Flexible fish shaped container for disposal of fisher's litter

Abstract

The flexible fish shaped container for disposal of fisher's litter, has an internal hollow body chamber surrounded by the external shape of a trout and is constructed of flexible rubber material which incorporates design functions into a trout fish shape for pleasing user aesthetics, attachment location, ease of one handed operation and user safety. The fin locations of the trout fish shaped container guide finger placement and the natural grip of the hand with thumb and forefinger resting at the tips of the trout shaped tail for one handed operation. Access occurs through a normally closed slit in the tail. When the tips of the fish tail are squeezed toward each other the slit opens thereby providing access to the internal cavity for disposal of fisher's litter and waste items. When thumb and finger pressure is released the slit closes.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is entitled to the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/456,427 filed Nov. 1, 2010.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to fishing by providing an aesthetically pleasing and flexible trout fish shaped container for convenient disposal of a fishers incidental waste materials and litter.

2. Discussion of Prior Art

U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,309 to Oppelt shows a fisherman's trash receptacle and fly rig holder. The invention includes a cylindrical container closed at one end and opened at the other. The container is wrapped with a Velcro material, or a foam material, to which leader and fly rigs can be easily wrapped and kept in place. A lid is provided to cover the open top of the container, the lid is hinged to the container to prevent inadvertent loss of the lid. The lid is also provided with cross slits so items can be pushed through the slits for storage within the closed container. Further a clip is fixed to the container so that the receptacle can be easily attached to a fly fisherman's vest.

Prior art encompasses two functions for one gadget, a cylindrical receptacle for trash and a fly rig holder. A design that encompasses the combination of these two functions may affect aesthetic appeal and ease of function of one purpose or the other Velcro on the outside of the container functions as a fly rig holder but it also collects and retains unsightly materials and can be clogged with unwanted debris. Foam on the outside of the container may also collect unwanted items and may tend to breakdown and fall off.

Aesthetics of a cylindrical receptacle may affect what a angler will wear and utilize. The second function as a fly rig holder may prevent where one can grip the container thereby hampering the ease of function as a trash receptacle. Pushing waste materials through slits in the lid versus a clear opening affects the ease of disposal of some materials however opening the lid to provide a clear opening also affects the ease of disposal.

The disadvantages of a dual purpose container lead to the necessity of single purpose waste disposal container that incorporates ease of function due to shape, comfort and safety when pressed against a fisherman's body, plus an aesthetic trout fish shape design that fishermen will proudly wear and utilize. There are no known prior art examples that have access to an inner cavity through an opening in a trout fish shaped tail or use the natural fm location of a trout's shape to guide finger placement and natural grip of the hand so that the thumb and forefinger line up to compress the tips of the tail for container access and ease of one handed operation.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,783 Roebuck; and Vogel; shows a fish hook and lure container for the storage and transportation of fishing hooks and lures. The opening extends along the bottom and includes the mouth end of the fish-like container, allowing hooks or lures to be stored while still attached to the fishing line. The container also includes a hook or loop in the caudal fin, to accommodate attachment of the container to fishing rod eyelets, or the fishing reel.

Prior art recognizes an angler's desire of an appealing aesthetic design in the shape of a fish however the design and length of the opening plus the purpose of the invention does not relate or conform to storage of a fisherman's incidental waste and litter. There are no known prior art examples that have access to an inner cavity through an opening through a trout fish shaped tail or show a trout fish shape with natural fm location to guide finger placement and grip of the hand so that the thumb and forefinger line up to compress the tips of the tail for container access.

The container's design and purpose is for the safe storage and transportation of fishing hooks and lures, particularly while still attached to a fishing line and rod and reel.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,082 Barefoot; shows a fishing lure pouch made of a relatively flexible rubber like material having high memory retention and is operable by squeezing the ends of the pouch to open a slit extending the length of the pouch for placement of a lure into or removal from the pouch. Hook and loop fastener tabs are provided on the pouch for attaching it to a fishing rod, thereby enabling the lure and hooks to be kept safely on the rod when not fishing or while transporting the rod.

Prior art recognizes and utilizes a rubber like material and a design slit for easy opening and use however the length of the slit opening plus the design and purpose of the invention does not conform to the requirements for disposal of fisher's incidental waste or litter products. There are no known prior art examples that have access to an inner cavity through an opening in a trout fish shaped tail.

