BAITMACHINE AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING FISHHOOK MOVEMENT IN A BAITMACHINE

Abstract: The present invention relates to a baiting machine for use in connection with line fishing. The invention further relates to a device for guiding and transporting hooks through the baiting machine. The guidance of the hooks (5) takes place substantially in an opening formed between two main parts (10, 11) of the baiting machine (1), whereof one of the baiting machine's (1) main parts (11) is rotatably connected relative to the second of the main parts (10) about an axis (14) extending substantially in the hook's (5) direction of movement. A device for a baiting machine (1) guides the hooks (5) along at least a part of the hook's (5) transport path which is substantially formed from two surfaces (6) arranged at a distance apart which is greater than the thickness of the hook's (5) material. The device consists of at least one spring-loaded ball body (8, 8') over at least one of the surfaces (6) which form the hooks' (5) transport path. The bend of the hook (5) is guided by the spring-loaded ball body or bodies (8, 8').

Description: Baitmachine and device for controlling fishhook movement in a baitmachine The present invention relates to a baiting machine for use in connection with line fishing. The invention further relates to a device for guiding and transporting hooks through the baiting machine until the hooks meet the bait, whereupon the hooks bring the bait with them out of the baiting machine. In line fishing long main lines are traditionally used, on which lines swivels are mounted which connect the line with a plurality of snells with hooks so that the hooks fish at a specific distance apart and distance relative to the main line when it is in water. The snell is normally attached to the main line by a swivel which enables the snell to rotate about the main line in order to prevent the main line from becoming twisted with the associated problem of the snells becoming twisted relative to one another. After the hooks have been cleaned of bait and offal the line with snells and hooks passes through a splitting machine which substantially separates the main line from the snell and the hook in such a way that the hooks are sorted in order in a hook magazine and the main line is collected under the magazine, with the result that the line with the attached snells and hooks is ready for the application of bait. The hook magazines with hooks, snells and lines can then be connected to a baiting machine, thus permitting the hooks to be passed directly out of the magazine and over to the baiting machine, where bait is applied and they are dropped into the water for fishing. The connection between the hook magazine and the baiting machine requires the transport surface for the hooks at the entrance to the baiting machine to be of substantially the same shape as the transport surface for the hooks in the magazine, whereupon the hooks are rotated through the baiting machine so that the hooks reach the bait in the correct position relative to the bait in order thereby to insert the point of the hook into the bait in the optimal manner while the bait and the hook are moved in the desired pattern of movement to place the bait on the hook in the optimal manner. The sequence of transporting the hooks from the hook magazine into the baiting machine, while simultaneously or subsequently rotating the hook into the desired position and passing the hook through the baiting machine, up to and through the bait is encumbered with a number of technical challenges which, if they are not resolved in an adequate fashion, result in an insufficient amount of bait being applied to the hooks in the baiting machine. This may mean that the hooks are not placed in the bait in such a manner that the bait withstands the stresses to which the bait and the hook are exposed when the line is deployed, together with the fact that bait is applied to a limited number of hooks since the hooks are in an unfavourable position relative to the bait after the hooks have been passed through the guiding part of the baiting machine and up to the bait. Moreover, it is not uncommon for the hooks to be placed in the hook magazine in the wrong order when hooks and main line are separated in the splitting machine, with the result that hooks and snells form a tangle or snarl which is pulled into the baiting machine. If these tangles or snarls are not handled in the correct manner by the baiting machine's transport device for the hooks, the result of tangles of this kind may be that the hooks are not baited while the tangle may strip off pieces of bait and in some cases may also become enmeshed in the baiting machine resulting in stoppage and time delay in connection with deployment of the line. A plurality of the factors mentioned here may result in bait being applied to only a limited number of the hooks on a line, while at the same time the bait is not necessarily applied in such a manner that it can withstand the stresses to which the bait is exposed during deployment of the line and fishing, and