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Claims  |
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I claim:
1. A fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion, said lure
having a head member of rigid construction, to which any one of a variety
of generally similar tail members may be removably attached, said head
member having at least two attachment points thereon, to which a fishing
line as well as a fishhook may be respectively attached, said head member
having a rear portion upon which rearwardly directed attachment means are
mounted, said attachment means involving at least one rearwardly extending
component having an enlarged portion, each tail member to be used with
said head member being made of soft, resilient material, having a
forwardmost portion in which least one cavity is disposed, such cavity
being smaller than said enlarged portion and positioned so as to be able
to be brought into alignment with said at least one rearwardly extending
component on said head member, and to be tightly yet removably received
thereon, said rearwardly directed attachment means being mounted in a
shallow recess located on said rear portion of said head member, the
forwardmost portion of the tail member being configured to fit tightly in
said shallow recess when said rearwardly directed attachment means has
entered the respective cavity of the tail member, thus to prevent the
entry of water between said head and tail members when said lure is in
use.
2. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 1 in which said at least one rearwardly extending component involves
an enlarged portion of bulbous configuration, adapted to be tightly
received in a corresponding cavity of a tail member.
3. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 1 in which said at least one rearwardly extending component involves
an enlarged portion that is essentially flat, said rearwardly protruding
component adapted to be tightly received in a corresponding cavity of a
tail member.
4. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 1 in which said lure has a spaced pair of rearwardly extending
components, each having a bulbous portion adapted to be tightly received
in a respective cavity located in a forward portion of a tail member.
5. A fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion, said lure
having a head member of hard, relatively rigid construction, to which any
one of a variety of generally similar tail members may be removably
attached, said head member having a first attachment point thereon, to
which a fishing line may be attached, and a second attachment point
thereon, to which a fishhook may be attached, said head member having an
aft portion upon which rearwardly directed attachment means are mounted,
said attachment means involving at least one rearwardly extending
component having an enlarged portion, each tail member to be used with
said head member being made of soft, resilient material, having a
forwardmost portion in which least one cavity is disposed, such cavity
being smaller than said enlarged portion and positioned so as to be able
to be brought into alignment with said at least one rearwardly extending
component on said head member, and to be tightly yet removably received
thereon, said rearwardly directed attachment means being mounted in a
shallow recess located on said aft portion of said head member, said
shallow recess being defined by a rearwardly directed lip extending around
the aft portion of said head member, the outer edge of the forwardmost
portion of the tail member being configured to fit in tight engagement
with said rearwardly directed lip when said rearwardly directed attachment
means has entered the cavity of the tail member.
6. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 5 in which said at least one rearwardly extending component involves
an enlarged portion of bulbous configuration, adapted to be tightly
received in a corresponding cavity of a tail member.
7. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 5 in which said at least one rearwardly extending component involves
an enlarged portion that is essentially flat, said rearwardly protruding
component adapted to be tightly received in a corresponding cavity of a
tail member.
8. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 5 in which said lure has a spaced pair of rearwardly extending
components, each having a bulbous portion adapted to be tightly received
in a corresponding cavity located in a tail member.
9. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 5 in which said head member is made from a pair of halves taken
along a vertical cutting plane, with one half being what may be regarded
as essentially a mirror image of the other half, and with the halves being
secured together in a permanent manner.
10. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 9 in which a central cavity is provided in at least one of said head
halves, for receiving a multiplicity of small, hard, generally spherical
members, such that a rattle chamber will be defined in a completed head
member.
11. A fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion, said lure
having a head member of relatively hard construction, to which any one of
a variety of generally similar tail members may be removably attached,
said head member having a first attachment point thereon, to which a
fishing line may be attached, and a second attachment point thereon, to
which a fishhook may be attached, said head member having an aft portion
upon which rearwardly directed attachment means are mounted, said
attachment means involving at least one rearwardly protruding component
having an enlarged portion, each tail member to be used with said head
member being of flexible, resilient construction and having a forwardmost
portion in which an aperture leading to a cavity is disposed, said cavity
being smaller than the enlarged portion of said rearwardly protruding
component, said aperture being positioned in the tail member so as to be
able to be brought into alignment with a rearwardly protruding component
on said head member, and to be tightly yet removably received thereon,
said rearwardly directed attachment means being mounted in a shallow
recess located on said aft portion of said head member, said shallow
recess being defined by a rearwardly directed lip extending around the aft
portion of said head member, the outer edge of the forwardmost portion of
the tail member being configured to fit in tight engagement with said
rearwardly directed lip when said rearwardly protruding component has
entered the cavity of the tail member.
12. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 11 in which said at least one rearwardly protruding component
involves a bulbous portion adapted to be tightly received in the aperture
and cavity of a tail member.
13. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 11 in which said rearwardly directed attachment means involves a
pair of protruding components, each having a bulbous portion adapted to be
tightly received in a respective cavity located in a tail member.
14. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 11 in which said at least one rearwardly protruding component is
wide but thin and involves an enlarged portion adapted to be tightly
received in a wide but comparatively thin cavity of a tail member.
15. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 11 in which said head member is made from a pair of halves taken
along a vertical cutting plane, with one half being what may be regarded
as the mirror image of the other half, and with the halves being secured
together in a permanent manner.
16. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 15 in which a central cavity is provided in at least one of said
head halves, for receiving a multiplicity of small, generally spherical
members, such that a rattle chamber will be defined in a completed head
member.
17. A fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion, said lure
having a head member of rigid construction, to which any one of a variety
of generally similar tail members may be removably attached, said head
member having at least two attachment points thereon, to which a fishing
line as well as a fishhook may be respectively attached, said head member
having a rear portion upon which rearwardly directed attachment means are
mounted, said attachment means involving a pair of essentially parallel,
rearwardly extending components, each component being substantially
perpendicular to said rear portion of said head member, and each component
having an enlarged portion, each tail member to be used with said head
member being made of soft, resilient material, having a forwardmost
portion in which a pair of cavities are disposed, each such cavity being
smaller than the respective enlarged component portion and positioned so
as to be able to be brought into alignment with said rearwardly extending
components on said head member, and to be tightly yet removably received
thereon.
18. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 17 in which said rearwardly extending components each involve an
enlarged portion of bulbous configuration, adapted to be tightly received
in a corresponding cavity of a tail member.
19. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 17 in which said rearwardly extending components each involve an
enlarged portion that is essentially flat, each said rearwardly protruding
component adapted to be tightly received in a corresponding cavity of a
tail member.
20. A fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion, said lure
having a head member of rigid construction, to which any one of a variety
of generally similar tail members may be removably attached, said head
member having at least two attachment points thereon, to which a fishing
line as well as a fishhook may be respectively attached, said head member
having a rear portion upon which rearwardly directed attachment means are
mounted, said attachment means involving at least one rearwardly extending
component having an enlarged portion, with each attachment means being
disposed in a substantially perpendicular relationship to said rear
portion of said head member, each tail member to be used with said head
member being made of soft, resilient material, having a forwardmost
portion in which least one cavity is disposed, such cavity being smaller
than said enlarged portion and positioned so as to be able to be brought
into alignment with said at least one rearwardly extending component on
said head member, and to be tightly yet removably received thereon, said
rearwardly extending component involving an enlarged portion of bulbous
configuration, adapted to be tightly received in a corresponding cavity of
a tail member.
21. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 20 in which said head member is made from a pair of halves taken
along a vertical cutting plane, with one of said halves being what may be
regarded as essentially a mirror image of said other half, and with said
halves being secured together in a permanent manner.
22. The fishing lure utilizing an easily changed tail portion as recited in
claim 21 in which a central cavity is provided in at least one of said
head halves, for receiving a multiplicity of small, hard, generally
spherical members, such that a rattle chamber will be defined in a
completed head member. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a quick change fishing lure, and more
particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a fishing lure having body
parts which are quickly interchangeable with other body parts in order to
readily accomplish a change of color.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A great variety of fishing lure designs have been developed heretofore. One
design type which has gained appreciable popularity is generally comprised
of a body having the appearance of a minnow or shad, i.e., the body has a
front head portion and a tail portion with simulated eyes, gills and fins
painted thereon. In addition, such lures include a submergence inducing
deflector attached to the body at the front head portion thereof. The
position, size and shape of the deflector determine the particular depth
at which the lure swims, and together the fish-like shape of the body
causes the lure to wriggle as it is pulled through the water.
Some of the prior fishing lures of the type describe above have included
detachable or interchangeable parts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,183,164
discloses a fishing lure having a lip member (deflector) which is
detachable from the lure body when an elongate screw is removed from the
body. The lip member can be interchanged to affect the depth to which the
lure dives when fished. U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,883 is directed to a fishing
lure comprised of separably connectible component parts which are capable
of being manually assembled and disassembled to vary the appearance and
affect of the lure.
