GB2442588A - Line clip - Google Patents

Abstract

A line clip 116 is disclosed for securing a bobbin 10 to the line 140 of a fishing rod. The line clip 116 comprises a continuous loop with two parts. The first part 122 is secured to the bobbin and the second part is a gate 120. The gate is openable to allow the fishing line 140 to pass into and out of the loop, and is pivotably connected 138 to the first part of the loop. The other end of the gate 144 is held in the closed position by magnetic forces. The magnetic forces can be provided by either a pair of permanent magnets 144, 146, or a single magnet 144 and a ferrous catch plate 148. The position of the magnets can be varied to adjust the strength of the magnetic forces. The gate may be attached to a pin 137 which is capable of pivoting around an axis transverse to that around which the gate pivots.

Description

LINE CLIP

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a line clip for the line of a fishing rod.

Background of the invention

Counter balance weights which hang on the line between the rings of a fishing rod to indicate visually whether the line is slackening or tightening are very well known in the art and are commonly referred to as bobbins. Bobbins may hang freely on the line but more usually they are tethered by way of a cord or flexible wire. As a further possibility, they may be attached to a swinging or flexible arm. The bobbins are releasably attached to the line by a line clip allowing the angler to strike upon detection of a bite without the bobbin remaining attached.

Line clips are known which comprise a pair of resiliently biased arms terminating in two spheres between which the line can pass when the angler strikes. The line release tension is adjustable by a collar, screw or a rubber 0-ring acting on the arms which varies the force urging the spheres towards one another. It has been found that friction between the spheres of this type of line clip and the fishing line restricts the free movement flow of the line.

There are other known types of line clip that open a gate which is held closed by friction or simply by the downward weight of the bobbin. Such types of line clip offer the advantage of being relatively friction free, but they need to be tethered down in some way, usually by being attached to a swinging arm, to enable them to release when the angler strikes.

Summary of the invention

According to the present invention, there is provided a line clip for releasably securing a bobbin to the line of a fishing rod while allowing the line to slide through the line clip, the line clip comprising a continuous loop having two parts of which a first part is in use secured to the bobbin and the second part is a gate than is openable to allow the fishing line to pass into and out of the loop, wherein the gate is pivotably connected at one end to the first part of the loop and the other end of the gate is magnetically attracted to the first part of the loop to maintain the gate in a closed position.

Magnets have been used in outriggers which are used to grip a line when trolling. Examples of such devices are described in US Patents 4,656,776; 4,015,362 and 5,177,894.

Trolling involves trailing a lure or a bait from a boat that is moving slowly through the water. To keep the bait at a desired depth in the water, the line is gripped by an outrigger that it is itself positioned at the desired depth.

The purpose of the outrigger, which may be designed as a simple clothes peg, is to make sure that no movement of the line occurs and no line is drawn from the reel as a result of the resistance encountered by the bait in being dragged through the water. When the fish takes the bait, on the other hand, the increased line tension causes it to be released from the outrigger. Such outriggers differ in two important respects from the line clip of the present invention, which is used only to hang a bobbin from the line. First, the line clip of a bobbin should not interfere to any significant extent with the movement of the line nor prevent it from being drawn from the reel. Second, the release of the line clip of the present invention from the fishing line is brought about by the angler striking to hook the fish not by the fish pulling on the line.

Permanent magnets may be provided both on the second end of the gate and on the end of the first part of the loop against which the gate closes. It is alternatively possible to provide a single permanent magnet cooperating with a ferrous catch plate.

It is advantageous to provide means for adjusting the area of overlap between the two permanent magnets, or between the single magnet and the catch plate, in order to adjust the magnetic force acting to maintain the gate in the closed position.

While it is sufficient for the gate to be pivotable about a single pivot axis, in an alternative embodiment of the invention the gate is pivotable about a first axis relative to a pin that is itself capable of pivoting about a transverse axis relative to the first part of the loop that is secured, when in use, to the bobbin. When an angler strikes, the line is not simply lifted vertically off its rest but it is also tilted upwards and pulled back. The ability of the gate to pivot about both a horizontal and a vertical axis ensure all the components of movement of the fishing rod when the angler strikes cause the gate of the line clip to open.

