Abstract:
An improved fishing weight or “bottom bouncer” wherein a flexible wire support arm includes an offset bent region that cooperates with an exposed cavity and internal depression at a weighted ballast piece threaded onto the arm. Reciprocating movement of a latch piece mounted to the arm prevents or permits the arm to flex in the ballast piece to attach and detach the bent region from the depression. The support arm also provides a line attachment bend having defined shoulders that maintain a preferred alignment of the sinker to a supporting fishing line. An alternative, single arm bottom bouncer sinker is also disclosed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an improved modular fishing weight and in particular to a bottom bouncer type sinker wherein a wire formed support is adapted to accept weights of different sizes and provide a double shouldered line-attachment bend. 
     Fishing weights or sinkers can comprise any device or item that can be attached to a fishing line to submerse further attached hook(s), artificial and/or live bait. Most weights designed for attachment to a fish line are molded or formed from lead, bismuth, steel or another dense, non-corroding, economical materials that are not buoyant in water (i.e. have a specific gravity greater than that of the fish containing water). 
     Wide varieties of special purpose fishing sinkers have been developed for salt and fresh water fishing with differing shapes and some of which include cast apertures, channels or eyelets. Some sinkers include accessory pieces (e.g. a formed wire) that attach to or are molded into the sinker. Freshwater sinkers outfitted with wire supports are commonly referred to as “bottom bouncers”. Of the former types, so called “egg” type sinkers provide a longitudinal bore that allows the sinker to slide on a support line. 
     Of the latter type, bottom bouncer sinkers provide an eye or eyelet at a bent wire support to receive a fish line. A weight or ballast member molded to the wire weights the sinker and a portion of the wire typically extends in a fashion to prevent or minimize snagging. The weight is normally rigidly molded to the wire support. Some exemplary sinkers with wire supports are shown at U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,589,715; 3,137,962; 4,161,838; 4,428,144; 4,750,289; 5,253,447; D274,081 and published application 2001/0005954. 
     Bottom bouncers find particular appeal to fisherpersons who troll live bait spinner rigs, artificial baits and the like either while drifting or under power. Ideally and depending upon the boat speed, the wire support contacts the bed of the body of water and supports the weight above the bottom as an attached fishing line and bait is suspended above the bottom. The wire form permits the sinker to slide along the bottom or glide above the bottom which minimizes snagging of associate rocks, wood, debris and fauna found growing from the lake, stream, river or ocean bed. The suspended hook and live bait or artificial bait secured to the fish line is thereby positioned to facilitate and optimize hook-up with a striking fish. 
     Some bottom bouncers are supported to slide along a fish line in the fashion of a “lindy rig” and cooperate with stops (e.g. knots, split shot, pegs) secured to the line or sinker to restrict sinker movement or permit line movement upon detecting a fish bite, placing a fishing reel in a free spool condition and allowing the sinker to settle to the bottom. In the latter condition and after a fish takes the bait and hook, the line is released to a “free spool” condition to allow the fish to move freely without the drag of the sinker. 
     Some bottom bouncers also provide constructions that permit weight movement along the wire support or permit the changing of the amount of weight secured to the wire support. U.S. Pat. No. 2,589,715 provides fore and aft set screw pieces that secure detachable intermediate weight pieces to a wire support. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,750,289 and 5,253,447 provide wire supports with latch arms that detachably secure a desired number or several weight pieces or sinkers of preferred sizes to the wire support along side the latch arm. 
     The present invention provides a novel, improved “bottom bouncer” type sinker wherein a weight supporting arm of a wire support is shaped to interact with a recess or aperture at a weight piece to detachably secure the weight piece to the wire support arm. In one form, an offset, U-shaped or other appropriate shaped bend is provided at the weight support arm that cooperates with a slot and depression in a weight piece to permit the arm to be deflected to interlock or release the bend from the weight piece. 
     A molded latch or lock piece is separately mounted to slide along the wire support arm to interlock with the weight piece (e.g. a bore) to prevent detachment of the weight piece. The lock piece includes a restraint piece or is formed to provide a surface or bore of slightly smaller diameter than the wire arm to tightly grip, yet slide along the wire arm. The wire support arm(s) can independently support other fish attractors such as a rattle chamber or slide clevis, among other accessory pieces. Alternative bottom bouncer sinker configurations can provide luminous materials or devices, rattle pieces or ballast materials within the weighted body piece and/or provide a slide connector that mounts to a fish line. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a primary object of the invention is to provide a fishing sinker that detachably supports a weighted ballast piece to a wire support arm that can be changed at will. 
