BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the bug trap device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the bug trap device shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a bottom planar view of the bug trap device shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a traversed cross-sectional view of the bug trap device as indicated in FIG. 3.
FIG. 5, is a partial broken away side elevational view of the bug trap device according to the present invention with the insert positioned below the trap portion prior to assembly.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tray insert shown in FIG. 5 turned upside down.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the tray insert shown in FIG. 5.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the tray insert shown in FIG. 6 provided with a removable seal.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the tray insert shown in FIG. 7 with a removable protective layer over the adhesive dot.
FIG. 10 is a top planar view of another preferred embodiment of the bug trap device according to the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a further preferred embodiment of the bug trap device according to the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a longitudinal horizontal cross-sectional view of the bug trap device shown in FIG. 11.
FIG. 13 is a partial broken away bottom planar view of the bug trap device shown in FIG. 11.
FIG. 14 is a partial broken away bottom planar view of the bug trap device shown in FIG. 11 provided with a sticky mass in the trap portion.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A preferred embodiment of the bug trap device 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1-9.
The bug trap device 10 includes a handle portion 12 and a trap portion 14 connected together. The handle portion 12 and the trap portion 14 can be made as a single piece (e.g. injection molded plastic), or can be made as separate units and then assembled together.
The handle portion 12 can be made to have various lengths. For close in work, a short handle large enough to accommodate a user's hand can be selected. For other applications requiring a longer reach, the handle portion 12 can be of a longer length (e.g. 1-25 feet in length). Even further, the handle portion 12 can be a telescoping handle portion 12a′, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 10 to allow the length to be varied, in particular to allow the length to be increased.
The trap portion 14 shown is a lid-shaped trap portion 14. The lid-shaped trap portion 14 has a lower edge 16 including a forward edge portion 16a, rear edge portion 16b, and two (2) side edge portions 16c. The lid-shaped trap portion 14 includes an upper wall portion 14a, front wall portion 14b, rear wall portion 14c, and side wall portions 14d defining a receiver 18 (See FIG. 5).
A preferred embodiment of the bug trap device 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes an insert 20, preferably a disposable insert. The details of the insert 20 will be described below. It is to be noted that the bug trap device 10 shown in FIG. 1 can be utilized without the insert 20 by providing a sticky material or substance within the receiver 20 of the trap portion 14 instead of the insert 20. For example, in this arrangement the entire bug trap device 10 can be disposable after the sticky substance or material becomes covered by bugs or insects. Alternatively, the sticky substance or material (e.g. sticky layer or mass) can be disposable to allow reuse of the bug trap device 10. The most preferred embodiment is to provide the disposable insert 20 with a reusable handle portion 12 and trap portion 14 for added convenience making it easy to replace the sticky layer or sticky mass without touching same by the user. For example, the handle portion 12 and trap portion 14 can be a single piece plastic injection molded unit that is reusable, and the insert 20 can be a vacuumed formed plastic sheet material tray configured to fit within the receiver 18 of the trap portion 14 and to be described in detail below.
The handle portion 12 and trap portion 14 can be made as a single piece (e.g. injection molded unit), or alternatively can be made as separate pieces and then assembled or connected together (e.g. adhered, mechanically fastened, heat welded, snap fit connection, slide connection). The handle portion 12 and trap portion 14 are preferably made of plastic material (e.g. plastic injection molded unit), however, other materials such as wood, metal, composite, fiber glass, Kevlar, carbon fiber, cardboard, cardboard composite or other suitable material can be utilized for making the handle portion 12 and/or trap portion 14).
The insert 20, as shown in FIG. 6, is like a small tray (when turned upside down for filling with a sticky mass or sticky layer). The insert 20 is sized and shaped to nest within the receiver 18 of the bug trap device 10. The insert 20 is provided with a sticky material or substance, preferably a sticky layer 22. This sticky layer 22 is preferably provided with a plurality of protrusions or ridges 24 having valleys 26 disposed therebetween. When the trap portion 14 is positioned over a bug or insect resting on a surface, using handle 12, and then pressed against the surface (e.g. floor, wall, counter top, door, ceiling), the bug or insect is then trapped between the trap portion 14 and the surface causing the bug to contact with the sticky layer 22. Further, the bug or insect would tend to be forced between a pair of adjacent protrusions or ridges 24 into one of the valleys 26 further contacting and adhering the bug or insect to the sticky layer 22. In some instances, depending on the particular composition of the sticky layer 22, the bug is at least partially pressed into the sticky layer to positively adhere same thereto. Instead of the protrusions or ridges 24 as shown, the protrusions or ridges 24 can be changed to be finger-like protrusions or otherwise a matrix of protrusions to provide two-dimensional protrusions or ridges and valleys.
