Inter-line fishing rod

Abstract: An inter-line fishing rod comprising: a rod pipe 312 made of synthetic resin as a matrix reinforced by reinforcing fibers, a guide element 330 formed integrally with and projecting inwardly from the inside of the rod pipe, wherein said guide element 330 is a spirally continuing guide or includes of a plurality of annular guides arranged in the longitudinal direction of said rod pipe, and wherein said rod pipe 312 includes an area in which a reinforcing layer 350 is formed integrally with an inner surface of said rod pipe, said reinforcing layer extending from a longitudinally terminated portion 330E of said guide element 330 toward the end portion of said rod pipe 312 and, in the neighborhood of said longitudinally terminated portion of said guide element, having a thickness substantially equal to the guide height of said guide element terminated portion.

Description: The present invention relates to an inter-line fishing rod and a method of making an inter-line fishing rod pipe. In an inter-line fishing rod, generally, a fishing line guide is provided in a rod pipe in order to prevent a fishing line passing through the interior of the rod pipe from touching the inner surface of the rod pipe to increase its resistance. For this purpose, in some cases, as the fishing line guide, there is used a fishing line guide which is formed to continue spirally. In a conventional method for uniting the spirally shaped fishing line guide with the main body of the rod pipe, a carbon fiber bundle or the like used as the material of the spirally shaped fishing line guide is wound around a core metal, a prepreg for forming the rod pipe main body is then wound around the core metal from above the previously wound, spirally shaped fishing line guide and, after then, the thus wound assembly is heated under pressure so that the rod pipe main body and the fishing line guide can be formed integrally with each other. However, if the fishing line guide is wound such that it is terminated at the intermediate position of the rod pipe main body prepreg in the longitudinal direction thereof, then the terminated portion of the spirally shaped fishing line guide is likely to be raised, with the result that the rod pipe main body prepreg to be wound on the raised fishing line guide is caused to meander easily, which in turn leads to the poor product or poor fishing rod. To avoid this inconvenience, a time and labor taking processing must be carried out to thereby prevent the terminated portion of the fishing line guide from being raised. Besides this, generally, the spirally shaped fishing line guide is disposed over the whole length of the rod pipe main body and is formed integrally with the rod pipe main body and, after then, the unnecessary portions of the spirally shaped fishing line guide are scraped off or removed by reaming or by a similar operation. However, the thus scraped end portion of the fishing line guide sometimes shows a sharp-angle state and thus, if the fishing line gets caught in such sharp-angle portion, then there is a danger that the fishing line can be damaged. Also, even when the end portion does not show such sharp-angle state, the existence of the end portion causes the fishing line to be easily caught in it when the fishing line is inserted through the rod pipe, which interrupts the smooth insertion of the fishing line, thereby decreasing the meaning of provision of the spirally shaped fishing line guide. In an inter-line fishing rod including a joint portion, the spirally shaped fishing line guide cannot be provided on a rod pipe inner surface situated outside a joint portion formed between front and rear rod pipes for joining reasons. Therefore, the spirally shaped fishing line guide must be terminated in the neighborhood of the joint portion or far apart from the joint portion. In an inter-line fishing rod, from the viewpoint of the durability of the fishing rod, it is preferable to form the fishing line guide integral with the rod pipe element when the latter is formed by heating, since if fishing line guide is formed separately from a rod pipe element such as a rod pipe and the like and the fishing line guide is thereafter bonded and fixed to the rod pipe element, then the bonded portion is easy to peel off when the fishing rod is flexed repeatedly in fishing. Conventionally, there is known a method for forming a fishing line guide integral with a rod pipe element in which, for example, tape is wound around a core metal in such a manner that the side portions of the tape are superimposed on each other, a fishing line guide is disposed in the recessed portion of a stepped portion having a depth equal to the thickness of the tape, a prepreg for forming the rod pipe element is wound around the core metal from above the tape and fishing line guide, and they are heated together to thereby form the rod pipe element and fishing line guide simultaneously and integrally with each other. However, this forming method suffers from restrictions due to the fact that the height of the fishing line guide depends on the thickness of the tape used. Here, when a fishing line guide having a small height is used, it may be generally expected that, if a large number of fishing line guides are arranged and the space between them is set narrow, then the fishing line is prevented from touching the inner surface of the rod pipe to thereby be able to reduce the resistance of the fishing line. However, since the fishing line resistance is substantially in proportion to a value obtained by multiplying the contact length of the fishing line in contact with one fishing line guide by the number of fishing line guides (that is, a value which can be obtained by adding together all of the contact lengths of the fishing line with the fishing line guides), in order to reduce the fishing line resistance as much as possible, it is not sufficient simply to prevent the fishing line from touching the inner surface of the rod pipe and it is necessary to improve the contour shape of the fishing line