CA1051662A - Repeating animal trap - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A repeating animal trap of the inclined plane type comprising a housing means including portions defining a collection chamber for confining trapped animals with at least one trap means set in an opening thereof so that the animal must pass through a trap means to reach the collection chamber.
Each trap means includes a pivoted floor means and a pivoted door means. The floor means is normally biased to a first position in which the exit from the collection chamber back into the trap is totally blocked, with the door means in this position being opened at the entrance to the trap so that already confined animals cannot escape through the trap while additional animals can enter the trap. When an animal enters the trap it tilts the floor means to a second position which simultaneously raises the door means and blocks the entrance while unblocking the exit thereby permitting an animal within the trap means to enter the collection chamber while precluding his escape from the trap means. Confining members in the form of slidable plates can be secured to a side portion of the housing means to direct animals that bypass a trap opening back in the direction of the trap.

Description

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This invention rel~tes to a repeating animal trap and relates more particularly to a m~use or rat trap adapt~d to catch and confine a number of animals while automatically resetting itself.
Although the corlcepts of the instant invention ~re equally applicable to traps for animal~ of ~ny size, devices of thi~ type are primarily ut:ilized in conn~ction with the trapping of mice and rats. Re~pea~cing animal traps of this type have been well kn~wn heretofore, but such prior art trap~
have ordinarily required rather complex mean~ to insure that an already trapped animal doe~ not ~scape when the device automati~:~lly reset3 o raceive additional animals. The complicated nature s:~f such con~itruction~ not only increases the manufac:turing c:osts, but additionally, re~ults in mD~Q
frequent break-downs minimizing the effec~iveness and increas-ing the co~t3 of ~aintenarlce w~ th such devices .
Another area of di ~fiLculty with repe~ating animal trap~ an~, in fact, with animal 'craps in g~neral of the type with whic~h the instant ~nvention i~ concernedt i9 th~ tendency 2G for an anl~l to by-pas8 the entrance opening to the trap mean~.
It 19 a ~ell kn~m tendency of mice and rat~ to stay close to walls in rC~on-, rather than running into the open~ I f a trap t aga~ nst a wall ~ and in~lude~ bait, n~5t mice, upon sncowlteriny the trap, will be attracted into it. Yet, some mice may pa~s by ~he entrance opening and thereby avoid b~ing caught.
rt i8 a primary ob ject of this invention to provide a repeating animal trap which is extremely s imple and

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in~xpensive to m~nufacture c~d tv maint~ and yet which i~
highly ~fPlcii3nt in opexa~ion. The animal trap of the in~t~t inv~ntion include~ a ~lngle ~c~hani~r~ which in lt~
no~ itican p~rmit~ entry oP a mosse or th~ like into the tr~p 3neans while confinlng a~lready trapped mic~ within an enlarg~d collection chamber and whlch automatically precludes an animal iErom exiting the t.rap portion o~ce it ha~ ~ignifi-cantly paa~ed the entrance op~3nlng, automatis:ally r~setting - ~ it~el~E ~!IB the mou~3e pa~s~ co~pletely through the trap ~an~
~ 10 into the collection chan~er~
Another object of thi~ invention i~ to provid~ an - animal tr~p having ~ai~19 to furlllel a~ animal which ha~ by-pa~ the ~antrance opening back toward the trap, usi~g the n~tural ~ndency s) mi~e ~o ~y clo~e ~o ~ w~ll or any de~lce t,h~ e~rleo~nte,r.
Oth~r ~nd fur~h~r ob~ect~ r~3ide in the ct~mbination ~i ~lem~nts~ arrangome!nt of par~ and features of con~trueti3:~n - a~ q~ill b~! polnt~d out irl more d~ail hersln~f~r with Ee~1~peCt to th~ a~eo~panying drawing0 wh~r~n$
2~ Fig~r~ 1 i3 a perspectiv~ vl~w o~ on~ e~nbodiment of rep~atlng ~i~l ~rap acoord~ng ~o th~ in~an~ in~rentiv~ conc~p~
~ho~ in po~ion with ~che oon~lning ~ean~ ex~ended;
Figure ~ n enlarged top plan Vi8~ thereof, pzlrti~
ally bro3c~n a~y or illu~r~ti~re clarity and conveni~ e;
Figur~3 3 i3 ~; ~ide el~3vation~1 vi~w thereo~ also - partially brolc~n away for illustrative clarity and convenience;
Fig~xe 4 i~ ~n ~xit ~d elevAtiorlal vi~w c~f one of trap ~ n~ o~ the embodiment of ~igure l;

