Patent Application
20240292816
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to fish stringer devices and more particularly pertains to a new fish stringer device for stringing fish together to anchor the fish while retaining the fish in water and to carry the fish.
The prior art provides myriad examples of fish stringer devices which attach fish onto the device for carrying the fish and for maintaining them in a secured location in the water to keep them alive. These devices are typically structured to string the fish onto separate clips which are all attached to another structural element or to string the fish onto a cord separated by some sort of spacer. Most pertinently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,809 discloses a fish stringer device which includes a clasp that is arranged to form a closed loop with a line on which the fish are strung. The clasp hooks onto a loop in the line. A second cord is attached to the clasp and includes a rigid member for anchoring the device to a ground surface. The cords in this device have different structures given their different purposes.
The prior art does not disclose a fish stringer device with a clasp and at least a pair of cords, each of which can be used to form a loop with the clasp to store strung fish and each of which can be driven into a ground surface to anchor the device. Such an arrangement provides redundancy that is advantageous in the case of damage to one of the cords, and also allows for additional capacity for fish if an alternative anchoring means is used. The prior art also fails to provide for the use of kernmantle rope for the cords, which is less likely to cause lacerations, abrasions, or pain to a user from handling cords of alternative materials such as fishing line.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a clasp with a body and a gate. The clasp has an aperture which is bounded by the body and the gate, and the gate is movable with respect to the body to open and close the aperture on a peripheral edge of the aperture. Each threading member of a pair of threading members is coupled to and extends away from the clasp. Each threading member of the pair of threading members comprises a cord and a pin. The cord is coupled to and extends away from the clasp. The pin is rigid and is coupled to a free end of the cord. The pin is configured for threading through a mouth and a gill of a fish. The pin is also configured for being driven into a ground surface. The clasp is engageable with a selected threading member of the pair of threading members such that the selected threading member forms a closed loop with the clasp. The pin of the selected threading member is shaped to be retainable against the clasp when the clasp engages the selected threading member to form the closed loop.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
Each threading member 22 of a pair of threading members 22 is coupled to and extends away from the clasp 12. Each threading member 22 of the pair of threading members 22 comprises a cord 24 and a pin 26. The cord 24 is coupled to and extends away from the clasp 12. The cord 24 is tied to the body 14 of the clasp 12. The cord 24 also comprises a kernmantle rope 28. Kernmantle rope 28 is rope which is constructed with a core which withstands loads placed on the rope and a sheath surrounding the core which protects the core from abrasion. The sheath can also act as a buffer between the core and a user's hands to protect the user's hands from lacerations, abrasions, or other injuries that could be caused by the core. The kernmantle rope 28 used in the present invention may be 550 paracord, which is constructed of nylon and is specified to have a minimum tensile strength of 550 pounds. The pin 26 is rigid and is coupled to a free end 30 of the cord 24. The pin 26 is configured for threading through a mouth 34 and a gill 36 of a fish 32. The pin 26 is also configured for being driven into a ground surface 38. The pin 26 has a closed loop end 40 which is coupled to the free end 30 of the cord 24.
The clasp 12 is engageable with a selected threading member 22 of the pair of threading members 22 such that the selected threading member 22 forms a closed loop 42 with the clasp 12. The pin 26 of the selected threading member 22 is shaped to be retainable against the clasp 12 when the clasp 12 engages the selected threading member 22 to form the closed loop 42. The closed loop end 40 of the pin 26 of the selected threading member 22 has a size such that the pin 26 of the selected threading member 22 is retainable against the clasp 12 when the clasp 12 engages the selected threading member 22 to form the closed loop 42.
A handle 44 is also coupled to and extends away from the clasp 12. The handle 44 has a closed loop end 40 distal from the clasp 12 for hanging the fish stringer apparatus 10. The handle 44 also comprises the kernmantle rope 28 and may be tied in a coil between the clasp 12 and the closed loop end 46 of the handle 44 to achieve a greater width than the handle 44 would otherwise have for improved grip.
In use, the selected threading member 22 is threaded through the mouth 34 and the gill 36 of the fish 32 to keep the fish 32 secured to the fish stringer apparatus 10. The clasp 12 is placed in engagement with the selected threading member 22 to form the closed loop 42 such that the fish 32 does not become removed from the selected threading member 22. The fish 32 is placed in water 48 to keep the fish 32 alive while being strung on the fish stringer apparatus 10, and the pin 26 of the other threading member 22 of the pair of threading members 22 is driven into the ground surface 38 to anchor the fish stringer apparatus 10. The pair of threading members 22 are interchangeably usable for either stringing the fish 32 or anchoring the fish stringer apparatus 10. Multiple fish 32 may be strung on the selected threading member 22. Both threading members 22 may be used to string fish 32 if an alternative anchoring means is used.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
