Patent Publication Number: US-2007119891-A1

Title: Specialized fishing accessory

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      This device relates generally to accessories used by fishermen specifically to grip or to remove or wipe unwanted material from an object. Broadly speaking, it is a towel-like device to be used by fishermen for purposes related to their sport of fishing.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      A variety of sports use a device for wiping or removing superficial dirt, oils or other materials from an object. For example, in bowling a bowler needs to keep his hands clean and dry to be able to grip the ball. Consequently, bowling lanes are frequently equipped with blower devices which allow a bowler to dry his hands. However, sometimes a bowler&#39;s hands may get oil-like conditioning material from handling the ball which has picked up the conditioning material from the lanes on which the ball is rolling. It can be difficult to dry or remove this kind of material from the hand of a bowler simply by placing it in a stream of air. Consequently, many bowlers will have towels that they use either to wipe the balls before gripping the ball or to wipe their hands before gripping the ball.  
      In a similar fashion, many golfers carry a towel which attaches or clips to their bags. This is primarily used to clean the surface of their clubs. Most golfers who play golf wear a glove on at least one of their hands which provides both cushioning and gripping advantages to a golfer who wears such a glove. Golfers will also carry a towel with them to the green where they can readily wipe their ball or remove debris from their putter. For this reason towels are sometimes removably attached to the bag or to a golf cart in which a golfer is riding. This removal attachment can consist of a metal clip, sometimes spring loaded, or other means of attachment which could include matching strips of hook and eye material known by the trade name of Velcro with one portion of the hook and eye material permanently attached to the golf bag and another portion permanently attached to the towel. This way the towel can be quickly attached and detached from the bag by mating the two pieces of hook and eye material.  
      Fishermen also face the need for an accessory to be used for cleaning or wiping one&#39;s hands. Unlike golf or bowling where clean hands are essential for performing the movements required in the sport, a fisherman may well be able to cast or manipulate his fishing equipment including rods and reels whether his hands are clean or not. However, oftentimes some aspects of fishing are unpleasant or messy. Using live bait may require the fisherman to handle the bait before it is placed on a hook. Removing fish from a hook can also be messy. For these reasons, many fishermen prefer to keep their hands clean by using a towel to grip the fish. Additionally, other tasks that a fisherman may perform can require a variety of other accessories. For these reasons, specialized equipment has evolved including gloves that are specially equipped with gripping material embedded in the fabric of the gloves to facilitate holding either bait fish or target fish which have been caught by the fisherman. Sometimes fish that are caught by the fisherman present other problems in that these fish may have fins or spikes which require careful handling. If a fisherman is to avoid injury for these reasons, gloves are sometimes employed by fishermen in handling these kinds of fish. Some fishermen employ special garments such as fishing vests, waders and the like which are equipped special pockets with storage to facilitate the performances of the tasks that are demanded by the sport of fishing.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Despite the special garments, gloves, and the like there is an unmet need for a simple, inexpensive towel-like device which can be readily carried by a fisherman as an accessory attached to another garment that the fisherman may be wearing. This towel-like device can be designed to perform a variety of tasks that are peculiar to the sport of fishermen. At least a portion of the towel-like device will be designed for traditional uses of a towel including wiping or cleaning of the person of the fisherman or objects used by the fisherman such as fishing equipment. A portion of the towel-like device can be designed to facilitate specialized gripping functions that may be performed by the fisherman such as gripping bait or gripping target fish that have been caught by the fisherman. The gripping of the bait will facilitate placing the bait on the hook. The gripping of the target fish will facilitate removing the fish from the hook and avoiding injury from the target fish either by the fish&#39;s spines, fins, claws in the case of crabs, or on occasion even the fish&#39;s teeth. A portion of the towel-like device could also be designed to provide ready storage or carrying capabilities for small tools. This could consist of pouches or pockets within or on the surface of the device so the fisherman could carry a tool or fishing tackle. In addition, the towel itself could be marked with a rule or ruler that would allow the fisherman to use it for measuring purposes. This can be useful in terms of measuring the size of fish caught to be sure they come within legal limits, or, to measure specific line which may be used for leaders or other specialized purposes which may require an approximate readily available measuring rule. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows the fishing accessory invention in use hanging from a belt loop on a fisherman&#39;s waist.  
       FIG. 2  shows another side of the fishing accessory.  
       FIG. 3  shows in detail a pocket on the fishing accessory.  
       FIG. 4  shows an alternate embodiment of the fishing accessory with a mitten.  
