GB2344268A

GB2344268A - Hooked Securing Device

Info

Publication number: GB2344268A
Application number: GB9927164A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gordon Maclennan
Original assignee: GORDON DIESELS Ltd
Current assignee: GORDON DIESELS Ltd
Priority date: 1998-12-05
Filing date: 1999-11-18
Publication date: 2000-06-07
Anticipated expiration: 2019-11-18
Also published as: GB9927164D0; GB2344268B; GB9826761D0

Abstract

A hooked securing device 10 comprising a shank portion (14 figure 3A) having first and second ends, an eye portion 12 located at the first end of the shank (14) and a hook portion (22) located at the second end of the shank (14), wherein the hook portion (22) is provided with first and second attachment means 28,30 spaced part along the length thereof. The hooked securing device 10 may be attached to a flexible, elongate, substantially inelastic handle member 32. The eye portion 12 may be attached to an elastic cord 2 or bungee. The device 10 is intended particularly for closing basket-type enclosures such as fishermens' creels.

Description

HOORED SECURING DEVICE The invention relates to a hooked securing device for securing apparatus with a mesh or frame structure; for example, mesh baskets, and in particular fishermen's creels, such as shellfish creels.

Conventional securing devices for such creels usually comprise a hook attached to a rubber band secured at one end to the body of the creel. The hook is pulled on to extend the band and subsequently, using the arcuate portion of the hook, the securing device is anchored to a suitable point on the door of the creel.

The tensional force exerted by the band then retains the hook in position, and so holds the door of the creel shut. Moreover, the tensional force must be sufficient to retain the contents of the basket within the closed creel.

The hooks are usually made of either plastic coated wire or in some cases plastic and themselves provide no additional purchase means for applying the required force to attach or subsequently remove the hooks. This creates a problem faced by fishermen when wearing gloves etc, which are usually slippery from use, when they try to remove or attach the hooks.

A common means to overcome this problem is to attach a piece of string to the hook. The smoothness of the hook shaft together with the user wearing gloves results in it usually being feasible only for the string to be attached at one point. The string is left long enough to wrap several times around the hand of a user which then provides the user with sufficient purchase to safely exert sufficient force to remove and attach the hooks without danger of injury.

Several problems are presented by the use of such arrangements. In particular, the smoothness of the hooks themselves results in the fingers of any user pulling on the shank portion slipping along the shaft into the arcuate securing portion. This is a safety problem: fingers can become trapped and possibly crushed if the user loses their grip or if for some reason sufficient force was not exerted to release the hook fully.

Fishermen use such hooks in conditions in which the removal of gloves is not desirable. Conventional hooks are thus generally unsatisfactory in that they provide no additional purchase on the hooks for their removal.

Moreover, the smooth structure of the shanks of conventional hooks exacerbates the potential for the fisherman's gloved hand to slide up the hook shaft into the hooked part and become trapped.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a hooked securing device comprising: a shank portion having first and second ends; an eye portion located at the first end of said shank; and a hook portion located at the second end of said shank; wherein: said hook portion is provided with first and second attachment means spaced apart along the length thereof.

Preferably, said attachment means comprise eyelets.

Preferably also, said hook portion has an outer surface and said eyelets comprise loop formations projecting from said outer surface of the hook portion.

Preferably also, the device further includes first and second raised portions projecting from either side of the shank adjacent the second end thereof, substantially at right angles to a plane defined by the hook portion.

Preferably also, the device is formed from plastics material, such as nylon, suitably by injection moulding.

In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a securing device comprising a hooked securing device in accordance with the first aspect of the invention together with a handle comprising a flexible, elongate, substantially inelastic member, such as a length of cord or string, having first and second ends connected to said first and second attachment means respectively.

In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a hooked securing device comprising: a shank portion having first and second ends ; an eye portion located at the first end of said shank; and a hook portion located at the second end of said shank; wherein: said hook portion is provided with a handle connected thereto at first and second points spaced apart along the length thereof.

Various embodiments of the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings which are by way of example only, and in which: Fig. 1A is an oblique perspective view of a conventional hooked securing device.

Fig. 1B is an overhead view of the conventional hooked securing device shown in Fig. 1A.

Fig. 1C is a side view of the conventional hooked securing device shown in Fig. lA.

Fig. 2A is an oblique perspective sketch open fisherman's creel.

Fig. 2B is a oblique perspective sketch of a closed fisherman's creel.

Fig. 3A is a side view of a hooked securing device according to the present invention.

Fig. 3B is an overhead view of a hooked securing device according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a sketch view showing the employment of a hooked securing device according to the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 1A, there is shown a conventional hooked securing device 1, hereinafter termed a conventional"creel hook", for use with a fisherman's basket for catching and storing shellfish (a"creel").

The device 1 comprises a shank 6 having first and second ends with an eye 3 formed at the first end and a hook portion 4 extending from the second end. An elasticated cord, rubber band or the like 2 is attached to the eye 3. Around the hook portion 4 of the device, a length of string 5 is attached to provide additional means of purchase to attach or remove the device 1 when in use.

Figs. 1B and 1C are overhead and side views respectively of the conventional creel hook showing the alignment of the base ring portion 3 with respect to the arcuate hook portion 4.

The planes within which the ringed portion 3 and hook portion 4 lie are disposed at right angles to each other in this conventional creel hook as Figs. 1B and 1C illustrate. The shank 6 of the securing device and the arcuate portion 4 are smoothly uniform and there are no additional means providing any purchase apart from the arcuate hook portion 4 itself.

