GB2401082A

GB2401082A - Tapered shock absorbing fishing line

Info

Publication number: GB2401082A
Application number: GB0409604A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Preston
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-04-30
Filing date: 2004-04-30
Publication date: 2004-11-03
Anticipated expiration: 2024-04-30
Also published as: GB0409604D0; GB2401082B

Abstract

A shock absorbing line for a fishing pole or rod comprises an elongate, generally tapered element of elastomeric material. An elastomeric material in generally liquid form is passed through an aperture to produce a filament and the cross-sectional area of the filament is caused to vary, thereby to provide said tapered element. The variation in cross-sectional area may be achieved by modulating the pressure in the elastomeric material upstream of the aperture; causing a variable force to be applied to the material leaving the aperture (e.g. by gravity or a take-off reel) or by adjusting the cross-sectional area of the aperture.

Description

PRE.14CBPA 2401 082 Shock-Absorbing Line for a Fishing Pole or Rod This

invention relates to a shock absorbing line for a fishing pole or rod.

Fishing poles generally take the form of a number of hollow telescopic sections which are fitted end to end to provide an extended reach. In one example, a fishing line is connected to the pole by means of a shockabsorbing line which is anchored within the pole by means of a bung wedged in one of the smaller diameter sections, the shock-absorbing line then passing down the inside of the tube to the free end and extending therethrough to carry a fishing line. This invention extends to shockabsorbing lines for fishing poles of this general design and to those for other forms of fishing pole or rod. The term "shock-absorbing" is intended to mean that the line is capable of elastic extension.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a method of producing a tapered shock-absorbing line for a fishing pole or rod, which comprises passing a curable or gettable elastomeric material through an aperture to form an elongate element, and causing said elongate element to have a tapered from prior to curing or setting.

The elongate element may be caused to have a tapered form by various ways. This may done by varying the cross-sectional area of the aperture as the material passes therethrough, to provide a tapered form. In one arrangement, the aperture may comprise some form of tube restrictor or flow restrictor. Thus the aperture may be defined by an iris valve. Alternatively the aperture may comprise a throat, outlet or similar section in a tubular member of resilient material which has associated therewith constriction means for adjusting the ::: À :. ::: . À À . À À À PRE 14C.BPA À À À À internal cross sectional area of the throat or outlet. The constriction means may conveniently comprise a plurality of finger elements movable in unison towards and away from each other in the manner of a chuck. Alternatively the constriction means may comprise a tube clamp designed to compress a portion of the wall of the tubular member. Still further the constriction means may comprise an encircling band of generally flexible but inextensible material and means for tightening or loosening said band in the manner of a "Jubilee" clip.

The elastomeric material may contain or comprise latex; the elastomeric material is preferably exposed to a coagulant agent or influence, such as radiation on exiting said aperture.

Alternatively, said elastomeric material may pass through an aperture of generally fixed cross section and be caused to become tapered under the influence of a force or pressure. Thus the elastomeric material passing through the aperture may be subjected to a variable tensile force to cause the cross sectional area of the element to vary with length. The tensile force may be applied by means of a take-up spool or the like, or it may simply be due to gravitational force exerted by an increasing length of the element hanging below said aperture. Alternatively, the pressure applied to the elastomeric material upstream of the aperture may be varied to cause the effective cross sectional area of the exiting elastomeric material to vary with length. As previously, the elastomeric material may contain or comprise latex. Downstream of the aperature the elongate element may be exposed to a coagulant agent or influence such as radiation.

According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a shock À : e. c:e e: : : ce: PRE.14CBPA.. .' absorbing line for a fishing pole, comprising an elongate, generally tapered element of elastomeric material.

The elastomeric material may typically be latex or a compound containing or similar to latex.

The tapered feature means that the tension experienced by a fish on the line may vary non-linearly with the extension amount. Thus with the tapered element the rate of increase in tension may be greater.

According to yet another aspect of this invention there is provided a method of producing a shock-absorbing line for a fishing pole which comprises passing an elastomeric material through an orifice and varying at least one of the rate of extrusion through said orifice and a removal speed at which the extruded material is drawn away from the extrusion element.