       FIG. 5  shows an alternate embodiment of the fishing accessory with a clip. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows a fisherman ( 100 ) in partial cutaway side view. Around the fisherman&#39;s waist is his belt ( 110 ) contained within belt loops ( 120 ). The fisherman&#39;s trousers ( 130 ) are seen with pockets in view. Hanging from the belt loop ( 120 ) is an S-hook ( 20 ) connected to a mounting loop ( 22 ) on the fishing accessory ( 10 ). The fishing accessory ( 10 ) will ordinarily be made, at least in part, of an absorbent woven material to serve the purpose of a towel for the fisherman ( 100 ). The mounting loop ( 22 ) will be made of a durable woven material, although it could be a metal link attached to the fishing accessory ( 10 ) by means of a grommet positioned in the fishing accessory ( 10 ). The fishing accessory ( 10 ) may be generally rectangular in shape with a mounting loop ( 22 ) placed at a corner of the rectangle, although the fishing accessory ( 10 ) could be a variety of other shapes including a flattened oval shape. Positioned on the fishing accessory ( 10 ) distal from the mounting loop ( 22 ), is a pocket ( 12 ). The construction of the pocket is seen in more detail in  FIG. 3 . Shown on a portion of the pocket ( 12 ) are two smaller outside storage pockets ( 14 ).  
       FIG. 2  shows the opposite side of the fishing accessory ( 10 ) from the side seen in  FIG. 1 . In this view, the portion of the fishing accessory ( 10 ), which is shown with the pocket ( 12 ) distal from the mounting loop ( 22 ), has a gripping area ( 16 ). The gripping area ( 16 ) is shown with cross hatching ( 18 ). This cross hatching are strips of sticky material, like polypropylene, which are made of a soft tacky material to greatly increase the ability to grip a wet or slippery item such as a fish. It can be readily appreciated that a user can insert his hand into the pocket ( 12 ), then use the gripping area ( 16 ) to hold the fish or some other slippery item because the tacky cross hatching ( 18 ) will be in contact with the object to be held. Because many fish have fins or spines which can injure a fisherman, this gripping area ( 16 ) of the fishing accessory ( 10 ) could be made of a durable material resistant to punctures or it could have an extra protective strip of material attached to the fishing accessory ( 10 ) over the absorbent and woven material of which the fishing accessory ( 10 ) will ordinarily be made of. Examples of this kind of protectable material are synthetic woven materials which are made of nylon or some similar fabric which go by the trade name Tyvek.  
       FIG. 3  shows the fishing accessory ( 10 ) in a side view to better illustrate the pocket ( 12 ) and its relationship to the gripping area ( 16 ). Here, the pocket ( 12 ) is shown detached and rotated away from the fishing accessory ( 10 ). The pocket ( 12 ) would ordinarily be attached in the direction shown by the arrow by any convenient permanent means, such as sewing along an edge, to the fishing accessory ( 10 ). The outside storage pocket ( 14 ) is also shown here. Shown for the first time is an inside storage pocket ( 15 ) which will ordinarily be concealed inside the pocket ( 12 ) when the fishing accessory ( 10 ) is in use. Here, a user could keep such items as a fishing license or small amounts of money. It is anticipated the fishing accessory ( 10 ) may sometimes be used when a user is wading in the surf for surf fishing and a user might have on a bathing suit or some such other garment which might not have storage for these items in the garment itself. Opposite from the fabric section which forms the pocket ( 12 ) is the gripping section ( 16 ) and the tacky cross hatching ( 18 ) which are seen along one side of the fishing accessory ( 10 ), positioned along the gripping section ( 16 ). The mounting loop ( 22 ) could be used with an S shaped hook ( 20 ) as is shown in  FIG. 1 . However, it will be readily appreciated that a variety of other expedients could be used. Something like a large safety pin could be used to attach the fishing accessory ( 10 ) to a bathing suit which does not have belt loops ( 22 ). Additionally, there are spring loaded clips which could be used in lieu of the S shaped clip ( 20 ) shown in  FIG. 1 . For most applications, the S shaped clip ( 20 ) would be a desirable means of attaching the fishing accessory ( 10 ) to an article of clothing since it is simple in construction, durable, can be made of corrosion resistant materials, can easily attach and detach from different sized belt loops and is inexpensive to produce.  
