GB1598952A

GB1598952A - Trawl floats

Info

Publication number: GB1598952A
Application number: GB6135/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-02-16
Filing date: 1978-02-16
Publication date: 1981-09-30

Description

(54) TRAWL FLOATS (71) 1, ROY FLETCHER, a British Subject, of Holmeroyd, Lightcliffe, Halifax HX3 8UJ, West Yorkshire, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the methosd by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The invention relates to trawl floats and in particular to attachment means for retention thereof on ropes, for example fishing net headlines.

In order to hold open the mouth of a fishing net, such as a trawl net, trawl floats are often used for buoying purposes, but often in fact, engage the sea bed in opening the net mouth.

Seine nets may be similarly held open at a pre detemlined mid-water depth using trawl floats of appropriate buoyancy. Most in keeping with their name trawl floats may also be used at the surface to locate gill nets hanging therefrom.

Thus. although trawl floats may have a wholly positive buoyancy they can and often do constitute weights that will sink to the sea bed or have other buoyancy characteristics to take up a desired depth.

Hitherto, trawl floats have been tied to net headlines with twine via lugs or holes in the floats themselves. Replacement of damaged or lost floats or reattaclment of any that become detached in use, say on repeated hauling into a trawler, is a timeconsuming and laborious task, particularly over fishing grounds and in inclement conditions of weather and/or sea. Thus, one objection of talus invention is to provide a means of attachment that is reasonably secure and does not require tying.

According to the invention there is provided a trawl float incorporating attachment means for securement thereof to an elongate member, comprising lugs or projections each having retaining accommodation for a said elongate member and an entry therefor, the lugs or projections being disposed with the entry of one such lug or projection to an opposite side of a said elongate member, when retaingly accommodated in both lugs or projections, from the entry of another such lug or projection, and with a spacing between the one and the other lug or projection transversely of the desired retained accommodation position of said member sufficiently to receive said member prior to relative movement of the device and the member to obtain said retained accommodation.

Preferably, the lugs or projections are of or include resilient material and may take hooklike forms with an access aperture that requires displacemtnt of a free end of the hook to entrap an elongate member within the hook on subsequent return of that free end.

It will be appreciated that, if the elongate member is relatively stiff or rigid, for example part of an eye or U- or C-shaped handle or grip as for a boat hook, retention accommodating parts of the lugs or projections should be substantially aligned one with the other. However, if the elongate member is flexible, for example a rope, cable or wire, the retention accommodating parts of the lugs or projections may be off-set relative to each other to give a gripping action at least when the elongate member is taut. Some basic gripping action may, of course, be present in both cases by virtue of resilience of the lugs or projections or at least parts of them.

The attachment means is readily placed in position by having two hook-like lugs or projections embrace the elongate member prior to twisting of the device, typically through 90 , to displace the free ends of the hook-like formations oppositely and then have them return for retention purposes.

Preferably, then, suitable hook-like resilient lugs or projections are disposed parallel one to the other and in spaced but at least partially overlapped relation. However, non-parallel dispositions are possible and may even enhance, or be the sole agency in providing, gripping of the elongate member, especially if flexible and taut in use.

For flexible elongate members, there may be more than two lugs or projections either as two oppositely directed sets to each side of a medial spacing to initially accommodate an elongate member prior to rotation of the device or straightening of a kink in the member, or successively oppositely directed spaced lugs or projections with the elongate member folded to return between each adjacent pair prior to straightening of the elongate member. For inflexible elongate members, of course, provision of more than two lugs or projections necessarily requires them to be in two oppositely directed sets one to each side of the medial spacing.

A particularly convenient construction of a trawl float is a hollow article of synthetic plastics material, normally thermoplastic, made of two mating shell parts each carrying at least one hook-like lug or projection and secured together, typically by welding. Any filler material to achieve desired buoyancy may be inserted into one shell part before welding or, and particularly if to be of greater volume than either shell part, inserted later through a valve or subsequently sealed aperture.

