1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, the sliding c-weight, has particular utility in connection with fishing tackle by having a fishing weight that fishing line is inserted through two ends with bores and the sliding c-weight could be utilized to serve different functions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The bottom fish rig which is the parent patent has a c-weight as a component of the invention. The c-weight is a fishing sinker shaped like a “C”. The sliding c-weight could be used independently on a fishing line like a sinker or made as a component of a fishing rig. The sliding c-weight is unique by having attributes that most other fishing sinkers do not possess. The “C” shaped sinker and the bores on both ends causes the weight to slide freely down a fishing line, or with a wrap of the fishing line or leader around its central hull, to become a stationary fishing sinker that is more versatile and easier to use that other fishing weights. One embodiment is a solid weight made of various metals or alloys, including but not limited to iron, tin, zinc, or silicone compounds. Another embodiment has a hollow hull that materials could be inserted to give the c-weight special effects.
An investigation of bait stores, sporting goods stores, internet catalogues and fishing books did not find or reveal a sliding c-weight. A sliding c-weight is new, unique and performs differently from the usual fishing tackle that is used to lower fishing line to the bottom: walking sinkers, lead bait-walker sinkers, bank sinkers, dollar sinkers, disc sinkers, pyramid weights, triangular weights, one-eyed sinkers, cannonball sinkers, mushroom sinkers, grapnel sinkers, and snap-lock sinker are usually secured to the fishing line by tying with a square knots or other specialized knots. The sliding c-weight is unlike other fishing weights that are crimped to the fishing lines such as split shots, rubber-grip sinkers, dipsy sinker, and clasp, clinch or pinch-on sinkers.
Another embodiment, the removable sliding c-weight has an appearance and features different from other fishing tackle, such as worm slip sinkers, sliding bullet sinkers, egg-sinkers, longhorn sinkers, pencil sinkers, and elongated salt-water lead sinkers with two bronze eyelets on the opposite ends, keel trolling sinkers, crescent-shaped trolling sinkers, bead chain trolling sinkers, torpedo sinkers, molded-on lead sinkers, diving sinkers, and the like. These commercial weights are usually attached to a fishing line by passing the line through an opening, as in the egg sinkers, while other sinkers are usually intended to be stationary by tying specialized knots after the fishing line is wrapped around the eyelet. To remove these weights a fisherman usually has to cut the line. Other lighter weights such as split shots have to be crimped with a tool, such as pliers, to be effective stationary weights. In the prior art none of the patents displayed or illustrated an embodiment like the sliding c-weight.
A removable fishing sinker by Baron, U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,599 has a body made of heavy metal with a sleeve made of a light plastic material in which fishing line is inserted and jammed between a sleeve and sinker body into a long central slot. Although the egg-shaped removable fishing sinker could slide freely over the fishing line or could be mounted fixed on a fishing line, Baron's sinker has at least 3 individual components, in contrast to the one piece removable c-weight, excluding the hull plug of one embodiment. The removable c-weight is more durable, costs less and is easier to produce than the removable fishing sinker.
Lippincott also used an elastmor insert within an environmentally safe weighing attachment for a fishing line to obtain U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,297. It has multiple components and is unlike the one piece removable c-weight, excluding the hull plug of one embodiment.
The saltwater sinker by Gilliam, U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,212 has the shape of an egg sinker but it is designed to stay stationary upon the fishing line by wrapping the leader or line around a crotch and by crimping its locking arms. In contrast to the present invention, the one piece removable c-weight attaches quickly, is more durable, costs less and is easier to produce than Gilliam's sinker.
The fishing rig and sinker by Firmin, U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,386, resembles two cones abutting at the wide ends with a narrow connecting waist. Firmin's patent has a hollow double barreled sinker through which fishing line is threaded. Although Firmin's sinker could be moved along the fishing line without untying knots, the sinker becomes permanently attached to the fishing line and it does not have the capability to be easily attached and removed as the removable sliding c-weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,177,007 to Smith discloses a complicated releasable sinker having weigh changing means. In Smith's patent the sinker is released to slide down the line and encounter the lure. Smith has a cylindrical bore slip sinker or egg sinker held into a carrier tube by a frictional locking device that fits into a slot in the wall of the egg sinker. Smith's patent has the egg sinker that is different from the sliding c-weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,883,574 to Cleeland discloses a sinker that attaches to fishing line without parting the line. Cleeland's lead sinker has a streamline body with wire coils on each end and a frictional groove spiral around the body; Cleeland's patent does not have a central bore and does not slide. Cleeland's patent does not look like, or function like, the sliding c-weight.
Yet further another slip sinker patent that at first seems similar, but operated differently is, U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,525 to Metzler which discloses a removable fishing weight. However, in Metzler's patent the fishing line has to be inserted through nylon or plastic tube before the weight is attached and it is essential to make the sinker removable. In contrast to this invention, the sliding c-weight is basically one piece that is easier to apply in the field and to manufacture.
Yet further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,508 to Snyder discloses a beaded fishing lure having a weighted body molded to a fish hook that includes a beaded trailer hook. A flapper piece oscillates with lure movement about a projecting extension of the hook shank to strike the body and produce audible sound. The flapper is secured to the body with a split ring at aligned apertures and from a slot which mounts about the hook extension. The eye of the trailer hook is secured to the shank of the primary hook and a bead is molded to the trailer hook. A variety of dressings mount to the bead including multi-filament skirts and molded plastic tails. However, the Snyder '508 patent does not have the ability to be easily attached and removed as the removable sliding c-weight.
Patents have been issued for different types of sinkers that do not resemble the sliding c-weight. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,170,191 and 5,918,408 went to Laney for the diving fishing weight which has fins and functions differently than the sliding c-weight. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,325,136 and D458,982 S, were issued to Ratte who made a fishing sinker and its mold for a bismuth and bismuth alloy fishing sinker. These sinkers resemble large split shots and clamp onto the fishing line and functions differently than the sliding c-weight. Strampe made a tip and slip bottom bouncer, U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,493, that looks like a large wire U-loop with a weight and the entire apparatus is attached to a fishing line. In contrast to this invention, the sliding c-weight is basically one piece that is more compact, simple to apply in the field and to manufacture.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,305,121 and 6,145,240 to Adams discloses a fishing sinker having a body with a buoyant portion having a density less than water and a weighted potion with a density greater than water. Adams' fishing sinker has a body formed or molded around an elongated wire. Although it has a central wire with loops at opposite ends the sinker does not have the ability to be easily attached and removed as the removable sliding c-weight.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe an invention that functions and is shaped like the sliding c-weight, which is basically a one piece sinker that is more compact, simple to apply in the field, and to manufacture. Beside the prior art and aforementioned patents, the present invention has components that are nonobvious, novel, useful, and an improvement over other inventions in the field. A removable sliding weight is novel by itself individually and when used as a component in the parent invention, the bottom fish rig.
A c-weight 25 is a fishing sinker shaped like a “C. The sliding c-weight is unique by having two attributes that most other fishing sinkers do not possess, it slides freely and it could be fixed at a specific location on the fishing line. The c-weight 25 has three main sections, a first end 28, a c-weight hull 26, and a second end 34. The c-weight 25 has a first end 28 with a first bore there through 30. The c-weight 25 has a c-weight hull 26 in the central and lower middle section with an optional longitudinal groove 40 that connects with the first end 28 and the second end 34. The c-weight 25 has a second end 34 with a second bore there through 36.
A preferred embodiment is a removable sliding c-weight. The removable c-weight 25 has a first slot 32 connected to a first bore 30. The c-weight 25 has a second slot 38 as shown in
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of fishing tackle now present in the prior art, the present embodiment of the invention provides an improved sliding c-weight, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present embodiment of the invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved bottom fish rig and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a sliding c-weight which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
The prior art of record neither discloses nor fairly teaches the recited limitations of the claimed combination including, but not limited to a c-weight, individually, or as a component of the parent patent, the bottom fish rig.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the embodiment of the invention 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, of course, additional features of the present embodiment of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present embodiment of the invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present embodiment of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the embodiment of the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present embodiment of the invention.
