Patent Abstract:
A fishing device, including a wall, the wall defining a large opening, a small opening, and a slit, the large opening operably communicating with the small opening through the slit; and an interior surface of the wall, the interior surface being frustoconical in shape and a method of threading a fishhook including the steps of at least partially circumscribing an eyelet of a fishhook with a curved surface of a wall; and directing fishing line adjacent the curved surface and through the eyelet.

Full Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]    The present invention relates to fishing tools, more specifically to a tool used to threader fishing line through a fishing hook and claims priority from provisional patent application No. 60/202,707, filed May 9, 2000, and entitled FISHHOOK THREADER AND METHOD OF USE. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Fishing is a sport enjoyed by many people, both young and old; a pastime that is often considered both relaxing and exciting. The sport is exhilarating for both the novice and the expert. One of the first steps in fishing is to tie a fishhook on to a fishing line. Fishing line is fed through the eye of the hook and then is tied in one of a variety of knots. Eyes, however range in size from large to very small, which are often difficult to negotiate with the fishing line.  
           [0003]    Numerous people, having poor hand-eye coordination enjoy fishing. Poor eyesight creates difficulty in seeing the eyelets, especially the small ones and leads to difficulty in aligning the line with the eyelet. Shaking hands make directional control over the line and eyelet difficult. Eyesight may be impaired as a physical manifestation of the angler or environmentally, e.g., darkness, rain against eyeglasses or other. Hand control may be impaired as a physical manifestation of the angler or environmentally, e.g., rocking boat, cold (causing shivering) or other. The combination between eyesight and hand control impairment relates to the difficulty in inserting the fishing line through the eye of a fishing hook.  
           [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,541 issued to Davis on Mar. 28, 2000 discloses a Fishing Line Threader. The device has a tapered interior wall, which guides the line to the hook opening. The hook eye is disposed at the bottom of the tapered wall. The device is attachable to the eye and crushable to remove it from the eye. The crushable feature makes storage of the device in a tackle box difficult. This device has problems in that it requires matching the bottom of the tapered wall up with the eye. An angler capable of such alignment may just as well orient the line up with the eye. The hard device does not form around the eye, leaving gaps where the line may be misdirected. Other inconveniences are also present with this device.  
           [0005]    What is needed is a line threader suitable for using with round eyelets. The threader should be suitable for use with eyelets of a variety of sizes, be deformable to adjust to the size of the eye, be self-aligning and be non-crushable.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention is a device and method for expanding the effective diameter of eyelets, which fits eyelets of different diameters. Preferably, it is water resistant, durable, compressible, resilient and lightweight.  
           [0007]    The present invention is a fishing device that preferably includes a fishhook with an eyelet, a fishing line, a frustocone having a wall, the wall defining a large opening and a small opening, a notch in the wall adjacent to the large opening, the notch joining with a slit, which cooperative extend from the large opening to the small opening, the wall defining a second small opening adjacent to the large opening, and a lanyard attached through the second small opening.  
           [0008]    The present invention is also a method including the steps of at least partially circumscribing an eyelet of a fishhook with a curved surface of a wall; and directing fishing line adjacent the curved surface, through the eyelet and then beyond the curved surface. The curved surface in cross-section may be dish-shaped, circular or a blend.  
           [0009]    Advantageously, the present invention provides a funnel or frustoconically shaped member that circumscribes an opening or eyelet as opposed to the funnel being placed adjacent or into the eyelet.  
           [0010]    As a further advantage, the present invention includes a threader that is formed of a compressible material into which the eyelet may embed such that the interior surface of the threader and interior surface of the eyelet are co-extensive.  
           [0011]    As another advantage, the present invention has a threader that includes a v-shaped notch to guide an eyelet into the interior of a threader.  
           [0012]    As yet another advantage the present invention includes a threader with a vertical slit such that the eyelet and line can be extracted generally perpendicularly to the central axis of the threader.  
           [0013]    As yet another advantage the present invention includes a single piece homogenous threader.  
           [0014]    As still yet another advantage a threader is provided with a guide for placing an eyelet in alignment with the threader and a guide for placement of line in alignment with the eyelet. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 shows a front view of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention while in use;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 3 shows a front view of a third embodiment;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4 shows a bottom view of a fourth embodiment; and  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 shows the invention in operation. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0020]    The present inventive device  10 , shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, includes a fishhook  12  with an eyelet  12   a , a fishing line  14 , and a threader mechanism  16  for threading a fishhook. These will be described in greater detail below.  
         [0021]    “Fishhook” is hereinafter defined as a jig, fishing lure, simple fishhook and all other mechanisms used to hook fish, while angling. Fishhook  12  may be any fishhook now available or available in the future. Eyelet  12   a  of fishhook  12  is intended to be any eyelet of a wide variety of sizes of eyelets. Fishing line  14  may be any fishing line used for fishing.  
         [0022]    Threader  16  may be of a variety of sizes,.and materials. Threader  16  may range from more than three inches in length to less than ½ inch in length. Preferably, threader  16  will be approximately two inches in length.  
