Abstract:
Implementations for fly reel are generally disclosed. The implementations include various methods and apparatus for automatically adjusting and managing drag associated with the fly reel.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section. 
     Fly reels may be typically operated by stripping line off the reel with one hand, while casting the rod with the other hand. Early fly reels often had no drag at all, but merely a click/pawl mechanism intended to keep the reel from overrunning when line was pulled from the spool. To slow a fish, the angler simply applied hand pressure to the rim of the revolving spool (known as “palming the rim”). Later, these click/pawl mechanisms were modified to provide a limited adjustable drag. 
     Modern fly reels typically have more sophisticated disc-type drag systems made of composite materials that feature increased adjustment range, consistency, and resistance to high temperatures from drag friction. Most of these fly reels also feature large-arbor spools designed to reduce line memory, maintain consistent drag and assist the quick retrieval of slack line in the event a hooked fish makes a sudden run towards the angler. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with the disclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an example fly reel that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded side view of an example fly reel that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an exploded perspective view of an example fly reel that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a cross sectional side view of an example fly reel taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1  that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a cross sectional side view of an example fly reel taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 1  that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a cross sectional perspective view of an example fly reel taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 1  that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following description, various embodiments will be disclosed. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced with all or only some of the disclosed subject matter. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers and/or configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other approaches and/or components. In other instances, well-known structures and/or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring the embodiments. Furthermore, it is understood that the embodiments shown in the figures are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an example fly reel that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated example, a fly reel  100  is shown that is operable for use in fly fishing. 
     In the illustrated example, a brake dial  101  may be located on an outer rim  102  of fly reel  100 . Brake dial  101  may be rotatably associated with a main body  107  of fly reel  100 . Brake dial  101 , in operation with other components described in greater detail below, may be configured to increase or decrease drag on line released from fly reel  100  when rotated. 
     A line guide  113  may be located on outer rim  102  of fly reel  100 . Line guide  113  may be fixably associated with main body  107  of fly reel  100 . Line guide  113  may be configured to guide line into and out of fly reel  100  so as to prevent line tangling and/or uneven spooling of line. 
     A foot  114  may be located on outer rim  102  of fly reel  100 . Foot  114  may be fixably associated with main body  107  of fly reel  100 . Foot  114  may be configured to removably attach main body  107  to a fishing pole (not shown). 
     A spool  115  may be located on one side  118  of fly reel  100 . Spool  115  may be rotatably associated with main body  107  of fly reel  100 . Spool  115  may be configured to release and/or gather line into and out of fly reel  100  and store such line on spool  115 . As will be described in greater detail below, spool  115  may be configured to removably attach to main body  107 . 
     A handle  119  may be located on outer rim  102  of one side  118  of fly reel  100 . Handle  119  may be rotatably associated to spool  115 . Handle  119  may be configured to transfer manual input from a user to spool  115  so as to rotate spool  115  to release and/or gather into and out of fly reel  100 . 
     A release  120  may be located on an open inner rim  121  of fly reel  100 . Release  120  be rotatably associated with main body  107  of fly reel  100 . Release  120 , in operation with other components described in greater detail below, may be configured to removably attach spool  115  to main body  107  when rotated. Open inner rim  121  may include an aperture that passes completely through fly reel  100 . 
     For example, release  120  may be operatively associated with one or more jaw fasteners  122 . Jaw fasteners  122  may be located on side  118  of fly reel  100 . Jaw fasteners  122 , in operation with other components described in greater detail below, may be configured to removably attach spool  115  to main body  107  in response to release  120  being rotated. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates an exploded side view of an example fly reel that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated example, fly reel  100  may include a brake assembly  201 . Brake assembly  201  may include brake dial  101  and/or other components described in greater detail below, which may be configured to increase or decrease drag on line released from fly reel  100  when rotated. For example, brake assembly  201  may include a pressure pin  202 , one or more brake pads  203 , a spacer  204 , the like, and/or combinations thereof. 
     As discussed above, spool  115  may be rotatably associated with main body  107  of fly reel  100 . For example, spool  115  may be rotatably associated with main body  107  of fly reel  100  via a disk  206 . Disk  206  may be rotatably coupled to main body  107 . The interaction between brake assembly  201  and disk  206  are discussed in greater detail below with regard to  FIG. 5 . 
