GB2163936A - Insect trap - Google Patents

Abstract

An insect trap comprises a base portion (11) and a cage portion (1) which is open on its lowermost side and is mounted on a plurality of support members (8) which depend from the open side and pass through apertures (10) in the base portion. The support members define a space between the base portion and the open side. An elongate member (12) is attached to the base portion at one of its ends and is operable to cause the base portion to move into abutment with the open side of the cage portion. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Insect trap This invention relates to an insect trap and, in particular, to a house-fly trap.

The existence of insects in inhabited areas, particularly in countries with a hot climate where insects flourish, has long proved a problem. Such insects are a source of irritation to the inhabitants not only in the noise that they make and their tendency to fly around and alight upon people but also in the tendency of certain varieties of insects to sting or bite human beings and suck their blood.

Furthermore, the presence of insects is a health hazard in that many varieties spread disease, either by carrying a disease internally, puncturing the skin of a person and transferring a disease organism into the person's bloodstream or by carrying a disease externally, that is, on the surface of their bodies and, for instance, contaminating food which they alight upon which is subsequently eaten by humans. Consequently, it is of considerable importance to develop an efficient method of eliminating insects from inhabited areas.

A great many devices and methods for trapping and killing insects are already known. Of these, perhaps the oldest and simplest device is the traditional fly-swatter, which consists of a handle to which is attached a flat piece of wire mesh which is used to crush an insect against a surface upon which it has settled. However, the effective use of such a swatter requires a great deal of speed and skill on the part of the user who must deliver the fatal blow before the insect anticipates it and flies away. Hence such devices are rarely effective on a large scale.

Glue paper strips, which trap any insects which land on them in adhesive, are widely used. However, these take up a lot of space and are somewhat unsightly.

Another method, which is commonly used in places where there is a high concentration of insects, is to leave a poisoned bait in an appropriate location. The insects are then attracted to the bait, eat a portion of it, and then eventually die as the poison takes effect. However, because of death is not instantaneous, the insect may move some distance from the bait before dying and therefore, when this method is used, dead insects tend to become strewn over a large area. Furthermore, it can be dangerous to leave exposed poisoned baits lying around in a house, particularly when there are children or pets in the vicinity who may accidentally consume or touch the bait.

Insecticide sprays are used on a very large scale.

However, these are not effective when used in open spaces and are generally not usable in areas where there are exposed foodstuffs or where food is prepared. This is because contamination of food can easily happen and thus, since most insecticides are harmful to humans, poisoning may occur.

A variety of powered mechanical traps such as rotating drums and electric wires with insect luring lights have also been devised. However, these are expensive to buy and operate and require constant maintenance.

It is thus an object of the present invention to obviate these problems by providing an insect trap which is cheap to manufacture, simple to operate, not unsightly, does not expose people in the area to poisonous substances and, above all, is effective.

It has been observed that when a fly leaves its food, it never crawls away from the food but always flies upwards. This "escape-by-flying" instinct has been observed in all flies and it is this phenomenon which is utilised in the present invention.

According to the invention there is provided an insect trap comprising a base portion and a cage portion which is open on its lowermost side and is mounted on the base portion in such a way that a space is defined between said base portion and said open side.

Preferably, the trap also includes means for causing the base portion to move into abutment with the open side of the cage portion.

It is preferred that the cage portion is mounted on a plurality of support members which depend from said open side and are adapted to pass through apertures in said base portion.

Preferably the support members are adjustable in length. It is also preferred that the support members are screw-threaded and threadably engage a sleeve attached to said cage portion so that adjustment may be effected by turning said support members in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction.

It is further preferred that an elongate member is attached to said base portion at one of its ends which is operable to cause said base portion to move into abutment with the open side of said cage portion. The elongate member may be a substantially vertical rod which can be screwed into the base at one end and passes through a centrally located sleeve in the cage portion at its other end.

Preferably, the cage portion consists of a frame covered on all but one side by a perforated material such as wire mesh or plastics netting. It is also preferred that the cage portion is cylindrical in shape and that the base portion is cylindrical in shape and that the base portion is a flat disc of greater radius than the cage portion. The apertures in the base portion will be of greater diameter than the support members to allow the base portion to move freely over the support members.

In an alternative embodiment, the cage portion maybe hingeably mounted on the base portion so that an angled opening can be formed between the base portion and the open side of the cage portion by rotating the cage portion about the hinge. The cage portion is then supported in the desired open position until it is desired to close the opening, when the support member is removed. It should be noted that the device of this embodiment does not require an elongate member to effect closure of the opening.