Fig 1A shows how, on such a conventional hook securing device, a piece of string 5 can be looped or otherwise attached to the hook portion 4. The string 5 is of a sufficient length to be wound around a hand of a user (not shown) such that sufficient force can then be exerted to elongate the resilient band 2 for attaching and removing the device 1 to and from a creel.

Figs. 2A and 2B show how the base ring portion 3 is used for securing the device 1 to apparatus by means of the elasticated cord 2. The dimensions of the hook portion 4 are such that the device can be fixed easily onto the frame or mesh structure of a creel basket 7.

Fig. 2A shows a creel hook 4 attached to an open creel basket 7 by means of the elasticated cord 2. The cord 2 is secured to the top of the main body 7a of the creel 7. The elastic cord 2 may be stretched to allow the hook portion 4 of the securing device to engage the lid 7b of the creel 7. In Fig. 2B, the creel hook secures the creel lid 7b shut, thus sealing the contents of the creel 7. The hook portion 4 (and thus the device itself) is held in place by the tensional force exerted by the stretched elasticated cord 2.

Figs. 3A and 3B illustrate a hooked securing device 10 according to the present invention. The device comprises a shank 14 having first and second ends, an eye 12 being formed at the first end and a substantially arcuate hook portion 22 extending from the second end. In use of the device, an elasticated cord (not shown) is secured to the eye 12 as in the prior art device.

In accordance with the invention, the hook portion 22 is provided with first and second attachment means 28 and 30, in the form of eyelets formed on its outer, convex surface. These attachment means serve to allow a handle member to be attached to the device as shall be described further below.

The device may be formed from any suitable material or materials, but is preferably formed from plastics, such as nylon, by injection moulding.

The eye 12, shank 14 and hook portion 22 may have a substantially uniform cross section, suitably circular.

However, the shank and hook portion may include additional features.

In this embodiment, the shank 14 is provided with projections 16 extending from either side thereof at right angles to a plane defined by the hook portion 22 and having rearward and forward edges 18 and 20 respectively. If the hook is grasped by its shank 14, the projections 16 prevent the hand from sliding along the shank and becoming trapped between the hook portion 22 and a creel or the like to which the device is being applied.

The hook portion 22 may also be reinforced by lateral ridges 24 extending around at least part of its length.

In this example, the ridges 24 extend forwardly from the projections 16, around the curve of the hook as far as the second eyelet 30. The ridges 24 are of lesser height than the projections 16.

The eyelets 28,30 are preferably disposed substantially symmetrically on either side of an axis X-X'extending parallel to the shank 14 through the apex of the hook portion 22.

Fig. 4 shows how the eyelets 28 and 30 provide fixing points for attaching a handle 32 in the form of a cord, string or other suitable elongate, flexible, longitudinally inelastic member, for use when applying a force in a direction opposing the tensional force created by the stretched resilient cord 2. The handle 32 comprises a loop large enough to be grasped by a hand 34 of a user and improves the purchase on the device 10 when attempting to attach or detach the device to apparatus such as creel basket 7. The device is employed in substantially the same manner as the prior art device as illustrated in Figs. 2A and 2B.

Such hooked securing devices may have other suitable uses; e. g., for attaching items to racks, such as car roof racks or bicycle racks, and especially whenever the tensional force holding hook securely is such that the hook itself does not provide a suitable purchase point.

The securing device can be formed from moulded plastic materials or from metal etc., or from composite materials, and the device may be further sheathed with a suitable covering material.

The cord or the like forming the handle 32 may simply be tied to the eyelets 28,30. Alternatively, where the device is formed by moulding plastic material, the handle 32 could be secured thereto during the moulding process. In a further alternative, the handle could be formed integrally with the securing device 10.

Other means of providing purchase on the device, such as additional hooks, spurs or loops, may be located on the hook portion or on the shaft of the device depending on the application of the hook.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art once given this disclosure that various modifications, changes, improvements and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A hooked securing device comprising: a shank portion having first and second ends; an eye portion located at the first end of said shank; and a hook portion located at the second end of said shank, wherein: said hook portion is provided with first and second attachment means spaced apart along the length thereof.
2. A hooked securing device as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said attachment means comprise eyelets.
3. A hooked securing device as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said hook portion has an outer surface and said eyelets comprise loop formations projecting from said outer surface of the hook portion.
4. A hooked securing device as claimed in any preceding claim further including first and second raised portions projecting from either side of the shank adjacent the second end thereof, substantially at right angles to a plane defined by the hook portion.
5. A hooked securing device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the device is formed from plastics material.
6. A hooked securing device as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the plastics material is nylon.
7. A hooked securing device as claimed in either Claim 5 or 6, wherein the device is formed by injection moulding.
8. A securing device comprising a hooked securing device in accordance with any one preceding claim together with a handle comprising a flexible, elongate, substantially inelastic member having first and second ends connected to said first and second attachment means respectively.
9. A securing device as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the inelastic member comprises a length of cord or string.
10. A hooked securing device comprising: a shank portion having first and second means; an eye portion located at the first end of said shank; and a hook portion located at the second end of said shank; wherein: said hook portion is provided with a handle connected thereto at first and second points spaced apart along the length thereof.
11. A hooked securing device substantially as described herein and with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
12. A securing device substantially as described herein and with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.