GB2322530A

GB2322530A - Fishing lures

Info

Publication number: GB2322530A
Application number: GB9712814A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Graham Frederick Skirrey
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-02-28
Filing date: 1997-06-19
Publication date: 1998-09-02
Anticipated expiration: 2017-06-19
Also published as: GB2322530B; GB9704112D0; GB9712814D0

Abstract

A fishing lure to entice fish, comprising a circuit board 7 having a buzzer 8, resistors 10 and a transistor 9 all powered by sealed battery 12, this unit to be placed within a rubber or plastic translucent sheath 14, the unit being connected electrically to light emitting diode 11, two insulated wires 16, protruding through the sheath, the bared ends of these wires form contacts 17, being secured at a pre-determined distance apart such that when immersed in water, the electrical circuit is complete thereby activating the buzzer and lights, the whole being covered in a porous, iridescent material 18.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO FISHING LURES APPLICATION FOR PATENT NO. 9704112.3 For many years, anglers who may be fishing in fresh or salt water have attached some form of lure near to the end of the line in order to tantalize the fish and entice it to view the lure as a potential source of food such that when it bites the lure it will engage the actual hook which is attached to the line in close proximity to the end of the lure.

Through the years, the design of these lures has progressed through many stages.

Initially it would consist of a shiny metal disc which was attached close to the end of the fishing line adjacent to the hook such that any movement of the lure created by the flow of the water would cause the light to be reflected from it thereby catching the attention of any fish in close proximity. The weight of the metal lure would also determine the depth at which the actual hook would be submerged.

In a further development, a hole cut in the body of the metal disc so that it could be threaded onto a short length of fishing line or metal wire which is attached to the actual fishing line but which is off-set and parallel to it thereby allowing the disc to revolve when activated by the flow of the water. This added movement of the lure, increased the amount of reflected light so acting as a further enticement to the fish.

In more recent times, the lure has consisted of a metal torpedo shaped body with the fishing line passing through its length with a revolving metal vane attached at the end and located in front of the hook, thus when this type of lure is placed in the water the vane is rotated by the flow of the stream thus enhancing the glittering effect and increasing the temptation to the fish to pursue it.

A further advance in the design of fishing lures has been to cover the metal torpedo shaped body with a coloured rubber sheath in which the trailing end, being that which is adjacent to the hook, has been shaped to resemble tails, thus when the lure is moving in the water these tails vibrate as if to simulate its prey.

As can be seen from the above descriptions of earlier lures, they all have certain limitations in that they all require to be operated in flowing water or in the case of placid waters, they have to be hauled in order that the mechanically activated revolving metal discs or vanes can reflect the light in a flashing manner if they are to fulfill their prescribed task of attracting fish. Because of their mode of operation, their effectiveness is reduced when the amount of light available falling on the lure is insufficient as when fishing in murky water or where the preferred depth of fishing is so deep as to prevent penetration of the light, such situations can also occur when fishing close to overhanging cliffs or vegetation.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fishing lure, which in addition to the normal spinning metal vane often used to entice fish to the hook, will incorporate an electicallelectronic system to provide a combination of intermittent sound and flashing lights in order to attract and enhance the catching of fish and will comprise, for example, a sealed electric battery which will provide the power necessary to activate an electrical circuit which features a sound emitting buzzer, resistors, transistor and light emitting diodes, these aforementioned components are attached to a circuit board and the complete unit is rendered waterproof and electrically insulated by means of a suitable sealant, extending longitudinally through the body of the lure and protruding from both of its ends is high tensile steel wire, to one end of this wire, is attached the actual fishing line while at the opposite end is attached the fishing hook, in order to protect the electrical components and the circuit board from any possible damage which may be caused by the movement of the steel wire and also to prevent any accidental short circuiting of the wiring, the length of steel wire which is contained within the body of the lure is placed within a protective rubber tubing; with the exception of the sound emitting buzzer located at one end of the circuit board, the remainder of the lure is encased within a translucent rubber or plastic sheath, this sheath extends beyond the opposite end of the lure where the light emitting diode is normally located, the material is cut into longitudinal sections with some of the sections removed such that the remaining sections resemble the fins of the fish's prey while the translucent nature of the material allows the light from the light emitting diodes to be more visible to the fish; protruding from beneath one end of this sheath are two insulated wires, one leading from the positive terminal of the battery and the other from the negative terminal, these wires are laid parallel to each other along the outer surface of the sheath, the ends of these wires are made bare of the insulating material to form the contacts necessary to complete the electrical circuit when the lure is immersed in the water, conversely, removal of the lure from the water will break this electrical circuit thereby prolonging the life of the battery, the distance between these two contacts can be adjusted, so that the differences in the electrical conductivity as determined by the various conditions of the water can be accommodated, in order that these contacts remain in their allocated positions and also to allow the moisture of the surrounding water to penetrate and reach the contacts to complete the electrical circuit, if required, this water activated switch can be replaced by a manual switch; the complete lure, with the exception of the sound emitting buzzer, is covered in a porous material, the colour and texture of which is of a scale-like and iridescent nature being similar to that of the young sand eel or sandelver, this material can also be provided in the shape and configuration to emulate any type of prey that may be preferred by any particular breed of fish, for example, if the colour of the covering material is red and it is bound in a particular manner, the lure will represent the shape and configuration of a shrimp or if it is intended to be used for fly fishing, strands of the iridescent material in a multicoloured mode will give the illusion of a fly or similar insect as it skims over the water.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect, a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example only, in which: FIG. 1 shows a Plan View of the invention in which a part of the outer covering has been omitted in order to show the inner electricallelectronic components, the actual wiring is not shown in this drawing, due to its complexity.

