US101620A - Improved mouse-trap - Google Patents

Description

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ASAHEL A. HOTCHKISS, OF SHARON, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 101,620, dated April 5, 1870. l

IMPROVE!) MOUSE-TRAP.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To whom it may concern.-

Beit knownthat I, Assaut A. Ho'rcumss, ot Sharon, in the county of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a newvand useful Improvement in Mouse-Traps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification,land in which- Figure 1 represents a top view of a mouse-trap constructed iu accordance with my improvement; A

Figure 2, a transverse section of the same, taken as indicated by the line :t a: in

Figure 3, which represents an under view of the trap.

Similar letters' of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention has for its main object the saving in fthe construction of mouse-traps of stock and labor, which, when these articles are made' in large quantities, it becomes an important consideration to economize.

The improvement consists in a certain recessing of the block of the trap, whereby, as in the case oi' an ordinary round mouse-trap provided with a series of holes, I am enabled to get a larger number of holes in the same diameter of block, which saves stock; also, the number of lborings in making the trap is reduced; likewise, the necessity for clinching of the springs to secure them is avoided.

Also, the invention consists in a novel construction of bait-bolder, by making the same, at its bait-holding end, of wire, twisted to receive the bait through it, but so that the bait cannot be detached therefrom by the mouse, as so frequently is the case with an ordinary hook.

In the acompanying drawings- A is the block of a round mouse-trap, of ordinary construction in its general features, that is to say, being provided with a series of holes a, made in the bottom of the block, accessible by apertures b'froLn the exterior, for the mice to enter; also, being provided with the usual springs c, holding-down or setting-wires d thereto, killing-loops d', and bait-hooks or holders e.

In making such traps it isl usual to make acentral bore through the block whereby to chuck or hold it; also, in addition to boring the holes a and b, to recess or cut away the block at the backs of the holes a for the purpose of clinching the ends of the coils c of the springs, which require to be thus held by reason of the strain on the springs and the absence of support ,to them, as vusually arranged ou the top of the block.

This recessiug at the backs of the holes a` is also necessary to prode for the packing of the traps, by allowing the projecting coils of one trap to enter such 'recess in another trap. Not only is the cligching of the springs a tedious or laborious and uncertain operation,

` but the recesses at the backs of the holes a involves additional work, and so cuts into-the block as to re'- duce the number of holes, a, that might otherwise be got into the block.

In thetrap, as here represented, there is no center hole inthe block, but an annnlargroove, f,-or, in the case of a verysmall trap, cylindrical recess without a center boss is made inthe top of the block, and a reduction, g, made in it below, leaving a solid center.

This recessing maybe said to be equivalent, in point of labor, to the boring of a center hole, but while the groove .f answers the purpose of a center holel as regards chucking or centering the block whereby to bore the other holes, it also serves to receive within it and to support the coils c of the springs, so that they not only only preseutno protuberauce -to interfere with packing of the traps one upon the other, but the ends of them require no clinching, mere insertion of said ends into the blocks sucing. This reduces labor as regards securing the springs, and the saine have more than t-he usual stiffness given them; also the forming of recesses at the backs of the holes a, hereinbefore referred to, is dispensed with, so that I am enabled to get a greater number of holes a in a given sizedblock; t-hus the ordinarysize for afour-hole block now makes tive; and by doing away with said recesses at the backs of the holes a I save four borings in a five-hole block, counting the reduction g as a boring. In this wayI economize both stock and labor; also any number of traps may be close packed one upon the other.

Instead of a hook, the bait-holder I prefer to use is shown` at e or e', and which consists in giving the baitholding end of the wire, or attachment thereto, a spiral form, either of a tapering or straight character, so

that the bait, such as soft cheese, may be enteredA through it (from above or below) and squeezing through the spaces between the spirals, be projected below and made to conceal said end of the wire, but eectually preventing alike the dropping oi of the bait or its removal by the mouse without releasing the spring c with which such bait-holder is connected.

WVhatishere claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement of the coiled portions c' of the springs within a recess or groove, f, made in the upper surface of the block A, substantially as and for the purpose or purposes herein set forth.

2. In combination with the above, the bait-heldere or e made of wire twistedto form a series ot' coils at its bait-holding end, essentially as specified.

. A. A. HOTCHKISS.

`Witnesses:

E. VINCENT, NEWTON I-IEBARD. l

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