Ice fishing tip-up apparatus

Claim 1

An ice fishing tip-up apparatus comprising: A. A base member adapted to support said apparatus at a substantially horizontal laminar ice-crust and adjacent to a vertical opening through said ice-crust, said base member comprising an elongate horizontal base-bar having a frontal-end and a rear-end; B. An upright member comprising a pair of substantially parallel rails located on opposite transverse sides of the base-bar, the rearward portions of said rails and intervening base-bar being pivotably attached whereby the dual-rails upright member is of selectable angularity with and also downwardly collapsible alongside said base-bar, each of said parallel rails having a free forward-end positioned forwardly of the base-bar frontalend when the pivotal rails are in downwardly horizontally collapsed condition, said upright member forwardly of its pivotal connection to the base-bar being provided with a forward-restraint means extending transversely from one of said parallel rails to the other rail; and C. An elongate lever, a lever medial-portion being pivotably attached to the dual-rails upright member at a lever-pivot located between the rails to provide a fixedly positioned fulcrum for said lever, said lever including a rearward-arm and an elongate forward-arm extending in substantially opposite directions from the lever-pivot fulcrum, the lever rearward-arm being bearable against the forward-restraint, the lever elongate forward-arm forwardly remote of said fulcrum including fishing line suspension means positionable above the ice-crust opening, said lever elongate forward-arm also including a slidable-weight freely slidable therealong and having a rearward station at which the slidable-weight moment causes the lever rearward-arm to bear against the forward-restraint whereby the lever is made to assume a first-stable condition wherein the suspended fishing line remains ready indefinitely for a downward pull by a gamefish located below the ice-crust and wherein the forward-arm extends upwardly and forwardly from the lever-pivot, said slidable-weight being freely forwardly continuously slidable along the lever forward-arm when the forward-arm has become lower than horizontal as initiated by downward tugs on the fishing line whereby the forwardly movable slidable-weight is adapted to make the lever assume a tipped second-stable condition wherein the rearward-arm is stably situated upwardly remote from the forward-restraint and the forward-arm has become tipped stably downwardly.