Abstract:
A fishing rod rack for the support of a plurality of fishing rods, the fishing rod rack spanning the width of the bed of a pick up truck. The fishing rod rack has a two piece bracket member at each end for engaging the inward lip of the respective side walls, there being a support rod extending between opposing bracket members. A plurality of support tubes are rotatably secured to the support rod by a clasp member rotatable about the support rod and secured in angular position by a pair of set screws.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a fishing rod rack assembly for supporting a plurality of fishing rods and more particularly to a fishing rod rack assembly which is removably engageable with the side walls of a bed of a pick up truck for the support of a plurality of fishing rods. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     When a fisherman travels from his home to a location where he is going to conduct fishing, one of his concerns is for the protection of his fishing tackle, including the fishing rod and reel. If the fishing rod can be broken down into several components, then the transport of the rod is relatively easy. However, with some fishing rods such as surf casting rods, they do not break down and their length is sometimes in excess of 14 feet, and vertical clearance can become a problem with trees, power lines, toll booths, etc. 
     One solution for transporting rods of this type was to fashion a rod rack out of tubular material which would fasten to the front bumper and frame of the vehicle and support vertically oriented tubes into which the fishing rod could be slidably mounted, thereby transporting them in a vertical orientation at the front of the vehicle. This allows for the transport of a plurality of rods, but the rack itself requires some effort in order to install to the under chassis of the vehicle. Still further, in fabricating this rack, there is a certain limitation as to the number of vertical tubes that can be engaged on the rack for support of fishing rods. 
     Another solution to the problem has been roof racks for vehicles such as SUVs and station wagons in which the pole can be clamped in place or placed in tubes in a horizontal position on the roof of the vehicle. In such a situation, the placement of the roof rack requires some degree of effort and it is not easily removed and the positioning of fishing rods into the horizontal tubes or clamps is somewhat cumbersome. 
     Applicant has developed a fishing rod support rack which is cooperative with the side walls of a pick up truck and allows for quick installation and quick removal and can accommodate a greater number of fishing rods than currently available with fishing rod racks available in the market place, and can support those fishing rods at any selected angle from the horizontal to the vertical to enable the vertical clearance issue to be addressed. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide for a novel fishing rod rack for the support of fishing rods during transportation, which rack is easily installed and/or removed from the bed of a pick up truck. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide for a novel fishing rod rack which can support a plurality of poles at any angle between the horizontal and the vertical. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel fishing rod rack for support of a plurality of fishing rods which allows fishing rods to be angularly stored on both sides of the support rod. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide for a novel fishing rod rack which allows the user to address vertical issues. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A fishing rod rack for the support of a plurality of fishing rods, the fishing rod rack spanning the width of the bed of a pick up truck, the fishing rod rack having a two piece bracket member at each end for engaging the inward lip of the respective side walls, there being a support rod extending between opposing bracket members, there being a plurality of support tubes rotatably secured to the support rod by a clasp member rotatable about the support rod and secured in angular position by a pair of set screws. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent, particularly when taken in light of the following illustrations wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of the fishing rod rack assembly as viewed from the rear end of a pick up truck bed; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the fishing rod support tube assembly and mounting clasp; and 
     FIG. 3 is a top view of the fishing rod assembly secured between the side walls of a pick up truck. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 is a side view of the fishing rod rack assembly of the present invention as viewed from the open end of the bed of a pick up truck. The fishing rod rack assembly  10  is secured in an elevated orientation between the side walls  12  and  14  of the bed  16  of the pick up truck. The majority of pick up trucks come with three types of bed widths, standard, mid size, and compact. In all types, each side wall normally has an inwardly depending horizontal flange  18  and  20  defined by an upper surface  22  and a lower surface  24 . Applicant&#39;s assembly may be fabricated to fit each of the aforesaid bed types or any irregular bed width. 
