GB2289604A

GB2289604A - Bite indication system for anglers

Info

Publication number: GB2289604A
Application number: GB9509821A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Derek Romang
Original assignee: DELKIM Ltd
Current assignee: DELKIM Ltd
Priority date: 1994-05-17
Filing date: 1995-05-15
Publication date: 1995-11-22
Anticipated expiration: 2015-05-15
Also published as: GB2289603A; GB9409840D0; GB2289604B; GB9509801D0; GB9509821D0; GB2289603B

Description

2289604 1 Bite Indication System

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to.a bite indication system for use by anglers.

Backaround of the invention

A bite indicator is a device that has means for sensing movement or vibration in the line of a fishing rod. When such activity is sensed on the line, a visible and/or audible signal is given off to alert the angler. Often, an angler may set up a shelter at some distance from the is fishing rod and may therefore be out of earshot of the bite indicator. Because of this, it is has already been proposed to connect a bite indicator to an extension loudspeaker using a jack plug socket on the housing of the bite indicator.

A disadvantage of using a wire connection between a bite indicator and an extension loudspeaker is that the angler is required to carry cables in his kit. A further problem is that it is possible to trip on the wires and when several bite indicators are used at the same time, the cables can become entangled.

For these reasons, GB-A-2,262,209 proposes the use of a remote transmission link between the bite indicator and a remote unit, the transmission link including a radio transmitter that plugs into the extension socket of the bite indicator and transmits a signal to a remote receiver.

A problem experienced with the transmission link proposed in GB-A-2,262, 209 is that the batteries in the transmitter have.a limited life. The transmitter and receiver are in permanent communication with one another while the bite indication system is in use and as a consequence batteries in the transmitter and the receiver are constantly drained.

Summarm of the invention With a view to-mitigating the foregoing disadvantages the present invention provides a bite indication system comprising a bite indicator having means for sensing a bite on a fishing rod, a tone generator for generating an audio signal in response to the detection of a bite, an internal loudspeaker connected to receive the audio signal and to produce an audible alarm signal, and a power amplifier for amplifying the audio signal and applying the amplified signal to an extension socket for a remote loudspeaker, the system further comprising a remote unit having a second loudspeaker, and a wireless transmission link for transmitting a signal from the bite indicator to the remote unit when a bite is detected to activate the second loudspeaker of the remote unit, wherein the transmission link comprises a transmitter which in use is plugged into the extension socket of the bite indicator to receive the power amplified audio signal, the transmitter deriving its power from the audio signal and including a circuit for rectifying and smoothing the audio output signal from the extension socket of the bite indicator.

Preferably, the transmitter includes a radio transmission circuit for transmitting the audio signal of the bite indicator and a microprocessor operative to generate a--code identifying the transmitter. Only the receiver programmed to recognise the unique code will be activated by the transmitted signal. Such encoding allows different anglers to operate in close proximity to one another and permits an angler to use a single receiver with several transmitters.

The radio signal transmitted by the transmissionc-circuit_ suitably comprises the identification code generated.,py the..-, 9 C f i - 3 microprocessor followed by an analogue signal modulated in accordance with the audio signal generated by the bite indicator.

In this way, the tone and frequency information contained in the audio signal applied to the internal loudspeaker of the bite indicator.are automatically regenerated within the remote receiving unit, thereby avoiding the need for further processing of the received signal.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in is which:- Figure 1 is a partly exploded view of the transmitter of a remote transmission link mounted between a bite indicator and a bank stick adapter, and Figure 2 is a block circuit diagram of the bite indicator and the transmitter of the remote transmission link.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

Figure 1 shows a known bite indicator 10. The bite indicator is supported on a bank stick adapter 24 and has a sensor in contact with the line of a fishing rod that, in use, rests on the bite indicator 10. The bite indicator has an ON/OFF switch 22 and various control knobs 12, 14 and 16 to set the sensitivity, the loudness and pitch of the sound emitted from an internal loudspeaker 18 when line movement is sensed.

- 4 Additionally, the bite indicator has a jack plug socket 20 to allow an extension loudspeaker to be connected in place of, or in addition to, the internal loudspeaker 18.

A transmitter, generally designated 34, of a remote transmission link is mounted-between the bite indicator 10 and the bank stick adapter 24 and is formed of a circuit board 28 held within a housing formed of a lower moulding 26b and a cover 26a. A jack plug 32 projects through or is formed as part of the cover 26a and connects the circuit board 28 to the extension socket 20. Because mounting the transmitter in this manner hinders access to the ONIOFF switch 22 an operating lever 32 is provided in the cover 26a that has a slot to engage the switch and projects from the is cover 26a to allow the bite indicator to the switched on and off even with the transmission link in position.

