Abstract:
Disclosed is a live bait keeper having a cornerless interior and dynamic flow of ambient water through it for freshening the water and protecting bait against harm when the holder is in water. The holder has a hollow, disc-shaped keeper body having forward and aft ends and cornerless interior space. The keeper is buoyant. A top hatch accesses the interior where bait is held. In use, ports on the top-portion of the keeper vent air and water from the interior, and bottom-ports disposed toward the forward-end of the keeper allow water to enter the interior. A tether attachment is disposed on the bottom-portion at the forward end below the neutral buoyancy plane of the keeper body, and as a tether maintains the forward end into the wind and/or current, the keeper rocks fore and aft forcing water into the bottom-ports to provide dynamic water flow into the bait holder.

Description:
The present application claims the benefit of prior filed U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 13/719,356 filed 19 Dec. 2012 to which the present application is a continuation-in-part utility application. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the field of fishing (Class  43 ), and relates to holders (subclass  54 . 1 ) comprising a receptacle specifically designed for use in fishing for holding the bait. Specifically, the present invention relates to live bait holders (subclass  55 ) designed to keep such bait in a fresh condition. More specifically, the invention relates to live bait holders including some means for freshening the water, and for protecting the live bait against special harm when the holder is placed in water (subclass  56 ). 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a dynamic flow live bait holder for in water use. The bail holder is “dynamic flow” in that it is adapted to utilize motion of the holder while in use to pump ambient water into the bait holder and internal water out, as a means for freshening the internal water. Additionally, the present live bait holder has an interior/receptacle space for holding the bait which has no internal corners. The corner-less interior space is a feature that provides for protecting the live bait against certain kinds of harm when the holder is placed in water. 
     The present dynamic flow live bait keeper comprises a keeper body, which is a hollow and buoyant disc-shaped housing for containing the bait. The body or housing is formed of two concave disc shaped members faced together. The disc shaped member form the top and bottom portions of the keeper body, and define the interior space. Substantially, the keeper body has no definable sides joined at an angle in the interior space. The largest cross-section of the interior space is substantially oblong and of sufficient dimensions to allow the bait fish to swim without bunching up (e.g., in corners). The corner-less feature of the interior space facilitates the object of the present invention of protecting the live bait against harm when the bait holder is placed in water by allowing the bait to be able to swim in a continuous course and to avoid bunching up against walls and corners in the receptacle space. 
     The present live bait holder has water &amp; air vent-ports disposed on the keeper body. Top-ports are positioned on the top-portion of the keeper body to vent air and allow excess water to escape from the interior space, and bottom-ports are positioned on the bottom-portion of the keeper body primarily to allow water to enter the interior space of the keeper body. It is a feature of the present invention that there be bottom-ports, and that the bottom-ports are positioned toward the forward-end of the bottom-portion of the keeper body to allow water to enter the interior space. A hatch assembly is disposed on the top-portion of the keeper body and is operable to provide access to the interior space of the bait holder. A tether attachment is disposed on the forward end of the bottom-portion of the keeper body. When in use in the water (e.g., tethered to the angler or to a boat), the bait holder maintains its forward end into a wind and/or a current at a surface of the water. 
     Generally, the buoyancy of the present live bait holder is adjusted so that at neutral buoyancy, its draft D when placed in water is proximate the plane of the keeper body&#39;s largest interior cross-section L. Buoyancy can easily be adjusted by a user by the addition of weight to a desired place on/in the keeper body. It is also a feature of the present invention that the forward-end of the top portion of the keeper body curves downward. This feature serves to more forcefully drive the forward-end downward when the forward-end gets submerged in a current, to increase the pressure driving ambient water into the bottom-ports in the bottom-portion of the keeper body. Additionally, a porpoise weight can be disposed near the front end of the keeper body to promote movement of the forward-end of the keeper body with a rising and falling motion in response to the wind and current at the surface of the water. This motion helps to force water through the bottom-ports and into the interior space of the keeper body, to provide the dynamic flow of ambient water into the present live bait holder. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a top plan schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of the dynamic flow live bait holder. 
         FIG. 1B  is a bottom plan schematic view of the exemplary embodiment of the dynamic flow live bait holder of  FIG. 1A . Note that the bottom vent ports are disposed toward the forward-end of the bait holder. 
         FIG. 2A  is a side elevation cross-sectional view of the exemplary dynamic flow live bait holder illustrating a foam rubber type stripe as a buoyancy enhancing means and showing a front porpoise weight. 
         FIG. 2B  is a side elevation cross-sectional view of the exemplary dynamic flow live bait holder illustrating a forward-end weighting means (“porpoise weight”). 
         FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of the exemplary dynamic flow live bait holder at neutral buoyancy. 
         FIG. 4A  is a side elevation cross-sectional view of an exemplary dynamic flow live bait holder illustrating the forward end of the bait holder raised in the water due to the relative motion of the holder to the water. 
         FIG. 4B  is a side elevation cross-sectional view of the exemplary dynamic flow live bait holder subsequent to the situation of  FIG. 4A , illustrating the front end of the bait holder under the water due to the forward-end of the holder overcoming the force of the relative motion of the holder to the water, thus causing the forward end to forcibly return the water. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings, the details of preferred embodiments of the present invention are graphically and schematically illustrated. Like elements in the drawings are represented by like numbers, and any similar elements are represented by like numbers with a different lower case letter suffix. The present invention is an in the water, dynamic flow live bait holder  10 . The “dynamic flow” feature of the bait keeper  10  derives from the structural elements of the bait keeper  10  and their interaction when the bait keeper is placed in water, as will be explained below. 
     As exemplified in  FIGS. 1A &amp; 1B , the dynamic flow bait holder has a keeper body  20  which is a hollow and buoyant, and substantially disc-shaped container. The keeper body  20  has a forward end  12 , and an aft end  14  as well as a top-portion  22  and a bottom-portion  26 . In the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the bottom-portion  26  of the forward end  12  has a tether attachment means  16 . Additionally, the top-portion  22  of the keeper body  20  has a closeable hatch assembly  30 , which allows access to a “corner-less” interior space  42  of the body  20 . The interior space  42  of the keeper body  20  is “corner-less” in that a perimeter around the largest dimension L of the interior space  42  is curved (and substantially circular) and there are no corners (i.e., sharp angles) in the interior space  42 . This is an important structural feature of the present invention, which helps live bait to be able to avoid bunching up (at a corner) and to keep swimming. The keeper body  20  also has a number of vent ports  24  on its top-portion  22  and bottom-portion  26 , which allow water flow between the interior space  42  and the environment outside of the keeper body  20 . 
     As illustrated in  FIGS. 2A &amp; 2B , the keeper body  20  has a hatch opening  31  through its top-portion  22 , which opening enables a user to access the interior space  42  of the bait keeper  10 . The hatch assembly  30  is disposed on the top-portion  22  of the keeper body  20  to allow the hatch opening  31  to be closed to prevent bait from escaping from the interior space  42  of the keeper body  20 . The hatch assembly  30  includes a hatch door  32 , a hinging means  36  attaching the hatch assembly  30  to the keeper body  20 , and a latch  34  for securing the hatch door  32  closed. The interior space  42  of the keeper body  20  is “corner-less” in that a perimeter around the largest dimension L of the interior space  42  is curved (and substantially circular) and there are no corner spaces (sharp angles) in the interior space  42 . This is an important structural feature of the present invention which helps live bait to be able to avoid bunching up (at a corner) and to keep swimming, which helps to keep the bait fresh longer. It is this feature that defines the substantially circular and oval shape of the bait keeper  10 . 
     In use, the present dynamic flow live bait keeper  10  is placed in the water where a person (such as a fisherman) intends to use it. The bait keeper  10  is buoyant and floats in the water (see  FIG. 3 ). Once the bait holder  10  is placed in the water, it will fill with water to its neutral buoyancy level. Live bait is placed into the interior space  42  of the keeper body  20  through the hatch door  32  and the hatch door closed. Similarly, bait may be removed from the bait holder  10  as desired by the user. One end of a tether line  18  is attached to the tether attachment  16  of the keeper body  20 . The other end of the line  18  is attached to the fisherman his/herself, to a fishing boat or watercraft, or to something stationary in the water. The force  54  of the wind, or current in the water, or the motion the bait keeper  10  over the water takes the bait keeper  10  to the end of the tether line  18 . Selection of an appropriate composition and length of tether line ( 18 ) is readily accomplishable by a fisherman of ordinary skill in the art. Once the forces  54  on the bait keeper  10  take it to the end of the tether line  18 , the forward end  12  of the keeper body  20  points into the force(s) acting on it. Optionally, a skeg  56  may be added to the bottom-portion  26  of the keeper body  20  to facilitate keeping the forward end  12  pointed into the force  54  acting on the keeper body  20 . 
