GB2313030A

GB2313030A - Fishing rod rests

Info

Publication number: GB2313030A
Application number: GB9610432A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Leary; David Needham
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-05-17
Filing date: 1996-05-17
Publication date: 1997-11-19
Anticipated expiration: 2016-05-17
Also published as: GB9610432D0; GB2313030B

Abstract

A fishing rod rest comprising a framework having a carrier structure 15 adapted to carry a fishing rod or rods and a support structure 16 adapted to support the carrier structure and to engage the ground, there being a connection 17 between the carrier structure and the support structure which enables the carrier structure to be rotated through 360 degrees and also be tilted in a vertical direction in order to anable adjustments of the fishing rod or rods to be made both in azimuth and elevation.

Description

FISHING ROD RESTS The present invention relates to rests for supporting fishing rods.

It is known to provide a rod rest by which one or more fishing rods can be supported in a fishing position without the need for the angler to hold the rod.

Prior art rod rests consist of a framework of essentially fixed configuration when in its operative position and typically supported on four telescopic legs although the framework of such rests may be folded in order to facilitate its transportation.

The known framework is adapted to carry a pair of so-called buzz or buzzer bars which when in their operative positions are substantially horizontal. In use the buzz or buzzer bars each carry one or more substantially U or V-shaped rod supports for securely holding a rod or rods on the framework. Such supports are typically moulded from a resiliant plastics material shaped and dimensioned so that the rod can be snapped into or out of engagement with them.

Such supports can also comprise alarm devices adapted to detect when the fishing line of the rod is drawn out by the fish on the end of the line, i.e. when there is a 'strike'.

The telescopic legs of the framework allow it to be set up on uneven or sloping ground and the main horizontal element of the framework is also telescopic to enabl~ the^6verall Wgth of the framework to be varied.

However, despite the various above described adjustments which can be made to the prior art rod rest there are fishing locations where these adjustments are not sufficient to enable the angler to set up the rod rest in an optimum fishing position.

The present invention is concerned with overcoming these problems by providing a rod rest which is capable of being set up satisfactorily in a wider variety of fishing locations than can the prior art rod rests and to provide a wider variety of orientation for the supported rod or rods than is provided by such prior art rod rests.

According to the present invention a fishing rod rest comprises a rod or rods carrier structure adjustably mounted on a support structure which is constructed so that the carrier structure may be moved in relation to the support structure in a rotational, translational or vertical direction or any combination of these whereby adjustments of the rod or rods may be made both in azimuth and elevation.

According to a first aspect of the present invention the carrier structure is connected to the support structure by a pivot joint which enables the carrier structure to be rotated through 360 degrees with respect to the support structure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention the support structure includes a tripod arrangement which is adapted to enable the rod rest to either sit on the three ground engaging legs or to be supported by a single one of those legs being driven into the ground. According to a third aspect of the present invention the tripod arrangement comprises a main leg member which has at one of its ends a lockable, adjustable pivot member on which the said support structure is adjustably mounted and two further leg members which are pivotally, lockably and adjustably mounted on ther main leg member.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention the support structure comprises a single rod-like member which is slideable and lockable with respect to the said support structure, the single rod like member carrying two buzz or buzzer bar support members spaced apart along the length of the single rod-like member and preferably being mounted at opposite ends of that rod-like member.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention each said support member has a buzz or buzzer bar mounted on it.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention each buzz or buzzer bar carries one or more U or V-shaped rod engaging/supporting members. Such U or V- shaped members could be of the type which incorporate an alarm device whereby movement of the fishing line may be detected and an audible alarm sounded.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention the said single rod-like member is telescopic and lockable in a desired adjusted length.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention the adjustable connections between the support structure and the carrier structure and between the elements making up those two structures are such that the whole rod rest may be folded into a substantially flat configuration for ease of transportation.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention the said main leg member is provided with a projection by which a user may apply a force to that member to drive it into the ground whereby the rod rest as a whole may be supported entirely by the main leg member.

How the invention may be carried out will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a prior art fishing rod rest; FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a fishing rod rest according to the present invention set up in a first configuration; FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the fishing rod rest in FIGURE 2 but set up in a second configuration; FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudonal section showing one of the telescopic joints used in the fishing rod rest shown in FIGURES 1 to 3.

FIGURE 5 illustrates the pivotal joint between the carrier structure and the supporting structures of FIGURES 2 and 3; FIGURE 6 illustratess the mounting of the two short tripod legs of FIGURES 2 and 3.

