KR19990071985A - Electronic insect trapping apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

An electric trap 10 for flies and other insects is disclosed. Flying insects are induced by the ultraviolet light source 14 to the trap 10 and then contact the first conductive grid 17. The grid 17 stuns the insects and then drops them through the narrow throat 13 into the lower container. Adjacent grid 13 is a second electronic grid 2 which prevents insects from leaving the container.

Description

Electronic insect trapping apparatus and method

Various types of devices and methods are used to catch or kill housefly and other flying insects. These devices cover everything from passive devices, such as sticky paper to catching flies, to electronic insecticides that fly away from flaps and electric shocks.

Conventional electric insecticides have various drawbacks. If high voltages are required, the conveying grid must be protected by an external protective grille with a small gap to prevent the insertion of fingers or other objects. This limits the amount of ultraviolet light available to attack flies. In addition, grilles in such devices should be equipped with relatively expensive automatic power cut-offs to prevent inadvertent contact when they are occasionally opened or touched. In addition, when an electrocuted insect dies, a squeaking noise may be heard that interferes with or interferes with activity in the vicinity.

Techniques for dealing with this problem are described in US Pat. No. 4,959,923. The patent provides another form of electronic trap for flying insects. While the flies are attracted to the trap by the ultraviolet light source, they are brought into contact with a low power inductive grid having spaced alternating regions with opposite potentials. Electricity stuns insects but does not kill them. This drops the insects onto the sticky paper at the bottom of the trap.

However, the system requires frequent sticky paper replacement in areas with large insects.

Wires and grids that can stun insects are used to keep crawling insects, such as cockroaches, in open-top boxes or glass tubes to keep them from crawling out of the enclosure.

Thus, there is a need for an improved electronic insect trap that does not require such frequent maintenance.

The present invention relates to an electronic device for catching flies and other insects.

1 is a perspective view of a flying insect trap according to the present invention with the front plate removed and partially cut away;

2 is a perspective view of a front plate;

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the present invention with a bag mounted on the bottom of the housing of FIG. 1 and with the front plate of FIG. 2 positioned near the front of the housing;

In one form, the present invention provides an electronic insect trapping device suitable for being connected to an electrical source. The outer housing has a space inside, and also has an opening on the surface and a throat below the cavity. There is also at least one insect attractant. This attractant is preferably a light source (preferably ultraviolet light) that emits light in space.

A first conductive structure, which makes it incapable of stunning insects, is placed in the cavity and connected to an electrical source. A second conductive structure is disposed adjacent to the throat and is also connected to the electricity source. A container extending below the throat is also removably connected to the housing. The second conductive structure keeps the insect in the housing.

In one embodiment, the throat includes two sloped walls separated by a narrow gap. The second conductive structure comprises a plurality of electrical grids, at least one of the electrical shields being located on one wall and the other on the opposite wall. Thus, the throat creates a narrow passage between the cavity and a container that preferably has a size (across the gap) that is less than about 0.5 inches (1.27 cm). Thus, the throat and the second conductive structure cooperate to attach insects in the container.

In a preferred form, the container is a bag (eg, a plastic garbage bag) with an upper end that can be easily mounted on the lower housing flange. The bag is positioned to accommodate insects falling down through the throat.

In other embodiments, the first conductive structure may be omitted. In addition, the interior of the cavity is coated with a slippery material, such as oil, grease, silicone oil, etc., so that the insect falls under the cavity and into the container where they can be trapped.

The first conductive spherical body may have a protrusion extending into the cavity (eg, a round wire having a diameter between 0.05 inches and 0.124 inches (0.127 cm and 0.318 cm)). In addition, at least partially transparent (UV) light (the ultraviolet light source is on one side of the wall and the first conductive structure is hollow on opposite sides of the wall) and a pulse of time cycle It is preferable that the current switching means formed effectively to excite the first structure with the currents that have become current.

