GB2298346A

GB2298346A - A clip

Info

Publication number: GB2298346A
Application number: GB9524352A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter William Berry
Original assignee: GEMINI TACKLE CO Ltd
Current assignee: GEMINI TACKLE CO Ltd
Priority date: 1995-11-29
Filing date: 1995-11-29
Publication date: 1996-09-04
Anticipated expiration: 2015-11-29
Also published as: GB9524352D0; GB2318491A; GB2298346B; GB9725254D0; GB2318491B

Abstract

A clip (1) consisting of a length of wire formed into a loop, one end of the length of wire being shaped to provide attachment means (3) and the other end of the length of wire being located adjacent to the attachment means to substantially close the loop and being movable away from the attachment means against a resilient biasing force to open the loop to permit an article to be introduced therein. The clip is particularly used to facilitate the attachment of articles of fishing tackle to a fishing line.

Description

A CLIP Field of the Invention This invention relates to clips, more particularly to a clip to facilitate the attachment of items of fishing tackle to fishing line.

Background to the Invention When fishing with rod and line, a reel carrying line is mounted on one end of the rod. Line is stripped from the reel and threaded through the eyelets of the rod. Once this has been done items of tackle, such as weights, swivels, hooks or spinners, are attached to the line. Attachment is commonly achieved by passing the line through an eyelet in the item of tackle and then tying a knot in the line, thus securing the item of tackle.

Due to the often cold and wet conditions in which fishermen fish, the tying of knots is often a troublesome task.

Tying knots in line also weakens the line at and around the point of the knot. This renders any section of line which has had a knot in it useless, hence causing a large wastage of fishing line. In the past attempts have been made to overcome this problem by attaching a clip to the end of the line, to which the tackle is then attached. The result of attaching such a clip is that a knot need only be tied in the line once, to attach the clip thereto. When the fisherman wishes to change an item of tackle he simply unclips the previously attached item and replaces it.

One type of clip is essentially in the form of a piece of coiled wire.

To attach a piece of tackle to the coil it is necessary to insert a finger nail, or blade between the coils in order to open them sufficiently to permit the item of tackle to be introduced onto the coil. This act often proves difficult for the fisherman who has cold hands.

When sea fishing from the sea shore it may be necessary to cast the tackle, including weights and hooks with bait attached thereto, a long distance out to sea (in the region of 200 metres). One of the factors which limits the distance to which the tackle may be cast is the air and wind resistance due to the bait attached to the hooks. This problem has been recognised, and attempts have been made to solve it.

Generally a number of hooks with bait are attached to the main line by means of second, relatively short pieces of line attached to the main line. Secondary hooks (commonly known and referred to hereinafter as bait hooks) can be slidably attached to the main line. For the casting procedure, the slidably mounted bait hook is arranged so that the distance between the point where the secondary line is attached to the main line and the bait hook corresponds to the combined length of the secondary line and hook. By hooking the hook to the bait hook, the hook to be held close to the main line during casting thereby reducing air/wind resistance. During casting, due to the inertia caused by the weight of the tackle attached to the main line, the main line stretches. As the secondary line is fixed to the main line the slidably mounted bait hook is caused to slide up the main line.As the tackle slows down, the degree to which the main line is stretched decreases, allowing the hook to fall away from the bait hook.

The present invention allows the provision of a bait hook to be simplified, by incorporating the hook into the clip. In this case the secondary line must be slidably mounted onto the main line, as the clip is fixed.

It is common practice to make up a number of rigs comprising a length of main line to which different items of tackle, such as weights, hooks, spinners, etc. are attached, where each rig is suitable for certain fishing conditions. This makes setting up the tackle prior to commencing fishing simple, as it is only necessary to set up the rod and reel, thread the main line through the eyelets of the rod and then attach the desired rig, all the tying of knots having been completed earlier.

The disadvantage with this system is that a different rig must be made up for each set of fishing conditions. The present invention permits a rig of modular elements to be created. This is done by creating modular sections comprising lengths of mainline (the lengths being shorter than those of the previously described rig) to which items of tackle are attached, and attaching at one end of each section a clip according to the invention which can be removably attached to another modular section.

Such an arrangement is advantageous as it permits a wide range of rigs to be created from a relatively small number of modular sections.

It is common practice to attach a rig to the main line be means of a swivel for reasons which are well known to fishermen. For the reasons mentioned above it is desirable not to have to untie knots, and hence it is desirable to attach a clip to the free end of the main line, to which the swivel can be attached.

Existing clips are too large to pass through the eyelets of the rod, thus requiring the removal of the clip at the end of each fishing session.

It would therefore be desirable to create a clip so dimensioned as to enable it to pass through the eyelets of the rod easily.

Summary of the Invention According to the invention there is provided a clip consisting of a length of wire formed into a loop, one end of the length of wire being shaped to provide attachment means and the other end of the length of wire being located adjacent to the attachment means to substantially close the loop and being movable away from the attachment means against a resilient biasing force to open the loop to permit an article to be introduced therein. Preferably one end of the length of wire is adapted to facilitate the introduction of the said article into the clip. Such adaptation may take the form of bending the length of wire.