guide. In Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-341133 of Heisei, there is disclosed a fishing rod in which a fishing line guide ring is formed of a single fiber strip having a high wear resistance on the inside surface of a rod pipe main body in such a manner that the fishing line guide ring projects out inwardly of the inner peripheral surface of the rod pipe main body. In the above-mentioned conventional fishing rod disclosed by '133 publication, however, if the fishing rod is flexed greatly because fish catches the hook thereof, then the flexed or deformed fishing rod causes the interface between the fishing line guide ring. and rod pipe main body to peel off easily. Also, if fish is caught and thus a fishing line inserted inside the rod pipe is taken up and pulled in such a manner that the fishing line is in strong contact with the fishing line guide ring projecting inwardly of the rod pipe main body, then there is produced a force to pull the fishing line guide ring from the rod pipe main body to thereby cause the interface between them to peel off, which results in the possibility that the fishing line guide ring can be damaged or the rod pipe main body can be broken in and around the neighboring portions of the fishing line guide ring. In Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-341133 of Heisei, as described above, there is disclosed an inter-line fishing rod in which a fishing line guide ring (a fishing line guide element) formed of a single fiber is formed integral with the inner peripheral surface of a rod pipe. Also, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-88259 of Heisei, there is disclosed a fishing rod in which resin tape is spirally wound around a core metal, prepreg forming a rod pipe is further wound around the core metal from above the resin tape, and a spirally projecting portion (a fishing line guide element) is formed integrally and simultaneously with a tubular element such as the rod pipe or the like by use of the present prepreg. Generally, to form the guide element integral with the inner surface of the rod pipe, the prepreg is wound around the outside of the core metal and the thus produced assembly is heated while applying pressure to it by means of fastening tape. However, in the former '133 publication, due to the presence of the guide element, the fibers of the rod pipe in the axial direction thereof are caused to meander and the fluid flow of the resin of the prepreg becomes uneven; and, on the other hand, in the latter '259 publication, due to the existence of the resin tape, similarly, the fibers of the rod pipe in the axial direction thereof are caused to meander and the fluid flow of the resin of the prepreg becomes uneven. As a result of this, the strength of the rod pipe is lowered so that the rod pipe is easy to break. Also, the guide element to be formed integral with the inner surface of the rod pipe has a great effect on the strength of the rod pipe when the rod pipe is flexed, and stresses are generated concentratedly in the rod pipe according to the shape, structure, material and the like of the guide element, which raises a possibility that the rod pipe can be broken during fishing. That is, it is found that the above-mentioned conventional rod pipes give insufficient consideration to the guide element and the neighboring portion of the guide element. From prior art document EP-0-712 572 A1, which falls under Article 54(3) EPC, an intra-line fishing rod with a rod tube is known. Said rod tube comprises a synthetic resin as a matrix and is reinforced by reinforced fibers. A guide is formed integrally with and projects from an inner surface of the rod tube. The guide spirally extends continuously and a distal end portion is densely arranged in contact with the inner surface of an end portion of the rod tube over a predetermined length along the axis of the rod tube. Thus, the end portion of the rod tube can be reinforced utilizing a spiral guide so that a rod tube of greater strength can be provided. It is an objective of the present invention to provide an inter-line fishing rod having superior strength and flexibility. According to the present invention, this objective is solved by an inter-line fishing rod having the features of independent claim 1. Preferred embodiments are laid down in the respective subclaims. Furthermore, it is also an objective of the present invention to provide a method of making an inter-line fishing rod pipe provided with superior strength and flexibility. According to the present invention, said objective is solved by a method of making a inter-line fishing rod pipe with the features of independent claim 10. A preferred embodiment of the present invention is laid down in the respective subclaim. Said inter-line fishing rod including a guide element formed integrally with and projecting inwardly from the inside of a rod pipe made of synthetic resin as a matrix reinforced by reinforcing fibers, in which the guide element is a spirally continuing guide or includes a plurality of annular guides arranged in the longitudinal direction of the rod pipe, and the rod pipe includes a reinforcing layer formed integral with the inner surface of the rod pipe, the reinforcing layer is so formed as to extend from the longitudinal end portion of the guide element toward the end portion of the rod pipe, the reinforcing layer, in the neighborhood of the longitudinal end portion of the guide element, has a thickness substantially the same as the height of the end portion of the guide element. Generally, if a guide having a spiral shape or the like is terminated at the intermediate position of the rod pipe, when the rod pipe is flexed, the rod pipe is easy to break in the boundary area between the rod pipe area having no such guide arranged and the rod pipe area having such guide arranged. Also, according to a method for forming a projecting guide integrally with the rod pipe, since the prepreg of the rod pipe main body is wound around from above the guide, the prepreg of the rod pipe main body can meander or the fluid flow of the resin becomes uneven in