GB2348095A

GB2348095A - Bite indicator with sensitivity control

Info

Publication number: GB2348095A
Application number: GB9906912A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Derek Romang
Original assignee: Delkim Products Ltd
Current assignee: Delkim Products Ltd
Priority date: 1999-03-26
Filing date: 1999-03-26
Publication date: 2000-09-27
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-26
Also published as: GB9906912D0; GB2348095B

Abstract

A bite indicator has a sensing mechanism 10, 12 for sensing movement of the line on a fishing rod, means 14, 22, 24 for producing an alarm signal in response to line movement, and means 20 for determining the direction in which the line is moving. The sensitivity of the bite indicator to line movement is varied in dependence upon the determined direction of line movement. Threshold valves for the degree of line movement required before an alarm signal is produced may be used.

Description

Bite Indicator Field of the invention The present invention relates to a bite indicator for use by anglers.

Background of the invention Various bite indicators have previously been proposed for sensing movement of the line of a fishing rod, amongst them indicators in which the line passes over a pulley and rotates the pulley as it moves and indicators in which the line acts like the bow of a violin and causes a sensor to vibrate.

With both types of line movement sensing mechanism, it is possible to determine and to indicate the direction of line movement. This is important because anglers prefer to be able to discriminate between a fish causing the line to drop back by moving towards the rod and a fish running with the bait away from the rod.

Summary of the invention According to the present invention in its broadest aspect, there is provided a bite indicator for providing an alarm signal indicative of movement of the line of a fishing rod having means for determining the direction of line movement, wherein the sensitivity of the bite indicator to line movement is varied in dependence upon the determined direction of line movement.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bite indicator having a sensing mechanism for sensing movement of the line on a fishing rod, means for producing an alarm signal in response to the rate of line movement exceeding a threshold, and means for determining the direction in which the line is moving, wherein means are provided for varying the threshold for the production of an alarm signal in dependence upon the determined direction of line movement.

When a fish takes the bait on a line and moves away from the angler, the line tension is increased and there is a significant amount of line movement. On the other hand, if the fish should move towards the angler, the line tension slackens and movement only occurs on account of the tensioning weight or spring that is normally attached to the line between the bite indicator and the reel on which the line is wound.

This marked difference in the manner in which the line moves and the forces acting on the line are not recognised in known bite indicators that have the same sensitivity in both directions.

By contrast, the present invention is predicated on the realisation that the line tension and the amount of rate of line movement may be smaller in the case of a drop back than when a fish is moving away from the angler and allows the forward and drop back sensitivities to be set differently from one another to provide a more urgent drop back indication.

It is known to provide bite indicators with a sensitivity control that can be set by the angler, as the optimum setting of the sensitivity will depend on such factors as weather and currents that vary with the fishing conditions. In known indicators, however, the same sensitivity level will apply equally to both directions of line movement. In the present invention, if a sensitivity control is provided for forward line movement, it may not affect the drop back sensitivity at all, the latter either being separately controlled or preset. If sensitivity is altered by varying the gain of an amplifier rather than the threshold level of a comparator, then the sensitivity will be altered in both directions when the gain is changed but it is possible in that case to set the comparator threshold for a drop back indication at a lower level than for a normal line movement, the drop back threshold being either a fraction of the normal threshold or offset from it by a predetermined amount.

Brief description of the drawings The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which the single figure shows a schematic block diagram of a bite indicator in accordance with the present invention.

Summary of the invention In the drawing, there is shown a bite indicator comprising a movement sensor 10 which is preferably a piezoelectric crystal connected to a reed in contact with the line on a fishing rod. The output of the sensor 10 is amplified in a pre-amplifier 12 and compared in a comparator 14 with a threshold reference signal. When the threshold is exceeded, the comparator 14 activates a tone generator 22 which is connected to a loud speaker 24. In this way, when the rate of line movement exceeds the level corresponding to the reference threshold, an alarm signal is produced to warn the angler of a possible bite. If desired, an LED can light up at the same time and remain for a time even after line movement has stopped.

A bite indicator as so far described is conventional and for this reason it is not believed necessary to describe the circuitry in the various blocks in greater detail.

The block designated 20 in the drawing is a drop back discriminator for determining from the output of the line movement sensor 10 the direction of line movement. Such a discriminator can operate on various principles depending on the type of line sensing mechanism employed. For example, in the case of a piezoelectric sensing element, the polarity of the first pulse produced is indicative of the direction of movement. In the case where a pulley is used as a sensing element, it can be arranged to produce a sequence of pulses that changes with the direction of line movement.

Once again, discriminators for determining the direction of line movement are also known per se and need not be described in detail in the present context.

Hitherto, the drop back discriminator would be used only to provide an alarm signal that allows an angler to distinguish between forward movement of the line and a drop back but the sensitivity to line movement would be the same in both directions. In the illustrated preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the drop back discriminator is used to vary the reference signal applied to the comparator 14. Hence, the bite indicator is provided with two sensitivity controls 16 and 18 and the signal applied from these to the comparator 14 is selected in accordance with the direction of line movement. The sensitivity controls 16 and 18 may either be adjusted by the angler or they may be preset by the manufacturer.

While the invention has been described by reference to a vibrating reed sensing mechanism, it can also be applied to other sensing mechanisms, for example the common rotating pulley sensing mechanism. In this case, the pulley may be attached to a wheel that produces multiple electrical pulses with each rotation. All of there pulses can be used for a drop back indication while a fraction of them (generated by a frequency divider) may be used for a forward indication, hence altering the sensitivity with the direction of line movement.

Claims

1. A bite indicator for providing an alarm signal indicative of movement of the line of a fishing rod having means for determining the direction of line movement, wherein the sensitivity of the bite indicator to line movement is varied in dependence upon the determined direction of line movement.

2. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing mechanism comprises a piezoelectric crystal connected to a reed in contact with the fishing line.

3. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sensing mechanism comprises a rotatable in contact with the fishing line and means for producing pulses in synchronism with the rotation of the pulley.

4. A bite indicator having a sensing mechanism for sensing movement of the line on a fishing rod, means for producing an alarm signal in response to the rate of line movement exceeding a threshold, and means for determining the direction in which the line is moving, wherein means are provided for varying the threshold for the production of an alarm signal in dependence upon the determined direction of line movement.

5. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 4, wherein a sensitivity control is provided for forward line movement, that does not affect the drop back sensitivity, the latter either being separately controlled or preset.

6. A bite indicator as claimed in claim 4, wherein sensitivity is altered by varying the gain of an amplifier amplifying the output signal of the sensing mechanism and supplying the amplified signal to a threshold comparator, and the comparator threshold for a drop back indication is set at a lower level than for a normal line movement, the drop back threshold being either a fraction of the normal threshold or offset from it by a predetermined amount.

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