Bait holder arrangement

A bait holder arrangement for holding bait in a cavity of a body member during casting of the bait to prevent the bait from tearing free of the hook. A body member is provided with walls defining a bait holding cavity and the bait holding cavity has a closed end and an open end. A buoyant member such as foam plastic or any other structure having a specific gravity less than 1.0 is positioned in the cavity adjacent the closed end. A flap means is positioned adjacent the open end of the cavity and moveable from an open position wherein the open end of the body member is open to a closed position wherein bait or other material in the bait holding cavity is retained therein. A water soluble retention means holds the flap means in a closed postion until the bait holder is in the water. When it is in the water, the water soluble retention means dissolves. A hinge means is provided for coupling the flap means to the body member and biases the flap means to the open position. The hinge means, the flap means, and the body member are unitarily fabricated. An eye means is provided on the external surfaces of the body member and a leader line is connected to the eye means and the other end of the leader line extends into the bait holding cavity through a line receiving aperture between the flap means and the body member. The leader line has a hook on the end within the cavity for holding the bait. During casting, the main fishing line is connected to the eye and the bait is held within the bait holding cavity and comparatively low forces are imposed thereon during casting. When the body member enters the water, the water soluble retention means dissolves allowing the flap to open and the bait floats free of the bait holding cavity and is retained in a conventional manner on the hook of the leader line.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to the bait holding art and more particularly to an 
improved bait holder useful in casting bait to prevent damage to the bait. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
There have heretofore been proposed several types of bait holding 
arrangements for securely retaining the bait during casting thereof in 
order to prevent the hook, which generally goes through the bait, from 
pulling free due to forces imposed during the casting operation. 
One such prior art bait holding arrangement was generally formed of a body 
member having walls defining a bait holding cavity and a closed upper end 
to provide flotation. A closure means was adjacent to an opening end of 
the bait holding cavity and a separate hinge means was utilized to retain 
the closure means on the body member. To bias the closure member to the 
opened position there was often utilized a spring or similar material. 
Various types of latch means, including the use of water soluble devices, 
were utilized in the above mentioned bait holder arrangement for 
temporarily retaining the closure means in the closed position during the 
casting thereof. 
Such a bait holder arrangement had several disadvantages. It was 
comparatively expensive to fabricate and, since the closure means, hinge, 
and body member were not fabricated of a unitary structure, additional 
cost and expense as well as complications associated with fabrication and 
assembly arose. Such costs and complications prevented the bait holder 
arrangement above described from achieving widespread success. 
Therefore, in many applications it is desirable to provide a bait holder 
arrangement to securely hold the bait in place and limit the forces 
imposed thereon during the casting and yet being comparatively economical 
to fabricate, of rugged and long lasting life and of high reliability. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an 
improved bait holder arrangement. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved bait 
holder arrangement useful in casting the bait. 
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved 
bait holding arrangement that may be economically fabricated, easily 
utilized, of rugged construction and provide a long operational life. 
The above, and other objects of the present invention are achieved, 
according to a preferred embodiment thereof, by providing a body member 
having a closed end and an open end and walls defining a bait holding 
cavity betweeen the closed end and the open end. A buoyant flotation means 
which, for example, may be a foam plastic or any other material having a 
specific gravity less than 1.0 is coupled to the interior of the 
bait-holding cavity adjacent to the closed end thereof. 
A flap means is adjacent the open end of the cavity and the flap means is 
moveable from an open position allowing free entrance and egress from the 
bait holding cavity to the closed position wherein bait or other material 
contained in the bait holding cavity is retained therein. The flap means 
and body member define a line receiving aperture therebetween when the 
flap means is in the closed position. The hinge means is coupled to both 
the body member and the flap means and resiliently biases the flap means 
towards the open position. 
In order to provide the economical fabrication it is, of course, desirable 
that the entire, or at least as much of the entire bait holder arrangement 
as possible, be unitarily fabricated. When the above described structure 
is unitarily fabricated from a molded polypropylene it has been found that 
a surprising result can be achieved. That is, the hinge means is a "live" 
hinge means that automatically provides the resilient biasing of the flap 
means to the open position. 
The flap means is also provided with a tab means which, in this embodiment 
of the invention, is adjacent external surfaces of the body member for the 
flap means in the closed position. The body member is provided with walls 
defining a retention chamber surrounding the flap means. A water soluble 
retention means is frictionally retained between the flap means and the 
walls defining the retention chamber to hold the flap means in the closed 
position. The water soluble retention means may, for example, be a 
pill-type structure such as aspirin, alka seltzer tablets, or the like. 
Utilization of such comparatively inexpensive devices for the retention 
means provides further economy in the overall use and operation of the 
bait holder arrangement according to the principles of the present 
invention. 
An eye means is provided on the external surfaces of the body member and, 
preferably, adjacent the closed end thereof and the fishing line, which is 
utilized to cast the bait holder arrangement, is coupled to the eye means. 
Additionally, a leader line is coupled to the eye means, preferably by a 
conventional swivel, and the remote end of the leader line is provided 
with a conventional hook. The bait is placed on the hook and inserted into 
the bait holding cavity. The leader line passes through the line accepting 
aperture between the flap means and the body member when the flap is 
closed and the water soluble retention means is inserted to hold the flap 
closed. 
The bait holder may then be cast and, in accordance with the principles of 
the present invention, the leader line does not impose any substantial 
force on the hook or the bait tending to pull the hook free from the bait. 
