JP7527090B1 - Fishing lures - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a lure that can be attached to a hard lure in the same way as a soft lure, without moving a single hook relative to the lure body and in an easily detachable manner. [Solution] The lure 1A of the first embodiment comprises a front body 2, a fishhook 3, and a rear body 3. The front body 2 comprises a groove G1 and a groove G2, the fishhook 3 comprises an insertion portion 3a, and the rear body 4 comprises a connection portion 4a. The fishhook 3 is engaged with the front body 2 by inserting the insertion portion 3a into the groove G1 and the connection portion 4a into the groove G2. [Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

This invention relates to fishing lures.

Large fish such as smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, catfish, and sea bass use fish and small animals such as earthworms, shrimp, crayfish, frogs, insects, and mice as bait. Lure fishing is a popular way to catch these large fish. In lure fishing, a lure is used. A fishing line is attached to the lure. When cast, the lure flies through the air and eventually lands on the water. The lure swims underwater or on the surface of the water as the fishing line is wound around it. The fish mistake the lure for bait and bite the lure. The fishing hook attached to the lure pierces the fish, and the fish is caught.

Traditionally, there are lures known as hard lures, which are made of hard materials such as hard plastic, wood, and metal. These lures generally have a ring-shaped part called a hook eye on the outside of the body, and a three-pronged fishing hook called a treble hook is attached to the hook eye. (Patent Document 1, Figure 1)

However, while treble hooks have a high hooking rate, they have issues such as being prone to getting caught on obstacles when used around underwater trees, rocks, the bottom of the water, and other obstacles where fish are likely to be hiding. They also create water resistance and act as unintended weights, making it difficult to move the lure delicately.

An effective solution to the above problem would be to insert a single hook into the lure body, as with soft lures; however, it is technically more difficult to securely attach a single hook to the body of a hard lure without it moving, and to attach the fishing hook in a removable (replaceable) manner, compared to soft lures, and so such lures are not in widespread use.

As an example of a lure that attempts to solve the above problem, the following Patent Document 2 discloses a hard lure that has a lure body with a groove and a fishing hook with a thick part that prevents it from slipping out of the groove.

Other hard lures that have been disclosed include a lure body with a slit that holds part of the hook and fixes the hook to the lure body (Patent Document 3), and a hard lure in which a stopper member prevents the hook from moving back and forth and fixes the hook to the lure body (Patent Document 4).

Patent Publication No. 2022-176045 Patent Publication No. 2016-042809 Patent Publication No. 2021-016352 Patent 6251852

However, the above-mentioned (Patent Document 2), (Patent Document 3), and (Patent Document 4) all had problems with fixing the fishing hook to the lure body without it moving.

(Patent Document 2) (Patent Document 3) disclose a structure in which a ring-shaped part is provided on the lure body and the head of the hook (line eye) is connected to the ring-shaped part on the lure body with a snap or fishing line in order to prevent the hook from moving in the opposite direction to the direction in which it is inserted (attached) into the groove of the lure body. However, this structure has problems such as insufficient connection strength, the connection part and connection method between the lure and the fishing line are delicate and important elements that greatly affect the action of the lure, and connecting the two rings with a snap or fishing line is undesirable from the perspective of obtaining a good lure action, and the rotation of the hook relative to the lure body is not sufficiently suppressed.

In addition, in (Patent Document 4), a stopper is provided at the base of the curved part of the hook to prevent the hook from moving in the opposite direction to the direction in which it is inserted (attached) into the groove of the lure body. However, this structure in which the stopper is inserted into the hook and the hook is fixed to the lure body has problems such as the stopper moving unintentionally toward the curved part of the hook as the lure is repeatedly cast, causing the hook to shift forward and backward from the lure body and not being able to sufficiently prevent the hook from rotating relative to the lure body due to the forward and backward shift.

The present invention provides a lure with a single hook attached to the body, in which the hook does not rotate or shift from the intended position relative to the lure body, and the hook can be easily attached and removed.

The lure according to the present invention comprises:
A fishhook including a metal wire fishhook portion and an insertion portion attached so as to surround the fishhook portion;
a front body having a first groove portion and a second groove portion that intersect at an angle that is not parallel to each other, and a rear body having a connection portion at a front end thereof;
The insertion portion of the fishhook is inserted into the first groove, and the connection portion of the rear body is inserted into the second groove, and the fishhook is engaged with the front body by abutting the rear body and the fishhook.

