Abstract:
A fishhook includes a one-piece monolithic body having two legs that have barbs on the ends thereof and are biased so the barbs move in a common plane while retaining a common orientation with respect to each other. A notch portion on one of two legs abuts a notch portion on the other leg to hold the hook in an armed configuration by abutting engagement and is moved out of abutting engagement to permit a torsion spring to move the legs apart into a triggered configuration.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the general art of fishing, and to the particular field of hooks and lures. 
     2. Discussion of the Related Art 
     Fishing is an extremely popular sport and pastime. As such, and due to its increasing popularity, the fishing art has undergone a concomitant increase in size and variety. Many problems encountered by fishermen are approached by the inventions in this varied art. Inventions directed to winding fishing line, inventions directed to night fishing, to ice fishing, to deep sea fishing and the like have been proposed. 
     One area of particular interest includes fishing hooks and lures. The inventions in this subclass of the fishing art are as varied as in any other area of the art. These inventions include hooks that are designed for safety, lures that are designed to attract fish, hooks that are designed to be easily retrieved and the like. 
     However, due to the increasing popularity of fishing, there is always a need for improvements. This includes the area of fishing hooks and lures as well. 
     Therefore, there is a need for an improved fishing hook. 
     One problem encountered by all fishermen is in properly setting a hook after a fish strikes the hook. The strike must be communicated from the hook through the line to the fishing rod and then to the fisherman. All of this takes time and then the rod must be moved to set the hook at just the right time. Even experienced fisherman often miss a fish due to this portion of the process. However, inexperienced fishermen suffer most from errors in setting the hook after a strike. 
     Therefore, there is a need for a fishing hook that can effectively and reliably be set after a strike. 
     The art contains several examples of fishing hooks that automatically set after a fish strikes. However, these known hooks are generally complex, and often contain several parts that must each work properly for the hook to be effective. Since a fish hook is used in difficult and harsh environments, the many moving and co-operating parts of known automatic fish hooks are prone to failure. This makes such automatic fish hooks unreliable, or worse, inoperative. Having an unreliable or inoperative fish hook may be worse than not having any hook at all because the fisherman will depend on the proper operation of the automatic fish hook and certainly miss a fish when the hook operates either incorrectly or not at all. 
     Therefore, there is a need for an automatic fish hook that is reliable. 
     PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a main object of the present invention to provide an improved fishing hook. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a fishing hook that can effectively and reliably be set after a strike. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide an automatic fish hook that is reliable. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These, and other, objects are achieved by a fishhook which comprises a one-piece monolithic body which includes first and second legs, a barb on a distal end of each of the first and second legs, a torsion spring connecting a proximal end of the first leg to a proximal end of the second leg, the torsion spring biasing the proximal end of the first leg toward the proximal end of the second leg in an armed configuration of the one-piece monolithic body and biasing the proximal end of the first leg away from the proximal end of the second leg in a triggered configuration of the one-piece monolithic body, a notch portion in the first leg, a notch portion in the second leg, the notch portion in the first leg abutting the notch portion in the second leg when the one-piece monolithic body is in an armed configuration and being spaced apart from the notch portion in the second leg when the one-piece monolithic body is in a triggered configuration, and the barbs face away from each other and move in a common plane when the one-piece triggered configuration. 
     The fishhook of the present invention is a one-piece monolithic construction so it can easily resist the harsh environment in which it operates and the notches and barbs reliably operate. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the automatic fishing hook embodying the present invention in an armed configuration. 
     FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the fishing hook of the present invention in the armed configuration. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective showing the automatic fishing hook embodying the present invention in a triggered configuration. 
     FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the fishing hook of the present invention in the triggered configuration. 
     FIG. 5 is an elevational view of a heat treated control spring used to control movement of the legs of the automatic fish hook of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-5, it can be seen that the invention is embodied in an automatic fishhook  10  comprising a one-piece monolithic body  12 . The one-piece monolithic nature of body  12  ensures that fishhook  10  will not require a plurality of interengaging elements that may become damaged or non-functional due to the difficult environment in which fishhook  10  will be used. Body  12  includes a first leg  14  having a body  16  which includes a proximal end  18 , a distal end  20 , and an axial dimension  22  extending between proximal end  18  and distal end  20 . A ninety-degree loop portion  24  is located on distal end  20  of first leg  14  and includes a free end  26 , and a barb  28  on free end  26  of ninety-degree loop portion  24  of first leg  14 . Free end  26  of first leg  14  is spaced from body  16  of first leg  14  and ninety-degree loop portion  24  of first leg  14  extends away from body  16  of first leg  14  in a first direction  30 . 
     Body  16  of first leg  14  further includes a proximal section  32  located adjacent to proximal end  18  of body  16  of first leg  14  and includes a distal end  34  and a proximal end  36  coincident with proximal end  18  of body  16  of first leg,  14 . Body  16  of first leg  14  further includes a distal section  38  located adjacent to distal end  20  of body  16  of first leg  14  and includes a distal end  40  which is coincident with distal end  20  of body  16  of first leg  14  and a proximal end  42  located near distal end  34  of proximal section  32  of body  16  of first leg  14 . Distal section  38  of body  16  of first leg  14  is located in a distal plane  44 . Proximal section  32  of body  16  is located in a proximal plane  46 . Free end  26  of ninety-degree loop portion  24  of body  16  is located in distal plane  44  of first leg  14 . 