     Once the bait keeper  10  is taken to the end of the tether line  18 , the force  54  continues to act on it. Even very small forces, such as ripples and swells in the water, or movement of the fisherman or watercraft, will cause the keeper body  20  to rock back and forth (i.e., to porpoise forward end to aft end) in the water. The keeper body  20  of the bait holder  10  may be disposed to float level in still water, but preferable it floats in still water with a slight forward end down tilt. In a preferred embodiment as shown in the figures, the forward end  12  is heavier than the aft end  14  to accomplish a nose or forward end down tilt to the bait holder  10 . The nose down tilt disposition of the forward end  12  can be accomplished by having the front end  12  of the keeper body  20  have a thickness that is greater than the thickness anywhere else on the keeper body  20 , as shown in  FIGS. 2A &amp; 2B . Alternatively or additionally, a porpoise weight  50  can be added to the front end  12 . In the figures, the porpoise weight  50  is a denser-than-water putty or resin applied to the inside wall of the interior space  42 , proximate the forward end  12 . Molding the porpoise weight  50  into the wall of the front end  12  and/or using a dense putty as the porpoise weight  50  both have the advantage of maintaining the “corner-less” element of the interior space  42  of the keeper body  20 . Other weighting means are known to and selectable by one of ordinary skill in the art for practice in the present invention that do not compromise the “corner-less” element of the keeper body  20 . For example, a fin or skeg (not shown) could be added to the front end  12  of the keeper body  20  to add weight to the front end  12  and to help stabilize the keeper body in line with the direction of the force  54  on it. 
     The degree of nose (forward end  12 ) down tilt can be adjusted by a user by adding or removing a buoyancy means to the bait holder  10 .  FIG. 2A  illustrates such a buoyancy means  52  in the form of a closed-cell foam strip fixed to the inside wall of the interior space  42 . Other weighting and buoyancy adjustment means are known to and selectable by one of ordinary skill in the art for practice in the present invention. 
     The “dynamic” limitation of the present live bait holder  10  refers to the water pumping action of the keeper body  20  as it rises and fall (porpoises) in the water. In the embodiment illustrated, the point of attachment of the other end (not shown) of the tether line  18  is disposed so that when the bait holder  10  tugs at the end of the tether line  18 , the front end  12  of the keeper body  20  tends to rise up out of the water. See  FIG. 4A . This can be accomplished by attaching the other end of the tether line  18  to a point that is out of the water. The benefit of the dynamic limitation of the bait holder  10  derives from the fact that in open water a floating object is almost never still. And as noted above, even very small forces, such as ripples and swells in the water, or small movement of the fisherman or boat will cause the keeper body  20  to rock back and forth or to porpoise in the water. 
     As the bait holder  10  rocks back and forth in the water, the front end  12  of the of the keeper body  20  rises out of the water as in  FIG. 4A . Due to the weight of the keeper body front end  12  and because the kinetic energy of the water contained within the interior space  42  is greater than the water outside the keeper body  20 , the bait holder  10  is no longer neutrally buoyant in the water. This is not withstanding that some of the interior water flows out of the bait holder  10  through the bottom-portion ports  24   b . The increase in the kinetic energy of the front end  12  of the keeper body  20  due to its mass and the water it contains causes the front end  12  to forcibly reenter the water. As the front end  12  enters the water (it tends to pass through the neutral buoyancy level of the keeper body  20 ), the bottom-portion ports  24   b  submerge below the surface of the water. See  FIG. 4B . Water then enters the interior space  42  of the keeper body, replacing an amount of the water that had flowed out of the interior space  42  when the front end  12  of the of the keeper body  20  was out of the water. The top-portion vent ports  24   a  vent displaced air and excess water from the interior space  42  and minimize potential water pressure build-up in the interior space  42  regardless of the water pressure outside of the bait holder  10 . The vent-ports  24   a  are positioned on the keeper body  20  away from the aft-end  14  to avoid a venturi effect caused by air and/or water passing over the ports from excessively sucking water from the interior space  42 . As the front end  12  returns toward neutral buoyancy, excess water in the interior space  42  flows out through the bottom-portion ports  24   b.    
     In the above manner, as the present dynamic flow live bait holder  10  rocks or porpoises back and forth in the water, some portion of the water contained in its interior space  42  is removed and replaced with fresh water. Consequently, the water in the interior space  42  is constantly refreshed. Additionally, the water pressure in the interior space  42  is relative constant and substantially independent of the water outside of the bait holder  10  even when the force  54  is relatively high, as when the bait holder  10  is being towed behind a boat. The constant pressure feature of the present live bait holder  10  is an advantage that helps keep live bait fresh. 
     While the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of one or another preferred embodiment thereof Many other variations are possible, which would be obvious to one skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents, and not just by the embodiments.