GB1565605A

GB1565605A - Fishing rod made of fibre reinforced synthetic resin

Info

Publication number: GB1565605A
Application number: GB5248677A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: HIAUCHI K
Current assignee: HIAUCHI K
Priority date: 1977-12-16
Filing date: 1977-12-16
Publication date: 1980-04-23

Description

(54) FISHING ROD MADE OF FIBER REINFORCED SYNTHETIC RESIN (71) We, TOSHITAKA FUJII, KENICHI HIGUCHI AND HARUYUKI FUJII, all citizens of Japan, of No, 417, Gonose-Cho Nishiwaki-Shi, Hyogo-Ken, No. 2-17, 7-Chome, Shinimazato, Ikuno-Ku, Osaka-Shi, Osaka-Fu, and No.417, Gonose Cho, Nishiwakai-Shi, Hyogo-Ken, Japan, respectively, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to a fishing rod made of a synthetic resin and more particularly to an improvement in a fishing rod of a fiber reinforced synthetic resin.

Heretofore there have been provided various fishing rods made of fiber reinforced synthetic resins. These conventional fishing rods are generally manufactured in such a manner that resin impregnated cloth is closely or snugly wound around a tapered mandrel reducing its diameter from one end to the other end to form one or more layers, the resin is subjected to curing and then the mandrel is withdrawn to take off the tubular product.

When an external force is applied to and a bending moment acts on the thus manufactured conventional fishing rod, it will be seen that the section of the fishing rod can remain round keeping a section modulus of an annular pipe as long as the distortion or deflection of the fishing rod is relatively small, but the section is deformed from round to substantial ellipse as shown in Fig. 3 reducing the section modulus as the external bending force gets larger and the distortion of the fishing rod becomes more serious. Further, according to the deformation of the section, a tensile stress is set up in the tangential direction and slitting may possibly be caused in the fishing rod.

To solve the problem there have been proposed to provide an additional layer formed of cloth whose fibers are disposed not in parallel with the length of the fishing rod but at an angle therewith or to provide an extra layer of cloth whose wefts are particularly reinforced. This proposal, however, is not desirable because the provision of such an additional or extra layer disadvantageously brings about increase in weight of the fishing rod.

Upon extensive and intensive studies, the inventor of the present invention has found that a specific spacing layer incorporated in a laminate comprising a fishing rod can effectively eliminate the problems of the conventional fishing rods and achieve an improved structure of a fishing rod.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fishing rod free from the drawbacks of the conventional fishing rods, light in weight and excellent in performance.

According to the present invention, there is provided a fishing rod comprising a plurality of layers made of fiber reinforced synthetic resin, and at least one spacing layer provided between the innermost and the outermost layers, said spacing layer being formed from a material having a plurality of spaces formed therein.

The invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. I is a fragmentary cut-away perspective view of a laminated structure of the fishing rod in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a spacing layer to be incorporated in the fishing rod of the present invention; Fig. 3 Is a diagrammatic view showing a fragmentary pipe of the conventional fishing rod with a bending moment acting thereon; and Fig. 4 is a similar diagrammatic view showing a fragmentary pipe of the present fishing rod with a bending moment acting thereon.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In Fig. I which explanatorily shows one mode of a laminated structure of the present fishing rod, an innermost layer I is formed of a sheet comprising glass fiber cloth of plain weave or satin weave or cloth of "Kevlar-49" (trade name of aromatic polyamide type fiber manufactured and sold by Du Pont Co.. U.S.A.) impregnated with synthetic resin. For the innermost layer 1, union fabric of glass fibers and Kevlar-49 may also be employed. A spacing layer 2 is formed for example of resin impregnated woven cloth as shown in Fig. 2 which has relatively large interstices, large thickness and small weight per unit area. This layer 2 is characterized by the large number of spaces 6 formed therein. Similar fibers as employable for the innermost layer 1 may also be employed for this layer 2. On the outside of the space retaining layer 2, there is formed a reinforcing fiber layer 3 in which the fibers are arranged or orientated in the direction parallel to the length of the rod pipe. The fibers to be employed for this layer 3 may be advantageously selected from a class of materials having a high tensile strength and high modulus. As suitable examples of the fibers, there can be mentioned resin impregnated fibers available under the indication of "Kevlar-49", carbon filaments, or a mixture thereof.

An outermost layer 4 is formed of a resin impregnated, fiber reinforced sheet with a fabric base of plain weave or other weave made of one of the above-mentioned materials or union fabric thereof.

Generally, the laminate structure is formed by winding the respective sheets around the tapered mandrel in the sequence as mentioned above and the whole structure is subjected to curing to set the resin. Thus, there is obtained a fishing rod of the present invention in which the spacing layer 2 having a number of spaces therein is integrally formed.

Numeral 5 designates a painted surface of the fishing rod.

Due to the thus formed structure, the fishing rod of the present invention can increase its bulk in proportion to the spaces provided therein and can increase its wall thickness as compared with a conventional fishing rod of the same weight. Among other things, it is the most important that no significant deformation of the section is caused and the section is kept round in contrast with the conventional fishing rod as shown in Fig. 3 when a bending moment M acts on the pipes. Illustratively stated, a' a deformation rate of section b' b distortion due to bending c' < c.

