Patents Examined by Marlino Sy
  • Patent number: 6568516
    Abstract: A clutch for use in an open faced fishing reel that when engaged operates as a conventional one-way clutch, with the pins or needles rolling with the shaft and allowing for movement in one direction but binding the shaft to an outer fixed surface, prohibiting rotation, when the shaft is urged in the opposite direction, but when is disengaged, is switchable from one-way action to freewheel action i.e. shaft motion allowed in both directions by separating the outer binding surface from the main housing of the clutch, allowing it to move radially and allow the surface required to bind the shaft to move away from contact with the pins and shaft, thereby allowing the shaft to freewheel. The clutch is particularly well suited for use in a fishing reel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2003
    Assignee: U.S. Reel - Missouri, L.L.C.
    Inventor: Fred M. Kemp, III