Fishing – trapping – and vermin destroying – Fishing – Artificial bait
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-08
2003-07-15
Ark, Darren W. (Department: 3643)
Fishing, trapping, and vermin destroying
Fishing
Artificial bait
C043S042140, C043S042170, C043S042190
Reexamination Certificate
active
06591543
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to top water lures, such as buzz baits and top water plugs, having one or more propellers disposed thereon for creating noise, splashing water and a wake of bubbles.
BACKGROUND ART
In
FIG. 1
, a fishing lure
9
commonly referred to as a “buzz bait” or “buzzer” of a conventional, “safety pin” design, has a shaft
10
with a rearward portion formed into a fish hook
11
, a medial portion formed into an eye
12
for attaching a fish line to draw the lure through the water, and a bridge portion
13
upon which a propeller
14
is disposed to rotate, the rearward tip
15
of the shaft being bent so as to retain the propeller
14
thereon. A rivet bearing
17
acts as a thrust bearing as the propeller
14
is driven rearwardly on the bridge portion
13
when the lure is drawn through the water to the right as seen in FIG.
1
. The shaft may have a kink
19
in it so as to place a weight
21
disposed thereon below the line of motive force, through the eyelet
12
, thereby to provide vertical stability to the lure as it is being drawn through the water. In operation, the blades
22
of the propeller
14
sling water, create a thumping sound, and sling water, as the lure
9
is drawn by the fish line. Not shown in
FIG. 1
are skirts, which may comprise a rubber skirt trailing the lure so as to resemble a wounded frog, or a thread skirt fastened at the weight
21
so as to resemble a wounded fish. When the lure
9
is drawn through the water, the action of the blades
22
tends to make it ride up with a portion of the propeller
14
out of the water, so that the blades make a thumping noise which is believed to attract the fish. The rubbing of the propeller
14
and/or the rivet bearing
17
may also cause a squeak which is also though to attract fish.
While this lure has been successful, it has several drawbacks. First and foremost, since the principal portion of the propeller
14
is in a plane parallel with the bridge portion
13
, the propeller itself impedes its own rotation by interfering with the water as it attempts to rotate as a consequence of interaction between the blades
22
and the water. The propeller
14
thus accelerates slowly and has a relatively low ratio of rotary speed to speed of translation through the water as it is being towed by the fish line. Additionally, the amount of activity which can be created with short pulls on the line is very limited. Since there is a significant amount of space between one blade
22
and the other blade
22
, the propeller
14
becomes entangled in weeds quite easily. Because the propeller
14
is essentially a broad, flat piece, when it comes in contact with an underwater obstruction, it tends to be stopped by such contact, and then, when stopped, tends to drop in the water.
In
FIG. 2
, a top water plug
24
includes a tapered body
25
having flat, two-blade propellers
26
,
27
captured by eyelets
28
,
29
at the aft and fore end thereof. The eyelet
28
typically holds a triple hook, while the eyelet
29
is attached to the fish line for drawing the plug
24
through the water. On the belly of the plug
24
, an additional pair of eyelets
30
may typically hold additional triple hooks. The propellers
26
,
27
are typically two-dimensional (having no significant pitch), and do not churn the water or provide bubbles to any great extent. In fact, to provide the tiniest of wakes, it is necessary to provide a rip (rapid pull) of at least one foot, at unnaturally high speed, thereby defeating the purpose of simulating a wounded fish, which would not travel fast.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Objects of the invention include provision of a top water lure having a propeller which provides a strong bubble wake with only a few inches of motion; which provides a strong bubble wake while being towed at extremely slow speeds; which is less prone to be entangled in weeds within the water; which will “walk”, like a wheel, over an obstruction, rather than being stopped by the obstruction, and thereby be less likely to drop in the water as a result of contacting an obstruction in the water; which provides more bubbles and slings more water above the water line than lures available in the prior art in which the blade continues to turn when being reeled very slowly; which is tunable so as to alter the noise and churning produced by the blades; which is more stable with smaller weights but can support larger weights; which is easily adjusted so as to cause a clacking noise between a portion of the shank and the blades; and which provides a much greater range of noise, bubble and water responses than heretofore attainable.
This invention is predicated on the discovery that the propeller of a top water lure should have little or no surfaces parallel with the axis of rotation thereof which impede the rotation of the propeller, while at the same time, the propeller should have significant blade curvature to both sling water above the water line and provide active flotation to position the lure with the preponderance of the propeller above the water line when being towed.
According to the present invention, a propeller for a top water lure having a hub defining an axis of rotation, the principal plane of said propeller being perpendicular to said axis, has a plurality of blades extending from said hub, each blade including a proximal portion adjacent said hub having a first degree of pitch, and a distal tip of said blade having a second degree of pitch substantially different than said first degree of pitch, so that a lure employing the propeller of the present invention rides higher in the water, creates more bubbles, making a big wake, is less susceptible to being entangled by weeds or other underwater growth or stopped by obstructions, slings water high above the water line, has good rotation even when the lure is moving very slowly in the water, and is easily adjusted so as to provide a variation in the sound, the wake and the slinging of water by adjusting the pitch of the proximal portion of the blades, or the rake of the blades, or both. According to the invention, the pitch of the distal portion of each blade may be in the same direction as the pitch of the proximal portion of the blades, but of a greater degree of pitch, or the pitch of the distal portions of the blades may be opposite to the pitch of the proximal portions of the blades. According to the invention, the blades may have single, simple bends therein so that each portion is essentially curvilinear only in two dimensions, or the blades may have curvilinear bends therein to provide blade portions having compound curvilinear surfaces.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
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patent: 3680247 (1972-08-01), McKenzie
patent: 3990171 (1976-11-01), Davis
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patent: 5327671 (1994-07-01), Rosek
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Ark Darren W.
Williams M. P.
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