Patent Publication Number: US-2005115143-A1

Title: Device and method for arranging a longline including bait in a longline container

Description:
The present invention here concerns a method for transferral of a longline hook with bait from a baiting machine into a longline container, where the hook is connected to the longline via a snood, as the longline is set up to be arranged in a longline chamber in the longline container while the hook/bait is placed in a hook/bait chamber adjacent to the longline chamber. The invention also concerns a device.  
      Previously, attempts have been made to automate the handling of baiting longlines with hooks which are fastened to the longline with a snood. However, these attempts have failed to produce a system which is operationally reliable with regard to placing a baited hook in the correct place in the longline container.  
      The present invention aims to provide a new and operationally reliable system for arranging a longline with baited hook in a snood into a storage vessel (container).  
      The device according to the invention is characterised in that, as the longline is conducted from the baiting machine to the longline chamber via a conductor device, the hook with bait is simultaneously transferred in a first initial manoeuvre to a holder, as the holder with the hook/bait is located at an intermediate station directly above the longline container, or is transferred to such an intermediate station, whereafter a conductor device transfers the hook with bait from the holder to the hook/bait chamber in the longline container.  
      The preferred implementations of the method are specified in the independent claims  2 - 9 .  
      The device according to the invention is characterised by a holder arranged to collect the hook with bait from the baiting machine, in that the hoder with the positioned hook with bait then already is In, or Is arranged to be transferred to an intermediate station, and a conductor device arranged to help transfer the hook with bait from the holder to the hook/bait chamber in the longline container.  
      The preferred implementations of the device are characterised by the features defined in the characteristic clause of the subsequent claims  11 - 17 . 
    
    
      The invention shall now be described in more detail, with reference to the following figures, in which:  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective sketch of the device according to the invention, in connection with the positioning of a baited snood hook in a longline container.  
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a detail of the conducting of the fishing hook towards a holder ( 8 ).  
       FIG. 1C  illustrates a magnification of a detail from  FIG. 1 , i.e. a device which conducts the hook/snood down into the longline container.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a plan sketch of the device according to  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  illustrates a side elevation of the device according to  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 4  illustrates a magnified side elevation of  FIG. 3 .  
       FIG. 4A  illustrates a magnification in perspective of the holder  8 ).  
       FIG. 5  illustrates a magnification of a detail from  FIG. 4  of the holder in an intermediate position.  
       FIG. 6  illustrates a side elevation of a detail from  FIG. 3 , i.e. the longline container with transferral device and the device for positioning of the fish hook with bait.  
       FIG. 6A  illustrates a perspective sketch of the holder in position for further (at next stage) downward transferral of the fish hook with bait.  
       FIG. 6B  illustrates a magnification of the holder in the position according to  FIG. 6A . 
    
