Fishing-reel Tension Attachment.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Jan., 1899-Accepted, 11th Mar., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Fishing-reel Tension Attachment.
I, ANDREW VERD CHAPIN, of Ferndale, County of Humboldt, State of California,
U.S.A., Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for Fishing Reel
Tension Attachment, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to bę
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement;-
-
My invention relates to certain improvements in reels such as are used by
fishermen and for similar purposes. The object of my improvement is to provide
for a varying tension upon the reel whereby I am enabled to check the running
out of the line, or to relieve it so as to run freely. It also consists in details of
construction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which-
Figure 1 is a general view of the device. Figure 2 is an inside view of the
barrel. Figure 3 is a vertical section through the reel.
A is the barrel of a reel having flanges B between which the line is to be wound.
C is the reel holder which is fixed upon the rod and has an arm extending to
the centre at one end and forming a support in which is secured the end of the
shaft D, the latter extending centrally through the barrel which is freely turnable
on it, and E is the line guide, these being of the usual or ordinary construction.
Upon the shaft D is fixed a ratchet wheel F. Exterior to this and loosely
turnable upon the shaft is the cup-shaped ratchet wheel G, the cup being so made
that the fixed ratchet wheel F is essentially contained within the exterior turnable
one.
The exterior turnable ratchet wheel has a spring-pressed pawl H in the interior
of its cup, and this engages the teeth of the inner ratchet upon the shaft so that
the outer ratchet is allowed to turn in one direction.
I is a shaft extending through one of the heads B and lying inside of the
barrel A.
Around this shaft is coiled a spring J the tension of which tends to turns the
shaft in one direction.
Upon the end of the shaft which is in a plane with the ratchets G and F,
previously described, is a pawl K which is caused to engage the teeth of the outer
ratchet G by the tension of the coil spring. As at present shown this spring is
bent so as to pass through a hole made in the pawl, and the spring being so
bent beyond the end of the main coil so as to pass through this hole is afterwards
bent towards the centre and a single turn is made upon the shaft which holds
the pawl in place.
On the inner end of the shaft I is a fixed ratchet L, and this is engaged by a
spring-pressed lever arm M which, as is shown, is fulcrumed upon the main central
shaft D, and its opposite end extends across to the other side of the head of the
barrel or drum A where it has a stud pin N connected with it and projecting
through a slot O, in the plate or head, to the exterior where it is convenient to
be handled by the operator.
By pushing this pin so as to move in the slot toward one end, the opposite end
of the lever pawl M is disengaged from the ratchet wheel L and the shaft I

page_text: -
carrying the coil spring is thus free to turn backwardly and when it is turned,
the pressure of the pawl K upon the ratchet wheel is correspondingly relieved.
Upon the outer end of this shaft I which carries the coil. spring, is a milled
head or thumb-piece I by which it may be turned.
When it is desired to tighten the tension of the reel, as when a large fish is
hooked and the line is running out, the operator turns this shaft by means of the
milled head, thus coiling the spring J, and the spring thus coiled exerts a strong
pressure upon the pawl K, which engages with the teeth of the exterior ratchet
wheel G, and thus greatly increases the power necessary to drag the pawl over
said ratchet and correspondingly increases the pull or tension upon the reel. The
pawl H engaging the inner ratchet which is fixed to the reel shaft prevents the
outer loose ratchet from turning while the spring-pressed pawl K is being dragged
over its exterior teeth as the line runs out, but when the line is being wound
upon the reel, the pawl H slips easily over the teeth of the inner fixed ratchet
with only the ordinary tension upon the line in winding it in.
When it is desired to release the tension upon the outer ratchet it is done by
simply pressing the thumb-piece N which is connected with the pawl M so that
the pawl is disengaged from the ratchet L upon the tensional adjusting shaft I,
and the latter instantly turns upon its axis until the tension of the coiled spring
is relieved, and the reel is then free to turn in either direction without any strong
pressure or tension upon either of the ratchets.
By this construction, the backward tension or that which takes place when the
line is running out may be regulated to any degree of nicety and the reel can
be used for either large or small fish, while the tension on the forward motion is
not altered and the line can always be wound up easily no matter what the back-
ward tension may be.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1st. In a reel for fishing lines, a winding drum and centrally disposed shaft
upon which it is turnable, a ratchet fixed to the shaft, a second ratchet loosely
turnable on the shaft, a pawl intermediate between the two ratchets by which
the outer ratchet is prevented from turning in one direction, and is allowed to
move in the opposite direction, an exterior pawl carried by the drum engaging
the outer ratchet and moving it and the intermediate pawl over the inner ratchet
when the drum is turned to wind the line in, and an adjustable spring whereby
the pressure of the exterior pawl upon the ratchet is regulated, and the amount
of power necessary to turn the reel in a reverse direction is increased or diminished.
2nd. An attachment for fishing line reels consisting of connected pawl and
ratchet mechanisms by which the reel is turnable to wind or unwind the line,
and an intermediate device whereby the tension upon the unwinding line may be
varied independent of that upon the line when moving in the opposite direction.
Dated this 31st day of January 1899.