Abstract:
In a fishing reel of the type in which the spool for receiving the fishing line is caused to more to and fro in the direction of its winding axis in response to a cam drive for driving a spindle attached to the spool, the cam drive including a guide part with a guide slot into which projects an eccentrically mounted cam stud, the guide slot is in the form of an elongated S in order to impart an acceleration to the spool at its reversing points, and thereby prevent formation of bulges at the sides of the spool during winding. The locations in the guide slot corresponding to reversing points of the spool are offset from a center line of the guide slots along a longitudinal axis of the slot in a direction perpendicular to the stroke direction, resulting in the above-described acceleration and also having the effect of increasing displacement of the cam drive mechanism in the stroke direction.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention concerns a fishing reel of the type including a spool for receiving the fishing line, the spool being moved to and fro in the direction of its winding axis (spool travel) by means of a cam drive, the cam drive including a gear, a cam stud eccentrically mounted on the gear, a guide plate mounted to the spool via a spindle, shaft, or the like, and a guide slot in the guide plate for engagement with the rotating cam stud to drive the spindle or shaft to and fro in its longitudinal direction. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A straight guide slot was offered in previously known designs for the above type of fishing reel. While such a design has been found practical for narrow spools, if the width of the spool must be made larger to permit more fishing line to be wound onto the same diameter of spool core, outwardly projecting bulges may form at the two end zones of the line winding because of changes in spool speed caused as the spool approaches the reversing positions of the spool travel path. The width must be further enlarged if the spool core diameter is to be made larger without thereby enlarging the spool diameter, i.e., the diameter of the outer line winding, because otherwise the line capacity would be decreased. The bulge formation takes place as the travel or stroke speed drops down to zero at the cam stud reversing positions, i.e., at the end positions of the reciprocating spool stroke, because the amount of line wound per unit time by the winding flange of the fishing line onto the spool will not decrease but remain constant, regardless of which position the spool assumes in the travel direction. When the fishing line plus bait is cast, the bulge causes the problem of “clinging”, i.e., the line cast from the spool drags along adjacent line turns. This leads to the so-called wig formation as the excess line dragged along by clinging hangs loose and tangles. In turn, this leads to delicate casting, subject to interference. 
     To avert the above drawbacks, a fishing line was proposed in  FIG. 4  of the German Gebrauchsmuster 70 06 743, in which the reciprocating spool assembly includes a cam drive guide slot curved in such a way that the stroke speed of the guide part increases at the reversing positions of the stroke path and at least partly drops at the side positions approximately half-way between the two reversing positions along the circular path of the cam stud so that the backward and forward stroke speeds of the guide part are nearly equal at the half-way positions. According to the description of the Gebrauchsmuster 70 06 743, a uniformly oscillating stroke, and thereby the desired rectilinear contour of the fishing line, is achieved. The guide slot provided for this purpose has a figure-8 curve, but the insides of the 8 do not touch and are spaced apart. 
     The figure-8 design suffers from a large axial play of the cam stud in the guide slot when at the end positions. Self-locking of the cam stud in the guide slot arises at these side positions or points. As a result, the cam stud jams and warps in the guide slot, and the force exerted by the drive gear on the cam stud when it is in the side positions cannot be converted into a corresponding motion of the guide slot and hence of the travel. In other words, at the guide slot side positions, axial play prevents continuity of the motion sequence for the cam stud in the slot. Accordingly, this previously known device is not practical. Other drawbacks are bulk and a comparatively slight travel. 
     The German Gebrauchsmuster 70 07 657 discloses a fishing reel as initially discussed herein in relation to the state of the art, with a rectilinear guide slot. In the illustrative embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4  of this document 70 07 657, a drive gear with an eccentric stud engages a rectilinear guide slot of an intermediate part in the form of a travel or stroke converter. This stroke converter in turn consists of a guide slot in the shape of a slight S and is entered by a pin of the spool spindle. Accordingly, the controlling force from the drive gear must be converted by means of two guide slots into a corresponding stroke of the spool spindle. 
     Drawbacks of this arrangement include friction along the two guide slots, which may lead to jamming and locking the system, high device complexity resulting in increased cost, and bulkiness resulting from use of an intermediate part. Therefore, the design of  FIGS. 3 and 4  of the German Gebrauchsmuster 70 07 657 is disadvantageous in comparison with a device wherein a single guide slot is provided in a single guide part affixed to the spool spindle. While a fishing-line reel with the line-drum remaining fixed is known from the German patent 917,528, the reel does not include an angled slot guide and only serves the specific function of allowing rotation the drive crank in one direction. Disadvantageously, the speed of the forward and backward spool strokes are different. This device precludes achieving neat and uniform winding contours. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an objective of the present invention to make possible the widening of a reciprocating spool for a fishing reel in a simple manner while precluding or minimizing formation of bulges during winding of the fishing line to such an extent that no “wig formation” shall take place when casting. 