a stepped portion provided at the terminated position of the guide, which results in the lowered strength of the rod pipe. Especially, the meandering of the fibers of the rod pipe in the axial direction thereof has a great influence on the strength of the rod pipe. In view of this, in order not only to reinforce the boundary area but also to prevent the prepreg of the rod pipe main body from meandering when the rod pipe and guide are formed integrally with each other, a reinforcing layer is formed integral with the inner surface of the rod pipe, while the reinforcing layer extends from the end portion of the guide element toward the end portion of the rod pipe and, in the portion thereof adjacent to the guide element, has a thickness substantially the same (on the order of 85 - 105%) as the height of the guide element. The present reinforcing layer includes not only a flexible member such as the buffer portion but also a member having high rigidity. Hereinafter, the present invention is illustrated and explained by means of preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section view of the main portions of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a C portion shown in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section view of another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod corresponding to Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section view of still another embodiment of corresponding to Fig. 3, Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section view of yet another embodiment of corresponding to Fig. 3, Fig. 7 is a partially longitudinal section view of an example of a method for manufacturing an inter-line fishing rod, Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section view of another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod, Fig. 9 is a partially longitudinal section view of a modification of the embodiment shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a partially longitudinal section view of another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod, Fig. 11 is a partially longitudinal section view of still another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod, Fig. 12 is an explanatory view of a method for manufacturing an inter-line fishing rod. Fig. 1 shows another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod. In this embodiment, high-strength fibers such as carbon fibers or the like are impregnated with thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin or the like or are mixed with thermoplastic resin such as polyamide or the like to thereby produce fiber reinforced prepreg (which is used in a wide sense including thermoplastic resin), and the thus produced fiber reinforced prepreg is then wound and fired to thereby form a rod pipe. That is, a base rod 310 and a top rod 312 are respectively formed of the thus formed rod pipe and, after they are formed, the base rod 310 and top rod 312 are connected to each other in an normal joining method. The base rod 310 includes a reel mounting portion 316 on which a double-bearing type reel 326 is mounted. Also, a fishing line 328 is inserted into the interior of the rod pipe through a fishing line introduction portion 324 provided in the front portion of the base rod 310 and is then guided outwardly from a top guide 314 formed in the leading end portion of the top rod 312. In Fig. 2, there is shown a longitudinal section view of the rear portion of the top rod 312 and, in Fig. 3, there is shown an enlarged view of a C portion shown in Fig: 2. A plug member 312E formed of metal or synthetic resin is threadedly engaged with the rear end of the top rod 312, while a guide ring G1 formed of ceramics is fixed to the inner periphery of the plug member 312E. On the other hand, a spirally shaped or wound guide element 330 is formed integral with the top rod or rod pipe 312 in such a manner that it extends along the rod pipe inner peripheral surface of the front side of the plug member 312E. In the illustrated embodiment, there is used the spirally wound guide element 330 but this is just an example. That is, instead of the spirally wound guide element 330, a plurality of individually formed annular guide elements may be provided at given intervals. Also, the guide element may be wound clockwise or counterclockwise, or both ways of winding can be used in combination. Further, the area of provision of the guide element may extend over the whole or part of the rod pipe 312. The rod pipe 312 includes, on the outer and inner peripheral sides thereof, reinforcing layers 312A and 312B the fibers of which are respectively directed substantially in the circumferential direction of the rod pipe 312, and further includes between them a thick main body layer 312H the fibers of which are directed substantially in the axial direction of the rod pipe 312. The guide element 330 includes synthetic resin as the matrix thereof and also includes reinforcing material HB such as ceramic fibers, glass fibers, metal fibers or the like which are mainly directed in the longitudinal direction of the guide element. Further, the guide element 330 includes an outer periphery 330H which is formed in a straight line, while the transverse section thereof is shown in Fig. 3. The reinforcing material HB is disposed mainly in the projecting area of the rod pipe 312 that can be contacted by the fishing line but is little disposed on the outer peripheral side of the rod pipe 312. On the other hand, the outer peripheral side of the rod pipe 312 as well as the portions thereof before and behind the projecting area are covered with a synthetic resin layer JS which consists mainly of synthetic resin. The amount of resin contained in the area, in which the reinforcing material is disposed, is set for 30 - 60 % by weight, that is, it is set rather larger than the percentage of the amount of resin contained in the rod pipe, in order not only to facilitate the formation of the synthetic resin layer JS but also to prevent a void from being produced on the inner peripheral surface of the guide element 