Automatically surfacing marker buoy for lobster or crab traps or the like
OwnerWalter J. Jankiewiczinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A marker buoy attached to an object such as a lobster or crab trap by a latch and released by a trigger struck by a falling weight. A sealed buoy compartment contains a first permanent magnet holding the weight in upper position by a supportive pole relationship to the poles of a second permanent magnet on the weight and releasing the weight when the first magnet is pivoted to a relative position of poles not sufficiently supportive of the weight. The first magnet is pivoted by an electric motor controlled by an electric clock. Setting of the clock and other operations are accomplished without disturbing compartment seals by an external hand-held magnet operating on internal magnetic reed switches. A line tethers the buoy to the object when the latch is released.
Claims20
The method of setting an electrically powered release timer on a buoy attached to an object to which it is also tethered by a line, comprising:
- (a) confining said timer against water penetration but not against magnetic field penetration,
- (b) providing in the confined space a magnetically sensitive timer switch, and
- (c) operating said switch magnetically from outside the confined space so as to set the timer without exposing said timer to water penetration.
The improvement in means for attachment and release of a buoy relative to an object to which the buoy is also tethered by a line, comprising:
- (a) means operative to attach said buoy to said object including a latch releasable by a trigger,
- (b) a weighted body and guide means therefor whereby said body is movable by gravity from a first position above and spaced from said trigger to a second position striking said trigger and releasing said latch whereby said buoy is released from said object and assumes a tethered position,
- (c) means operative to hold said weighted body in said first position until release of said weighted body to trigger buoy release to tethered disposition, and
- (d) said means operative to hold said weighted body including a first permanent magnet forming a part of said weighted body and a second permanent magnet disposed adjacent to said first magnet and means pivotally supporting said second magnet to pivot between a first position in which the poles of said second magnet are supportively disposed relative to the poles of said first magnet to hold said weighted body in said first position thereof and a second position in which the poles of the two magnets are relatively oriented so as to permit said weighted body to drop from said first position thereof to said second position to release said buoy, and means operative to pivot said second magnet between said first and second positions thereof to initiate release of said buoy.
The improvement in means for attachment and release of a buoy relative to an object to which the buoy is also tethered by a line, comprising:
- (a) releasable attaching means operative to secure said buoy to said object,
- (b) an electric timer operative to control release of said attaching means,
- (c) a housing and said timer being disposed in said housing which is sealed to prevent water entry, said housing having a magnetically pervious wall, and
- (d) means including a magnetic reed switch disposed in said housing near said wall and controlling setting of said timer, whereby said timer may be set by a hand-held magnet external of said housing adjacent to said wall without disturbing the housing seal.
The method of latching and releasing a buoy relative to an object to which the buoy is also tethered by a line, in which there is a latch released by a trigger, comprising:
- (a) providing a weight and attaching a first permanent magnet to the weight,
- (b) locating said weight above said trigger,
- (c) holding said weight above said trigger by magnetically operating on said first permanent magnet to hold it up, and
- (d) releasing said weight to descent by gravity to strike said trigger to release said buoy by changing magnetic operation on said first permanent magnet to no longer hold it up.
The improvement in means for attachment and relesae of a buoy relative to an object to which said buoy is attached and to which said buoy is also tethered by a line, comprising:
- (a) said means for attachment and release including a first and a second permanent magnet and means supporting said magnets for relative rotation to pivot from a first relative position in which the poles of the magnets are oppositely positioned to attract each other to hold the magnets together against release to a second relative position in which the poles of the magnets are no longer oppositely positioned so as to no longer hold the magnets together, said means for attachment and release being operative to release said buoy from attachment to said object responsive to change in attraction of said magnets to each other as said magnets move from said first position towards said second position, and
- (b) timing and driving means operative to relatively rotate said magnets from said first position to said second position upon reaching a preset time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.