The circuits shown in Figure 2 are contained within two boxes drawn in dotted lines. The circuits in the upper box are to be found in the bite indicator while those in the lower box form part of the transmitter of the transmission link.

The bite indicator comprises a sensor 40 that may be of any known type. It is preferred to use as the sensor 40 an element that is made to vibrate when the line moves but any alternative line movement sensor may be used. The signal from the sensor 40 is amplified in a preamplifier 42 and compared with a predetermined threshold in a comparator 44 to determine when an alarm is to be generated. The output signal of the comparator 44 is applied to a tone generator that produced sound pulses or bleeps of a preset pitch and these are applied by way of respective power amplifiers to the internal loudspeaker 18 and to the extension socket 20.

The bite indicator also has an LED that flashes when a bite is detected and that remains energised by a latching circuit for a time after a bite has been sensed.

1 f As so far described, the bite indicator is conventional and for this reason it is believed that it need not be described in greater detail.

When the jack plug 32 of the transmitter 34 is plugged in the socket 20, the power amplified audio signal passes into the circuitry of the transmitter 34. The latter comprises a power supply circuit 50 that derives from the ac audio signal a dc signal having sufficient power to energise the two main blocks of the transmission link, these being a microprocessor chip 52 and a radio transmitter circuit 54.

The power supply circuit may be formed of very few components, its essential elements being a diode for rectifying the ac signal and a regulating circuit.. The latter may suitably comprise a series combination of a resistor and a storage capacitor, a zener diode being connected in parallel with the storage capacitor.

The micro-processor 52 acts as a controller and generates a unique digital code for identification purposes within the receiver of the radio transmission link. While it receives power, the microprocessor repeatedly initiates cycles in which it first sends a unique digital code to the transmitter circuit 54 while blanking the audio signal and then allows the transmitter circuit to receive as an input signal the audio signal from the extension socket. Within the transmitter circuit 54, the digital and analogue signals are modulated onto a carrier frequency and transmitted as a radio signal from an antenna 56.

Within the remote receiving unit, which is not shown, the complementary steps are performed. The received signal is demodulated and scanned for the digital code of the matching transmitter. When the code is recognised in the demodulated signal, the analogue signal that follows the digital code is applied to an audio amplifier, with the result that without - 6 further processing, the angler can hear pulses with the same pitch and pulse repetition frequency as would have been produced by the internal loudspeaker of the bite indicator 10.

The remote unit may, in the same way as the bite indicator, have an LED that flashes in synchronism with the emitted sounds and remains energised for a predetermined time after the sound has stopped.

The same receiver can be used with a plurality of transmitters if it is programmed to recognise more than one identification code. In this case, the bite indicators may have LED's of different colours and the LED's on the remote unit may match the colour of the LED's on the bite indicators.

It is particularly desirable to design the receiver with a learning mode so that it can be programmed by the angler to recognise only the codes of the transmitters in use at any one time.

By providing a transmitter that derives all its power from the audio signal available at the extension socket of the bite indicator, the invention achieves substantial economies by totally avoiding the need for the remote transmission link to have its own batteries and avoiding the need for an ONIOFF switch on the transmitter.

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Claims

CLAIMS is 1. A bite indication system comprising a bite indicator having

means for sensing a bite on a fishing rod, a tone generator for generating an audio signal in response to the detection of a bite, an internal loudspeaker connected to receive the audio signal and to produce an audible alarm signal, and a power amplifier for amplifying the audio signal and applying the amplified signal to an extension socket for a remote loudspeaker, the system further comprising a remote unit having a second loudspeaker, and a wireless transmission link for transmitting a signal from the bite indicator to the remote unit when a bite is detected to activate the second loudspeaker of the remote unit, wherein the transmission link comprises a transmitter which in use-is plugged into the extension socket of the bite indicator to receive the power amplified audio signal, the transmitter deriving its power from the audio signal and including a circuit for rectifying and smoothing the audio output signal from the extension socket of the bite indicator.
2. A bite indication system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the transmitter includes a radio transmission circuit for transmitting the audio signal of the bite indicator and a micro-processor operative to generate a code identifying the transmitter.
3. A bite indication system as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the radio signal transmitted by the transmission circuit comprises the identification code generated by the microprocessor followed by an analogue signal modulated in accordance with the audio signal generated by the bite indicator.

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4. A bite indication system constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

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