         [0023]    Threader  16  may be made of a flexible material that has a memory. Preferably, threader  16  is made from a compressible, resilient and homogenous material. The material may be plastic, paper, rubber or any other suitable material. Preferably, the threader mechanism  16  will be plastic or rubber. The material may be sufficiently compressible to embed an eyelet  12   a  of a hook  12  into the wall  17 .  
         [0024]    Threader  16  may be a variety of shapes. Threader  16  may be a u-shaped trough. The interior surface of the threader  16  may be funnel-shaped. Preferably, the entire threader  16  will be a frustocone or funnel-shape. Threader  16  includes a wall  17 , which may define a small opening  18  at a first end of threader  16  and a large opening  20  at the opposing end, which openings  18 , 20  may operably communicate through slit  28 . Wall  17 , which may be of uniform thickness, may also define a second small opening  22  located in the top portion of threader  16  as shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    A notch  26 , which may be v-shaped, is positioned adjacent and in operable communication with large opening  20 , such that notch  28  and wall  17  provide mechanism for guiding the eyelet  12   a  into the interior of the threader  16 . A slit  28  in operable communication with notch  26  may optionally extend to the small opening  18 , although the slit  28  may or may not be in operable communication with the small opening  18 . Slit  28  may engage the shank of the hook  12  and stabilize the hook  12  relative to the threader  16 .  
         [0026]    Threader  16  may include attachment mechanism  24 . Attachment mechanism  24  is preferably a lanyard, key ring or other such device. The lanyard  24  is secured through the second small opening  22 . The angler may use the lanyard  24  to wear threader  16  around his/her neck or wrist when fishing.  
         [0027]    Referring to FIG. 5, the threader  16  is removed from a tackle box or from around the angler&#39;s neck or wrist. The eyelet  12   a  of the fishhook  12  is fed from notch  26  down through slit  28  towards the small opening  18  to a point inside the threader  16  between the small opening  18  and large opening  20 . At least a portion of the interior surface of the threader  16  circumscribes at least a portion of eyelet  12   a . For example, threader  16  may circumscribe the eyelet  12   a . Eyelet  12   a  may be co-axial with threader  16 . The outside wall  17  may be squeezed against eyelet  12   a  to conform the threader  16  about the eyelet  12   a , e.g., embed the eyelet  12  into wall  17 , which prevents the wire edge of the eyelet  12   a  from presenting an obstacle to line  14  being passed through the threader  16 . That is, the eyelet  12   a  may embed into wall  17 , either manually or through an preformed indentation, such that the interior surface of the threader  16  and interior surface of the eyelet  12   a  are co-extensive. The angler slides fishing line  14  adjacent the curved interior surface of the threader  16 , through the eyelet  12   a  and past the curved interior surface of the threader  16 , perhaps until a length of fishing line  14  has extended beyond the small opening  18 . The angler may now remove the threader  16  by sliding the line  14  and eyelet  12   a  through slit  28 . Once threader  16  has been removed from around the fishing line  14 , the angler may tie a knot in the fishing line  14 .  
         [0028]    In an alternative embodiment, threader  16  includes a neck  30  as shown in FIG. 2. Neck  30  is an elongated channel. Neck  30  may range from longer than three inches to less than ¼ inch in length. Neck  30  continues to narrow in diameter as it approaches small opening  18 . An angler may insert different sized eyelets  12   a  into threader  16  and still obtain a snug or imbedded fit. The angler moves fishhook  12   a  toward small opening  18  until threader  16  tightly circumscribes eyelet  12   a . The angler may now finish threading the eyelet  12   a  with fishing line  14  as before described.  
         [0029]    Shown in FIG. 3 is a second alternative embodiment. This embodiment is hourglass shaped. This embodiment includes an additional frustocone  32  attached to small opening  18 . The interior surface of the additional frustocone  32  may be stair-stepped down from small opening  18 . The stair-stepped design effectively embeds the eyelet  12   a  into the wall  17  without the need for squeezing threader  16 . Eyelet  12   a  is adjusted, through slit  28 , either up through the additional frustocone  32  or down through the top portion of the threader  16 . Once the eyelet  12   a  reaches a point where it is tightly secured within the threader  16 , the angler may finish threading hook  12  in the same manner described above.  
         [0030]    The stair-steps also allows the present invention  10  to be used with various sized eyelets  12   a . When eyelet  12   a  is adjusted upward through additional frustocone  32 , eyelet  12   a  will be stopped at the step whose diameter is equal to or slightly smaller than the diameter of eyelet  12   a . The steps perform the same function as lining up the interior wall  17  with eyelet  12   a . Shown in FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the additional frustocone  32 .  
         [0031]    Preferably, threader  16  is frustoconical though this is unnecessary in the strictest sense of the term. As previously mentioned the threader  16  may be in the form of a u-shaped trough much like a bowl in cross section. The term “frustocone” is intended to convey the meaning of an interior wall having a tapered surface extending from a large opening  20  to a small opening.  18 . Threader  16  provides a large target area to enable anglers to thread fishing line  14  into a small target, i.e. eyelet  12   a . Anglers with poor vision, shaky hands or other interference with hand-eye coordination may easily thread fishing line  14  through the large opening  20  through the eyelet  12   a . Threader  16  further directs the fishing line  14  so as to enable easy threading of eyelet  12   a.    
         [0032]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiment, workers skilled in the art will recognize changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0