GB2552824A

GB2552824A - Fish cradle

Info

Publication number: GB2552824A
Application number: GB1613820.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Woods Matthew
Original assignee: Preston Innovations Ltd
Current assignee: Preston Innovations Ltd
Priority date: 2016-08-11
Filing date: 2016-08-11
Publication date: 2018-02-14
Also published as: GB201613820D0

Abstract

A fish cradle comprising an open receptacle being configured to be selectively moved from an assembled to a stored configuration. The cradle comprising a base (1), a jaw-like frame and a rigid bracing member (10). The base (1) comprises a generally planar receiving area having a pair of opposing side edges defining a longitudinal axis, and a pair of opposing end edges. The base (1) is configured to be selectively folded about a generally central axis (2) orthogonal to said longitudinal axis. The jaw-like frame defining a pair of hood members and comprising a pair of substantially rigid, generally C-shaped frame members (5). Each frame member having a pair of spaced apart distal ends hingedly mounted at a respective side edge of said base (1). A flexible cover member is affixed between each frame member and the respective end and side edges of said base (1) to form respective end walls (6). The rigid bracing member (10) is releasably affixed between an edge of said base (1) and a frame member to retain the receptacle in said assembled configuration. The base (1) may be a flexible mat. Flexible wall members (9) may extend between each hood member.

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: Fish cradle Abstract Title: Fish cradle (57) A fish cradle comprising an open receptacle being configured to be selectively moved from an assembled to a stored configuration. The cradle comprising a base (1), a jaw-like frame and a rigid bracing member (10). The base (1) comprises a generally planar receiving area having a pair of opposing side edges defining a longitudinal axis, and a pair of opposing end edges. The base (1) is configured to be selectively folded about a generally central axis (2) orthogonal to said longitudinal axis. The jaw-like frame defining a pair of hood members and comprising a pair of substantially rigid, generally C-shaped frame members (5). Each frame member having a pair of spaced apart distal ends hingedly mounted at a respective side edge of said base (1). A flexible cover member is affixed between each frame member and the respective end and side edges of said base (1) to form respective end walls (6). The rigid bracing member (10) is releasably affixed between an edge of said base (1) and a frame member to retain the receptacle in said assembled configuration. The base (1) may be a flexible mat. Flexible wall members (9) may extend between each hood member.

At least one drawing originally filed was informal and the print reproduced here is taken from a later filed formal copy.

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CIO πα 4

FISH CRADLE

This invention relates generally to a fish cradle. More specifically, although not necessarily exclusively, to a carp cradle for holding and retaining live carp when carp fishing.

In the sport of carp fishing, carp are caught to be measured and weighed and then released back into the water. There is a general sense of preservation for fish among carp fishing, and other fishing, communities, with many carp fishing lakes banning the use of barbed fish-hooks and the like. It is, therefore, desirable to protect the fish as much as possible when catching them. This can be difficult when the fish is in distress and discomfort, wherein any resulting flailing can cause damage to their fins and scales. This is particularly problematic when the fish are older and stronger and can, therefore, cause more damage to themselves when thrashing around.

Common practice is to utilise a mat or cradle to lay the live fish in whilst the angler unhooks their line. From this mat or cradle the fish can be weighed, measured and photographed, and subsequently released back into the water whilst minimising any injury the fish may otherwise cause to itself. Typically, such mats comprise a single or double layer of polyurethane foam covered with a protective waterproof material, and the materials used tend to be selected so as to dry out quickly and easily, and also not to get caught on fish scales when a fish is placed on them. This helps to protect the fish whilst it is lying down.

In some cases, a cradle defining a receptacle may be used, which includes a mat in its base to safely retain the carp. Often, carp anglers need to travel, on foot, some distance to reach their preferred fishing spot, and they have to carry all of their equipment with them. Therefore, it is an ongoing desire in the field to reduce weight and bulk of fishing equipment and accessories. Typically there is a trade-off in relation to carp cradles, between rigidity/strength and size/weight/bulk.

Known carp cradles may be able to be flat packed or folded down for ease of storage and transport, but these can be time consuming and difficult to assemble and disassemble. Furthermore, the weaknesses at the points at where the walls are releasably joined to the base may give way under pressure.

Pop-up type cradles exist, wherein the base and side walls are mounted around a ‘figure-of-eight’, resiliently flexible coil. The profile of the side walls are affixed between a pair of flexible ‘hood’ portions. When the figure-of-eight base is uncoiled, the hood portions ‘pop up’ at each end, stretching the side walls between them to form a receptacle. A mat is placed in the base to complete the assembly. However, due to the inherently flexible nature of the side walls and hood portions required to ensure that the assembly folds flat when not in use, mean that the side and end walls of the receptacle are inevitably quite flimsy, and will not withstand very much force before they buckle. Thus large fish may relatively easily create a sufficient force against the inside of the walls to cause them to buckle and the fish to fall out.

