Handheld String Pullers for Crossbow Cocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crossbow cocking devices, such as rope and crank cockers, require significant physical effort and modification of the crossbow, and involve cumbersome reset procedures, necessitating a more efficient and comfortable cocking mechanism.
Innovation Solution
A pair of separate, unconnected handheld string pullers with rigid hooking arms and fixed hooks are used to engage and pull the bow string rearwardly into the crossbow latch, eliminating the need for pulleys and flexible ropes, and allowing for repeated cocking with reduced physical stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If unaided manual cocking is used, then no additional apparatus is needed, but significant physical strength and hand discomfort are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces handheld string pullers as intermediary tools between the user and the bow string. These pullers feature rigid hooking arms with hook features that engage the bow string, allowing the user to pull the string rearwardly into engagement with the latch. The pullers act as force-transmitting intermediaries that reduce direct hand contact with the string and distribute the cocking force more effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The cocking apparatus is segmented into two completely separate, unconnected handheld string pullers rather than using a single integrated device. Each puller is independently held in a closed-fisted manner and performs the same function. This segmentation allows for easier handling, reduced weight per unit, and the ability to replace or lose one puller without affecting the other.
2Ease of operation
If rope cockers or crank cockers are used, then physical exertion is reduced, but device complexity and modification requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential cocking function from complex integrated systems (rope cockers with pulleys, crank cockers with mounting mechanisms) and implements it through simple handheld pullers. By removing the pulley system, rope routing mechanisms, and crank mounting requirements, the solution retains the force-reducing benefit while eliminating the associated complexity and modification needs.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of mounting a cocking mechanism onto the crossbow stock (as with crank cockers), the patent inverts the approach by providing portable handheld tools that the user brings to the crossbow. The pullers are not permanently attached but are temporarily used and then removed, reversing the traditional mounting paradigm.
3Ease of operation
If rope cockers or crank cockers are used, then cocking is facilitated, but reset procedures are cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The handheld string pullers are designed to be self-contained tools that require no resetting or reconfiguration between uses. Unlike rope cockers that require rerouting the rope across the brace point or crank cockers that require unwinding, the pullers maintain their functional configuration throughout. The user simply picks up the pullers, engages them with the bow string, performs the cocking action, and then removes them for storage.
Data Source
AI summary
A crossbow cocking apparatus comprises a pair of completely separate, unconnected, handheld string pullers, each comprising a hand grip holdable in a closed-fisted manner in a respective hand of a user, and a rigid hooking arm reaching outwardly therefrom and carrying a hook feature thereon at a fixed position relative to the hand grip for hooked engagement with the bow string. While holding a respective one of the string pullers in each hand, a user hooks the bow string with the two string pullers on opposite sides of a stock of the crossbow, and draws the bow string rearwardly along the stock into engagement with a latch of the crossbow.