US3888032A

US3888032A - Waterfowl decoy

Info

Publication number: US3888032A
Application number: US460295A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth M Gagnon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1974-04-12
Filing date: 1974-04-12
Publication date: 1975-06-10
Anticipated expiration: 1992-06-10
Also published as: JPS50134879A; CA1007449A

Abstract

A hollow body waterfowl decoy comprised of separable head and body portions. The head portion has a neck which is of substantial length and may be vertically adjusted through an opening to receive it in the body portion by means of an interference fit. The body portion is a flexible resilient shell molded of a material which, although collapsible, will return to its working position when the pressure which collapses it is released. The body portion also has a fin formed integrally therewith and to this integral fin there may be attached a keel which is provided with means to retain the cord of an anchor for different effective tethering scopes.

Description

United States Patent 1 Gagnon June 10, 1975 WATERFOWL DECOY [57] ABSTRACT lnvemofl g 302 Reservoir A hollow body waterfowl decoy comprised of separa- Aver, Lincoln, R1. 02365 ble head and body portions. The head portion has a [22] Filed: Apt 12, 1974 neck which is of substantial length and may be verti- Appl. No.: 460,295

Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant ExaminerPeter K. Skiff Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Barlow & Barlow cally adjusted through an opening to receive it in the body portion by means of an interference fit. The body portion is a flexible resilient shell molded of a material which, although collapsible, will return to its working position when the pressure which collapses it is released The body portion also has a fin formed integrally therewith and to this integral fin there may be attached a keel which is provided with means to retain the cord of an anchor for different effective tethering scopes.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures K "0:, s s' 7 k\\\\ n 2/ v- "00 O 29 W O l6 a A 57 .53 i

9 38 6/ fir 59 49 ac 65 WATERFOWL DECOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Decoys to lure gamebirds have long been used and they have primarily been made as a solid buoyant body quite often with removable heads to permit ease of storage. In hunting, it is important to lay the ducks in the water in a number of positions and to orient the heads in different positions so that a degree of natural environment is presented. It is also advantageous to be able to collapse the decoy into a slightly smaller package for ease in transport. Further it is important to maintain the anchor line in unsnagged condition. For example, it has been common to fasten the anchor line around the body of the decoy but when the decoys are taken to the location in a sack, the anchor line may readily become entangled with the anchor line of an adjacent decoy. No uniform solution to the aforementioned problems have been presented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The decoy is comprised of two basic members, a head portion and a body portion. Both are hollow and made of flexible resilient material to produce a decoy which is light in weight. The body portion particularly is compressible and when not being used may be re duced in size to facilitate storage. The materials used in the formation of the body and the head are such that when pressure for collapsing the body or the head are released they will resume or come back to their original working positions, thus eliminating the necessity of inflation by means of air pressure. Also the neck portion of the head is completely smooth and cylindrical and has an interference fit in a circular opening in the body so that the head may be adjusted axially of the neck in any one of an infinite number of positions as well as rotationally through 360. A fin is formed on the body and to this fin there is a detachable thin keel secured which carries recesses adapted to receive the anchoring cord in a number of different relations for adjustment of the length of the cord as to the depth of the water in which the decoy is floating and to also use up the cord when the decoy is not in use with the anchor tied off for future use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the waterfowl decoy with parts broken away to show the construction thereof;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the decoy with a weight attached to the keel;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the keel alone;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the closure plug;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of means for attaching the detachable keel to the fin integral with the body and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the weight which is used on the detachable keel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings 10 designates the body portion of the decoy which is generally hollow as at 11 with a resilient shell 12 forming the outer molded structure and with an integral fin 13 extending downwardly from the bottom 14 of the body. There is an opening 15 in the tail end of the body shell which is closed by means of a plug 16 having an insert 17 to closely fill the hole and act as a stopper and a handle 18 by which the plug may be withdrawn from the hole as desired. An opening 20 is provided in the upper wall of the shell adjacent its forward end. In the molding of this opening there is provided a slight flange 21 extending inwardly from the opening. In molding both the opening 15 and the opening 20 cannot be formed with a perfectly smooth surface, so these openings are reamed with a cutting tool so as to provide a smooth circular opening in these locations.

The head portion 25 of the decoy is formed separate from the body portion and is provided with a bill 26 and eye 27 and a neck 28. It is of a hollow shell-like construction having a resilient wall forming the shape of the head and neck and the neck 28 is of a cylindrical construction or shape smooth throughout its axially extent on its outer surface and of a size slightly greater than the diameter of the hole 20 so that it will have an interference fit with this hole. The fit is such that the neck may be adjusted vertically or axially of the extent of the neck and also circularly through 360. The end of this cylindrical neck 28 is provided with a web portion 29 having an opening 30 therein to permit easy collapsing thereof, or re-entrant of air after the collapsing pressure has been released, so that it will return to its normal working position as seen in the drawing. While the head may be removed from its opening 20 for collapsing of the body if it is desired to leave the head in position. then the plug 16 may be removed so that the body may be collapsed with the head in position.

