Douglas Jones of Point, Texas, received U.S. Patent 8,088,028 for “Tracking System For Use With An Arrow.”

Texas Business Patent Of The Day:  Arrows that transmit radio signals? A Rains County man developed a way to keep track of your arrows, wherever you shoot them.

Douglas Jones of Point, Texas, received U.S. Patent 8,088,028 for “Tracking System For Use With An Arrow.”

Jones filed for the patent on April 13, 2010.

 Jones’ invention relates generally to tracking devices and, more particularly, to a tracking system for use with an arrow such that the arrow may be located and retrieved after being shot with a bow or crossbow, according to the patent document.

Bow hunters have a desire to locate and retrieve arrows that have been shot while hunting, especially because of the expense of replacement arrows and also for the convenience of not having to acquire new arrows.

In addition, most hunters consider it inhumane to allow an animal to wander away with an arrow lodged in its body after being shot.

Locating shot arrows can be very difficult in that a hunting arrow may include a camouflage color pattern that blends in with surrounding brush, the arrow may have traveled a relatively long distance after missing its intended target, or the arrow is lodged in an animal that is able to run away--the arrow being most likely to stay in the animal if shot quartering away). 

Various devices have been proposed in the art for tracking the location of a shot arrow. Although effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices and patent proposals do not provide a serialized radio insert assembly as well as a separate handheld tracking unit capable of tracking multiple arrows simultaneously and without confusion. 

Jones found it to be desirable to have a tracking system for use with an arrow that includes a transmitter positioned in a housing that is capable of insertion into an arrow.

In addition, Jones found it desirable to have a tracking system having a receiver positioned in a case for receiving signals from the transmitter indicative of a location of the transmitter.

In addition, Jones found it desirable to have a tracking system that is able to track multiple arrows according to respective unique identifiers. 

Jones’ invention is a tracking system for use with an arrow having a shaft and arrowhead includes a housing having first and second separable portions that define an interior area.

A transmitter is operatively coupled to one of the portions and positioned in the interior area when coupled together.

A first anchor is configured to be coupled to the shaft and the housing first end. A second anchor is configured to be coupled to the arrowhead and the housing second end. A fastener selectively couples the first and second portions together. A switch activates automatically when the fastener is moved to couple the first and second portions together and causes the transmitter to activate.

The system includes a tracking unit having a receiver, display, processor, and programming to indicate a location of the transmitter based on signal received by the receiver from the transmitter. Data received from the transmitter may include an identifier. 

Jones’ tracking system  includes a processor for determining a position of the transmitter based on signals received by the receiver and displays the position of the arrow.