330. Still further, before and behind the guide element 330, there are formed buffer portions 332 which are respectively formed of synthetic resin and are used to connect the guide element 330 with the inner surface of the rod pipe 312, while each of the buffer portions 332 is structured such that the thickness thereof decreases gradually as it is spaced apart from the guide element 330. Also, the guide element 330 is formed integral with the rod pipe in such a manner that the outer peripheral portion of the guide element 330 is slightly embedded in the reinforcing layer 312B. Therefore, the area 312b of the reinforcing layer 312B facing the outer periphery 330H of the guide element 330 is formed thinner than the remaining areas thereof. The above-mentioned reinforcing layer area 312b, the areas of the reinforcing layer 312B existing in the periphery of the guide element 330, and the synthetic resin layer JS, generally, have a smaller modulus of bending elasticity than the projecting area in which the reinforcing material HB is disposed and thus they exert a buffer action together with the buffer portions 332, thereby being able to prevent generation of concentrated stresses in the rod pipe when the rod pipe is flexed. If the resin of the same system (if the rod pipe is formed of epoxy resin, then epoxy resin) used for the rod pipe 312 is used for the synthetic resin layer JS and the synthetic resin of buffer portions 332, then the strength of the integrally formed rod pipe and guide element can be enhanced. Further, if the resin used for the guide element 330 is resin which will not melt at the heating temperature of the rod pipe when it is formed, for example, if it is thermoplastic resin, then because the outer periphery 330H of the guide element 330 is formed in a straight line as described before, when the guide element 330 is united with the prepreg for forming the rod pipe, reinforcing fibers SL which occupy the major part of the main body layer 312H and are directed in the axial direction of the rod pipe can be prevented from meandering, which results in the increased strength of the rod pipe. In this manner, when compared with a structure in which no buffering areas (such as 332 or the like) are provided, and the outer periphery of the guide element is not linear but is formed in a curved surface projecting outwardly, the strength of the rod pipe according to the present embodiment when it is flexed is enhanced about 15 - 20 %. Now, in Fig. 4, there is shown another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod in correspondence to Fig. 3. In the present embodiment, there is provided the projecting area A1 (although only the left half section thereof is shown in Fig. 23, of course, it also includes the right half section symmetrical to the left half section) of the guide element 330 to be contacted by the fishing line and, inside the projecting area A1 of the guide element 330, such reinforcing material HB as mentioned above is arranged and dispersed substantially uniformly, while the outer shape of the projecting area A1 is substantially elliptical. Areas A2 and A3 respectively situated before and behind the projecting area A1, that is, the remaining portions of the guide element 330 as well as the interior portions thereof provide buffer portions which are respectively formed of synthetic resin. The portions of the guide element 330 extending from the area A1 to the area A2 are projected inwardly to secure a certain degree of contact width with respect to the fishing line (the most part of the contact area of the guide element 330 is occupied by the area Al), while the area A3 is recessed inwardly so that the thickness of the guide element 330 decreases gradually. Preferably, the area A3 may be formed as a recessed curved surface having a gentler curvature than the average curvature of the areas A1 and A2 to thereby increase the width L of the guide element 330, so that the width L can be double the projecting area A1 (including both right and left half sections) or more. Further, in the present embodiment, there is formed a resin layer 333 which is situated outside the guide element 330 and provides a buffer layer between the main body layer 312H and reinforcing layer 312B. This can prevent generation of the concentrated stresses in the rod pipe when it is flexed. According to a method for forming the above guide element 330 integral with the rod pipe, if a large number of reinforcing fibers are tied up in a bundle, are impregnated with thermosetting resin and are then twined, then the synthetic resin will melt to ooze out before and behind the guide element 330 when the reinforcing fibers are heated, thereby forming the buffer portions 332. Now, referring to Fig. 5, the outer periphery 330H of the guide element 330 formed of material including a component which will not melt when heated, that is, ceramics material, metal material, heat resisting synthetic resin material, composite material or the like is formed as a straight line extending substantially along the inner peripheral surface 312S of the inside reinforcing layer 312B of the rod pipe 312, and, before and behind the guide element 330, there are formed buffer portions 332 which are respectively connected to the rod pipe and are used to exert a buffer action. Each of the buffer portions is formed of synthetic resin or by mixing reinforcing material into synthetic resin at a small rate. This structure can prevent generation of the centralized stresses in the rod pipe when the rod pipe is flexed. Also, since the outer periphery of the guide element 330 is formed in a straight line, it is possible to prevent the fibers of the main body layer 312H in the axial direction thereof from meandering, so that the strength of the rod pipe can be improved. When the guide element 330 is formed of the above-mentioned heat resisting synthetic resin material, it is necessary to arrange such guide elements 330 at a large number of positions at short intervals in the axial direction of the rod pipe to thereby prevent the guide elements 330 from being worn