The container's design and purpose relates to a flexible fishing lure pouch that allows fishing lures and hooks to be kept and transported safely on the rod when not fishing.

U.S. Pat. No. 820,067 Richardson, shows hollow elastic device to be used as pocket receptacle for smokers ash from cigarettes or cigars. The hollow rubber device will be fashioned to simulate the appearance of an animal, fish, reptile or the like with the normally closed opening aperture at the mouth of such animal, fish or reptile, so when pressure is applied to the body the creatures lips of the mouth opens for disposal of cigarette or cigar ash.

Prior art recognizes and utilizes a rubber material and a hollow center design in the aesthetic shape form of an animal, fish, reptile or the like however the pocket size design is limited to the size of the mouth opening. As pressure is applied at the body an aperture at the lips of the mouth opens as specifically designed for realism of such mouth opening in the animal, fish, or reptile. This small and specific design opening at the mouth is too small and does not conform to the length and size of opening required for disposal of the size of materials of fisherman's litter and waste products. There are no known prior art examples that have access to an inner cavity through a slit opening in the end of a trout fish shaped tail or utilize the natural fin locations of a trout fish-shaped design to guide finger placement of the grip of the hand so that the thumb and forefinger line up in a natural grip to compress the tips of the tail for container access.

The container's pocket design and purpose relates to a small natural mouth opening for disposal smokers ash from cigarettes or cigars. The invention's design does not meet the design requirements or larger opening fisher's need for disposal of incidental waste materials and litter.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,909,203 Reaves, shows a coin purse comprising a hollow body of an animal, constructed of semi-rigid rubber material, with one wall of said body having a zigzag slot formed therein, providing access to the interior of said body and yieldable reinforcing springs disposed in the body adjacent to the edges of said slot adapted to normally urge the slot closed.

Prior art recognizes and utilizes a rubber material and a hollow center design in the form of an animal however the coin purse is limited in design to the shape size and opening including reinforced springs and zigzag opening to urge the slot closed as required to meet its design purpose. It does not conform to the design, shape size of body cavity and opening structure of a trout shaped fish tail location required for the disposal of fisher's litter and waste products. There are no known prior art examples that have access to an inner cavity through an opening in a trout fish shaped tail or show a trout fish shape with natural fin locations that guide finger placement and the grip of the hand so that the thumb and forefinger line up to compress the tips of the tail for container access.

The products design, purpose and function is that of a coin purse and does not conform to the design requirement for disposal of anglers litter and waste materials.

U.S. Pat. No. 478,873 Koehler, shows a combustible pocket—spittoon consisting of combustible and elastic sections fitting one within the other and an inner section having a funnel shaped spittoon pocket provided with a bottom slot, the edges of which are normally in contact and are separated latterly by compressing the sides of the funnel shaped spittoon-pocket. When one takes the pocket-spittoon in his hand and presses on the narrow sides the slot opens sufficiently wide to allow the passage of the mucous substance thrown off by the user, which then falls in the lower part of the receptacle. When the pressure ceases the pocket regains its normal form with the slot closed. When the lower contents of the spittoon-pocket are full, the spittoon with its contents is burned in the fire.

Prior art recognizes and combines a combustible card board and elastic section fitting one within the other so when pressure is applied to the narrow sides a slot opens to allow passage of a mucous substance into a container. When pressure is released the slot will close and the container can be later discarded and combusted. The materials and design of the slit opening plus the design and purpose of the invention do not conform to design for the disposal of fisher's incidental waste or litter products.

Prior art shows a hand operated receptacle but no prior art show a trout fish shape with natural fm locations that guide finger placement and grip of the hand so that the thumb and forefinger line up to compress the tips of the tail for container access. There are no known prior art examples that have access to an inner cavity through an opening in a trout fish shaped tail.

The products design and purpose are for a combustible pocket—spittoon that can be discarded and burned.

SUMMARY

A flexible fish shaped container for disposal of fisher's litter materials, is comprised of an aesthetic pleasing trout fish shaped container with a hollow internal cavity constructed from a mold of flexible rubber material. The aesthetics of the pleasing trout shape provide specific design functions in the containers operation. These functions include; guided finger placement for ease of one handed operation, attachment location for ease of use and user safety if container is inadvertently pressed against the body.

