GB2294379A

GB2294379A - Bite indicator

Info

Publication number: GB2294379A
Application number: GB9521258A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Derek Romang
Original assignee: DELKIM Ltd
Current assignee: DELKIM Ltd
Priority date: 1994-10-29
Filing date: 1995-10-17
Publication date: 1996-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 2015-10-17
Also published as: GB2294379B; GB9521258D0; GB9421831D0

Abstract

A bite indicator has a remotely located command module from which the sensitivity of the bite indicator to line movement may be adjusted. The bite indicator of the preferred embodiment comprises a first housing including a rod support 16 and having means therein for sensing line movement. A command module 12 connected to the first housing by a remote communication link 14, has means for receiving over the communication link the output signal of the line movement sensor and means for processing the output signal of the line movement sensor to produce an alarm indication, the processing means including a control 34 for adjusting the sensitivity to line movement. <IMAGE>

Description

BITE INDICATOR The present invention relates to bite indicators for use by anglers.

Bite indicators of various kind are known that sense movement of the line on a fishing rod and produce a visible and/or audible alarm to alert the angler that a fish has taken the bait on the line. Such bite indicators are often used in situations where anglers have to spend several hours waiting for a fish to take the bait, carp fishing being a prime example. The angler may under such conditions set up a tent with a camp bed at some distance from the rods and, for this reason, many known bite indicators have extension sockets to allow connection of extension boxes containing speakers. These extension sockets are connected only to the audio circuits of the bite indicator and the extension boxes only have the facility to control the volume of the sound produced by the speakers in the extension box.

Bite indicators do have controls for other than the volume of the produced sound, in particular controls for sensitivity to line movement, and these may also need to be adjusted as angling conditions vary. For example, in windy weather conditions, the angler may wish to reduce the sensitivity of the bite indicator to avoid false alarms.

Currently, this can only be done by the angler leaving the comfort of his shelter and manually resetting the controls on the body of the bite indicator.

With a view to mitigating this disadvantage, the present invention provides a bite indicator having a remotely located command module from which the sensitivity of the bite indicator to line movement may be adjusted.

The bite indicator of the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a first housing including a rod support and having means therein for sensing line movement and a command module connected to the first housing by a remote communication link, the command module having therein means for receiving over the communication link the output signal of the line movement sensor and means for processing the output signal of the line movement sensor to produce an alarm indication, the processing means including a control for adjusting the sensitivity to line movement.

The communication link may take the form of a wired connection between the command module and the box housing the line movement sensor, but it may alternatively comprise a radio or infra red remote communication link.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a line movement sensor connected by a connection lead to a command module, Figure 2 is a block diagram of a line movement sensor connected to radio communication link, and Figure 3 is a block diagram of a three channel command module incorporating a radio receiver.

In Figure 1, there is shown a line movement sensor 10 connected to a command module 12 by a connection lead 14.

As will be described in more detail below, the lead 14 may be replaced by a radio communication link or by an infra red link. The connection lead or the communication link allow the line movement sensor 10 and the command module 12 to be physically spaced apart so that the angler may set up a shelter at a more comfortable location away from the water's edge.

Externally, the line movement sensor 10 may resemble a conventional sensor. The casing of the sensor has a rod support 16 on which in use a rod rests with the line passing over a sensing element, which is preferably a vibratable piezoelectric stylus. In the illustrated embodiment, the housing also has an internal loudspeaker 18 and controls 20, 22 and 24 to set the volume, pitch and sensitivity, respectively, the pitch control being provided to allow two sensors to be distinguished from one another when in use near to each other. The line movement sensor as described above is a complete unit that may be operated independently of its command module. This, however, is not essential and it would be less expensive only to have within the housing the line movement sensor 40 including a display LED and the remote communication circuit including a microprocessor.

The command module 12 has a further loudspeaker 28 and the same volume, pitch and sensitivity controls as the described sensor 10 itself. In the case of the command module, however, there are three such sets of controls each associated with a different channel, as the same command module can be connected to three separate line movement sensors 10. Though the illustrated embodiment has separate volume controls for each channel, it is alternatively possible to use a common audio output stage having a select function with a common increase/decrease control for all the channels.

Referring now to Figure 2, the upper of the two boxes drawn in dotted lines contains the circuits of the line movement sensor 10, while the lower box contains a radio communication link that connects the line movement sensor to the remotely located command module 12. The line movement sensor comprises a sensing element 40 that produces a signal in response to line movement. This signal after amplification in the pre-amplifier 42 is compared in comparator 44 with a reference threshold. If the threshold is exceeded, a tone generator 46 is activated to produce a sound that is amplified and applied to the internal loudspeaker 18. The sensitivity control 24 can either act to vary the gain of the pre-amplifier or the reference threshold of the comparator 44.The pitch control 22 acts to vary the frequency of an oscillator that forms part of the tone generator 46, while the volume control is a potentiometer at the input end of an audio output stage built into the tone generator 46. As this circuit is generally conventional, it is not believed necessary to describe it in greater detail. If the movement sensor is not required to operate as a stand alone unit, then the comparator 44, the tone generator 46 and the loudspeaker 48 may be omitted.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the raw analogue data from the sensing element 40 may be transmitted to the command module and all the signal processing may be performed within the command module.

