IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHING TACKLE
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Walter James McMullen at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th October 1883.
WALTER JAMES MCMULLEN of East Dulwich in the County of Surrey
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHING TACKLE."
My invention relates to a novel construction of check action for winches which
permits of the fishing line being freely drawn off the reel as required and payed
out, while it prevents the spindle from overrunning and the coils of the line thereon
from becoming thereby loosened and liable to entanglement.
One of the principal advantages of my improved check action for winches is
that it permits of the winch being readily taken to pieces, hitherto a matter of
difficulty, or impossibility, in the case of winches fitted with stop motions or
checking gear.
According to my invention I fit to one end of the winch spindle, or to the winch
handle or revolving plate, a spring arm provided with an adjustable stud or ratchet
adapted to engage with a series of holes in the side wall of the winch case, or it
may be with a circular rack formed thereon or attached thereto. This spring arm
is thrown into and out of action by the rotation of a nut or threaded cap, and
means are provided by which the said spring arm is utilized to prevent the said
nut from working loose or coming off.
A convenient method of preventing the nut by which the spring arm is thrown
into and out of the operative position from coming off, is to insert a small screw
through the rim or in in the side of the nut or cap, which screw acting as a stop
against the spring arm will limit the rotation of the nut to some 180° of a circle,
the said nut having previously been so adjusted that by rotating it for say &
quarter turn in one direction it will firmly bind the spring arm to the spindle and
cause its pawl to be forcibly pressed into the holes or notches on the winch case as
the line is payed out and the spindle rotates, while by rotating it for, say, a
quarter turn in the opposite direction the spring arm will be loosened upon the
spindle and the pawl or pin upon its end will run loosely or idly over the holes
or notches in or on the winch case.
Thus the spring arm itself engaging with the small screw or stop pin in the nut
effectually prevents the nut from coming off, while by partially unscrewing the

page_text: said screw the check action can be removed and the winch case taken entirely to
pieces. The stop pin may also be screwed into the spring arm and the rim of the
nut be slotted to engage with the said stop pin at the required point.
The nut might also carry a horizontal arm engaging with the adjustable pawl or
pin on the outer extremity of the spring arm.
My invention also relates to improved means for readily connecting a fishing
hook or trace with the line from the winch the object being to obtain a coupling
or attachment of greater strength and security for a given size than has been
hitherto made.
The coupling is made by bending the end of a piece of wire down upon the
main portion or shank so as to constitute a loop, and then by bending the
remaining part so as to form another loop around the said shank. The extreme
end of the bent wire forming the second loop touches or nearly touches the wire
at or about the middle of the first loop, and the middle part of the second loop
touches or nearly touches the shank at the base of the first loop.
I thereby obtain an elastic or spring hook or coupling in using which the loop
or eye which it is desired to connect therewith must be passed three times between
the bent wire at points where the convolutions cross or are closely pressed
together.
By this arrangement a coupling of great strength is obtained and one which is
superior in security and ease of attachment to a split ring and other couplings
hitherto used in fishing.
The shank of the coupling may be the shank of a fishing hook itself or it may be
part of a swivel, or it may form-part of an archimedean screw or other apparatus
used in fishing to give rotary motion to baits, or it may form part of the artificial
baits such as are ordinarily used for fishing.
This spring coupling can be used to rapidly attach an artificial or natural bait
to a trace or line, or it may be used to connect a hook with a spoon or other bait.
I would remark that by my improved check action for winches the line may be
cast in any approved style and by means of a small set screw the adjusting nut or
cap may be fixed on the spindle in any desired position with respect to the spring
arm so as to maintain the desired pressure or absence of pressure thereon.