Fishing – trapping – and vermin destroying – Fishing – Lines and/or leaders
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-20
2001-11-27
Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3643)
Fishing, trapping, and vermin destroying
Fishing
Lines and/or leaders
C428S364000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06321483
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The fly fishing industry continues to seek an improved balance of properties in fly fishing lines. Durability with low recoil memory on the one hand, and shootability on the other have been difficult to balance. Durability with low recoil memory are generally associated with line flexibility while shootability is generally associated with less flexible or more rigid lines. Lack of durability, associated with brittleness or hardness of the fly line, can result in cracking under the normal stresses encountered in casting a fly line. Shootability, on the other hand, is enhanced by a hard or stiff line. Shootability refers to the line “shooting” through the fly rod guides with less loss of force (through friction) than a more flexible line might encounter, with consequent increase in casting distance. Recoil memory refers to the tendency of a fly line to remain coiled that it assumes when disposed on the fly reel. Memory is generally considered to be directly related to the stiffness of the line.
Various constructions for fly fishing lines are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,043,045, issued Jul. 10, 1962 to Martuch describes a fly fishing line comprising a nylon base core treated with a uniform priming coating of an adhesive material. A coating composition comprised of polyvinyl chloride in plasticizers is superimposed over the priming or adhesive coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,744, issued Sep. 20, 1977 to Chandler describes a fly fishing line having a buoyant tip section formed near the tip of the line. The fishing line is described as comprising a core member made of nylon, polyethylene or silk filaments treated with a priming coating of adhesive material over which is superimposed a coating composition comprising a dispersion of finely divided polyvinyl chloride in plasticizer.
United States Letters Patent No. 5,207,732, issued May 4, 1993 to Stark describes a fly fishing line comprising a core with a coating adherently bonded to the core. The coating is described as comprising a polyvinyl chloride resin with an in situ formed polymer to provide stiffness to the line. The polymer is derived from at least one polymerizable monomer including a polyfunctional acrylic monomer and an initiator. Inclusion of the acrylic polymer is said to improve the combination of properties of durability, shootability and recoil memory.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,292, issued Mar. 22, 1994 to Butters describes an elongated cylindrical tensile article made of one or more strands of a monofilament core surrounded by porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) which may be optionally coated or die sized on the outer surface for smoothness and/or abrasion resistance. The described article is said to be particularly useful for fly-casting lines for fishing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,900, issued on Aug. 1, 1995 to Kuzowski describes porous expanded PTFE having a microstructure of nodes interconnected by fibrils where the surface of the material is modified to have increased hydrophobicity. The modified surface with increased hydrophobicity is said to possibly improve the flotation characteristics of fly fishing lines with an outer surface of porous expanded PTFE.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,976, issued on May 6, 1997 to Goodale also describes fly fishing lines and methods for their manufacture. The described lines include a core line portion and a coating comprising a copolymer of olefin, preferably ethylene, and acrylic material. The described lines are said to have a specific gravity of less than 1.0 without the necessity of adding microspheres or blowing agents and are said to be plasticizer free.
Commercially available fly lines manufactured by Fly Fishing Technology Ltd. In the United Kingdom and advertised under the trade designation AIRFLO 7000 TS are said to include a “glass smooth polymer coating” which includes PTFE and liquid lubricants. The fly lines are advertised as having a five year non-crack guarantee with “super floatability” due to the inclusion of PTFE into the outer coating of the line on all floating models. The outer coating of these lines is a urethane combined with the aforementioned PTFE.
The fly fishing industry has continued to experiment with fly line compositions in order to improve various properties such as shootability, durability, floatability and the like. Although progress has been made in this area, further improvements are sought to fulfill a long-felt need.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a fly fishing line and a method for the manufacture of such a line wherein the fly fishing line comprises a core of at least one filament material over which is coated a novel material to provide a fly line with enhanced properties. The fly line of the invention comprises:
a core; and
an outer coating disposed around the core, the coating comprising polyvinyl chloride polymer and polytetrafluoroethylene.
Optionally, the outer coating may also include a polyacrylate as the polymerized reaction product of a polyfunctional polymerizable acrylate monomer. Preferably the polytetrafluoroethylene is in particulate form having an average particle size within the range from about 1 micrometers to about 15 micrometers and the outer coating is adhered to the core. The outer coating of the invention preferably will include additives such as plasticizers, lubricant, UV stabilizer, heat stabilizer and the like. Glass microspheres can also be incorporated in the outer coating to impart floatability to the finished line.
In another aspect of the invention, a method for the manufacture of the foregoing line is provided, the method comprising:
(a) coating a core with a plastisol comprising:
(i) a polyvinyl chloride resin,
(ii) polytetrafluoroethylene, and
(b) exposing the plastisol to conditions providing formation of a an outer coating derived from the polyvinyl chloride resin and having polytetrafluoroethylene dispersed throughout the outer coating.
The materials used in the foregoing method are all as described above. The method also preferably further comprises applying a primer to the core prior to coating the core with the plastisol to improve adhesion of the outer coating to the core surface.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate the details of the present invention upon further consideration of the remainder of the disclosure including the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In its broadest aspect, the present invention provides a fishing fly line having a core and an outer coating disposed over the core. The core is comprised of one or more filaments over which is an outer coating comprised of a polyvinyl chloride resin and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The polyvinyl chloride resin and PTFE are coated over the core (e.g., braided nylon or polyester yarns or monofilaments) as a plastisol and subjected to sizing and heat processing to define a desired taper and to solidify the polyvinyl chloride. Optionally, a polymer derived at least in part from one or more polymerizable polyfunctional acrylic monomers may be included within the outer coating of the fly line and applied along with the polyvinyl chloride and PTFE in the aforementioned plastisol. An especially preferred acrylic monomer is trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,732 to Stark, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The fly line of the invention may be a floating line having, for example, a specific gravity of 0.9 or less owing to the presence of microballoons or microspheres, gaseous filled cells or other known ingredients. Alternatively, the fly line may be a sinking line or the line may be made to include the combined properties of both a floating line and a sinking line. Additional known ingredients may be included within the outer coating. An initiator is preferably included within the plastisol to initiate polymerization of polyfunctional acrylic monomer when present.
As mentioned, the fly line includes a core line which typically extends
Kauss Del A.
Richards Bruce W.
3M Innovative Properties Company
Nguyen Son T.
Olson Peter L.
Pastirik Daniel R.
Poon Peter M.
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