Patent Publication Number: US-2011056115-A1

Title: Weight for a fishing hook

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC §119(e) to U.S. Application No. 61/225,320, entitled “Weight For a Fishing Hook”, filed Jul. 14, 2009 and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The technology disclosed herein relates to weights configured to be applied directly to the fish hook. More particularly, implementations of weights comprise a deformable soft material impregnated with metal particles configured to be engaged with and disengaged from a fish hook. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Weights for fishing are typically attached to the line above the lure. Traditional weights are either tied to the line, or are made of a metal that can be clamped on the line. These types of hooks have only some effect on the lure, which is typically at least several inches below the weight, and in some instances, several feet below the weight. 
     The information included in this Background section of the specification, including any references cited herein and any description or discussion thereof, is included for technical reference purposes only and is not to be regarded subject matter by which the scope of the invention is to be bound. 
     SUMMARY 
     Disclosed herein is a weight for use in fishing hook. In one embodiment, the weight includes a hook having a body including a shank, an eyelet end, and a barb end and at least one repositionable weight collar configured to be positioned on said body of said hook. The weight collar may be comprised of a deformable material comprising heavy particles. The deformable material may be plastic, natural rubber, or other material. The heavy particles may be lead, iron, bismuth, tungsten, stone, or other similar materials, or combinations thereof. The hook may be a single hook, a dual hook, a treble hook, or a quad hook. In some embodiments, the weight collar further comprises a bore configured to receive the shank of the hook or other portion of the hook. In some embodiments, the bore of the weight collar further comprises a slit configured to aid the bore to receive at least a portion of the body of the hook. 
     In another embodiment, the weight includes a hook having a body and a weight collar having a cylindrical shape and a bore formed therein, said weight collar being made of a soft material including a heavy material; wherein said body of said hook is received in said bore to locate said hook at a desired location on said body of said hook. The soft material may be plastic, natural rubber, or other similar material. The heavy material may be lead, iron, bismuth, tungsten, stone, or other similar materials, or combinations thereof. The hook may be a single hook, a dual hook, a treble hook, or a quad hook. 
     In an alternate embodiment, a kit includes a fishing hook having a body and at least one weight collar configured to be positioned on the body of the hook. In some embodiments, the kit may further include a lure. In some embodiments, the kit may further include instructions for positioning the at least one weight collar on the body of the hook. The hook may be a single hook, a dual hook, a treble hook, or a quad hook. The weight collar may be comprised of a deformable material comprising heavy particles. The deformable material may be plastic, natural rubber, or other similar material. The heavy particles may be lead, iron, bismuth, tungsten, stone, or other similar materials, or combinations thereof. 
     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modifications in various aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a hook utilized with a weight collar according to one aspect of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows a plurality of weight collars configured to be utilized with the hook of  FIG. 1  according to one aspect of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a plurality of weight collars positioned along the length of a shank of the hook as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  shows a weight collar positioned over a barb on the hook as shown in  FIG. 1 , and two weight collars positioned adjacent one another on the shank. 
         FIG. 5  shows a cross section taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a fishing hook  5  often used for fishing. The hook  5  (or hook body) includes a top eyelet  30  for attachment to a fishing line (not shown), a shank  15  that is generally curved, arcuate, or “C” shaped, and a tip  25  including a barb  20  on which the fish typically bites and cannot easily extract itself. In some embodiments, the hook  5  may be a single hook. In other embodiments, the hook  5  may be a dual, treble, quadruple prong or other hook structure. Each prong on a particular hook style may have one or more barbs as desired. 
     The hook  5  shown in  FIG. 1  may be used alone, or in conjunction with a lure. The lure may be attached on the fishing line above the hook  5  (such as a spinner), or the hook  5  may attach to an end of a lure (such as a spoon with a treble hook). Also, the lure may incorporate the hook  5  into its lure body, such as in a Slimstick™ by Sebile USA. Further, the hook  5  may be an integral part of the lure, such as in a soft body lure where a hook extending from a jig head is pushed through the soft plastic body. 
