NZ587869A

NZ587869A - Stored gas pressure powered Pest Eradicator

Info

Publication number: NZ587869A
Application number: NZ58786910A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Parry Philip Hunt; Philip Richard Morris
Original assignee: Parry Philip Hunt; Philip Richard Morris
Priority date: 2010-09-09
Filing date: 2010-09-09
Publication date: 2011-02-25

Abstract

A pest eradicator 1 comprises an enclosure 2, a bait holder 12, a trigger, a blade 10, blade firing means, and resetting means, with the eradicator 1 formed such that the bait holder 12 is at least partially within the enclosure 2 so that if a pest extends its head into the enclosure 2 towards or into contact with the bait holder 12 the trigger activates the blade firing means to cause the blade 10 to fire forcefully to slice into the pest. The resetting means is formed such that after the blade 10 has fired it automatically retracts the blade 10 from its fired disposition to assume a loaded disposition ready to be fired again. The blade firing means and/or the resetting means is powered by stored gas pressure.

Description

Received at IPONZ on 6 January 2011 1 Patents Form No, 5 THE PATENTS ACT 1953 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Pest Eradicator We, Parry Philip Hunt, a New Zealand citizen, of 55 Fyvie Ave, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand, and Philip Richard Morris, a New Zealand citizen, of 22 Maire 25 Street, Eastbourne, Wellington, New Zealand, hereby declare this invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: Received at IPONZ on 6 January 2011 2 Title Pest Eradicator Field of Invention This invention relates to means for the destruction of pests, A preferred form of the invention relates to a device for destroying pests such as opossums, stoats, rats and weasels, etc.

Background It is known to use various devices for destroying pests while in their natural bush environment. Such devices are many and varied, each having their own advantages and disadvantages. It is an object of the present invention is to provide a useful alternative to known devices.

Summary of Invention According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a pest eradicator comprsing: a) an enclosure; b) a bait holder; c) a trigger; d) a blade; e) blade firing means; and f) resetting means; the eradicator formed such that the bait holder is at least partially within the enclosure so that if a pest extends its head into the enclosure towards or into contact with the bait holder the trigger activates the blade firing means to cause the blade to fire forcefully to slice into the pest, the resetting means formed such that after the blade has fired it automatically retracts the blade from its fired disposition to assume a loaded disposition ready to be fired again in the manner set out herein, the blade firing means and/or the resetting means being powered by stored gas pressure.

Optionally the blade firing means comprises a spring which is under tension when the 35 blade is in its loaded disposition.

Received at IPONZ on 6 January 2011 3 Optionally the eradicator has a chamber housing the spring.

Optionally the blade firing means is driven to fire by gas pressure, for example compressed air or C02.

Optionally the resetting means is powered by gas pressure, for example compressed air or C02.

Optionally the blade is in a generally horizontal orientation and moves generally 10 horizontally when fired.

Optionally the eradicator comprises means for automatically loading the bait holder with bait after the blade has fired and/or when the bait holder lacks bait, Optionally the eradicator has means for storing a record of the number of times the blade has fired over a defined period of time.

Optionally the eradicator has means for transmitting data to indicate when a supply of pressurised gas for powering the blade firing means and/or the resetting means is 20 depleted or near depleted and when there is a need to replenish the supply.

Optionally when the blade fires it mores forward in a generally non-swinging action, General Description of the Drawings Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a pest eradicator, partially disassembled; and 30 Figure 2 is a schematic plan view showing a blade part of the eradicator.