     It is further object of the invention to provide a fishing sinker having a molded latch piece that compressively grips a wire support arm and can be manipulated to mount in the interior of a hollow bore or cavity space of a weighted ballast piece also attached to the arm. 
     It is further object of the invention to provide a U-shaped or offset bend at a wire support arm that selectively interlocks with a depression in a weight piece or ballast piece to attach and detach the weight piece to the support arm. 
     It is further object of the invention to provide a weight piece with a slot or cavity space adjacent a depression that receives a bent or offset region of a wire support arm and within which cavity space the arm can flex to attach and detach the bent region from the depression and thereby the arm from the weight piece. 
     It is further object of the invention to provide a sinker including a molded latch piece having a bore sized and/or surface shaped to grip a wire support arm to selectively interlock with a ballast piece supported to the arm to prevent or permit deflection of the arm within the ballast piece to restrain or release the weight piece from the arm. 
     It is further object of the invention to provide a sinker wire support arm adapted to support sundry attractor accessories to the support arm (e.g. rattle chambers and/or luminous members and/or luminous devices and/or scent devices, etc.). 
     The foregoing objects, advantages and distinctions of the invention are obtained in a presently preferred, novel, improved sinker or “bottom bouncer” wherein a flexible wire support arm mounts in a bore of a ballast piece. The weight piece is formed from a heavy weight material relative to water. The arm includes an offset bent region (e.g. U-shaped) that cooperates with a slot and depression at the weight piece to permit the arm to flex in the weight piece to attach and detach the bent region from the ballast piece. 
     A latch piece is mounted to the ballast support arm to restrict deflection of the arm. In one construction a latch piece tightly grips, yet slides along the arm and mounts within a bore or cavity space of the&#39;ballast piece in a manner that prevents arm deflection, unless the latch is released from the weight piece. 
     The wire support arm also provides a line attachment bend that defines distinct shoulders at the juncture between a ballast arm and a bait support arm. The bend and shoulders maintain a preferred alignment of the sinker to a supporting fishing line during the playing of a fish. An accessory rattle attractor is also shown attached to the bait support arm. Still other attractor pieces can be supported to the wire form arms or be molded into or coupled to the weight piece to enhance audible and visual qualities of the sinker assembly. For example, the sinker assembly can include or contain reflective, luminous materials, scent materials, luminous devices, rattle pieces, spinner blades and/or a variety of latch pieces that interlock with the weight piece. 
     An alternative, single arm “bottom bouncer” sinker is also disclosed that is supported to slide relative to a fishing line. 
     Still other objects, advantages, distinctions, constructions and combinations of individual features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description with respect to the appended drawings. The various features can be used alone or in combination. The description to each combination should therefore not be literally construed in limitation of the invention. Rather, the invention should be interpreted within the broad scope of the further appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The following figures disclose presently preferred constructions of the invention. Similar components and assemblies are referred to in the various drawings with similar alphanumeric reference characters and callouts. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective drawing showing one construction of the sinker in a two-arm, L-shaped “bottom bouncer” configuration. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective drawing showing the weight piece or ballast piece and the latch piece of  FIG. 1  in longitudinal cross section and dashed line assembly and solid line exploded assembly along the ballast arm of the sinker and with a bead containing rattle chamber mounted to a bait attachment arm and an alternative latch assembly displaced to the side of the ballast arm. 
         FIG. 3  is a plan drawing showing the latch piece of  FIGS. 1 and 2  in enlarged detail and with a possible molded in-place internal gripping piece in dashed line. 
         FIG. 4  is a plan drawing showing a top view exposing the arm deflection cavity space and portion of the adjacent bend receiving depression, bore or cavity at the weight piece. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective drawing showing a single arm bottom bouncer sinker that is detachably mounted to a clevis supported to a fishing line and wherein the weight piece is shown in longitudinal cross section as it appears when restrained to the ballast arm. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 through 5 , several views are shown to the construction of a novel fishing sinker assembly or bottom bouncer  2  of the invention. The sinker  2  includes a wire formed support  4  having a weight or ballast arm  6  and a bait attachment arm  8 . The wire support  4  is constructed from a non-corrosive metal. Although two arms are shown, the sinker  2  can include more or less arms. 