    
      The device/apparatus according to  FIGS. 1-3  involves a system for transferral of a hook with bait  5  in a longline snood  4  from a baiting machine  6  and to a longline container  12 . This transferral process takes place in two stages, as follows:  
      The first stage, where the hook/bait  5  is fastened to a holder  8  which is then moved forwards to an intermediate position roughly directly (vertically) over the position where the hook/bait  5  is stored in the longline container  12 . Alternatively, the holder may already be in the above-mentioned intermediate position, i.e. it does not need to be moved further.  
      The second stage, where the hook/bait  5  is ejected from the holder, preferably vertically downwards and to storage in the longline container.  
      The figures schematically illustrate a baiting machine  6  which places bait on each hook  5  on the longline system. The longline  3  is mainly transported horizontally over a rotating longline disk  1  with a V groove shape which is positioned just above one edge of the longline container  12 . Spring-loaded compression wheels  2  help keep the longline  3  tight as it moves down into the V groove, and help to pull the longline out from the baiting machine over the longline disc and down into the rope receptacle  17  In the container.  
      The longline disc  1  Is positioned so that when the longline  3  comes out of the longline disc  1 , it descends into the rope receptacle  17  in the container  12 .  
      Each snood  4  fastening to the longline  3  is illustrated by position  9 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2  (plan cross-section), the hook with bait is transferred forwards at a distance from the actual longline  3 , so that the snood runs inclined from the hook and forwards (possibly slightly upwards) to the fastening  9  in the longline  3 .  
      A holder  8  is mounted on a fitting in connection with the actual baiting machine  6 . The holder is arranged to capture and hold on to the hook with bait  5  and is moved forwards in the direction of the container at the same rate as the pull on the longline  3 .  
      The holder  8  is fastened to the end of the piston rod  11  in a piston/cylinder unit where the cylinder unit (not Illustrated) is fastened to the baiting housing.  
      The holder  8  (see  FIG. 4 ) is made of a quadrilateral framework of parallel and vertical plates  21 ,  23 ,  22 ,  19  which are arranged at mutual distances. This forms a housing with an internal chamber  26  with open top and bottom. One of the end walls (the peripheral wall  22 ) is split into two parts by two mutually level, straight-through, vertical, run-through slots  17  and  27 . The innermost slot  27  is wider than the peripheral outermost slot  17 . The other end wall is formed as a flap-like plate  19  to which the exterior end of the piston  11  is attached. However, this flap  19  extends downwardly below the parallel plates so that the housing&#39;s innermost end ( 25 ) Is also open and forms an entrance for the hook/bait to the holder  8 .  
      This implies that when the hook with bait is pulled into the housing, the snood  4  runs in and down into slot  17 . Slot  17  is, however, more narrow than the eye of the hook to which the snood is attached, and thus the hook will stop when the eye hits/is pulled against the back wall. This is illustrated in  FIG. 4 , which shows the hook with bait  5  positioned in the chamber  26 . The section of the hook stem up to the eye lies in the wider slot  27  while the snood runs through slot  17 , out of the holder  8  and towards the fastening  9  on the longline  3 .  
      The hook with the bait  5  is transferred from the baiting machine  6  to the holder  8  via a conductor casing. The conductor casing involves a slot open at the top which is sufficiently wide to let the snood run through, so that the snood can then pull the hook/bait  5  inside the conductor casing  7 .  
      When the piston  11  with the assembled holder  8  is in a retracted position, the end opening of the conductor casing is level with the opening  25  into the chamber in the holder  8 . The tension on the longline  7  and the snood  4  pulls the hook/bait out of the conductor casing and directly into the chamber  26  in the holder  8 , as the snood  4  runs through the slot  17  while the hook stem with the hook eye remains in the slot  27 . Even if the holder is open at the bottom, the tension on the snood will be sufficient to keep the hook/bait in position inside the chamber  26 . The hook/bait can now only be removed from the holder by pulling it vertically down through the slots  17 / 27 .  
      A sensor  10  connected to the holder  8  records when the hook with bait  5  is inside the holder  8  and starts the movement of the piston  11  on which the end of the holder Is arranged, and which moves the holder  8  forwards towards the upper side of the edge of the container  12 . Simultaneously, the longline disc  1  pulls the longline  3 , which creates a slight tension on the longline  3 . The tight snood  4  also helps move the holder  8  forwards towards the container with the hook/bait attached to the holder.  
      It is important that the holder  8  is positioned so as to ensure continued tension on the snood  4  when the hook with bait  5  enters the holder  8 , i.e. that the connector  9  between the snood  4  and the longline  3  is in front of (upstream) from the longline disc  1 . When the connector  9  passes the longline disc, it changes direction from horizontal to vertical, and will temporarily ease the tension on the hook/bait in the holder.  
      When the piston  11  has reached its end position, the holder has been pushed forwards towards the container so that it is level with and lies on top of a fixed conductor casing  13  which is placed over the container  12 .  
      An ejector is arranged over the edge of the container to push the hook/bait  5  downwards and out of the holder  8 . This ejector device starts when the piston  11  has reached its end position.  
      The ejector device involves a second cylinder  14  with a piston  15  and pushes the hook with bait  5  out of the holder  8 , down through a subjacent conductor casing  13  and into a bait receptacle  16  to the container  12 . The cells of the bait receptacle  16  are evenly distributed around the edge of the container  12 . The longline  3  coils itself in the rope receptacle  17  In the container  12 .  
      The conductor casing  13  also has two mutually level, vertical, run-through slots  18 ,  28  (detail D) through which the snood  4  and the piston  15  pass. The conductor casing  13  is positioned directly under the bottom-less holder  8  and so that the slots  17 ,  27  and  18 ,  28  are level. The second conductor casing  13  will also help stabilise the holder  8  when the piston  15  is moved downwards and pushes the hook/bait inside the holder  8 .  
      On the bottom end of the piston  14   1 , the actual ejector device  15  is shaped like an extended blade which is slightly thinner than the width of the slots  17 ,  27  and  18 ,  28  respectively. The blade is assembled standing edgewise so that when it is pushed down, it will fit precisely through the slots  17 ,  27  and  18 ,  28  respectively.  
      The ejector device/blade  15  operates to push the hook/bait in front of it and out of the holder, through the conductor casing and down into one of the storage cells  161  for the bait When the hook/bait has been stored, the blade  15  has reached its lowest position and is then retracted through the conductor casing  13 . Simultaneously, the holder  8  on the end of the piston  11  has already been retracted to pick up a new hook with bait  5  as described above.  
      The longline container  12  is circular and involves a rope/longline receptacle  17  in the centre and a ring-shaped external receptacle  16 , which is divided by radial partition walls into a number of hook/bait cells  16  for hook/bait  5 . The inner wall in each bait cell  16 ′ involves a vertical slot  29  through which the snood can run.  
      Below, the different steps for the execution of the process of transferring from baiting machine to longline container shall be studied in brief, with reference to the figures.  
      FIGS.  1  to  3  illustrate the hook with bait  5  directly before it enters the holder  8 .  
       FIG. 4  illustrates the hook with bait  5  once it has entered the holder  8 . It is important to note that the connector  9  between the snood  4  and the longline  3  is in front of the longline disc  1  so that there is pulling tension on the snood  4 . The sensor  10  records that the hook/bait is in position and starts movement of the cylinder  11 .  
       FIG. 5  illustrates when the cylinder  11  for the holder  8  has started and is moving. As the cylinder moves, the tension on the snood  4  will decrease as the connector  9  has moved out of the longline disc  1 .  
       FIG. 6  illustrates when the cylinder  11  has reached its end position. The holder  8  has now moved above the conductor casing  13 , and the cylinder  14  with piston  15  is ready to start pushing the hook with bait  5  down into the bait receptacle  16  in the container  12 .  
       FIGS. 7 and 8  illustrate when the cylinder  14  with piston  15  have pushed the hook with bait  5  out of the holder  8 , through the conductor casing  13  and down into the bait receptacle  16  In the container  12 . The central rope/longline receptacle is illustrated as position  17  in  FIG. 2 .  
      When the piston  15  has pushed the hook with bait  5  out of the holder  8 , the cylinder  11  can return to its start position for positioning of a new hook with bait  5  in the holder  8 . When the cylinder  14  has reached its end position, it returns. The operation of transferring a hook with bait down into a container with separate receptacles for bait has now been completed, and the system is ready for a new operational cycle.  
      The container  12  is positioned on an indexable rotating table (not illustrated), so that the container can rotate round to a new bait cell  16 ′ once a certain number of hooks  5  have been transferred into the bait receptacle  16 ′.  
      This invention represents a significant improvement in the automation of the baiting process for longline with snood.