CA2688976A1 - Flying insect trap and method - Google Patents

Abstract

There is first provided a flying insect trap comprising i) a hollow body defining a peripheral wall and a top portion provided with an air inlet opening in communication with an inside cavity of the body through a fluid tight inlet duct, ii) a light source module positioned along a center axis of said opening for emitting a light bait and attracting biting flying insects in a plurality of directions around the body, ii) a removable fluid tight rigid container in hermetic cooperation with the peripheral wall of the body and extending into the cavity, the container being provided with a lid having an air permeable insect retaining portion surrounding an inlet port connecting a downstream end of the duct to the container, and iii) an aspiration system comprising at least one fan in communication with at least one air exhaust egress provided through the peripheral wall of said body for creating a vacuum in said cavity and thereby drawing an air flow from the inlet opening to said air exhaust egress through said cavity, said duct and said air permeable portion. The invention further discloses a method for trapping flying insects in an aspiration trap, whereby a fluid tight insect collecting container is partly filled with a liquid substance prior to operating the trap.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

FLYING INSECT TRAP AND METHOD
FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention generally relates to trap for attracting, catching and killing biting flying insects such as mosquitoes. More specifically, but not exclusively, the present invention is concerned with a collapsible aspirator type flying insect trap using a light radiation as the main bait and collecting insects in a liquid fillable removable container. The trap may further comprise a multiple fan air stream generator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] It is well known that biting flying insects depending on animals and humans for their survival may become a significant annoyance in addition to being transmitting agents for viruses such as malaria and the Nil's virus.
Therefore, many types of flying insect traps have been provided in the prior art in an attempt to effectively reduce the number of such insects in areas where men or animals live. However, the prior art traps present important limitations as it will be demonstrated in the following.

[0003] Attraction of insects using a light source of appropriate frequency spectrum is generally recognized as an efficient attraction means. According to the most popular existing modes of operation, insects approaching the light source are either electrocuted by a high voltage grid or sucked in a collecting container. We believe the first type of trap is not very convenient in many applications since it generates an annoying electrical discharge noise as well as an accumulation of insect debris under the trap. Also, these traps may harm larger less objectionable flying insects and kill many flying insects that should be preserved, such as bees. Aspiration type traps may be made more selective to catch small harmful insects such as mosquitoes.

[0004] However, in most aspiration type traps, insects are directed through fan blades before reaching a collecting container. Therefore, in addition to causing accumulation of residues on the fan, that technique is subject to dissipate airborne biologic matters through the exhaust air stream which may be contaminated with a virus and perhaps inhaled.

[0005] A preferred technique is to indirectly create a vacuum in an enclosure opening on a suction mouth near the light source. Insects approaching the light source are sucked by the entering air stream at the mouth and directed toward a collecting container partly covered by a screen through which air may escape and be exhausted through a fan while insects remain trapped in the container. US patent No 5,323,556 (Carle - June 1994) teaches such a type of mosquito trap wherein the collecting container is a convenient removable drawer. Nevertheless, the Carle patent is directional, emitting light and attracting insects in only one direction while rejecting exhaust air through another face of the trap peripheral wall. This trap as many other types also suffers from a limitation being that once the fan is stopped, interrupting the vacuum inside the trap body, insects may freely escape through inlet ducting.

[0006] Generating a sufficient air aspiration speed at the inlet mouth to draw insects into the trap also requires a powerful fan, which becomes noisy and produces a high speed exhaust stream that may project insects away from the trap.

[0007] It would therefore be a significant advance in the art of flying insect traps to provide a trap and associated method providing efficient attraction and selective capture of small flying insects while providing means for neutralizing and retaining insects into the trap when it is being powered off and preventing strong exhaust air flow from repelling insects flying around the trap.

[0008] An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a flying insect trap and method which obviate the limitations and drawbacks of the prior art systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] More specifically, in accordance with the present invention, there is first provided a flying insect trap comprising i) a hollow body defining a peripheral wall and a top portion provided with an air inlet opening in communication with an inside cavity of the body through a fluid tight inlet duct, ii) a light source module positioned along a center axis of said opening for emitting a light bait and attracting biting flying insects in a plurality of directions around the body, ii) a removable fluid tight rigid container in hermetic cooperation with the peripheral wall of the body and extending into the cavity, the container being provided with a lid having an air permeable insect retaining portion surrounding an inlet port connecting a downstream end of the duct to the container, and iii) an aspiration system comprising at least one fan in communication with at least one air exhaust egress provided through the peripheral wall of said body for creating a vacuum in said cavity and thereby drawing an air flow from the inlet opening to said air exhaust egress through said cavity, said duct and said air permeable portion.

