The Fishing Reel Patent Archive

The mechanical heart of American angling

Fishing reel patent

Patent drawing of a fishing reel mounted on a rod butt, showing a crank handle, two side disks, a hinged cover with sliding gate, and an axial line guide eye, plus a cross-sectional view of the internal shaft and disks.IMPROVEMENT IN FISHING-REELSThomas Winans and Thomas D. Whistler · March 23, 1875Patent drawing of a round fishing reel showing five figures: a side view with mounting foot, a front cross-section revealing the crank, spool-drum, and driving-shaft, two internal gear-train sections labeled with letters a through n, and a small circular detail of the click mechanism.IMPROVEMENT IN FISHING-REELSL. Taylor Dickson · April 22, 1879Patent drawing of a fisherman's reel showing an exploded mechanical view with a spooled reel attached to a wooden rod, gears, a coiled spring case, and detailed cross-sections labeled with reference letters like S, C, A, and G.FISHERMAN'S REEL.Franklin R. Smith · June 20, 1882Patent drawing of a fishing reel showing a spooled reel frame with a metal brake plate mounted above it, engaging beveled reel heads, alongside detail views of the brake mechanism and a spring-loaded pivoted variant.LINE-REEL BRAKECharles H. Briggs · November 3, 1885Patent drawing of an 1888 fishing reel showing a cutaway side section with internal spool, shaft, tension spring and friction ring, an end view of the assembled reel with handle and screws, and detail views of the friction ring and driving sleeve.FISHING-REEL.George S. Gates · January 31, 1888Patent drawing sheet showing five figures of a fishing reel line-guide mechanism, including side and front elevations of small and large reels with a screw-cylinder, follower, guide tube, and crank, plus a detached perspective view of the guide tube with clamp pins.LINE-GUIDE FOR FISHING-REELS.Christian E. Moller and Charles Raettig · April 9, 1889Patent drawing of a circular fishing reel showing internal planetary gears, a brake ring, a click mechanism, and a crank handle mounted on a rod-plate with rings for attachment to a fishing rod.FISHING-REEL.Elbert B. Porter · February 17, 1891Patent drawing sheets showing a fishing reel's internal gear mechanism including a circular gear-and-disk assembly, a longitudinal cross-section of the spool and crank-shaft, and a side elevation with visible cross-bars, click-wheel, and brake linkage.FISHING-REEL.William H. Atkinson · November 17, 1891Patent drawing of a fishing reel showing the frame, spool, crank handle, and internal gear mechanism in six labeled figures illustrating engaged and disengaged positions.FISHING-REEL.Ezra S. Holmes · March 1, 1892Patent drawing showing a cylindrical fishing reel mounted on a segmented fish-pole via sliding collars, with an angled crank handle extending from the reel body, plus two additional sectional views below showing the telescoping crank arm with internal rack-and-pinion gearing and a counterbalancing weight knob.FISHING-REEL.Henry M. Byllesby · March 8, 1892Patent drawing sheet showing seven mechanical views of a fishing reel, including plan and end views, internal gear and cam sections, and isolated parts like the click disk, drag cam, and handle cog-wheel, all labeled with reference letters.FISHING-REEL.Richard E. Fenner · June 7, 1892Patent drawing of a fishing reel with an automatic line guide, showing internal cog wheels, a pivoting arm, and an adjustable slotted arm mounted on the reel's side plate, alongside plan and sectional views of the gear mechanism.AUTOMATIC REEL-GUIDE.J. Farnum Wellington · March 20, 1894Patent drawing sheet showing six technical figures of a spring-driven fishing reel with internal gear train, ratchet drum, brake lever, and folding hand crank, labeled with reference letters A through P.FISH-LINE REEL.Charles B. Corbin · May 29, 1894