relatively substantial amounts of bait thereby go to waste when the bait works loose from the hook, or the bait is stripped off by tangles through the baiting machine, which in turn entails reduced business economy with excess consumption of bait relative to the number of hooks which are baited and used for fishing. A baiting machine should therefore be designed in such a way that the hooks, pulled by the main line and thereby the snell. can pass freely from the hook magazine to the baiting machine, where they are rotated into the correct position for the hooks to be passed to the bait in the position which gives the best baiting of the hook. This further implies that the baiting machine must have a guiding device for each hook which brings each succeeding hook into the same position relative to the bait. In addition the baiting machine must be tolerant with regard to the hook's dimension, thus permitting hooks of different dimensions to be used and all the hooks, irrespective of dimension, to be passed to the bait in the correct position for good baiting. The baiting machine should further be designed in such a manner that a snarl in the main line and snell passes easily and unimpededly through the baiting machine without stripping off bits of bait, and without leading to breakdown and stoppage. In addition the baiting machine should have clean surfaces in the hook's transport path without the risk of the hook, snell or line becoming entangled and thereby damaging the baiting machine or the hooks, the snell or the line, and possibly also the swivels. The guidance of the hooks, moreover, should offer a resistance which ensures that the snell is kept relatively taut when it pulls the hook through the baiting machine. This will help, amongst other things, to prevent the formation of tangles if the snell or the main line come to a stop, by preventing succeeding hooks from becoming enmeshed in the baiting machine. In addition to the above-mentioned features of a good baiting machine, it should be designed in such a way that the bait is passed in a reliable and economical manner to the hook's transport path and divided up into suitable pieces, while at the same time the transport of the bait and throughput of hooks are co-ordinated in such a way that a stop in the hook transport also entails a break in the bait transport. Furthermore, it is desirable for the baiting machine to be of a robust mechanical construction with a small number of service points and good facilities for inspection and repair in the event of damage or defects and otherwise to satisfy the usual requirements for a mechanical device in an exposed environment where it is critical for a defect or damage to be repaired in the shortest possible time in order to avoid a break in the fishing process. Previously known solutions for transporting and guiding hooks through a baiting machine up to and past the bait include Norwegian patent 13 1.814 in which a relatively general solution is disclosed where hooks pulled forward by the snell. which in turn is connected to the line, are passed in a substantially vertical position between two parallel vertical transport surfaces, with the result that the shank or shaft of the hook abuts against a substantially horizontal transport surface on the lower edge of the two parallel vertical transport surfaces with the bend and point of the hook in a vertical position between the two parallel vertical transport surfaces. The snell which is attached to the hook's eye at the end of the shank or shaft of the hook passes in an opening between the lower edge of one of the vertical transport surfaces for the hook and the horizontal transport surface for the shaft and eye of the hook. In the solution which is described in the said Norwegian patent the hook has no additional guidance along its transport path and the hook with the snell can become wedged or tangled in several positions, with the result that the baiting machine has to be stopped, whereupon hook and snell have to be extricated manually. If. e.g.. the shank or shaft of the hook is pulled down into the opening where the snell passes, the hook will become jammed, and if the line comes to a stop or reduces its pull on the snell several succeeding hooks may become intertwined, resulting in a tangle which will most probably lead to the hooks passing through the baiting machine, stripping off the bait and passing out into the water without bait being attached to any of the hooks. In Norwegian patent 170.451 , moreover, a transport device for hooks in a baiting machine is disclosed where the hooks are located in a substantially horizontal position between two horizontal transport surfaces, while the hook's eye is pulled by the snell and the line along a substantially vertical transport surface. In this solution too the hooks are "free" in their direction of movement and if the line reduces its speed or stops, several successively located hooks will become intertwined, causing a tangle. If a plurality of hooks and snells have already formed a tangle at the entrance to the baiting machine, it will be difficult for this