-firing arrangement to maintain the string retainer in its non-firing arrangement, the trigger mechanism being arranged in its firing arrangement to allow the string retainer to move to its firing arrangement; a safety mechanism moveable between a safety-off arrangement and a safety-on arrangement, the safety mechanism being arranged in its safety-on arrangement so as to block movement of the trigger mechanism into its firing arrangement, the safety mechanism being arranged in its safety-off arrangement so as to allow movement of the trigger mechanism into its firing arrangement; and a bolt sensor moveable between a bolt-absent arrangement and a bolt-present arrangement and biased toward the bolt-absent arrangement, the bolt sensor being arranged in its bolt-absent arrangement to bias the safety mechanism toward its safety-on arrangement, the bolt sensor being arranged in its bolt-present arrangement to allow movement of the safety mechanism to its safety-off arrangement, the bolt sensor being arranged (i) to remain in its bolt-absent arrangement in response to its bias in the absence of a bolt loaded onto the crossbow, (ii) to move against its bias to its bolt-present arrangement upon loading of a bolt onto the crossbow, (iii) to be held against its bias in its bolt-present arrangement by a bolt loaded into the crossbow, and (iv) to move in response to its bias to its bolt-absent position upon removal of a loaded bolt from the crossbow.
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Specification