The trap is formed such that the ultraviolet light can attract insects into the cavity. The first conductive structure stuns, but does not always kill insects. The insect falls down the bag through the throat. The second conductive structure prevents insects from escaping upward from the container through the throat when the throat is almost enclosed by activating the impact zone continuously.

Many other types of insects can be trapped and accumulated for processing with the device of the present invention. They are home flies (harmful to spread disease in home and food preparation areas, spots of eggs in poultry farms) and horse flies, horn fly, and face fly (both spread disease in cattle). ), Soldier fly, flash fly, cluster fly, darking beetle (other structures including trees and other poultry), and the like.

The present invention works without the high-pressure electric shock killing insects. So this has the advantage of a 4,959,923 system. However, the system has a larger capacity and no longer needs fly paper.

An important feature of the present invention is that the live insect falls into the bag and sees it escape over the throat facing the second power grid. The small throat leads the insect to try to land on the second grid (then walk on the throat). This impacts the insect again. This continues until the insect has no desire and no energy to escape. The insect then starves to death (or to suffocate), so it dies. Given a large bag size, the system does not require frequent replacement.

By carefully designing the size of the throat gap, it is preferred (greater than 1/8 inch (0.318 cm) or smaller than 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) (3/8 inch (0.953 cm) is good) The fly has sufficient space to fall down through the throat and generally does not cause the throat to block.

Surprisingly, there are areas where the insects not only avoid the second stun grid easily but also have enough space for the insects to fall out.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for catching insects of the above-described kind, especially flying insects, which can be used in areas where insects are abundant, and in operation, and the need for adhesive or sticky paper such as fly sticky. The above-mentioned kinds of insects, particularly devices for catching insects, which eliminate the need for frequent maintenance, and the above-mentioned kinds, which are effective in avoiding the use of chemical insecticides which are preferable from the viewpoint of the environment and which the insects are resistant to, are effective. A device for catching insects, a device that can be used in areas where food is exposed when not using an electrical grid that kills the insect with an electric shock and thereby disperses the body portion out of the device, and uses such traps It includes providing a method of catching insects of one kind.

As mentioned above, further advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description. The following description is merely a selected embodiment.

The outer housing 10 has an inner cavity 11, an opening 12 through its face, and a throat 13 under the cavity 11. At least one ultraviolet light source 14 (eg three 15 W lamps) is also connected to the housing 10. Preferably they are located in the box 15 past the housing 10. In front of the box 15 is a panel 27 with clear acrylic plastic that transmits ultraviolet light to the interior cavity. Ultraviolet light can also be seen through the slot 19 in front of the panel 18 when the panel 18 is mounted in front of the housing 10.

The first conductive wire grid 17 is mounted in front of the panel 27. It may be supported on top or sides of the housing (not shown). Preferably, the grid is provided with 36V alternating current ("A.C.") pulse power through 0.093 inch (0.236 cm) (or alternatively between 0.05 inch (0.127 cm) and 0.125 inch (0.318 cm)) round stainless steel wire. The wire is alternately charged with a cathode and an anode, where a pulsed current is provided as described in US Pat. No. 4,696,126 or 4,959,923, which is hereby incorporated by reference to know the grid and its operation.

Round wires allow flying insects to be captured on the grid (and then in contact with more grids). This provides strong stun disorientation for a given voltage. Preferably the grid is in one cycle of 5 seconds, i.e. on for 1 second and off for 4 seconds. The throat 13 forms a funnel at its upper end (best shown in FIG. 3). There are front inclination panel 26A and rear inclination panel 26B (refer FIG. 1). These panels extend the length of the trap and define a narrow gap between the panels in the narrow place of the throat at their lower end.

Second conductive structure 22 is present adjacent to the throat. As shown in FIG. 3, it may be connected to a power source 24 (note that power source 24 may also be connected to an ultraviolet light source via wire 25 and there may be other methods).

