Patent ID: 8905345

Claim:
A fixed spool fishing reel having a spool shaft and a hollow rotor shaft which is coaxial with the spool shaft and through which the spool shaft extends, the rotor shaft being able to rotate about the spool shaft, the reel being further provided with a handle shaft which extends transversely of and is offset relative to the spool shaft, there being a first gear coupled for rotation with the handle shaft and also having an axis of rotation which is transverse of and offset from the spool shaft, the said first gear engaging a second gear which is on the rotor shaft so that the respective axes of rotation of the first and second gears are mutually orthogonal, wherein the said first gear is selectively coupled for rotation with the handle shaft and wherein the handle shaft is also selectively coupled to drive a third gear, having an axis of rotation which is transverse of and in or substantially in a plane in which lies the spool shaft, the said third gear being on the opposite side of the spool shaft to that side of the spool shaft on which the said first gear is located, and having an axis of rotation which is closer to the spool of the reel than the axis of rotation of the said first gear, the said third gear engaging a fourth gear which is also on the rotor shaft closer to the spool than is the said second gear, the respective axes of rotation of the said third and fourth gears being mutually orthogonal, and wherein the reel has a selector connected to change the gearing through which the handle shaft drives the rotor shaft from that comprising the said first gear and the said second gear, to that comprising the said third gear and the said fourth gear, thereby to change the gear ratio between rotation of the handle shaft and that of the rotor shaft.