[0010] The inlet duct may further comprise a hub portion provided in the center thereof to define a peripheral narrow annular air inlet opening and support the light source module. In operation a liquid substance may be poured into the container and insects may be attracted and sucked at said inlet opening and projected into said solution while insect free sucked air is exhausted from the trap through said at least one fan and said at least one air egress.

[0011] According to an aspect of the trap, the aspiration system may comprise a first fan communicating with a first air exhaust egress and a second fan communicating with a second air exhaust egress.

[0012] According to another aspect, the trap may further comprise a top cover provided on top of the light source module that may be retracted into the body, the cover closing the aspiration opening. The cover may comprise a handle for transporting or suspending the trap, and for operating the light source module into a retracted or deployed configuration.

[0013] According to another aspect, the trap may further comprise a removable foot comprising a removable tubular circular shank having one end connectible to a bottom portion of the body and a second end connectible to a removable base.

[0014] According to another aspect of the trap, the light source module may comprise at least one light emitting diode (LED) emitting light in the blue to ultraviolet spectrum.

[0015] According to another aspect, the trap may further comprise an ambient light sensing device and a control module for controlling start/ stop cycles of the trap according to ambient light and/or time delays.

[0016] The invention is further concerned with a method for trapping flying insects, the method comprising:
i) providing a trap having a light source, an aspiration system and a fluid tight collecting container;

ii) partly filling the container with a liquid substance;
iii) operating the light source and the aspiration system to attract, suck, collect and retain flying insects into the container;
iv) removing the container from the trap and discarding the collected insects along with at least a portion of the liquid substance- The method may further comprise:
v) adding liquid substance into the container if needed to obtain a proper operating level, and vi) inserting the container back into the trap, in order to enable a new insect collecting cycle.

[0017] The foregoing and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following non-restrictive description of an illustrative embodiment thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Similar parts are identified by identical or similar numbers throughout the drawings. In the appended drawings:

[0019] Figure 1a is an isometric view of a flying insect trap according to an embodiment of the present invention, the trap being shown in a retracted configuration.

[0020] Figure 1 b is an isometric view of a flying insect trap according to an embodiment of the present invention, the trap being shown in an expanded operational configuration.

[0021] Figure 2 is an isometric view of the flying insect trap of Figure 1b, showing a removable container and filtering lid thereof in a pulled-out position.

[0022] Figure 3a is a front elevation view of the trap of Figure 1 b;

[0023] Figure 3b is a side elevation view of the trap of Figure 1 b;

[0024] Figures 3c and 3d are top views of the trap of Figure 1 b;

[0025] Figure 4a is a cross sectional view of the trap of Figure 1b, as viewed from line A-A of Figure 3c;

[0026] Figure 4a is a cross sectional view of the trap of Figure 1 b, as viewed from line B-B of Figure 3d;

[0027] Figure 5 is an exploded view of the trap of Figure 1 b.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Referring to Figures la-b, the non-restrictive illustrative embodiment of the present invention is basically concerned with an aspiration type flying insect trap 100 using a light source as attracting bait. The trap basically comprises a hollow body 10 having a top portion 11, a light source module 20 for emitting light over 360 degrees all around the top 11, a top cover 30 having a handle 31, and a supporting base 40 comprising a base plate 41 and a connecting shank or post 42.

[0029] As best seen from Figure 2, the trap 100 further comprises a drawer 50 defining a rigid container 51 able to hold a liquid substance and adapted to slide in and out from inner cavity 12 of the body 10. The drawer 50 has a front end 52 defining a handle 53 and runners 54 for resting and sliding on a pair of lower rail flanges such as 61, 61' of a guiding frame 60 (see Figure 5) mounted in cavity 12. A gasket made of compliant material (not shown) may further be mounted on a peripheral portion of the back surface of the front end 52 to ensure an air tight closing of the drawer 50 against the periphery 13 of the opening 14 to prevent air from entering the cavity '12 from that opening when the trap is operating. The trap 100 further comprises a lid 70 to be positioned on top of container 51.

