Trolling rig

A trolling rig has a base upon which is mounted a pair of drums and a pair of telescopic booms. A pair of handles are selectively engageable individually or simultaneously with the drums to wind in line from the booms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention pertains to deep trolling rigs or fishing windlasses in 
which a pair of heavy downrigger or weight lines can be positioned 
laterally and lowered from opposite sides of the boat through a single 
trolling rig windlass. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Trolling rigs of the manual type have generally consisted of a single drum 
windlass. These trolling rigs are then positioned on the boat adjacent a 
gunwale so that the heavy weight line can be positioned out over the side 
of the boat into the water. If more than one manual deep trolling rig is 
employed, it has required that each be located on a separate gunwale. 
Individual manual trolling rigs of this nature are expensive and can 
interfere with docking or boarding the boat if positioned on a gunwale. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of this invention to provide a dual boom trolling rig which 
can be positioned centrally in a boat and operative to handle two 
downrigger lines either simultaneously or individually. 
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved trolling rig 
which can use an efficient dual handled windlass drive to separately 
operate one of two windlasses or both windlasses simultaneously. 
It is still another object of this invention to provide a deep trolling rig 
which is convenient to use and easily stored away from the actively used 
areas of a boat. 
Basically, these inventions include a base which can be mounted preferably 
on the center line of a boat and which rotatably mount a pair of drums 
holding suitable downrigger or weight lines. The drums are selectively 
coupled to a common crankshaft which is rotated by a pair of handles. 
Booms or poles are attached to the base by boom sockets which are 
pivotally connected from a vertical stowed position to laterally extending 
use positions. Preferably the booms are telescopically extendible. 
The advantages of the invention are that with a single windlass mechanism 
two lines can be operated either singly or simultaneously. The fisherman 
can thus save time in pulling in only one weight line for attaching a 
fishing line or can raise both weight lines simultaneously when 
encountering bottom obstructions, changing all baits, etc. The poles are 
readily stowed in a location which is not generally accessible to 
passengers on the boat.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As best shown in FIG. 2, a trolling rig includes a base 10 which rotatably 
mounts a crankshaft 12 in suitable journals 13. Preferably, the base 
includes a cover 14 which houses a pair of drums 16, 18 each holding a 
suitable weight line 19. Pinned to the crankshaft are handles 20, 22 which 
are opposed 180.degree. from one another so that when one handle is pushed 
the other is being pulled for doubling the power applied to the 
crankshaft. Slidably keyed to each shaft are gears 24, 26 each having 
circumferentially spaced teeth 27, 28, respectively. As will be described, 
the gears can be slid axially along the crankshaft into a disengaged 
position as shown in the left in FIG. 2 and an engaged position as shown 
in the right in FIG. 2. 
Each of the drums is mounted in a drive assembly 30. The drive assemblies 
are identical so only one will be described. The drive assembly includes a 
hollow shaft 32 which is rotatably mounted on the crankshaft by a bushing 
34. The shaft has a set of circumferentially spaced gear teeth 36 which 
when meshed with the gear teeth 27 will be rotated by the handle with the 
crankshaft. Reverse rotation of the countershaft 32 is precluded by a 
one-way ratchet or overrunning clutch 40. That is, the drive assembly 
shaft 32 can be rotated in an in-haul direction but is precluded from 
moving in an out-haul or lowering condition. 
In order to allow the drum to rotate in a controlled braked lowering 
condition or to allow a controlled drag to rotate the drum if the line 
becomes fouled on the bottom or the like, the drum is held in the drive 
assembly by a friction drag mechanism. The friction drag mechanism 
comprises a slip plate 44 which is pressed against the drum by a friction 
disc 46. The friction disc is pushed against the plate by a threaded star 
wheel 48. When the star wheel is rotated counterclockwise, the pressure on 
the friction disc is released 46 so that the drum can rotate either under 
a fixed resistance or can be free to rotate with a minimum resistance. 
Both the plate 44 and the friction disc 46 are keyed to the shaft 32 so 
that when the star drag is tightened, rotation of the drum can occur only 
when the shaft 32 is rotated as by the handle 20. 
The gear 24 is held in an engaged position by a ball or bullet detent 52 
which rides in one of two axially spaced grooves in the crankshaft. Thus, 
when the gear is to be disengaged the gear is pulled sharply so that the 
gear 24 is shifted outwardly along the shaft with the ball detent 52 
riding in the outermost groove in the crankshaft. As is readily apparent, 
both gears can be engaged with their drums simultaneously or only one of 
the drums need be engaged but with both handles being usable in either 
condition for increasing the winching power and speed. 
An alternative form is shown schematically in FIG. 4 in which the shaft 12a 
can move axially to shift handles 20a and 22a and gears 24a and 26a into 
engagement with the drive assemblies 30. The difference between this and 
the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 is that in the latter the handles and 
gears are integral and the shaft 12a slides axially to shift one or the 
other gears into engagement with a drive assembly. 
Pivotally connected to the base 10 is a pair of boom supports 60, 62. Each 
boom support carries a telescopic boom 64 which preferably is hollow and 
terminates in a fairlead 66. The boom supports are positionable either in 
the vertical stored position as shown in the left in FIG. 1 or in the 
laterally extending use position as shown in the right in FIG. 1. The boom 
supports are held in these positions by suitable detents not shown. Within 
each boom support is a sheave 68 whose periphery is generally along the 
centerline of the pivot axis of the boom support so that line from the 
drums can be passed through the boom support in either the stored or the 
extended positions. In the extended positions the booms extend perhaps as 
much as 10 to 15 feet out from the boat and are supported along their 
midsections by brackets 70 which are secured to the gunwales of the boom. 
In this manner a very long boom can be carried by the boat but yet be 
adequately supported to prevent excessive embodiments of the invention 
have been illustrated and described, it should be understood that 
variations will be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing 
from the principles herein. Accordingly, the invention is not to be 
limited to the specific embodiment illustrated in the drawing.