GB2331220A

GB2331220A - Fishing line clip

Info

Publication number: GB2331220A
Application number: GB9724042A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Clifford Royston Fox
Original assignee: Fox Design International Ltd
Current assignee: Fox Design International Ltd
Priority date: 1997-11-14
Filing date: 1997-11-14
Publication date: 1999-05-19
Anticipated expiration: 2017-11-14
Also published as: GB2331220A9; GB2331220B; GB9724042D0

Abstract

A fishing line clip comprises attachment means 10 for attaching the clip to a rod and line engagement means, connected to the attachment means, for releasably holding the line. The line engagement means comprise two engagement portions at least one of which is resilient. The force with which the engagement portions are urged towards one another is adjustable and this affects the force required to pull the line from between them. The two engagement portions are preferably two arms 34 of a U shaped resilient wire (Fig. 2) with ball shaped members 38 on their ends. The adjustment may be effected by a tapered slide 28 which acts on spaced apart areas of the attachment means between which spaced apart areas the engagement portions are gripped (18, Fig. 1). In one embodiment the two engagement portions can be replaced by a single tongue like engagement portion (Fig. 13).

Description

2331220 Fishing line clip The present invention relates to a fishing line

clip comprising attachment means whereby the clip can be attached to a fishing rod and line engagement means connected to the attachment means to enable a fishing line to be releasably held in place by the line engagement means.

Such a clip as has been constructed heretofore has been located on a rod between two bank-sticks, for example, which support the rod. In this arrangement, the fishing line extends from a reel of the rod downwardly to engagement with a fishbite indicator of the construction having a pivot arm through line engagement means thereof and then upwardly to the line engagement means of the clip, and from thence forwardly-to and beyond the tip of the rod. When a hook at the end of the line takes a bite from a fish, the line which is releasably held by the engagement means of the clip is released therefrom but, at the time of release, the movement of the pivotal arm is increased in relation to what the movement would have been in the absence of the clip and, furthermore, the release from the clip improves the likelihood that the hook will not be torn from the mouth of the fish because of the slack in the line immediately after release of the line from the clip- One disadvantage of this previously proposed construction of clip is that it is not adjustable for different thicknesses of line so that the line may snag and indeed may be damaged by the clip. Furthermore, no -2adjustment in the strength with which the clip holds the line of a given cross-sectional diameter can be made for different external conditions.

The present invention seeks to provide a remedy.

The present invention is accordingly directed to a fishing line clip having a construction as set out in the opening paragraph of the present specification, in which the engagement means of the clip comprises two engagement portions at least one of which is resilient, so that the engagement portions can be urged towards one another with a force which is adjustable.

Preferably, the two portions comprise two arms of a resilient wire having a U-shaped form.

Preferably, there are respective ball-shaped portions on the two engagement portions, the two ball-shaped portions being urged towards one another so that a line passing over them and between the engagement portions is held by the ball-shaped portions, but can be pulled between the ball-shaped portions and away therefrom once the tension in the line exceeds a certain threshold value.

The engagement portions may be held between two spaced-apart portions of the attachment means, the spacing between these spaced-apart portions being adjustable by means of a slide which can engage the attachment means, the latter and/or the slide being tapered for this purpose.

The clip may be so constructed that the engagement means with the two engagement portions can be interchanged with engagement means having a tongue-like construction, so that when the latter is positioned in the attachment means, the clip acts in a conventional manner.

An example of a clip made in accordance with the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of parts of the is Figures 4 Figure 10 clip; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of another part of the clip; Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a completely assembled clip; to 9 show, respectively, a view from one end of the assembled clip, a view from the other end of the assembled clip, a view from one side of the assembled clip, a view from the other side, and a view from - above the assembled clip shown in Figure 3; shows an underneath view of the part shown in Figure 2; Figures 11 to 13 show views corresponding, respectively, to Figures 1 to 3 of parts and of an assembly in which the part shown in Figure 2 is replaced by the part shown in Figure 12.

The fishing line clip shown in the drawings comprises an integral plastics injection -moulded generally sleeveshaped attachment means 10. This is not quite closed so that it has a gap 12 between two ends 14. This enables the 1 attachment means to be snapped on to a fishing line by virtue of the resilience of the attachment means 10. A pair of elongate spaced-apart axially extending integral portions 16 of the attachment means 10 are positioned opposite the gap 12, and are provided with respective grooves 18 on their insides, and respective grooves 20 on their outsides.

These elongate portions 16 extend on and partly define opposite sides of a generally key-hole-shaped slot 22 formed in the underside of the attachment means 10, the slot opening at one end 24 of the attachment means 10, but being blind at the other end 26. A slide 28 has inwardly turned lips 30 which engage the grooves 20 respectively, the slide 28 having a bridge portion 32 extending from one is lip 30 to the other, underneath and in contact with the under-sides of the elongate portion 16. The spacing between the lips 30 decreases in a direction towards the open end of the slot 22.

Figure 2 shows line engagement means in the form of'a stainless steel springy U-shaped wire 34 having ends 36 which are turned downwardly and which are terminated by respective white or fluorescent - coloured balls 38 which touch one another.

The respective arms of the U-shaped wire 34 are inserted into the grooves 18 respectively, and the.wire 34 is prevented from being withdrawn from the attachment means 10 by a spigot 40 having a head 42, the spigot 40 being inserted through the blind end 36 of the key-hole-shaped slot 32 and held in position therein by friction. Thi s creates the assembly shown in Figures 3 to 9. The force with which the balls 38 are urged against one another can be increased by rearward movement of the slide 28, away from those balls, and that force can be reduced by movement of the slide in the other direction.

A more simple plastics injection-moulded tongue-shaped line engagement means 44 shown in Figure 12 may be inserted in place of the engagement means shown in Figure 2. The tongue-shaped engagement means 44 has a shank 46 with a protuberance 48 and a hole 50 shaped and positioned to enable the shank 46 to be received in the slot 22 and held there by the spigot 40 as shown in Figure 13. The tongueshaped engagement means shown in Figure 12 also has a tongue 52 extending away from its shank 46 at a slight angle thereto so that when the shank is inserted in the attachment means 10, the tongue 52 is pressed against the underside of the rod.

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Claims

Claims:

1. A fishing line clip comprising attachment means whereby the clip can be attached to a fishing rod and line engagement means connected to the attachment means to enable a f ishing line to be releasably held in place by the line engagement means, in which the engagement means of the clip comprises two engagement portions at least one of which is resilient, so that the engagement portions can be urged towards one another with a force which is adjustable.

2. A fishing line clip according to claim 1, in which the two portions comprise two arms of a resilient wire having a U-shaped form.

3. A fishing line clip according to claim 1 or claim 2, 15 in which there are respective ball-shaped portions on the two engagement portions, the two ball-shaped portions being urged towards one another so that a line passing over them and between the engagement portions is held by the ballshaped portions, but can be pulled between the ball-shaped portions and away therefrom once the tension in the line exceeds a certain threshold value.

4. A fishing line clip according to any preceding claim, in which the engagement portions are held between two spaced-apart portions of the attachment means, the spacing between these spaced-apart portions being adjustable by means of a slide which can engage the attachment means, the latter and/or the slide being tapered for this purpose.

I1

5. A fishing line clip according to any preceding claim, in which the clip is so constructed that the engagement means with the two engagement portions can be interchanged with engagement means having a tongue-like construction, so that when the latter is positioned in the attachment means, the clip acts in a conventional manner.

6. A fishing line clip substantially as described herein with regard to, and as illustrated in, Figures 1 to 10 with or without the features shown in Figures 11 to 13, of the accompanying drawings.