Preferably,
The first groove has one end closed and the other end open, and the insertion portion of the fishhook is inserted into the first groove from the open end of the first groove;
At least one of the ends of the second groove is open, and the connection portion of the rear body is inserted into the open end of the second groove;
The fishhook is characterized in that it abuts against the closed end of the first groove.

Preferably,
The groove width of the second groove portion is not constant but has a narrow groove width portion and a wide groove width portion,
The wide groove width portion of the second groove portion is located closer to the bottom side than the narrow groove width portion of the second groove portion.

Preferably,
The groove width of the first groove portion is not constant but has a narrow groove width portion and a wide groove width portion,
the wide groove width portion of the first groove portion is located on a groove bottom side relative to the narrow groove width portion of the first groove portion,
The narrowest portion of the first groove has a width equal to or larger than the wire diameter of the fishhook portion.

Preferably,
The first groove portion is a length direction in the front-back direction of the lure, a width direction in the left-right direction of the lure, and a depth direction in the up-down direction of the lure, and is a groove with a groove bottom on the lower side and an opening on the upper side,
The second groove portion is characterized in that the vertical direction of the lure is its length direction, the left-right direction of the lure is its width direction, and the front-rear direction of the lure is its depth direction, with the front side being the groove bottom and the rear side being an opening.

Preferably,
The first groove portion and the second groove portion are linear, and an angle between the first groove portion and the second groove portion is in the range of 30° to 150°.

Preferably,
The fishhook portion includes a bent portion, a shaft portion, and a curved portion, and the bent portion, the shaft portion, and the curved portion are arranged in succession in this order.
The insertion portion is attached to a portion of the fishhook portion from the bent portion to the curved portion.

Preferably,
The insertion portion of the fishhook abuts against the closed end of the first groove and against the rear body.

Preferably,
The rear body has an insertion portion and is made of a soft material;
The intruding portion intrudes into the first groove portion from a portion where the first groove portion and the second groove portion intersect.

Preferably,
The cross-sectional shape of the first groove portion and the insertion portion is generally polygonal, generally elliptical, generally semicircular, or a shape similar to the above shapes.

According to the present invention, it is now possible to attach a single hook to a hard lure in the same way as a soft lure, without it moving relative to the lure body and in an easily detachable manner, making it possible to use a hard lure with a replaceable fishing hook to perform fishing techniques that were previously impossible with hard lures that had replaceable fishing hooks.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a fishing lure according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the lure of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the lure of FIG. FIG. 4 is a rear view showing a part of the lure of FIG. 1 in an exploded view. FIG. 5 is a rear view of a portion of the lure of FIG. FIG. 6 is an exploded top view of the lure of FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 7 is a top view of the lure of FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion of the lure of FIG. FIG. 9 is a side view of the lure of FIG. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion of the lure of FIG.

The lure 1A according to the first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in Fig. 1, the lure 1A of this first embodiment comprises a front body 2, a fishing hook 3, and a rear body 4. Also, as shown in Fig. 9, the lure 1A of this first embodiment has a shape that resembles a fish. Hereinafter, the direction toward the head of the lure 1A is referred to as the front direction, the direction toward the tail is referred to as the rear direction, the direction toward the back is referred to as the up direction, and the direction toward the belly is referred to as the down direction, and the left and right directions are defined relative to the front and back directions.

In the lure 1A of this first embodiment, the front body 2 is molded from hard plastic, but the material of the front body 2 does not necessarily have to be hard plastic, and it can be other hard materials such as wood, metal, urethane foam, etc.

In the lure 1A of the first embodiment, the rear body 4 is formed of soft rubber, gel, or soft resin.
(1) Soft Rubber Examples of soft rubber include synthetic rubbers such as silicone rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), polybutadiene rubber (BR), butadiene-acrylonitrile rubber (NBR), polyisoprene rubber (IR), polychloroprene rubber (CR), ethylene-propylene copolymer rubber (EPM), ethylene-propylene-non-conjugated diene copolymer rubber (EPDM), urethane rubber, and fluororubber; and thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) such as styrene-based TPEs, olefin-based TPEs, vinyl chloride-based TPEs, urethane-based TPEs, ester-based TPEs, amide-based TPEs, chlorinated polyethylene-based TPEs, Syn-1,2-polybutadiene-based TPEs, Trans-1,4 polyisoprene-based TPEs, and fluorine-based TPEs.
(2) Gel Examples of gel include silicone gel and acrylic resin gel.
(3) Soft Resin Examples of soft resins include vinyl chloride resin, polyolefin, etc. Hereinafter, in the present invention, the term “soft material” will be used as a general term for the above (1) to (3).

