This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/915,393, filed Dec. 12, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to the field of fishing equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to umbrella-type fishing rigs with multiple arms.
Fishermen sometimes use umbrella fishing rigs to attract certain species of game fish. Further, such umbrella rigs also tend to attract larger size fish and can even occasionally land multiple fish with a single rig. These umbrella rigs are designed to mimic the appearance of a school of fish. Many umbrella rigs include a central member with multiple teaser arms extending outward, forming an umbrella-like shape. These arms can typically be made from metal wire or a similar material. Each arm can be equipped with various baits, hooks, lures, and other equipment to help attract and catch fish. Many umbrella rigs have teaser arms rigidly attached to a central member. The teaser arms can be subject to various forces during the process of casting, trolling, catching, and reeling in a fish. When subjected to these stresses over time, the teaser arms can break off. This lessens the effectiveness of the umbrella rig at attracting and catching fish, and may typically necessitate purchasing a new umbrella rig.
An umbrella fishing rig in accordance with the present invention can include a head piece, a cap, and at least one dual teaser arm piece. The head piece can include an arm retention portion. The at least one dual teaser arm piece can have a bent central portion and two arms extending from the bent central portion. The cap can be removably coupled to the head piece. The arm retention portion can be configured to receive the bent central portion and the cap can retain the bent central portion in the arm retention portion.
In one embodiment, the arm retention portion can comprise a shoulder defining, at least in part, an arm receiving portion to receive the bent central portion of the dual teaser arm piece, such that the bent central portion rests on the shoulder.
In another embodiment, the cap can further comprise an arm capturing portion defined, at least in part, by an opening having an interior diameter larger than a diameter of the shoulder, such that the arm capturing portion covers the shoulder and the bent central portion of the dual teaser arm.
In yet another embodiment, the arm retention portion can further comprise an arm guide portion having an outer diameter greater than a diameter of the shoulder and having at least two grooves oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the head piece and extending radially inward. The grooves can have a sufficient width to receive and guide the arms of the dual teaser arm piece.
In still other alternatives, the bent central portion of the dual teaser arm piece can rest on the shoulder while the arms are retained in the grooves.
In one specific embodiment, the umbrella fishing rig can have two dual teaser arm pieces and the base guide portion can have four corresponding grooves.
In one embodiment, the cap can be removably coupled to the head piece with threaded coupling features.
In one specific alternative embodiment, the bent central portion of the dual teaser arm piece can be bent in a squared U-shape.
Typically, the umbrella fishing rig can include a fishing line attachment feature adapted to secure a fishing line.
For example, in one option, the fishing line attachment feature can be associated with the head piece.
In one embodiment, the cap can comprise an opening adapted to receive the fishing line attachment feature therethrough.
Although not always required, the head piece can be a single unitary structure.
In yet an additional optional embodiment, the umbrella fishing rig can include a second head piece connected to the first head piece by a connecting member.
In some optional embodiments, the umbrella fishing rig can include an attachment removably coupled to the head piece. For example, the attachment can be selected from a scent tube, a fishing lure, a weighting system, and the like.
In one embodiment, the head piece can be configured to removably couple with the attachment at a trailing end of the head piece.
In another embodiment, the head piece can be removably coupled to the attachment with threaded coupling features.
Dual teaser arms can be provided independently of the head piece as replacements, for example. A replacement dual teaser arm piece for an umbrella fishing rig in accordance with the present invention can include a bent central portion, two arms extending from the bent central portion, and a fishing tackle connector secured to each arm. The bent central portion can be adapted to be received by an arm retention portion of an umbrella fishing rig head piece as described herein.
In some embodiments, the replacement dual teaser arm piece can include one or more blades attached to the arms for simulating the appearance of fish.
Although various connectors can be used, the fishing tackle connector can often be a swivel, snap, split ring, or combinations thereof.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention so that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and so that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. Other features of the present invention will become clearer from the following detailed description of the invention, taken with the accompanying drawings and claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention.
It should be noted that the figures are merely exemplary of several embodiments of the present invention and no limitations on the scope of the present invention are intended thereby. Further, the figures are generally not drawn to scale, but are drafted for purposes of convenience and clarity in illustrating various aspects of the invention.
While these exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, it should be understood that other embodiments may be realized and that various changes to the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is presented for purposes of illustration only and not limitation to describe the features and characteristics of the present invention, to set forth the best mode of operation of the invention, and to sufficiently enable one skilled in the art to practice the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is to be defined solely by the appended claims.
In describing and claiming the present invention, the following terminology will be used. The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a head piece” includes reference to one or more of such structures, “a metal” includes reference to one or more of such materials, and “a machining step” refers to one or more of such steps.
As used herein, “about” refers to a degree of deviation based on experimental error typical for the particular property identified. The latitude provided by the term “about” will depend on the specific context and particular property and can be readily discerned by those skilled in the art. The term “about” is not intended to either expand or limit the degree of equivalents which may otherwise be afforded a particular value. Further, unless otherwise stated, the term “about” shall expressly include “exactly,” consistent with the discussion below regarding ranges and numerical data.
As used herein, “adjacent” refers to the proximity of two structures or elements. Particularly, elements that are identified as being “adjacent” may be either abutting or connected. Such elements may also be near or close to each other without necessarily contacting each other. The exact degree of proximity may in some cases depend on the specific context.
Dimensions, amounts, and other numerical data may be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. For example, a range of about 1 to about 200 should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited limits of 1 and about 200, but also to include individual sizes such as 2, 3, 4, and sub-ranges such as 10 to 50, 20 to 100, etc.
As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary.
