NZ521180A - Animal trap with noose tightening via lever that pivots more than ninety degrees - Google Patents

Abstract

Animal trap comprises trigger arrangement (26) associated with bait hook (25) positioned such that animal must engage head through noose (20) to gain access to bait on bait hook (25), noose tightening means applying tightening action to noose (20) after tripping by trigger arrangement (26), noose tightening means including spring loaded lever (21) pivotally connected to support structure whereby force applied by animal caught in noose (20) cannot cause return action of lever (21) to effect loosening of noose (20).

Description

5211 WO 01/76363 PCT/NZ01/00047 ANIMAL TRAP BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION This invention relates to traps and more particularly traps for small animals such as possums or other like pests.

Over the years, many traps have been developed for trapping possums and other small noxious animals. Many types and styles have been devised all with differing measures of success in use. One form of trap, however, incorporates a noose which 15 upon the animal seeking to eat a bait trips the trap so that the noose tightens around the neck of the animal. Such a trap has to some degree provided an effective and useful means of trapping animals such as mice but it does have a significant drawback which has detracted from the widespread acceptance of 20 this type of trap for other animals. The drawback arises from the fact that other animals like possums, being fairly strong animals, can, in a number of situations in which the traps are laid, apply sufficient leverage to lever that part of the mechanism which controls the tightening of the noose such that PCT/NZO1/00047 Received 18 January 2002 2 the noose becomes loose thereby enabling the animal to become free.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention.to provide a trap for small animals, especially possums which overcomes or goes some 10 way to overcoming the aforementioned problem with known traps or at least provide the public with a useful choice.

Broadly according to one aspect of the invention there is provided a trap for animals, the trap including a trigger 15 associated with bait receiving means positioned such that to gain access to the bait the animal must engage its head through a noose, noose tightening means associated with the noose, the noose tightening means applying a tightening action to the noose after tripping by the trigger, the noose tightening means 20 including a lever pivotally connected to a support structure, said lever being directly engagable with the trigger and arranged to pivot beyond 90° when tripped by the trigger means such that force applied by an animal caught in the noose is insufficient to cause a return action of the lever.

AMENDED SHEET IPEA/AU 3 In a preferred form of the invention there is also provided latching means for latching the trigger arrangement in a "safe" position whereby the trap cannot be tripped.

According to one preferred form the trap includes a body which is stackable with the body of another of said traps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first form of the trap according to the present invention, Figures 2a and 2b are partially cut-away side elevation 15 views of the trap shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a front elevation view of the first form as illustrated by Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a second form of the trap incorporating the present invention, and Figure 5 is a side elevation view of the trap according to the second form as shown in Figure 3. 4 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring firstly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the trap includes a body 10 which in one form can be fabricated from sheet metal preferably galvanised sheet metal. In a second form of the invention the body can be moulded from a plastics material by, say, injection moulding or rotational moulding. One advantage 10 of the body form of the trap is that a plurality of traps can be stacked one partially with in the other. This makes it easier for a plurality of traps to be carried by a trapper.

The body 10 has a pair of side walls 11 each of which has at a 15 lower end an outwardly extending flange 12. This flange can be adapted by, say, the inclusion of apertures 14 for fasteners to enable the trap to be secured to a support surface such as the ground, tree branch, etc.

The flange 12 of an end wall 13 may also include a pair of lugs 13a. In use lugs 13a may provide an anchoring effect into a soft ground surface.

WO 01/76363 PCT/NZ01/00047 Alternatively lugs 13a, when the trap is placed on hard ground, provide for a gap to be formed between the housing and the ground. This is useful for enticing animals that may infact be 5 wary of the darkness formed within the housing, particularly when trap 10 is used in conjunction with a shroud 15 as will be hereinafter described.

The other and larger end wall 16 has an opening 17 through 10 which the animal can place its head and neck to gain access to the bait 25 as will hereinafter be described. The upper end of the opening 17 has a keyhole type arrangement 18. Located either side of the lower end of the opening 17 is a pair of flexible hooks 19 with which the noose element 20 is engaged 15 when the trap is in the "set" position.