tangle to pass through the baiting machine and the baiting machine will therefore have to be stopped in order to either unravel the tangle or to convey it past the baiting machine on the outside thereof. It is an object of the present invention to provide a baiting machine where the hooks are passed directly from the hook magazine over to a transport device in or in connection with the baiting machine where the hooks are rotated into a position substantially in the vertical plane, with the shank or shaft of the hooks in a substantially horizontal position, whereupon the hooks, pulled by the snell and the main line, are passed with guidance of each individual hook's position to the bait, with the result that the hooks are in a favourable position relative to the bait. It is a further object that the device which guides the individual hook's progress in the baiting machine should offer a resistance to the hook's forwardly directed motion in order to ensure that the snell is kept taut and to prevent the formation of tangles between succeeding snells. Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a baiting machine where a tangle of several snells and hooks can pass easily and unimpededly through the baiting machine without becoming entangled and without pieces of bait thereby being stripped off. It is a further object that the baiting machine should consist of a small number of mechanical components in order thereby to obtain a high degree of reliability and simple fault-finding/fault-correction procedures. It is a further object that the baiting machine should be tolerant to hooks of different dimensions within a wide range of dimensions both with regard to the diameter of the hook's material and the shape of the hook. In order to satisfy the above-mentioned objects, as well as avoid the drawbacks which are set forth in connection with previously known technical solutions, a baiting machine is presented according to the present invention which is specified in the introduction to the following independent claim 1 , with characterising features as specified in the characterising part of the independent claim 1. Moreover, further embodiments of the baiting machine according to the present invention are specified in the dependent patent claims. A baiting machine according to the present invention has at its entrance, relative to the hook magazine a transport surface where the hooks in the hook magazine pass freely from the magazine pulled by the main line via the snell to a transport surface where the shank of the hook is initially suspended in a substantially vertical position with the bend of the hook placed over a transport surface, so that the point of the hook hangs on the opposite side of the transport surface relative to the shank of the hook. The hooks are of the type which has an eye mounted perpendicularly to the plane which is formed by the hook's shank, bend and point. The hooks are then pulled along the said transport surface whereupon the transport surface gradually becomes narrower while the hook's eye meets an upwardly sloping transport surface on the lower edge of the transport surface where the hook's bend is mounted. All the way along the transport surface for the bend of the hook, in the preferred embodiment the hooks are located between this transport surface and a surface located on the opposite side of the shank of the hook, which surface is preferably spring-loaded, thus forming an opening where the shank of the hook moves during the rotating movement from the substantially vertical position on the hook magazine to a substantially horizontal position in the baiting machine. Since the eye of the hook is pulled by the main line via the snell. the eye of the hook will at all times be in front relative to the rest of the hook in its direction of movement and when the eye eventually passes further along the upwardly sloping transport surface while the transport surface for the bend of the hook becomes narrower, the hook is rotated from a position with the shank of the hook in a substantially vertical position to a position with the shank of the hook in a substantially horizontal position and the shank, bend and point of the hook located in a substantially vertical plane. The transport surface for the eye of the hook in the baiting machine's guiding part is formed substantially from two parallel surfaces which form an opening which is smaller than the width of the eye of the hook, while being larger than the diameter of the material of the hook. This is achieved by having one of the transport surfaces for the eye of the hook formed in an upwardly sloping fashion with a transition to a substantially horizontal plane on the baiting machine's main body, while the second transport surface for the eye of the hook is formed on an additional main body mounted parallel to one of the baiting machine's main bodies, the additional main body being rotatably mounted relative to the baiting machine's first main body about an axis extending substantially parallel to the hook's direction of movement in the upper edge of the baiting machine. Furthermore, the