The fin locations of the trout fish shaped container guide finger placement into a natural grip of the hand with thumb and forefinger placed at the tips of the trout shaped tail for one handed operation. This allows the other hand to be free for ease of placing disposal items into the container. The attachment feature location not only provides for aesthetic display it also allows the functional use of the container to be in a ready to use tail up position for a one handed grip and ease of operation. Ease of attachment to a fisher's vest split ring, lanyard snap, necklace snap, zinger-reel snap and other devices used by fishermen to attach gadgets to their body is through the hollowed out hole at the top end of the trout shaped container's tail. This hollowed out attachment hole allows aesthetic display, ease of one handed operation and the design function of keeping the container opening in an upright position to assure no spillage of internal cavity contents will occur.

The container has an internal hollow body chamber surrounded with the external shape of a trout fish. Access occurs through the unique location of a slit opening located at the end of the trout shaped tail which is naturally the widest part of the trout fish shape and therefore provides a unique access point for easy non inhibited disposal of fisher's litter. This preferred embodiment contains a normally closed slit in the end of the container's fish shaped tail that extends the entire length from one end of the tail tip to the other end. When the tips of the fish tail are squeezed toward each other the slit opens providing a generally oval opening to the internal length of the hollow container allowing for easy disposal or removal of small waste objects. This one handed procedure enables the other hand to be free and used with ease to drop unwanted waste and litter products into the trout shaped container. When pressure is released the slit closes. The trout shape aesthetics and flexible rubber form provide specific design functions for attachment placement, ease of operation and user safety for disposal of fisher's litter and waste.

Fly-fishers and other anglers produce unwanted waste products such as; tippet clipping's, spent flies and broken hooks, leader clippings, broken strike indicators, used weights and other small incidental waste materials and litter.

Due to the lack of a waste container that uses an aesthetic trout shape to guide finger placement and allow for a natural comfortable grip for ease of use plus the comfort and safety if the flexible container is inadvertently pressed against the body, fishers waste materials usually end up as litter in the water or on the ground. It is therefore desirable to provide a waste container that is easy to use and incorporates a safe comfortable aesthetic design that fishermen will proudly wear and utilize.

While the fundamental novel features of the invention have been shown and described it should be understood that substitutions, modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly all such modifications or variations are included in the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Objects and Advantages

Accordingly several objects and advantages of my invention of a flexible fish shaped container for disposal of fisher's litter are:

• • (a) To provide an easy to use waste container for the purpose of disposal of a fisher's incidental waste and litter materials.
  • (b) To provide a waste container in an aesthetic pleasing fish shape of a trout. The waste container's trout fish shape is pleasing to anglers and is more likely to be utilized and proudly displayed. Men and women fishers produce small unwanted waste items and due to the lack of an aesthetic pleasing waste container that is easy to use fisher's waste materials usually end up as litter on the ground or in the water.
  • (c) To incorporate design functions into the aesthetics of a flexible trout fish shaped container that will enhance ease of use. Accordingly the waste container's trout fish shape guides finger placement of the natural grip of the hand for ease of use and one handed function. Access occurs through the unique location of a normally closed slit in the end of the container's fish shaped tail that extends the entire tail length from the top end of the tail to bottom end. When the resilient ends of the fish tail are squeezed together toward each other the slit opens providing a generally oval opening to the internal length of the hollow container thus allowing for unimpeded easy disposal or removal of small waste objects. This one handed procedure enables the other hand to be free and used with ease to drop unwanted waste into the trout shaped container.
  • (d) To provide ease of attachment and aesthetic display. Ease of attachment to a fisherman's vest split ring, lanyard snap, necklace snap, zinger-reel snap and other devices used by a fisher to attach gadgets to their body is through a hole in the top end of the trout shaped waste container's tail. The hollowed out attachment hole in the trout shaped container's tail provides for aesthetic display of a fish hanging from its tail as well as proper position for ease of operation and attachment. This attachment position allows the tail section to be in an upright position ready for use and conforms to a person's natural grip for operation and access to the tail opening for disposal of waste materials.
  • (e) To provide for comfort and safe display. The waste container's fish shaped design and flexible silicone rubber properties provides anglers both comfort and safety if the waste container is inadvertently pressed against a fisher's body.
    Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.

DRAWINGS FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective of the top view of the inventions flexible fish shaped container for disposal of fisher's litter.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the right side view of FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the frontal view of FIG. 1

FIG. 4 is an off set perspective of the top view, right side view and tail view showing the normally closed vertical slit opening in the tail section and attachment hole.