strongly in part due to friction with respect to the fishing line. Also, similarly as in other embodiments, the reinforcing layers 312A and 312B may be omitted and, in this case, normally, there may be mixed into the main body layer 312H a thin layer including fibers directed substantially in the circumferential direction or a cloth (including a scrim sheet) including the circumferential direction components of fibers. Referring now to Fig. 6, the guide element 330 is formed of resin such as thermosetting resin or the like which melts at the forming or heating temperature of the rod pipe 312 comprising the main body layer 312H and, in this case, in order to prevent the fibers of the rod pipe in the axial direction thereof from meandering, it is preferable that the outer peripheral surface 330H of the guide element 330 is formed linearly. As described above, since the guide element 330 is easy to wear, a large number of such guide elements 330 are provided at their respective positions at short intervals (if the guide element 330 is a spirally wound guide element, then the distance between the respective spiral windings is set narrow). Also, because greater flexibility must be secured as the areas of the rod pipe are nearer to the top end thereof, it is preferable that such guide element formed of synthetic resin having low bending rigidity may be applied to the area near to the top end of the rod pipe. Due to the fact that the rod pipe is designed and structured such that such area can be flexed for escape if it is given a large load, the guide element applied to such area cannot be rubbed so strongly by the fishing line as it is applied to the area near to the fishing line introduction portion for the fishing line, so that even the guide element formed of synthetic resin is able to guide the fishing line smoothly. In this manner, the guide element 330 formed integral with the rod pipe 312 does not provide large resistance when the rod pipe is flexed, thereby preventing generation of the centralized stresses in the rod pipe. Also, wear resisting particles may be mixed into the synthetic resin of the guide element 330 to such a degree that they have no great influences on the bending rigidity of the synthetic resin. Further, the guide element 330 may be formed of the synthetic resin that is used to form the prepreg for the rod pipe 312. When the spirally shaped guide element 330 is terminated at a further backward position of the rod pipe 310', in the portion of the guide element 330 situated upstream of this terminal end position, the fibers of the guide element 330 are loosened and are densely wound around the rod pipe up to an intermediate position which does not reach the leading end of the rod pipe, while the thickness of the guide element decreases gradually at least in the neighborhood of the terminal end of such densely wound portion. In this structure as well, the rod pipe 310' can be reinforced with respect to the concentrated stresses to be generated in the neighborhood of the terminal end position of the spirally shaped guide element 330, thereby being able to prevent the rod pipe against breakage. Here, such reinforcement, of course, can be attained by use of other kinds of prepreg sheets, tape or other similar members, or such reinforcement can be combined with the latter. Now, Fig. 7 is an explanatory view of a method for manufacturing an inter-line fishing rod. In Fig. 7, a sheet of tape 342 having a given thickness is wound around the surface of a core metal 340 with the spiral windings thereof spaced at a given distance, a thin film 344 formed of polyethylene naphtalate (PEN), polyethylene terephtalate (PET) or the like which can stand a heating temperature is coated on the above wound assembly, and a spirally shaped guide element G2 is wound around the tape winding spaces. In this case, if the thickness of the tape 342 is previously set for a value almost equal to the height of the guide element G2, then the lower surface of prepreg P1, which is used to form a rod pipe and is wound from above, can be substantially contacted with the outer periphery of the guide element G2. After then, if the thus obtained assembly is heated under pressure, then the synthetic resin of the prepreg P1 and P2 is allowed to flow into a space SP to thereby form a buffer portion. When the synthetic resin flows into the space SP, in a normal method, there are produced burrs before and behind the guide element G2 between the windings of the tape 342 but, on the other hand, according to the present method, the provision of the thin film 344 prevents the production of such burrs. When such film 344 is not used, the guide element G2 is wound around in such a manner that it is in pressure contact with the edges of the tape 342 existing on the two sides of the guide element G2, thereby being able to prevent the production of the burrs. Even when the film 344 is used, from the standpoint of burr prevention, it is preferable that the guide element is formed while it is pressure contacted by the tape 342 from the two sides thereof. Besides the above methods, the guide element can also be formed by use of the forming material of the rod pipe. That is, when such reinforcing layer 312B on the inner peripheral side of the rod pipe as shown in Fig. 3 is formed in the rod pipe, the reinforcing layer 312B is not formed in a sheet-shaped prepreg layer but in a tape-shaped prepreg layer smaller in width than the sheet-shaped prepreg layer. The core metal is previously coated with a tube, which is formed of silicone or the like and includes on the outer periphery thereof a spirally extending groove or a plurality of independent annular grooves so that projecting strips can be formed on the inner surface of the rod pipe, or heat resisting resin tape is previously wound around the core metal in the form of a spiral strip or the like. After then, if the above-mentioned tape-shaped prepreg is wound around from above the tube or tape, then the projecting strips for the guide element can be formed together and integrally with the reinforcing layer 312B