Detailed Description Referring to figure 1, the pest eradicator 1 comprises a generally cylindrical 35 enclosure 2 which is closed, except that it has an open bottom 3, The enclosure 2 has brackets 4 to enable it to be fastened to a tree or some other solid object above Received at IPONZ on 6 January 2011 4 ground level, A chamber 5 extends from one side of the enclosure and houses a piston 6 in contact with a spring 7, The spring is such that it can be tensioned and then released to drive the piston horizontally along the chamber, The eradicator 1 is formed to receive a charge of compressed air from a storage bottle 8, The air enters the chamber 5 to cause the piston to push on the spring 7 (ie to move to the right in figure 1), This leaves the spring releasably held in a tensioned state. As shown, a shaft 9 of the piston supports a generally horizontally oriented guillitine like blade 10, The blade 10 is illustrated in plan view at figure 2, When the 10 spring 7 is tensioned and subsequently released this causes the blade 10 to move forward (ie to the left), rapidly, across the enclosure 2, but stopping short of the enlosure's opposite wall 11, The eradicator has a bait holder 12 wthin the enclosure and an automatic bait loader 15 13 for loading the holder 12 with bait. The eradicator also has a trigger 14 and a data storage and transmission device 15, When the erradicator is in use it is fastened to a tree or some other solid object (not shown) above ground level. The height of fastening will in at least some cases 20 depend in the size of the pest that is being targeted. In this regard a pest should be able to position itself under the enclosure and extend its neck and/or part of its body into the enlosure to reach for bait (not shown) held by the bait holder 12, As the pest does this it moves the bait holder to unwittingly activate the trigger 14, which in turn releases air pressure within the cylinder and thus the pre-tensioned spring 7, When 25 released the spring drives the blade 10 forward across the enclosure, rapidly and forcefully, to severe the head of the pest or to at least inflict an instantly or subsequently fatal slice. The pest then drops away from the enclosure leaving the eradicator free for receiving a subsequent pest, After the blade 10 has been fired a charge of compressed air from the bottle 8 causes the piston to push the spring back into a tensioned state, ready to fire again. When the spring is in this state the blade has of course been at least substantially retracted to leave plenty of room for another pest to reach up into the enlosure. If the bait loader 13 detects that the bait holder 12 needs to be re-baited then it 35 automatically applies bait to the bait holder. In some embodiments of the invention the bait may be a drop of pest attractant applied to an absorbant part of the bait holder.

Received at IPONZ on 6 January 2011 It will be appreciaed that the number of times the eradicator is able to fire the blade will depend on the amount of gas within the bottle 8, When the gas is depleted or near depleted the data storage and transmission device 15 transmits a message, for 5 example an MMS or SMS message, to a distant recipient to indicate that the gas bottle 8 needs to be refilled or replaced.

The eradicator may be used to destroy pests such as opposums. The fact that the eradicator uses a blade rather than a blunt object to contact the pest means that the 10 pest is less likely to surive. In this regard some pests, such as opposums, are quite resilient and if only struck with a blunt object they may be more likely to survive than if given a deep laceration. Some preferred embodiments of the invention are thus dimensioned so that an average sized opposum reaching for the bait will have its neck positioned in line with the horizontal path of the blade. It should however be 15 understood that the invention is suitable for use with other pests, for example, stoats, weasels, rats or rabbits, etc.

In some embodiments of the invention the enclosure may be other than cylindrical. For example, the enclosure may in some instances have open walls, thus consisting 20 of little more than a frame arranged to encourage a pest into the right body orientation for receiving a fatal blow from the blade.

While some preferred forms of the invention have been described by way of example it should be appreciated that modifications and improvements can occur without 25 departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

Received at IPONZ on 6 January 2011 6 What We Claim Is:

1. A pest eradicator comprsing: a, an enclosure; 5 b, a bait holder; c, a trigger; d, a blade; e, blade firing means; and f, resetting means; 10 the eradicator formed such that the bait holder is at least partially within the enclosure so that if a pest extends its head into the enclosure towards or into contact with the bait holder the trigger activates the blade firing means to cause the blade to fire forcefully to slice into the pest, the resetting means formed such that after the blade has fired it automatically retracts the blade from its fired 15 disposition to assume a loaded disposition ready to be fired again in the manner set out in this claim, the blade firing means and/or the resetting means being powered by stored gas pressure,

2. A pest eradicator according to claim 1, wherein the blade firing means comprises 20 a spring which is under tension when the blade is in its loaded disposition,

3. A pest eradicator according to claim 2, wherein the eradicator has a chamber housing the spring, 25

4. A pest eradicator according to claim 1, wherein the blade firing means is driven to fire by gas pressure,

5. A pest eradicator according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the resetting means is powered by gas pressure. 30

6. A pest eradicator according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the blade is in a generally horizontal orientation and moves generally horizontally when fired. Received at IPONZ on 6 January 2011 7

7. A pest eradicator according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising means for automatically loading the bait holder with bait after the blade has fired and/or when the bait holder lacks bait, 5

8. A pest eradicator according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising means for storing a record of the number of times the blade has fired over a defined period of time,

9. A pest eradicator according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising 10 means for transmitting data to indicate when a supply of pressurised gas for powering the eradicator is depleted or near depleted and when there is a need to replenish the supply,

10. A pest eradicator according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein when the 15 blade fires it moves forward in a generally non-swinging action,

11. A pest eradicator substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the preceding claims, 20

12. A pest eradicator substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Parry Philip Hunt and 25 Philip Richard Morris By their Authorised Attorney A,J, Pietras & Co 30 35