WO1996026641A1

WO1996026641A1 - Sucking apparatus with hair filter

Info

Publication number: WO1996026641A1
Application number: PCT/NL1996/000096
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jaap Van Der Kamp
Original assignee: Kamp Jaap V D
Priority date: 1995-03-01
Filing date: 1996-02-29
Publication date: 1996-09-06
Also published as: AU4849596A; NL9500400A

Abstract

The invention concerns a sucking apparatus with a sucking mouth provided with a hair filter. Applications are: 1) catching of unwanted insects; 2) undamaged collection of insects and other objects for the purpose of scientific research, hobby or commercial objectives; 3) undamaged transport of vulnerable objects. Problems of existing devices in catching insects like mosquitos and in scientific research of little organisms are stains on the wallpaper, damage to the organism, death, a bad catching result and escape after catching. Problems in existing devices in mechanical transport of vulnerable objects are damage and, compared to transport by means of sucking pads, the restriction to objects with a smooth surface. The invention mentioned here solves those problems by the combination of suction, by which the objects remain intact, and the hairfilter, which prevents that collected objects fall, escape or drift back out of the apparatus and which can held an object in the same position carefully.

Description

Sucking apparatus with hair filter

The invention concerns a sucking apparatus with a hair filter which makes sure that solid objects in a fluid or gas are sucked up without causing noteworth damage to the obiects and without the risk that that the objects leave the apparatus against the whish ofthe user The apparatus has several applications

1 Catching unwanted insects like mosquitos

2 Undamaged collection of insects and othei obiects for the purpose of scientific research, hobby or commercial objectives

3 Undamaged transport of vulnerable objects

With Objects' is meant in this context Particles, as well microscopic as macroscopic, products, parts, things, organisms, organs, tissues, cell clusters, cells, etc

Disadvantages of existing devices The apparatus can be compared with a vacuum cleaner, hand held vacuum cleaner and with a wide range of other devices, according to the application

One of the applications is catching unwanted insects like mosquitos In using the common flypaper some people don't like the stains on the wall left by the smashed insect and the fact of killing an animal Also the hit rate is far from perfect, especially in places that are hardly to reach like corners, on curtains and on narrow ridges Another way of catching insects is by means of a vacuum cleaner or a handheld vacuum cleanei The vacuum cleaner has the disadvantage that it is not easy to handle, the handheld vacuum cleaner has the disadvantage that trapped insects can escape through the sucking mouth when the are stream stops for a while Both types of sucking apparatus have the disadvantage that the animal can be damaged or dies

A second application is the undamaged collection of insects and other little animals for scientific research, hobby or commercial obiectives The butterfly net has the disadvantage that it is hardly to use in cavities and sites with a lot of obstacles Also the application is restricted to flying insects or insects that sit on branches or leaves Little animals living on the soil in most cases can not be catched in a butterfly net Another disadvantage is that the trapped animals can escape from the net afterwards A fourth disadvantage is the necessary transport of the trapped animals from the net into a jar for example, whereby they can be damaged and which action causes extra effort The sucking apparatus does not have these disadvantages, but is less convenient for trapping insects in full flight

Another device for trapping insects and other little animals without causing any damage is a jar, box or other storage device that can be closed A disadvantage is that such a device does not catch in an active way and therefore is less suited as catching device in many cases Another disadvantage is that trapped creatures can escape when the storage box is opened when newly trapped animals are added Using the sucking appartatus, these disadvantages are absent

A thirth application is the undamaged sucking, keeping and moving of vulnerable objects like an object made of glass, a breakable cristal, a hail stone, a tiny creature or a living cell The application can be industrial, medical, scientific research or hobby If the taking action is done by means of a mechanical, robotical hand, with a pincet or between the fingers, the object can be damaged by pressing, tearing, scratching, loss of electric load, moisture or by warmth transport When the object is picked up by a sucking tube not provided with hairs, there is a risk that the object is damaged by the continuous stream of gas or fluid or by the hard inner surface of the tube Also the risk exists that the object falls back out of the tube in case of insufficient suction or insufficient adhesion Another way of of picking up and transporting vulnerable objects is by means of sucking pads This is done in industry in taking and moving for instance metal plates and eggs But this application is restricted to objects with a sufficiently smooth and flat surface The sucking apparatus with hair filter as a solution

The problem of damaging objects that are to be collected, caught, kept or transported is solved by:

• The suction of the apparatus, that enables a careful picking up of objects because the contact between the object and the apparatus is only indirect via the surrounding gas or fluid.

• The hair filter, which enables a smooth passage through the sucking mouth, softer than using valves, and which, in keeping the object, ensures a great amount of contact points with the object, by which the mechanical force of keeping the object is spread over almost the whole object and the force of one contact point is minimalised compared with for instance a pincet

• Eventually a softening of the edge of the sucking mouth, for instance by means of little hairs or soft rubber, which minimizes damage by bumping.

• Eventually constructing the separation filter (if present) between the sucting part of the apparatus and the reservoir in such a way that this separation filter is provided with a large surface, by which the speed of the current through the separation filter is low and the collected objects are not damaged by a strong current.

• Eventually providing the inner surface ofthe reservoir with little hairs, which prevents sticking, bumping and scratching.

The three last mentioned solutions are optional, depending on the application.

The problem of stains on the wall after smashing a mosquito is solved by the suction of the apparatus, by which the mosquito is not left at the wall paper but is entirely removed.

