JPH11289951A - Flying insect-catching device having decorative frame mount - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flying insect-catching device of type having a visually comfortable appearance and using a light source for attracting insects and an adhesive surface for catching the insects attracted to the light source. SOLUTION: The front portion of the enclosure 2 of the flying insect-catching device 1 is covered by a designed front surface panel. The front surface panel 3 contains openings enabling the approach of flying insects to the inside of the enclosure. Thereby, insects attracted by a light source 6 emitting light through the openings of the front surface panel alight on an adhesive surface and are adhered to the adhesive surface. A designed panel is also disposed in the enclosure and can be seen through the openings of the front surface panel. The enclosure can be angled so that the area of the front portion of the enclosure is smaller than that of the rear portion, and the light source is thereby disposed behind one of the side surfaces of the enclosure, such as a bottom side surface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a trap for flying insects, and more particularly to a trap having a surface having an illumination source for attracting flying insects and an adhesive substance to which the insects attracted to the illumination source adhere. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many types of flying insect traps, especially traps for catching flies, are known.
An illumination source is used to attract flying insects to the interior of the trap, and at least one surface of the interior of the trap is covered with an adhesive material to which the insects are adhered as they descend and stop. The adhesive substance is often applied to a removable backing, usually referred to as an adhesive plate, which is removably mounted inside the trap so that it can be replaced periodically.

A common problem with this type of flying insect trap is that in order to obtain the maximum ability to catch flying insects, it must usually be placed in a relatively prominent place, which is also a trap. In the eyes of the people beside him. While conventional traps of this type are effective at catching insects, their appearance is not particularly pleasant. If this type of trap is, for example,
If installed in a factory or other type of industrial equipment,
Lack of pleasing appearance is not a significant factor. However, the absence of this type of flying insect trap with a pleasing appearance on the market has hindered the acceptance and use of this type of flying insect trap in commercial facilities such as restaurants and other sites. . In these facilities, it is important to capture flying insects, but it is also important to capture as little as possible to the patrons of the facility. Conventional flying insect traps employing a light source to attract insects always have an appearance intended solely as a trap, rather than embodying decorative considerations. However, it has been very difficult to use such a conventional trap in such a manner that it cannot be seen by customers and patrons of facilities using the trap.

A flying insect trap of the type generally described above is described, for example, in US Pat. No. 5,365,569.
A wall mount unit, known at 0, having an angled side and an angled enclosure for the illumination source and adhesive plate is provided. The enclosure to which the illumination source and the adhesive plate are attached is open at the top of the unit, allowing access of flying insects attracted to the illumination source. The exterior of the unit is made of plastic and is not yet particularly visually appealing for use in facilities such as clean restaurants.

Another flying insect trap of this type having an illumination source and an adhesive plate is disclosed in US Pat. Des.
364479. This unit has an even more pleasing appearance and is generally in the shape of a V-shaped wall candlestick. The exterior of this unit may be metal, for example, a brass matte or brass polished finish. This unit is also open at the top to allow access to flying insects attracted to the illumination source, and the insects descend on an adhesive plate contained within the linear enclosure at the top of the unit. Stop. The unit's front panel is hinged to allow access to the unit's interior.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a flying insect trap of the type using a light source for attracting insects and an adhesive surface for catching insects attracted to the light source. is there. The trap has a visually pleasing appearance, which allows the unit to be used discreetly in a business establishment, even in full view of the facility's customers or patrons. .

[0007]

The above objects are achieved by following the principles of the present invention in a wall mounted flying insect trap having a light source and an adhesive surface for trapping insects. . The trap has a light source and an adhesive surface mounted inside a frame-shaped enclosure, a front panel having a selected decorative or advertising design, an opening to allow access to the interior of the enclosure, And has a back panel with a design or advertising that matches the front panel, and can be seen through openings in the front panel. The front panel can be permanently or removably attached to the picture frame, so that facility owners who purchase plenty of this type of flying insect trap,
Rather than repeat the same design for every unit, you can have many different designs. In addition, the back panel can also be replaced, allowing for different backgrounds and advertisements.

The front panel, if permanently attached to the frame-like enclosure, can be attached by a hinge or the like and opened to allow access to the interior of the enclosure to replace the light source and adhesive plate. . However, instead of attaching the front panel to the framed enclosure with a hinge, it is possible to attach the front panel to the enclosure by temporary means, such as a magnetic mount or grooves provided at the top and bottom of the enclosure. Yes, the front panel can be slid over the groove to a position covering the front of the enclosure.