     Weights are typically used to help insure that the hook or lure (sometimes the hook is the lure) is positioned at the desired depth of water, as well as to help provide some mass for casting the lure to the desired location. The benefit of aiding in reaching the desired depth is apparent whether or not the hook is used in a stationary manner (such as with a bobber) or is trolled or otherwise used dynamically (such as trolling from a boat, or cast out and reeled in). The weights are typically made of solid metal, such as lead, and are designed to clamp onto the line or tie onto the line using an eyelet. While these existing weight structures are likely to have some effect on the motion of the lure, the primary purposes of the traditional weights are typically to get the lure to the right depth in the water and allow for long casts. 
     Disclosed herein is a collar weight that is configured to be applied directly to, and removed from, the hook on the lure. As shown in  FIG. 2 , an embodiment of the invention disclosed herein includes a deformable material impregnated with relatively heavy particles and having a shape of a short hollow cylinder or collar. The collar  10  is positioned on or otherwise operably coupled to the hook  5  itself, as shown in  FIG. 3 , at the location desired by the user to effect not only the depth of the lure in the water, but also the accuracy of the casting of the lure, and how the lure may move when propelled by the fishing line when in the water. 
     The deformable material may be plastic, natural rubber, or any of many other soft materials that are deformable. The soft material may be suitable for use under water for extended periods of time, as well as provide a good base material for impregnating, mixing, or otherwise combining the particles into the material. Deformable in this context means the soft material forming the collar is deformable to a fixed shape, or it means resiliently deformable to allow deformation temporarily and a rebound to the original shape (fully elastic) or a rebound to a shape between the temporary shape and the original shape (partially elastic). 
     The heavy particles that are embedded in the soft material may include lead, iron, tungsten, bismuth, stone, or other materials useful for the purpose of at least one intention described herein. The particles may be loaded into the soft material during formation of the material, or may be applied as a coating to the collar  10  after the collar  10  is formed. The particles may be of any size allowing positioning in the collar structure in sufficient number to provide a weighting effect. One such acceptable weighting effect is to have a collar sized and structured to be received on the shank of a hook, such as in  FIG. 3 , and for each collar to weigh approximately one gram. Other weights greater than and less than one gram are contemplated. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , one collar  10  or more than one collar  10  may be positioned on the hook  5  at a time to achieve the desired effect. The collar or collars  10  may be positioned at one end of the hook  5 , such as the end including the eyelet  30 , or the other end of the hook  5 , such as the end including the tip  25  and the barb  20 , or the collar or collars  10  may be evenly spaced, to create the desired effect on the lure as it is presented to the fish in the water. For example, if more weight is positioned on the hook  5  towards the head end of the lure, the head end of the lure will be biased downwardly. If more weight is positioned on the hook  5  towards the rear end of the lure, the rear end of the lure will be biased downwardly. 
     In some embodiments, the collars  10  are each a short hollow cylinder, as shown in  FIG. 2 . The diameter of the central bore  12  of the collar  10  may be sized or otherwise configured to receive at least a portion of the shank  15  of the hook  5 . Since the collar  10  is made of a soft material, if the shank  15  of the hook  5  changes dimension along its length, either smaller in dimension or larger in dimension, or is irregular in shape, the collar  10  may seat thereon securely. The collar  10  may be held in position on the hook  5  by a compression fit. This would occur if the central bore  12  of the collar  10  is smaller than the location on the hook  5  where the weight  10  is placed, so the bore  12  of the collar  10  would expand to fit over the shank  15 . The fit may be a friction fit, where the bore  12  is substantially the same size as the location on the shank  15  on which the collar  10  is placed, and the soft material is fixed by friction at this location. The fit may be enhanced by a glue, adhesive, or other engagement-enhancing material or liquid which coats the inside wall of the bore  12 , or coats the shank  15  where the collar  10  is located. In some embodiments, the collar  10  may be held in place by physical engagement with stops or barriers positioned on or formed into the shank  15  of the hook  5 , such as by discrete curves or bumps that are positioned on either end of the location on or in the hook  5  where the collar  10  is to be placed. 