In an embodiment of the invention, an L-shaped lever is provided which is pivotable relative to the first part of the ioop about an axis located at the junction between its two limbs, each limb being provided with a magnet to permit that limb to act as the gate. The angler may now select which of the two limbs to use, and if the two limbs are constructed differently, this can give the angler the facility to choose the magnitude of the frictional force acting between the line clip and the line.

Advantages of the invention The preferred embodiments of the invention provide a line clip that can be employed, regardless of the method used to tether the bobbin. In particular, it can be used on free hanging bobbins that are tethered by a cord or wire as well as bobbins tethered by attachment to a swinging or flexible arm. The line clip of the invention furthermore allows friction with the fishing line to be minimised and io the release tension of the line to be finely adjusted.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is vertical section through a bobbin fitted with a line clip of the invention, the section being taken in the plane represented by the arrows I-I in Figure 3, Figure 2 is shows a side elevation of the bobbin in Figure 1 as viewed from the left in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a plan view of the line clip of Figure 1, Figure 4 is a section similar to that of Figure 1 but showing the gate of the line clip in its open position, and Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 showing an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

Figures 1 to 4, a bobbin 10 which is meant to be attached to a fishing line in order to change the line tension. The bobbin has an internal LED 12 which is illuminated to assist the angler when fishing in low light conditions. The LED 12 may be activated all the time or it may be switched on by a bite indicator when line movement is detected. The bottom end of the bobbin 10 is internally threaded to receive a weight 14 and its upper end is also internally threaded to receive a line clip, generally designated 16. Alternatively, the line clip may be integrated into the bobbin instead of being screwed onto it.

The bobbin can receive interchangeable weights 14 so that the line tension can be set to suit the prevailing conditions. As so far described, the bobbin 10 is entirely conventional and is commercially available, an example being the Delkim Nitelite . The invention resides only in the construction of the line clip 16.

The line clip 16 shown in Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings is of the type having an openable gate 20 which is shown closed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and open in Fig. 4. The gate 20 is pivotably mounted in a clip body 22 which, as best shown in Fig. 3 has an octagonal cross section and is traversed by two deep orthogonal channels 24 and 26 to leave four upstanding posts 30, 32, 34 and 36 of triangular cross section. The gate 20 is received in the channel 26 and is formed by an arch 42 pivoted at one end about a pivot pin 38 received in the posts 32 and 34. The fishing line 40 passes along the channel 24 beneath the arch 42 of the gate 20. The opposite end of the arch 42 carries a permanent magnet 44. A second permanent magnet 46 is retained at the bottom of the channel 26 between the two posts 30 and 36. Small ribs 50 serve the retain the magnet 46 to prevent it from lifting off the bottom of the channel 26. The magnet 46 is however capable of being moved lengthways along the channel and is frictionally retained by the ribs 50 in any position.

In the closed position of the gate 20, shown in Fig. 1, the gate is held closed by the attraction between the magnets 44 and 46 so that a closed loop is defined between the arched gate 20 and the body 22, preventing withdrawal of the fishing line 40 from the line clip. When the angler strikes, the upward force of the line exceeds the magnetic attraction between the magnets 44 and 46. The magnets 44 and 46 therefore separate and the gate 20 opens in the manner shown in Fig. 4 to release the line 40.

It can be seen in Figure 1 that because of ts position, the magnet 46 does not overlap the entire area of the magnet 44 and this has the effect of reducing the release force of the line clip. By adjusting the position of the magnet 46 to increase or decrease the area of overlap, the angler can adjust the release force as necessary to suit the prevailing conditions.