Specific implementation of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an isometric part view of a trawl float; Figure 2 is a detail side view of one hooklike lug or projection of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic part plan view showning relative positions of the lugs or projections of Figure 1.

The illustrated trawl float 10 is of spherical shape, formed of two hemispherical mouldings 12, 14 mated at their edges and welded together at seam 15. On the mouldings 12 and 14 are hook-like lugs or projections 16 and 18, respectively, each comprising (see Figure 2) a root 20 radiussed into an outwardly extending limb 22 subsequently turned at 24 through substantially 1800 to a free end 26 spaced at 28 from the moulding, the whole lying substantially parallel with the welded seam 15. The spacing 28 of the free end 26 from the moulding is substantially smaller than the diameter of the interior turn 24 and usually significantly smaller than a rope to which it is to be attached so that displacement of the free ends 26 is required for such attachment.

The mode of attachment has been described above but, referring to Figure 3, the float is first placed with its seam 15 parallel with the rope and the hook4ike lugs or projections 16 and 18 flanking the rope. Then,the float is rotated clockwise through 900, so that the free ends of the lugs or projections 16, 18 are displaced outwardly away from each other until the rope passes below then, due to their displacement and/or the float curvature, and then return under their own resilience to entrap the rope.

Trawl floats may, of course, have any desired shape or size both overall and in relative terms as between their hook-like projections and their bodies. One dimensional example quoted only by way of example might comprise a sphere of 5'k inch diameter with lugs or projections to accommodate rope upto L36 inch diameter, viz, a spacing 28 of 9 inch outer and inner diameters of 11136 inch and 1 3 inch for the bend 24 with concentric curvatures centered 3/4 inch from the outer periphery of the body, and a lug or projection thickness of Q inch with a spacing of 16 inch between them.

Clearly the lugs or projections could be formed as a head moulding for a boat-hook and/or on a base as a cleat, especially if the lugs of projections have their interior turns off-set as well as spaced.

It should be apparent that, if the two lugs or projections 16, 18 are non-parallel with each other and, perhaps, of significant widths, gripping action may be achieved on a rope.

If desired there might be three lugs or projections with the middle one having its free end oppositely directed to the outer two, and it may then be further desirable to have a depression below the middle free end or projections under the outer two free ends to allow fitment to a rope doubled round the middle lug or projection and pulled back, outwards, across the outer two for attachment purposes. Off-sets and/or angling of the outer lugs or projections may provide or enhance gripping.

References to gripping are to be taken as no more than an indication of possibilities as free or substantially free coupling to sail headlines with rope sizes up to but not exceeding the internal turn diameter have proved quite satisfactory.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A trawl float incorporating an attachment means for securement thereof to an elongate member, comprising lugs or projections each having retaining accommodation for a said elongate member and an entry therefor, the lugs or projections being disposed with the entry of one such lug or projection to an opposite side of a said elongate member, when retainingly accommodated in both lugs or projection, and with a spacing between the one and the other lug or projection, and with a spacing between the one and the other lug or projection transversely of the desired retained accommodation position of said member sufficiently to receive said member prior to relative movement of the device and the member to obtain said retained accommodation.

2. A trawl float according to Claim 1, wherein said lugs or projections are of or in dude resilient material and require at least partial displacement for entry of said member.

3. A trawl float according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein retaining accommodation parts of the lugs or projections are substantially aligned one with the other.

4. A trawl float according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein retaining accommodation par parts of the lugs or projections are offset one relative to another.