FIG. 5 is a perspective of the tail end view of FIG. 1 showing the alternate open position when the normally closed slit in tail of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is compressed thereby providing open access to the internal hollow cavity.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

• 1 flexible trout fish shaped container
• 2 gill
• 3 dorsal fin
• 4 adipose fin
• 5 normally closed slit in caudal fin tail
• 6 caudal fin tail
• 6A top of caudal fin tail
• 6B bottom of caudal fin tail
• 6C compressed top of caudal fin tail
• 6D compressed bottom of caudal fin tail
• 7 internal hollow cavity of fish shaped container
• 8 mouth—design marking
• 9 hollowed out eye hole
• 10 anal fin
• 11 pelvic fin
• 12 pectoral fin
• 13 Hollowed out attachment hole

DESCRIPTION—FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.—PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a top view perspective of a pliable and flexible rubber trout fish shaped container 1 consisting of a molded rubber material as predetermined in accordance with invention design specifications for disposal of a fisher's litter. In the rear tail portion of the flexible trout fish shaped container is a normally closed slit 5 that extents entire length of the caudal fin tail. The external flexible fish shaped container has an internal hollow cavity shown as the space inside of dashed line 7.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the right side view of FIG. 1. This shows a general trout fish shape consisting of a gill 2, dorsal fin 3, adipose fin 4 and caudal fin tail 6. When the caudal fin tail 6 is squeezed from top to bottom 6-A toward 6-B, a slit in the entire length of the tail opens providing a generally oval opening to the internal length of the hallow cavity allowing for easy disposal or removal of small litter materials incidental to fishing activities. When relaxed the flexible caudal tail fin 6 will retain its normal shape and the entire length of said slit remains closed. Design markings outline the flexible fish shaped container's mouth 8. The hollowed out hole 9 serves as the fish shaped container's eye. This view also shows a trout fish shape consisting of anal fin 10 and pelvic fin 11 and pectoral fin 12.

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the frontal view of FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 4. This perspective displays design markings for a mouth 8 and hollowed out eye holes 9.

FIG. 4 is an off set perspective of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 displaying the top view, right side view and tail end view showing the normally closed slit 5 that extends the entire length of the caudal fin tail 6. When the caudal fin tail 6 is squeezed from top to bottom the slit 5 opens providing a generally oval opening to the internal length of the hallow cavity allowing for easy disposal or removal of litter material. When relaxed the resilient flexible caudal tail fin 6 will retain its normal shape and the entire length of slit 5 will remain closed. Additionally shown from this perspective is the flexible fish shaped container 1, hollowed out eye hole 9, and trout fish shape with anal fin 10, dorsal fin 3, adipose fin 4 and attachment hole 13, which is provided for attachment of invention in a tail up ready to use position to a fisher's vest split ring, lanyard snap, zinger-reel snap or other devices used to attach fishing gadgets to a fisher's clothing.

FIG. 5 is a perspective of the tail end view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4, showing the slit compressed to the alternate open position created when the normally closed slit is squeezed 6C toward 6D along the longitudinal axis of the caudal fin tail thereby providing an opening to the internal hollow cavity of the flexible rubber fish shaped container.

Operation

In operation fisher's will use the invention FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 as an aesthetically pleasing flexible rubber trout fish shaped container 1 for easy disposal of incidental fishing litter. Fly-fishermen and other fishers produce unwanted litter items such as; used pieces of leader and tippet clipping's, spent flies and broken hooks, broken strike indicators, used weights and other small incidental debris items. Due to the lack of an easy to use container that has an aesthetically pleasing flexible trout fish shape 1, and a large enough easy to use tail opening 6C toward 6D, angler's waste materials usually end up as litter on the ground or in the water.

A molded fish shaped container 1 consists of a flexible rubber material having high memory retention. Said container has an internal hollow body chamber 7 surrounded with the external shape of a trout fish 1. Said container's trout shape and flexible rubber form 1 are a necessary part of the design and relative to the ease of the invention's function.

The container's 1 trout shape and flexibility serves four purposes; aesthetically pleasing design, attachment in tail up position for ease of function, ease of operation via natural trout fm locations that guide finger placement of the natural hand grip and enable one handed operation of the large disposal opening located in the tail fin, and comfort and safety when flexible waste container is inadvertently pressed against an angler's body.

