Patent Document

BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to filament connectors, and is applicable, particularly but not exclusively, to filament connectors to be used on monofilament plastics lines, such as fishing lines. The expression “filament” used herein includes cords, ropes, straps, steel wires and monofilament plastics lines, nylon spider wire and any other form of fishing line or other constraining material. 
     OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
     Commonly, such filaments are connected together or to other objects by the use of knots. However, it has been found that knots have the effect of reducing the breaking load of the filament by up to 50%. This is highly undesirable, since the breaking load is often a crucial parameter of a filament. 
     STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a filament connector including a body provided with an internal cavity, the cavity being open to the exterior of the body through an aperture, the interior of the cavity defining a pair of cavity walls converging towards said aperture, a wedge member positioned within said cavity and having a pair of part surfaces each facing a different one of said cavity walls, the wedge member having a degree of freedom of movement towards and away from the aperture, whereby a filament can be formed into a bight inside the cavity, the bight passing around that part of the wedge member remote from the aperture and between at least one of said cavity walls and the adjacent part surface of the wedge member, so that tension in the filament outside the connector pulls the wedge member toward the aperture and compresses the filament between the cavity wall and the adjacent part surface of the wedge member. 
     Preferably the part surface and adjacent cavity wall are parallel and may be flat. 
     Advantageously, both of the part surfaces are parallel to the adjacent cavity walls and are flat. 
     Conveniently the surface of the wedge member joining the two part surfaces and remote from the aperture is smoothly curved and preferably tangential to said part surfaces. 
     Preferably the body is provided with an openable lid to expose the cavity, when open, the body or the lid carrying the wedge member by a connection which is flexible, frangible or which has limited sliding movement towards the aperture, the wedge member being located, such that when the lid is closed, the wedge member is positioned within said bight. 
     Advantageously the lid is held closed by clip means. 
     Conveniently the body is provided with two or more of said cavities, apertures and wedge members, whereby bights of different filaments may be fastened to the body and thereby to each other. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a filament connector, as described above, adapted to be fastened to a monofilament fishing line. 
     Conveniently the body, at a position remote from the aperture, is adapted to locate and retain an element of a fishing component, such as an eye of a fishing hook or of a swivel. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Various embodiments of the invention are described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a section in a central longitudinal plane through one embodiment of a filament connector according to the invention, before use, 
     FIG. 2 is a section along the line II—II in FIG. 1 of the filament connector ready for use, 
     FIG. 3 shows the filament connector of FIGS. 1 and 2 at a typical full size for holding a fish hook, 
     FIG. 4 shows an alternative to FIG. 3, fastening a spur filament to a long line filament, 
     FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the invention joining the ends of two filaments, 
     FIG. 6 is a plan view of another embodiment of the invention, 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded view of FIG. 6, 
     FIG. 8 is a section along the lines VIII—VIII in FIG. 7, 
     FIG. 9 is a longitudinal section along the line IX—IX in FIG. 7, 
     FIG. 10 is a transverse section along the line X—X in FIG.  7 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
     In FIGS. 1,  2  and  3  a filament connector  10 , typically made of plastics is of elliptical shape. At one end an aperture  11  extends into an internal cavity  12 . The cavity  12  defines a pair of walls  13  which converge towards the aperture  11 . 
     A lid  14  of the connector  10  is conveniently formed integral therewith and joined thereto along a thin hinge line  15 . The lid has a pair of protruding prongs  16  aligned, as the lid  14  is closed, to pass through co-acting slots  17  in the connector. As the lid  14  reaches the closed position, a wedge  18  on each prong  16  springs outwards to catch under the lower surface  19  of the connector, and thereby hold the lid  14  shut. 
     Before starting to close the lid  14 , a filament  20 , to which the connector  10  is to be attached, is formed with a bight  21 , which is pushed through the aperture  11  and into the cavity  12 . The natural springiness of the bight  21  moves the filament against or adjacent the walls  13 . 
     A wedge member  22  preferably formed integral with the connector  10 , is connected thereto by a frangible link  23 . 
     The wedge member  22  is folded down into the cavity, so as to lie within the bight  21  and thereupon breaks free of the link  23 . The wedge member  22  is formed with a rounded end  24 , remote from the aperture  11  and a pair of inclined wall  25 , each adjacent and substantially parallel to a different one of the cavity walls  13 . 
     Tension in the filament  20  pulls the bight  21  against the rounded end  24  and thence pulls the wedge member  22  toward the aperture  11 . The walls  13 ,  25  grip the filament  20  and compress it so that it cannot slip and is, therefore connected to the filament connector  10 . 
     At the opposite end from the aperture  11  the connector  10  is formed with a depression  26  in which the eye of a fishing hook, swivel, sinker or the like is a snug fit, the shank of the hook extending out through a groove  27 . A protrusion  28  on the lid  14  engages in the depression  26  and groove  27  to give stability. 
