AU704589B2 - Fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus - Google Patents

Description

P00011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act, 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT *r 4

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444 *4444 .4*4 Sr TO BE COMPLETED BY THE APPLICANT NAME OF APPLICANT: ACTUAL INVENTOR(S): ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: INVENTION TITLE: DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION NO(S): ROSS FREDRICK DAWSON ROSS FREDRICK DAWSON Peter Maxwell Associates Level 6 Pitt Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 FISHING ROD HOLDER AND BITE SENSOR APPARATUS PN 9084 2 April 1996 Australia The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:q The present invention relates to improvements in fishing and, in particular, to a fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus.

Rod fishermen often choose to stand their rods on the shores of lakes, dams, rivers and beaches or on boats so that they may be free to undertake other activities or so that they may be able to fish with more than one rod. In such circumstances, the rods are normally sJpported b), tubes anchored into the shore or fixed onto the boat used by a fisherman.

However, when a bite occurs on the line of a rod supported by such a tube, the fisherman may not realise that a bite has occurred until it is too late. It is, therefore, important that the fisherman operating in this manner be made aware of bites as soon as they occur. It is equally important that the fisherman only respond to genuine bites and not to other factors, such as shifting seaweed or currents, that may pass as bites, particularly when troiiing from a boat.

15 It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus that is able to independently senso a bite and activate an alarm condition to alert the fisherman.

According to the invention, there is provided a fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus comprising means for anchoring the apparatus in a fixed position relative to the area to be fished, means for holding the rod in a first position for fishing, the rod holding means being adapted to move from the first position to a second position when a bite has occurred, and means for producing an alarm condition to alert a fisherman of movement of the rod holding means from the first to second position, wherein the rod holding means is pivotally connected to the anchoring means, whereby an alarm condition is produced by pivotal movement of the rod holding means to the second position, and the rod holding means is rigidly cennected to an actuating member for the alarm condition producing means, whereby the actuating member is adapted to pivot simultaneously with the rod holding means, and the alarm condition producing means includes a pop up button 0000 9* OS S

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26,2/99 that is caused to pop upwardly by the pivotal movement of the actuating member in response to movement of the rod holding means to the second position, thereby producing the alarm condition which may be terminated by pressing down on the button.

The anchoriny means preferably comprises an anchor rod member that is pivotally connected to a main body member and can be rigidly secured thereto at a plurality of angular orientations by a removable locking means. The anchor rod member is adapted for fitting to a pre-set receiving member. The pre-set receiving member may be a conventional rod holder or any grounded elongate member adapted to be received by the anchor rod member. The anchor rod member may be a hollow tubular rod member or a solid rod member.

The alarm condition piroducing means is preferably mounted on the main body member.

:15 Upward movement of the pop up button is preferably cause by pressure exerted directly by the actuating member, with such upward movement of the button causing an audible and visual alarm to be activated.

The audible and visual alarm is preferably generated by a battery powered electronic circuit housed within the main body member.

0 0, The upward pivotal movement of the actuating member may be resisted by a spring tensioning assembly, and the upward stroke of said pivotal movement may be limited by a stop pin.

S* In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a cutaway side elevational view of the front end of the 30 26/2/99 apparatus of Fig. 1 without the anchoring means, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view through A-A of the apparatus of Fig. 1 with the inclusion of a locking pin.

The fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus 10 shown in Fig. 1 consists generally of anchoring means 11, rod holding means 12 and alarm condition producing means 13.

The rod holding means 12 comprises a first aluminium tube 14 rigidly connected by weld site 15 to an actuating member 16 for the alarm condition producing means 13. At least a portion of the handle of a fishing rod (not shown) is able to engage by slide fit into the tube 14 so as to hold the rod in a first position for fishing.

The anchoring means 11 comprises a rod member, such as a second aluminium tube 18 or a solid rod, which is pivotally conr cted to a fixing o plate 44 of a main body member 19 for the anchoring means 11 by a pivot 1 5 pin 20 which passes through aligned holes in a twin forked upper end of the tube 18 and a similarly aligned hole 51 through plate 44, as shown in Fig. 3. The tube 18 may be rigidly secured to the fixing plate 44, and e e hence to the main body member 19, at any one of three angular o. orientations determined by the location of three locking apertures 45, 46, :V 20 47 in the fixing plate 44 as shown in Fig. 2. A locking pin 48 engages through the desired aperture and an aligned locking passageway 49 in the tube 18, as shown in Fig. 3. Both the pivot pin 20 and locking pin 48 have a threaded end which screwably receives a respective bolt for fixing purposes.