Preferably, the picture frame is angled inward with respect to the back panel, ie, the front panel is somewhat smaller in area than the back panel. This allows the light source to be located, for example, at the bottom of the enclosure in one of the angled sides of the enclosure, so that the flying insect trap is mounted to the wall at a conventional height. Even so, they become virtually hidden from the direct view of customers and regular customers. However, the opening in the front panel allows light to escape from the enclosure, thereby attracting flying insects, and the insects reach the interior of the trap and descend and adhere to the adhesive surface. To be able to The adhesive surface can also be attached to the angled side at the bottom of the enclosure, thereby hiding it from the view of customers and patrons.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A flying insect trap 1 constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention is shown in FIG. The catcher 1 has a picture frame-like enclosure 2 surrounding and holding a front panel 3 with decorative or advertising design cuts. Inside the trap 1 is a light source 6, such as a fluorescent lamp, which operates by using standard AC power supplied from a power cord 12.

The enclosure 2 and the front panel 3 are preferably made of sheet metal and have a decorative or advertising design or pattern cut into the front panel 3 by punching.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and other figures, a "strong daylight" design is employed,
Any decorative or advertising design can be used as long as it accommodates an opening suitable for access to the interior of the enclosure 2. This allows sufficient light from the light source 6 to leak from the inside of the trap 1 as the flying insect approaches the inside of the trap 1.

As shown in the exploded view of FIG. 2, the enclosure 2 is formed by a side wall 2a and upper and lower wall surfaces 2b. They are all angled such that the enclosure 2 has a larger area at the back compared to its front. The front panel 3 is attached to the enclosure 2 by any suitable means, such as a piano hinge 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the piano hinge allows the front panel 3 to be lifted upward so that the front of the enclosure 2 is opened and its interior is exposed. However, the front panel 3 can be attached to the enclosure 2 in any suitable way.
It includes a magnetic mounting member or a mounting method which can be easily and completely removed (separated) from the enclosure 2, such as a groove provided at the front end of the upper and lower side surfaces 2b. The groove allows the front panel 3 to slide into the groove from either side of the enclosure 2. This allows the manufacturer to make many different front panels 3, each with a different design, so that if the facility purchases many such traps, they need not be identical. . Further, the customer who purchases the trap 1 can select from many different designs. Various designs can be easily included in the final product.

An electronic support unit 5 having three side faces and having a linear shape is mounted inside the enclosure 2. The electronic support unit 5 fits inside the enclosure 2 and has on its opposite side a socket for receiving the terminals of the light source 6 in a known manner. The electronic support unit 5 also has all of the electrical components required for a standard fluorescent lamp circuit. To do this,
Includes off switches, ballasts, transformers and appropriate wiring. These electrical components are standard and well known,
Therefore generally operating electronics 8
It is said that. When the light source 6 is arranged at an appropriate position and the electronic support unit 5 is inserted into the enclosure 2, the light source 6 is arranged behind the lower side surface 2 b of the enclosure 2. When the trap 1 is mounted on a wall of a room at a conventional height, light from the light source 6 projects through an opening in the front panel 3 to attract flying insects, but the light source 6 is generally hidden from human vision. There will be.

An elongated piece of cardboard 7 having an adhesive surface 7a therein fits snugly into the lower side 2b of the enclosure 2, such as by folding along a fold parallel to the lower side 2b. Thereby, the back side of the cardboard piece 7 is substantially vertical and leans against the rear part of the catcher 1 described below, while the adhesive surface 7a fits into the inclined interior of the lower side 2b. Folding the strip of cardboard 7 in this manner is sufficient to hold the cardboard strip 7 in place within the assembled catcher 1 and thereby to provide any other parts with any permanent It does not need to be installed in any way.
The adhesive surface 7a of the strip of cardboard 7 is regularly filled with trapped insects, and therefore the strip of cardboard 7 must be replaced periodically. It is therefore an advantage of the strip of cardboard 7 that it can simply be installed inside the catcher 1 without using any permanent fittings, thus making replacement easy.

The trap 1 has a mounting opening 11 inside.
Closed at its back by a back panel 10 having There is a design panel 9 between the electronic support unit 5 and the back panel. Although referred to herein as the design panel 9, this panel can have any type of display, including advertisements, or can simply be an interior color. The display on the design panel 9 preferably matches the design of the front panel 3. Therefore, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the sky and cloud design is shown to be in harmony with the daylight design shown on the front panel 3. Obviously,
An infinite number of combinations of designs, colors, and advertisements can be made on the front panel 3 or the design panel 9.

The design panel 9 includes, for example, the rear panel 1.
0 can be permanently or temporarily attached, or can be held between the electronic support unit 5 and the back panel 10 in any suitable manner. Thus, the design panel 9 can be attached in such a manner that it is periodically replaced when the design of the front panel 3 is changed.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the embodiment,
The front panel 3 can be lifted by a hinge 4 so that the inside of the catcher 1 can be accessed for the replacement of the elongated cardboard pieces 7 and / or the light sources 6. If the design panel 9 is temporarily attached in a removable manner, access to the design panel 9 is also made in this way.