     The collar  10  is positioned on the shank  15  by putting the bore  12  of the collar  10  over the tip  25  of the hook  5  and pushing the collar  10  to the desired position. The collar  10  may need to be rotated as it is moved along the length of the shaft  15  to effectively screw or otherwise transition the collar  10  up or down to the desired location. The bore  12  of the collar  10  may also be placed over the eyelet  30  on the other end of the hook  5  in order to position the collar  10  on the hook structure  5  as desired. 
     The collar  10  may be removed from the hook  5  by moving the collar  10  back toward the hook tip  25  and pushing the collar  10  over the barb  20  formed thereon. The barb  20  may catch on the sidewalls of the bore  12 , but the soft material may allow the collar  10  to pass over the barb  20 . If any tearing occurs when pushing the collar  10  over the barb  20  backwards, the soft, resilient nature of the material may allow the collar  10  to continue to work when repositioned on the hook  5 . Alternatively, the collar  10  may be removed by moving the collar  10  off the hook  5  over the eyelet end  30  of the hook structure  5 .  FIG. 4  shows a collar  10  positioned over the barb  20 , which is a position common to its being pushed onto the hook  5  or being taken off the hook  5 . Two weight collars  10  are also shown adjacent to one another on the shank  15  of the hook  5 . 
     Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the collar  10  may have a slit  35  formed therein to allow the collar  10  to be positioned on the shank  15  by opening or biasing the slit  35  and positioning the shank  15  in the bore  12 . The collar  10  may then be positioned along the length of the bore  12  by sliding or screwing or otherwise transitioning the collar  10  to the desired location. 
     The collar  10  may then be removed by either opening up the slit  35  and removing the shank  15  from the bore  12 , or by passing the collar  10  over the barb  20  or eyelet  30  as described above. 
     The repositionable and removable weight collars  10  may have shapes other than cylindrical. The collar shapes may be geometric (square, triangular, hexagonal, trapezoidal, etc.) or irregular, and may be shorter or longer than those shown. The bore  12  described above may take the form of a slit  35  that is opened just enough to receive the shank  15 . It is also contemplated that a collar  10  may not have a bore in it at all, and instead the collar  10  may be pushed over the barb  20  to form its own aperture to pass over the barb and onto the shank  15 . It is also contemplated that the collar  10  may not extend all the way around the shank  15 , and may instead extend only partially around the shank  15  but still maintain a compressive or frictional engagement. If the collar  10  extends around less than half of the outer circumference of the shank  15 , the collar  10  may be held in place permanently or temporarily with a suitable adhesive. 
     As noted above, application of the collar weights on the hook may help locate the desired weight on the hook to allow for casting a lure with the casting weight concentrated on the lure, as opposed to casting when the weight is positioned both at the lure and positioned above the lure. This may allow for more accurate casting with less risk of tangling the line or lure. Also, the application of the collar weights on the hook may help cause the lure to move through the water (or relative to the water when the lure is still and the water is moving) in a desired presentation (such as angled up or angled down). Where a hook is positioned laterally on the lure, the collar weight may be applied to the lateral hook and cause the lure to move laterally or differently than just in a vertical plane. 
     The collar weight or weights disclosed herein may also be a component or components of a kit. In other embodiments, the kit may also include a hook, a lure, fishing line, and/or instructions for applying the weight to the hook according to a method disclosed herein or applying the weight to the hook in a specific location such that the lure will move through the water in a desired presentation as described in more detail above. The components of the kit may be packaged together in any appropriate packaging, such as a plastic, molded packaging suitable for display in a retail store.