A lever handle 21 is pivotally coupled near one end adjacent the smaller end wall 13. The ends of the noose element 20 (which can be formed from a length of nylon) engage with the 20 distal end of the lever 21 at a connection point 20a. Thus, as the lever 21 pivots about the pivot axis 22 upon the trap being tripped (as will hereinafter be described) the noose 20 is drawn tight about the animal's neck forcing the neck up into the keyhole portion 18. 6 PCT/NZOI/00047 The connection point 20a between the lever 21 and noose 20 is preferably near a distal end as described, but not necessarily so. The optimum connection point 20a is determined by the 5 length of the noose 20 required to be drawn and the resulting mechanical advantage of the lever 21 when the trap 10 has been triggered.

One or preferably a pair of springs 23 are located within 10 housing 10 and anchored at one end adjacent the opening 17. The other ends of springs 23 are fastened to a suitable anchor 24 which is provided at the end of the lever 21, i.e. beyond pivot axis 22.

Pivotally mounted within the housing 10 is a bait hook 25. This can be biased to a set position by a small spring. A trip lever portion 26 is pivotally attached to a flange 27 in the roof 28 at a point 27a of the housing 10 to engage through a longitudinally extending slot 29 in the lever arm 21. The 20 distal end of the trip lever 26 which extends through slot 29 has an abutment 30 which when the trap is set engages with that part of the lever arm 21 defining the end of the slot 29.

WO 01/76363 PCT/NZ01/00047 7 The trap preferably includes a safety catch 31. The catch 31 has a projecting handle 32. The body of the catch 31 is pivotable about a pivot axis 33. When the safety catch 31 is 5 in the position shown in Figure 1, it prevents the trip portion 26 of the bait hook 25 from moving along slot 29 thereby ensuring that the abutment 30 always remains engaged with the portion of the lever arm 21 adjacent the end of the slot 29. However, if the safety catch is pivoted by handle 32 to a 10 position at right angles to the lever arm 21 then a force applied to the bait hook 25 by an animal trying to eat or remove the bait causes the bait hook to pivot about its pivot axis 27a therefore moving the trip lever portion 26 along slot 29 so that the engagement between the abutment 30 and the lever 15 arm 21 ceases to exist. As a consequence the springs 23 pull on the anchorage 24 which causes the lever arm 21 to pivot about its pivot axis 22 which results in the noose 20 being drawn around the animal's neck as previously described.

Because of the relative positions of the mounting of the noose 20 to the lever arm 21, the pivot axis 22 of the lever arm and the line of action of the springs 23 on the lever arm anchorage 24 the lever arm 21 pivots through an angle of more than 90° during the tripping of the trap. The 90° position is shown by WO 01/76363 PCT/NZ01/00047 8 dotted line A on Figure 2b. Consequently, even if a significant force is applied to the lever arm 21 via the noose 20 by a struggling animal the mechanical advantage is not 5 sufficient to permit the lever arm to be moved to a position where the noose becomes sufficiently loose for the animal to struggle free. The "sprung" position of lever 21 as illustrated by figure 2b is preferably at least 20-30° beyond the 90° mark (A). Practically, the final position of lever 21 10 will be limited by the length of noose 20. However, in any event, lever 21 should not be able to move beyond 180°.

The trap according to the present invention is thus of a simple yet effective construction but is one whereby an animal after 15 being snared cannot apply enough force to move the lever and hence loosen the noose and thereby free itself from the noose. Also, by use of the safety catch 31 a person tending the trap when it is in the set position can do so without fear of tripping the trap. Thus, a typical problem which exists with 20 existing traps where the trap cannot be loaded with bait while the trap is set (for fear of causing physical damage to the user) is overcome. 9 The animal is killed quickly, primarily by preventing arterial blood flow to the brain. It is estimated that the animal is unconscious in about 5 seconds.

A further advantage of the trap is the use of the flexible hooks 19 to hold the noose 20 in an optimum position. The flexibility of the hooks 19 enables the noose to readily move away from engagement with the hooks when the trap is tripped 10 and therefore do not interfere with the snaring action of the noose.

Yet a further advantage is that the lever handle 21 can be manipulated by the trapper to loosen the noose sufficient to 15 free the now deceased animal. However, in doing so the lever handle does not need to be moved to the "reset" position. This is unlike many known traps where resetting is required before the animal can be released. The resetting of the trap for such purposes can be hazardous.

Referring back to Figure 1, a shroud 15 is illustrated that fits substantially over opening 17. Shroud 15 includes a 'tunnel' 15a for restricting the size of the animal that can access the trap. For example, in domestic use it may be undesirable to risk the family cat being snared by trap 10.

