US 11,768,051 B2
Trigger assembly for a crossbow
Kyle William Egerdee, Fergus (CA); Stephen Donald Langdon, Arthur (CA); Cole J. Jessup, Waterloo (CA); and Robert G. Dykeman, Moffat (CA)
Assigned to EXCALIBUR CROSSBOW, LLC, Eugene, OR (US)
Filed by Excalibur Crossbow, Inc., Eugene, OR (US)
Filed on Sep. 13, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/472,918.
Application 17/472,918 is a division of application No. 16/835,249, filed on Mar. 30, 2020, granted, now 11,143,482.
Prior Publication US 2021/0404762 A1, Dec. 30, 2021
Int. Cl. F41B 5/12 (2006.01)
CPC F41B 5/126 (2013.01) 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A multiple-trigger assembly trigger mechanism for a crossbow, the trigger mechanism comprising:
(a) a first trigger assembly comprising:
(i) a first string catch movable between retention and release positions and biased toward the release position, the first string catch being arranged so as to (1) retain a first drawn bowstring of the crossbow while in the retention position, and (2) release the first drawn bowstring upon biased movement to the release position;
(ii) a first sear movable between firing and non-firing positions and biased toward the non-firing position, the first sear being arranged so as to hold the first string catch in the retention position while in the non-firing position, and to permit biased movement of the first string catch to the release position upon movement to the firing position;
(iii) a first trigger actuator movable between actuated and non-actuated positions, the first trigger actuator being linked to the first sear so as to move the first sear to the firing position upon movement from the non-actuated position to the actuated position; and
(iv) a first anti-dry-fire mechanism that includes (1) a first bolt sensor movable between a bolt-absent position and a bolt-present position, and (2) a linearly reciprocating first sear latch movable between a latched position and an unlatched position and biased toward the latched position;
(b) a second trigger assembly;
wherein:
(c) the first anti-dry-fire mechanism is arranged so as to (i) prevent movement of the first trigger actuator to the actuated position without a bolt present on a first rail of the crossbow, and (ii) permit movement of the first trigger actuator to the actuated position only with a bolt present on the first rail;
(d) the first bolt sensor is pivotably coupled to the first sear latch so that (i) with the first bolt sensor in the bolt-absent position, the first sear latch is held in the latched position by bias force thereon, and (ii) with the first bolt sensor held in the bolt-present position, the first sear latch is held in the unlatched position against the bias force thereon;
(e) with the first drawn bowstring retained by the first string catch and with no bolt positioned on the first rail, the first bolt sensor is in the bolt-absent position, and the first sear latch is held by the bias force thereon in the latched position and prevents movement of the first sear and movement of the first trigger actuator to the actuated position; and
(f) with the first drawn bowstring retained by the first string catch and with a bolt positioned on the first rail, the first bolt sensor is held in the bolt-present position, and the first sear latch is held against the bias force thereon in the unlatched position and permits movement of the first sear and movement of the first trigger actuator to the actuated position.