     This objective is achieved by providing a spindle cam-drive guide slot which assumes the shape of an elongated S, the cam stud being located approximately centrally in the S when at the reversing positions of the spool, and in one of the end zones of the S when at the side positions. The longitudinal direction of the S sub-tends an angle, preferably a right angle, with respect to the direction of the spool stroke. As a result, when the spool passes from one reversing position to the next side position and from the side position to the next reversing position etc, continuously changing stroke speeds are communicated by the motion of the cam stud to the guide part. As a result a number of advantages are secured. The shape of the guide slot as an S and the angle of the guide slot, preferably an approximately fight angle with respect to the longitudinal travel direction, prevent axial play from arising and hence prevents self-locking of the motion of the cam stud in the zone of the side positions. A substantially longer stroke is achieved than in the figure-8 shaped guide slot of the Gebrauchsmuster 70 06 743. The device of the invention is more compact and always achieves continuous change of the stroke speeds, improving the quality and the shape of the line winding on the spool. Compared with the device of Gebrauchsmuster 70 07 657, the drawback of an intermediate part and of two guide slots is avoided. Moreover, the design complexity and bulk are substantially less in the invention than in the device of Gebrauchsmuster 70 07 657. Accordingly, a minimum of expenditure, especially with respect to manufacturing costs, allows widening of the spool without the danger of a damaging bulge being formed even though the amount of fishing line wound by the winding flange onto the spool always remains constant in time, i.e., will not match different stroke speeds. Handling of the invention is simple and will not be hampered by self-locking or axial play because the cam stud is able to slide to and fro in a problem-free manner within the curved or arcuate side walls formed by the S. 
     In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention, the segments of the sidewalls in which the cam stud is located before reversal of the spool stroke are shifted more substantially toward the direction of stroke than are the segments at or near the side positions. By appropriately sizing the resulting to-and-fro guidance of the cam stud, the changes in stroke speed can be arrived at in an especially simple and accurate manner. Further, by offsetting both walls of the guide slot at their midway zones, displacement in the direction of stroke is increased. Finally, further compactness of the guide part is achieved by mirror-inverting the letter S shape of the guide slot. 
     Additional advantages of the invention will be found in the in the description below and the associated drawings. Only those pans of the fishing reel required to understand the invention are shown in the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a spool with a cam drive according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a partial side view of the cam drive in the direction of the arrow II of  FIG. 1 , and is shown on a scale enlarged with respect to FIG.  1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a guide slot of the type discussed in German Gebrauchsmuster 70 07 657. 
         FIG. 4  shows the path of the cam stud of  FIG. 3  from one reversing position to the opposite reversing position, at 15° intervals. 
         FIG. 5  is a sketch of the travel of the cam stud of  FIG. 4  in one guide slot of FIG.  3 . 
         FIG. 6  shows a guide slot for the preferred spool and cam drive of  FIG. 1 , on an enlarged scale. 
         FIG. 7  is also on a somewhat larger scale and shows the revolution of a cam stud in the guide slot of  FIG. 6  by a full 360° with a corresponding number of intermediate cam stud positions. 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram of the travel corresponding to the revolution of the cam stud of  FIG. 7  in a guide slot of  FIG. 6  by a full 360°. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  shows a fishing reel according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, with several conventional pans omitted for illustrative purposes. Spool  1  is moved by the spindle  2  in a to-and-fro direction of travel  3 — 3  by means of the cam drive which is described in detail below. At the same time, the fishing line or cord winding  4  is wound on the spool  1 , by means of a reel winding flange. The winding flange is not shown in the drawings because it is conventional and well-known. The width of the cord winding  4  is denoted by b. If this width b exceeds a certain value, then projecting bulges  5  may be formed in the designs of the known cam drives at the sides of the cord winding  4 , as discussed above. When casting the: cord in the direction of the arrow  6 , the described wig formation may ensue on account of dragging along the adjacent turns of the fishing cord. The attempt therefore is made either to entirely avoid these bulges  5 , that is, in the ideal case to make a cylindrical winding as shown by the surface  7  of the winding  4 , or at least to so reduce the magnitude of the bulges  5  to reduce the danger of wig formation. The spool-core diameter is denoted by  7 ′. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show that when the handcrank  8  is rotated, a shaft  9  will drive a pinion  10  meshing with a larger gear  11  of the cam drive. Thereby the rotation of the handcrank  8  is reduced by the gears  10 / 11 , i.e., the gear  11  rotates correspondingly more slowly than the handcrank  8 . A cam stud  13  is affixed to gear  11  eccentrically to its axis of rotation  12 , the cam stud  13  entering a guide slot  14  of a guide part  15 . The guide part  15  is affixed to the spindle  2  by an attachment  16  at least to such an extent that it is able to displace this spindle in the travel direction  3 — 3  on account of the cam motion discussed below. For this purpose two locking rings  17  rigidly joined to the spindle  2  or the like, which rest on both sides against the attachment  16  of the guide part  15  may be used. Where called for, this design allows rotation of the spindle  2  about its own longitudinal center line. Such a design of the spindle as a rotatable shaft is required in the case a spool brake is present on the spool side away from the fishing-reel housing. Otherwise, the spindle  2  and the spool  1  can be joined not only for being driven in the travel direction  3 — 3 , but also for being driven rotationally jointly about their longitudinal center line. This longitudinal center line coincides with the winding axis of the spool  1 . 