[0030] The lid 70 comprises a frame 71 defining an annular opening 72 and a peripheral wall 73 surrounded by an air filtering area 74, said area being covered by a filtering member (not shown) such as a nylon screen of appropriate mesh size to retain captured insects while letting air to freely traverse the filtering area 74. Cross members 75 are provided across opening 72 and filtering area 74 to connect the wall 73 to the center disc 76 and to the peripheral portion of the frame 71. The lid 70 is slidable on top rail flanges 62, 62' (see Figures 4b and 5) of guiding frame 60 and comprises a pair of front notches 77 adapted to receive the rails 54 of drawer 50 in order to provide further guidance when sliding the drawer in its closed position and ensure a sufficiently tight contact between the peripheral portion of the frame 71 of the lid 70 and the top edge 55 of the container 51 to prevent insects from escaping from the container 51 by any gap between the lid and the container.

[0031] As best viewed from Figures 4 and 5, the top portion 11 of the body further defines a narrow circular annular opening 15 surrounding the light module 20 and a hub 19 provided at the centre of a circular inlet duct 16 defined by the body 10. The opening 15 thus provides an inlet at a first end of the inlet duct 16 having its second end extending into the cavity 12 to make a tight contact on the peripheral wall 73 around annular opening 72 on the frame 71 of lid 70. Thereby, a tight fluid stream can be established from inlet opening 15 to the inside of container 51 positioned under the lid 70. As described above, the container 51 (drawer 50) is maintained in close contact with lid 70 by support frame 60 provided with upper and lower pairs of rails on which frame 71 and runners 54 of drawer 50 are able to slide.

[0032] The trap 100 is further provided with an air stream generator advantageously comprising with two fans 80, 80' each mounted in a baffle 17, 17' respectively leading to an air flow egress louvered panel 18, 18'. In operation, the fans generate a vacuum within cavity 12 in turn creating an air stream from inlet opening 15 to container 51 through duct 16 and opening 72, and then through filtering area 74 and through the fans to finally exit the trap 100 through egresses 18 and 18'. The implementation of two fans 180 degrees apart in the cavity 12 ensures a strong and uniform air inflow all around the annular opening 15, while minimizing the velocity of the air stream at each egress as well as the fan noise since each of the fans is required to run at lower speed for a given inflow. In the tested prototype strong high velocity airflow of 300 cfm can be produced at inlet 15 using two compact inexpensive low power and low noise fans operable at low voltage.

[0033] The narrow width construction of the circular annular inlet opening 15 providing a relatively small inlet effective area, air is being drawn at very high velocity in the vicinity of the opening thereby efficiently aspiring and trapping flying insect as they approach the light source 20. In addition, this dimensional characteristic may be adjusted to ensure that insects larger than a given size would not be admitted through the inlet 15, being preserved from trapping.

[0034] Still referring most particularly to Figures 4 and 5, in order to attract biting flying insects, the light module 20 comprises four light emitting diodes (LED's) 21 for emitting light in the blue to ultraviolet spectral range which is known to provide an efficient bait for attracting biting insects such as mosquitoes. The LED's are powered by an electronic control module 22 connected to a battery or wired electrical power source (not shown) and also providing electrical power to the fans 80 and 80'. Control module 22 may comprise an ambient light sensor (i.e. photocell, phototransistor, photodiode, etc.) 29 and a user operable switchboard (not shown) to start and stop the trap 100 according to time intervals manually or automatically and/or for automatic start and stop according to sensed ambient light conditions such as dusk and dawn periods.

[0035] The light module 20 further comprises a light diffusing lens 23 having a frusto-conical axial cross-section for co-operating with the hub 19 and the top portion 11 to define a diverging horn geometry coupling the inlet 15 to the trap environment to yield a desired air velocity profile as a function of the distance from the inlet 15 for optimal capitation and light guiding. The cover also co-operates with the lens 23 and the top portion 11 to determine lighting and airflow properties at further distance from inlet 15.

[0036] The cover 30 is provided with a handle 31 to make the trap 100 easily manually portable. A seen in Figure 5, the cover 30 is assembled on top of the lens 23 in turn assembled to connecting ring 24 defining tabs 25 releasably connectable to the hub 19 by engagement with a first upper set of tracks 27 or second lower set of tracks 28 to provide a twist-lock connection.
Therefore, the cover 30 and light module 20 may be user configured in either of two configurations: in a closed configuration as shown in Figure la when the cover 30 and the light diffusing lens 23 are moved down to bring tabs 25 of the ring 24 in engagement with the tracks 28, and an open functional configuration as shown in all other Figures, when the cover 30 and the lens 23 are moved to bring the ring 24 in engagement with tracks 27. It is worth mentioning that when the tabs 25 are out of engagement with either set of tracks 27, 28 or the groove 26 connecting them, the assembly comprising the cover 30, the lens 23 and the ring 24 may be easily removed from the top for cleaning and maintenance of the internal components.