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Figure 5 i~ a longitudinal cro~-seetional view through the trap mean~ shown in Figure 4, with the movable members being shown in orse position in solid lines and in a furthex po~ition in dotted linect:
.- 5 ~igure 6 is a top plan vie~ of a further embodiment of repeating animal trap according to the instant inventive concept3, partially broken away for illustrative clarity;
~iqure 7 is a side elevational view of the embodi-men~ of Fiqure 6 partially broken away for il~ustrative clarity w~th the movable members being shown in one pos ition in solid :: lires and in a furth~r position in dotted lines;
~igure 8 is an entrance end eleYational view t~ken ~ubstantially along lines 8-8 of Figure 6; and E'lgur~ 9 is an end ~levational view taken substant- ;
ia,~y alonq lines 9-3 of Figure b.
L~ke reference chara~ters refer to like parts -: throughout 'che ~eYeral view of the drawings.
Referrinq now to ~che drawincls, and more particularly to Figure~ 1-5, one en~odiment of a repeatin~ animal trap .~20 a~:oording to ~e instant inventive concepts is designated generally by the reference numeral 10, and i~ shown as juxta-posed to a wall 12 on a floor 14. The device is shown as basically r~ctangular and it i~ to be under~tood that the size ... . .
and specific shape of the detrice may be modified without .~ 25 d~p~rting from the in~tant inventive concer)~s a lthouqh a .~, rectangular 'crap would be most comsnnnly used. Similarl y, a~though the various element~ are preferably formed o~ metal .. ~n this e~bodiment o~her material~ may be suitahly ~ubsti~uted .