       FIGS. 3 through 5  illustrate the state of the art, in which the guide slot is a rectilinear guide slot  23  entered by a cam stud  24 . The displacement of the cam stud  24  from position B, through position A, into position D and from there through position  24 C again into position  24 B is plotted in FIG.  5 . The significance of these positions A, B, C and D is further discussed below in relation to the invention. The abscissa is the length of the travel and the ordinate shows the associated angular positions ( FIG. 4 ) of the cam stud. It is clear that in the vicinity of positions B and D, a cam-stud displacement over an are of 30°-40° causes much less travel than at the center, that is, on both sides of positions A and C. The curve from B through A to D coincides with the curve from D through C to B. 
     In contrast,  FIGS. 6 through 8  illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention wherein, just as in  FIGS. 3-5 , the stoke direction  3 — 3  is shown, which, on account of the drawing, is rendered horizontally. However, for the sake of clarity, gear  11  and the guide part  15  with attachment  16  are omitted from this Figure. Cam-stud positions A, B, C, D shown in  FIGS. 6-8  correspond to those shown in  FIGS. 3-5 , and denote the positions assumed by the cam stud  13  and the gear  11  rigidly joined to it at each 90° division of a complete revolution of gear  11 . Positions B and D are the travel reversing positions and positions A and C are the two side positions. Each time the cam stud travels from one position to the next, it crosses 90°. Because the gear  11  rotates about its shaft  12 , which is rigidly joined to the housing of the fishing reel (FIGS.  1 , 2 ), and therefore cannot be displaced relative to the fishing-reel housing  19 , and because the cam stud  13  moves in the guide slot  14  of the guide part  15 , a complete 360° revolution of the gear  11  results, by means of the shaft or spindle  2 , in a complete to-and-fro motion of the spool. In position B, the spindle  2  together with the spool  1  assumes the first reversing position, wherein the spool  1  is displaced as far as possible from the fishing-reel housing (upward in FIG.  1 ). Following a 90°-rotation of gear  11  in the direction of the arrow  18 , the first side position A is reached and the spool assumes a middle position. Following another rotation of gear  11  by about 90°, the second reversing position is reached, at which point the spool is nearest the fishing-reel housing. After another rotation of about 90°, the second side and middle position C has been reached, and after further rotation of the gear  11  by about 90°, the position B of the first reversing position is reached. 
       FIG. 6  shows in detail a design of the guide slot  14 . The positions assumed by the cam stud  13  in the locations A, B, C and D inside the guide slot  14  are correspondingly marked. Point B is not directly located on the center line whose direction coincides with the stroke direction  3 — 3  and which is transverse to the longitudinal direction of the slot. Rather, point B is offset from this center line by about 20° in the direction of the arrow  18 . As a result, the cam stud on segment  25  of the sidewall  14 ′ of this guide slot imparts a corresponding speed to the guide part in the direction of the arrow  26  (also see this direction of displacement in FIG.  1 ), in order to increase the travel speed in this zone. The reversing position has been reached at point B. As the gear  11  rotates further, the cam stud no longer presses against the sidewall  14 ′ but against the opposite sidewall  14 ″ of the guide slot, starting at about the position  27 , in order to then pass through the zone  28  to arrive at point: A, i.e., the first side position. As the gear keeps on rotating, the cam stud moves along the sidewall  14 ″ and back through the zone  28  and further through the zone  29  until reaching position D, i.e., the second reversing position. It is clear that in the last segment of the zone  29 , before reaching the reversing position D, the travel speed is again increased. In position D or shortly thereafter a transition takes place (just as the transition from B past the position  27 ), in that the cam-stud once more rests against the sidewall  14 ′, approximately at position  30 , from where the stroke proceeds through the segment  31  to C, i.e., the second side position. From there the stroke goes back through the segment  31 , the further segment  32 , and then the segment  25  of the sidewall  14 ′ to position B. 