Below, we explain the detailed shape and structure of each part, as well as the effects they provide.

As shown in FIG. 10, the fishhook 3 is composed of a fishhook section 3e made of a metal wire with a roughly constant wire diameter and an insertion section 3a attached in a manner surrounding the shaft section 3d of the fishhook section. In addition, the fishhook section 3e has a line eye 3c, a bent section 3b, a curved section 3f, and a needle tip 3g, and each section is continuous in the order of the line eye 3c, the bent section 3b, the shaft section 3d, the curved section 3f, and the needle tip 3g. The shaft section 3d is straight or approximately straight, and the bent section 3b is a section where the metal wire is bent at an angle of 90° or close to 90°. By attaching the insertion section to the fishhook section as shown in FIG. 4, the fishhook has a section that is wider in the left-right direction than the wire diameter of the fishhook section. The material of the insertion section is resin, lead, tin, etc., and the material is selected depending on the use of the lure. The insertion portion is attached by insert molding using the fishhook portion 3e as an insert, covering the shaft portion 3d, and the insertion portion is fixed to the fishhook portion, and the fishhook portion and the insertion portion are integrated. In order to fix the insertion portion to the fishhook portion without shifting, it is desirable that the insertion portion be attached from the bent portion 3b to the curved portion 3f of the fishhook portion.

As shown in Figure 2, the front body 2 has two grooves, groove G1 and groove G2, and as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the insertion part 3a of the fishhook 3 can be inserted P1 into groove G1, and the connection part 4a of the rear body 4 can be inserted P2 into groove G2. Figure 3 shows the lure 1A with the fishhook 3 and rear body 4 attached to the front body 2. The insertion parts P1 and P2 can be freely inserted and removed, and if the fishhook 3 becomes corroded or damaged, the fishhook 3 can be replaced.

As shown in FIG. 2, the groove G1 is a linear groove provided in the front-rear direction in the upper part of the front body 2 and open upward (in other words, the groove G1 is provided in the front body 2, the front-rear direction of the lure 1 is the length direction, the left-right direction is the width direction, the up-down direction is the depth direction, the lower side is the groove bottom, and the upper side is the opening), and the groove G1 is located in the center of the front body 2 in the left-right direction. The front end G1-a of the groove G1 is closed and the rear end G1-b is open. The insertion part 3a of the fishhook 3 is inserted P1 into the groove G1 from the rear open end G1-b of the groove G1. The position of the fishhook 3 inserted P1 is determined by the abutment with the front closed end G1-a of the groove G1.

As shown in FIG. 4, the groove G1 has a narrow portion G1-c and a wider portion G1-d, with G1-d located on the groove bottom G1-e side relative to G1-c. As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the insertion portion 3a of the fishhook 3 is inserted into G1, and the width K1 of G1-c is narrower than the width K3 of the widest portion of the insertion portion 3a of the fishhook 3 in the left-right direction, so that the fishhook 3 is fixed without slipping out of the front body 2 in the upward direction (the opening direction of the groove G1). The shape of the groove G1 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 4 (a dovetail groove), and may be, for example, a T-groove, as long as it has a narrow portion in the direction opposite to the groove bottom direction and the fishhook 3 is fixed without slipping out of the front body 2 in the upward direction (the opening direction of the groove G1).

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the fishhook 3 needs to move along the groove G1 when it is inserted P1, so the width K1 of the narrowest part of the groove G1 must be greater than or equal to the wire diameter K2 of the fishhook 3.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cross section S (cross section perpendicular to the length direction of groove G1) of groove G1 and the insertion portion 3a of the fishhook 3 is substantially triangular in shape, and the abutment between groove G1 and insertion portion 3a prevents the fishhook 3 from rotating (rolling) around the shaft 3d relative to the front body 2.

In the lure 1A of this first embodiment, the groove portion G1 and the cross-sectional surface S of the insertion portion 3a of the fishhook 3 are substantially triangular in shape, but the shape does not necessarily have to be substantially triangular, and any shape that prevents the fishhook 3 from rotating (rolling) around the shaft portion 3d as an axis is sufficient, such as a substantially polygonal shape other than a substantially triangular shape, a substantially elliptical shape, or a substantially semicircular shape.

As shown in FIG. 6, the rear body 4 is composed of a connection part 4a that can be inserted into the groove G2, a tail part 4b that is the tail of the lure, and a joining part 4c that connects the front part of the rear body and the tail part 4b.

