AU724890B2 - A fishing reel - Google Patents

Description

Vp -1- P/00/0011/ Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT 9. 9 9 *9 9.

9 9**9 99 9 9 9.

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service Feliciano R Sagun As Above in Australia: CARTER SMITH BEADLE Level 189 Kent Street Sydney New South Wales 2000 Australia Invention Title: A FISHING REEL Details of Associated Provisional Application: P06447 filed: 28 April 1997 and P06857 filed: 16 May 1997 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us -2- A FISHING REEL Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fishing reel of the type having a spool onto which fishing line is wound by a manually operated rotating bale.

Background of the Invention Fishing reels of the above type fall into three general classes. The first class of reel has a fixed spool and is used for light line fishing. The second class of reel has a spool which does not rotate but which reciprocates toward and .o away from the fisherman as the bale is rotated. The combination of the 10 reciprocation of the spool and the rotation of the bale lays the line on an orderly manner on the spool. The reciprocation is created by a drive head which is coupled to and rotates with the bale, and interacts with a spindle on which the spool is mounted. This class of reel is considered a general purpose reel. The third class of reel differs from the second class in that the drive head is mounted 15 within the reel housing and is stationary. This form of reel is used for surf and heavy line fishing.

In the sport of fishing the speed at which the line can be retrieved onto a spool is important. When fishing for some types of fish the bait or lure needs 0 to be moved very rapidly in order to attract the fish. Moreover, in the art of 20 fishing generally, after a fish strikes and takes the baited hook or lure it is advisable that the fisherman takes up slack in the line as quickly as possible to maintain the hook strike and to prevent the fish spitting out the hook.

The speed of line recovery is controlled by the speed of rotation of the bale around the spool of the fishing reel. The speed at which the bale is rotated is determined by the gearing causing the rotation of the bale and the speed at which the fisherman rotates the handle of the reel.

Summary of the Invention It is an aim of the present invention to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art.

daajjk:#2822 April 28, 1998 -3- In an aspect of the invention there is provided a fishing reel for winding up or letting out fishing line, and including: a housing; a fishing line storage spool for receiving the line and being able to be rotated relative to the housing; a fishing line laying bale for winding the line onto the spool and being rotatable around said spool; a drive mechanism for driving and so causing rotation of the bale, and being arranged in the housing; and a clutch arranged to facilitate the rotation of the spool; wherein the spool and the bale are rotatable about a common axis of rotation and the clutch allows the spool to rotate in the same direction as the bale when tension on the line exceeds a threshold value during operation of the drive mechanism to thereby enable the line to be withdrawn from the spool.

4 15 Typically, in the absence of said tension on the line the spool and the bale will be rotated in opposite directions with operation of the drive mechanism.

As the spool is able to be rotated in a direction opposite to that in which the bale is being rotated, a substantial increase in the rate at which the fishing line is wound onto the spool is obtained for the same rotational speed of the bale 20 relative to a comparable conventional fishing reel.

athGenerally, the clutch will allow the spool to rotate in the same direction .as the bale when tension of the line exceeds a threshold value such as during a run by a fish or when the line becomes snagged on submerged rocks while being wound in so that the possibility of the line breaking is substantially reduced.

Operation of the drive mechanism may also cause relative reciprocative movement between the bale and the spool toward and away from one another so that the line is thereby laid across the spool by the bale in a direction transverse to the direction of rotation of the spool during winding on of the line.

The present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to a number of preferred, non-limiting embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

daajjk:#28212 April 28, 1998 -4- Brief Description of the Accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a partial side cross -sectional view of an embodiment of a fishing reel of the invention; Fig. 2 is a partial side cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of a fishing reel of the invention; Fig. 3 is a partial side cross-sectional of yet another embodiment of a fishing reel of the invention; and Fig.4 is a cross-sectional view of astill further embodiment of a fishing reel of the invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention The reel shown in fig. 1 includes a housing 1 with a drive shaft 2 rotatably mounted therein such that an end region 2a of the shaft projects from the housing. Two rotatable helical gears 3 and 4 are mounted on drive shaft 2. The gear 3 is fixed to a fishing line laying bale 5 which is rotatably supported by a bearing 6 mounted in the housing 1. The bale has an axis of rotation that is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the drive shaft 2. The bale 5 is not illustrated in full but is of the well known type used to wind line onto a spool.

Gear 4 receiving opposite end region 2b of drive shaft 2 is rotatably supported by bearing 7.

The gear 4 is connected to drive shaft 2 through a clutch. The clutch comprises a helical spring 8 having a through bore one end of which receives an enlargement 9 of the drive shaft 2 such that the interior surface of the spring defining the bore is in frictional engagement with the enlargement. A spigot of gear 4 is received in an opposite end of the bore of the spring such that the spring frictionally engages and thereby grips the spigot. While not shown, the end of the spring is also anchored to the spigot to further inhibit rotation of the spigot within the spring.