FIGURE 7 illustrates the mounting of the two short tripod legs of FIGURES 2 and 3.

FIGURE 1 A prior art fishing rod rest consists in the adjustable/collapsable framework shown in FIGURE 1. This rod rest comprises essentially two upright tubes 1,2 which are interconnected by a horizontal telescopic bar 3, the telescopic adjustment being effected by means of the joint 4 which can be locked, or released by rotating a knurled knob 5 (see FIGURE 4). Each end of the telescopic rod 3 carries a socket or connector element 6 and 7 respectively.

Each of the upright tubes 1 and 2 passes through apertures in the associated socket element 6 and 7 respectively and each of them is adjustable vertically with respect to its associated socket and lockable in an adjusted position in order to vary the height of buzz bars 8 and 9 carried at the tops of the tubes 1 and 2 respectively.

Each of the sockets 6 and 7 has a pair of telescopically adjustable legs 10,11 and 12,13 extending therefrom respectively.

The lower ends of the telescopic legs 10,11,12 and 13 and the lower ends of the upright tubes 1 and 2 are pointed in order to facilitate their engagement with, and insertion into the ground, typically of a river bank.

The telescopic adjustment of the lengths of the legs 10,11,12 and 13 is effected by a similar joint 4 to that indicated in relation to the horizontal telescopic tube 3 and shown in more detail in FIGURE 4.

The buzz bars 8 and 9 have a central spigot portion which fits inside the top ends of the metal tubes 1 and 2 so that some vertical adjustment can be made again by means of joints similar to 4.

Each of the buzz bars 8 and 9 has three upright, substantially U/V-shaped support members 14. The buzz bar itself comprises three lengths of tube 8a, Sb,8c and 9a, 9b,9c respectively to thus make the lengths of the buzz bars telescopically adjustable. Again lockable joints 4 are provided in order to enable this adjustment to be made and for the buzz bar to be locked in its adjusted length.

Although, as can be appreciated from the earlier description and FIGURE 1, the prior art rod rest has facilities for effecting a number of adjustments to the elements which make up the overall rod rest, that rod rest basically has only one configuration.As a result, it has inherent limitations in terms of its flexibility of use.

More specifically in practice there could be fishing locations in which it would be difficult if not impossible to set it up in order to support a fishing rod or rods. Secondly even if it could be set up in the desired location its design imposes an inherent limitation on the orientation, or orientations, that can be selected for the fishing rod or rods.

In contrast the fishing rod rest of the present invention significantly overcomes these limitations.

Although FIGURE 1 shows a particular constructional prior art fishing rod rest, there are other constructions which vary in detail from that shown but they all have the same basic operational limitations discussed earlier.

FIGURES 2 AND 3 A fishing rod rest constructed according to the present invention consists essentially of a rod (s) carrier structure, generally indicated by the reference numeral 15 which is adjustably mounted on a support structure generally indicated by the reference numeral 16. The support structure 16 is constructed so that the carrier structure 15 may be moved in relation to the support structure 16 in a rotational, translational or vertical direction or a combination of any of these whereby adjustments of the carrier structure 15, and thus any rod or rods mounted thereon, may be made both in azimuth and elevation.

The carrier structure 15 is connected to the support structure 16 by a pivot joint 17 (shown in more detail in FIGURE 5) which is such that it is possible for the carrier structure 15 to be tilted with respect to the support structure 16 (and the ground), as indicated by the arrow A, and also for the carrier structure 15 to be rotated about the pivot joint, with respect to the support structure 16 as indicated by the arrow B, by means of the socket member 25 mounted on the pivot A. In this way both azimuthal and elevational adjustments can be made to the carrier 15 and thus to any fishing rod or rods mounted thereon, as indicated by the angles b and a respectively As indicated in FIGURE 1 the support structure 16 consists essentially of three leg members 18 ,19 and 20.. The leg member 20 constitutes the main leg member and has the other two leg members 18 and 19 adjustably mounted on it by means of the connection 21a, 21b shown in more detail in FIGURES 6 and 7. All three leg members 18, 19 and 20 are telescopic consisting of lengths 18a, 18b,19a,19b, and 20a and 20b respectively.

Each of the telescopic legs 18 and 19 may be folded so that they are substantially parallel to the main leg member 20, as shown in FIGURE 3.