of the inner periphery of the rod pipe. After such integral formation, the united assembly is fired according to a conventionally normal method and, finally, the tube or resin tape is removed from the assembly. According to the above-mentioned method, not only the guide element can be formed simply and easily but also, in the case of the tape-shaped prepreg, the reinforcing fibers can be arranged very long and substantially continuously along the longitudinal direction of the tape. Therefore, in the thus formed guide element, the reinforcing fibers thereof corresponding to the above-mentioned reinforcing material are arranged to extend substantially continuously, which results in a high-strength guide element. If material having a smaller modulus of longitudinal elasticity than the material of the rod pipe main body layer in the base portion and intermediate portion of the fishing rod is used in the rod pipe main body layer in the top portion of the fishing rod such as the top rod and the like, the bending rigidity of the rod top portion can be decreased accordingly. Generally, in the fishing rod with an inserted fishing line, the inside diameter of the rod top portion cannot be decreased so much in consideration of the outside diameter of the fishing line to be inserted through the fishing rod. However, even in such fishing rod with an inserted fishing line, use of the material having a smaller modulus of longitudinal elasticity can provide a sufficiently soft rod top portion. Now, Fig. 8 shows another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section view of the top rod 312 shown in Fig. 1. In the present embodiment, the spirally shaped guide element 330 is so formed as to extend forwardly from the rear end portion of the rod pipe 312 to the intermediate position of the rod pipe 312. Also, from the terminated portion 330E of the guide element 330 to the leading end of the rod pipe 312, there is provided a reinforcing layer 350 in such a manner that it is integrally united with the main body of the rod pipe 312. The reinforcing layer 350 has a thickness substantially equal to the height of the guide element 330 in the neighborhood of the terminated portion 330E of the guide element 330, while it decreases in thickness as it goes forwardly. However, when soft material is used as the material of the reinforcing layer 350, the reinforcing layer 350 may be so formed as to increase in thickness as it goes forwardly and also the rod pipe main body 312 may be so formed as to decrease in thickness, thereby adjusting the degree of flexing of the rod pipe. The thickness of the reinforcing layer 350 in the neighborhood of the terminated portion 330E may be preferably almost equal to the height of the guide element 330 and, in particular, the thickness of the reinforcing layer 350 may be set to a value which is about 85 - 105 % of the guide element height. The material of the reinforcing layer preferably includes synthetic resin, material having a high content of synthetic resin such as prepreg including 50 % or more of synthetic resin by weight, while it also includes material having high rigidity from the viewpoint of the reinforcing action. The material of the spirally shaped guide element 330 includes a bundle of carbon fibers, glass fibers, metal fibers, ceramics fibers or the like, other shapes of fiber reinforced resin prepreg, organic material such as organic fibers or the like, material mixed with particles or short fibers as reinforcing material, material mixed with hollow fibers or hollow particles for weight reduction, and material mixed with globular particles for improvement in damage resistance and wear resistance. This also applies in the other embodiments. Now, Fig. 9 shows a modification of the embodiment shown in Fig. 8. In the present modification, a reinforcing layer 350A is so formed as to decrease gradually in thickness from the terminated portion 330E of the guide element 330 forwardly up to an intermediate position of the top rod 312 and, backwardly of the terminated portion 330E as well, there is provided a reinforcing layer 350B which extends for a certain length and increases gradually in thickness. That is, the thus reinforced area of the top rod 312 is increased in thickness over the remaining areas thereof. This not only reinforces the area of the rod pipe 312 in the neighborhood of the guide element terminated portion to thereby increase the strength of the rod pipe 312 but also, when forming a rod pipe including the projecting guide element 330 united integrally therewith, exerts an action to fill up a level difference between the core metal and main body prepreg in the neighborhood of the guide element terminated portion in order to prevent the main body prepreg from meandering. In the above-mentioned description, there is shown an embodiment in which a spirally shaped guide is used as a guide element. Similarly, in an embodiment in which there are used a large number of annular guides spaced apart from one another, the above-mentioned reinforcing means can also be applied to the terminated portion of the annular guide element group. Also, even when the spirally shaped guide or the annular guide group is terminated at the backwardly intermediate position of the rod pipe, the above reinforcing means can be similarly applied to the terminated portion thereof. Now, in Fig. 10, there is shown another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod. In the present embodiment, when the guide element 330 is formed integral with the rod pipe 310' in such a manner that it projects from the rod pipe 310', in order to prevent the possibility that stresses can be concentrated in the rod pipe to thereby lower the flexural strength of the rod pipe, the thickness t3 of an area Z3 of the rod pipe in which the guide element 330 is provided is set larger than the thickness t2 of an area Z2 of the rod pipe in which the guide element 330 is not provided, thereby improving the flexural strength of the rod pipe. Here, an area Z1 is a joining area which is formed thick for reinforcing the strength