The Fishing Reel Patent Archive

The mechanical heart of American angling

Friction brake

Two patent drawing sheets show a side and end elevation of a wooden-framed horse-power treadmill machine with an endless linked platform running over polygonal drums, fly wheels, a curved friction brake beam, and a ball-type centrifugal governor with connecting levers and rods.HORSE-POWERMartin Harris Cornell · February 10, 1852Two patent drawings of a 19th-century fishing reel: Fig. 1 shows a side sectional view of a round disk reel mounted on a foot-plate attached to a rod, with a small ball-tipped crank; Fig. 2 shows a top cross-section revealing two circular spool disks connected by a shaft, gears, and a crank handle above.Fishing-Line ReelWillard H. Bradley · September 22, 1868Patent drawing sheets showing a fishing reel's internal spring barrel, planetary gear train, friction brake wheels, and toothed rings, with a side elevation of the assembled reel mounted on a rod handle and hand crank.FISHING-REEL.Elbert Ball Porter · December 6, 1887Patent drawing showing a jointed fishing rod with a hollow handle section containing an internal reel frame, gears, crank, alarm bell lever, and a friction brake knob, alongside exploded views of the gear and spool components.FISHING-RODLewis Wallace · September 29, 1891Patent drawing showing a fishing reel mounted on a rod, with a spoked bobbin wheel, a lever-and-spindle brake mechanism, and several small detail views of the friction plates, collar, nut, and spring components.FISHING-REEL.James H. Mount · November 1, 1892Patent drawing sheets showing cross-sections and elevations of a spring-actuated fishing reel with a hollow rod handle housing a coiled spring, gear train, friction brake wheel, and a detachable reel plate with labeled parts A through W and section views Fig.1 through Fig.6.FISHING-REELJoseph Singer · February 14, 1893Patent drawing of a fishing rod handle in longitudinal section showing an internal clock-spring reel mechanism with gears, ratchets, a friction brake, and a separate circular reel view, alongside several small detail figures of coupling and clutch parts.FISH-ROD REEL.George H. Newell · October 16, 1894Patent drawing showing a cylindrical fishing reel with internal gears, a hollow shaft, spring casing, clutch mechanism, and brake assembly, along with cross-sectional views labeled Fig. 1 through Fig. 5.FISHING-REEL.George H. Newell · December 17, 1895Patent drawing of an automatic spring-wound fishing reel showing a side elevation mounted on a rod section with numbered pillars, screws, and a brake lever, plus cross-sectional views revealing internal gearing, ratchet wheels, and a coiled mainspring.FISHING-REEL.Philip H. Yawman · August 1, 1899