FIG. 2 shows a Side Elevational View of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a Schematic Diagram of the invention's electrical wiring circuit and the connections to the electronic components.

FIG. 4 shows the Plan View of a further embodiment of the invention without the buzzer where the outer shape and configuration is shown in the form of a shrimp.

FIG. 5 shows a Side Elevational View of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4.

FIGS 6 and 6A shows a further embodiment of the invention without the buzzer where it is made to represent a fly fishing lure.

With reference to FIGS 1 and 2, to a fishing line 1 is attached a steel wire 2 by means of eye 3, a metallic vane 4 is threaded onto a length of wire 5 which has been preformed such that it is off-set and parallel to the main body of the wire to which it is attached, in order to prevent the said vane from coming into contact with the eye 3 and the main body of the lure, beads 6 are threaded onto the wire. The body of the lure consists of a circuit board 7 to which are attached and electrically connected together by wires, a sound emitting buzzer 8, a three pronged transistor 9, two resistors 10 and a light emitting diode 11. All of these components are powered by means of a sealed electric battery 12. This complete electrical/electronic unit is rendered waterproof and electrically insulated by covering them with a suitable sealant.

Passing longitudinally through the length of the lure is the steel wire 2 which is insulated from the components and associated wiring by passing the said wire through a length of rubber/plastic tubing 13; with the exception of the sound emitting buzzer 8, the remainder of the lure is encased within a plastic sheath 14, the end of this sheath extends beyond the position of the light emitting diode 11, this portion of the sheath has longitudinal shapes cut out of it so the remaining portion of the sheath 15 represents the shape and configuration of fins.

Protruding from one end of the sheath 14 are two insulated wires 16, one leading from the positive terminal of the battery 12 and the other from the negative terminal. These wires are bent such that they will be laid along the outer surface of the sheath parallel to each other but spaced at a certain distance apart. The ends of these insulated wires are bared at contacts 17. The distance between these contacts can be adjusted to suit the electrical conductivity of the different types of water into which the lure may be immersed, these contacts are held in their choosen position when an outer layer of a porous, iridescent material 18 is placed over the complete lure, with the exception of the sound emitting buzzer.

To the end of the steel wire 2, which extends beyond the main body of the lure, is attached a fishing hook 19 by means of eye 20.

With reference to FIGS 4 and 5, the fishing line 1 passes through a tube 13 which in turn is attached to the body of the lure by means of binding 21. In addition to this function, the binding constricts the porous, iridescent material 18 into the shape and configuration corresponding to the shape of a shrimp, within this shape is located a sealed electrical battery 12 which provides the power necessary to illuminate two light emitting diodes 11 which will flash alternately when the lure is placed in the water and the electrical continuity is created when the electricity flows through the water via contacts 17 which form a part of the legs of the shrimp, a bead 6 separates the hook 19 from the end of the tubing 13 while the hook itself is attached by means of eye 3 to the actual fishing line 1.

With reference to FIGS 6A and 6, in this embodiment, the invention has been adapted for fly fishing, a fishing line 1 is attached to a steel wire 2 by means of eye 3. The steel wire passes through a tube 13 which is securely attached to the battery 12 by means of bindings 21, insulated wires 16, extend from the positive and negative terminals of the said battery along the surface of the battery where the ends of the wires are bared to form contacts 17 which are spaced a distance apart. This distance can be adjusted to suit the electrical conductivity of the water into which the lure may be immersed. The complete unit is then covered by a porous, iridescent material which keeps the electrical contacts in their designated position but also allows the moisture of the water to perculate through to complete the electrical circuit across contacts 17. In order to attract the particular type of fish caught by fly fishing, filaments of material 22 are attached to one end of the lure.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A fishing lure attached to a fishing line in order to entice fish, comprising a sealed electrical battery to provide the power for an electric electrical/electronic circuit featuring a sound emitting buzzer, resistors, transitor and one or more light emitting diodes, the circuit being rendered water-proof and electrically insulated by means of a suitable sealant and encased within a translucent rubber or plastic sheath one end of which is shaped to represent fins, two insulated wires, one leading from the positive terminal of the battery and the other from the negative terminal protrude through the sheath to be laid along the outer surface of the sheath, the bared ends of these wires forming contacts of the water activated switch when the lure is placed in water. The distance between these contacts can be adjusted to allow for the varying electrical conductivity of different types of water while removal of the lure from the water breaks the contact thereby preserving the life of the battery.

2. A fishin lure as claimed in claim 1. in which the electrical unit is covered in a porous, iridescent material having a scale-like appearance and texture so allowing moisture to penetrate and reach the electrical contacts while at the same time ensuring that the electrical contacts maintain their allocated positions.

3. A fishing lure as claimed in Claims 1 and 2 in which the colour and texture of the iridescent covering material may be appropriate to the natural food of any particular breed of fish.

4. A fishing lure as claimed in Claims 1, 2 and 3 in which the iridescent covering material is formed into the shape and configuration of the fish's prey.

5. A fishing lure as claimed in any previous claim in which the water activated electrical switching arrangement is replaced by a manual switching device.

6. A fishing lure as claimed in any previous claim in which the distance between the contacts which form the water activated switch can be varied in order to accommodate any differences in the electrical conductivity of different types of water.

7. A fishing lure as claimed in any previous claim in which the wire extension of the fishing line passing through the body of the lure is contained within a plastic tubing to prevent either mechanical or electrical damage to the electrical components.

8. A fishing lure as claimed in any previous claim in 'which the translucent sheath encasing the electrical components extends beyond the fishing hook and is shaped to represent trailing fins.

9. A fishing lure as claimed in any previous claim in which a spinning metallic vane is used in conjunction with the lure.

10. A fishing lure to attract fish using sound and light, constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in any of the accompanying drawings.