US1565474A - Anchor for decoys - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 15. 1925. 1,565,474

R. s. LINK 4 ANCHOR FOR DECOYS Filed Sept. 14. 1925 Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES RAYMOND S. LINK, SYRACUSE, NEVJ YORK.

ANCHOR FOR DECOYS.

Application filed September 14, 1925. Serial No. 56,40.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RAYMOND S. LINK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Anchors for Decoys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in duck decoys, and has for its object to provide a novel, simple and highly effective anchor, adapted for'attachment to almost every style of decoys, said anchor preferably being composed of a single part and made of metal, and being provided with prongs and hooks for grappling the sand or rock bottom of a lake or stream, as well as to become entangled in the submarine growths, for preventing drifting of the decoys. And a further object is to provide an anchor of such construction and arrange ment that, when the hunting is concluded, and the decoys are retrieved, the anchors may be readily and conveniently mounted saddle-like upon the respective decoys and securely bound thereto, by means of the cables that support the anchors. Furthermore, the arrangement of the anchors is such that, when they are mounted upon the backs of the decoys, the latter may be stowed in gunny-sacks or other receptacles, without danger of the hooks, prongs, or other abrading portions of the anchors defacing the painted exteriors of the decoys, and thus render them unfit for subsequent use unless repainted.

I attain these objects by the means set' forth in the detailed description which follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is an elevational View of a decoy, partially submerged in water; showing the anchor resting upon the bottom of the bodyof water; also showing the anchor mounted upon the back of the decoy and bound thereto by the cable by which the anchor is supported. Fig. 2 is an enlarged top-plan view of one form of the anchor. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modified form of the anchor. Fig. 4 is a view of the same inverted. And Fig. 5..is an enlarged edge view of another modification, in which a plain upwardly and rearwardly curved lip supplants the hooks shown in Figs. 3 and 4. 1n the drawing, 2 represents a decoy that simulates a duck, which may be made of wood, or other suitable buoyant material. 3 represents a counterweight employed for balancing-obviating violent bobbing or rocking, as well as capsizing of the decoy when the water is choppy and rough. The counterweight usually comprises a block of metal, which may be permanently secured to the bottom of the decoy, as by a screw 3. Forwardly of the weight 3, a staple or loop-screw L is driven into or otherwise secured to the body of the decoy, to which one end of a flexible cable or chain, as 5, is attached, the other end of the cable being secured to the anchor, as 6, by which the decoy is prevented from drifting, by the action of the wind and waves. The anchor 6 may consist of lead, iron, or other heavy material, of sufficient weight to suitably hold the decoy, and preferably comprises an irregular shaped body, which may be provided with a central opening, at 6, whose inner wall is preferably formed with a lug or knob 6, to which the cable 5 is attached. The lug 6 is preferably disposed in the line of the longitudinal axis, for suitably balancing the anchor. One end of the body 6' is preferably formed with similar upwardly facing sharp hooks or spurs 6 which are spaced to provide a recess 0r bay 6 that coincides with the said axis the said hooks preferably inclining rearwardly and being adapted,

when the anchor is inverted, as shown in Fig. 4:, to grapple the bottom, as :0, of the lake or stream, for preventing dragging of the anchor and consequent drifting of the decoy. The opposite end of the body 6 is preferably forked for providing similar relatively sharp prongs or grapples 6, which are adapted ,to become embedded in the earthy bottom 00, grapple rocks, or become entangled in submarine growths, such as grass, weeds, and the like, for holding the decoy in the desired position on the surface of the water; The lateral margins 6? of the body 6 are preferably relatively sharp or bay being designed primarily to conform to and receive the curved back portion of the neck 2, when the anchor is mounted saddlelike on the back of the decoy, as shown in Fig. 1. By this construction and arrangement of the anchor, the rearward bulge 2 of the head of the decoy substantially overhangs the forward end of the anchor, in cluding the hooks G", and prevents said hooks from abrading or marring the other decoys during transportation and storage. In order'to readily and .:onveniently secure the anchor 6 in the idle position, as explained, when the anchor is withdrawn from the water, the hunter places it upon the back of the decoy, as shown in Fig. 1. This action effects the folding of the able or cord 5 upon itself, as indicated at 5. He next winds the double strands of the cable tightly around the decoy and anchor, as shown at 5, after which the free end of he folded cable may be tucked between the anchor and decoy, as shown at 5. By this novel disposition and arrangement, each decoy and its anchor may be reduced to a neat and compact bundle, which may be handled as one part, and ob viates all danger of the cable becoming entangled while being carried to and from the hunting grounds.

The anchor shown in Figs. 3 and t comprises a solid body 8, which is formed at one end with a similar yoke or bay 8, that lies between spaced hooks 8*, that straddle the neck 2 of the decoy. The opposite end of the body 8 is tapered, and terminates in a relatively sharp point 8", having the same function as the spurs or prongs 6. The medial back portion of the body 8 is formed with a transverse opening 8 for facilitating the attachment of the cable. The lat-- cral margins 8 of the body 8 are also preferably sharp like the margins 6 In Fig. 5, the body 9 generally follows the construction of the anchor 8, except that instead of the spaced hooks 8, the forward end of the body is formed with a broad rearwardly curved lip 9, whose free edge 9 is sharp, and tends to bite into the bottom of the lake, in case the anchor becomes inverted, as shown in Fig. 4-.

Obviously various other means may be employed for securing the anchor to the back of the decoy, and other modifications may also be made without departing from the invention defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is

1. The combination with a decoy and an anchor cable secured thereto, of an anchor supported by the cable comprising an arched body having diverging prongs at one end and having grappling hooks at its opposite end adapted to prevent dragging of the anchor longitudinally, said hooks being arranged to form a yoke adapted to straddle the neck of the decoy when the anchor and decoy are prepared for transportation or storage, and means for preventing dragging of the anchor laterally.

2. An anchor for decoys comprising an arched body having sharp lateral margins and having one 'end formed with diverging prongs for preventing dragging of the anchor when the latter is normally resting on the bottom of a lake or stream, and the opposite end of said body being formed with sarp spurs that overhang the body adapted to prevent dragging of the anchor when the latter is inverted.

3. The combination with a decoy and a cable secured thereto, of an anchor supported by the cable comprising a body having at one end an upwardly and inwardly curved grappling portion, said body beyond said portion being open and beyond said opening said body being formed with diverging prongs adapted to sink into the bottom of a lake, and means for interlocking said body with the neck of the decoy for facilitating handling and storing of the decoy and anchor as one part.

t. The c'on'ibination with a decoy and a cable secured thereto, of an anchor supported by the cable and having spaced grappling portions at its opposite ends for preventing dragging of theanchor longitudinally, the space between the grappling portions at one end of the anchor comprising a recess adapted to lit the neck when the an chor is mounted upon the back of the decoy, and the lateral margins of the anchor being sharply feathered for preventing dragging of the anchor laterally.

5. The combination with a decoy and a cable secured thereto, of means for anchoring the decoy supported by the cable, comp *ising a body adapted to be mounted upon the back of the decoy when the latter is removed from the water, one end of the body comprising a yoke adapted to straddle the .neck of the decoy, the bottom of said, body being arched for conforming to the contour of the back of the decoy, and said body adapted to be held in close contact with the decoy by the winding of the slack of the cable around the decoy and said body.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

RAYMOND S. LINK.

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