[0037] In the closed configuration of the trap 100, the cover 30 abuts on the top portion 11 of body 10 in a substantially tight relationship. The trap may thus be transported in a more compact format and with low risk of having the content of the container 51 to escape from the trap.

[0038] Furthermore, the trap 100 is provided with a removable base 40 comprising a removable tubular circular shank 42 having one end connectible to a mating cavity 43 in a bottom portion of the body 10 and a second end connectible to a mating cavity 44 in removable base plate 41. The base 40 may be removed to mount efficient portion of the trap on any appropriate post having the same outer diameter as the shank 42 to install trap at desired height when no appropriate surface is available to support the trap 100 on its base 40.
Therefore, the shank is preferably made to match the outer diameter of standard plumber piping such as 1.5 inch ABS or PVC piping. Also, the trap 100 may be made still more compact for traveling by properly dimensioning container 51 to enable storage of shank 41 therein, while a channel (not shown) can be provided at the top periphery of cavity 44 to enable direct connection of the lip 45 of the body 10 to said channel in the base plate 41.

[0039] In use, a user may pour a liquid substance L to partly fill the fluid tight container 51 and start the trap 100 to energize the light module 20 and the fans 80, 80' to attract flying insects around the light diffusing lens 23 and draw them through inlet 15 along with the air stream being created by the aspiration system. The insects that are small enough to penetrate through the inlet 15 are thus projected into the fluid substance L in container 51 while air escapes through the filtering portion 74 of the lid 70 and exhausted through the fans and egress panels 18 and 18'. Thereby, captured insects are neutralized and retained in the liquid substance and prevented from escaping even when the trap 100 is powered off, leaving a way out through lid inlet 72, duct 16 and fan inlet 15.

[0040] Therefore, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a method for trapping flying insects, the method comprising:
i) providing a trap having a light source such as 20, an aspiration system such as 15, 16 and 80 and a fluid tight collecting container such as 51;
ii) partly filling the container with a liquid substance L;
iii) operating the light source and the aspiration system to attract, suck, collect and retain flying insects into the container;
iv) removing the container from the trap and discarding the collected insects along with at least a portion of the liquid substance. The method may further comprise: v) adding liquid substance into the container if needed to adjust to a proper operating level, and vi) inserting the container back into the trap, in order to enable a new insect collecting cycle.

[0041] It can thus be easily appreciated that the above-described non-restrictive illustrative embodiments of the flying insect trap and method according to the present invention obviate the above-discussed limitations and drawbacks of the existing devices. More specifically, the trap and associated method of use effective attraction, selective collection and retention of annoying and potentially dangerous biting flying insects. The trap in further compact and energy efficient to best comply with transportation and remote uses such as camping.

[0042] Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of non-restrictive, illustrative embodiments thereof, these embodiments can be modified at will within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention.

Claims (2)

1. A flying insect trap comprising i) a hollow body defining a peripheral wall and a top portion provided with an air inlet opening in communication with an inside cavity of the body through a fluid tight inlet duct, ii) a light source module positioned along a center axis of said opening for emitting a light bait and attracting biting flying insects in a plurality of directions around the body, ii) a removable fluid tight rigid container in hermetic cooperation with the peripheral wall of the body and extending into the cavity, the container being provided with a lid having an air permeable insect retaining portion surrounding an inlet port connecting a downstream end of the duct to the container, and iii) an aspiration system comprising at least one fan in communication with at least one air exhaust egress provided through the peripheral wall of said body for creating a vacuum in said cavity and thereby drawing an air flow from the inlet opening to said air exhaust egress through said cavity, said duct and said air permeable portion.

2. A method for trapping flying insects, the method comprising:
i) providing a flying insect trap having a light source, an aspiration system and a fluid tight collecting container;
ii) partly filling the container with a liquid substance;
iii) operating the light source and the aspiration system to attract, suck, collect and retain flying insects into the container;
iv) removing the container from the trap and discarding the collected insects along with at least a portion of the liquid substance.
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