In one arrangement the rate of passage of the elastomeric material through the aperture may be varied whilst the rate of removal is maintained substantially constant. In this case, the slower the rate of passage, the thinner the cross-section of the formed line. Alternatively, the rate of passage may be maintained substantially constant whilst the removal or take-off speed is varied.

In another aspect of this invention there is provided a method of producing a shock-absorbing line for a fishing pole or rod which comprises allowing a curable elastomeric material to pass through an aperture in a container thereof to fall under gravity to produce an elongate element of generally tapered form.

Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following c::: À :e::: . . À À À À PRE 14C.BPA. . . .

description.

By way of example only, various embodiments of the invention and specific examples thereof will now be given, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a forced extrusion process producing a shock-absorbing line of tapered cross section; Figure 2 is a schematic view of a gravity fed extrusion process for producing a shock-absorbing line of tapered cross section; Figure 3 is a schematic view of an iris valve for use in a method in accordance with this invention; Figure 4 is a schematic view of a chuck arrangement for providing a variable size aperture; Figure 5 is a view of a tube clamp arrangement for providing a variable size aperture; Figure 6(a) and (b) are schematic views of encircling band arrangements for providing a variable size aperture.

Referring to Figure 1, an extrusion device defines an extrusion chamber having an outlet nozzle 22 and a ram 24 for applying pressure to the uncured rubber material in the extrusion chamber 20 to force it through the extrusion nozzle 22. The extruded element 26 passing out of the nozzle is taken up on a take-off drum 28 which is driven to take up the extruded element 26. In this arrangement, the extrusion pressure and/or rotational speed of the take-off drum is controlled so as to cause a cross section of the extruded element progressively to taper from a maximum to a minimum, back to a maximum and Be:: À .: ::e : ce cue ' : : : ec: PRE.14CBPA... .. . . . so on. On completion of the extrusion process, the extruded element may be removed from the drum and cut into lengths of tapered section.

In one arrangement the extrusion pressure and rate are substantially constant, and the speed of the take-off drum 28 is varied to cyclically increase and decrease the tension to produce the tapered section. In an alternative arrangement the rotational speed of the take-off drum is constant but the extrusion pressure, and thus extrusion rate, is varied cyclically to produce tapered sections.

Referring now to Figure 2, in a second embodiment, a vessel 30 has an array of orifices 32 in its base through which liquid elastomeric material 34 in the vessel 30 passes under gravity, driven by the hydrostatic head of liquid in the container. As the liquid level in the container falls, the hydrostatic pressure reduces and so the rate of extrusion of the elastomeric material through the nozzles decreases, thus reducing the cross section of the extruded element.

Coupled with this effect is the feature that the weight of the already formed elements will apply a tension to the extruded elements, again tending to reduce its cross section. As a result, the cross section of the extruded product from the arrangement of Figure 3 will decrease with length.

Referring now to Figures 3 to 6, instead of using a fixed outlet aperture or extrusion orifice 22 in the arrangement of Figure 1, the nozzle may be of a variable effective aperture. In this way, the effective cross sectional area of the extruded elements may be progressively increased and decreased to provide a tapered extruded element. In the arrangement of Figure 3, the elastomeric material passes through an iris valve 40 which has iris blades 42 which may be he be: .:e::.

: ce e:. e: :: Be: PRE.14C.BPA ' ' moved in the manner of a camera iris to vary the cross sectional area of the aperture 44. The operation of the iris valve is controlled in accordance with the extrusion rate to provide a required taper. After the material exits the aperture 44 it is exposed to a coagulant (for example acetic acid) ideally directly downstream of the aperture.

Referring to Figure 4, instead of an iris valve, a variable size aperture may be provided by means of a central flexible tube 50 through which the elastomeric material passes, the tube 50 being located between the jaws 52 of a chuck 54 actuated by a suitable actuator 56. In this way the jaws of the chuck can contract the walls of the tube 50 to provide a variable aperture exit hole, the size of which can be automatically controlled to provide a tapered length.

Referring now to Figure 5, in this arrangement a central flexible tube 50 defines a passage for the elastomeric material as before, and a tube clamp arrangement 60 is provided at the end of the tube 50 and can be operated to compress all or a portion of the walls of the tube again to constrict the effective exit hole defined by the aperture.