snell can pass through the opening formed between the two parallel transport surfaces for the eye of the hook and in order to guide the snell into this opening, at the entrance to the opening there is an extended area formed from two sloping surfaces which guide the snell into the opening. After the hooks have been rotated into a position located in a substantially vertical plane, the hooks are transferred to a transport device in the baiting machine, the purpose of which is to arrange the hooks into as near an optimal position as possible relative to the bait, with the result that each individual hook threads the point of the hook into the bait in the optimal manner. tearing it off with it when the hook is passed out into the water. The guiding device is mounted at a distance above the two parallel substantially horizontally mounted transport surfaces for the eye of the hook, which distance is at least equal to the diameter of the material of the hook. In the same w ay as the upwardly sloping transport surfaces for the eye of the hook. for rotation of the hook, the transport surfaces are formed on each of the baiting machine's main bodies respectively. In the preferred embodiment, the guiding device located immediately above the transport surfaces for the eye of the hook consists substantially of a row of spring-loaded balls or ball-shaped bodies arranged on each side of the hook, where the bend of the hook is substantially checked and passes from parallel ball pair to ball pair through the row. This checks the hooks, thereby tightening the snell and ensuring that succeeding hooks do not become tangled, while at the same time the hooks are arranged into a specific position in which the bend of the hook follows the row of balls and the deepest point in the bend in the hook will substantially follow the balls' centre line. The balls preferably have a diameter which is less than the diameter of the bend of the hook and if large hooks are employed, a part of the shank of the hook will be located between the parallel transport surfaces for the eye of the hook in an angular position which deviates from the transport surfaces' angle relative to the hooks' direction of movement. The deepest point in the bend of the hook will still be guided in such a way that this point follows the balls' centre line which guides the hook and the point of the hook relative to the position of the bait. When the hook has passed the rows of spring-loaded balls, the hook has substantially assumed the correct position relative to the bait and in the preferred embodiment the last ball is placed in such a manner that the point of the hook is in contact with the bait when the hook passes the last ball or the last pair of balls. The rows of spring-loaded balls may be arranged in parallel or displaced relative to each other along the hook's direction of movement but the result with regard to the guidance of the hook will be substantially the same. In an alternative embodiment only one spring-loaded ball may be mounted on each side of the transport path for the hooks, or alternatively a ball on one side with a rail or the like on the opposite side. If several hooks and snells are intertwined to form a tangle at the entrance to the baiting machine or in the hook magazine the tangle will be pulled into the baiting machine, whereupon the baiting machine's outer part, mounted parallel to the housing, will swing out about its axis of rotation in the upper edge extending parallel to the hooks' direction of movement and the hooks which are in the transport device with the two parallel-mounted rows of balls will lose contact with the spring-loaded balls, hereby falling down into the opening between the parallel-mounted parts of the baiting machine, whereupon the tangle of snells and hooks is freely pulled through the baiting machine without the hooks stripping off pieces of bait and without the hooks or the snell becoming entangled in the baiting machine. When the tangle has passed, the rotatably mounted part of the baiting machine swings back into position due to its weight or as a result of a spring loading and the hooks which are on the transport surface between the baiting machine's guiding device at the rows of balls and the hook magazine will be able to pass from the transport surface to the guiding device, thus bringing these hooks into position for baiting. The spring-loaded balls are releasably mounted in recesses in the baiting machine's main bodies. The balls are preferably kept in place by an outer lock ring which by means of a threaded connection is screwed into the outer part of the recess, thereby enabling the balls to be replaced when they become worn. The balls are spring-loaded by means of. e.g.. a helical spring which is located in the recess and pushes the ball out towards the lock ring. In the preferred embodiment the lock ring is so designed that when in the screwed-in position it does not project outside the opening of the recess, in order to prevent the snell or hook from becoming entangled as the hook is transported through the guiding device. In the preferred embodiment