Embodiments of the present invention seek to address at least some of these issues, and, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fish cradle comprising an open receptacle for receiving fish, said receptacle being configured to be selectively moved from an assembled to a stored configuration and comprising:

a base defining, in said assembled configuration, a generally planar receiving area having a pair of opposing side edges defining a longitudinal axis, and a pair of opposing end edges, said base being configured to be selectively folded about a generally central axis orthogonal to said longitudinal axis to said stored configuration;

a jaw-like frame defining a pair of hood members and comprised of a pair of substantially rigid, generally C-shaped frame members, each frame member having a pair of spaced apart distal ends hingedly mounted at a respective side edge of said base, adjacent said generally central axis such that pivoting of said frame members toward each other causes corresponding folding of said base, wherein a flexible cover member is affixed between each frame member and the respective end and side edges of said base to form a respective end walls of said receptacle when in said assembled configuration; and a substantially rigid bracing member configured to be selectively and releasably affixed between an edge of said base and a frame member to retain the receptacle in said assembled configuration.

In one exemplary embodiment, the bracing member may comprise an elongate prop member having a first end flexibly affixed at an edge of said base and a free end, the elongate member may be selectively and releasably affixed between an edge of said base and said frame member by releasably attaching the free end to the frame member. Optionally, the prop member may be provided at its free end with at least one releasable attachment means configured to releasably receive and retain the frame member.

In one exemplary embodiment, the releasable attachment means may comprise at least one generally C-shaped clip for releasably receiving and retaining said frame member, in use.

The fish cradle may optionally further comprise a flexible wall member extending, on each side of said base, between said hood members to form respective side walls of said receptacle when in said assembled configuration.

According to one exemplary embodiment, said generally C-shaped frame members may have a pair of first portions that extend upwardly at an angle from a respective side edge of said base and a second, curved portion extending between sard first portions and generally matching the profile of the respective end edge of said base.

Optionally, the flexible cover member may extend substantially vertically upwardly from a respective end edge of said base to the respective frame member.

In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the base may comprise a flexible mat.

These and other aspects of the present invention will be apparent to a person skilled in the art from the following specific description, in which an embodiment of the invention is described , by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic top perspective view of a fish mat according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention wherein the cradle is shown in an assembled configuration;

Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the fish cradle of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is schematic close-up view of the braced end of a fish cradle, showing a bracing member in a first position;

Figure 4 is a schematic close-up view of the propped end of the fish cradle of Figure 3, showing the bracing member in a second position; and

Figure 5 is a schematic plan view of the fish of Figure 1, wherein the fish cradle is shown in a stored configuration.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a fish cradle according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention comprises an oblate-rectangular padded base mat 1. The mat 1 may be padded with a polyurethane foam and covered with a water-resistant material, examples of which will be known in the art. The mat 1 is foldable along a generally central, lateral axis 2 and is, therefore, flexible or has a region of increased flexibility along that axis. The axis 2, in this exemplary embodiment spans the shortest edge-to-edge distance, going through the centre point of the mat 1. At each point where the central axis 2 meets the edge of the mat 1 there is a pivot hinge 3 comprising two armatures 4 hingedly joined at one end. The armatures 4 are hollowed and shaped to accommodate a tubular insert, in this case, a rigid tubular frame member 5.

Corresponding armatures 4 on opposing sides of the base defined by the mat 1 are connected by a generally ‘C’-shaped tubular frame member 5. The frame members 5 are movable between an open (or assembled) configuration and a closed (‘stored’) configuration. In the open configuration, armatures 4 of the same pivot hinge 3 may angled approximately 120 degrees to each other, such that the frame members 5 are angled upwardly and away from the mat 1. The frame members 5 are shaped to contour the edges of the base defined by the mat 1 when the cradle is in the open configuration, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

In the open configuration, the mat 1 and the frame members 5 are joined by a first and second wall portion 6, and extend from the edge of the mat 1 in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the mat 1. These wall portions 6 are attached to the frame members 5 by a looped length of material 7 which may cover substantially all or part of the frame member 6. One or both of the lengths of material 7 has a gap 8 corresponding to the apex of one or both of the frame members 5, such that the frame member 5 is exposed at this point. The first and second wall portions 6 are padded and covered in a water-resistant material. The padding in the wall portions 6 may be thinner than the padding in the mat 1 in order to provide greater flexibility.