Referring now to Figures 6(a) and (b), in this arrangement an encircling band device 70 is fitted around the end of the flexible tube 50 again so as to provide a constrictable throat arrangement to vary the effective size of the outlet aperture. The band device may operate similarly to a Jubilee clip whereby a screw or worm gear 72 associated with one end of the band 74 co-operates with a toothed portion 76 on the other end of the band, in overlapping configuration, to allow the effective diameter of the band to be varied. Again the worm gear 72 may be operated by a suitable actuator under the control of a controller to À 8 À C C ÀC C À À C À À À C À C C C C C À C C PRE.14C.BPA. c c c c c c.

provide the required variation with length of the cross sectional area of the material exiting the arrangement.

In the above arrangements, the material is preferably exposed to a coagulant as soon as is convenient after exiting the tube.

In another arrangement, shown in Figure 7, a thin stream of liquid elastomeric material passes through an aperture 80 and, as it drops, and before it enters into a bath 82 or spray of coagulant, or is otherwise caused to coagulate, the flow rate from the exit hole and/or the distance between the aperture 80 and the source 82 of coagulation is altered to cause the cross sectional area of the filament 84 to vary with length, to provide a taper. 1,

Claims

c::: À :e::: e À PRE.14C.BPA À 6. À À CLAI MS

1. A method of producing a tapered shock-absorbing line for a fishing pole or rod, which comprises passing a curable or gettable elastomeric material through an aperture to form an elongate element, and causing said elongate element to have a tapered form prior to curing or setting.

2. A method according to Claim 1, wherein said step of causing said elongate element to have a tapered form is done by varying the sectional area of said aperture as said material passes therethrough, to provide said tapered form.

3. A method according to Claim 2, wherein said aperture comprises an iris valve.

4. A method according to Claim 3, wherein said aperture comprises a generally tubular member of resilient material having associated therewith constriction means for adjusting the internal cross-sectional area thereof.

5. A method according to Claim 4, wherein said constriction means comprises a plurality of finger elements movable in unison toward and away from each other.

6. A method according to Claim 4, wherein said constriction means comprises a clamp means.

7. A method according to any of the preceding Claims, wherein said elastomeric material contains or comprises latex.

8. A method according to Claim 7, wherein said elastomeric material is exposed to a coagulant on exiting said aperture.

9. A method according to Claim 1, wherein said elastomeric material C d : c. eve.: :: se: PRE 14CBPA - is passed through an aperture of a generally fixed cross section and caused to become tapered under the influence of a force.

10. A method according to Claim 9, wherein said elongate element is caused to become tapered under the influence of gravitational force acting thereon.

11. A method according to Claim 10, wherein said elongate element contains or comprises latex.

12. A method according to Claim 11, including exposing said elongate element to a coagulant.

To

13. A shock absorbing line for a fishing pole, comprising an elongate, generally tapered element of elastomeric material.

14. A method of producing a shock absorbing line for a fishing pole, which comprises the step of forming an elongate, generally tapered element of elastomeric material.

15. A method according to Claim 14, which comprises passing an elastomeric material through an aperture to form said tapered element and causing material downstream of said aperture to have a cross-sectional area which varies with length.

16. A method according to Claim 14, including the step of varying the pressure applied to said material upstream of the aperture.

17. A method according to Claim 16, wherein the tapered element is produced by passing through an aperture in of a vessel containing said elastomeric material, and the pressure is provided by the hydrostatic head generated by the depth of elastomeric material in said vessel.

8

1 8 PRE.14C.BPA...., . . 8! 18. A method according to Claim 17, wherein the material exiting said aperture is subjected to a variable tension to vary the cross-sectional area thereof.

19. A method according to Claim 18, wherein said variable tension is applied by a take up device which takes up the extruded material.

20. A method according to Claim 19, wherein the take up device is a reel or drum.

21. Apparatus for producing a tapered shock absorbing line for a fishing pole or rod, which comprises a reservoir for a curable or gettable elastomeric material in liquid form, an aperture in flow communication with said reservoir through which the elastomeric material may pass to form an elongate element, and means for causing said elongate element to have a tapered form prior to curing or setting.

22. A method substantially as hereby described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

23. Apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any of the accompanying drawings.