In the depicted embodiment, only one light source 6 is used, but if desired, the upper side 2b of the enclosure 2
There is room below for a second light source. Such a second light source would be mounted on the electronic support unit 5 with appropriate modifications of the operating circuit 8 to activate both light sources. However, when the fly catcher 1 is mounted in a conventional manner, such a second light source located above the catcher 1 is more visible to the human eye than the light source 6 and thus makes it possible to catch insects. Unless it needs to be more attractive, the presence of such a second light source is undesirable in some situations from an aesthetic point of view.

The enclosure 2 is shown here as being angled inward from the back to the front,
If the design adopted for the front panel 3 does not have an opening below it so that the light source 6 is hidden below the front panel 3, a completely rectangular enclosure should be used as well. Can be. Further, the enclosure need not be four-sided. Triangles and other contours are possible while using a conventional linear light source 6. A circular or other curved profile could be used, but then the light source 6 would also have to be curved in a suitable way.

While other modifications and changes may be suggested by those skilled in the art, it is the intention of the inventor to make all changes and modifications within the patent granted herein reasonable. Materialize and properly contribute to the technology.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a flying insect trap assembled in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

2 is an exploded view of the basic parts of the flying insect trap of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the flying insect trap of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the front panel open and the back panel partially removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Capturer 2 Enclosure 3 Front panel 4 Hinge (hinge) 5 Electronic support unit 6 Light source 7 Cardboard piece 7a Adhesive surface 8 Operation circuit 9 Design panel 10 Rear panel

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A flying insect trap comprising: a. An enclosure having a front, a back and an interior; b. A light source located within the enclosure to attract insects flying into the enclosure, and means for electrically operating the light source; c. An adherent surface within the enclosure for capturing insects attracted into the enclosure by the light source; d. A front panel having a design having an opening to allow access to the interior of the enclosure; e. Means for attaching the front panel to the front of the enclosure; and f. A back panel attached to the back of the enclosure, wherein the enclosure, the front panel, and the rear panel close the interior of the enclosure except for the opening in the front panel. 2. The flying insect trap of claim 1, further comprising a design panel disposed within said enclosure in front of said back panel so as to be visible through said opening in said front panel. . 3. The flying insect trap of claim 2, wherein said enclosure includes a four sided frame. 4. The flying insect trap of claim 3, wherein said frame includes inwardly angled corners such that said front portion of said enclosure has a smaller area than said back portion of said enclosure. . 5. The frame includes a bottom surface, and further comprising means for mounting the light source behind the bottom surface of the frame.
A flying insect trap according to claim 4. 6. The flying insect trap of claim 1, wherein said means for attaching said front panel to said enclosure comprises a hinge. 7. The flying insect trap of claim 1 wherein said means for attaching said front panel to said enclosure comprises means for removably attaching said front panel to said enclosure. 8. The flying insect trap of claim 1 further comprising an electronic support unit mounted within said enclosure to which said light source is mounted and to which means for operating said light source are mounted. 9. The flying insect trap of claim 1 further comprising an elongated piece of cardboard removably disposed within said enclosure and having a surface including said adhesive surface. 10. The four-sided frame wherein the enclosure has a corner angled such that each side of the frame is positioned at an angle between the front panel and the back panel, and further comprising: An elongate cardboard strip having a surface that includes an adhesive surface, the elongate cardboard strip having folds adjacent to the adhesive surface to create a vertical surface of the elongate cardboard strip, the elongate cardboard strip also comprising: The flying insect trap of claim 1, wherein the trapping surface is adjacent to one of the sides of the enclosure and the vertical surface is parallel to the back panel, and is located within the interior of the enclosure. 11. A flying insect trap comprising: a. A frame-like enclosure having a front, back and interior; b. A front panel having a first design with an opening; c. A light source located inside the enclosure; d. An adhesive surface located inside the enclosure; e. Means for attaching the front panel to the front of the enclosure so that light from the light source can exit the enclosure through the opening in the front panel; f. A back panel attached to the back of the enclosure; and g. A design panel disposed within the enclosure to be visible through the opening in the front panel, the design panel having a second design that matches the first design of the front panel. 12. The frame-like enclosure includes a four-sided frame having corners angled such that the area of the front of the enclosure is smaller than the area of the back of the enclosure.
A flying insect trap according to claim 11. 13. The flying insect trap of claim 12, wherein said four-sided frame includes a bottom surface, and further comprising means for mounting said light source in said enclosure behind said bottom surface. 14. A flying insect trap comprising: a. A frame-like enclosure having an open front, back and interior; b. A light source located inside the enclosure; c. An adhesive surface located inside the enclosure; d. A back panel attached to the back of the enclosure; and e. A design panel disposed within the enclosure to be visible through the opening in the front panel, the design panel having a second design that matches the first design of the front panel.