Artificial bait and split ring therefor

Abstract

An artificial bait with a split ring has a high tensile strength and an easily detachable hook and prevents the hook from freely rotating in water. In the artificial bait provided with the split ring with the replaceable hook, the split ring is characterized in that at least one end of the wire formed in a ring shape is curved in a direction away from the intermediate portion.

Claims

1. An artificial bait comprising: a split ring comprising a wire formed in a ring shape; and a replaceable hook, wherein at least one end of the wire is curved in a direction away from an intermediate portion of the wire, wherein the at least one end of the wire is bent at 10° or more with respect to a plane including the intermediate portion.

2. The artificial bait according to claim 1, wherein a ring portion of the replaceable hook is attached to the split ring and is restricted in its rotational movement by the at least one end of the wire.

3. The artificial bait according to claim 1, wherein the wire is wound greater than 360°.

4. A split ring for being attached to an artificial bait and detachably replacing a hook, the split ring comprising a wire formed in a ring shape, wherein at least one end of the wire is curved in a direction away from an intermediate portion of the wire, wherein the at least one end of the wire is bent at 10° or more with respect to a plane including the intermediate portion.

5. The split ring according to claim 4, wherein the wire is wound at greater than 360°.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B) show a first example of an artificial bait. (A) is a perspective view illustrating the overall configuration, and (B) is a perspective view illustrating a state after a rubber is removed.

(2) FIGS. 2(A)-2(C) show views illustrating a split ring for the artificial bait shown in FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B). (A) is a perspective view, (B) is a front view, and (C) is a side view.

(3) FIGS. 3(a) to 3(f) show a procedure for attaching a hook to a split ring in order.

(4) FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B) show a diagram illustrating a state in which the movement of the attached hook is restricted by the split ring.

(5) FIG. 5 shows a perspective view indicating a second example of an artificial bait.

(6) FIGS. 6(A) to 6(C) show a diagram indicating various modifications of the end shape of the split ring.

(7) FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B) show a configuration of a conventional split ring. (A) is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a hook is attached, and (B) is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the hook is detached.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NUMERICAL REFERENCES

(8) 1, 1A Artificial baits 10 Split ring 11 Wire 11a Base portion (end) 11b Intermediate portion 11c Tip portion (end) 20, 30 Hooks 21, 31 Ring portions

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(9) Examples of an artificial bait will be described below.

(10) FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B) show a first example of an artificial bait.

(11) An artificial bait 1 shown in FIG. 1(A) is a so-called jig head, and is configured by attaching a large number of rubbers 5 to hang on a sinker 3 on which an eye 3a to which a fishing line is tied is formed.

(12) A split ring 10 is integrally attached to the sinker 3 on the side opposite to the position where the eye 3a is provided, and a ring portion 21 formed on a hook 20 is attached to the split ring 10. As will be described later, the split ring 10 has a shape in which the hook 20 can be easily attached and detached and which can restrict the movement of the hook.

(13) As shown in FIGS. 2(A) to 2(C), the split ring 10 is formed by bending a metallic wire 11 into a ring shape. In this example, the wire 11 to be used has a diameter that is smaller than the opening diameter of the ring portion 21 of the hook 20 and is as large as possible under such constraint. More specifically, though the diameter of the wire 11 depends on the opening diameter of the ring portion 21 of the hook 20, a wire is used, which is thick (approximately 0.5 to 2.0 mm) enough to ensure sufficient strength even where a large tensile force is applied when fish is caught. Further, as described below, as the wire 11 is wound more than once (winding amount greater than) 360°, it does not expand under the power of the hooked fish.

(14) One end 11a (base end) of the wire 11 is integrally fixed to a base 3b of the sinker 3, from which point the end is wound more than once in a ring shape, and the other end (tip portion) 11c is wound to be separated from, without contacting the side of, the intermediate portion 11b wound in a ring shape. In particular, the wire 11 is wound approximately once and a half (approximately 540°) so that the tip portion 11c is not expanded under the power of the hooked fish and, when winding the wire, the wire is formed in a curve so that an angle α (bending angle) between a plane P including the intermediate portion 11b and the direction in which the tip portion 11c is facing (direction away while curving toward the tip) is more than a certain value. Therefore, a certain gap G is formed between the tip portion 11c and the intermediate portion 11b by curving the wire 11 to form the angle α.