Both the U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,228 to Borresen et al and the Canadian Patent
No. 477,175 to Neff teach the utilization of male screw threads in one
lure part, and female threads in the other lure part so as to make the
head member and the tail member of the lure separable. This has the
obvious disadvantages of additional expense as well as requiring one lure
member to be rotated for several turns with respect to the other member.
The Rinaldi U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,280 entitled "Two-Piece Body Fishing Lure"
is in the nature of a so-called "crank bait," in that his lure has a
slant, concave face causing the lure to move through the water in a
submerged condition while the fisherman is "cranking" it in. Although the
Rinaldi lure is configured to permit the fisherman to accomplish a color
change by substituting an upper body portion of one color with an upper
body portion of another color, that lure requires that the lower body
portion be provided with a longitudinally oriented keyway utilized for
enabling the body parts of the lure to be held together.
I am aware that still other lure designs involve the head member having
rearwardly extending components upon which the tail member is mounted, but
not only has such an approach involved rather expensive construction, but
also in such configurations, the tail member has tended to separate from
the head portion during use.
Notwithstanding the fact that certain prior lures have been capable of
partial disattachment or disassembly, some of these have been of expensive
construction, whereas others are of such construction as to make it
possible, unfortunately, from one body portion of a lure to become
separated from another body portion during use. Still other lure
constructions make it necessary for the fisherman to disconnect the
fishing line from the lure and then reconnect the fishing line to that
lure or another lure when it is desired to change the depth of submergence
of the lure, change the color of the lure, change the shape of the lure
body, etc.
It is to overcome the disadvantages of these and other prior art devices
that the instant invention was evolved.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As will be seen in greater detail hereinafter, this invention relates to a
fishing lure featuring a head member of relatively hard construction, to
which any one of a variety of tail members of relatively soft, pliable
material may be removably attached. This general class of lure is
frequently provided with a head portion disposed at an angle, this forming
a submergence inducing deflector causing the lure to run submerged at a
desired depth while the fisherman is cranking it in. In accordance with
such a use, the fisherman would throw the lure out as far as he can, and
then steadily retrieve it by operation of his reel, with the angularity of
the head portion causing the lure to stay at a desired depth during the
recovery effort. By one portion of the lure being readily separable from
the other, the fisherman can readily bring about a change of color, so as
to make the lure more attractive to certain fish.
If the interfitting portions of a lure are intricately configured, this
necessarily drives up the price of the lure, making it very difficult for
such a lure to be marketed at a competitive price. On the other hand, if a
lure having replaceable portions fails to utilize attachment means that
will remain tightly together at all times during use, there can be a
strong likelihood that one lure portion will undesirably separate from the
other at the wrong time.
In accordance with the instant invention, the relatively hard head member
has a first attachment point to which a fishing line may be attached, and
a second attachment point to which a fishhook may be attached.
Significantly, the head member has an aft portion upon which rearwardly
directed attachment means are mounted, with such attachment means
preferably taking the form of at least one but preferably two rearwardly
protruding components, disposed in a spaced-apart relationship. The
outermost portion of each of these rearwardly protruding components is
enlarged so as to form an oval configuration. Correspondingly, each tail
member has a forward portion in which least one but preferably two
apertures are disposed, with such aperture or apertures being positioned
so as to be able to be brought into alignment with the rearwardly
protruding component or components on the head member, and to be removably
inserted thereon.
Undesired separation of the tail member is prevented by constructing the
tail member of relatively soft, flexible, resilient plastic, into which
undersize holes are provided. As soon as the enlarged parts of the
rearwardly protruding components of the head member have been pushed
through the holes and received in the recesses or cavities provided in the
tail member, the material of the tail member closes around the protruding
components in such a manner that the tail member will be quite tightly
attached to the head member.
The unfortunate tendency of certain relatively inexpensive lures to come
apart during use is effectively prevented by the advantageous construction
utilized herein, wherein the soft, flexible plastic of the aft portion of
the lure engages the rearwardly protruding components of the head member
in an exceedingly tight manner. In addition, the aft portion of the head
member can be slightly recessed, so as to provide a location in which the
forwardmost part of the aft member of flexible material can reside, with
this arrangement effectively preventing water from getting between the
forward and aft portions of the lure, so as to cause them to become
separated during use.
The arrangement I utilize enables on the one hand the fisherman to rapidly
change lure color by substituting one aft portion for another, and on the
other hand to accomplish this in such a way as to enable large
manufacturing costs to be avoided, and to obviate the tendency for the aft
portion to become separated during use.