Thus. the present invention can reduce the distortion due to a bending moment and provide an excellent fishing rod having a light weight and high stiffness.

The invention has been described referring to one preferred embodiment but the description is made only by way of example and notsintended in any way to limit the invention. For example, the number of the laminations or the materials of the resins may be arbitrarily selected according to necessity. In case the number of the laminations are increased, the spacing layer 2 may be provided at an appropriate position between the innermost and outermost layers. Further, more than one spacing layer may be provided.

In brief, it is essential and sufficient in the present invention to form a spacing layer at an intermediate position of the laminate structure. The means forming spaces in the spacing layer is not limited to the embodiment as shown in Fig. 2 but may be provided by a woven cloth of other weave or other materials such as a net, perforated sheet or honeycomb structure.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A fishing rod comprising a plurality of layers made of fiber reinforced synthetic resin, and at least one spacing layer provided between the innermost and outermost layers, said spacing layer being formed from a material having a plurality of spaces formed therein.

2. A fishing rod as claimed in claim I, wherein the spacing layer is formed from a resin impregnated material having large interstices, large thickness and small weight per unit area.

3. A fishing rod as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said spacing layer is formed from a resin impregnated woven cloth.

4. A fishing rod as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said spacing layer is formed from a resin impregnated netting.

5. A fishing rod as claimed in claim I or 2, wherein said spacing layer is formed from a resin impregnated perforated sheet.

6. A fishing rod as claimed in claim I or 2, wherein said spacing layer is formed from material having a honeycomb structure and impregnated with a resin.

7. A fishing rod as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising an intermediate layer formed from fiber reinforced material in which the fibers are unidirectionally orientated.

8. A fishing rod comprising an inner layer formed of woven cloth, a spacing layer having a plurality of spaces therein, an intermediate layer formed of fibers unidirectionally orientated, an outer layer formed of woven cloth, and a cured

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. mode of a laminated structure of the present fishing rod, an innermost layer I is formed of a sheet comprising glass fiber cloth of plain weave or satin weave or cloth of "Kevlar-49" (trade name of aromatic polyamide type fiber manufactured and sold by Du Pont Co.. U.S.A.) impregnated with synthetic resin. For the innermost layer 1, union fabric of glass fibers and Kevlar-49 may also be employed. A spacing layer 2 is formed for example of resin impregnated woven cloth as shown in Fig. 2 which has relatively large interstices, large thickness and small weight per unit area. This layer 2 is characterized by the large number of spaces 6 formed therein. Similar fibers as employable for the innermost layer 1 may also be employed for this layer 2. On the outside of the space retaining layer 2, there is formed a reinforcing fiber layer 3 in which the fibers are arranged or orientated in the direction parallel to the length of the rod pipe. The fibers to be employed for this layer 3 may be advantageously selected from a class of materials having a high tensile strength and high modulus. As suitable examples of the fibers, there can be mentioned resin impregnated fibers available under the indication of "Kevlar-49", carbon filaments, or a mixture thereof. An outermost layer 4 is formed of a resin impregnated, fiber reinforced sheet with a fabric base of plain weave or other weave made of one of the above-mentioned materials or union fabric thereof. Generally, the laminate structure is formed by winding the respective sheets around the tapered mandrel in the sequence as mentioned above and the whole structure is subjected to curing to set the resin. Thus, there is obtained a fishing rod of the present invention in which the spacing layer 2 having a number of spaces therein is integrally formed. Numeral 5 designates a painted surface of the fishing rod. Due to the thus formed structure, the fishing rod of the present invention can increase its bulk in proportion to the spaces provided therein and can increase its wall thickness as compared with a conventional fishing rod of the same weight. Among other things, it is the most important that no significant deformation of the section is caused and the section is kept round in contrast with the conventional fishing rod as shown in Fig. 3 when a bending moment M acts on the pipes. Illustratively stated, a' a deformation rate of section b' b distortion due to bending c' < c. Thus. the present invention can reduce the distortion due to a bending moment and provide an excellent fishing rod having a light weight and high stiffness. The invention has been described referring to one preferred embodiment but the description is made only by way of example and notsintended in any way to limit the invention. For example, the number of the laminations or the materials of the resins may be arbitrarily selected according to necessity. In case the number of the laminations are increased, the spacing layer 2 may be provided at an appropriate position between the innermost and outermost layers. Further, more than one spacing layer may be provided. In brief, it is essential and sufficient in the present invention to form a spacing layer at an intermediate position of the laminate structure. The means forming spaces in the spacing layer is not limited to the embodiment as shown in Fig. 2 but may be provided by a woven cloth of other weave or other materials such as a net, perforated sheet or honeycomb structure. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A fishing rod comprising a plurality of layers made of fiber reinforced synthetic resin, and at least one spacing layer provided between the innermost and outermost layers, said spacing layer being formed from a material having a plurality of spaces formed therein.

synthetic resin binding the cloth and fibers to form a unitary mass.

9. A fishing rod substantially as hereinbefore described with reference and as illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.