     The first element of Applicant&#39;s fishing rod rack assembly is a tubular cross bar  26  preferably circular in cross section and rigid enough to support a plurality of fishing poles. Tubular cross bar  26  has an identical clamp mechanism  28  secured at its first end  30  and its second end  32  which clamp mechanism engages the horizontal flange  18  and  20  of side walls  12  and  14 . Clamp mechanism  28  comprises a first C-shaped member  34  having a first horizontal leg  36  and flange engaging surface  38  positioned on upper surface  22  of flange  18  or  20 . First C-shaped member  34  has a vertical leg  40  which is secured to the first horizontal leg  36  and also to the tubular cross bar  26 . Vertical leg  40  ends with a short horizontal leg  42  positioned below lower surface  24  of flange  18  or  20 . The second clamp member  44  is again C-shaped in cross section having a first vertical leg  46  in frictional engagement with the lower surface  24  of flanges  18  or  20  and terminating with a horizontal leg  48  extending beyond the end of flange  18  or  20  and a second vertical leg  50  extending below horizontal leg  48  and above horizontal leg to a point proximate flange  18  or  20  wherein second vertical leg  50  terminates with a horizontal lip  52  extending towards the opposing side wall. Formed in first horizontal leg  36  of first clamp member  34  is a throughbore  54  which is aligned with a threaded throughbore  56  formed on the lip member  52  of second vertical leg  50  of second clamp member  44 . A threaded fastener  58  extending through the aforesaid throughbores tightens first clamp member  36  and second clamp member  48  while simultaneously frictionally engaging the upper surface  22  and lower surface  24  of flanges  18  and  20 . 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of a tubular fishing rod holder  70  and the associated mounting clasp  72  for mounting same on tubular cross bar  26 . The tubular fishing rod holder  70  is generally circular in cross section and of a length and dimension sufficient to slidably receive the butt end of a fishing rod. Mounting clasp  72  secures the tubular rod holder  70  in selected angular rotation on tubular cross member  26 . The mounting clasp  72  comprises a first clasp member  74  having a first end  76  and a second end  78 , first clasp member  74  being generally flat on its upper surface  80  proximate the first end  76  and the second end  78  in order to accommodate a threaded bore proximate each end. First clasp member  74  is secured to tubular rod holder  70  by any suitable method, but preferably welded. An arcuate surface  82  is formed on first class member  74  between threaded bores, the arcuate surface  82  conforming to a portion of the circumference of tubular cross member  26 . 
     Second clasp member  84  is generally C-shaped, having a first end  86  and a second end  88  with lower surfaces  90  and  92  complimentary with planar surface  80  on first clasp member, the upper surface of second clasp member having a planar portion proximate its ends  86  and  88  to accommodate a throughbore alignable with said threaded bore in said first clasp member  74 , there being an arcuate surface  94  between said throughbores complimentary with a portion of the circumference of the tubular cross member  26  such that when first clasp member  74  and second clasp member  84  are joined and threaded fasteners  96  and  98  are introduced into the bores and secured, an aperture conforming to the outer dimension of the tubular cross member  26  is formed. This arrangement allows for a plurality of tubular rod holders  70  to be frictionally secured to tubular cross member  26  in a variety of angularly rotational selections. 
     FIG. 3 is a partial top view of the fishing pole holding assembly  10  secured to the side walls  12  and  14  of a pick up truck bed  16 . It should be noted that the user can position and secure the tubular rod holders  70  via the clasp member  72  to either a rearward angle configuration “A”, a forwardly angled configuration “B”, or a directly vertical configuration “C”. Still further, by being able to stagger the forward and rearward angularity of adjacent tubular rod holders  70 , the user can store many more poles on the fishing rod rack assembly. This is due to the fact that large fishing rods oftentimes have large reels which extend significantly to both sides of the rod. Therefore the tubular rod holder clasp  72  of an adjacent tubular rod holder  70  would have to be spaced some distance apart in order to accommodate an adjacent pole with a similarly large reel. However, by having the tubular rod holders  70  staggered forwardly and rearwardly, the spaced apart distance between adjacent tubular rod holders  70  is reduced to the diameter of the tubular rod holder  70 . 
     Applicant&#39;s fishing rod rack assembly solves the aforesaid problem of accommodating more rods, still further, allows the entire assembly to be removed and stored so that the pick up truck can be used for its other intended purposes, yet still be intalled quickly and easily with only a single wrench. 
     While the present invention has been described with respect to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that many modifications or changes can be achieved without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore it is manifestly intended that the invention be limited only by the scope of the claims and the equivalence thereof.