     Instead of the wedge member  22  being attached to the connector  10  it could be attached by a similar frangible link to the lid  14 . 
     Instead of the frangible link  23 , a flexible or sliding connection can be provided between the wedge member  22  and the connector  10  or the lid  14 , provided that the wedge member can move freely towards the aperture  11  until the filament  20  is compressed. 
     An eye of a fishing swivel, sinker or the like can be held in the depression  26 , instead of the eye of the hook  29  seen in FIG.  3 . 
     FIG. 4 shows the use of a connector  10  to join one end of a spur line  30  at an intermediate position along a long line  31 . In this design, the filament connector  10  has two apertures  11 , cavities  12  and wedge member  22  at opposite ends thereof. The spur line  30  has a bight  21  formed adjacent one end thereof, which is gripped within one of said cavities. A length of the long line  31  is also formed into a bight  21  which is pushed into the other of the cavities  13 . When the lines  30 ,  31  are pulled, they are fastened to the connector  10  and thereby to each other. FIG. 5 shows a similar design adapted to be connected to the ends of two filaments  20 , which thereby become connected to each other. 
     In FIGS. 6 to  10 , a filament connector  10  includes a one-piece body  34  which is conveniently moulded of a suitable plastics. As can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 10, the body  34  is formed with a passage  35  right through. The passage  35  has a substantially parallel roof  36  and floor  37  and flat convergent side walls  38 . A central rib  39  depends from the roof  36 . The passage  35  has broader and narrower open ends  40 ,  41  respectively. 
     A loose wedge member  42  is a sliding fit within the passage  35 , the wedge member  42  having convergent substantially flat side walls  43  of the same included angle as the side walls  38  of the passage  35 . The wedge member  42  has a rounded broader end  44  and a longitudinal central groove  45  into which the rib  39  is a sliding fit, whereby the wedge member  42  is constrained to slide centrally along the passage  35 . When the side walls  43  bear against the side walls  38  of the passage  35 , the narrow end  48  of the wedge member  42  protrudes beyond the narrow end  41  of the passage  35 , so that the wedge member  42  can be pushed back up the passage  35 . 
     A cylindrical depression  46  is formed into the top of the body  10  and is connected into the passage  35  by an opening  47 . 
     To attach a fishing line to the filament connector  10 , the wedge member  42  is pushed back towards to broader end  40  of the passage so that there is a space between each side wall  38  and the adjacent sidewall  43 . One end of the fishing line is threaded into the narrower end  41  of the passage  35  and into one of said spaces. The line is pushed until it appears out of the broader end  40  of the passage  35 . It is then bend round and the end inserted into the broader end  40  into the other of said spaces and pushed until it emerges from the narrower end  41 . Thus, the line substantially encompasses the wedge member  42 . 
     When the line, and its free end are together pulled, the wedge member  42  is drawn through the passage  35  until the line becomes trapped between the wedge member  42  and the convergent side wall  38 . The harder the main length of line is pulled, the tighter it, and the free end length, become gripped. 
     It has been found that, for nylon monofilament fishing line and for the types of plastics used for the connector, an included angle between the side walls  38 , and therefore between the sidewalls  43 , of 8 to 9 degrees gives optimum grip and function. At an included angle of 6 degrees it becomes difficult to disengage the wedge member  42  and at included angles of 10 degrees or more, inadequate grip is achieved, particularly of lines having nominal breaking loads of 2 to 5 Kg. 
     To attach a conventional fishing hook to the filament connector  10 , the barbed point of the hook is passed first through the depression  46 , then through the opening  47  and out through the broader end  40  of the passage  35 . The shank of the hook is maneouvered to follow the point until eventually the circular eye of the hook nests in the depression  46 . The hook is then effectively held by the connector  10 . In order to assist passage of the barbed point, a small groove  49  may be formed in the floor  37 , to accommodate parts of the hook, as it passes through. 
     Game fishing quality line, to the standards of the International Game Fishing Association typically breaks at around 29.5 Kg for a 20 Kg nominal line under a straight pull. When such line is knotted, the stress raising effect of the knot causes breakage at around 22.5 Kg. 
     However, if one of the filament connectors  10  is used instead of a knot to attach a hook, for example, breakage occurs at around 97% of the actual breaking force ie. 97% of around 29.5 Kg. It has been found that the factor of around 97% is achieved for lines from 1 Kg to 30 lbs nominal breaking force. 
     In some embodiments of the invention, the body  34  can be devised as a lure itself. For example, it can be of bright, reflective or fluorescent colouring or made in the shape of a fish or other bait etc or can be shaped so as to spin or wriggle in known manner.

Technology Category: f