Although the aft portion provided in accordance with this invention
practically never becomes separated during use, the fisherman, by a
determined effort, can readily remove one soft, flexible, resilient tail
member, and replace it with another tail member, such as one of a
different color, or one that will wriggle in a particular way, or possess
some other characteristic.
Another important characteristic of my invention is that the attachment
means provided are such as not to require the aft portion of the lure to
have an undesirably rigid texture. Rather, the soft plastic I
advantageously use in creating the aft portions of my lures is such that
the mouth of the fish comes into contact with a soft body portion that
collapses in a very realistic fashion. This soft body portion provides a
very realistic feel to the fish, much more realistic than other lures on
the market, thus making it less likely that the fish will reject the bait.
It is therefore a primary object of my invention to provide a relatively
low cost, multicomponent fishing lure utilizing a highly advantageous
attachment arrangement, making it readily possible for one tail member to
be substituted for another tail member, with a minimum turn-around time
being involved in such substitution.
It is another object of my invention to provide an inexpensive yet highly
attractive fishing lure involving the use of a relatively hard head member
in concert with a flexible, resilient tail member of low cost, which is
unlikely to become separated from the head portion during use, yet able to
be readily exchanged for another tail member in a minimum of time, with no
untying of the fishline being involved.
It is yet another object of my invention to provide a technique making it
readily possible for the tail portion of a lure to be removably attached
to the head portion in an exceedingly tight and reliable manner, despite
the fact that the tail portion is of soft, flexible material.
It is yet still another object of this invention to provide a head member
having a pair of rearwardly protruding components of a highly desirable
configuration, which components can readily receive any of a number of
different tail members, with assembly of a selective tail member onto the
protruding components of the head member being accomplished by a quick
snap-on motion, which may later be followed by a quick removal of the tail
member so that a different tail member can be immediately substituted.
It is yet another object of my invention to provide a novel lure utilizing
easily interfitted head and tail members that may be easily manufactured
utilizing state-of-the-art materials, without requiring any complex
manufacturing steps or expensive components, which lure can be utilized in
such a manner as not to necessitate the intricate procedure which, in
accordance with the prior art, the fisherman had to go through in order to
substitute one tail member for another.
It is yet another object of my invention to provide a lure possessing the
highly advantageous characteristics that enable a rapid color change,
accomplished by the use of components permitting manufacture at a
relatively low cost, that do not become separated during any normal use,
and which present a lure of very pleasing texture to the fish, making
unlikely any rejection of the lure by a fish.
These and other objects, features and advantages will be more apparent from
a study of the appended drawings and text.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a overall view of a preferred embodiment of my fishing lure
utilizing separable head and tail members joined together by a novel
snap-on technique, with the tail member being of a texture very pleasing
to most fish;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view revealing the rearwardly directed attachment
means utilized on an aft portion of the head member, which rearwardly
directed attachment means are received in corresponding recesses provided
in the tail member made of flexible, resilient material, with this
arrangement being such that only a minimal effort on the part of a
fisherman is involved in order that one tail member can be substituted for
another;
FIG. 3a is a view of the aft end of my novel head member, looking forwardly
in order to reveal the approximate placement of the pair of rearwardly
protruding components utilized in accordance with the preferred
embodiment, which rearwardly protruding components preferably reside in a
generally concave recess provided on the aft portion of the head member;
FIG. 3b is a view generally similar to FIG. 3a, but showing how the upper
and lower protruding components of the head member may be essentially
flat, so as to be received in a comparatively thin tail member;
FIG. 4 is a view of the forwardmost portion of a typical tail member,
looking rearwardly in order to reveal a spaced pair of cavities or
recesses provided to receive in a very tightly fitting manner, the
rearwardly protruding components mounted on the head member;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view to a larger scale, depicting one set of
head and tail attachment means immediately prior to the procedure of
installing the tail member onto the upper protruding components;
FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 5, here depicting the
commencement of the tail attachment procedure, wherein the somewhat
enlarged portion of a rearwardly extending mounting component of the head
is shown entering the respective aperture and recess provided in the tail
member of flexible material;
FIG. 7 is another cross-sectional view, this view revealing the soft,
flexible material of the tail member having closed around the somewhat
enlarged portion of the rearwardly protruding mounting component, to
complete the attachment procedure; and
FIGS. 8a and 8b reveal that the head member of relatively hard material can
be made in two halves, one the mirror image of the other, and with a
cavity created in each head half in order that a rattle chamber can be
formed in the finished lure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
with initial reference to FIG. 1, it will be seen that I have depicted a
preferred embodiment of my novel fishing lure 10, which features a head
member 12 of relatively hard, rigid construction, to the aft end of which
any one of a variety of tail members 36 may be removably attached.