The tube 18 is able to fit conventional rod holders or any grounded elongate member (not shown) which serves as a pre-set receiving member or stand for the apparatus 10. The adjustable location of the anchoring tube 18 with respect to the rod holder tube 14 allows the anchoring tube 18 to suit stands that may be at different angles to the horizontal, thereby ensuring that the fishing rod which is held in the tube 14 is at an effective angle and position for fishing.

The first aluminium tube 14 and actuating member 16 are pivotally connected by pivot pin 17 to the main body member 19, so that pivotal movement of the tube 14 will cause simultaneous pivotal movement of the actuating member 16.

The main body member 19 and the actuating member 16 are both made of aluminium with the main body member 19 comprising a hollow square sectional structure and the actuating member 16 comprising a three sided channel sectional structure that fits over the upper portion of the square sectional structure of the main body member 19.

The actuating member 16 serves as a functional component of the alarm condition producing means 13, which also includes a pop up button S"21 that is caused to move upwardly by pressure exerted directly against it 15 by the actuating member 16 when the actuating member 16 pivotally moves in response to movement of the rod holding tube 14 from the first position to a second position when a bite has occurred. The pop up button has a shaft portion which provides a connection to a battery powered electronic circuit housed within the main body memnber 19. The circuit can 20 generate an audible and visual alarm.

The upward pivotal movement of the free end of the actuating member 16 is limited to a stroke set by a stop pin 39, which passes through a track 40 located at the side of the member 16 and which is connected to the adjacent side wall of member 19. The height of the track 40 represents the maximum amount of travel or movement available to the member 16, before it is stopped by action of the pin 39 abutting against either of the top or bottom ends of the track Upward movement of the pop up button 21 resulting from pivotal movement of the rod holding tube 14 to the second position when a bite has occurred will cause the audible and visual alarm to be activated.

The circuit includes a battery 25 (of, say, 9 volts), a switch 26 which is controlled by movement of the button 21, a two tone siren 27 located in the main body member 19 and a red light fitting 28 located on the button 21. The circuit is earthed by a wire 29 and earth connection 30. The audible alarm is represented by the sound emitted by the two tone siren 27 and the visual alarm is represented by the red light emitted by the light fitting 28.

The siren 27 is secured to the base or floor of the main body member 19 by a plastic nut 24, and there is a hole 31 through both the nut 24 and base of member 19, to enable the sound emitted thereby to achieve *man appropriate volume level outside the otherwise sealed main body member 19.

Access to the battery 25 and to other components housed within the main body member 19 may be gained by removal of the end caps 23 and A spring tensioning assembly 32 resists the upward pivotal movement of the free end of the actuating member 16. The assembly 32 comprises a bolt 33, wing nut 34, washer 35, compression spring coil 36 and nut 37. The head 38 of bolt 33 is located against the inside of the roof of the main body member 19 and the threaded shaft of the bolt 33 passes through adjacent holes in that roof and in the roof of acti ting member 16 and projects upwardly. The nut 37 secures the bolt 33 firmly in position by screwing along the bolt shaft until the nut 37 is firmly pressed against the outside of the roof of the main body member 19. The compression spring coil 36 is located concentrically along the shaft of bolt 33, and presses at one of its ends against the roof of actuating member 16 and at its other end against the washer 35. The washer 35 is, in turn, stopped from being moved upwardly by wing nut 34 which is threadably engaged to the bolt shaft. Screwable adjustment of the location of wing nut 34 along the bolt shaft will enable the spring coil 36 to be compressed

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or expanded, and will thus determine the degree of tension experienced by the spring coil 36.

The higher the level of tension in spring coil 36, the higher will be the degree of resistance to the upward pivotal movement of the free end of the actuating member 16. The spring tensioning assembly 32 therefore serves as a means by which the sensitivity of apparatus 10 may be adjusted, so that false alarms are eliminated or, at least, significantly reduced. Such false alarms typically occur with prior art devices when fishing during tidal movement, adverse weather conditions and when 1 0 trolling off a boat. The spring tensioning assembly 32 also allows the apparatus 10 to be used with fishing rods of a wide range of sizes. The end cap 50 may be removed for the purpose of storing within the main body member a variety of compression spring coils 36 and other components of the spring tensioning assembly 32, so as to provide the 1 5 user with the opportunity to adjust, on site, the sensitivity of the apparatus by choosing a suitable compression spring coil 36.

In use, a fisherman may set up one or more of the apparatus 10 at a :'•":location to be fished. After casting the equivalent number of lines, the or each rod may be supported by the apparatus 10, thus leaving the fisherman 20 free to undertake other activities. It is important that the fisherman adjust .the spring tensioning assembly 32 of the or each apparatus 10 to accommodate the fishing conditions so that the alarm condition will be produced when a genuine bite has occurred and not under other circumstances. When a bite does occur, the affected rod will be tugged in the normal manner by the fish and the resultant force of the rod against the tube 14 will cause the free end of the actuating member 16 to pivot upwardly. This, in turn, will cause the button 21 to pop upwardly and activate the alarm condition to alert the fisherman of the bite. The alarm condition may be terminated by pressing down on a button 21.

8 Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope or ambit of the present invention. For instance, the apparatus of the invention, or various components thereof, may be made of polyvinylchloride (PVC) or other plastic material by an injection moulding process, as an alternative to aluminium.

Furthermore, the anchoring tube 18, when detached from the fixing plate 44 of the main body member 19 by removal of the pins 20 and 48, may be stored within the hollow rod holder tube 14 for the purposes of pack ng. 7 a *eoo °oo° o o

Claims (9)

1. A fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus comprising means for anchoring the apparatus in a fixed position relative to the area to be fish.,d, means for holding the rod in a first position for fishing, the rod holding means being adapted to move from the first position to a second position when a bite has occurred, and means for producing an alarm condition to alert a fisherman of movement of the rod holding means from the first to second position, wherein the rod holding means is pivotally connected to the anchoring means, whereby an alarm condition is produced by pivotal movement of the rod holding means to the second position, and the rod holding means is rigidly connected to an actuating member for the alarm condition producing means, whereby the actuating member is adapted to pivot simultaneously with the rod holding means, and the alarm condition producing means includes a pop up button that is caused to pop upwardly by the pivotal movement of the actuating member in response to movement of the rod holding means to the second position, thereby ooooo SS producing the alarm condition which may be terminated by pressing down on the button.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anchorinj means comprises an 4S** •anchor rod member that is pivotally connected to a main body member and can be rigidly secured thereto at a plurality of angular orientations by a 0 removable locking means. i

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the anchor rod member is adapted for fitting to a conventional rod holder or any grounded elongate member adapted to be received by the anchor rod member. 26/2/99 2 6/2199

4. The apparatus of claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the anchor rod member is a hollow tubular rod member or a solid rod member.

The apparatus of any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the alarm condition producing means is mounted on the main body member.

6. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein upward movement of the pop up button is caused by pressure exerted directly by the actuating member, with such upward movement of the button causing an audible and visual alarm to be activated.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the audible and visual alarm is generated by a battery powered electronic circuit housed within the main 0*ee body member. clio d. The apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein upward pivotal o S movement of the actuating member is resisted by a spring tensioning .assembly, and the upward stroke of said pivotal movement is limited by a stop pin. Dated this 26th day of February 1998 te 0 ROSS FREDRICK DAWSON Patent Attorneys for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES ABSTRACT A fishing rod holder and bite sensor apparatus (10) has an anchoring tube (18) which is able to fit conventional rod holders and the like which may be at different angles to the horizontal by way of a pivot pin (20) and locking pin (48) assembly.

There is a rod holding tube (12) which holds the fishing rod in a first position for fishing, the tube (12) being rigidly connected to an actuating member (16) for an alarm condition producing assembly (1 When a bite has occurred, the movement of the fishing rod causes the tube (12) to move which, in turn, causes the actuating member 0 (16) to move, thereby producing an alarm condition to alert a fisherman of the bite. 9

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