Abstract:
A decoy rig is disclosed having a number of individual decoys deployed at intervals along the length of a shaft, and oriented around the diameter of a shaft. The decoys may be deployed at an angle relative to vertical. In operation, the individual decoys are caused to move by external forces, such as wind, water current or tide, or other forces, thus causing rotational movement by the individual decoys, effectively simulating the resting and feeding action of the decoy&#39;s live counterparts.

Description:
[0001]    The present invention relates to the general field of decoy configuration and specifically relates to a group of decoys, such as waterfowl, configured to rotate and dive, thus accurately simulate the natural motion of their live counter parts.  
         BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    Decoys have been used for years by hunters and other naturalist seeking to attract live animals such as waterfowl using artificial means. Various sporting goods companies, such as Herter&#39;s, offer for sale a wide variety of such decoys ranging from silhouettes, to full-bodied decoys, to Wind socks. When in use, these decoys are often deployed in “spreads”, meaning that a number of individual decoys are deployed together to simulate the gathering of a flock of waterfowl.  
           [0003]    As the design and use of decoys has advanced over the years, decoys have been developed with various mechanical or electrical attributes to help the decoys simulate the motion of their live counterparts. The thought being that decoys in motion will be more realistic and thus more effective in attracting their targets than fixed or static decoys. Live waterfowl, such as ducks, for example, often land on the water in large flocks and dive into the water in search of food. Typical ways used to effect motion in decoys include the use of swinging pendulums attached to the base of the decoy to cause the decoy to rock, resulting in motion in not only the decoy, but also in the surrounding water. Decoys have also been provided with electrical or battery-powered motors that, when activated, vibrate to cause ripples around the decoy, spin wings to simulate flapping, move feet that splash, or push the decoy through the water.  
           [0004]    While such known motion decoys have been used for some time, known designs typically suffer from various drawbacks. From a construction perspective, such known designs are often complex, heavy, or otherwise undesirable to the user who must deploy in the field. Moreover, the use of the electrical supplements to cause decoy motion suffer not only from high costs, but also from exposure to the elements, such as salt water, and short battery life made worse by cold weather, causing reduced life span of the decoys. From a performance view point, known motion decoys designed to imitate the natural motion of their live counterparts, typically fail to do so. The existing motion decoys that do look natural, use ripples to do so, and are only effective on still water. In addition due to their bulk, cost of batteries, cost of each decoy, awkwardness to transport, making it impractical to use more than a few of these decoys in a spread.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    To address the foregoing deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention is a rotating diving decoy rig which simulates the natural motion and action of its live counterparts and which is low in cost, simple in construction, and lasting in performance. More specifically, in accordance with present invention, there&#39;s provided a rotating diving decoy rig comprising a series of silhouette waterfowl decoys attached to a shaft at the bottom of each decoy. The decoys are distributed around the diameter and along the length of the shaft for balance, and at an angle to the axis of the shaft similar to the blades on a propeller. The rig floats at the surface of the water with approximate half of the decoys above and half below the surface. When the wind blows, the water flows, or the rig is pulled through the water, the rig rotates simulating a series of waterfowl diving. If the tide or water flow is against the wind, a booster propeller that is preferably about neutral buoyancy can be attached to the trailing end of the rig to overcome the opposing wind and boost rotation. Swivels (Standard fishing or other type) are used to prevent twisting of the anchor lines. The rig can also be mechanically driven by any device that can rotate the shaft such as a hand crank, battery powered drill, or other motor, in which case the decoys may be perpendicular to the shaft, and balance is not as critical. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a side operational view of the rotating diving decoy rig in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a section view of the rotating diving decoy rig shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 consists of 3 sheets and shows examples of ways to configure a drive motor to drive the rig. There are many other ways to use a motor or crank to turn the rig, the point being that the rig can be driven by the shaft turning the decoys instead of wind or water movement causing the decoys to drive the shaft.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4, Sections and Details, shows an example of a method of constructing the end of the shaft  104 , and examples of methods of constructing the coupling device  106  and attaching the decoy  102  to the shaft  104 . These are for reference only since there are numerous ways to construct these subcomponents or achieve there function. FIG. 4 consists of 4 sheets. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0010]    Turning first to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a side operational view of the decoy rig  100  in accordance with the present invention. Decoy rig  100  comprises a plurality of individual decoys  102  mechanically coupled to a shaft  104  by a coupling device  106 . Preferably, one end of shaft,  104  is connected to a swivel  114  and an anchor by means of an anchor line  112 . The other end of the shaft  104  may be connected to a booster propeller  108  as discussed in more detail below.  