The two frame members are connected by third and fourth wall portions 9 which are substantially triangular in shape, the ‘point’ of the triangle being fixed to the mat 1 at the point where the central axis 2 meets the edge of the mat 1. The hypotenuse of the wall portions 9 are affixed to both frame members at a point generally half way along the height of the frame members 5. These wall portions complete the continuous side wall surrounding the edge of the mat, creating an enclosed space in which a fish, in particular a carp, may be placed. The wall portions 9 have the added benefit of serving to prevent the frame members 5 from falling any further apart by exerting an inward force which pulls the wall portions 6 into shape.

Referring additionally to Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, a fish cradle according to the present exemplary embodiment further comprises a locking bracing member 10, constructed from a rigid length of tubular piping which may be metal or a hard plastic. The bracing member 10 is hingedly affixed at one end to the edge of the mat 1, at one of the points corresponding with the gap 8 in the looped material 7, on the outside of the wall portions 6. The bracing member 10 should be of a length substantially equal to the distance between where it is affixed on the edge of the mat 1 to the gap 8 fish cradle is in the assembled configuration. At the distal end of the bracing member 10 there is provided a clip 11 comprising two generally ‘C’-shaped extensions 12 configured to receive and engage with the exposed part of the frame member 5 at the gap 8. In use, the bracing member 10 is movable between a first unlocked position, wherein the clip 11 is not engaged with the frame member and the wall portion 6 is not pulled taut, and a second position wherein the clip 11 is engaged with the exposed part of the frame member 5 and the respective wall portion 6 is pulled taut.

The fish cradle is designed to be conveniently moved to a sored configuration, and, referring now to Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings, can be quickly folded down into a second, stored configuration, as required. In use, a user may first unclip the bracing member 10 from the frame member 5 if it is so clipped, and lift the edge of the mat on one side of the central axis 2 so as to push the two distal ends together. The pivot hinges 3 and armatures 4 are shaped and configured to allow the frame members 5 to be pushed together until they are adjacent each other at substantially all points. The side wall portions 9 collapse inwardly along a central axis to lie flat between the now adjacent frame members 5. The end wall portions 6 may be collapsed also such that they lie flat against the outer of their respective frame member 5. In this configuration, the fish cradle is now flat and substantially hemi-circular.

Whilst some exemplary embodiments, a bracing member may be provided at each end of the fish cradle, it is considered beneficial, at least in some respects to provide a bracing member 10 only at side of the cradle. This allows for the opposing end wall portion 6 to be collapsible quickly and easily in the case that, for example, the user wishes to lift a large and heavy fish over only a small height. Additionally, when in the process of releasing the fish back into the water the un-propped wall portion 6 may be manually flattened to give the fish more space to exit the fish cradle. The fully enclosed receptacle provided in the assembled configuration allows the fish to be retained within the confined thereof and on the mat during the process of unhooking, measuring, weighing and photographing, and the structural integrity of the surrounding wall of the mat prevents the fish from becoming tangled in loose fabric and damaging its fins and/or scales in the process.

It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art, from the foregoing description, that modifications and variations can be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A fish cradle comprising an open receptacle for receiving fish, said receptacle being configured to be selectively moved from an assembled to a stored configuration and comprising:

2. A fish cradle according to claim 1, wherein said bracing member comprises an elongate prop member having a first end flexibly affixed at an edge of said base and a free end, said elongate member being selectively and releasably affixed between an edge of said base and said frame member by releasably attaching said free end to said frame member.

3. A fish cradle according to claim 2, wherein said prop member is provided at said free end with at least one releasable attachment means configured to releasably receive and retain said frame member.

4. A fish cradle according to claim 3, wherein said releasable attachment means comprises at least one generally C-shaped clip for releasably receiving and retaining said frame member, in use.

5. A fish cradle according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a flexible wall member extending, on each side of said base, between said hood members to form respective side walls of said receptacle when in said assembled configuration.

6. A fish cradle according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each said generally Cshaped frame member has a pair of first portions that extend upwardly at an angle from a respective side edge of said base and a second, curved portion extending between said first portions and generally matching the profile of the respective end edge of said base.

5

7. A fish cradle according to claim 6, wherein each said flexible cover member extends substantially vertically upwardly from a respective end edge of said base to the respective frame member.

8. A fish cradle according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said base comprises a flexible mat.

10

9. A fish cradle substantially as herein described and/or with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB1613820.8 Examiner: Mr Tony Judge