Patent Application
20070175083
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates broadly to fishing lures. More particularly, this invention relates to flexible segmented lures in the form of a fish.
2. State of the Art
Fishermen have for centuries attempted to design or discover the perfect bait to lure their intended catch to their hook. Fishermen know that fish are instinctively attracted to the movement of live bait. Unfortunately, it is not always possible or convenient for a fisherman to carry or fish with live bait. Further, live bait is more expensive to use, is not always readily available, and is difficult to place on a barbed hook without killing the bait or otherwise greatly reducing its ability or desire to move naturally.
Over the years, fishing equipment manufacturers have made numerous attempts to perfect an artificial fishing lure which simulates characteristics of a variety of types of live bait fish. The lures have been generally carved from wood or molded from rigid plastic to closely simulate the look of the particular bait fish. While manufacturers of such lures have partially succeeded in designing artificial bait with a generally life-like in appearance, there have been a great many more failures than successes in designing a lure which simulates the movements of live bait in actual use. One proposed mechanism to simulate a live bait with a hard motion lure is to provide the lure with several discrete body elements which can articulate relative to each other. U.S. Pat. No. 1,402,798 to Ryan, U.S. Pat. No. 1,557,644 to Andersen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,535,392 to Dale, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,170 to Cole each disclose lures having articulating body elements. Nevertheless, even such lures fail to move in a realistic manner when pulled through the water and project a somewhat clumsy movement.
Co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,286 describes a rigid lure with discrete sections that has been one of the few successful lures of its type. Reasons for its success include its realistic swimming motion when pulled through the water. This is due to a combination of an internal air chamber for upright stability, a particular snap fit hinge assembly between sections, and a rounded shape to the rear portion and flat front adjoining portion to the respective sections of the lure which results in water flow across the lure which results in side-to-side back and forth swimming action. However, hard plastic lures are relatively expensive to manufacture and, if lost, for the angler to replace.
An altogether different type of lure, with its own considerations, is the soft plastic lure, generally molded from a polyvinylchloride or other soft plastic. Soft plastic lures can be molded to be much more realistic in appearance and are less expensive to manufacture. In further distinction from hard plastic lures, soft plastic lures are generally not hinged because they are already flexible. In addition, while they are flexible and move within the water, the movement they have is not particularly fish-like in the water, but rather more similar to worms or flat baits. Further, when such fish-like lures are pulled, they do not generally swim with the fin vertically oriented; i.e., as a fish would normally swim. This is because soft plastic lures are more difficult to provide with upright stability than a rigid lure.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a soft plastic fishing lure which simulates the appearance of a bait fish.
It is another object of the invention to provide a soft plastic fishing lure which simulates the movement of a bait fish when pulled through water.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a soft plastic fishing lure which has upright stability in the water.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a fish luring which is particularly adapted for hooking fish.
In accord with these objects, which will be discussed in detail below, a soft plastic articulating fishing lure is provided which includes a head and a plurality of soft plastic body sections integrally molded with hinge sections. The hinge sections are preferably smaller in height than the respective body sections they join to promote increased swimming action at lower pull speed. Central body sections are preferably molded with relatively rounded back and relatively flatter front to cause the water flow to create swim-like movement of the lure as the lure is pulled through the water.
In one embodiment, the head portion of the lure includes a preferably molded slot which extends diagonally forward from a central portion of the head to preferably slightly forward of an eye location. An insert is provided into the slot and includes an upper eye for attachment of fishing line and a lower eye for attachment of a hook. The insert also includes a weight element which functions as ballast for the lure to maintain the lure in an upright orientation. As the lure is pulled through the water, the lure is pushed by the water against the weight element and the weight element includes a surface which supports the soft plastic of the lure so that the lure swims straight and realistically. In addition, the weight element can be colored to function as an attractant. Furthermore, the insert can easily be removed from the slot in the lure and replaced with insert having different weights and/or colors for different fishing conditions and for functioning as various attractants for fish of different types.
In another embodiment, the head portion of the lure includes a central recess having an upper opening between the sides of the head, a molded wall at the front of the recess, and a hole into the wall. An insert is provided including a hook, a retainer, and a nose weight with a line eye attached at the top thereof. The hook and retainer portion are inserted through the hole, with the hook residing in the recess and the barb engaging the wall to couple the insert within the lure. The nose weight forms the front end of the lure. When fishing line is attached to the line eye and pulled against the fishing lure (e.g., when the lure is struck by a fish), the hook is caused to rotate upwards out of the recess and into the mouth of the fish to hook the fish.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction with the provided figures.
Turning now to
By way of example, in a preferred embodiment, the head portion 12 has a maximum side-to-side thickness of approximately 0.6 inch and the smallest body portion 18 has a maximum side-to-side thickness of approximately 0.35 inch, while the hinge sections 22 have a substantially uniform side-to-side thickness of approximately 0.05 inch. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, the hinge sections 22 are less than 25 percent the thickness of the head and body portions, and substantially 8 to 15 percent the thickness of the head and body portions. In addition, in the preferred example, the hinge sections 22 have a height of approximately 60-85 percent, and most preferably approximately 63-73 percent, the adjoining head, body, or tail portions.
Referring to
Referring back to
In each the main and alternative embodiments, as the lure is pulled through the water, the lure articulates side-to-side. While the lure is made from a flexible material, when pulled through the water the hinges and construction cause the lure to move on itself at the hinge joints only, with the head and body portions functioning as if they are substantially rigid.
The head portion 12 of the lure 10 includes a preferably molded slot 30 which extends diagonally forwards and upwards from a lower central portion of the head to preferably slightly in front of an eye location 32. An insert 34 is provided with a portion in the slot 30 and includes an upper eye 36 for attachment of fishing line and a lower eye 38 for attachment of a hook 40. The first and second eyes 36, 38 are longitudinally and vertically offset such that the first eye 36 is located forward on the lure and vertically above the second eye 38. The insert 34 also includes a weight 42 which functions as ballast for the lure to maintains the lure in an upright orientation. Further, as the lure is pulled through the water, the lure is pushed against the weight 42 and the weight includes an upper surface 44 which supports the soft plastic of the lure so that the lure swims stably and realistically. In addition, the insert 34 and particularly the large weight portion 42 can be colored to function as an attractant. Furthermore, the insert 34 can easily be removed from the slot 30 in the lure and replaced with inserts of different weights and/or colors for different fishing conditions and for functioning as various attractants for fish of different types.
The lure 10 has the appearance of a bait fish, with a narrow width and relatively larger, shallow sides. The lure preferably includes a top fin 46, bottom fin 48, and a tail fin 50, and may include indicia for scales 52, gill openings 54, etc.
Turning now to
Referring to
Preferred materials for manufacturing the lure include polyvinylchloride (PVC) and other soft injectable plastics. The head and body portions as well as hinge sections are preferably comprised of a single plastic material injection molded at a single time. The preferred durometer of the plastic is preferably under 50, more preferably under 40, and most preferably under 30.
There have been described and illustrated herein embodiments of a soft plastic articulating fishing lure. While particular embodiments of the invention have been described, it is not intended that the invention be limited thereto, as it is intended that the invention be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. By way of example, the inserts of either embodiment may be used in a flexible lure that has features different from the lures described and particularly in lures that are non-articulating. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.