         [0011]    Decoy rig  100  and individual decoys  102  may simulate any type of live counterpart in accordance with the present invention. As shown herein, by means of example only, decoy spread  100  and individual decoys  102  are typically waterfowl, such as geese or ducks. Any number of individual decoys  102  may be comprise decoy rig  100  in accordance with present invention, but the inventor has found that four decoys  102  per decoy rig  100  provides a natural simulation of their live counterparts, while remaining manageable to the user of decoy spread during deployment and use. If more decoys per anchor  110  are desired an additional decoy rig  100  or rigs can easily be attached to the trailing end of the first decoy rig  100 . Whatever, the number, individual decoys  102  should be distributed at regular intervals along shaft  104 , as even weight distribution will improve the performance of the present invention. Further, individual decoys  102  are preferably positioned/distributed evenly around the shaft diameter  104  at different orientations, as shown, for example, in FIG. 1. That is, at any given time when in use, some of individual decoys  102  are below the surface of the water, thus simulating the natural diving habits of live waterfowl.  
         [0012]    Individual decoys  102  are preferably of the silhouette type but may also be of other known construction, such as full-bodied (solid or hollow) or other designs if the rig powered through the shaft with a motor or crank. The cross sectional area of each of individual decoys  102  should be substantially the same. If of the silhouette type, individual decoys  102  may be substantially planar in construction, or may be slightly curved or bowed (i.e., like the sail on a sailboat) to increase the responsiveness (i.e., rotational motion) of the individual decoys  102  to forces from the wind, water current or tide, or other means, also as discussed in more detail below. Individual decoys are preferably constructed of wood, plastic, metal or other suitably light weight, inexpensive material, as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.  
         [0013]    Shaft  104  preferably comprises a buoyant, rigid, inexpensive material, such as plastic, PVC piping, or wood. Shaft  104  may be hollow or solid. If hollow and if perforated such as to accommodate first attachment means  106 , second attachment means  114 , or third attachment means  116 , or for other reasons, perforated section of the shaft should be sealed off from floatation sections to prevent water from compromising its buoyancy. This may be done using any of a plurality of known plugs, gaskets, caps, sealants, or the like as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Perforated/unsealed sections of the shaft should be provided with drain holes to allow water to escape and prevent freeze damage. Further, shaft  104  may be of unitary construction of any comprise a plurality of sections connected, for example, by a hinge or other collapsible or adjustable means such as telescoping pieces (also not shown) to facilitate the storage and handling of decoy spread  100 .  
         [0014]    The decoy to shaft coupling  106  is rigidly attached to the shaft  104  setting the location and angle of each decoy  102  in relation to the shaft. This coupling may be made of plastic, composite, metal or other rigid material. It may also be cast or constructed as an integral part of the shaft. Preferably the coupling will be constructed to using a quick disconnect or other fastening device that will allow decoys to be quickly and easily installed and removed by a person wearing gloves using no tools. However any number of fastening schemes such as permanent bonding, various bolts or fasteners, hinges that flip up and lock in etc. may be used to fasten the coupling to the decoy. Refer to FIG. 4 sections and details for some examples of coupling designs.  
         [0015]    Further in accordance with the present invention and shown in FIG. 1, individual decoys  102  are preferably secured to the shaft  104  by the coupling  106  at an angle to the axis of the shaft similar to the blades of a propeller in relation to an impeller hub. The particular preferred angle or pitch at which the individual decoys are deployed along the shaft will depend on the various environmental conditions such as water or wind speed in which the decoy spread  100  will used as will be apparent to those of skill in the art. The angle may also vary if outside force other than flow against the decoy such as a motor or crank are used to rotate the shaft.  
