Fishing lure with pressure sensing and hydrostatically controlled depth selection and guidance means

An artificial fishing lure having pressure sensing and hydrostatically controlled depth selection and guidance means adapted to cause said fish lure to seek and hold a predetermined depth in a body of water where fish of a selected species may be expected to be found, said hydrostatically responsive fishing lure comprising:

• A. a fish lure body fabricated from buoyant material and provided with
• 1. conventional exterior features such as shape, appearance, fins, tow means and fish hook means,
• 2. said fish lure body being divisible into an upper body half and a separable lower body half,
• 3. a central internal apparatus housing cavity within said fish lure body, and with
• 4. left and right lateral port openings cut from the sides of the fish lure body into said central interior housing cavity with said lateral port openings being of sufficient size to permit surrounding water to freely flow into and out of said central interior housing cavity within the fish lure body;
• B. a hydrostatically pressure sensitive rotary piston and gas compression rotary piston chamber apparatus mounted vertically and longitudinally in said central internal apparatus housing cavity within the fish lure body in such manner that the static pressure of the surrounding water can actuate said rotary piston to produce hydrostatically induced rotary motion in the rotary piston that is transmitted to;
• C. an associated generally rectangular flat pivot plate mounted transversely through the left and right lateral port openings and through the said central internal apparatus housing cavity and installed in the armature of said rotary piston so that pressure induced changes in the rotary piston position produces rotary motion in said pivot plate;
• which hydrostatically induced rotary motion is transmitted by the pivot plate to;
• D. left and right elevator fins attached to either end of said pivot plate in such manner as to position said fins on each side of the fish lure body so that pressure induced expansion or contraction of the compressed gas in the rotary piston chamber delivers rotary motion from the rotary piston through the pivot plate to said left and right elevator fins to drive said hydrostatically responsive fish lure up or down in accordance with the static pressure of the water.

An artificial fishing lure having pressure sensing and hydrostatically controlled depth selection and guidance means adapted to cause said fish lure to seek and hold a predetermined depth in a body of water where fish of a selected species may be expected to be found, said hydrostatically responsive fishing lure comprising:

• A. a generally elongated-cylindrical tear drop fuselage body
• 1. fabricated from a water-buoyant material,
• 2. being divided into generally symmetrical halves along a medial transverse plane producing an upper body half that is separable from the lower body half,
• 3. a central internal apparatus housing cavity,
• a. having a cylindrical shape,
• b. positioned perpendicular to the medial transverse plane of the lure body,
• c. the center axis of said cylindrical-shaped apparatus housing cavity being in the medial transverse plane and perpendicular to the axis of revolution of the lure body,
• d. said central internal apparatus housing cavity cutting through to a surface opening in at least one of the body halves of said fish lure,
• 4. a pair of lateral port openings cut from the exterior sides of the fish lure body into the central internal housing cavity
• a. positioned near the midpoint of the length of said fish lure, and
• b. that is positioned such that the axis of said lateral port openings are substantially concentric with the center axis of said central internal apparatus housing cavity,
• 5. a concave dish-shaped nose scoop symmetrical centered on the longitudinal axis of revolution at the forward end of said fish lure fuselage body,
• 6. at least one assembly hold passageway
• a. cut from forward intermediate point in the upper surface of the fish lure body,
• b. extending perpendicular through both halves of said fish lure body to a similar intermediate point on the lower body half, and
• c. provided with convex counter-sink openings at each end of said assembly passageway;
• B. a rotary piston
• 1. being of a cylindrical segment shape,
• 2. a rotary piston armature, connected thereto
• a. being of a cylindrical shape,
• b. having circumferential sealing recesses at each end of said armature;
• C. a rotary piston chamber installed in the central internal apparatus cavity
• 1. being of an outer cylindrical segment shape,
• 2. having an inner cylindrical segment space for housing the rotatable rotary piston and the enclosed compressible gas
• a. the rotary piston chamber sidewalls with inner circumferential rails sealingly fit into the circumferential sealing recesses of the rotary piston armature and sealingly riding on the sides of the rotary piston,
• b. a rotary piston chamber head with an inner concave surface sealingly riding on the cylindrical armature and connected to the chamber sidewalls, and
• c. the peripheral chamber segment connected to the chamber sidewalls and chamber head and sealingly riding on the outer periphery of the rotary piston, with depth calibration marks on the outside of said peripheral chamber segment;
• D. a cylindrical segment spacer and piston stop also installed in the central internal apparatus cavity with depth calibration marks on the outer periphery, said spacer completing a rotatable cylinder with said rotary piston chamber which can be manually rotatably preset for a desired water depth, said piston stop keeping the rotary piston sealingly inserted in said rotary piston chamber;
• E. a generally rectangular flat pivot plate installed in the rotary piston armature with
• 1. the longitudinal axis of said flat pivot plate being corresponding to the rotational axis of the rotary piston armature, such that
• 2. said pivot plate is mounted transversely through the center of the rotary piston armature and through the center of the fish lure body with the ends of said transversely positioned pivot plate extending outward through the lateral port openings on each side of the fish lure body, and
• 3. each end of said flat pivot plate being provided with a pair of spaced apart apertures intermediately positioned from the outer ends of said pivot plate and spaced a slight distance away from the pressure sensing rotary piston, with the innermost pair of perforations being designated as rotation limiting apertures and the outside apertures at each end of the pivot plate being designated as fin locking apertures;
• F. a pair of vertical restraint rods, each restraint rod being mounted vertically and centrally in one of the left and right lateral port openings in the fish lure body such that the left restraint rod passed through the center of the left rotation restraint aperture in the pivot plate and the right restraint rod passes through the right restraint aperture in said pivot plate;
• G. left and right lateral elevator fins rigidly attached to either end of said flat pivot plate;
• H. a set of lateral posterior tail fins securely attached to the rear end of the fuselage body structure of said fish lure;
• I. a ventral fin that is rotatably attached to the forward underside of the lower half body portion of said fish lure;
• J. a tow line attachment means mounted at an appropriate position in the forward portion of the fish lure body;
• K. fish hook means flexibly connected to the reare end of said fish lure body;
• and
• L. means for releasably attaching and securing the upper and lower halves of said fish lure body together including some form of bolt securing means extending through the vertical assembly passageway provided in the forward portion of said fish lure body structure.