When the bait holder enters the water, the water soluble retention means 
dissolves, allowing the "live" hinge to resiliently bias the flap to the 
open position. Since a buoyant member is provided adjacent the closed end 
of the bait holder cavity, the closed end floats in a vertically uppermost 
position due the predetermined buoyant force thereof and the bait then 
falls from the bait holding cavity under the force of gravity.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings there is illustrated, in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 
thereof, a preferred embodiment of the present invention, generally 
designated 10. The embodiment 10 generally comprises a body member 12 
having walls 14 with external surfaces 16 and internal surfaces 18. The 
internal surfaces 18 of the body member 12 define a bait holding cavity 20 
having a closed end 22 and an open end 24. 
A flotation means 26 is coupled in a bait holding cavity at the closed end 
22 thereof to provide a predetermined buoyancy force when the embodiment 
10 is immersed in the water. The flotation means 26 may be any desired 
material having a specific gravity less than 1.0 and may, for example, be 
fabricated of styrofoam or any other comparatively inexpensive material. 
The flotation means 26 may be bonded or otherwise secured in the 
bait-holding cavity 20. The size of the flotation means 26 is selected to 
provide a predetermined buoyant force which, in the preferred embodiments 
of the present invention, provides the embodiment 10 floating on the water 
with the end 22 thereof in a vertically upward position. 
A flap means 28 is adjacent the open end 24 of the bait holding cavity and 
the flap means is moveable from a closed position, as shown in FIG. 1, to 
an open position as shown in FIG. 3. 
As shown most clearly in FIG. 2, for the flap means 28 in the closed 
position, the flap means 28, together with the walls 14 of the body member 
12, define a line receiving aperture 30 between the body member 12 and the 
flap means 28. The line receiving aperture is provided to allow entrance 
to the bait holding cavity 20 of, for example, a leader line 32 when the 
flap means 28 is in the closed position illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
A hinge means 34 is coupled to the body member 12 and to the flap means 28. 
The hinge means allows the flap means 28 to move from the closed position, 
shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to the open position shown in FIG. 3. A surprising 
result has been found in utilizing molded polypropylene as the material 
for fabricating the embodiment 10. When such a material is utilized, the 
body member 12, hinge means 34 and flap means 28 may be unitarily molded 
and the hinge means 34 provides a "live" hinge. That is, the hinge means 
34 tends to bias the flap means 28 into the open position, as indicated by 
the arrow 36 in FIG. 3. Therefore, the preferred embodiments of the 
present invention utilizes, as the material from which the embodiment is 
fabricated, a material which will allow unitary fabrication of the body 
member, hinge and flap and in which the hinge means provides a resilient 
biasing of the flap means to the open position thereof. 
The body means 12 is also provided with walls 40 defining a retention 
chamber 42. The retention chamber 42, in the embodiment shown in the 
drawing, is on the external surfaces 16 of the body member 12. However, it 
will be appreciated, if desired, it may also be provided in the bait 
holding cavity 20. 
The flap means 28 is provided with a tab means 44 which is positioned in 
the retention chamber 42 when the flap means is in the closed position 
shown in FIG. 1. 
The flap means 28 may be retained in the retention chamber 42 by a water 
soluble retention means 46. The water soluble retention means, for 
economy, may be fabricated from such common materials as aspirin, alka 
seltzer, bromo seltzer, or the like. In general, the less expensive the 
water soluble retention means 46 is the more economical is continued 
operation of the embodiment 10. 
In order to provide the benefits of economy of fabrication and 
comparatively long life, as well as operational suitability, as shown in 
the drawing, it is preferred that the hinge means 34 and flap means 44 be 
of comparatively thin cross-section as compared with the cross-sectional 
thickness of the body member and the flap means 28. Such comparatively 
thin section, on the order of one fifth of the thickness of the body 
member or the flap means, provides the above described "live" hinge action 
that is desired. 
In operation, a fishing line 50 which may be connected to a fishing pole 
(not shown) is coupled to the eye means 52. The eye means 52 is coupled to 
the body member 12 in regions adjacent the closed end 22 thereof. The 
leader line 32 is also coupled to the eye means 52 through a conventional 
swivel 54. The remote end 56 of the leader line is connected to a 
conventional fishing hook 58 which engages the bait generally designated 
60. 
When it is desired to utilize the device, the bait 60 is engaged with the 
hook 58 on the leader end 56 and placed in the bait holding cavity 20. The 
flap 28 is positioned in the closed position and the tab 44 is wedged into 
the retention chamber 42 by the water soluble retention means 46. 
It will be appreciated that the water soluble retention means 46 provides a 
frictional retention of the tab means 44 in the retention chamber 42. 
When the fishing line 50 casts the bait holder 10, it can be seen that the 
forces associated with the casting do not impose any forces between the 
hook 58 and the bait 60. Acceleration forces imposed upon the bait cause 
the bait to bear against the inner surfaces 18 of the body member 12. 
When the body member 12 strikes the water the water soluble retention means 
46 commences to dissolve and releases the tab means 44. the "live" hinge 
34 then biases the latch means 28 to the open position, as shown in FIG. 
3, allowing the bait to fall free into the water. 
This concludes the description of the preferred embodiments of the present 
invention. From the above, it can be seen that there has been provided an 
improved bait holder arrangement that may be economically fabricated in a 
rugged configuration compatible with the environment in which the bait 
holder is to be utilized and give a long operational service life. 
The appended claims are intended to cover all variations and adaptations 
falling within the true scope and spirit of the present invention.