         [0016]    The present invention may further comprise an optional booster propeller  108  shown in FIG. 1. Propeller  108  be of a multi-blade known construction or may use individual decoys  102  as its blades. The booster propeller would normally be used in conditions where water flow is present, and wind direction is opposing it. Under these conditions the rotation of the diving decoy rig  100  may slow or stop, and the booster propeller or propellers which are generally below the water surface helps the force of the water overcome the wind. In addition to improving the rotation the booster propeller the can act as additional decoys if its tips break the surface. The booster propeller  108  is attached to the trailing end of the decoy rig  100  using a non-swiveling clip or attachment device to allow it transmit rotational force to the decoy rig  100 .  
         [0017]    Decoy rig  100  is typically secured in place by an anchor line  112  attached to the leading end of the shaft  104  through a swivel  114 . The anchor  110  may consist of a weight on the bottom, a boat, piling, or other structure stable enough to hold the decoy rig  100  in place as is well known in the art. If the decoy rig  100  is being driven by an outside force such as a motor or crank the swivel  114  will replaced with a nonswivelling clip or attachment device and the anchor line will be replaced with a line or cable stiff enough to transmit force from the motor or crank over its length without twisting. (Example a drain snake cable attached to a motor, or the standard hand crank that is often used to turn the snake when cleaning drain lines.)  
         [0018]    When in use, decoy rig  100  is deployed, for example in open water but within shooting distance of the waterfowl blind. The anchor  110  secures the decoy rig  100  and prevents its loss. Individual decoys  102  are deployed along shaft  104 , preferably at regular intervals along its length and around its diameter to balance the decoy rig so that minimal wind or water movement is required to start and maintain rotation. The shaft  104  floats at or near the water surface. As a result at any given time, some of the individual decoys  102  are above the surface of the water while others of individual decoys  102  are below it. The angle of individual decoys  102  in reference to the shaft axis will effect the rotation speed and can be adjusted based on field conditions. As forces from the wind, water current or tide flow, meet the individual decoys  102  , such forces will cause decoy rig  100  to rotate with the shaft  104 , thus simulating the natural feeding action of waterfowl. In this regard, the cross-sectional area of each individual decoy  102  act as a propeller blade or sail. Typically, the stronger such forces are, the faster the decoys  102  rotate and dive. The amount of action of individual decoys  102  will also depend on other considerations such as their construction, size, and angles of orientation relative to shaft  104  axis and whether or not the individual decoys  102  are planar, cupped or contoured similar to propeller or fan blades. Optional booster propeller  108  may be provided to improve rotation to the decoy rig  100 .  
         [0019]    The present invention has been described above in the context of its present preferred embodiment. It should be apparent, however, that other variations and modifications may be employed without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. For example, while the various components described above are preferably of a durable construction suitable for exposure to a harsh salt water environment, such construction may change depending on the actual environment in which the invention is used. Further, while various subcomponents are described to show preferred or critical characteristics there are numerous mechanical fasteners, fittings, etc. that could be substituted to perform there function. Further more although the decoy rig is primarily intended to be driven by water or air flow pushing against the individual decoys  102  on the anchored decoy rig  100 , the decoy rig  100  can also be rotated by pulling on the anchor line  112  and dragging the decoy rig  100  through the water. Decoy spread  100  may also be electrically or mechanically driven by any device that can rotate shaft  104 , such as a hand crank, battery powered drill, trolling motor, including remote controlled devices (not shown). The design of the individual decoys  102  may have many variations such as size, shape, angle in reference to shaft  104 , species of waterfowl, contour of silhouette surface, body position of waterfowl depicted, or even be full bodied or shell designed (if mechanically or electrically driven). The shaft  104  may vary in, material, length, shape ie. round, square, type of floatation i.e. trapped air, foam floatation, naturally buoyant materials such as wood, etc.