The invention is open to modification as, for example, can be seen with the version shown in Figures 4 and 5. Once again, the elements which are common to the first embodiment carry the same reference numerals.

In this second form, the trigger arm 21 also operates with an action between the setting position and the "over 90°" snaring position such that any mechanical advantage achieved by pulling on the noose is not sufficient to enable an animal to loosen the noose and escape. The safety catch 31 is formed in a similar way to the first embodiment. Catch 31 may pivot about pivot 33 180° where a notch 31a will align with slot 29 and allow movement of trigger 30' and release of lever 21 when the bait 25 is disturbed.

In this form of the invention the body 10' is not an enclosed type as shown in Figures 1 and 2 but more in the form of a hoop. Openings 37 are provided at the cross piece 39 of the hoop 10' so that the hoop can be mounted to, say, a branch of a tree. The trap is preferably mounted to the branch such that 11 PCT/NZ01 /00047 the hoop extends laterally in a more or less horizontal plane from the branch.

In the preferred form of use of the trap the possum will reach out from the branch so that its head passes down into and through the hoop 10'. This results in its head passing through the noose 20 in order to gain access to the bait on the bait hook 25. In this form a force applied to the bait hook will 10 cause an abutment 30' to rotate (rather than "slide") relative to the elongate slot 29 so that when the abutment 30' becomes aligned with the slot the trigger arm can release and tighten the noose.

Once again, with this second embodiment of the invention flexible hooks 19 are used to hold the noose 20 in an optimum position. Also, the action of the lever arm 21 ensures that the animal cannot struggle free because any leverage which the animal can apply is insufficient to pull the lever arm back to 20 loosen the noose. Also, as with the first embodiment, the safety catch enables the trap to be left in a set position even when a user is placing bait on the bait hook. 12

Claims (17)

CLAIMS:

1. A trap for animals, the trap including a trigger associated with bait receiving means positioned such that to gain access to the bait the animal must engage its head through a noose, noose tightening means associated with the noose, the noose tightening means applying a tightening action to the noose after tripping by the trigger, the noose tightening means including a lever pivotally connected to a support structure, said lever being directly engagable with the trigger and arranged to pivot beyond 90° when tripped by the trigger means such that force applied by an animal caught in the noose is insufficient to cause a return action of the lever.

2. The trap of claim 1 wherein the lever is spring loaded by virtue of a spring.

3. The trap of claim 2 wherein the spring is extended when lever is retained by the trigger.

4. The trap of any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein the spring is connected by one end to the support structure Spec 1542 (Amended Claims) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z -1 AUG 2003 RECEIVED July 2003 13 and at the other end to the lever, adjacent the lever's pivotal connection with the support structure.

5. The trap of any one of the preceding claims wherein the trigger includes a safety latch means to selectively prevent movement of the trigger.

6. The trap of any one of the preceding claims wherein the noose means is engaged with the lever at an end distant from the end pivotally connected to the support structure.

7. The trap of any one of the preceding claims wherein a retention element is provided to maintain the noose in an open position.

8. The trap of claim 7 wherein the retention element is a hook made from flexible material.

9. The trap of any one of the preceding claims wherein the support structure includes a flange including apertures for receiving fasteners. SpecI542 (Amended Claims) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z -1 AUG 2003 RECEIVED July 2003 14

10. The trap according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the support structure is a housing with an open end to receive the head of an animal.

11. The trap of claim 10 wherein the open end includes a key hole shape.

12. The trap of claim 10 or 11 wherein the housing may be substantially stacked within the housing of another trap unit.

13. The trap of any one of the preceding claims wherein the lever pivots up to 180° from when the trap is tripped.

14. The trap of any one of the preceding claims wherein the trigger is pivotally connected to the support structure.

15. The trap of claim 14 wherein the trigger includes an abutment engageable with a portion of the lever.

16. The trap of claim 15 wherein the bait receiving means is at a distal end of the trigger, separated from the abutment by the pivotal connection therebetween. Spec 1542 (Amended Claims) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z -1 AUG 2003 RECEIVED July 2003 15

17. A trap for animals substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. POSSUM MASTER INDUSTRIES LIMITED By its' Attorneys DON HOPKINS & ASSOCIATES ll- Spec 1542 (Amended Claims) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z -1 AUG 2003 RECEIVED July 2003