The insert 20 is preferably disposal and made of an inexpensive material such as a paper/cardboard product or plastic material. For example, the insert 20 is made by vacuuming forming a sheet of plastic material (e.g. polystyrene) to form a lid-shaped article (when positioned upright) or a tray-like article (when turned upside down). Alternatively, the insert 20 in injection molded of plastic material (e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene). The insert 20 is provided with a tab 20a to allow a user to grip same when removing the insert 20 from the tray-like trap portion 14. An adhesive such as an adhesive dot 28 is applied to an upper wall portion 20a of the insert 20, as shown in FIG. 7. The adhesive dot 28 is made of a contact adhesive formulated to removably adhere and secure the insert 20 within the trap portion 14 of the bug trap device 10, as shown in FIG. 5. Specifically, the adhesive dot 28 is pressed in contact with the inner surface of the upper wall portion 14a of the trap portion 14 to secure the tray 20 therein prior to use. The adhesive dot 28 can be provided with a removable protective layer 30 having a tap 30a to facilitate removal, as shown in FIG. 9. The strength of the contact adhesive is preferably formulate to provide adequate to good securing of the insert 20 within the tray-like trap portion 14, but still allow easy removal by a user's finger grapping and pulling on tab 20a to facilitate replacement of the insert 20.
In a preferred embodiment of the tray 20, a protective seal 32 (e.g. thin plastic film and/or foil) is applied to a lower rim 34 of the insert 20, as shown in FIG. 8. The seal 32 can be applied by adhesive, welding, heat welding, inductive welding, and/or thermal application (e.g. hot sealing), or by some other suitable method. The insert 20 can be assembled by initially molding the tray-like article, and then filling the tray-like article with adhesive material or substance, preferably also including an insecticide, and then sealing the lower rim 34 with the seal 32. In this manner, the freshness, dryness, cleanliness, and activity of the adhesive layer and insecticide is/are maintained to provide long shelf life.
The insert 20 can be packaged as a single unit, for example, in a cardboard display box or plastic display package. Alternatively, a plurality of inserts 20 can be packaged together in a single box or container or packaging. In another embodiment, a plurality of inserts 20 come in a strip or matrix arrangement configure to be torn apart (e.g. frangible sheet material or connection between adjacent inserts 20), or by cutting (e.g. using a scissors).
The bug trap device 10 is used by initially removing the protective layer 30 (FIG. 9) to expose the adhesive dot 28 (FIG. 7), and then the insert 20 is loaded into the receiver 18 of the trap portion 14. The adhesive dot 28 securely adheres the insert 20 to an upper surface of the upper wall portion 14a of the trap portion 14 when fully nested therein. The user then removes the protective seal 32 by gripping tap 32a, and then pulling the protective layer 30 away from the tray-like insert 20. The bug trap device 10 is now ready to capture and trap a bug or insect in midair or on lying on a surface.
The trap portion 14 is shown to be a lid-shaped article, however, other suitable two (2) and three (3) dimensional shapes such as circular, triangular, square, rectangular, cylinder, box, symmetric, asymmetric) can be utilized in some applications. It is noted that the lid-shaped trap portion 14 is particularly useful for most applications including getting into square corners for trapping bugs or insects. The insert 20 is preferably made of a fairly soft non-abrasive material to prevent inadvertent scuffing, mars, scratches or otherwise damage to the surface(s) on which bugs or insects may be found.
Another embodiment of the bug trap device 10′ according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 10.