the balls are formed from a cylindrical body and the ball body is thereby cylindrically shaped at one end and of a hemispherical shape at the opposite end. The ball body's contact with the spring is thereby greater, providing better guidance of the ball. The transport of bait to the hooks' transport path is further controlled by a transport device which is driven by an electric servomotor which in the preferred embodiment is controlled by a programmed logic control (PLC). In the preferred embodiment there is further provided a sensor in connection with the transport path for the hooks which, when influenced, puts forward a piece of bait, whereupon the same PLC controls a cutting device which cuts off a piece of the bait when it is located in the hook's transport path. The bait is further restrained by a holding device which ensures that the hook engages securely with the bait before hook and bait are released from the baiting machine. It will furthermore also be possible to install various devices in connection with the transport path for the hook or the holding plate which rotate the bait and/or hook in such a manner that the hook and/or the bait carry out a movement which further causes the hook to achieve a secure relationship with the bait. In an embodiment of the present invention the baiting machine is further equipped with a separate device provided co- currently for the bait in the transport direction, w hich device is designed so that it also helps to rotate the bait in order to ensure that the hook achieves a secure engagement with the bait. The present invention is further described and exemplified in the attached figures, in which: fig. 1 is a sectional side view of the baiting machine with its transport device and guidance of the hook: fig. 2 is a plan view and partial sectional view from above of the baiting machine according to fig. 1 with associated hook magazine; figs. 3, 4 and 5 are plan views from the baiting machine's entrance side of a sequence where a hook moves in three stages from the hook magazine to the guiding part of the baiting machine. Fig. 1 is a sectional view from the side of a first part 10 of a baiting machine 1 according to the present invention. At its entrance side the baiting machine 1 is connected to a hook magazine 2 in which are placed a number of hooks 5 in succession, where the hooks 5 are suspended in the order in which they are attached via their snells (not illustrated) to the main line (not illustrated). The main line passes through close to the baiting machine 1. pulling along the hooks 5 via the snells through the baiting machine 1 . The hooks 5 are pulled from the hook magazine 2 on to a transport surface 3 which at its upper edge slopes towards a narrower horizontal width, with the result that the hooks 5, pulled by the snell via their heads, can be rotated from a substantially vertical position towards a virtually horizontal position where the hooks' 5 shaft, bend and point are located in a vertical plane with the hooks' 5 shaft in a horizontal position. During this rotation of the hook 5. the head of the hook 5 meets a sloping!}' extending transport surface 4 which extends from the baiting machine's 1 lower edge slopingly up towards the transport path 6 for the hook 5 which leads to the bait 20. The eye of the hook 5 is located perpendicularly relative to the direction of movement and when the eye of the hook 5. pulled by the snell. meets the transport surface 4. the eye of the hook 5 follows the transport surface 4 until it is transferred to the transport surface 6 which is substantialh' horizontally extending towards the feed point for the bait 20. The hook's 5 rotation on the transport surface 3 takes place substantially in the same area as the transport surface 4 is slopingly extending, and hen the rotation of the hook 5 is completed at the end of the transport surface 3. the eye and shank of the hook are substantialh' horizontally positioned in the transition between the transport surface 4 and the transport surface 6. thus causing the hook 5 to be guided into the vertical opening 12 between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 (not illustrated) of the baiting machine 1 . In the transition between the transport surface 4 and the transport surface 6. the lead-in to the opening 12 between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 is provided with sloping lead-in surfaces 15 which further assist in orientating the hook 5 in towards the opening 12 between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1. The hook 5 continues with the shaft of the hook 5 in a substantially horizontal position where the eye of the hook 5 rests on the transport surface 6 on the first 10 and second part 1 1 respectively of the baiting machine 1 in such a manner that the bend of the hook 5 meets the parallel-mounted rows of spring-loaded balls 8 on the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1. The spring-loaded balls 8 can move against a spring force in a perpendicular direction relative to the hook's 5 direction of movement, with the result that the balls 8 check and brake the