A detachable keel 35 (see FIG. 3) is provided with a recess 36 along its upper edge to receive the fin 13 which is an integral part of the body. Openings 37 are provided through the portion of the keel which forms one wall of the recess 36 for the reception of securing studs 38 which are formed as shown in FIG. 5 with a slotted head 39, a shank 40 and a cross piece 41 so that these pins may pass through the openings 42 in the fin l3 and out-of-round openings 37 inkeel 35 and be turned a portion ofa revolution to lock the keel in position. A recess 45 is provided in the lower edge of the keel to locate a weight 46 which is of a bifurcated nature having a slot 47 to receive the portion 48 of the keel adjacent this recess, while a rivet 49 may pass through the opening 50 in the keel to secure the weight in position.

The detachable keel 35 is provided with a plurality of notches for the accommodation of an anchoring cord in position. One of these holes 55 passing through the keel may accommodate a cord 56 which has a knot at its end to secure it therein and then this cord is wound in the space 57 and 58 between the detachable keel and the integral fin a number of revolutions to take up the portion of the cord after which the cord is then brought down as at 59 to enter one of the notches 60 and be wrapped about the portion of the keel and then through slot 6 so that its end portion 62 is thus locked in position. To this end portion 62 the anchor is attached.

Other openings, such as 63 which is a companion of the opening 60 with an enlarged area 64 is provided into which the anchoring cord may be wedged under certain other circumstances as desired. Likewise, there is a further slot 65 with an enlarged opening 67 to accommodate the cord under certain other circumstances. By this means if the cord is of substantial extent and of a length greater than is necessary to anchor the decoy in shallow water, it may be partly wrapped about the decoy as shown at 70 and then brought into a locking position either through the slot 60 or through the slot 63 and thence through either the

slots

62 or 65 and then the anchor may be let go in the shallow water with the scope of tether shorter to keep the decoy under greater control. The provision of slots at either end of the keel permits the decoy to be anchored with either the head or tail to the wind or current. The wrapping of the cord in this manner is used as suggested for shortening the cord for its effective length in anchoring. Also it serves as a means for neatly coiling the cord when the decoy is not in use with the anchor in such short position from the decoy that the cord does not get tangled with other decoys when several are placed in a bag for transportation.

By the above arrangement the decoy is much simplified from that shown in the prior art. Also there is no inflation necessary as the construction of the body is such that it will return to its working position when collapsing pressure is released although the decoy still may be collapsed for transportation. Likewise the weighting of the detachable keel is simpler and the detachable keel itself is simpler and yet provides a means for shortening the effective length of the anchor tether when shallow water is encountered.

I claim:

1. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a hollow body portion having an outer shell of resilient material with an opening in said shell,

b. said body portion being provided with a fin integral therewith,

c a detachable keel having means to detachably secure said keel to said fin, said detachable keel having wedge-shape slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery thereof to wedge an anchoring cord therein, said slots being oppositely oriented to present a web portion about which the anchoring cord may be wound,

d. a head portion having a neck extending downwardly therefrom. said ieck being substantially cylindrical and of a size to have an interference fit throughout its length with said opening and with its outer surface smooth and parallel with its center dAlS whereby said neck may be axially adjusted through said opening to a number of positions,

c. said l. illuw body portion being molded from a collapsiblc resilient material which permits the body to be coilapsed and to return to its working position after the collapsing influence is removed.

2. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 1 wherein said opening in said shell is circular and said neck is cylindrical to also enable said head portion to be rotated rel 5 ative to said body portion.

3. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 1 wherein said head portion is hollow and is a resilient shell.

4. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a body portion having a bottom,

b. a keel secured to said bottom,

c. said keel having a plurality of wedge-shape slots extending inwardly from its outer peripheral edge, said slots wedging an anchoring cord therein whereby the decoy may be anchored from a plurality of locations along said keel to direct said decoy in different directions with reference to the wind direction.

5. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 4 wherein d. said body portion is provided with a fin integral therewith,

e. a detachable keel means to detachably secure said keel to said fin, said detachable keel having slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery thereof and of a shape to wedge an anchoring cord therein.

6. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 5 wherein said detachable keel has a recess to receive said integral fin. l =l

Claims

1. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a hollow body portion having an outer shell of resilient material with an opening in said shell, b. said body portion being provided with a fin integral therewith, c. a detachable keel having means to detachably secure said keel to said fin, said detachable keel having wedge-shape slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery thereof to wedge an anchoring cord therein, said slots being oppositely oriented to present a web portion about which the anchoring cord may be wound, d. a head portion having a neck extending downwardly therefrom, said neck being substantially cylindrical and of a size to have an interference fit throughout its length with said opening and with its outer surface smooth and parallel with its center axis whereby said neck may be axially adjusted through said opening to a number of positions, e. said hollow body portion being molded from a collapsible resilient material which permits the body to be collapsed and to return to its working position after the collapsing influence is removed.

2. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 1 wherein said opening in said shell is circular and said neck is cylindrical to also enable said head portion to be rotated relative to said body portion.

4. A waterfowl decoy comprising a. a body portion having a bottom, b. a keel secured to said bottom, c. said keel having a plurality of wedge-shape slots extending inwardly from its outer peripheral edge, said slots wedging an anchoring cord therein whereby the decoy may be anchored from a plurality of locations along said keel to direct said decoy in different directions with reference to the wind direction.

5. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 4 wherein d. said body portion is provided with a fin integral therewith, e. a detachable keel means to detachably secure said keel to said fin, said detachable keel having slots extending inwardly from the outer periphery thereof and of a shape to wedge an anchoring cord therein.

6. A waterfowl decoy as in claim 5 wherein said detachable keel has a recess to receive said integral fin.