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therefor, such as, for ex~mple~ plastics.
The embodiment of Figures 1-5 i~ basically designed ^:~ a~ a larger scale repeating animal trap and, in the embodiment .. shown comprises a hou~ing mean~ 16 with a pair of trap means 18, 20, although a ~ingle trap means or eYen more than two trap means can be incorporated therein.
The housing means 16 comprises sub~tantially parallel ~ide wall~ 22, 24, end walls 26, 28, a bottom 30 and a prefer-ably re vable G~ver 320 The oover 32 can ha~e a downwardly d~pendil~g lip as shown at 34 and can be a single element a~
~hs~wn or, alterna~:ively, only a portion of the cover could be removable as by hinging tnot shown) in order to gain access to the enlarged collection chamber 36 adapted to confine trapped animals in a manner to be explained in m~re detail ~ 15 her~inafter.
In the e~bodiment shown an entrance vpening 38, 40 `~ i8 defin~d in each of the end walls 26, 28, the nun~ber of openirlgs in the hou~ing means 16 being Yariable as indicated - above, although normally one opening at each end i~ preferred.
~ 20 In any even~, a trap means is interposed in each .. entrarl~:e opening 3uch that an animal must pa~s through a trap ræans to reach the collection chamber 36. The trap means 18, 20 a~re identical so that ~ detailed explanation with respect to o~ly means 20 will be set forth.
Tl-e trap means 20 comprises ~ide wall3 42, 44 and a p wall 46. As~ open end 4 8 conununicatinq with the ~xterior of the collection means 16 through the entrance openinq 40 i5 ~: defined at one end of the side and top walls 42, 44, 46. An _ 5 _ ....
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exit opening S0 i~ defined at the! opposi~e end oE the side and top wall3 and communicates with the c~llect~on chamber 36, w~ th an elongated pas~ageway 52 extendiAg between the entrance and exit opening~ 48, SOO
A floor means 54 extends ~ubstantially comple ely long the pa~sageway 52 and include~ an entrance end portion 56 and an exit end portion 58. Transver~ely extending floor pivot mean~ 6Q in ~e form of a pin or the lilce rotatably secure~ the floor mean~ 54 to the side walls 42, 44 intermediate the entrance and exit end portions 56, 58. It will be seen that the entrance end portion 56 i~ shorter than the exit end ;:
;. . port~orl 58 of the floor means 54, 'chis position of the floor p~ro~c means 60 normally biasing the floor means 54 to the pS~8~ tion shown in solid lines ir~ Figure 5. However, a ~ounter-b~lancin~ weight m~ans ~2 i~ secured to the entrance end portion . 56 in any desired manner ~o that the floor mean~ 54 is normally bia$ed by lthe means 62 to the dotted line position shown in Figures 3 and 5.
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~ door means 64 ls pivoted at it~ lower end portion :. 20 by a transver3ely extending door pi-vot mean3 66 to the side wall~ 42, 4~. imm~diately adjacent the open end 48~ As will be - ~e~n from the drawin~s, the height of the door means 64 in ernbodiment i8 greater than the height s~f the side walls 42,, 44 80 t:hat the door means 64 cannot be pivoted to or pass - 25 a ~ertical relation~hip. Thi~ engagemen~ of the cloor means with the top wall 46 as shown in solid lines in Figure 5 functions as a limit means whereby the weight and inclination of the door mea~ 64 normally biases the same to the dot~ed line position shown in Figures 3 and 5 wherein its inner . _ 6 --,~ ~
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surface generally rest~, at least in part, on the upper ~urface of the entrance end portion S6 of the floor means 54.
However, ~ince the entrance end portion 55 oiE the floor means 54 terminates at a point j ust shor~ of the door pi vo~ means 66, as the floor means 54 i~ pivoted to the solid line sition ~hown in Figure 5 in a manner to be described in more detail hereinafter, it raises the door means 64 to ,. the solid line po~itlon shown in Figure 5.
t~hen 'che floor mean~ 54 and the door means 64 are in the dotted line position shown in Figures 3 and 5, i$ wil 1 ... be seen that ~he open end 48 is sub~tantially completely :. . unblock~d while the position of the exit end portion 58 of the floor means 54 i8 ~uch a~3 to completely block access through the exit open~ng 50 to the upper surface of the floor ~sn~ 54. Thi~ posi'cion of the floor and door means 5~, 69 ,`j preclude~ e~cape of already trapped animals from with thecollection chamber 36 while pennittin~ additional animals to :~ enter the trap meanC 20. As an animal passes through the .: .
2ntrance opening 38 onto the floor means 54 ~eyo;nd the floor . 20 pivo~ r~eans 60 the weight of the animal moves the floor mearls 54 to the ~olid line position .~hown in Figure 5 and simul-~aneou~ly ra~ses the door means 64 to the solid line position shown in this Figure~ In this position of the elements it w~ll be ~een tha~c the open end 4 8 of the trap means is 2S substantially completely blocked by the door means 6 4 pre-cluding e~cape of an animal within the trap means 20. However, - the exlt openlng 50 i~ unblocked in this position of ~he element~ permitting the animal to pass into the collection chamber 36 in which it will be confined. Onc~ ~he animal .. . .
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~tep~ from th~ exit end portion 56 of the floor means 54, :: the counterbalancing means S2 returns the floor means 54 to : it~ dotted line position and pernu.ts the door means ~4 to drt:>p to itc dotted line posi~ion under the influence of its S own weigh~ and inclination, again precluding exit of animals .. within the collection chaniber 36 while permitting entrance of ~dditional animal~ into the trap mean~ 20.
The ~ides 42, 44 of the trap means 20 may have flange~ ~uch as shown at 70, 72 to enable the trap means 2û tc>
be se~ured as by spotwelding or the like to the floor 30 of the hou~ing means 16. Similarly, an element such as shown .at 74 may l:~e secured over the exit end of the trap means 20 to define a slightly smaller exit opening 50 thereby facili~
tating complete bls~ckinq of ~hi~ openi`ng by s imple movement of the floor means 54 to its dotted line position.
Thus, ~t will be seen that a simple combination of -~
the floor laealll5 54 and the door means 64, and the particular relat~on~hip he~ween these elements, provides for automa~i-cally re~etting the trap, while precluding the escape of alr~ady trapped animals. Bait may be placed withill the ~ollec'cion chamber 36 and the floor means 54 may be provided q~ith ~ multiplicity of aperture~ to enhance the odor trans fer of the bait ~f desired.
According to a further feature of the instant - 25 inventive concepts, confinin~ means axe carried by the side wa~ll 22 of the hou~ing means 16 and are extendable to funnel an animal which might otherwise by-pass the various entrance op¢ning:; to the trap means bac:k toward the openings. Speci fi-:~ cally, the confining mean~ may compri-qe a pair of elon~ated . ~ 8 ~

