Long Life Purse Seine Ring

In seine net fishing as practiced on a commercial basis the long open bottomed net is displayed with supporting floats around a school of fish and then pursed or closed at the bottom by a pursing cable, threaded prior to the setting of the net through purse rings fastened usually by bridles to the bottom edge of the net, the cable being drawn by winch means on the fishing boat. Since the heavy rings and net, added to the weight of the catch of fish may represent many tons of weight, there is great friction generated between the rings and cable with the result that the rings are worn away by the twisted steel cable and the wear tends to be quite localized on these prior art rings which are regularly of simple annular form with a circular cross section and the localization of wear is promoted exponentially by the tendency of these prior art rings to deform into oval shape as a result of weakening at the points of wear. It is common practice to repair worn rings but there is a need for rings of more extended useful life and with less need for frequent reforming and repair.

As claimed the hereindisclosed seine ring represents an adequate response to the immediately abovementioned need, this improved ring comprising a hollow recticylindrical annulus to receive the pursing cable and present a larger, wider wear surface to the cable, with a circumferential flange to prevent deformation of the ring in use, and this flange has means for connection thereof to the net, ordinarily by bridles which are standard equipment, in a plurality of positions, the simplest being that illustrated a plurality of apertures circumferentially spaced around the flange allowing the ring to be oriented in an equal plurality of positions so that the wear of the pursing cable can be distributed simply by tying the ring at a different position to distribute the wear around the ring.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the seine ring with a pursing cable indicated in cross-section, a ring tie connected to the ring and a bridle shown fragmentarily.

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the ring above.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the ring taken on the line 3--3 in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like or identical parts and portions in the different views, this seine ring, generally indicated by its numeral 10, is designed to be connected to a net, not illustrated, by a ring tie such as that illustrated at 12 which in turn may be connected by a split link 14 to a bridle on the bottom edge of the net such as that fragmentarily illustrated at 16. The environment wherewith this ring is used may vary considerably without significant variation in the ring itself.

The ring 10 is shown as of one-piece construction and must of course be sturdy and ordinarily of iron, the considerable weight thereof having utility in ballasting the net to hang vertically below the floats which are standard equipment on the top edge of the net, thought unnecessary to be described herein. Although of one-piece construction, the ring 10 can be considered as comprising a hollow cylindrical annulus 18 and an external radially extending flange 20. The annulus 18 is represented as being substantially internally recticylindrical as shown best in FIG. 3, and presents a cable-contacting inner face indicated at 22 which although annular is flat in the direction parallel the principal axis of the ring to provide maximum wear surface for the pursing cable 24, this feature being an advantage over the conventional ring which is circular in cross-section. It has been proposed that rings be made with specially treated internal facings and this can be incorporated into the instant ring as desired.

Externally of the annulus 18 the sturdy peripheral flange 20 has two prime functions, firstly the prevention of deformation of the ring into oval form as experienced in prior art rings due to the very heavy loading applied by the cable 24 especially during the haul-in of a loaded net; and secondly, the provision of plural ring connecting means in the flange 20. This connecting means may take the simple form shown, namely peripherally spaced apertures 26. Five such apertures are shown, to be used one at a time to accommodate a ring tie 12 or the like whereby the ring is connected, usually indirectly, to the net. It will be noted that the pursing cable is shown at a location diametrically opposite to the supporting ring tie 12 and this is of importance in this invention since there is a consistant tendency for the pursing cable to ride on the seine ring surface opposite to the ring tie and of course this determines the abovementioned localization of wear on the ring due to the abraisive action of the pursing cable, and if an uneven number of apertures 26 are provided this wear oocurs at points circumferentially spaced between the apertures. More importantly, the seiner using this improved seing ring and suitable ring tie structure of his choice can shift such ring tie successively to the other apertures thus avoiding excessive wear of the seine ring at any one point and of course increase the useful life of the seine ring without or prior to repair.

Finally, the rounding of the edges of the seine ring as suggested in the drawing is desirable and can be increased considerably to give the seine ring a more nearly peak-like cross-sectional shape but a preferred shaping of the apertures 26 is that shown, namely, an aperture having a widened base portion 28 adjacent to the annulus 18 to facilitate the insertion of the ring tie such as the strap portion 30 of a ring tie 12, wrapped nylon cord, or the like. The inclined sides 32 of the apertures 26 guide the ring tie into the desired position as illustrated while allowing considerable play or twisting. The essentially flat rest 34 at the outer extremity of each aperture 26 is particularly suited to use with a strap type ring tie as illustrated in FIG. 1, but this seine ring is not limited to use therewith.

From the foregoing it will be clear how this seine ring is used with the claimed benefits of ease of handling, non-deformity and greatly increased useful life of the seine ring while retaining all the functions and advantages of conventional seine rings.