Objects and Advantages
It is therefore an object of the present embodiment of the invention to provide a new and improved sliding c-weight that has all of the advantages of the prior art fishing tackle and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present embodiment of the invention to provide a new and improved sliding c-weight that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present embodiment of the invention is to provide a new and improved sliding c-weight that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such sliding c-weight economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present embodiment of the invention is to provide a new sliding c-weight that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Another object of the present embodiment of the sliding c-weight is its novel features, consisting of attributes that most other fishing sinkers do not possess, it slides freely or it could be fixed at a specific location on the fishing line.
Yet another object of the sliding c-weight could be used independently on a fishing line like a sinker or made as a component of a fishing rig.
An object of the present invention is to provide a useful and unique sinker with two ends that are arched or angled to cause the sliding c-weight to slide like a sled while being used.
Another object of the removable sliding c-weight in this invention is to be easily installed without any tool, and is removed from the fishing line quicker than the common fishing tackle sinkers without cutting the fishing line or the leader to which it is attached.
Another object of the present invention is to create a solid weight made of various metals or alloys, including but not limited to iron, tin, zinc, or silicone compounds.
Even still another object of the present embodiment of the invention is to provide a sliding c-weight for fishing tackle having various removable sliding weights made of different products having various sizes, shapes and styles.
Another object of the present invention is to construct a hollow removable sliding c-weight that could have many different objects and substances inserted into its hollow hull to affect the rate of descent and to attract fish to the fishing line.
Lastly, both embodiments, solid or with a hollow hull, could be made as a sliding c-weight or a removable sliding c-weight which is still another object of the present embodiment of the invention.
These together with other objects of the embodiment of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the embodiment of the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the embodiment of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrations of the preferred embodiments of the invention.
The embodiment of the invention 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:
The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.
Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to
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The sliding c-weight 25 in FIGS. 11 to 13 are made without slots and are not easily removed as the previous embodiments; however they are constructed to be made cheaper and quicker. The sliding c-weight 25 in FIGS. 11 to 13 will work effectively with commercial rigs. In
The sliding c-weight 25 in
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The bottom fish rig, which is the parent patent, has a c-weight as a component of the invention. A c-weight is a fishing sinker shaped like a “C” and this patent has various embodiments. A c-weight in this patent has an embodiment that has two bores without slots in which a fishing line has to be inserted into each bore, and the removable sliding c-weight, that is attached and removed, without cutting the fishing line. The sliding c-weight could be used independently on a fishing line like a sinker or made as a component of a fishing rig. The sliding c-weight is unique by having two attributes that most other fishing sinkers do not possess, it slides freely or it could be fixed at a specific location on the fishing line. The “C” shaped sinker and the bores on both ends causes the weight to slide freely down a fishing line, or with a wrap of the fishing line or leader around its central hull, to become a stationary fishing sinker that is more versatile and easier to use that other fishing weights. One embodiment is a solid weight made of various metals or alloys, including but not limited to iron, tin, zinc, or silicone compounds. Another embodiment has a hollow hull that materials could be inserted to give the c-weight special effects and hollow hulls could be made with a means of creating a plurality of openings with perforations. Both embodiments, solid or with a hollow hull, could be made as a sliding c-weight or a removable sliding c-weight.
A removable sliding c-weight in this invention is installed without any tool, and is removed from the fishing line quicker than the common fishing tackle sinkers without cutting the fishing line or the leader to which it is attached. A removable sliding c-weight is installed by passing the line through a space in a first slot and into a first bore, then on the opposite side by passing a leader through a second slot and into a second bore. In another embodiment a removable sliding c-weight would also be made stationary by passing a leader through a first slot and into a first bore, then by running a leader in a longitudinal groove from a first end to a second end, and thirdly on the opposite side passing the leader through a second slot and into a second bore. A c-weight could also be made stationary by wrapping fishing line once or twice around its central hull. Another feature that is novel and useful in another embodiment of a removable sliding c-weight is to store fish attractant or inject other sinkable substances into a hollow hull through a hull hole and sealing it with a plug. Notably, any person of ordinary skill in the pertinent art, science or area of the sport of fishing could make and use the invention without extensive experimentation and catch a fish.
