Patent Publication Number: US-2006000934-A1

Title: Bait casting reel

Description:
This application claims priority of pending Korean Patent Application No. 2003-21433 filed Jul. 4, 2003.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a fishing reel, and more particularly, to a bait casting reel capable of preventing abrasion of frictional surfaces of pinion and yoke which are to control transfer of rotatory force from a spool shaft to improve durableness of the bait casting reel and prevent malfunction thereof.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Bait casting reels used in fly fishing include a body, a spool around which a fishing line is wound, a handle, and a drag knob for controlling transfer of rotatory force from the handle to the spool.  
      The construction and operation of the bait casting reel are widely known in the art, and thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted herein.  
      Major components of a conventional bait casting reel will now be described with reference to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the conventional bait casting reel.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , the bait casting reel includes a spool shaft  5  and a pinion  40  supported by a yoke  30 . The yoke  30  is adapted to partially enclose a recessed portion formed at a circumference of the pinion. A considerable frictional force is generated between an upper surface of the yoke and the pinion, so that abrasion happens in frictional surfaces and thus the bait casting reel fails early. A major factor of the abrasion is that the yoke is made of plastic while the pinion is made of metal.  
      In order to solve the above problem, a metal yoke has been proposed. In this case, serious friction sound is produced by contact between a lower surface of the yoke and the pinion.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a bait casting reel that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
      An object of the present invention is to provide a bait casting reel capable of preventing abrasion of frictional surfaces of pinion and yoke which are to control transfer of rotatory force from a spool shaft to improve durableness of the bait casting reel and prevent malfunction thereof.  
      To achieve the object and other advantages, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provide a bait casting reel including a pinion receiving a spool shaft and a yoke made of a synthetic resin for engaging/disengaging the pinion with/from the spool shaft, the bait casting reel comprising: a metal insert coupled to an upper surface of the yoke to prevent the yoke from being worn, in which the upper surface contacted with the pinion.  
      The present invention has an advantage in that since the yoke is made of a synthetic resin, it is possible to prevent friction sound from being produced due to contact between a lower surface of the yoke and the pinion.  
      It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:  
       FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of a conventional bait casting reel;  
       FIG. 2   a  is a partially cross-sectional view illustrating a state where a spool shaft is released from a pinion in a bait casting reel according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2   b  is a partially cross-sectional view illustrating a state wherein a spool shaft is engaged to a pinion in a bait casting reel according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of a bait casting reel according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating a relationship between a yoke and a pinion.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      A preferred embodiment according to the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , a bait casting reel according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a body  1  and a spool shaft  5  inserted into the body  1 . On an upper surface of the body, a clutch cam  10 , a cam plate  20 , a yoke  30 , a pinion  40  and a spring  50  are installed. According to one feature of the present invention, a metal insert  35  is coupled to an upper surface of the yoke  30 . The yoke  30  is moved up and down by the clutch cam  10  and the cam plate  20 . The pinion  40  is also moved in conjunction with the yoke  30 .  
      Specifically, with the arrangement, if the clutch cam  10  rotates within a limited range, the pinion  40  is upwardly moved by the yoke  30 , so that the spool shaft  5  is disengaged from the pinion  40 . If the clutch cam  10  rotates in a reverse direction, the yoke  30  is downwardly moved by means of the spring  50 , so that the pinion engages with the spool shaft.  
      Abrasion and friction sound are produced at contacted surfaced of the yoke  30  and the pinion  40  by the repeated process.  FIG. 4  is a perspective view illustrating a relationship between the contacted surfaces of the yoke and pinion.  
      Because an upper surface of the yoke  30  is worn by the pinion  40 , a metal insert  35  is coupled to the upper surface of the yoke  30  to prevent the abrasion. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the yoke  30  is previously formed of a synthetic resin by injection molding, and the insert  35  is attached to the upper surface of the yoke by means of an adhesive. Alternatively, the yoke may be integrally formed with the insert during the injection molding.  
      Since the metal insert is coupled to the yoke, it can prevent the abrasion of the yoke due to the mutual contact.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2   b,  in the state the pinion  40  is engaged to the spool shaft  5 , a lower surface of the yoke  30  is contacted with the pinion  40 . Although the yoke is rubbed against the pinion, since the yoke is made of a synthetic resin, the friction sound is remarkably reduced.  
      With the arrangement of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the upper surface of the yoke from being worn, and to reduce the friction sound produced from the lower surface of the yoke.  
      The forgoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatus. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.