Those contemplating rule changes or writing a new set of rules/guidelines will need to have documentary evidence to substantiate them.
The information below was collected from various sources on the internet and I cannot say for certainty that they are completely accurate.
Time line for innovations,
Medieval bows prior to the Victorian era and primitive;
Wooden selfbows of varying lengths and cross sections, composite bows such as Asiatic bows, European, Chinese, Inuit and various native societies etc.
Keep in mind the cross pollination of ideas between hunting/field archery and target archery.
Circa 1850-Quote Horace Ford; rigid handle longbows, reflexed longbows, sleeve takedown longbows, bi and tri laminate longbows.
1933 Seefab introduced the first take-apart steel bow.
1934-Patent for Optical Bow Sight [Urquhart Wilcox]
1937-First use of bow-sights in archery competition.
1939-James Easton experiments with making arrow shafts out of aluminium, rather than wood.
1941-Larry Hughes uses aluminium arrows to win the American National (archery) Championship.
1942-Hoyt Archery Co., founded by Earl Hoyt, Jr.
Bow backing and facings.
http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/TF/lw/th ... CATEGORY=3
1946-Easton produces its first trademarked aluminium arrows, the “24 SRT-X”.
1951-Max Hamilton introduces “Plastiflech” vanes to replace feathers.
1953-Bear Archery develops and sells the first working recurve bows.
1953-Rocky Teller advertises his tubular fibreglass arrows.
1953-Solid fiberglass bows advertised.
1954-Elevated arrow rest.
1956-Hoyt Archery develops the first “Pistol grip” bow handle.
1958-Easton develops the “XX7S’ aluminium arrow shaft.
1961-Hoyt Archery introduces the “Torque stabilizer”.
1963- Bob Lee [Wing] introduces the three piece takedown recurve and longbow.
1965-Norm Pint invents the ‘Panic Button’, later to be copied by Vic Berger and marketed as the Berger Button.
1966-Easton develops the “X7” aluminium arrow shaft.
1969-Holless Wilber Allen is granted a patent on his invention of the Compound Bow which he designed 3 or 4 years earlier. His original wheels were triangular in shape.
1970-Compound bows and release aids make their national debut in U.S. national archery competition.
1970 / 1971-Black Widow discontinue production of their one piece recurve bows.
1971-Andy Rimo develops the “flipper” rest.
1971-Flex Fletch manufactures its first soft plastic arrow vanes.
1972-Earl Hoyt; take down archery bow with a mount for a bow stabilizing element.
1974-Freddie Troncoso invents the first dual-prong arrow rest.
1982-Cam wheels on compound bows first appear. Previous wheels where perfectly round.
1983-Easton develops the first carbon arrow shaft.
1985-Patent granted to E. Hoyt Jnr. for ‘Archery Bow having Bow Limb Assembly and Adjustment’ now plagiarised and referred to as ‘ILF’.
1992-Matt McPherson founds Matthews Archery Co., manufacturing bows with single-cam technology.
1995-The Compound Bow is included in the World Target Archery Championship competition for the first time.
The early glass back and belly recurve bows [Smithwick- Jennings, White and Frank Eicholtz etc.] had forward handles with slight reflex in the limbs transitioning into recurved tips. Building deflex into the limbs happened at a later date.
- Jennings_Smithwick Bows.jpg (46.05 KiB) Viewed 9677 times
“The company S&J (Smithwick & Jennings) was based out of N. Hollywood California. Also, their manufacturing plant was based out of Valencia, California. Ultimately, the partnership of S&J split resulting in Smithwick suing Jennings over the patent rights for the bow. Smithwick won the case in court. However, Jennings could not pay, which resulted in the operation being turned over to the bank. Then, the company was purchased from the bank by Fred Bear and his company.”
Daryl.