A fishing line storage spool 11 is engaged with driving shaft 2 by virtue of driving pin 12 so that the spool is thereby caused to rotate with rotation of the drive shaft.

The helical gears 3 and 4 are in permanent mesh with a pinion wheel 13 rotatably mounted in housing 1 and which is connected to a cranked driving daaiJjk:#28212 April 28, 1998 handle 14 arranged externally of the housing. The shaft 2 is also provided with end plate take up means, in known manner, adjacent bearing 7.

In operation, rotation of handle 14 in a first direction causes the pinion wheel 13 to rotate the gears 3 and 4 in opposite directions. The rotation of gear 3 causes the bale 5 to be driven and so rotated to wind line onto spool 11, while the rotation of gear 4 causes drive shaft 2 to be rotated by virtue of the engagement of the spring 8 with the shaft. Indeed, the grip of the spring on the drive shaft is enhanced with rotation of gear 4 since the direction of rotation is in the same direction as the coiling of the spring away from that gear.

The rotation of shaft 2 in turn causes the spool 11 to be rotated in an opposite direction to that of bale 5. As gears 3 and 4 are substantially the same size, the contra-rotation of the bale and the spool 11 approximately doubles the rate at which the line is wound onto the spool with rotation of the handle.

If there is a pull on the line during line recovery such as may result from oO..

a run of a fish, the spool can rotate in the same direction as the bale 5 if tension Son the line is sufficient to overcome the grip on the drive shaft 2 by the spring 8 so that the line is thereby able to be drawn from the reel as demanded by the applied pull and while the handle 14 is still being rotated.

:i If rotation of the handle 14 is maintained, the spring 8 will again become operative to cause the spool to be rotated in an opposite direction to the bale when the pull of the line stops or decreases to allow sufficient grip of the spring on the drive shaft to be restored.

Another reel is illustrated in fig. 2. In this instance, drive shaft 2 is provided with a double helical track 15 receiving a pin 16 of a pin support 17 fixed to the bale 5. Gear 3 is in turn fixed to pin support 17 so that when gear 3 is rotated, the bale 5 is rotated and the drive shaft 2 is caused to reciprocate backwards and forwards along its longitudinal axis as the pin 16 traverses helical track As with the previous embodiment, gear 4 receives drive shaft 2 and is connected to the shaft by virtue of a clutch in the form of a spring 8 receiving a spigot 10 of gear 4 and a bush 18 that replaces the shaft enlargement 9 of fig.

1. Both spigot 10 and bush 18 have an internal splined bore engaging splines daajjk:#28212 April28, 1998 19 of drive shaft 2 to allow the shaft to move backwards and forwards through bush 18 while the bush is still drivingly connected to the shaft. It will be readily seen that the clutch arrangement is in substance the same as that shown in fig.

1 except that the drive shaft 2 is permitted to reciprocate along its axis relative to spring 8.

Accordingly, in a line recovery operation, rotation of pinion wheel 13 in a manner to rewind the line onto the spool 11 will rotate the gear 3 and so bale The drive shaft 2 and the fishing line spool will reciprocate backward and forward as line is laid down on the spool by the rotating bale 5. The gear 4 will also be rotated causing the drive shaft 2 to be rotated by virtue of the engagement of spring 8 so that the spool is also rotated although in an opposite direction to bale 5. If there is a pull on the line during winding (as by a run of a fish) the spool is able to rotate in the same direction as the bale against the frictional engagement of spring 8 with bush 18 once tension on the line exceeds a threshold value as described with respect to the embodiment shown in fig. 1.

fg Another reel functionally similar to that shown in fig. 2 is illustrated in fig. 3. The difference is that the pin support 17 carrying track following pin 16 is fixed to the housing and so held stationary with rotation of handle 14. The gear 3 is also fixed directly to bale In this instance, when the gears 3 and 4 are rotated by pinion wheel 13 in line recovery direction, the spring 8 again connects gear 4 to drive shaft 2 so that the shaft is thereby rotated. As the drive shaft 2 rotates, the shaft is caused to reciprocate backward and forward along its longitudinal axis by virtue of the receipt of pin 16 of pin support 17 in helical track 15. As with the previous embodiment, when tension on the line exceeds the grip of the spring 8 on bush 18, the spool is able to rotate in the same direction as the bale to allow fishing line to be withdrawn from the spool.

Turning now to fig. 4, a yet further reel of the invention is shown. In this reel, however, the clutch arrangement is housed within spool 11. More particularly, a sleeve 20 with an end flange 21 is mounted on drive shaft 2 and is fixed to the shaft by a grub screw 22 extending through the end flange 21.