     The arms  6  and  8  intersect at an aft side of a generally circular bent region  10 . The arms  6  and  8  project from the bend  10  in a range of 85° to 90° to define shoulders  11  and a narrow gap  14 . A fishing line  12  is typically attached to the bend region  10  with the aid of a snap swivel  16  or other suitable fastener. Normal tension on the fishing line during retrieval of the sinker  2  or while fighting a fish prevents the line  12  from slipping past the shoulders  11  and through the gap  14 . The novel line attachment bend  10  thus prevents the fishing line  12  from sliding down either arm  6  or  8  to unbalance the sinker  2 . Predecessor multi-arm sinkers typically provide line attachment bends that can promote line slippage and possible line tracking difficulties or loss of a fish. 
     The bait attachment arm  8  includes a twisted eyelet  18  at a distal end that supports a snap swivel  16 . A snell assembly constructed from a suitable length of fish line  12  and including an exemplary clevis  20 , spinner blade  22 , fish hook  24  and live bait  26  (e.g. leech, worm, night crawler, minnow etc.) is fastened to and trails from the swivel  16 . Artificial baits may also be secured in a variety of fashions to the swivel  16 . The hook  24  can be constructed to any desired shape and size and can include one or more barbed ends  25 . The live bait  26  can comprise any desired bait preferred by a species of fish being fished. Artificial baits (e.g. flies, jigs, plug lures, spinner lures etc.) may also be secured to the fish line  12  alone or in combination with other hooks  24  and/or live bait  26 . 
     Mounted along the bait arm  8  is a hollow rattle chamber  28  that supports a number of rattle pieces or beads  30 . The chamber  28  and rattle pieces  30  can be constructed of any materials that desirably interact to produce audible sounds. A resilient retainer  32  secures the chamber  28  to the arm  8 . Other audible, tactile, visual and/or scent attractors can be secured to either arm  6  and/or  8 . The attractors can be colorized with appropriate paints, flash or glow materials or filamentary members. A common attractor might be a clevis  20  and suitably shaped spinner blade  22  (e.g. Colorado, Indiana, willow). 
     Mounted to the ballast arm  6  is a relatively heavy weight piece or ballast piece  40  (e.g. ½ to 6 ounces). The ballast piece  40  is typically molded from a material having a high density or specific gravity relative to water (e.g. lead, steel, among a variety of other molded, machined or composite materials). The ballast piece  40  exhibits a negative buoyancy to submerse the sinker assembly  2  on or near the bottom of a body of water. The amount of weight required depends upon the movement of a boat containing the fisherman. 
     The novel ballast piece  40  finds particular advantages, since a fisherman is able to change the weight of the ballast piece  40  at will by merely detaching a weight piece  40  of undesired size/shape from the arm  6  and reattaching another weight piece  40  of appropriate size/shape. The changing of any ballast piece  40  is readily achieved due to the novel fastening system that is incorporated into the arm  6  and ballast piece  40  that are described in more detail below. 
     The body of the ballast or weight piece  40  can be constructed to any preferred shape and weight. A tubular, torpedo shape (e.g. ellipsoidal) is presently preferred. Nominal weight sizes useful for fresh water applications can run in a range of ¼ to 6 ounces or any other desired weight. The depicted flat sided ellipsoidal shaped body is preferred due to the hydro-dynamics of the body and low resistance to snagging when debris, rocks, weeds etc. are encountered. Ballast pieces  40  of other shapes and lengths can alternatively be secured to the weight or ballast support arm  6 . 
     The ballast piece  40  can also accommodate other permanent or detachable attractor elements, for example, rigid filaments, joints, cavities or attached attractors. The attractors can be molded into the ballast piece  40  and/or secured to the sinker  2  to increase the profile of the sinker  2  to fish by increasing visibility, creating sounds, releasing scent and/or prevent snagging, among other desired attributes. 
     The ballast piece  40  is secured to the arm  6  with a latch piece  42  that mounts in an internal longitudinal through bore  44  of the ballast piece  40 . The bore  44  communicates with a slot or cavity space  46  that is exposed through a sidewall  48  of the ballast piece  40 . The cavity space  46  longitudinally extends parallel to the bore  44  from one end to slightly past the center of the body. The wire support arm  6 , in turn, extends through a longitudinal bore  50  of the latch piece  42  and the bore  44  of the ballast piece  40 . Details to the mounting of the latch piece  42  to the ballast piece  40  and of the support arm  6  to the ballast piece  40  are shown in exploded assembly and in dashed line at  FIGS. 2 and 5 .  FIGS. 3 and 4  also depict enlarged views to the construction of the latch piece  42  and the ballast piece  40 . 
