Fingered bola body, bola with same, and methods of use

摘要

The present invention discloses bola bodies, bolas, and a snaring method which makes use such devices. A bola body, according to the present invention, is nonspherical or irregular in shape rather than a smooth sphere or ovoid body. One or more fingers extends from the bola body. These fingers may be relatively straight or they may have crooked or bent portions to enhance entanglement with a bola line or lines or with each other. Two or more of such fingers may be used and may be regularly or irregularly spaced apart on a bola body. A bola with such bodies includes lines which are connected to the other bodies. In one particular embodiment of a bola body, according to the present invention, the body has an irregular shape with a bottom rectangular portion and a top pyramid portion forming a nose. A plurality of fingers is extended from the pyramidal top portion with one finger extended up and away from each of four corners of the top portion. Such a bola body tends to be initially oriented with its nose and fingers against an object being snared since the body is pulled nose first when a bola line is secured at the tip of the pyramidal portion of the bola body. With such a bola, an unwrapping bola body can slip around a target member so that two of the rod-shaped fingers catch a bola line and guide it into an area or crook between the fingers and a side of the top pyramidal portion of the bola body. Tension on the bola line maintains the line in the crook and tends to press the fingers against the unwrapped target member to stabilize the wrapping of the line about the target member. With such a bola, it is difficult for two or more lines unwrapping in different directions to move past one another without being forced together by line tension. Also, the fingers of such bola bodies may hook and hold each other. The fingers may also hook or entangle some object on or portion of the target member. A probable known target member has known dimensions and shapes so that the bola may be sized and configured to reliably snare such a known target. The bolas can be optimally sized, fashioned, and configured to contact and hold a probable target of known size, dimension, and shape.