Internal cavity access occurs through the tail slit 5 opening for easy non inhibited disposal of incidental fisher's litter. The preferred embodiment contains normally closed slit 5 in the end of the container's fish shaped tail 6. The slit 5 extends the entire length from one end of the tail 6 to the other. When the tail 6 is squeezed from top to bottom 6-A toward 6-B the slit 5 compresses and opens to the compressed position of 6C to 6D. The larger opening in the tail fin serves the important purpose of ease of use. By using the natural trout shape and fin locations that guides finger placement to the natural grip of the hand it places the tail end as the largest part of the fish shape to be utilized as the opening to the internal body cavity for ease of disposal. A second important function of the disposal opening in the tail is the attachment location 13 which positions the device in a tail up position where easy one handed access can occur without any repositioning of the container. Attachment in the tail up position plus the larger tail opening to the internal length of the oval hallow cavity 7, functionally allows for the ease of use in disposal of litter items. When squeezing is relaxed from top to bottom 6-A to 6-B, the resilient flexible tail 6 will retain its normal shape and the entire length of the slit 5 will remain closed.

In the attached tail up position, the trout fish shaped design conforms to the grip of the hand and the slit 5 is deformable causing the largest opening when the tail section is squeezed with the thumb and forefinger. The trout shape guides the grip and provides for functional ease of this one handed procedure and enables the other hand to be free and used to place unwanted litter items into the flexible fish shaped container 1.

For attachment of invention, a hollowed out hole 13 of the fish shaped container 1 is provided. The hollowed out hole 13 in the fish shaped container 1 allows for functional attachment in an easy to use tail up position to a fisher's vest split ring, lanyard snap, zinger-reel snap or other devices used to attach fishing gadgets to an angler's clothing. This tail up attachment position also allows for ease of grip and function of the tail 6 to be readily placed in an upright position for quick disposal of unwanted fishing litter.

In operation the soft flexible properties of the fish shaped waste container provides an angler with both comfort and safety when container is smashed or pressed against their body.

Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope

Thus the reader will see the invention provides fisher's with a molded container for disposal of litter and micro trash, comprised of an aesthetic pleasing trout fish shape, built of flexible rubber material, that incorporates natural trout fin locations to guide finger placement and hand grip to allow one handed ease of use, functional aesthetic display, ease of attachment, and user comfort and safety.

While my above description contains many specific details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification and illustrations of the preferred embodiment thereof. Some other forms of embodiments not considered important enough to show in drawings and descriptions are given.

For example the invention can have different fish shapes and sizes, correspondingly it can be of different textures and colors. The invention can be made of different types of flexible materials and thus different thickness and flexibility. Other embodiments can have different modes, and location of operational functions.

As an example, in the preferred embodiment the container's access occurs through a slit opening in the tail for easy non inhibited disposal of incidental waste. In the preferred embodiment the normally closed slit is in the end of the container's fish shaped tail that extends the entire length from one end of the tail to the other. When the ends of fish tail are squeezed toward each other the slit opens providing an oval opening to the internal length of the hollow container allowing for easy unobstructed disposal or removal of a fisher's small waste objects. This one handed procedure of holding the tail upright and squeezing enables the other hand to be free and used with ease to drop without obstruction unwanted waste into the fish shaped container.

In the preferred embodiment ease of attachment to a fisherman's vest split ring, lanyard snap, necklace snap, zinger-reel snap and other devices used by a fisherman to attach gadgets to their body is through a hollowed out hole in the top end of the trout fish shaped container's tail thereby being in the best position for ease of use. Other embodiments the attachment hole could occur in many other places in the fish shaped container.

Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiment illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

1. A molded apparatus forming a flexible trout fish-shaped container for disposal of fisher's litter comprising:

A trout fish-shaped body defined by a head, a mouth, eyes, gills, pectoral fins, pelvic fin, anal fin, dorsal fin, adipose fin and caudal fin tail; and being made of a body material which is pliable and flexible which has memory to return to a relaxed closed position from a forced open position which occurs when forced by human operation;

an internal cavity within said trout fish-shaped body;

an operable slit in caudal tail fin allowing access into a hollow inner cavity for litter disposal by grasping tail fin tips between thumb and forefinger and compressing the tail tips each toward the other for operation of the slit into an open condition;

releasing compressive force from the tail fin tips thus operating the tail fin causing the operable slit to return to a closed condition;

an attachment hole feature in the caudal tail fin for attaching the apparatus to an attachment device.