The problem of a bad hit rate in catching insects is solved by the suction of the apparatus, The air surrounding the mosquito is not pushed away by an approaching fly paper, but streams into the sucking apparatus, together with the mosquito. To optimize the result of catching it is possible to provide the sucking mouth with very fine hairs by which the mosquito will be aware of the approaching sucking mouth in a latter stage The functionality of this addition is illustrated by a feather duster, by which a mosquito can be catched with a slow movement

The problem that trapped organisms can escape by their own movement and collected objects fall or drift out of the apparatus after stopping the suction, is solved by the hair filter Because ofthe direction in which the hairs are implantated, obiect can pass the hair filter in the sucking direction but not in opposite direction also not after the sucking has been stopped

The problem that arises using a sucking pad to pick up objects vizuallv that only relatively smooth and flat surfaces can be picked up, is solved in using the hair filter Because the picked up object is almost surrounded by the hairs of the filter, the structure ofthe surface ofthe object causes no limitations anymore

In transporting an object which has been picked up. an additional mechanism can be necessary to release the obiect from the hair filter Possible solutions are a mechanism to reverse the sucking mouth, a mechanism to reverse the implantation direction of the filter hairs and a construction in which the filter hairs can be retracted A combination can be made with the capability of the apparatus to blow, so that the obiect can be 'spit out'

The hair filter and two practical examples

The invention will be illustrated using three drawings

1 The hair filter

2 Mosquito catcher with electrical suction

3 Transporter of vulnerable objects

1. The hair filter

The tube 1 in figure I limits the stream and is used to attach the filter hairs 2 It is obvious that it is possible to use other shapes than a tube The filter hairs are implantated in the tube in an oblique angle If the gas or fluid streams in the direction facilitated by the hairs, then as well as the gas or fluid as the objects 3 pass the hair filter. If the stream is against the filter hairs, then the passage of the objects is held up by the filter hairs. The filter hairs can vary in length, length difference compared with other hairs, implantation density, angle of implantation, thickness, thickness difference, degree of branching, flexibility, roughness, glueing, etcetera, according to the application If the implantation of the hairs is rectangular, the filter looses its orientation Then the effect of the filter is independent ofthe direction in which it is held.

2. Electrical mosquito catcher

The electrical mosquito catcher, see figure 2, exists of a reservoir 4 to collect mosquitos, with at the input side a sucking mouth 5 with hair filter and at the other side an electrical sucking device 6 with grip 7 The hairs of the filter are soft and flexible enough to prevent damage to the mosquito and dense and tough enough to prevent escape of the mosquito from the reservoir The reservoir is transparent. The electrical sucking device is comparable to the sucking part of an rechargeable handheld vacuum cleaner. The reservoir and electrical sucking device are separated from each other by an air transmitting netting 8 that can not be penetrated by mosquitos The trapped mosquitos can be removed from the reservoir by separating the reservoir from the sucking device (including the netting) The netting is firm without folds, and with such a big surface that the speed of the air stream through the netting is low and the mosquitos are not or almost not damaged when pressed against the netting by the air stream It is not necessary that the netting surface is flat \ threedimensional shape can increase the area ofthe netting and so decrease the strength ofthe air stream through the netting The suction can be active continuously or onlv at those moments that mosquitos must be sucked up The reservoir can held different mosquitos simultaneously The recharging unit, this is the sledge in which the mosquito catcher is placed when recharged the transformatoi and the electrical wire for the recharging unit are not drawn

3. Transporter of vulnerable objects

The transporter, see figure 3, exists of a sucking mouth 9 with hair filter and a sucking device 10 The sucking mouth can be rotated Figure 3 a shows the transporter in frontal view with the sucking mouth in sucking position Figure 3 b shows the transporter in frontal view with the sucking mouth in blowing position Figure 3 c shows the transporter in lateral view with the sucking mouth in transition between sucking and blowing

In the first drawing of figure 3 the orientation of the hairs is interior, being the situation in which object 1 1 is sucked up and is kept In the second drawing the orientation of the hairs is exterior, being the situation in which the obiect is released or spitted out The thirth drawing shows the apparatus during the rotation of the sucking mouth

The functionality is as follows The object is sucked up. the sucking stops when the object has reached the hair filter The sucking mouth is brought into the position where the object is to be released, is rotated 180 degrees and the obiect is released what is accompanied with blowing if necessary

Claims

Claim

Claim I:

Sucking apparatus with sucking mouth, wherein the sucking mouth has been provided with a hair filter (figure 1 )

Claim 2:

A hand-held vacuum cleaner, see figure 2, electrically driven or not. wherein the sucking apparatus has been designed in such a way that it is optimally suited to catch mosquitos, moths, spiders, ants and other little organisms, for which objective the sucking apparatus has been provided with one or more of the following features

• a hair filter in the sucking mouth

• a sucking mouth which is roughly as broad as high instead of flat

• a reservoir which is transparent

• an opening, which can be closed, to release or remove trapped organisms

• provisions to prevent harm to organisms as much as possible

Claim 3:

A sucking apparatus wherein it is designed and constructed in such a way that it is optimally suited to catch and keep little organisms to do research on them when they are alive, without causing any harm and without the need to anaesthetize the organism, for which objective the apparatus has been provided with a hair filter in which the organism can be held in place Claim 4:

A sucking apparatus, see figure 3, to pick up and transpoπ objects, wherein the apparatus has been provided with a hair filter that makes contact with the object 'Transpoπ^' means here move in respect to related objects