The attachment means may be an eyelet which is advantageously formed by bending the length of wire.

At one end of the length of wire there may be provided a hook, and preferably such a hook is formed by bending the length of wire.

Preferably the article to be retained in the clip is an item of fishing tackle, such as a weight, spinner, swivel or the like.

Advantageously, the clip is so dimensioned as to permit it to pass through the eyelets of a fishing rod.

In one embodiment of the invention there is provided a rig comprising a length of line to which there is attached to at least one end thereof a clip as described above. Preferably the line is attached to the eyelet of the or each clip.

In another embodiment of the invention the hook forming part of the clip acts as a bait hook, retaining the fishing hook during the action of casting, and releasing the said fishing hook when the said action of casting is complete.

A further embodiment of the invention provides a rig in the form of a plurality of modular sections, wherein a clip according to the invention is provided at least one end of each modular section.

A clip according to the invention may be attached to the free end of the main fishing line, the other end of which is attached to a reel, and preferably is retained thereon when the line is fully wound onto the reel.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of a clip according to the invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic end view of the clip shown in figure 1; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side view of a clip according to another aspect of the invention; and Figure 4 is diagrammatic side view of a rig using clips according to the invention.

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiments Figure 1 shows a clip generally indicated at 1 formed by bending an elongate piece of resilient wire between the ends thereof so as to form an essentially closed loop. An article to be retained by the clip can be introduced thereinto at (a) due to the resilience of the wire. The elongate piece of resilient wire is bent at 2 to facilitate the introduction of the article.

As can be seen from Figure 1, the loop is much larger at one end than at the other. This is to permit the accommodation of the item of tackle which is to be retained by the clip.

In Figure 2, the eyelet which may be formed by bending the elongate piece of resilient is indicated at 3. The eyelet will generally be attached to a length of fishing line.

Figure 3 shows a further embodiment of the clip according to the invention, where the clip is provided with a hook 4. Hook 4 serves as a bait hook. The functioning of hook 4 is described in more detail in figure 4.

In Figure 4 there is shown a rig, generally indicated at 14, comprising fishing line 11 to which is attached at one end thereof a first swivel 5, and at the other end thereof a clip 1 of the type illustrated in figure 3, to which is attached a weight 15. A second swivel 5 is slidably attached to fishing line 11. The position of the swivel on the line is controlled by stops 8 mounted on line 11, above and below the swivel 5. Slidable beads 6 may be mounted between the stops 8. A slidable stop member 7 is also mounted on line 11, as shown in figure 4. To the second swivel 5 there is attached fishing line 12 to which is attached a hook 13. By slidably mounting second swivel 5 on fishing line 11, the hook 13 can be arranged to co-operate with bait hook 4 of clip 1 prior to and during the casting procedure.

As can be seen from Figure 4, one end of first swivel 5 is attached to a clip 1. Clip 1 is shown as being a clip as illustrated in figures 1 and 2, and is attached to the main fishing line which is in turn attached at its other end to the reel. However, clip 1 could equally be a clip as shown in figure 3, forming part of modular rig section.

The operation of stops 8, slidable beads 6 and slidable stop member 7 is described below.

When the fisherman wishes to cast out his line he hooks hook 13 to bait hook 4. He then pushes slidable stop member 7 along line 11 until line 12 is held taught, thus securing hook 13 to bait hook 4. As the line is cast inertia, primarily due to weight 15 causes line 11 to stretch. This in turn pulls slidable stop 7 along line 11 towards clip 1. As the effect of inertia decreases line 11 starts to return to its original length. As slidable stop member has moved, the distance between it and bait hook 4 is now less than the combined length of second swivel 5, line 12 and hook 13. As such bait hook 4 cannot retain hook 13, resulting in hook 13 falling away from line 11.

Stops 8 limit the overall movement of second swivel 5, and slidable beads 6 serve to prevent stops 8 and slidable stop 7 from being damaged or over-ridden by second swivel 5.

Weight 15 may be replaced by one end of a modular rig section similar to rig section 14. Any number of such rig sections as desired by the fisherman may be provided.

