Compound archery bows typically have a bowstring, on which an arrow may be nocked, along with one or more portions of cable other than the bowstring extending between the limbs of the bow. Such cable portions, sometimes referred to as “power cables”, are generally located at least partly within or close to an operating plane of the bowstring. The power cables thus interfere with shooting arrows.
In order to provide adequate room for the arrow, it is conventional practice to mount a cable guard on the bow to engage the central portions of the power cables and to displace them laterally a sufficient distance to one side of the operating plane of the bowstring to avoid interference with an arrow. One drawback associated with conventional cable guards is that, in displacing the center of a power cable laterally from its straight line position, they introduce a lateral component to the force exerted by the power cable against the limbs. This lateral torque not only decreases the accuracy of arrow flight, but also causes twisting of the limbs, cams, wheels and/or handle, and thereby contributes adversely to shortening their useful life. Conventional cable guards also cause the power cables to feed on and off of the cams and wheels at an angle. This may sometimes lead to the power cables becoming dislodged from the cams and/or wheels.
There exist a number of prior art systems, other than cable guards, for preventing the power cables from interfering with the shooting of arrows from compound bows. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,915 to Kulacek and No. 6,729,320 to Terry, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/968,459 to Evans.
The inventor has determined a need for further systems which do not require cable guards to prevent power cables from interfering with the flight of arrows.