(15) If the wire described above is curved so that the angle α becomes large, the ring portion 21 of the hook 20 can be easily passed therethrough. It is therefore preferable that the angle α is a certain angle or more to be slightly separated from the intermediate portion. Specifically, the angle α is preferably set at 10° or more so that the ring portion 21 of the hook 20 can be passed as is even if the ring portion 21 has a certain thickness, which makes it possible to pass the ring portion 21 of the hook 20 through the tip portion 11c smoothly toward the intermediate portion without using a tool or the like. The upper limit of the angle α is not particularly specified, but may be curved at 90° or less.

(16) Referring to FIGS. 3(a) to 3(f), a procedure for attaching the hook 20 on the split ring 10 with the above-described configuration will be described.

(17) First, the ring portion 21 of the hook 20 is inserted from the tip portion 11c of the split ring (see FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b)). In this operation, since the tip portion 11c is separated from the intermediate portion 11b of the wire to form a gap, the ring portion 21 can be easily passed through the split ring without using a tool. Thereafter, the hook 20 is pinched and rotated along the wire (see FIGS. 3(c) to 3(e)) so that the hook 20 is attached to the split ring 10 (see FIG. 3(f)). The hook 20 can be easily detached by pinching the hook 20 and following the reverse procedure to attaching the hook.

(18) When the hook 20 is attached to the split ring 10 according to the above-described procedure, if the angle α is small, the ring portion 21 of the hook 20 abuts on an end face 11c′ of the tip portion 11c, which prevents the hook 20 from largely rotating along the intermediate portion 11b. That is, as shown in FIG. 4(A), though the rotational movement can be performed from the position of the solid line to the position on the front side shown by the double-chain line 20A, the rotational movement from the position of the solid line to the position on the back side shown by the double-chain line 20B is prevented. Consequently, the hook can, without rotating backward, rotate in the forward direction in which fish is easily caught, which makes it easier to hook fish. In this example, even if the angle α is formed to be slightly largely curved, since the ring portion 21 of the hook abuts on an inner surface 11c″ (see FIG. 2(B)) near the tip portion 11c, the backward rotation is similarly restricted, and the hook is prevented from rotating backward.

(19) Further, on the back side of the end face 11c′ of the tip portion of the split ring 10, the movement in the side-to-side direction as illustrated by a double chain line in FIG. 4(B) (side-to-side direction as illustrated by the double chain lines 20C and 20D) is also restricted by the restrictions described above.

(20) Therefore, when the hook 20 is attached to the split ring 10 having the above-described configuration, the rotation in the forward-backward direction and the movement in the side-to-side direction are restricted from the tip portion 11c of the wire, whereby a hook tip 20a of the hook 20 is easily maintained upward in water, which improves the hooking performance.

(21) FIG. 5 shows a second example of an artificial bait. An artificial bait 1A of this example is configured as a lure type, and a hook 30 is attached thereon by attaching the split rings 10 having the above-described configuration to two positions on the underside of a body 3A. Also, in the configuration of this example, the ring portion 31 of the hook 30 can be easily attached to and detached from the split ring 10, and when a fishing line is tied to an eye 3a′ on a main body 3A and an action is applied to the lure while winding up a reel, the rotation in the forward-backward direction and movement in the side-to-side direction of the hook 30 are restricted as described above so that the attitude of the lure is stabilized in water, which makes it easier to catch the fish (ability to increase the chance of fish preying on baits is improved).

(22) The examples are described above. However, this disclosure is not limited to the above-described examples, and various variation may be made. In the examples described above, one end (base end) of the wire of the split ring 10 is attached to the body of the artificial bait, but similarly to the configuration shown in FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B), the intermediate portion of the split ring 10 may be attached to the body of the artificial bait, and the both ends of the wire may be curved to be separated from the intermediate portion 11b. Such a configuration makes it easier to attach or detach the hook. Further, when the wire 11 is curved to form a ring shape, the number of turns (amount of windings) is not particularly limited to two turns or the like as shown in FIGS. 7(A) and 7(B), and the amount of windings can be increased to improve the tensile strength.

(23) With respect to the split ring, it suffices that at least one end of the wire formed in a ring shape is curved in the direction away from the intermediate portion, which can be done in many different ways. For examples of the deformations made as necessary, only the end face 11c′ of the tip portion 11c is sharply bent and separated from the intermediate portion 11b as shown in FIG. 6(A), the end face 11c′ of the tip portion 11c extends upward while being separated from the intermediate portion 11b as shown in FIG. 6(B), or the tip portion 11c is bent into a substantially right angle (dogleg shape) to be separated from the intermediate portion 11b as shown in FIG. 6(C).

(24) Further, an example can include the split ring 10 itself having the above-described configuration. Such a split ring may be provided at a place to which a hook or other device component on which a ring portion is formed in advance is connected when a user prepares a device, which makes it easier to prepare the device.