hook 5 as it passes the balls 8. Here the snell extends from the head of the hook 5 which rests on the transport surfaces 6. down through the opening 12 which is formed between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1. whereupon the hook 5 is pulled forward through the parallel rows of spring-loaded balls 8. As illustrated in figs. 1 and 2. at the front part of the row of spring-loaded balls 8 on the first part 10 of the baiting machine there is further mounted a substantialh' horizontal rail 9. The hook 5 thereby first passes the parallel rows of spring-loaded balls 8. before passing the rail 9 and the spring-loaded balls 8' arranged on the opposite side of the rail 9. in the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1 . When the hook 5 is checked by the last of the balls 8' in the hook's 5 direction of movement, in the preferred embodiment of the baiting machine the point of the hook 5 is engaged with the bait 20. and the hook 5 is then pulled on by the snell. with the result that the hook 5 engages secureh' with the bait 20. In this position the hook 5 is correctly positioned with regard to engagement with the bait 20 and each of the succeeding hooks 5 will assume substantially the same position where the head of the hook 5 rests on the transport surfaces 6 on the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 respective!} of the baiting machine 1. while the deepest part of the bend of the hook 5 will follow the centre line of the spring-loaded balls 8 and 8' through the guiding device in the baiting machine 1 up to the bait 20. If hooks 5 and snells. and possibly also the line become tangled and the tangle is pulled into the baiting machine via the lead-in surfaces 7. the baiting machine's 1 second part 1 1 as illustrated in figs. 2 - 5 will rotate about the bolt 14 whereupon the lower part of the opening 12. which is formed between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1. opens and the tangle of snells and hooks 5 is pulled forward by the line, whereupon the tangle falls down on to the bottom of the baiting machine 1 and passes freely out into the water. The hooks 5 are held up in the baiting machine 1 by their heads which rest on the transport surfaces 6 together with the spring-loaded balls 8 and the size of the hook 5 will have very little influence on the hook's 5 position unless the diameter of the hook's 5 material is greater than the width of the opening 12, whereupon the hook 5 will force the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1 to rotate about the bolt 14. In figures 3. 4 and 5 there is further illustrated in succession a sequence where a hook 5 passes from the hook magazine 2 to the guiding device consisting of the spring-loaded balls 8. over the transport surface 3 and 4. In fig. 3 the hook 5 is positioned in the hook magazine 2 with the shaft of the hook 5 in a substantially vertical position and the bend of the hook 5 arranged over the upper surface of the hook magazine 2. On its opposite side relative to the hook magazine 2 the hook 5 is further in abutment against a surface 13 which substantially follows the angle of the hook magazine 2. The hook magazine 2 and the surface 13 thereby form an opening where the hook 5 passes from the hook magazine 2 over a transport surface 3 to the entrance 15 of the guiding device in the baiting machine 1 . The position of the hook 5 in fig. 3 corresponds to the hook 5 in position 1 in fig. 1. The plate 13 is preferably rotatably mounted in the point 16 and the purpose of the plate 13 is essentially to support and transport the hook 5 during the movement from the magazine 2 over to the guiding device in the baiting machine 1. In fig. 4 the hook 5 is further pulled forward in its direction of movement by the snell and the main line and the hook 5 has further rotated to a position as illustrated in fig. 1. pos. 2 where the shank of the hook 5 has assumed a substantially greater degree of horizontal position as a result of the shank 5 having been pulled forward by the snell and the transport surface 3 being narrower at its top portion. Here the eye of the hook 5 is in the process of making contact with the transport surfaces 4 and the hook 5 further follows the transport surface 3 to a position which is indicated in fig. 5. where the shank of the hook 5 is substantially horizontally positioned as illustrated in fig. 1. pos. 3. The point and bend of the hook 5 are here on their way into the opening 12 between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1. where the guiding device consisting of the spring-loaded balls 8 is mounted. The opening 12 has a lead-in area 15 with substantially vertical sloping surfaces leading into the opening 12 between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 at the spring-loaded balls 8. The snell passes into the opening between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1 of the baiting machine 1 at the entrance of which are the sloping surfaces 7 and the snell then passes into the opening 12 between the first part 10 and the second part 1 1. pulling the hooks 5 through the baiting machine 1.