The radio circuit, shown separately from the line movement sensor in Figure 2, serves to transmit to the signal from the line movement sensor 40 to the command module 12. It is known to provide an extension box that communicates by a remote link with a line movement sensor but in the known systems, the signal sent by the remote communication link is tapped from the output of the tone generator. This enables the generated sound to be adjusted from the extension box, but not the sensitivity of the line movement sensor.

By contrast, it is the output of the pre-amplifier 42 that is here supplied to the radio communication link. The latter comprises a power supply circuit 50 which may for example be a separate battery and a radio transmitter 54 that emits an electromagnetic signal from the antenna 56.

Apart from the power supply 50 and the transmitter 54, the radio circuitry includes a micro-processor 52. The microprocessor samples the analogue output signal of the sensor and produces a digital signal. This signal and a unique identification code are passed to the transmitter 54 which periodically transmits an encoded signal.

Within the command module 12, the signal received over the receiving antenna 58 and demodulated by the receiver 60 is supplied to a microprocessor 62 for decoding.

If this microprocessor recognises the transmitted identification code as being one of a set that the command module has been programmed to detect, the signal from the line movement sensor is passed on to a respective one of three comparators 66a-66c, tone generators 68a-68c and volume controls 70a-70c that serve the same function as the corresponding items in line movement sensor 10. The same processing as normally carried out within the line movement sensor 10 is now carried out in one of the three separate channels each of which can be set to a different pitch associated with a respective fishing rod. Within each channel, the invention allows not only the volume and pitch of the sound to be varied for each individual fishing rod but also allows the sensitivity to be remotely controlled by setting the reference threshold and/or gain in the comparator 66a, 66b or 66c.

In normal operation, the command module periodically receives encoded signals from the active line movement sensors to which it is connected. If the command module should fail to receive such a signal for a given length of time, then it can be programmed to provide an alarm signal.

In this way, a fail safe check is constantly performed on the system that assures proper operation of the equipment and provides a safeguard against theft. It would be difficult for a would-be thief to steal a rod without making a sound and if this sound is only heard by the angler, then the thief would not be alerted to the fact that he has been detected. If a thief should attempt to disconnect the radio transmitter, on the other hand, then the absence of the intermittently transmitted code would be detected and used to alert the angler that the system has been disconnected.

It is not essential that the command module have separate pitch and volume controls for the three channels.

Indeed, the pitch may be preset for the three channels and a single volume control could be provided common to all three channels.

It would be possible to sell kits containing several line movement sensors and a single command module but it is more advantageous to be able to sell line movement sensors individually. As each sensor will have a built in unique code, it is possible to program a learning mode in the microprocessor of the command module to enable it to store the identification codes of the sensors that it is to recognise. Though a three channel command module can only be connected to three active sensors at any one time, it is possible to program the microprocessor to recognise more than three identification codes.

It is of course not essential for the command module to be multi-channelled but compact multi-channel radio transmitters and receivers are readily available from other remote control applications and using such components makes for a simpler and less expensive construction.

It can be seen from the foregoing description that the invention greatly improves the convenience to anglers in that all essential controls of the line movement sensors may be adjusted without the angler leaving his shelter.

Claims

1. A bite indicator having a remotely located command module from which the sensitivity of the bite indicator to line movement may be adjusted.

2. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 1, comprising a first housing including a rod support and having means therein for sensing line movement and a command module connected to the first housing by a remote communication link, the command module having therein means for receiving over the communication link the output signal of the line movement sensor and means for processing the output signal of the line movement sensor to produce an alarm indication, the processing means including a control for adjusting the sensitivity to line movement.

3. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 2, wherein the communication link comprises a radio or infra red remote communication link.

4. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 3, wherein the command module is multi-channelled and is connected by a multi-channel radio communication link to a plurality of line movement sensors, wherein the sensitivity of each channel may be separately adjusted.

5. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein each line movement sensor is arranged to transmit periodically on a common frequency a radio signal containing an identification code and signal indicating any movement of the line associated with the line movement sensor.

6. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 5, further wherein means are provided within the command module to detect the absence of a transmitted identification code and to emit a warning that the system has been disconnected.

7. A bite indicator constructed and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.