This configuration of the legs 18 and 19 is adopted either when the rod rest as a whole is being folded for transportation or when the rod rest is in its second configuration shown in FIGURE 3 where the telescopic legs 18 and 19 are not being used to support the rod rest as a whole on the ground.

The main leg member 20 is provided with two projections 22 which fulfil two functions.

The first function is to provide a 'step' by which the angler may drive the pointed end 23 of the leg member 17 into the relatively soft ground of the bank of a river, for example, when the rod rest is being used in the configuration shown in FIGURE 3.

The second function is to prevent the main leg member 20 from rotating after it has been driven into the ground, the projections 22 being positioned with respect to the pointed end 23 at a distance which will ensure that in most practical situations the projections 22 finish up substantially at ground level after the angler has driven the leg member 17 into the ground, as shown in FIGURE 3, the ground being represented at 31.

The carrier structure 15 comprises a single telescopic carrier tube 24a, 24b, which is slidable through but lockable with respect to the rotatable socket member 25 which is supported on the pivot joint 17.

Again the telescopic adjustment of the length of the tube 24 is similar to that previously described with referrence to FIGURE 4.

At each end of the telescopic tube 24 there is carried, via an adjustable joint 32 two telescopic tubular member 26 and 27, (only half of which are shown in FIGURE 3 for simplicity). Again the telescopic construction of these tubes is similar to the telescopic construction previously described with reference to other tubes making up the rod support and in particular again a knurled knob 4 is used in each case to lock the tubes 26 and 27 in their desired adjusted length (see FIGURE 2). The joints 32 are similar in construction to the joints by which the legs 18 and 19 may be folded, thus enabling the members to be rotated into positions substantially in line with the tube 24 for ease of carrying as indicated by the arrows C in FIGURE 3..

At their upper ends the tubes 26 and 27 carry two cross bars 28 and 29 otherwise known as buzz or buzzer bars (see FIGURE 2) they would also be present in the configuration shown in FIGURE 3 but that Figure has been simplified for clarity.

These buzz or buzzer bars 28 and 29 are optional as far as the present invention is concerned in that anglers would often have their own buzz or buzzer bars already and therefore the rod rest according to the present invention may or may not include such buzz or buzzer bars.

The bars 28 and 29 correspond to the bars 8 and 9 of the prior art rod rest shown in FIGURE 1. Furthermore, in the same way that the prior art rod rest can be provided with U or V-shaped support members 14 so can the rod rest according to the present invention, the members being indicated in broken lines and by the same reference numerals in FIGURES 2 and 3. Also, as mentioned in connection with FIGURE 1, the buzz bars can also be provided with alarm devices of a known type or types.

The fishing rods themselves are indicated at 30 in broken lines.

The fishing rod rest of the present invention can be set up in basically either of two configurations, the first being shown in FIGURE and the second being shown in FIGURE 3 In the configuration in FIGURE 2 the fishing rod rest is supported essentially by the three legs 18,19 and 20 which thus form a tripod. This contrasts with the prior art fishing rod rest shown in FIGURE 1 which essentially is supported on four legs 10,11,12 and 13.

In the configuration shown in FIGURE 2 the support structure 16 can be adjusted by varying the lengths and the angles of the three legs 18,19 and 20 in order to suit the particular location in which the angler wishes to erect the fishing rod rest. The fact that this support structure 16 only has three legs 17, 18 and 19 makes it much easier to fit it into the desired location than the prior art type of fishing rod rest shown in FIGURE 1.

Having set up the tripod-like support structure 16 in the desired position on the riverbank, for example, the angler can then adjust the carrier structure 15 mounted on the support structure by means of the pivot 17 and collar 25, to suit the particular fishing environment that the angler has selected.

In particular the connection enables the whole of the carrier structure 15 to be rotated bodily through 360 degrees , with respect to the support structure 16. This capability therefore enables the angler to 'aim' his fishing rod or rods towards the appropriate target area in the water. Such azimuth adjustment is not possible with the prior art type of fishing rod rest shown in FIGURE 1.

As well as the azimuth adjustment just described it is also possible to adjust the position of the fishing rods in elevation by tilting the tubular member 24 with respect to the support structure 16 by means of the joint 17.

Among of the practical advantages which the fishing rod rest of the present invention provides for the angler over the prior art type of fishing rod rest shown in FIGURE 1 is the ability to firstly position the rest as a whole in the optimum position on the river bank or other location and then to set up the fishing rod or rods themselves in the optimum fishing position.