The bug trap device 10′ includes a telescoping handle 12′ including a first handle section 12a′ and a second handle section 12b′. Additional telescoping sections may be added to increase the overall length of the handle 12′. Alternatively, the handle 12′ can be made of two or more fixed length sections (e.g. handle sections 12a′ and 12b′) that are connected together for assembly purposes (e.g. to reduce size of packaging), and may or may not be also adjustable in length. A further feature of this embodiment includes a swivel joint 36 (e.g. ball joint) connecting the handle portion 12′ to the trap portion 14′. The swivel joint 36 allows the angle of the handle 12′ to change relative to the trap portion 14′ to provide greater flexibility and freedom of use of the device.
A further embodiment of the bug trap device 100 according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 11-14.
The bug trap device 110 includes a handle portion 112 and trap portion 114 connected together. The handle portion 112 includes a finger trigger connected to a slidable trap door 140 to actuate same (i.e. open and close). Specifically, a bendable wire 142 mechanically connects the trigger 138 to the slidable trap door 140 so that the trigger 138 actuates the slidable trap door 140 to open and close the trap portion 114. A spring 144 (e.g. coil spring) is provided within a passageway 145 (FIG. 12) in a handgrip portion 112a of the handle 112. Specifically, the length of the handle 112 is provided with a through passageway 146 for accommodating the bendable wire 142, and the hand grip portion 112a of the handle 112 is provided with the passageway 145 for slidably accommodating a slidable guide 148 of trigger 138 and coil spring 144. The passageways 145 and 146 preferably communicate or are contiguous with each other. A stop 149 in the hand grip 112a traps the upper end of the coil spring 144 so as to exert a spring bias against the slidable guide 148, which in turn forces the bendable wire 142 in a direction so as to close the slidable trap door 140 of the trap portion 114.
The bendable wire 142 can be replaced with a bendable push rod, linkage or other suitable mechanical device. In the embodiment shown, the bendable wire 142 is provided with a bent end 142a extending through a through hole 140a of tab 140b of the slidable trap door 140. An opposite end of the bendable wire 142 is fastened to the slidable guide 148 of trigger 138 (e.g. by insert molding, heat welding, adhering, mechanically fastening or other suitable method).
The bug trap device 110 can operate without the use of any sticky substance or material due to the existence of the slidable trap door 140 allowing the user to selectively open and close the trap device 114 to capture the bug or insect. Alternatively, the bug trap device can be combined with sticky substance or mass to enhance performance (e.g. round button 148 is provided within the trap portion 114, shown in FIG. 14). The sticky mass 148 can contact with the trapped bug or insect to further trap and secure the bug or insect. In use, the slidable trap door 140 is opened and then the trap portion 114 is positioned over the bug or insect on a surface. The slidable trap door is opened by pulling on the trigger 138. The slidable trap door 140 is then closed by releasing the trigger 138 to trap the bug or insect inside the trap portion 114. Thus, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11-14, the slidable trap door 140 is spring biased to a closed position. Alternatively, the bug trap device can be configured so that the slidable trap door 140 can be spring biased to an open position.
The handle 142 is provided with a through slot 150 on a lower side of the handle 142, as shown in FIG. 13. The slot 150 allows the bendable wire 142 to exit out of the passageway 146 in the handle portion 142 and connect to tab 140b of slidabe trap door 140.
The sticky layer 22 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and the sticky mass 150 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 14 can be replaced with other arrangements or configurations of sticky material or substance. For example, a sticky layer can be applied to one or more surfaces located on the interior of the trap portion 14, 114. Further a sticky mass having a matrix of holes therein can be utilized to facilitate capturing bugs or insects in the depth of the sticky mass.
Preferably, the sticky mass is located above the lower rim 14a, 114a of the trap portion 14, 114 so that the sticky material or substance does not come into contact with the surface on which the bug is located. This prevents the sticky material or substance from being transferred to the surface.
Optionally, the bug trap device according to the present invention is provided with an insecticide, preferably an insecticide that can immediately or soon disable or kill a bug or insect upon contact. The insecticide can be formulated as a film, layer; gel, paste, liquid, solid or other format to be applied to one or more surfaces of the bug trap device. Preferably, the insecticide is contained within the trap portion 14, 114 to prevent inadvertent transfer to a surface, user or others. In a preferred embodiment, the insecticide is formulated in combination with the sticky material or applied as a layer or film or deposit to the sticky material or mass. This combination ensures both capturing and disposing of the bug or insect.
Patent Application
20080040967