5. A trawl float according to any preceding claim, wherein said lugs or projections have hook-like forms and require displacement of free-ends thereof with their subsequent return

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. inflexible elongate members, of course, provision of more than two lugs or projections necessarily requires them to be in two oppositely directed sets one to each side of the medial spacing. A particularly convenient construction of a trawl float is a hollow article of synthetic plastics material, normally thermoplastic, made of two mating shell parts each carrying at least one hook-like lug or projection and secured together, typically by welding. Any filler material to achieve desired buoyancy may be inserted into one shell part before welding or, and particularly if to be of greater volume than either shell part, inserted later through a valve or subsequently sealed aperture. Specific implementation of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an isometric part view of a trawl float; Figure 2 is a detail side view of one hooklike lug or projection of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic part plan view showning relative positions of the lugs or projections of Figure 1. The illustrated trawl float 10 is of spherical shape, formed of two hemispherical mouldings 12, 14 mated at their edges and welded together at seam 15. On the mouldings 12 and 14 are hook-like lugs or projections 16 and 18, respectively, each comprising (see Figure 2) a root 20 radiussed into an outwardly extending limb 22 subsequently turned at 24 through substantially 1800 to a free end 26 spaced at 28 from the moulding, the whole lying substantially parallel with the welded seam 15. The spacing 28 of the free end 26 from the moulding is substantially smaller than the diameter of the interior turn 24 and usually significantly smaller than a rope to which it is to be attached so that displacement of the free ends 26 is required for such attachment. The mode of attachment has been described above but, referring to Figure 3, the float is first placed with its seam 15 parallel with the rope and the hook4ike lugs or projections 16 and 18 flanking the rope. Then,the float is rotated clockwise through 900, so that the free ends of the lugs or projections 16, 18 are displaced outwardly away from each other until the rope passes below then, due to their displacement and/or the float curvature, and then return under their own resilience to entrap the rope. Trawl floats may, of course, have any desired shape or size both overall and in relative terms as between their hook-like projections and their bodies. One dimensional example quoted only by way of example might comprise a sphere of 5'k inch diameter with lugs or projections to accommodate rope upto L36 inch diameter, viz, a spacing 28 of 9 inch outer and inner diameters of 11136 inch and 1 3 inch for the bend 24 with concentric curvatures centered 3/4 inch from the outer periphery of the body, and a lug or projection thickness of Q inch with a spacing of 16 inch between them. Clearly the lugs or projections could be formed as a head moulding for a boat-hook and/or on a base as a cleat, especially if the lugs of projections have their interior turns off-set as well as spaced. It should be apparent that, if the two lugs or projections 16, 18 are non-parallel with each other and, perhaps, of significant widths, gripping action may be achieved on a rope. If desired there might be three lugs or projections with the middle one having its free end oppositely directed to the outer two, and it may then be further desirable to have a depression below the middle free end or projections under the outer two free ends to allow fitment to a rope doubled round the middle lug or projection and pulled back, outwards, across the outer two for attachment purposes. Off-sets and/or angling of the outer lugs or projections may provide or enhance gripping. References to gripping are to be taken as no more than an indication of possibilities as free or substantially free coupling to sail headlines with rope sizes up to but not exceeding the internal turn diameter have proved quite satisfactory. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A trawl float incorporating an attachment means for securement thereof to an elongate member, comprising lugs or projections each having retaining accommodation for a said elongate member and an entry therefor, the lugs or projections being disposed with the entry of one such lug or projection to an opposite side of a said elongate member, when retainingly accommodated in both lugs or projection, and with a spacing between the one and the other lug or projection, and with a spacing between the one and the other lug or projection transversely of the desired retained accommodation position of said member sufficiently to receive said member prior to relative movement of the device and the member to obtain said retained accommodation.

to entrap said member.

6. A trawl float according to Claim 5, wherein the hook-like lugs or projections are disposed in mutually parallel relation and at least partially overlapping.

7. A trawl float according to any preceding claim wherein the attachment means comprises two sets of the lugs or projections each set with its entries similarly divided and oppositely to the other with one set to each side of said spacing.

8. A trawl float according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the lugs or projections have, as between each of next adjacent pairs thereof, oppositely directed entries with spacings therebetween that will accommodate a flexible said member return bent through them.

9. A trawl float according to any one of Claims 1 to 6 wherein the attachment means comprises two lugs or projections only.

10. A trawl float according to any one of Claims 1 to 9, comprising a hollow body made from two moulded parts secured together and each carrying one of said lugs or projections.

11. A trawl float according to Claim 1 arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein described.

12. A trawl float substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.