In a further alternative embodiment, a screw threaded support member may be vertically affixed to the centre of the base portion and the cage portion may be provided with a plurality of radial arms which converge upon and are attached to a centrally located screw-threaded sleeve, the radial arms and sleeve being located towards the lowermost side of the cage portion. The sleeve may then be screwed onto the screw-threaded support member protruding from the base portion, and the opening between the cage portion and base portion can then be adjusted by turning the cage portion so that the sleeve moves up and down the screw-threaded member. The open side of the cage portion can thus be brought into abutment with the base portion by rotating the cage portion about the screw-threaded member in the appropriate direction.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the cage portion may be permanently fixed to the base portion in such a way that there is a permanent opening between the base portion and the cage portion despite an absence of any support members.

As has been observed earlier, a fly always flies upwards away from food. Thus, in this case, any flies entering the trap through the opening between the cage portion and base portion will fly upwards into the cage portion and still become trapped despite the fact that the opening between the cage portion and base portion is never closed, as in the other embodiments.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the acccompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a device according to the present invention; and Figure 2 is a cross-section taken on the line A-A in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is provided a cylindrical cage 1 which consists of a frame comprising upper and lower end rings 2, 3 which are joined together by six ribs 4, the upper end ring 2 also having three ribs 5 which are equally spaced and extend radially from a centrally-located sleeve 6, and wire mesh or plastic netting 7 which extends over the exterior of the frame on all sides except the side defined by lower end ring 3, which is left open.

The cage 1 is supported by three adjustable screw-threaded legs 8 whose lower ends pass through holes 10 in circular base plate 11 which is of greater diameter than cage 1. The diameter of holes 10 are greater than the diameters of legs 8 so that the legs 8 may pass freely through the holes 10. Each leg 8 is threadedly engaged by a sleeve 9 which in turn is attached to the interior edge of end ring 3. The gap between base plate 11 and the lower edge of cage 1 may be adjusted by turning screw-threaded legs 8 in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction. A typical gap is about 10 mm.

A rod 12, which possesses a hooked handle 12a at one end and is screw-threaded at its other end 12b, passes through sleeve 6, the dimensions of the rod and sleeve being such that the rod slidably engages the sleeve. The end 12b is screwed into a screw-threaded recess 13 which is centrally located in circular base plate 11.

In operation, a bait, which is designed to attract insects, is placed at the centre of the base plate 11 and the trap is then left unattended in a suitable location. Insects, attracted by the bait, land on base plate 11 and crawl towards the bait. After eating, as has been observed earlier, the insects fly upwards but are prevented from escaping by the presence of cage 1. Thus, after a period of time, a number of insects will have collected in the cage.

The hooked handle 12a is then lifted, thereby raising the base plate 11 to which rod 12 is attached and closing the gap between base plate 11 and the bottom of cage 1. The whole cage and contents can then be carried by the handle 12a to a suitable place and the trapped insects exterminated using an insecticide spray or other suitable means.

It should be noted that the gap separating cage 1 and base plate 11 is adjsuted so that is is only just large enough to permit insects to crawl into the trap. Thus, any insects attempting to fly out through this gap are prevented from doing so by the constant motion of their wings.

Although a cylindrical cage and circular base have been described, it should be appreciated that the cage may be made in any shape as long as it complements the size and shape of the base plate.

Claims (16)

1. An insect trap comprising a base portion and a cage portion which is open on its lowermost side and is mounted on the base portion in such a way that a space is defined between said base portion and said open side.

2. An insect trap according to claim 1 which further includes means for causing the base portion to move into abutment with the open side of the cage portion.

3. An insect trap according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the cage portion is mounted on a plurality of support members which depend from said open side and are adapted to pass through apertures in said base portion.

4. An insect trap according to claim 3 in which the support members are adjustable in length.

5. An insect trap according to claim 3 or claim 4 in which the support members are screw-threaded and threadably engage a sleeve attached to said cage portion.

6. An insect trap according to any preceding claim in which an elongate member is attached to said base portion at one of its ends and is operable to cause said base portion to move into abutment with the open side of said cage portion.

7. An insect trap according to claim 6 in which the elongate member is a substantially vertical rod which is screwed into the base portion at one end and passes through a centrally located sleeve in the cage portion at its other end.

8. An insect trap according to claim 1 in which the cage portion is hingeably mounted on the base portion.

9. An insect trap according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which a screw-threaded support member is ver tically affixed to the centre of the base portion and the cage portion has a plurality of radial arms which converge upon and are attached to a centrally located screw-threaded sleeve, the arrangement being such that the screw-threaded sleeve threadably engages the screw-threaded support member.

10. An insect trap according to claim 9 in which the radial arms and screw-threaded sleeve are located towards the lowermost side of the cage portion.

11. An insect trap according to any preceding claim in which the cage portion consists of a frame covered on all but one side by perforated material.

12. An insect trap according to claim 11 in which the perforated material is wire mesh or plastics netting.

13. An insect trap according to any preceding claim in which the cage portion is cylindrical in shape.

14. An insect trap according to any preceding claim in which the base portion is a flat disc of greater radius than the cage portion.

15. An insect trap substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. A method of capturing insects substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.