As shown in Figure 2, groove G2 is a linear groove provided in the vertical direction in the rear portion of the front body 2 and open in the rear direction (in other words, groove G2 is provided in the front body 2, the vertical direction of the lure 1 is the length direction, the left-right direction is the width direction, and the front-rear direction is the depth direction, with the front side being the groove bottom and the rear side being the opening), and groove G2 is located in the left-right center of the front body 2. Groove G1 and groove G2 intersect near end G1-b of groove G1. Ends G2-d and G2-e on both sides of groove G2 are open, and the connection part 4a of the rear body 4 is inserted P2 into groove G2 from either of the open ends. As shown in Fig. 3, by performing insertion fitting P2 after performing insertion fitting P1, the fishhook 3 comes into contact with the front end G1-a of the groove G1 and the rear body 4, and is fixed to the front body 2 without moving in a direction parallel to the groove G1 (front-rear direction in Fig. 3). As described above, the fishhook 3 does not move in the up-down direction or roll relative to the front body 2 due to the groove G1 and the shape of the cross section S of the shaft insertion part 3a, so that the fishhook 3 is completely fixed to the front body 2 by insertion P2. In addition, since the insertion part 3a is attached from the bent part 3b to the curved part 3f of the fishhook part 3e, the insertion part 3a, which has a larger area than the fishhook part 3e, comes into contact with G1-a and the rear body 4, and the fishhook 3 is more firmly fixed to the front body 2. The above structure allows the hook 3 to be completely fixed to the front body 2 without connecting the hook to the body with fishing line or snaps, etc. (totally preventing shifting and rolling in the length direction and depth direction of the groove 1), so the fishing line, etc. can be connected only to the line eye of the hook, resulting in excellent lure action.

As shown in FIG. 8, the distance l between the rear end G1-b of groove G1 and point X where the groove bottom G1-e of groove G1 and the groove bottom G2-c of groove G2 intersect is preferably 3 to 20 mm.

In the lure 1A of this first embodiment, both ends of the groove portion G2 are open, but both ends do not necessarily need to be open; as long as the connection portion 4a can be inserted P2 into the groove portion G2, only one end needs to be open.

In the lure 1A of this first embodiment, the tail portion 4b is provided as the tail of the lure, but if it is not necessary to have a tail from the viewpoint of the lure's action, etc., there is no need to provide the tail portion 4b and the connecting portion 4c, and in the above case, the groove portion G2 may be hollow rather than groove-shaped.

As shown in Figure 6, the groove G2 has a narrower portion G2-a and a wider portion G2-b, with G2-b located closer to the groove bottom G2-c than G2-a. The connection portion 4a has a portion 4a-1 that is wider in the left-right direction, and 4a-1 is inserted into G2-b. Since the groove width K5 of the G2-a portion is narrower than the left-right width K6 of 4a-1, even if a force is applied from the fishing hook 3 to the rear body 4 in a direction parallel to the groove G1 (rearward in Figure 7) during casting, for example, the rear body 4 remains fixed to the front body 2 due to the contact between 4a-1 and G2-a, without slipping out of the front body 2 in the rear direction (the opening direction of the groove G2).

The shape of the groove portion G2 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 6 (T-groove), and may be, for example, a dovetail shape, as long as it has a narrow groove width in the opposite direction to the groove bottom G2-c and the rear body 4 is fixed without slipping out of the front body 2 in the rear direction (the opening direction of the groove portion G2).

As shown in Figure 8, even if a force is applied from the fishing hook 3 to the rear body 4 in a direction parallel to the groove G1 (rearward in Figure 7) due to inertia during casting, etc., the angle θ between grooves G1 and G2 is preferably 30° to 150° so that 4a-1 and G2-a are in sufficient contact and the rear body 4 does not slip out of the front body 2 in the rear direction (the opening direction of groove G2). However, as long as the above conditions are met, the value of θ may be any value other than 0° or 180° (when grooves G1 and G2 are parallel).

As shown in Figures 2 and 6, the connection part 4a has an insertion part 4a-2 that protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the groove part G2 (towards the front of the lure). As shown in Figure 3, when the rear body 4 is inserted into the groove part G2, the insertion part 4a-2 enters the groove part G1, and the rear body 4 is fixed without shifting in the length direction of the groove part G2 (the up and down direction of the lure). In addition, the volume of the insertion part 4a-2 is appropriately set so that insertion P2 is possible and the insertion part 4a-2 is sufficiently elastically deformed during insertion P2 so that the connection part 4a can move in the groove part G2.

