METHOD AND APPARTUS TO MEASURE SIZE OF TROPHY GAME

• US 20130331146A1
• Filed: 06/07/2013
• Published: 12/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dale E. Wills
• Original Assignee: Dale E. Wills
• Inventors: Wills, Dale E.
• Granted Patent: US 9,020,416 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/556.1
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 97/00 Accessories for angling fish stringers A01K65/00; landing-nets or landing-spoons for fishing A01K77/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/02 Agriculture; Fishing; Forestry; Mining
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0264 for a camera module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/80 in fisheries management

Abstract

The instant invention is a ribbon for use with sport fishing in conjunction with a GPS-enabled smart-phone. The ribbon tape is calculated in terms of estimated weight allowing an ocean weigh-in, versus a dock located weigh-in, to meet the fishing tournament requirements and/or a recreational angler'"'"'s requirements, and the GPS-enabled smart-phone allows accurate documentation of the catch for competition or recreational purposes. The ribbon tape of the instant invention provides an estimate of fish weights based upon fish length, the fish weights based upon a statistical averaging of a particular fish species. The objective of the invention is to eliminate the destruction of fish caught only for the purpose of determining fish size and weight, and to eliminate the risk caused by tournament fishing boats racing back to weigh-in stations.

Claims

1. A system of determining and documenting the size of a fish comprising of:

a ribbon positionable alongside the fish, said ribbon having a proximal end and a distal end and a plurality of sequential linear graduation markings therealong specific to units of length to allow visual indication of the length of the fish, each of said regions corresponds to a group of said graduation markings corresponding to a weight of the fish;

a smart-phone used in combination with said ribbon, said smart-phone equipped with a camera for capturing the image of the fish and ribbon placed alongside and an application for receipt of a GPS signal for inserting a UTC time from the GPS signal into the image;

wherein the smart-phone user can capture an image of the fish together with the UTC time the image was taken whereby the length of the fish is determined by reviewing the markings on the ribbon and the weight of the fish is determined by reviewing the graduation markings on the ribbon.

2. The system of claim 1, includes a camera application running on a microprocessor on said smart-phone, said camera application determines a fish weight using said fish length based off said single frame image using a proportionality calculation and thereafter calculating a corresponding weight of said fish.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein a user can demarcate a known starting and ending length of said fish, thereby allowing said camera application to calculate said length based off said demarcated starting and ending length, and thereafter calculate said corresponding weight of said fish.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said camera application documents, records, and displays said date, said GPS Time or said Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), and said GPS location.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said smart-phone allows a user to upload said image to internet based website.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said image is a video.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said ribbon tape is a measuring tape constructed from PVC coated vinyl.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said ribbon includes a D-ring coupled to said proximal end for receipt of a pole tip allowing said ribbon to be aligned alongside the fish while the fish next to a vessel.

9. A method for documenting and determining the size of a fish comprising of the steps of:

placing a ribbon having a proximal end, distal end, and a plurality of sequential linear graduation markings therealong, alongside the fish;

engaging a smart-phone having a GPS receiver and a camera to take a image of said ribbon alongside the fish;

automatically documenting said image with a GPS Coordinated Universal Time;

storing said image and said date; and

transferring said stored image and said date to a remote location.

11. The method of claim 11, wherein said image is selected from a still frame of a video.

10. The method of claim 11, wherein said camera includes an algorithm to determine the fish weight based off a fish length.

12. The method of claim 11 including the step of depicting a known starting point and ending point of said length of said fish, thereby allowing said application to calculate said length based off said demarcated starting and ending length and corresponding said weight of the fish.

13. The method of claim 11, including the step of incorporating a GPS location on said image.

14. The method of claim 11, including the step of forwarding said image to an internet based website.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said camera application uses an algorithm to determine said fish weight based off a fish length.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein said fish length is determined by said camera application.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein said camera application documents, records, and displays said date, said GPS Time or said Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), said GPS location, said local time, said fish weight, and said fish length based off said single frame image.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein said smart-phone allows said GPS Time, said Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), said GPS location, said local time, said fish weight, and said fish length to be uploaded via wireless internet connection.

15. A method for documenting and determining the weight of a fish comprising of the steps of:

placing an object of known length, having a proximal end and a distal end alongside a fish when caught;

using a smart-phone having a GPS receiver electrically coupled to a GPS network, a camera electrically coupled to said smart-phone, and a camera application running on a microprocessor on said smart-phone, to take a single frame image of said measuring tape alongside a fish;

demarcating a known starting point and ending point of a length of said fish, thereby allowing said application to calculate said length based off said demarcated starting and ending length and corresponding said weight of said fish;

documenting said single frame image with an accurate and reliable date, GPS Time, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), GPS location, and local time based on a GPS location of said smart-phone;

allowing said camera application to perform a to perform a proportional calculation to determine the length and corresponding weight of the fish;

storing said date, said GPS Time, said Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), said GPS location, said local time, said fish length, and said fish weight onto said smart-phone.