thereof because the area Z1 is used as a joining portion for joining a top rod or the like which is arranged forwardly of the rod pipe. Apart from the above reason why the area Z1 is formed thick, another rod pipe having a small diameter and arranged forwardly of the area Z1 is joined with the area Z1 and the fishing line is inserted into the small diameter hole of the rear end portion of the small-diameter rod pipe. As a result of this, in the area adjacent to the small-diameter rod pipe rear end portion, the insertion range of the fishing line is narrow. This prevents the fishing line from touching the rod pipe inner surface of the area Z2 between the small-diameter rod pipe rear end portion and the area Z3. That is, the above area Z2 is an area in which the guide element 330 is not required and, in order to avoid generation of the concentrated stresses in the rod pipe and to prevent the worsened flexibility of the rod pipe, it is preferable that the guide element is not provided in the area Z2 where any guide element need not be provided. If such area 22 can be secured for a long range, then the taper of the area Z2, along which the diameter of the rod pipe decreases from the area Z3 to the joining area Z1, can be set small, so that variations in the rigidity of the rod pipe can be preferably made gentle. To space the area Z1 having a large thickness and having high rigidity apart from the area Z3 increased in rigidity due to existence of the guide element as well as to interpose the area Z2 having low rigidity between them is helpful in varying smoothly the flexibility of the whole fishing rod consisting of a plurality of rod pipes joined together. The length of the area Z2 may be set for 30 - 50 mm or more, preferably, on the order of 100 mm. Now, Fig. 11 is an explanatory view of another embodiment of an inter-line fishing rod. In the present embodiment, between the main body of the rod pipe 312 and guide element 330, there is interposed integrally therewith a reinforcing member 352 having a larger width than the width of the guide element 330. The reinforcing member 352, which extends over the whole of the guide element 330 in the width direction thereof as well as before and behind the guide element 330, is a sheet-shaped member which is formed of fiber reinforced prepreg such as a glass fiber scrim cloth sheet or the like, a carbon tape, a synthetic resin film, paper, or the like. However, the reinforcing member 352 is not limited to the sheet-shaped member but it may be stringy synthetic resin, cotton yarns or the like. In this manner, the rod pipe is reinforced against the concentrated stresses in the guide element peripheral portion of the rod pipe caused by the integral formation of the guide element with the rod pipe, thereby improving the flexural strength of the rod pipe. Now, Fig. 12 is an explanatory view of a method for forming a rod pipe with a guide element including a reinforcing layer. On the straight-shaped or gently tapered portion 340A of a core metal 340 except for the front tapered portion 340B thereof, a heat resistant tape 342 having a suitable thickness almost equal to the height of the guide element 330, the guide element 330, and a film (344, not shown) are windingly disposed in such a manner as described in Fig. 7, the reinforcing member 352 described above in connection with the above figure 11 is wound around the terminated portion of the guide element 330, and further a prepreg 350P for reinforcement, a prepreg 312P for forming a rod pipe main body, and a prepreg 312P' for reinforcing the joining portion of the rod pipe are respectively wound around the core metal 340. The reinforcing prepreg 350P is a rectangular prepreg which is wound around the core metal 340 in a range extending from the terminated portion of the guide element 330 to the portion of the core metal 340 existing forwardly of the guide element 330, and the reinforcing prepreg 350P corresponds to the reinforcing layer 350 shown in Fig. 8. The joining portion reinforcing prepreg 312P' is formed in a triangular shape and, in this case, it is extended to a length which allows the leading end of the triangle to reach the terminated portion of the guide element. Therefore, the portion of the rod pipe in the neighborhood of the terminated portion of the guide element can also be reinforced but it is not always necessary to extend the prepreg 312P' to the guide element terminated portion. Also, the main body prepreg 312P need not be always formed of a single sheet of prepreg. For example, for this purpose, generally, a plurality of rectangular shaped or triangularly shaped prepregs may be wound around to thereby form a rod pipe which becomes softer toward the leading end portion thereof, or reinforced fibers directed in the axial direction of the fishing rod may be used as a matrix and the inside and outside of the reinforced fibers may be held by and between reinforced fibers directed in the circumferential direction of the fishing rod. The reinforcing member 352 shown in Fig. 12 is not necessary in forming the reinforcing structure shown in Fig. 8, and also the reinforcing prepreg 350P may be made shorter by omitting the left side portion thereof drawn on the left side of a one-dot chained line shown in Fig. 12 and, as shown in Fig. 9, the reinforcing layer 350A may be provided up to the intermediate position of the rod pipe. Further, it is also possible to employ the structure shown in Fig. 9 as it is in which another reinforcing layer 50B is additionally provided. In addition, the reinforcing prepreg 350P is not necessary in forming the reinforcing structure shown in Fig. 11 but, as illustrated in the present manufacturing method, of course, it is also possible to use both of them in combination. As can be clearly understood from the foregoing description, it is possible to provide a fishing rod with an inserted fishing line which prevents the guide element provision portion of a rod pipe including a guide element formed integrally with and projecting inwardly from the inside of the rod pipe from being lowered in strength.