     Jumping ahead to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  illustrates a cross sectional side view of an example fly reel taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 1  that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated example, how freely disk  206  may rotate with respect to main body  107  may be adjusted by brake assembly  201 . For example one or more of brake pads  203  may contact one or more surfaces of disk  206 . In the illustrated example, brake pads  203  may be positioned to contact a top side and bottom side of disk  206 . 
     Pressure pin  202  may be received within a slot  502  of dial  101 . Spacer  204  may be positioned between pressure pin  202  and at least one of brake pads  203 . 
     In operation, brake assembly  201  may be configured to increase or decrease drag on line released from fly reel  100 . For example, when a user rotates brake dial  101 , brake dial  101  may press against pressure pin  202 . Pressure pin may in response press against one or more of brake pads  203  (such as via spacer  204 , for example). Accordingly, as brake dial  101  is rotated, one or more of brake pads  203  may increase or decrease drag of disk  206 . As will be described in greater detail below with regard to  FIG. 6 , the increase or decrease drag of disk  206  may be transferred to spool  115 , and through spool to line released from fly reel  100 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  illustrates a cross sectional side view of an example fly reel taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1 , which is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated example, fly reel  100  may include a sleeve  208 , bearings  209 , and/or an assembly cage  210 . Sleeve  208  may hold one of portion of bearings  209  associated with disc  206  so that disc  206  may freely rotate. Another portion of bearings  209  may be positioned adjacent assembly cage  210  so that assembly cage  210  may freely rotate. 
     Line guide  113 , illustrated in greater detail here, may include a left-hand groove and a right-hand groove,  402  and  404  respectively. Left-hand groove  402  may be configured to guide line into and out of fly reel  100  so as to prevent line tangling and/or uneven spooling of line during left-handed operation. Similarly, right-hand groove  404  may be configured to guide line into and out of fly reel  100  so as to prevent line tangling and/or uneven spooling of line during right-handed operation. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 2 , in the illustrated example, fly reel  100  may include a release assembly  220 . Release assembly  220  may be configured to removably attach spool  115  to main body  107 . Release assembly  220  may include any number of components, including, for example, release  120 , jaw fasteners  122 , a jaw retainer  221 , the like, and/or combinations thereof. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  illustrates an exploded view of an example fly reel that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosures. Jaw retainer  221  may be operatively associated with release  120  and jaw fasteners  122 . For example, jaw retainer  221  may include one or more cam slots  321  adapted to slidably receive a portion of jaw fasteners  122 . In operation, rotation of release  120  may rotate jaw retainer  221  so that cam slots  321  loosen or tighten jaw fasteners  122  to removably attach spool  115  to main body  107 . 
     Jumping now to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  illustrates a cross sectional perspective view of an example fly reel taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 1  that is arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure. In the illustrated example, fly reel  100  may include a cam assembly  620 . Cam assembly  620  may be configured to removably attach assembly cage  210  to disc  206 . Cam assembly may be configured to allow rotary motion of disc  206  (e.g., and thereby rotary motion of spool  115 ) in only one direction while hindering motion in the opposite direction. 
     In some examples, switching the left/right handedness of fly reel  100  may be accomplished by removing and flipping the orientation of cam  227  (see e.g.,  FIG. 2 ) and cam guide  228  as a unit. 
     Cam assembly  620  may include any number of components, including, for example, a cam sleeve  225 , a cam housing  226 , a cam  227 , a cam guide  228 , the like, and/or combinations thereof. For example, cam  227  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 2 ) may be received within cam housing  226 . Cam housing  226  may be coupled to disc  206  via cam guide  228  and/or cam sleeve  225 . 
     The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components. 
     With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity. 
     It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.” 
     References throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner. Various operations may be described as multiple discrete steps in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. 
     While there has been illustrated and/or described what are presently considered to be example embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, and/or equivalents may be substituted, without departing from the true scope of claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter without departing from subject matter that is claimed. Therefore, it is intended that the patent not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that it covers all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.