Claims

Claims 1) A clip consisting of a length of wire formed into a loop, one end of the length of wire being shaped to provide attachment means and the other end of the length of wire being located adjacent to the attachment means to substantially close the loop and being movable away from the attachment means against a resilient biasing force to open the loop to permit an article to be introduced therein. 2) A clip according to Claim 1, wherein one end of the length of wire is adapted to facilitate the introduction of the said article into the clip. 3) A clip according to Claim 2, wherein the adaptation takes the form of bending the length of wire. 4) A clip according to any preceding claim, wherein, the attachment means is an eyelet. 5) A clip according to Claim 4, wherein the eyelet is formed by bending the length of wire. 6) A clip according to any preceding claim, wherein at one end of the length of wire there is provided a hook. 7) A clip according to Claim 6, wherein the hook is formed by bending the length of wire. 8) A clip according to any preceding claim, wherein the article to be retained in the clip is an item of fishing tackle. 9) A clip according to Claim 8, wherein the item of fishing tackle is a weight, spinner, swivel or the like. 10) A clip according to any preceding claim which is so dimensioned as to permit it to pass through the eyelets of a fishing rod. 11) A clip according to any one of Claims 6 to 10, wherein the hook forming part of the clip acts as a bait hook, retaining the fishing hook during the action of casting, and releasing the said fishing hook when the said action of casting is complete. 12) A clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the said clip is attached to the free end of the main fishing line, the other end of which is attached to a reel. 13) A clip according to Claim 12, wherein the said clip is retained on line when the line is fully wound onto the reel. 14) A rig comprising a length of line to which there is attached to at least one end thereof a clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 11. 15) A rig according to Claim 14, wherein the line is attached to the eyelet of the or each clip. 16) A rig comprising a plurality of modular sections, wherein a clip according to any one of Claims 1 to 11 is provided at at least one end of each modular section. Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows

1) The combination of: a fishing rod having eyelets, a reel attachable to the said fishing rod, which reel carries line, and a clip consisting of a length of wire formed into a loop, one end of the length of wire being shaped to provide attachment means to attach the clip to the line, and the other end of the length of wire being located adjacent to the attachment means to substantially close the loop and being movable away from the attachment means against a resilient biasing force to open the loop to permit an article to be introduced therein, wherein the said clip is so dimensioned as to permit it to pass through the eyelets of the fishing rod.

2) A combination according to Claim 1, wherein one end of the length of wire forming the clip is adapted to facilitate the introduction of the said article into the clip.

3) A combination according to Claim 2, wherein the adaptation to the clip takes the form of bending the length of wire.

4) A combination according to any preceding claim, wherein the attachment means to attach the clip to the line is an eyelet.

5) A combination according to Claim 4, wherein the eyelet is formed by bending the length of wire.

6) A combination according to any preceding claim, wherein at one end of the length of wire forming the clip there is provided a hook.

7) A combination according to Claim 6, wherein the hook is formed by bending the length of wire.

8) A combination according to any preceding claim including a further item of fishing tackle, wherein the said further item of fishing tackle is retained in the clip.

9) A combination according to Claim 8, wherein the item of fishing tackle is a weight, spinner, swivel or the like.

10) A clip consisting of a length of wire formed into a loop, one end of the length of wire being shaped to provide attachment means and the other end of the length of wire being located adjacent to the attachment means to substantially close the loop and being movable away from the attachment means against a resilient biasing force to open the loop to permit an article to be introduced therein, wherein at the said other end of the length of wire forming the clip there is provided a bait hook.

11) A clip according to Claim 10, wherein the attachment means is an eyelet.

12) A clip according to Claim 10 or 11, wherein the clip is formed by bending the length of wire.

13) A rig comprising a plurality of modular sections, wherein a clip consisting of a length of wire formed into a loop, one end of the length of wire being shaped to provide attachment means and the other end of the length of wire being located adjacent to the attachment means to substantially close the loop and being movable away from the attachment means against a resilient biasing force to open the loop to permit an article to be introduced therein is provided at at least one end of each modular section.

14) A rig according to Claim 13, wherein one end of the length of wire forming the clip is adapted to facilitate the introduction of the said article into the clip.

15) A rig according to Claim 14, wherein the adaptation to the clip takes the form of bending the length of wire.

16) A rig according to any of claims 13 to 15, wherein the attachment means to attach the said clip to the said line is an eyelet.

17) A rig according to Claim 16, wherein the eyelet is formed by bending the length of wire.

18) A rig according to any of claims 13 to 17, wherein at one end of the length of wire forming the clip there is provided a hook.

19) A rig according to Claim 18, wherein the hook is formed by bending the length of wire.

20) A rig according to Claim 18 or 19, wherein the hook is a bait hook.

21) A rig comprising a length of line, wherein a clip consisting of a length of wire formed into a loop, one end of the length of wire being shaped to provide attachment means and the other end of the length of wire being located adjacent to the attachment means to substantially close the loop and being movable away from the attachment means against a resilient biasing force to open the loop to permit an article to be introduced therein is provided at at least one end of length of line.

22) A rig according to Claim 21, wherein one end of the length of wire forming the clip is adapted to facilitate the introduction of the said article into the clip.

23) A rig according to Claim 22, wherein the adaptation to the clip takes the form of bending the length of wire.

24) A rig according to any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the attachment means to attach the said clip to the said line is an eyelet.

25) A rig according to Claim 24, wherein the eyelet is formed by bending the length of wire.

26) A rig according to any of claims 21 to 25, wherein at one end of the length of wire forming the clip there is provided a hook.

27) A rig according to Claim 26, wherein the hook is formed by bending the length of wire.

28) A rig according to Claim 26 or 27, wherein the hook is a bait hook.