Any steps recited in any method or process claims may be executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented in the claims. Means-plus-function or step-plus-function limitations will only be employed where for a specific claim limitation all of the following conditions are present in that limitation: a) “means for” or “step for” is expressly recited; and b) a corresponding function is expressly recited immediately following. The structure, material or acts that support the means-plus function are expressly recited in the description herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined solely by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the descriptions and examples given herein.
Umbrella Fishing Rig
An umbrella fishing rig according to the present invention can include flexible, removable arms. Many previous designs for umbrella rigs are prone to break after several uses, and without removable arms the entire rig must be replaced or repaired. The removable arms of the umbrella rigs according to the present invention can be easily replaced, making it easy and inexpensive to replace broken arms instead of buying an entire replacement rig or expending time with repairs. Furthermore, the mechanism used to retain the teaser arms in place on the head piece allows the arms to have a sufficient amount of flexibility to reduce stress on the arms and make breakage less likely compared to other umbrella rigs that have rigidly mounted teaser arms.
With the above in mind, an umbrella fishing rig 100 in accordance with the present invention is illustrated in
The arm retention portion can also include an arm guide portion 114 having an outer diameter 102 greater than a diameter 103 of the shoulder 112. For example, the arm guide portion can be below the shoulder and can extend out to a greater diameter than the shoulder. The arm guide portion can also include at least two grooves 115a, 116a, 115b, 116b oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis 104 of the head piece and extending radially inward. The grooves can have a sufficient width 105 to receive and guide the arms of the dual teaser arm piece. For example, the arm guide portion in
Generally, the arm guide portion 114 can have at least two grooves. The number of grooves can be a multiple of two, so that there will be enough grooves to accept the desired number of teaser arms from dual teaser arm pieces. For example, in some embodiments the arm guide portion can have 2, 4, 6, 8 or more grooves to hold the arms of 1, 2, 3, 4 or more dual teaser arm pieces, respectively. In one particular embodiment (shown in
In addition, the cap 120 can have an arm capturing portion 121 defined, at least in part, by an opening 122 having an interior diameter 106 larger than the diameter 103 of the shoulder 112. The arm capturing portion can therefore cover the shoulder and the bent central portion 131a of the dual teaser arm to retain the dual teaser arm. For example, as shown in
As mentioned above, the cap 120 and the head piece 110 are removably coupleable to one another. As illustrated in
In one aspect (shown in
The teaser arm piece and/or the teaser arms disclosed herein can generally be made of a bent wire. Various materials can be used, such as stainless steel, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, rigid polymers, and the like. In addition, supplemental equipment can be secured on the teaser arms. For example, as shown in
In one aspect, the teaser arms can also be equipped with blades 151 for simulating the appearance of small fish. In one embodiment, the blades can be nickel plated to increase reflectivity of the blades. With blades attached to multiple teaser arms, the umbrella lure can have the appearance of a school of small fish. This can be useful to attract certain species and sizes of game fish. In one aspect, the blades can be on ball bearing swivels 152. Spacers 153a, 153b can be added to the teaser arms to keep the blades positioned near the center of the arms.
Replacement dual teaser arm pieces for umbrella fishing rigs can be produced for repairing umbrella rigs with broken arms. The replacement dual teaser arm pieces can be configured as described above. For example, the replacement dual arm pieces can have a bent central portion and two arms extending from the bent central portion. The bent central portion can be adapted to be received by the arm retention portion 111 of the head piece 120. A fishing tackle connector can be secured to each arm. In some embodiments, the dual teaser arm piece can include blades for simulating the appearance of fish as explained above. In some embodiments, the fishing tackle connector can include a swivel, snap, split ring, or combinations thereof.
In one aspect, the head piece 110 can be a single unitary structure. For example, the head piece can be formed from a solid piece of suitable material. In some embodiments the head piece can be formed of a metal such as aluminum, steel, lead, titanium, or other suitable metal. Alternatively, the head piece can be formed of a polymer, composite or other suitable material. Non-limiting examples can include acetal polymers (e.g., DELRIN), polycarbonate, polyesters, acrylates, carbon fiber, and the like. The head piece can be formed by a variety of methods, such as machining or casting. In one embodiment, the head piece can be formed by turning a piece of aluminum on a precision lathe. In other embodiments, the head piece can be assembled from multiple parts. For example, a central portion such as a threaded bolt can form the threaded coupling feature and the arm retention portion can be made by screwing separate pieces onto the bolt. Parts of the arm retention portion, such as the arm receiving portion, the shoulder, and the arm guide portion, can be machined or cast or formed by screwing nuts, washers, and other such pieces onto the bolt. Generally, the head piece can be a single unitary piece or the head piece can be formed of any combination of parts designed to operate as a head piece.
In one aspect, the cap 120 can have a tapered leading end (as shown in
In some embodiments, the umbrella rig 100 can have a fishing line attachment feature 160 adapted to secure a fishing line. In one aspect, the fishing line attachment feature can be associated with the head piece 110. As shown in
In some embodiments, as illustrated in
In one aspect, the fishing line attachment feature 160 (see
In general, the teaser arms as disclosed herein can be various sizes depending on the species of fish being caught. For example, the teaser arms can be about 3.5 to about 4 inches long. More generally, for a small umbrella rig the teaser arms can be from about 2 to about 6 inches long. A larger umbrella rig can have teaser arms from about 6 to about 12 inches long. In one aspect, an umbrella rig can have teaser arms of multiple different lengths. For example, in the embodiment shown in
The foregoing detailed description describes the invention with reference to specific exemplary embodiments. However, it will be appreciated that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. The detailed description and accompanying drawings are to be regarded as merely illustrative, rather than as restrictive, and all such modifications or changes, if any, are intended to fall within the scope of the present invention as described and set forth herein.
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