Another sleeve 23 is received on the shaft so as to be able to rotate relative daa-jjk:#28212 April 28, 1998 thereto and has an end flange 24 received within a groove 25 defined in an interior passageway 26 of the spool. Sleeve 20 is received in one end of the through bore of spring 8 while sleeve 23 is received in the opposite end of the spring's bore such that the spring is in frictional engagement with both of the sleeves. As will be understood from a reading of the foregoing description of the arrangements shown in figs. 1 to 3, when drive shaft 2 is rotated sleeve transfers the drive to sleeve 23 through the spring 8 to cause the spool 11 to rotate.

It will be understood that the use of a helically coiled spring 8 as a clutch is illustrative, and while presently preferred, other forms of clutch may be used to achieve the same result.

Accordingly, although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, numerous variations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the following claims.

d j 2A l 1 daajjk:#28212 April 28 1998

Claims (16)

1. A fishing reel for winding up or letting out fishing line, and including: a housing; a fishing line storage spool for receiving the line and being able to be rotated relative to the housing; a fishing line laying bale for winding the line onto the spool and being rotatable around said spool; a drive mechanism for driving and so causing rotation of the bale, and being arranged in the housing; and 10 a clutch arranged to facilitate the rotation of the spool; wherein the spool and the bale are rotatable about a common axis of rotation and the clutch allows the spool to rotate in the same direction as the bale when tension on the line exceeds a threshold value during operation of the drive mechanism to thereby enable the line to be withdrawn from the spool. 15

2. A fishing reel according to claim 1 wherein in the absence of said tension on the line the spool and the bale are rotated in opposite directions with operation of the drive mechanism.

3. A fishing reel according to claim 1 or 2 wherein operation of the drive mechanism causes relative reciprocative movement between the bale and the spool toward and away from one another so that the line is thereby laid across the spool by the bale in a direction transverse to the direction of rotation of the spool.

4. A fishing reel according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the drive mechanism includes: a drive shaft for rotating the spool and being rotatably mounted within the housing; a driving gear rotatable from outside of the housing; a first driven gear engaged with the bale and the driving gear; and a second driven gear for causing rotation of the spool and being engaged with the driving gear; daa-jj:#28212 April 28, 1998 wherein the driving shaft is rotatable about an axis of rotation that is coaxial with the common axis, and the second driven gear is rotated in an opposite direction to the first driven gear when said driven gears are driven by the driving gear.

5. A fishing reel according to claim 4 wherein the clutch connects the second driven gear to the drive shaft to thereby rotate the spool in the opposite direction to the bale with operation of drive mechanism.

6. A fishing reel according to claim 4 or 5 wherein the clutch is in the form of a coiled spring having a longitudinally extending through bore, and wherein the drive shaft is received in one end of the bore and the second drive gear is received in an opposite end of the bore.

A fishing reel according to claim 6 wherein a spigot of the second drive gear is received within the opposite end of the bore of the spring.

8. A fishing reel according to claim 6 or 7 wherein the spring is anchored to the second drive gear.

9. A fishing reel according to claim 4 wherein the clutch is located within the spool and is in the form of a coiled spring have a longitudinally extending through bore, and the reel further includes: a first sleeve receiving, and being rotatable relative to, the drive shaft; oo and wherein the sleeve is received in the bore of the spring and is engaged with the spool so that the spool is caused to rotate in the opposite direction to the bale with operation of the drive mechanism.

A fishing reel according to claim 9 further including a second sleeve receiving and being rotatable with the drive shaft, wherein the first sleeve is received within one end of the bore of the spring and the second sleeve is received in an opposite end of the bore.

11. A fishing reel according to claim 10 wherein the spring is anchored to the second sleeve.

12. A fishing reel according to any one of claims 4 to 11 wherein the drive shaft is caused to reciprocate backward and forward along its longitudinal axis with operation of the drive mechanism, so that the spool thereby reciprocates daa:jjk:#28212 April 28, 1998 toward and away from the bale such that the line is laid across the spool by the bale in a direction transverse to the direction of rotation of the spool.

13. A fishing reel according to claim 12 wherein a helical track is defined on the drive shaft and the reel further includes a pin support located within the housing and having a pin projecting into the helical track to thereby cause the drive shaft to reciprocate with operation of the drive mechanism.

14. A fishing reel according to claim 13 wherein the pin support is fixedly secured to the first driven gear.

A fishing reel according to claim 13 wherein the drive shaft is able to be rotated relative to the pin support.

16. A fishing reel substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings. Dated this 28th day of April 1998 Feliciano R Sagun By His Patent Attorneys CARTER SMITH BEADLE o° daa:jjk:#28212 April 28, 1998