Depending on the different arrangements (not shown), 100 / 120V / 60Hz, or alternatively 220 / 240V / 50Hz currents can be supplied for the three modes of use. The first wire of the power source may be connected to a starter for a conventional transducer and a U.V. bulb. The second wire may transform the power to 36V / 300-360Hz and connect to the pulsed circuit board as described above. The third wire can be connected to a converter that produces 14-36V alternating current at 50 or 60 Hz. Another way is to power the appropriate converter with a battery.

There is also a container (bag) 28 having an interior space for collecting insects falling through the throat. Near its upper end there is an elastic material (or tie) 29 which holds the bag around the flange 30 of the housing.

The second conductive structure 22 is two sets of printed circuit grids. Each grid has four horizontally arranged lines 22A. The line is an electrical strip soldered onto a printed circuit board carrying a negative or positive charge. The voltage at the throat is set at 14 to 50 volts and 36 volts alternating current. This is sufficient to prevent most insects entering the bag from falling through the throat.

Restriction in the throat is an important aspect of the present invention. If the limit is too big, insects like flies easily run away. If the fly is in the bag, there is no motive to leave the bag to find food, but the fly is somewhat fascinated by the attempt to go back through the throat due to the ultraviolet rays in the cavity (11). Therefore, it is important that the throat is not too large.

Furthermore, if the throat is too narrow, it will be blocked by large insects, such as moths.The range of about 1/8 inch (0.318 cm) to 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) is a range where pests like flies are not blocked and do not run away easily. . One skilled in the art will readily be able to determine the size of a suitable throat that cooperates with the conductive grid used to keep the insects of interest in the container.

Panel 18 is assembled on housing 10 and a power source is connected so that the grid acts as ultraviolet light. Insects enchanted through the openings 19 enter the cavity and are attracted towards the transparent wall 27.

The two proximal wires 16 under contact are sufficiently charged (though not killing insects) to stun insects through the wire. The insect falls through the funnel and then jumps or falls through the throat inside the bag 28. When the insect recovers sufficiently in an escape attempt, the continuous active grid 22 stuns the insect again. Once a sufficient number of insects have been collected within the bag 28 (longer time than required for use in fly paper), the bag is removed or emptied (ie, alternatively when there is a wrist stretch flexible 29 or tie). The system is very useful for agriculture and livestock (ie, barns of livestock and dairy farms; poultry barns; and stalls). Another possibility is housing with appropriately sized containers as well as commercial kitchens (ie restaurants). This is also useful in very different environments.

To test the system, a trap of this type was first operated in a closed test chamber containing a large number of houseflies. After 24 hours, about 90% of flies in the chamber were trapped.

Next, the present invention was tested in a poultry barn. Fourteen days of operation filled 55 gallons (208 liters) of trash bags (attached containers) with more than half filled with trapped insects. In the preferred embodiment described above, the foregoing detailed description has been set forth previously for the purpose of illustration. It is apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be used in many additional embodiments within the scope of the claims. For example, the throat can be formed in a cylindrical shape (instead of two walls). Later, U.V. light sources are not needed in the separation box.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, the panel 27 can be provided with a hinge 31 so that the panel 27 can swing forward so that the ultraviolet light bulb 14 can be varied from the front of the device. In addition, although ultraviolet is the preferred attractant, others may be used. For example, other lights or known chemical attractants (eg, pheromones) may be used. In addition, various types of collection containers (eg, boxes) may be used instead of the bags.

As mentioned above, the present invention has been primarily described in the context of catching flying insects, but has a grid to stun flies and darkling beetles, for example insects, which produce significant insect plagues in poultry houses. It will be appreciated that it may be used with a suitable attractant such as pheromone or ultraviolet light to trap insects with or without.

It is, therefore, to be construed as determining the full scope of the invention by the claims.