     Body  16  of first leg  14  further includes a notch portion  50  connecting proximal end  42  of distal section  38  to distal end  34  of proximal section  32 . Notch portion  50  is in a notch plane  52  which is oriented at an oblique angle with respect to proximal and distal planes  46  and  44  respectively of first leg  14 . 
     One-piece monolithic body  12  further includes a second leg  60  which is identical to first leg  14  and includes a body  62  which includes a proximal end  64 , a distal end  66 , an axial dimension  68  extending between proximal end  64  of body  62  of second leg  60  and distal end  66  of body  62 . A ninety-degree loop portion  69  is located on the distal end  66  of the body  62  of second leg  60  and includes a free end  70 , and a barb  72  on the free end  70  of the ninety-degree loop portion  69  of body  62 . Free end  70  of body  62  is spaced from body  62  of second leg  60 , and ninety-degree loop portion  69  extends away from the body  62  of the second leg.  60  in a second direction  74  with first direction  30  of first leg  14  being 180° from second direction  74  of second leg  60 . 
     Body  62  of second leg  60  further includes a proximal section  80  located adjacent to proximal end  64  of body  62 . Proximal section  80  includes a distal end  82  and a proximal end  84  which is coincident with proximal end  64  of body  62 . Body  62  further includes a distal section  86  which is located adjacent to the distal end  66  of body  62  and which includes a distal end  88  which is coincident with the distal end  66  of body  62  and a proximal end  90  located near distal end  82  of proximal section  80 . Proximal section  80  is located in a proximal plane  92  of second leg  60  and distal section  86  of body  62  is located in a distal plane  94  of second leg  60 .. 
     Free end  70  of the ninety-degree loop portion  69  of second leg  60  is located in distal plane  94  and distal plane  44  of first leg  14  is co-planar with distal plane  94  of second leg  60  with free end  26  of first leg  14  being co-planar with free end  70  of second leg  60  whereby movements  30  and  74  are co-planar. 
     Body  62  of second leg  60  further includes a notch portion  100  connecting proximal end  90  of distal section  86  to the distal end  82  of proximal section  80 . Notch portion  100  is located in a notch plane  102  which is oriented at an oblique angle with respect to proximal and distal planes  92  and  94  respectively. 
     One-piece monolithic body  12  further includes a torsion spring  110  connecting proximal end  18  of body  16  of first leg  14  to proximal end  64  of body  62  of second leg  60  and includes a heat treated coil  112  which biases proximal end  18  toward proximal end  64  in an armed configuration of one-piece monolithic body  12  as shown in FIG.  1 . Torsion spring  110  is formed of water-resistant material and is co-planar with proximal planes  46  and  92  of the first and second legs  14  and  60 . Spring  110  maintains legs  14  and  60  near each other and operates reliably even in the harsh environments in which fishhook  10  operates. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, notch section  50  of body  16  of first leg  13  is located to abuttingly engage notch section  100  of body  62  of second leg  60  in the armed configuration shown in FIG. 1 of one-piece monolithic body  12  and is spaced apart from notch section  100  of body  62  of second leg  60  in a triggered configuration as shown in FIG. 3 of one-piece monolithic body  12 . The notch section  50  of first leg  13  abuts the notch section  100  of second leg  60  in a plane which is transverse to a plane in which the torsion spring extends. 
     As can be understood from FIGS. 1 and 3, ninety-degree loop section  24  of first leg  14  and ninety-degree loop section  69  of second leg  60  are movable in distal planes  44  and  94  respectively of first and second legs  14  and  60  from the armed configuration shown in FIG. 1 with proximal end  36  of proximal section  32  of body  16  of first leg  14  spaced apart from proximal end  84  of proximal section  80  of second leg  60  by an armed space  116  and ninety-degree loop section  24  of first leg  14  curves away from ninety-degree loop section  69  of second leg  60 , and barb  26  on first leg  24  is spaced apart from barb  72  on second leg  60  by an armed spacing  118  to the triggered configuration shown in FIG. 3 of one-piece monolithic body  12 , with proximal end  36  of proximal section  32  of body  16  of first leg  14  spaced leg  60  by a triggered space  120 . Triggered space  120  is shorter than armed space  116 . Barb  28  on first leg  14  is spaced apart from barb  72  on second leg  60  by a triggered spacing  122  with the triggered spacing  122  between the barb  28  on the first leg  14  and the barb  72  on the second leg  60  being greater than the armed spacing  118  between the barb  28  on the first leg  14  and the barb  72  on the second leg  60  with the ninety-degree loop section  24  on the first leg  14  curving away from the ninety-degree loop section  69  on the second leg  60 . The axes of the proximal section  32  of first leg  14  and the proximal section  80  of second leg  60  cross each other at first and second locations when they are in the armed and triggered configurations respectively, wherein the second location is closer to the torsion spring than the first location. 
     As can be understood from FIG. 1, one-piece monolithic body  12  is held in the FIG. 1 armed configuration against bias of coil  112  of torsion spring  110  by the abutting engagement between notch portion  50  on body  16  of first leg  14  and notch portion  100  on body  62  of second leg  60  and moving from the FIG. 1 armed configuration to the FIG. 3 triggered configuration after the notch portion  50  on the body  16  of the first leg  14  is moved out of the abutting contact with the notch portion  100  on the body  62  of the second leg  60  and under the influence of the coil of torsion spring  110 . 
     It is understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts described and shown.