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S~62 plate m~mbers 80, 82 slidingly secured to the side wall 22 by pin~ or the like 84, 86, 88 and 90 slidingly engaged in slot~ 92~ 94, 96 and 98 to permit the plates 80i 82 to be , ~xtended to the positions shown in the drawing~. With the : 5 plate members 80, 82 extended in thi~ manner a mouse or the like running along the wall 12 which engages the end 26 or 28 . . .
- of the housing mean~ 16 and by-p~sses th~ entrance opening .- 38 or 40 to the trap means 18, 20 would engage with one of : the plate mQmhers and have a tendency to be redirected ~ack t~ward the trap means~ As indicated previously, this feature i~ particularly effective because of ~he tendency of a mouse .- not to run out in the open.
For packaging or storing the animal trap 10, or :`''' ~. whe~ the confining means are otherwise ~ot to be used, the :` 15 plate member~ 80, 82 may be ~lid toward each other into an out-of-the-way po~ition. If desired, ~nd ~lange3 100, 102 ~sy be provided on the pla~e me~bers 80, 82 to function as ....
an ~di~onal stop and bottom flanges s~ch as shown at 104, :; 106 may be included tc facilitate the ~liding vement, . 20 although generally the bottom flanges 104, 106 will not ~)e necessary.
Referenc~ is now made par~icularly to Figures 6-9 wh~rein a modified ~mbodimen~ of a repeating animal trap is designated generally by reference numeral 110. Thi3 e~bodiment ...
2S ~ functlonally equivalent to the embodiment sho~n in Fiqures 1~5, but ~ lntended for use on a smaller scale, such as in a pan'cry or the like. Thi~ ernbodiment is shown as made primarily of plastic, with the exception of a counterbalancing means to g _ ., .

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could be made of metal. It i5 also shown a~ a ~maller version, but s~milar operating elements could be utilized re~3ardless . of the ~ize of the animal or the ~ize of the trap.
S In this embodiment, a housîng means 112 includes a body memher 114 and a bottom member 116. The body member 114 , ~- includes ~ides 118, 120, a top 122, a forward wall 124 and a rearward wall 126. The side ~a:ls 118, 120 can include outstanding lower flanges 128, 130 which may be slidabl~
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`' member 116 to enable ready disassembly of the housing means .; 112 in order to dispose of trapped animals.
The body member 114 also includes an interior parti-'.' t~on 136 which divides the housing mean~ into a collection : ~ 15 chamber 138 and an elongated pa~sageway 140 forming part of the trap mean~ 142.
The trap means 142, in this embodiment, is not a dl~crete eler~ent a3 in the embodiments of Figures l-S, but is ~ a~ti-i~lly partially formed by the body memher 114 of the hou~ing .~ 20 Rean~ 112 in the sen.~e that the partition 136, portions OI' the .: top 122, the forward end wall 124 and the rearward end wall 126 effecti~ely define the passageway 14iO. It will be seen that the forward end wall 124 i~ ~lanted downwardly from the top wal~
12~ Dnd that an entrance opening 144 i3 de~ined in the forward ond wall 124 with an exit openinq 146 being de~ined in the partition 136.
in th~ e~)odiments of Fignres 1-5, a fl~r means 148 extend~ ~ubstantially ~ompletely along the passag~y - 1 0 - "