Claims: PATENT CLAIMS 1. A baiting machine for baiting of hooks (5) in line fishing, which baiting machine ( 1 ) by means of its design is permanently or releasably installed at a suitable location on a fishing vessel and may be releasably connected to a hook magazine (2), where hooks (5) are pulled from the magazine (2) via snells and through the baiting machine ( 1 ) by a main line, towards a bait (20) which is passed to the hook's (5) transport path in the baiting machine ( 1 ). characterized in that the baiting machine's ( 1 ) guidance of the hooks (5) up to the bait (20) is carried out in an opening formed between two main parts (10, 1 1 ) of the baiting machine ( 1 ), whereof one of the baiting machine's ( 1 ) main parts ( 1 1 ) is rotatably connected relative to the second of the main parts ( 10) about an axis ( 14) extending substantially in the hook's (5) direction of movement. 2. A baiting machine according to claim 1 , characterized in that the main part ( 1 1 ) of the baiting machine ( 1 ) which is rotatably connected relative to the baiting machine's ( 1 ) other main part ( 10) rotates against a spring force. 3. A baiting machine according to claims 1 -2, characterized in that each of the baiting machine's ( 1 ) main parts ( 10. 1 1 ) is provided with a transporting surface (6) for the head of the hook (5) in order to transport the hooks (5) through the baiting machine ( 1 ) to the bait (20). 4. A baiting machine according to claims 1 -3, characterized in that at the entrance to each of the transport surfaces (6) for the hooks (5) through the baiting machine ( 1 ) there is provided a slopingly extending upward path (4) which guides the head of the hook (5) when the hook (5) is rotated in the transition between the hook magazine (2) and the baiting machine ( 1 ). 5. A baiting machine according to claims 1 -4. characterized in that the hooks (5 ) rotate over a sloping surface (3 ) in the transition between the hook magazine (2) and the baiting machine ( 1 ). from a substantially vertical position for the shank of the hook ( 5) to a substantially horizontal position. 6. A baiting machine according to claims 1 -5. characterized in that parallel with at least parts of the transition between the hook magazine (2) and the baiting machine ( 1 ) there is mounted a guiding plate ( 13) which holds the shank of the hook (5 ) against the hook magazine's (2) contact surface during at least a part of the hooks' (5) rotational movement in the transition between the hook magazine (2) and the baiting machine ( 1 ). 7. A device for a baiting machine ( 1 ) where hooks (5) are pulled via snells through the baiting machine ( 1 ) by a main line towards a bait (20) which is passed to the hook's (5) transport path in the baiting machine ( 1), which device guides the hooks (5) along at least a part of the hooks' (5) transport path. characterized in that the hooks' transport path is substantially formed from two surfaces (6) arranged at a distance apart which is greater than the thickness of the hook's (5) material and the device consists of at least one spring-loaded ball body (8, 8') over at least one of the surfaces (6) which form the hooks' (5) transport path, whereupon the hooks (5) are pulled along their transport path with the head of the hook (5) in front in the hook's (5) direction of movement, the shank of the hook (5) located partly in the opening ( 12) between the transport surfaces (6) and the bend of the hook (5) guided by the spring-loaded ball body or bodies (8. 8'). 8. A device for a baiting machine according to claim 7. characterized in that ball-shaped bodies (8. 8') are provided in pairs facing each other over each of the transport surfaces (6). 9. A device for a baiting machine according to claim 8, characterized in that two or more successive opposing pairs of ball-shaped bodies (8. 8') are provided over the transport surfaces (6). substantially in the hook's direction of movement. 10. A device for a baiting machine according to each of the claims 7-9, characterized in that the ball-shaped bodies (8. 8') are locked by releasable lock rings in recesses in each of the baiting machine's ( 1 ) main parts ( 10. 1 1 ), thus enabling the ball bodies ( 8. 8') to be released for replacement. 1 1. A device for a baiting machine according to each of the claims 7- 10, characterized in that the ball-shaped bodies (8. 8') are formed from a cylindrical body with a hemispherical end. 12. A device for a baiting machine according to each of the claims 7- 1 1 , characterized in that the ball-shaped bodies (8. 8') are spring-loaded against the opening ( 12) which is formed between the two transport surfaces (6) for the hooks (5). 13. A device for a baiting machine according to each of the claims 7-12, characterized in that on one of the baiting machine's ( 1 ) main bodies ( 10, 1 1) there is provided a rail (9) and in a corresponding position on the opposite of the main bodies ( 10. 1 1 ) there is provided at least one spring-loaded ball body (8').

Inventors: SJAASTAD ANFINN, SJAASTAD, ANFINN
Applicants: SJAASTAD ANFINN, SJAASTAD IND AS, SJAASTAD INDUSTRIER AS, SJAASTAD, ANFINN
Application year: 2000
Main classification: A01K97
IPC codes: A01K91