     The curved guidance discussed above and shown in  FIG. 6  is such that when passing from position B to position A, there takes place some acceleration (also see the plot of FIG.  8 ), so that in the further transition from position A to position D the stroke decelerates somewhat, and again during the return from position D to position C this stroke accelerates, and lastly decelerates somewhat again from position C to position B. This is shown by the plot of  FIG. 8 , where the stroke as a function of the particular angular position of the gear does not result in coincident curves from B to D and back, but instead curves which are somewhat apart. To further make plain the kinematics of this design, two abscissas are shown, namely an upper abscissa with the strokes related to the particular angular positions from B through A to D and a lower abscissa for the displacement from D through C to B. By providing the desired motion, the preferred design prevents formation of bulges  5 , or permits fomation of bulges which are so little that they can be neglected. Acceleration of travel near the reversing points B and D is achieved on the one hand, and on the other hand, a lesser stroke speed is achieved in the zones near A and C. 
     Yet another effect is achieved by the invention. Whereas the stroke path h of the state of the art is double the spacing between the cam stud  13  and the center point  12  of the gear  11 , in the preferred embodiment the stroke path is increased by 2h′. This follows from the fact that when the cam stud is moved toward the point B at the sidewall  14 ′, this sidewall is additionally displaced by h′ in the direction of travel.  FIG. 6  shows the associated displacement of the cam stud  13  when it is being rotated about the center of the gear  11 . In the upper one of the two positions shown by dashed lines, the cam stud clearly has pressed the guide part by a distance h′ in the travel direction  3 — 3 , namely to the left. This displacement by h′ will take place when the cam stud  13  is sliding, for instance, in the zone  29  along the other sidewall  14 ″ of the guide slot  14  toward point D. In that case the guide part is displaced by h′ in the travel direction  3 — 3  to the right. Accordingly the total travel path is h+2h+. This effect of the invention moreover can be achieved both when rotating the gear  11  in the direction of arrow  18  and in the opposite direction. 
     It should be borne in mind that the curved shape of the guide slot  14  must be selected in such manner that it is not always identical with the circular motion of the cam stud around the axis  12  of the gear  11 , because otherwise no travel would be possible.  FIG. 6  shows furthermore that the tangents TA and TC to the segments  20 ,  21  of the guide slot  14  receiving the cam stud  13  in the side positions A and C subtend an angle α with the travel direction  3 — 3 , which is less than the angle β subtended by the tangents TB and TD of the sidewalls  14 ′,  14 ″ in their segments  22 ,  22 ′, wherein the cam stud  13  is in the reversing positions B and D respectively. The above angles preferably are α=40°-50° (45° in the embodiment shown) and β=70°-75° (72.5° in the illustrated embodiment). An angle which is always smaller than 90° is thereby provided between the particular tangents TB, TA, TD and TC extending in the stroke direction, and the stroke direction  3 — 3 . As a result, the stroke caused upon rotating the gear  11  by the cam stud  13  over the particular sidewall  14 ′ or  14 ″, and by the guide part  15  on the spindle  2 , is less per unit time in the segments  20 ,  21  than in the segments  22 ,  22 ′. 
     Preferably, the guide slot  14  is formed in the shape of an elongated letter S ( FIGS. 1 ,  6 ), with a lack of geometric congruence, for reasons apparent from the above discussion, between arcuate zones of the guide slot and the path of the cam stud about the origin of the circle described by the gear. The sidewalls  14 ′,  14 ″ may be either rectilinear or, as in this preferred embodiment, arcuate along this S, averting abrupt transitions such as edges or corners. The positions B and D of the cam stud are located approximately at the center of the S, whereas the positions A and C of the cam stud are located in the end zones of the S. The longitudinal direction of the S is at an angle, preferably a right angle to the stroke direction  3 — 3 . This angular position of the longitudinal direction of the S to the stroke direction  3 — 3  and the curved shape of the side walls  14 ′,  14 ″ are so dimensioned that the sidewall  14 ′ facing the spool moves away from the spool  3  as it approaches this point B, and furthermore the sidewall  14 ″ nears the spool  3  as it moves toward point D when it is in its zone  29  in front of point D, resulting in an additional travel h′ as described above. Finally, in order to achieve maximum compactness, the S is preferably arranged in mirror-inverted form, as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 6 . 
     It will of course be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications of the preferred embodiment as described in detail herein are possible. It is intended, therefore, that the invention not be limited by the above description, but rather that it be limited solely by the appended claims.