While embodiments in the drawings of the sliding c-weight have been described in detail, it should be apparent that modifications and variations thereto are possible, all of which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, 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 the present embodiment of the invention. For example, in the bottom fish rig the longer leaders could be made of wire, but the smaller ones could be made of a strong monofilament fishing line which would carry a smaller sliding c-weight. Also any suitable sturdy material such iron, steel, glass with plastic coating, may be used instead of the lead for the c-weight described. Removable sliding c-weights range from fractions of an ounce to several ounces and others have a range of various volumes. An alternative to the preferred embodiment a bottom fish rig could have a c-weight without slots on either side and not be removable.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the embodiment of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the embodiment of the invention 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 embodiment of the invention.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONSU.S. Patent DocumentsCountry-NumberMM-YYYYName ClassificationUS-6,325,136December 2001Ratte, Geoffrey S. 164/129, 164/131US-6,305,121November 2000Adams, Nicholas S. 43/44.96, 43/43.1US-6,170,191January 2001Laney, Scot H. 43/43.13 43/44.9US-6,145,240June 1999Adams, Nicholas S. 43/44.96US-6,076,297June 2000Lippincott, Robert 43/44.87, 43/44.91US-6,073,386June 2000Firmin, Herman P. 43/44.87, 43/44.9US-6,047,493April 2000Strampe, Clarence W. 43/44.96, 43/44.97 43/44.87US-5,918,408July 1999Laney, Scot H. 43/43.13 43/44.9US-5,887,381March 1999Stephenson, Timothy L. 43/43.15US-5,878,525March 1999Metzler, Norman P. 43/43.1, 43/44.94US-5,678,351October 1997Halterman, Jr., Danny R. 43/43.1US-5,673,508October 1997Snyder, Gary 43/42.37, 43/44.8, 43/44.82US-4,696,125September 1987Rayburn, Walter 43/43.14US-4,209,933July 1980Manno, Joseph T. 43/43.15US-3,701,212October 1972Gilliam, Joe L. 43/44.87US-3,118,245January 1964Shriver, Lloyd L. 43/43.15US-3,096,599July 1963Baron, Charles 43/44.9US-2,766.549October 1956Dickerson, William 43/44.98US-2,703,947March 1955Petrasek et. al. 43/42.39US-2,177,007October 1939Smith, Wallace E. 43/44.88US-2,019,630November 1935Peeso, Martin E. 43/43.11US-1,883,574October 1932Cleeland, John S. 43/43.1US-1,208,936December 1916England, Henry 43/43.1US-10/724,859March 2006Brzozowski, Frank T. 43/43.15D458,982 SJune 2002Ratte, Geoffrey S. D22/145Foreign Patent DocumentsCountry-NumberMM-YYYYNamePCT/US2003/038034November 2003BrzozowskiCanada No. US2003038034May 2005BrzozowskiAustralia No. 2003298750June 2005BrzozowskiNew Zealand No. 5450975June 2005BrzozowskiEPO No. 03796508.4-2321June 2005BrzozowskiPublicationsPCT Publication No.:WO 2004/049788 A3US Publication No.:US 2004/0107629 A1 Jun. 10, 2004Other ReferencesPfeiffer, C. Boyd. “The Field and Stream Baits and Rigs Handbook,”ISBN 1-55821-883-1, The Lyons Press 1999.Bass Pro Outdoors Online LLC, www.basspro.com This application, the “Sliding C-weight,” is also related to a continuation-in-part patent application filed concurrently with the present application under the title of “Horizontal Unilateral Fish Hook” and this application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/724,859 filed on Nov. 30, 2003. The disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. This application is also based on provisional application No. 60/430,325, filed on Nov. 30, 2002 which incorporated the Document Disclosure Deposit Request No. 504577 filed on Jan. 28, 2002.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10724859 | Nov 2003 | US |
Child | 11372620 | Mar 2006 | US |