In the lure 1A of the first embodiment, the penetration portion 4a-2 penetrates into the groove portion G1, so that the rear body 4 is fixed in place without shifting in the length direction of the groove portion G2. However, this is not limited to the shape described above. As long as the rear body 4 is fixed in place without shifting in the length direction of the groove portion G2, recesses and protrusions may be provided in the direction perpendicular to the groove portion G2 (depth direction of the groove portion G2) so that the rear body 4 and the groove portion G2 can fit together, and the number of the recesses and protrusions may be two or more.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the fishing hook 3 has a bent portion 3b whose axis is bent at an angle of 90° or close to 90°, and a line eye 3c for hooking the fishing line protrudes upward from the lure. The line eye 3c is wider than the wire diameter of the fishing hook portion 3e and cannot pass through the groove portion G1 when inserting P1, but by protruding upward from the lure, the line eye 3c passes outside the lure when inserting P1, making insertion P1 possible.

1A: Lure 2: Front body 3: Fish hook 3a: Insertion section 3b: Bend section 3c: Line eye 3d: Shaft section 3e: Fish hook section 3f: Curved section 3g: Hook tip 4: Rear body 4a: Connection section 4a-2: Entry section 4b: Tail section 4c: Joint section
G1: A groove portion provided in 2 for inserting 3a
G1-a: Closed front end
G1-b: Open rear end
G1-c: Narrowed groove area
G1-d: Wider groove area
G1-e: Groove bottom
G2: A groove portion provided in 2 for inserting 4a
G2-a: Narrow groove width
G2-b: Wider groove
G2-c: Bottom of the groove
G2-d: Upper end
G2-e: Lower end
P1: Insertion of 3a into G1
P2: Insertion of 4a into G2

Claims (10)

A fishhook including a metal wire fishhook portion and an insertion portion attached so as to surround the fishhook portion;
a front body having a first groove portion and a second groove portion that intersect at an angle that is not parallel to each other, and a rear body having a connection portion at a front end thereof;
a lure characterized in that the insertion portion of the fishhook is inserted into the first groove portion and the connection portion of the rear body is inserted into the second groove portion, and the fishhook is engaged with the front body by abutting the rear body and the fishhook. The first groove has one end closed and the other end open, and the insertion portion of the fishhook is inserted into the first groove from the open end of the first groove;
At least one of the ends of the second groove is open, and the connection portion of the rear body is inserted into the open end of the second groove;
2. The lure of claim 1, wherein the fishing hook abuts the closed end of the first groove. The groove width of the second groove portion is not constant but has a narrow groove width portion and a wide groove width portion,
The lure according to claim 2, characterized in that the wider portion of the second groove is located closer to the bottom of the second groove than the narrower portion of the second groove. The groove width of the first groove portion is not constant but has a narrow groove width portion and a wide groove width portion,
the wide groove width portion of the first groove portion is located closer to a groove bottom side of the first groove portion than the narrow groove width portion of the first groove portion;
4. The lure according to claim 3, wherein the width of the narrow portion of the first groove is equal to or larger than the wire diameter of the fishing hook portion. The body is shaped like a fish, and when the head is defined as the front, the tail as the back, the back as the top, and the belly as the bottom,
The first groove portion is a groove having a length direction in the front-rear direction, a width direction in the left-right direction, and a depth direction in the up-down direction, with a groove bottom on the lower side and an opening on the upper side,
The lure according to claim 4, characterized in that the second groove portion is a groove having a length direction in the up-down direction, a width direction in the left-right direction, and a depth direction in the front-rear direction, with the front side being the groove bottom and the rear side being an opening. 6. The lure according to claim 5, wherein the first groove and the second groove are linear, and an angle between the first groove and the second groove is between 30° and 150°. The fishhook portion includes a bent portion, a shaft portion, and a curved portion, and the bent portion, the shaft portion, and the curved portion are arranged in succession in this order.
2. The lure according to claim 1, wherein the insertion portion is attached to a portion of the hook portion extending from the bent portion to the curved portion. 3. The lure of claim 2 , wherein the insertion portion of the hook abuts the closed end of the first groove and the rear body. The rear body has an insertion portion and is made of a soft material;
4. The lure according to claim 3, wherein the penetration portion penetrates into the first groove portion from a portion where the first groove portion and the second groove portion intersect. The lure according to claim 4, characterized in that the cross-sectional shape of the first groove portion and the insertion portion is approximately polygonal, approximately elliptical, or approximately semicircular.