Patent Publication Number: US-2007107295-A1

Title: Artificial fishing lure with adjustable weight

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The invention relates generally to fishing equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to an artificial fishing lure with adjustable weight.  
      2. Background Art  
      Various types of artificial baits are popular among sport fishermen. One type of bait is commonly called a “crank bait”. A crankbait is an artificial lure that typically floats on or near the top of the water. The lure has a “diving bill” protruding from its nose that typically serves as an attachment point for the fishing line. The diving bill forces the bait under the surface of the water as the user reels in the line.  
      Crank baits usually are weighted with a fixed weight such as a ball bearing that is internal to the body of the lure. This weight serves to provide ballast to the lure so that it may maintain an upright orientation in the water. The weight is not enough to submerge to lure beneath the water. When the lure is being retrieved, the depth of the lure is controlled by the rate of retrieval. Generally, the faster the user retrieves the lure, the deeper it dives. However, there may be times when a slow retrieval rate is desired in combination with a deep presentation of the lure. Consequently, a crankbait with an adjustable weight is needed.  
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
      In some aspects, the invention relates to an artificial fishing lure, comprising: a body that contains a hollow slot; and a weight that is removably inserted into the slot to affect the buoyancy of the lure.  
      In other aspects, the invention relates to an artificial fishing lure, comprising: a body that contains a hollow slot; and means for inserting a removable weight into the hollow slot in order to affect the buoyancy of the lure.  
      In other aspects, the invention relates to an artificial fishing lure, comprising: a body that contains a slot that opens into a hollow chamber in the interior of the body; and a plug that fits into the slot to seal the hollow chamber.  
      In other aspects, the invention relates to an artificial fishing lure, comprising: a body that contains an accessible hollow chamber in the interior of the body; and means for inserting at least one bead into the hollow chamber to affect the buoyancy of the lure.  
      Other aspects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
      It should be noted that identical features in different drawings are shown with the same reference numeral.  
       FIG. 1  shows a cross-sectional view of a lure with an adjustable weight in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  shows a cross-sectional view of a lure with an adjustable weight in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  show overhead and side views of an adjustable weight in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 4 a  side view of a sleeve in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  show cross-sectional views of a lure with a hollow chamber with rattle-weights in accordance with alternative embodiments of the present invention.  
       FIG. 6  shows a detailed cross-sectional view of a hollow chamber and plug. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      An artificial fishing lure with an adjustable weight has been developed.  
      The present invention includes a crankbait that contains a removable weight that is located internally within its body. The weight may be removed and replaced with a larger or smaller weight as desired. A crankbait is an artificial fishing lure that floats at or near the surface of the water. As it is retrieved, it submerges to a depth that is directly related to the rate of retrieval. The crankbait may have a fixed weight, such as a ball bearing, that is permanently embedded within the body of the lure to provide ballast and orientation of the lure. A crankbait may be made of various buoyant materials such as plastic or wood.  
       FIG. 1  shows an example of a plastic lure with an adjustable weight  10 .  
      The lure  10  has a body  12  with a diving bill  14  and a rear eyelet  16 . The diving bill  14  has an eyelet to attach to the fishing line. As the lure is retrieved, the diving bill  14  forces the lure  10  to submerge. A hook (not shown) is attached to the rear eyelet  16 . The hook is usually a “treble hook” which is grouping of three separate barbs around a single stem.  
      The adjustable weight  18  is inserted into the interior of the body  12  of the lure. It may be held in place by friction or by screw threads (not shown). The weight  18  as shown includes an eyelet to allow the user to insert and remove the weight  18  as desired. A treble hook may be attached to this eyelet. The addition of this weight forces the lure to submerge instead of floating at or near the surface. This allows the user to make a presentation of the lure at a greater depth without increasing the retrieval rate. Other weights of lesser or greater size may be used since the adjustable weight is removable. In the example shown, the depth  20  of the slot  22  is 0.59 inches. The weight  18  shown in this example has a length of 0.19 inches and will not extend all the way to the end the slot when fully inserted into the lure. However, a heavier weight may use up the remaining space in the slot  22  as needed.  
      The weight may be made of heavy metals such as tungsten, lead or other similar materials. The actual weights may vary in mass from 3 to 20 grams in the examples shown. However, other size weights outside this range may be used in other embodiments of the invention. In other embodiments the weight and the slot may be threaded so that the weight may be screwed in or out of the lure. In the examples shown, the weight uses 10/32 inch threads (not shown).  
       FIG. 2  shows a cross-sectional view of another example of the present invention. In this embodiment  30 , the diving bill  32  is separate from the front eyepin  34  that attaches to the fishing line. Also shown is rear eyepin  38  that is inserted into the rear of the body  36  of the lure  30 . The eyepins shown in  FIG. 2  differ from the eyelets shown in  FIG. 1  in that they have an elongated stem that extends more deeply into the body  36  of the lure  30 .  
      An adjustable weight  38  is used as previously shown in  FIG. 1 . However in the embodiment, a sleeve  40  is inserted into the slot  42  of the body  36  of the lure  30 . The weight  38  is then inserted into the sleeve  40 . The sleeve  40  may be removable or permanently mounted in the lure  30 .  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  show overhead and side views of the adjustable weight  38  and its eyelet  42 . In this example, the weight has a hexagonal shaped body with a circular head at the top. The circular head has a circular diameter  44  of 0.28 inches. The width of the hexagonal body is 3/16 inches. In other embodiments, the body of the weight may be threaded. If a larger weight is needed, the length of the body is increased to add more material to be inserted into the lure.  
       FIG. 4  shows a view of the sleeve  40  that fits inside the slot  42  as shown previously in  FIG. 2 . In this example, the sleeve  40  has an exterior diameter  50  of 0.4765 inches and an interior diameter  52  of 0.35 inches. The length of the sleeve  50  is 1.06 inches. If a threaded weight is used, the interior of the sleeve  40  will also be threaded. It should be understood that these dimensions are provided as an example. Alternative embodiments could use different dimensions, materials and arrangements of components of an artificial lure.  
      In alternative embodiments, the artificial lure could have a hollow interior chamber in the body of the lure. Instead of the weight being directly inserted into the body, weights are placed in the hollow chamber and the chamber is sealed with a plug.  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  shows cross-sectional views  60  and  62  of a lure with a hollow chamber and rattle-weights in accordance with alternative embodiments of the present invention.  
      In both of these examples, a hollow chamber  64  and  65  is located in the body  61  and  63  of the lure. The chambers  64  and  65  are sealed with a plug  66  that is similar to the adjustable weights described previously in that they may be screwed into place. For adding weight to the lure, small individual weights  68  such as pellets, beads, etc. are placed in the chamber  64  and  65 . The number of weights  68  may be varied as required to affect the buoyancy of the lure.  
      Since the weights  68  are loose inside the chamber  64  and  65 , they have the additional advantage of making a “rattle” as the lure is retrieved. In other embodiments, the “weights” may be made of a very light material such as plastic so as not to affect the buoyancy of the lure. Instead, the plastic “weights” simply add more rattle to the lure without any increase in buoyancy.  
      In  FIG. 5   a , a larger chamber  66  is shown that is capable of holding a large number of weights.  FIG. 5   b  shows a smaller chamber  65  that holds only a few weights.  FIG. 6  shows a detailed view of the smaller chamber  65  along with the plug  66 . In these examples, a larger chamber  66  will enable a louder and more distinct rattle sound to emanate from the lure.  
      While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed here. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.