Claims (20)

Electronic insect trapping device for flying insects, suitable for connecting to the power source, An outer housing having a cavity formed therein, an opening facing the cavity through the housing, and a throat below the cavity; Attractants which can form part of the trapping device and attract the insects into the cavity, A first conductive structure disposed within said cavity and connectable to a power source as a structure for disabling insects, A container removably connectable to a housing extending below the throat to receive insects passing through the throat from the cavity; An electronic insect trapping device comprising a second conductive structure disposed near the throat and also connected to a power source, the second conductive structure cooperating with the throat to hold the insect passing through the throat in the container. The electronic insect trapping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the attractant is a source of ultraviolet light capable of providing ultraviolet light in the cavity. The electronic insect trapping of claim 2 wherein the second conductive structure comprises a plurality of electrical grids, at least one of which is disposed on one side of the throat and the other on the opposite side of the throat. Device. 4. The electronic insect trapping apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the grid is located at least 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) apart across the throat in at least the horizontal direction. The device of claim 2, wherein the container is a Caucasian electronic insect trapping device. 3. The electronic insect trapping device according to claim 2, wherein the first conductive structure has a conductive protrusion extending into the cavity. 7. The electronic insect trapping device of claim 6, wherein the protrusion is a circular wire having a diameter of 0.05 inches (0.127 cm) to 0.125 inches (0.318 cm). 3. The electronic insect trapping device of claim 2, further comprising means for converting electricity into a form effective for energizing the first structure in a time cycle of pulsed current. 3. The electronic insect trapping device of claim 2, further comprising a wall connected to the housing that is partially transparent ultraviolet light, wherein the ultraviolet light source is on one side of the wall and the first conductive structure is on the opposite side of the wall. An electronic insect trapping device for insects suitable for connection to a power source, An expandable housing having a cavity therein, an opening through the one housing face towards the cavity, and a throat below the cavity; Attractants that form part of the device and can attract insects into the cavity, A first conductive structure disposed in the cavity and connectable to the power source; A container removably connectable to a housing extending below the throat for receiving insects passing through the throat in the cavity; A second conductive structure that can also be connected to a power source and disposed adjacent to the throat, The device is configured such that the attractant can attract the insect into the cavity, the first conductive structure can stun the insect to drop the stunned insect into the container through a throat, and the second conductive structure can be dropped into the container. An electronic insect trap, the size of which cooperates with a second conductive structure to prevent insects from escaping back through the throat and the throat passes through the throat to prevent the insects from escaping back through the throat. Wrapping device. The device of claim 10, wherein the device is configured to attract the flying insect into the cavity, and the first conductive structure can stun the flying insect to drop the knocked insect into the container through a throat. The second conductive structure can prevent the flying insects falling into the container from escaping from the container again through the throat and the throat cooperates with the second conductive structure to prevent the flying insect from escaping from the container again through the throat. Electronic insect trapping device which is size to say. Supplying power to the trapping device of claim 1 to enable the trapping device to energize, and using the energized trapping device to insects. Supplying power to the trapping device of claim 10 for energizing the trapping device, and using the energized trapping device for insects. Supplying power to the trapping device of claim 11 for energizing the trapping device, and utilizing the energized trapping device for insects flying. An electronic insect trapping device suitable for being connected to a power source, An expandable housing having a cavity therein, an opening in the cavity penetrating one housing face, and a throat below the cavity; Attractants that form part of the device and can attract insects into the cavity, A container removably connectable to a housing extending below the throat for receiving insects passing through the throat from the cavity, A conductive structure disposed adjacent a throat that can also be connected to a power source, The attractant can jointly attract the insects and prevent the insects falling into the container from leaving the container back through the throat and the throat prevents the insect from leaving the container back through the throat. An electronic insect trapping device in which the device is formed to be cooperative in size. 16. The electronic insect trapping device of claim 15, wherein the conductive structure comprises a plurality of electrical grids at least one located on one side of the throat and the other on the opposite side of the throat. 17. The electronic insect trapping apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the grid is located at least 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) apart across the throat in at least the horizontal direction. 18. The device of claim 17, wherein the container is a Caucasian electronic insect trapping device. 16. The electronic insect trapping apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the insects to be caught are flying insects. 16. A method for trapping electronic insects, comprising providing power to the trapping device of claim 15 for energizing the trapping device and using the energized trap device for insects.