This contrasts with the prior art fishing rod rest of FIGURE 1 where even if it were possible to set up the rest in the optimum position on the bank in terms of locating the four legs of the rest this optimum position is quite likely to conflict with the optimum orientation for the fishing rods themselves. Therefore with this prior art arrangment the desired position on the river bank and the optimum orientation for the fishing rod or rods themselves are often in conflict..

The fishing rod rest of the present invention overcomes these problems because in effect the locating of the support structure 16 is independent of the orientation of the carrier structure 15. Furthermore the support structure 16 itself takes up less room, i.e. has a smaller 'footprint' than the four-legged rod support shown in FIGURE 1.

Although the rod rest of the present invention has the above discussed advantages over the rod rest shown in FIGURE 2 and in particular that of having a smaller 'footprint' when in the first configuration shown in FIGURE 1 there are nevertheless situations in which even that smaller size of 'footprint' is too large for the angler to be able to set up the fishing rod rest in the fishing location which he desires.

If this occurs then the fishing rod rest of the present invention can instead be set up in the second configuration shown in FIGURE 3 where the rod rest has an even smaller 'footprint'.

In this second embodiment instead of the support structure 16 being set up in the form of a tripod, utilising all three legs 18, 19 and 20 it is instead set up by using only the main leg member 20, the other two leg members 18 and 19 not being utilised but being simply folded flat alongside the main leg member 20 as shown in FIGURE 3.

In this configuration the angler would set up the main leg member 20 substantially vertically and then using his foot apply pressure on one of the two members 22 to drive the spiked end 23 of the leg 20 into the ground 31 forming the bank of the river, for example, until the two members 22 just bury themselves in the surface of the ground 31 so that they then serve to prevent rotation of the tubular leg member 20 in the ground.

After the angler has set up the main leg member 20 substantially vertically he can then adjust the carrier structure 15, in relation to the top of the leg member 20 via the joint 17 and collar 25 in order to bring the tubular member 24 and thus the carrier structure 15 as a whole (and also any fishing rod or rods already mounted on the carrier structure or to be mounted on the carrier structure), into the desired position both in terms of azimuth and elevation.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 the fishing rod rest is manufactured from stainless steel, all the members 18,19,20,24,26,27,28 and 29 being of tubular circular cross section. However, the fishing rod rest could be manufactured from other materials and the members forming its structure do not have to be of tubular circular cross section.

They need not be tubular and the cross section need not be circular.

Claims

1. A fishing rod rest comprises a rod or rods carrier structure adjustably mounted on a support structure which is constructed so that the carrier structure may be moved in relation to the support structure in a rotational, translational or vertical direction or any combination of these whereby adjustments of the rod or rods may be made both in azimuth and elevation.

2. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 1 in which the carrier structure is connected to the support structure by a pivot joint which enables the carrier structure to be rotated through 360 degrees with respect to the support structure.

3. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the support structure includes a tripod arrangement which is adapted to enable the rod rest to either sit on the three ground engaging legs or to be supported by a single one of those legs being driven into the ground.

4. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 3 in which the tripod arrangement comprises a main leg member which has at one of its ends a lockable, adjustable pivot member on which the said support structure is adjustably mounted and two further leg members which are pivotally, lockably and adjustably mounted on ther main leg member.

5. A fishing rod rest as claimed in any previous claim in which the support structure comprises a single rod-like member which is slideable and lockable with respect to the said support structure, the single rod like member carrying two buzz or buzzer bar support members spaced apart along the length of the single rod-like member and preferably being mounted at opposite ends of that rod-like member.

6. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 5 in which each said support member has a buzz or buzzer bar mounted on it.

7. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 6 in which each buzz or buzzer bar carries one or more U or V-shaped rod engaging/supporting members.

8. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 7 in which said U or V-shaped members are of the type which incorporate an alarm device whereby movement of the fishing line may be detected and an audible alarm sounded.

9. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 4 in which the main leg member is telescopic and lockable in a desired adjusted length.

10. A fishing rod rest as claimed in any previous claim in which the adjustable connections between the support structure and the carrier structure and between the elements making up those two structures are such that the whole rod rest may be folded into a substantially flat configuration for ease of transportation.

11. A fishing rod rest as claimed in Claim 4 in which the said main leg member is provided with a projection by which a user may apply a force to that member to drive it into the ground whereby the rod rest as a whole may be supported entirely by the main leg members.

12. A fishing rod rest substantially as hereinfore claimed with reference to and as shown in Figures 2 tp 7 of the accompanying drawings.