The head member 12 is provided with an upper attachment point or eyelet 14
to which a fishing line 16 may be attached, and a lower attachment point
or eyelet 18 to which a fishhook 20 may be affixed. The hook. 20 may for
example be a three point hook known as a "treble" hook.
It typically is desirable for the front upper portion of the head member to
present an inclined surface 15, best seen in FIG. 1, so that when the
fisherman by the use of line 16 pulls this lure through the water, the
inclined front surface forms a submergence inducing deflector tending to
cause the lure to run in a desirably submerged condition. Because a lure
of this type is typically cast by the fisherman to the greatest distance
possible, and the reel then operated so as to crank in the bait at a
desired speed, it has been common in the industry to refer to this type of
lure as a "crank bait."
In distinct comparison with other lures having separable portions, but
requiring the aft or tail portion to have a substantial degree of hardness
for reasons of retention, the aft portion or tail member 36 I provide in
accordance with this invention involves the utilization of a relatively
soft, resilient plastic that will collapse in the fish's mouth in a very
realistic way, such that the fish obviously believes it has encountered a
live bait. Despite the fact that the aft portion I prefer to utilize is
made of relatively soft plastic, the attachment means I employ for
enabling the forward and aft portions of the lure to be interfitted is of
such a nature as to bring about a very tight fit, and to make it quite
unlikely that the aft portion will be lost from the head portion during
any type of normal use.
With reference now to the exploded view identified as FIG. 2, the details
of the head and tail members are revealed in greater detail, and from this
figure it can be seen that the rearwardly protruding attachment means 22 I
use may take the form of a pair of rearwardly extending attachment members
24 and 26, which members are mounted in a spaced relationship on the aft
portion of the head member 12. It will also be seen that I have provided
upper and lower apertures 44 and 46 in the forwardmost part of the tail
member 36, which apertures are located at the same spacing as the
protruding members 24 and 26. As will be described at substantial length
hereinafter, the attachment means 24 and 26 of the head member 12 are
intended to tightly fit into the apertures 44 and 46 at such time as a
selected tail member 36 is to be installed onto the head member 12.
In the preferred embodiment of my invention, the rearwardly directed
attachment means 22 takes the form of an upper, rearwardly extending
component or mounting member 24, and a lower, rearwardly extending
component or mounting member 26. The forwardmost portions of both
protruding components, the shank members 28 and 30, are securely affixed
in what may be regarded as a permanent manner in the relatively hard head
member 12, as will be hereinafter discussed.
I preferably install the upper and lower rearwardly protruding components
24 and 26 in a relatively shallow recess 32 provided at the aft end of the
head member 12, with the interrelationship of the head member with a
flexible tail member 36 of a selected color being of such a nature as to
effectively prevent water from getting between the aft end of the head
member, and the front end or forwardmost portion 38 of the tail member,
where it might well tend to force these members apart.
To assure against the entry of water, I utilize a rearwardly directed lip
or shoulder 34 extending around the aft portion of the head member 12,
which serves to define the shallow recess 32. I also configure the outer
edge 42 of the forwardmost portion 38 of the tail member 36 such that it
can be tightly received inside the angled rear edge portion 34 of the head
member 12. In other words, the outer circumferential portion of the front
of the tail member 36 has a "broken" edge 42 configured such that will fit
closely against the inner portion of the surrounding circumferential edge
34 at such time as the tail member has been properly installed upon the
attachment means 22 of the head member 12.
Because of this construction, the head and tail members can be expected to
fit tightly together in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 and 7 when the upper
and lower protruding components 24 and 26 have been fully inserted into
the upper and lower apertures 44 and 46 of the tail portion, and into the
recesses 54 and 56 residing directly behind the apertures 44 and 46,
respectively.
As shown in FIGS. 2, 3a and certain other figures, the upper and lower
protruding components or protuberances 24 and 26 each preferably have an
enlarged, somewhat bulbous rearmost portion, that also may be
characterized as being generally of oval or football-shape. These
rearwardly protruding components 24 and 26 may extend for perhaps 1/2"
away from the aft recess 32 of the head member 12, and it is to be noted
that these football-shaped components are of decidedly larger diameter
than the shank portions 28 and 30, upon which these rather bulbous
portions 24 and 26, respectively, are supported, and also larger than the
apertures 44 and 46. The bulbous portions typically are at least twice the
diameter of the shank portions. The reason for this arrangement will soon
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