Because the magnet 44 can only practically have a small area it is desirable to use a second magnet 46, which must of course be of the opposite polarity to the magnet 44. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the second magnet may be replaced by a ferrous catch plate if a suitable material is chosen for the magnet 44. However, because of the high cost of strong magnets, it is more economical to use two weak magnets than a strong magnet and a ferrous catch plate.

The line clip 16 of Figures 1 to 4 thus offers little or no resistance to line movement as the line can slide freely relative to the gate 20 when the gate is closed. The force needed to open the gate can furthermore be set at will thereby enabling the line clip to be used with any form of bobbin, regardless of whether the bobbin is tethered or hanging freely.

The line clip 116 of Figure 5 uses a gate 120 that can pivot about two mutually orthogonal axes. The gate 120 is constructed as a two-armed L-shaped lever 142 and is pivotably secured to the body 122 of the clip by means of a conventional barrel swivel 137, as used in fishing rigs to allow sections of line to rotate relative to another. The gate 120 is pivotably secured to the body 122 by means of a pin 138 passing through an eye at one end of the barrel swivel, which allows the gate 120 to pivot about an axis normal to the plane of the drawing. Furthermore, the swivel itself allows the gate to rotate about a vertical axis in the plane of the drawing. The ability of the gate 120 to pivot about orthogonal axes ensures that the gate is opened both by the raising of the fishing rod and the tilting and rearward movement of the fishing rod when the angler strikes.

Either one of the limbs of the L-shaped gate 120 may be used to trap the line and each of the limbs is therefore terminated in a respective magnet 144 capable of cooperating with a fixed magnet 146 mounted in a block 148. The limbs of the gate 120 are designed to differ from one another in the manner in which they grip the line. For example one may have a coating or a different surface finish from the other.

In the case of the illustrated embodiment, one of the limbs is a regular cylinder and lightly grips the fishing line 140 when the gate is closed whereas the other (the one shown in a vertical position in the drawing) has an annular recess which allows the line to run freely through the close loop of the line clip 116. The angler, by rotating the gate 120 first about a vertical axis then about the pin 138, can reverse the position of the two limbs and thereby select the degree of friction between the line clip and the line.

The magnet 146 with which the magnets 144 interact is mounted in this embodiment in the block 148, so that its face is vertical rather than horizontal. As in the first described embodiment, the position of the magnet 146 may be adjustable, by moving the block 148, to vary for the force required to open the gate. This embodiment further differs from that of Figures 1 to 4 in that the triangular posts 34 and 36 of the latter embodiment need to be omitted to permit the gate 120 to open by pivoting about a vertical axis.

Claims (8)

1. A line clip for releasably securing a bobbin to the line of a fishing rod, comprising a continuous loop having two parts of which a first part is in use secured to the bobbin and the second part is a gate than is openable to allow the fishing line to pass into and out of the loop, wherein the gate is pivotably connected at one end to thern first part of the loop and the other end of the gate is magnetically attracted to the first part of the loop to maintain the gate in a closed position.

2. A line clip as claimed in Claim 1, wherein permanent magnets are provided both on the second end of the gate and on the end of the first part of the loop against which the gate closes.

3. A line clip as claimed in claim 2, wherein means are provided for adjusting the area of overlap between the two permanent magnets in order to adjust the magnetic force acting to maintain the gate in the closed position.

4. A line clip as claimed in claim 1, wherein a single permanent magnet and a ferrous catch plate are provided on the second end of the gate and on the end of the first part of the loop against which the gate closes.

5. A line clip as claimed in claim 4, wherein means are provided for adjusting the area of overlap between the permanent magnet and the catch plate in order to adjust the magnetic force acting to maintain the gate in the closed position.

6. A line clip as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gate is pivotable about a first axis relative to a pin that is itself capable of pivoting about a transverse axis relative to the first part of the ioop.

7. A line clip as claimed in claim 6, comprising an L-shaped lever which is pivotable relative to the first part of the loop about an axis located at the junction between its two limbs, each limb being provided with a magnet to permit that limb to act as the gate.

8. A line clip constructed substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.