     With additional attention to  FIG. 3 , the latch piece  42  exhibits a tapered (e.g. conical) head  52  and a trailing tubular body  54 . The bore  50  extends concentrically and longitudinally through the latch piece  42 . The material is selected and the diameter of the bore  50  is sized to assure that the latch piece  42  tightly grips, yet slides along the arm  6 . A tight fitting tubular retainer piece  55  (shown in dashed line and formed from an appropriate material and diameter bore size) can alternatively be molded into the latch piece  42  to assure a non-slip mounting to the wire arm  6 . The non-slip mounting and fitting of the body  54  into the ballast bore  44  prevents the wire arm  6  from accidentally deflecting to release the ballast piece  40  from the weight or ballast arm  6  as shown in dashed line at  FIG. 2 . 
     The latch piece  42  is threaded onto the arm  6  before an offset bend  56  is formed into the arm  6 . A U-shaped, transverse extending bend  56  is presently formed although other symmetrical or offset shapes can be formed into the arm  6  (e.g. V, Z, twist, or spiral shapes etc.). The bend  56  is sized to nest or interlock with a depression, recess or aperture  60  formed into the ballast piece  40  that communicates with the cavity space  46  and bore  44 . 
     As shown in dashed line at  FIG. 2  with the latch piece  42  extracted from the cavity space  46  and ballast piece  40 , the wire support arm  6  can be deflected from the cavity space  46  and depression  60  to release the bend  56  from the depression  60  and the ballast piece  40  from the wire support arm  6 . That is, upon releasing the bend  56  from the depression  60 , the ballast piece  40  can be removed from the wire support arm  6  and a new weight or ballast piece  40  or lesser or greater weight can be attached. 
     To maintain a secure attachment of the latch piece  42  to the arm  6 , the body  54  of the latch piece  42  can also include a series of raised ridges, flanges or projections  62 , shown in dashed line at  FIG. 3 . The ridges  62  facilitate mounting and retention of the latch piece  42  to the bore  44 . Once inserted into the bore  44 , the ridges  62  compressively grip the walls of the bore  44  to retain the latch piece  42  to the ballast piece  40  against substantially all normal conditions. 
     An alternative latch assembly  70  is shown at  FIG. 2  that is displaced to one side of the wire support arm  6 . The latch assembly provides a slide piece  72  having a bore or other internal bore surfaces adapted to grip the arm  6  and that cooperates with a peg piece  74  that mounts in the bore  44 . An intervening bead  76  is normally bonded to the peg piece  74 . The peg piece  74  may also include a smaller diameter bore versus the support arm  6  and/or projecting ridges  62  to facilitate retention to the ballast piece  40  and/or negate the need for or use of the slide piece  72 . Collectively the pieces  72 ,  74  and  76  reciprocate to and fro along the wire arm  6  to mate with or detach from the bore  44  to prevent or permit deflection of the arm  6 . It is to be appreciated a variety of other latch pieces can cooperate with the bore  44  and/or cavity space  46  and/or body of the ballast piece  40  to prevent or permit flexion of the arm  6 . 
       FIG. 5  depicts an exemplary one arm sinker  80  construction having a single wire support arm  82  that includes a twisted eyelet  84  at a fore end. The eyelet  84  is secured to a clevis  86  that is slide mounted to a fish line  12 . A bead  88  and bobber stop  90  secured to the line  12  form a “lindy rig” whereby a hook  24  and live bait  26  can be allowed to float free when a bite is detected. That is, upon detecting a bite or strike, the fish line can be released to a free spool condition to allow a fish to run with the bait  26  without the drag of the ballast piece  40 . 
     Also shown at  FIG. 2  is an alternative rattle piece  92  that can be adapted to the sinkers  2  and  80 . The rattle piece  92  provides a hollow housing  94  that contains several rattle pieces  30  that interact with the housing  94  to create audible sounds. The wire support arm  8  nests in a longitudinal groove  98  at the housing  94 . Associated grooves  96  encircle the housing  94  and receive elastomer bands  100 , wire ties or other C-shaped or open-sided clip fasteners to secure the housing  94  to the wire support arm  8 . 
     While the invention is shown and described with respect to a presently preferred sinker assembly and several considered improvements, modifications and/or alternatives thereto, still other sinker assemblies and arrangements may be suggested to those skilled in the art. It is also to be appreciated that the singular features of the sinker can be arranged in different combinations. The foregoing description should therefore be construed to include all those embodiments within the spirit and scope of the following claims.