STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH Not applicable TECHNICAL FIELD The subject invention relates to archery bows, and particularly to a device for damping the vibration and sound generated in the process of drawing and releasing the bow string.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The bowstring on an archery bow is under a great deal of tension when the bow is in the braced condition. The bowstring carries at least a portion of the load required to bring the bow limbs to the brace position. In the case of the compound bow the bowstring carries the greatest portion of the load imposed between the bows limb tips in the brace condition with the secondary cables carrying the remainder. On recurve bows the bowstring is subjected to the entire load imposed between the bows limb tips. As such when the bowstring is displaced at or near its center and released it vibrates like a string on a musical instrument sending vibrations into the strings attachment points as well as creating noise by displacing the air around it.

A number of innovations have been directed at reducing the noise associated with these residual string vibrations associated with shooting a bow. In some cases attachments have been placed on the bowstring at various locations in an attempt to lessen or dampen these vibrations and the associated noise level. Some of these items with such names as Bear Puffs, Spider legs and String Leaches are well known to those in the sport as accessories that can be attached to the bowstring to reduce string noise.

Another means to reduce bow string vibration is disclosed in United States Patent No. 4,061, 125 titled"BOWSTRING POSITIONING DEVICE". The'125 patent shows an arm which extends rearwardly from the bow handle having a resilient member mounted on the extended end which engages the bowstring in the bows braced position. Along these same lines United States Patent No. 4,461, 267 titled"COMPOUND BOW"shows the use of two similar devices extending reward from the bow handle and intercepting the bowstring. While these devices were rather efficient at damping the bow strings vibrations that would otherwise been transmitted into the bow handle, the resiliency of the bumpers themselves did little to reduce the string noise and in most cases amplified rather than reduced the string noise. U. S. Patent No.

5,720, 269 titled"BOWSTRING SOUND DAMPENER"operates similar to the previously mentioned patents but provides a better means of arresting the bowstring so as to reduce string noise. All three patents'125, '267 and'269 are forms of string bumpers that engage the bowstring near the bowstrings center point in an area where the bowstring is traveling the fastest during arrow launch and all three string bumpers stop the forward progress of the bowstring at the brace position making separation of the arrow from the bowstring abrupt and premature.

While the string bumpers of the'125 and'269 patents tend to reduce the shock and vibrations felt

at the bow hand when shooting they did very little to reduce string noise and in most cases aggravated that problem. The initial impact point of the bowstring on these bow handle mounted bumpers tends to be laterally inconsistent and results in effecting shooting accuracy adversely.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Applicants have solved the problem identified above with a bowstring vibration and noise suppressor. The vibration and noise suppressor is carried by a support having an attachment device at an end of the support for attachment to a limb of an archery bow. The support carries the vibration and noise suppressor which is configured and arranged to suppress vibration and noise created by the bowstring when launching an arrow.

The attachment device can be a U-shaped bracket designed to attach to the tip of a limb. The attachment device could also be a bracket shaped to attach to one side of the limb tip, either by gluing or with set screws. The vibration and noise suppressor can be an elastomer, such as a rubber or urethane and may also be solid or semi-solid, such as a gel material.

The support may be made of aluminum, plastic or a composite material, such as fiberglass, carbon composite or carbon laminate, or any other desired material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING A detailed description of the invention is hereafter described with specific reference being made to the drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of an archery bow with the inventive noise and vibration suppressor;

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the attachment bracket of the inventive noise and vibration suppressor, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the groove of the noise and vibration suppressor material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION While this invention may be embodied in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and described in detail herein specific preferred embodiments of the invention.

The present disclosure is an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments illustrated.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an archery bow is shown generally at 10, which is comprised of a handle 12; first and second bow limbs 14 and 16; a pulley 18; a cam 20, and a bowstring 22, as is well known in the art. The inventive noise and vibration suppressors 24 are shown attached to the tip of each of the limbs 14 and 16.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the noise and vibration suppressor 24 is made of a curved support section 26 and a U-shaped bracket 27 which fits over the tip of a bow limb. The support 26 may be rigid or flexible, with the flexible support aiding in absorbing vibration. The noise and vibration suppressing material is shown at 28 and the support section 26 is configured to place the material 28 into contact with the bowstring when the bowstring is in the rest position.

The support section 26 and U-shaped bracket 27 are made of rigid aluminum in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. However, it should be understood that the support section 26 and U-shaped bracket 27 could be made of any desired material, such as aluminum, plastic or a composite material, such as fiberglass, carbon composite or carbon laminate. The U-shaped bracket 27 is bolted through the limb to attach it to the limb (not shown). Bracket 27 could also be glued to the limb or attached with set screws. Although a U-shaped bracket is shown in FIG.

2, it should be understood that the attachment bracket could take the form of a section which is merely glued or screwed to a single side of the bow limb. A vibration absorbing material layer

(not shown) may also be inserted between the bracket 27 and the bow limb to prevent vibration from occurring between the bracket and bow limb.

The noise and vibration suppressing material 28 may be any elastomer, such as rubber or urethane, and may be either solid or semi-solid, such as a gel material. Applicant is currently using a formulation sold by RTP Company, 580 East Front Street Winona, MN, 55987, USA called #2799 SX 96204, which is a styrenic thermoplastic elastomer having a 30 durometer (30 Shore A).

As best seen in FIG. 3, the material 28 is formed with a groove 30 which receives the bowstring 22. Also it can be seen in FIG. 3 that the material 28 is held in an opening 34 in support 26. The material 28 may either be mechanically retained in opening 34 or it may be attached using adhesives or other well known attachment methods. Support 26 also has cut-outs to reduce the weight of the support 26.

As seen in FIG. 1, the inventive noise and vibration suppressors may be used at both ends of the bowstring, or they may be used at a single end of the bow string. The inventive noise and vibration suppressors may be utilized on any type of archery bow, such as compound bows; crossbows, or recurve bows.

The above examples and disclosure are intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. These examples and description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this art. All these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the attached claims. Those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.