       FIG. 4  discloses another embodiment of the fishing accessory ( 10 ) which have two additional features not seen in the embodiment in  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  3 . First, positioned on the fishing accessory ( 10 ) is a mitten-like device ( 200 ) removably attached to, or formed from extra material, on the fishing accessory ( 10 ). As was explained in detail in  FIG. 2 , the fishing accessory ( 10 ) is equipped with gripping area ( 16 ) using polypropylene cross hatching ( 18 ). Here, the specially designed mitten-like device ( 200 ) will be equipped with the polypropylene cross hatching ( 18 ). The advantages of having a mitten-like device ( 200 ) on the fishing accessory ( 10 ) is that it facilitates gripping by allowing the thumb to be used in the thumb section ( 205 ). It is anticipated that the tacky cross hatching would be on both sides of the mitten ( 200 ) which would mean the mitten ( 200 ) could be used equally well by a left hand or a right hand. There are advantages in having a dedicated mitten ( 200 ) permanently or removably attached to the fishing accessory ( 10 ). Instead of using the pocket ( 12 ) for gripping, using the mitten ( 200 ) for gripping avoids the problems that could be created by the use of the pocket ( 12 ) for storage of other items, either in the outside pocket ( 14 ) or in the inside storage pocket ( 15 ). The mitten ( 200 ) can be removably attached to the fishing accessory ( 10 ) using a variety of attachment means. It could snap on. It could use buttons. It could use matching magnetic pieces, one permanently mounted to the fishing accessory ( 10 ) and one permanently mounted to the mitten ( 200 ). However, it is believed the mitten ( 200 ) would best be attached using a miniature hook and eye arrangement which goes by the trade name of Velcro. This miniature hook and eye arrangement need not match exactly in order to keep the mitten ( 200 ) attached to the fishing accessory ( 10 ). Consequently, it is believed it would be more suitable than would be other types of attachments which would be more difficult to operate when a fisherman is trying to land a fish. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the mitten ( 200 ) would be most likely positioned so that a fisherman could slip his free hand into the mitten ( 200 ) attached to the fishing accessory ( 10 ) hanging on the side of the fisherman, then simply raise his arm. Because the fishing accessory ( 10 ) is attached using the S-hook ( 20 ) to an article of clothing of the fisherman, The fisherman need only pull his arm away from the fishing accessory ( 10 ) to result in the miniature hook and eye attachment means being separated by the force of the pulling arm of the fisherman, thus, freeing the mitten ( 200 ) from its attachment to the fishing attachment ( 10 ) allowing the fishing accessory ( 10 ) to fall back into a place of repose as is shown in  FIG. 4  by the fisherman&#39;s side. It will be appreciated that the mitten ( 200 ) could be placed at a different location along the fishing accessory ( 10 ). It will also be appreciated that different types of material could be employed for different parts of the fishing accessory ( 10 ).  
      Also seen disposed on one side of the fishing accessory ( 10 ) is a rule ( 300 ) marked with incremental measurements. The rule ( 300 ) is divided into premeasured increments. This will allow a fisherman to use the fishing accessory ( 10 ) to make quick measurements of fish that are caught by the rule ( 300 ). This is sometimes necessary since there are size requirements for keeper fish in many jurisdictions. For example, commonly flounders have to be within 12 or 13 inches long before they are “keepers”. Fishes smaller than the required length must be returned to the water for further growth. The use of the rule ( 300 ) on the fishing accessory ( 10 ) will quickly facilitate this process for a fisherman. For example, a surf fisherman could simply measure a fish against the rule ( 300 ) on the fishing accessory ( 10 ) hanging at the fisherman&#39;s side to determine if the catch is legal without ever having to return to shore and without having to unfold or use any sort of tape measure device.  
       FIG. 5  shows an alternate way of attaching the fishing accessory ( 10 ). At the top of the S hook ( 20 ) is a spring loaded clip ( 500 ) which has mounting openings ( 510 ). One end of the S hook ( 20 ) will go through a mounting opening ( 510 ) attaching it to the spring loaded clip ( 500 ). A fisherman may use the handles ( 520 ) to open the gripping jaws ( 530 ) placing a portion of an article of clothing of the fisherman or some other suitable attachment point within the gripping jaws ( 530 ) releasing the handles ( 520 ) allowing the spring (not shown) within the clip ( 500 ) to force together the gripping jaws ( 530 ) to grip the article of clothing. In this way the fishing accessory ( 10 ) may be mounted where there is no belt loop or other ready point of attachment for the S hook ( 20 ). This provides more flexibility and mounting options for a purchaser of a commercial embodiment of the fishing accessory ( 10 ). It is anticipated these will be sold as a package to provide maximum convenience and versatility for a purchaser of the fishing accessory ( 10 ). It will also be appreciated that the drawings are not done to scale and for illustration and not by way of limitation. The foregoing explanation, including the drawings, is to explain how to practice the invention. The only limitations are found in the claims which follow.