Claims: An inter-line fishing rod comprising a rod pipe (312) made of synthetic resin as a matrix reinforced by reinforcing fibers, a guide element (330) formed integrally with and projecting inwardly from the inside of the rod pipe, wherein said guide element (330) is a spirally continuing guide or includes of a plurality of annular guides arranged in the longitudinal direction of said rod pipe (312), and wherein said rod pipe (312) includes an area in which a reinforcing layer (350;350A) is formed integrally with an inner surface of said rod pipe, said reinforcing layer extends from a longitudinally terminated portion (330E) of said guide element (330) toward the end portion of said rod pipe (312) and in the neighborhood of said longitudinally terminated portion of said guide element having a thickness substantially equal to the guide height of said guide element terminated portion. An inter-line fishing rod according to claim 1, characterized in that said reinforcing layer (350) terminates at the end of said rod pipe (312). An inter-line fishing rod according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the thickness of the reinforcing layer (350) decreases toward said end portion of said rod pipe (312). An inter-line fishing rod according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said reinforcing layer (350) is made from a soft material and increases in thickness towards said end portion while the rod pipe (312) decreases in thickness, thereby adjusting the degree of flexing of the rod pipe. An inter-line fishing rod according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the reinforcing layer (350A) decreases gradually in thickness from the terminated portion (330E) of the guide element (330) frontwardly to an intermediate portion of the rod pipe (312), and another reinforcing layer (350B) extends backwardly from said terminated portion (330E). An inter-line fishing rod according to claim 5, characterized in that said backwardly extending layer decreases in thickness in backward direction. An inter-line fishing rod according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the area (Z3) of the rod pipe (312) in which the guide element or elements (330) are provided is increased in thickness (t3) compared with other area portions (Z2) of the rod pipe (312) without guide elements. An inter-line fishing rod according to claim 7, characterized in that said area portion of reduced thickness (Z2) is arranged between said area of increased thickness (Z3) and another area of increased thickness (Z1) which defines a joining portion for connection with another rod pipe, wherein the outer diameter of said area portion (Z2) of reduced thickness decreases from said first mentioned area of increased thickness (Z3) to said second mentioned area of increased thickness (Z1). An inter-line fishing rod according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that between the main body of said rod pipe (312) and said guide element (330) there is provided an area in which a reinforcing member (352) having a larger width than the width of said guide element (330) is disposed. Method of making an inter-line fishing rod pipe (312) with a guide element (330) and a reinforcing layer (352) comprising the steps of: winding a heat resistant tape (342; 344) around a core (340), arranging one or several guide elements (330) on said core (340), winding a reinforcing layer (352) around said core (340) so as to cover one or several guide elements (330) at a terminated portion (330E) of the guide element (330) and extend towards an end portion of the rod pipe free of guide elements, winding prepegs (350P; 312P, 312P') for forming the main body of the rod pipe around said core (340), and subsequently connecting said guide element or elements (330), said reinforcing layer (352) and said main body prepegs (350P. 312P, 312P') with each other. Method of making an inter-line fishing rod pipe according to claim 10, characterized in that the reinforcing layer (352) is formed of fiber reinforced material such as glass fiber scrim cloth, carbon tape, synthetic resin film, paper, stringy resin sheet, or cotton yarns.

Inventors: KATOH YOSHINAO, KOMURA YASUO, TSURUFUJI TOMOYOSHI, WATANABE TAKASHI, KATOH, YOSHINAO, KOMURA, YASUO, TSURUFUJI, TOMOYOSHI, WATANABE, TAKASHI
Applicants: DAIWA SEIKO INC, DAIWA SEIKO INC.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: A01K87
IPC codes: A01K87