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: 140 snd lnclude~ an entrance end ~portion L50 and an exit : - .
~- ~nd portion 152, with the floor means 148 being rotatably ~uppor~ed by floor pivot me~ns 154 secured to the ~ide wall 118 ~nd the partition 116. In thi~; embodiment, ~he entrance end portion 150 of the flo~r mean~ 148 includes a depression . 156 ~n which a counterhalancing w~!iqht ~ean~ 158 is secured ~n any conventional manner.
. Similarly, a door means 160 is rotatably secured at .- it~ lower end portion by door pivot means 162.
A~ in the embodiments of Figures l-S, the floor ~j~ ~eans 148 is normally biased by the counter~alancin~ weight ; m~an~ 158 to the solid line position shown in ~igure 7 wherein ~he exlt 2nd portion 152 thereof i~ higher than the entrance ~; end port~on 150 thereby precluding e~cape of animals within the collect~on chamber 138 via the exit opening 146. In this sol~d line pos~tion of Figure 7, the door means 160 generally re~ts on the entrance end portion 150 of the floor means 148 to unblock the entrance opening 144~
:: Once an animal enters the trap means 142 and passes the floor pivot means 154, the floor means 148 is moved by 'che we~ght Ol' the animal acting against the count~rbalancing ~eans 158 to the dotted line position shown in Figure 7 which, a~ in the embodi~ent of Figures l-S, raises the door means 160 : tto its dotted position ~hown in this Figure. In this em~30dimeAt, , 25 ~the inclined forward end wall 12~ of the body member 114 act~
a.~ milt means to preclude lthe door means 160 from r~achi ng . a vert~cal relationship. Thus, in the dotted line position ~how~ in Pigur~ 7, the animal within the ~rap means 14~ cannot "

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escspe through the entrance opening 144 which is blQc);ed by the door snean~ 160 and must enter thç! collectlon chanber 138 ~a th2 exit opening 146 in the partition 138, the exit vpening 146 beinq unblocked in thi~ dotted line position of the elements shown ~n Figure 70 Or:ce the animal steps into the collection chamber 138 , th~ counterbalancing means 158 returns the floor means 148 to it~ solid line position and the weight and.inclination of the door mean3 160 re~urns ~he door means to the solid line position ~hown in this Figure so that additional animals can enter the trap means 142,.
A multiplicity of rent ~penings 170 may be defined ~n the rea~ward end wall 126, if desired.
~ s~e~bly of the repeating animal trap 110 is ~uite simple, the flexibility of the parti~ion 136 and the side -~ wall lle being adequate to permit insertion of the floor pivot . mean~ 154 and the door piVQ~ means 162, with the body member .~ 114 ~nd the bottom member 116 being slidingly e~gaged or .:~ di~engaged a~ desired.
. 20 O~herwi~, the use and operation of the embodiment of Figure~ 6-9 will be xeadily understood from the detailed ; explanation set forth above wi~h respect to the embodiment of Figures 1-5.
Obviously, a confininq means a~ is discloE~ed with re~pect to thQ embodiments of Figures 1-5 could also be incDrporated into the embodiment of ~iqures 6-9.
Thus9 it will now be seen that there is herein provided an improved repeating animal trap, the use and -~ - 12 -:~ ~
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operation of which is believed readily understood. This trap satisfies all of the objectives of the instant invention as -;l defined above, and others, including many advantages of great practical utilit'y and commercial importance. The trap will .'rautomatically reset itself and may be checked from time to time to remove animals confined wi-thin the collection chamber.
Reference is made to the applicant's copending applica-.~ .
; tion No. 258,081 which claims different features of the described , animal trap.
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Claims (8)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN
EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS
FOLLOWS:

1. A repeating animal trap comprising housing means including portions defining a collection chamber for confining trapped animals, at least one entrance opening defined in said housing means; a trap means interposed in each entrance opening of said housing means such that an animal must pass through a trap means to reach said collection chamber, each of said trap means comprising side and top wall portion together defining an elongated passageway, one end of said passageway communicating with the exterior of said housing means through its associated entrance opening, means defining an exit opening communicating with said collection chamber at the opposite end of said passageway, a floor means extending along said passageway, said floor means including an upper surface, an entrance end portion and an exit end portion, transversely extending floor pivot means rotatably supporting said floor means intermediate said entrance and exit end portions thereof, said floor means being movable about said floor pivot means from a first position in which said exit end portion of said floor means is higher than said entrance end portion thereof, to a second position in which said exit end portion is lower than said entrance end portion, said exit end portion of said floor means completely blocking access through said exit opening to said upper surface of said floor means when said floor means is in its first position.

and said entrance opening being completely unblocked when said floor means is in its first position to thereby preclude return of already trapped animals from within said collection chamber to said passageway while permitting additional animals to enter said trap means, and access to said exit opening from said upper surface of said floor means being completely unblocked when said floor means is in its second position to permit an animal within said passageway to pass into said collection chamber, counterbalancing means secured to said entrance end portion of said floor means to normally bias said floor means to its first position, the weight of an animal passing through said entrance opening past said floor pivot means onto said exit end portion of said floor means moving said floor means to its second position, a door means including an inner surface, an upper end portion and a lower end portion, transversely extending door pivot means rotatably supporting said lower end portion of said door means immedi-ately adjacent said entrance opening, said door means being movable about said door pivot means from a first position in which said inner surface of said door means generally rests, at least in part, on said upper surface of said entrance end portion of said floor means, to a second position in which said inner surface of said door means is moved upwardly away from said upper surface of said floor means, limit means engaging said door means prior to its reaching a vertical relationship when said door means is moved from its first to its second position, said entrance opening being completely unblocked when said door means is in its first position to permit an animal to enter said trap means, and said door means completely blocking said entrance opening when said door means is in its second position to preclude escape of an animal within said passageway, the weight and inclination of said door means normally biasing said door means to its first position, said entrance end portion of said floor means underlying said door means and terminating at a point just short of said door pivot means, said door means being in its first position when said floor means is in its first position, and said door means being moved to its second position by said entrance end portion of said floor means as said floor means is moved to its second position.

2. The animal trap of claim 1 wherein a portion of said housing means is removable for access to said collection chamber.

3. The animal trap of claim 1 wherein the height of said door means is greater than the height of said side wall portions of said trap means, whereby said limit means is defined by engagement of said upper end portion of said door means with said top wall portions of said trap means prior to said door means reaching a vertical relationship.

4. The animal trap of claim 1 wherein said housing means includes an inclined front wall portion in which said entrance opening is defined, said limit means being defined by engagement of said upper end portion of said door means with said inclined front wall portion of said housing means prior to said door means reaching a vertical relationship.

5. The animal trap of claim 1 wherein said housing means comprises side walls, end walls, a bottom and a top, an entrance opening being defined in at least one of said end walls.

6. The animal trap of claim 5 wherein entrance open-ings are defined in each of said end walls.

7. The animal trap of claim 1 wherein said means defining an exit opening comprises a vertical side wall adjacent the floor means, the plane of the side wall being perpendicular to the pivot axis of the floor pivot means, the side wall having the exit opening formed therein adjacent the free end of the exit end portion of the floor means, the exit end portion of the floor means extending to a level above the exit opening to completely block access through said exit opening to the upper surface of the floor means when said floor means is in its first position, the exit opening being unaligned with the entrance opening.

8. The animal trap of claim 1 wherein the portion of the upper surface of the floor means defined by the entrance end portion of said floor means is angled relative to the portion of said upper surface defined by the exit end portion of said floor means, the portion of said upper surface defined by said entrance end portion being substantially horizontal when the floor means is in its first position.