The prior art shows a number of patents in which either the handle or the net supporting frame can be adjusted to different positions, some of the patents showing means for making both such adjustments. For instance, provision for adjusting the plane of the net supporting frame with respect to the position of the handle is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 956,803 to Fromm; U.S. Pat. No. 737,428 to Lindsey et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,725 to Sandul; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,939,238 to Ertel et al. However, none of these patents shows a frame position adjusting joint which is structurally similar to that shown in the present disclosure.
The above mentioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 737,428 and 956,803 and 3,030,725 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 1,921,323 to Purdon, all show means for changing the length of the handle. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 737,428 and 956,803 the handles are made as plural separate rods which are provided with threaded joints by which they may be screwed together in order to achieve a desired length, or separated in order to facilitate storage. On the other hand, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,921,323 and 3,030,725 show telescoping handle sections which can be housed one inside the other in order to achieve adjustability as to length. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,921,323 a spring is used for the purpose of projecting the handle sections to their maximum extension, but no means is shown for achieving flotation using said hollow handles, and no means is shown for adjusting the length between fully retracted and fully extended positions. In Sandul U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,725 there are certain fixed detent positions labelled 15, 16 and 17 into which the handles may be selectively adjusted, but no intermediate adjustment is possible. In addition, only one of the sections of the handle 14 is usable for flotation purposes because of the kind of detent arrangement employed in the handle. The section 14 has plugs 19 and 20 at the two ends thereof, but the larger section 13 is open, and indeed, cannot be made watertight because of the detent holes 15, 16 and 17.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds