Patent Application
20200022354
This disclosure relates to a system for exterminating insects through mechanical means.
Previous methods and systems for extermination of flying insects and insects such as grasshoppers and crickets relied on the application of chemical insecticides or systems based on electrocution.
Various systems to exterminate pests through mobile devices and electrocution have been developed as described by Walter Kemp in U.S. Pat. No. 1,325,475, William Harwood in U.S. Pat. No. 1,624,240, Oscar Ekre in U.S. Pat. No. 2,029,225, Walter Bialobrzeski in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,758,980 and 3,846,932, and Kenneth Podgurney in U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,690. Improved methods and equipment for insect extermination are needed.
The present disclosure is directed to new and improved mobile systems and methods for extermination of insects. While features including electrocution of insects may optionally be included, use of electrocution is not required. In at least one embodiment, a clear liquid distributor system is mounted on top of a clear plate that is mounted on top of a power driven auger (conveyance device). The power driven auger is mounted on a transportable mobile frame for movement over ground. A motorized vehicle such as a tractor with a tow mechanism such as a conventional tow bar can pull the assembled system across an open field.
The assembled system includes a liquid (such as water or light oil or equivalent) distributor system with a liquid supply system (tank) and a liquid pump. The liquid distributor system applies a volume of liquid, preferably an adjustable volume of clear liquid, on the front and/or back surface of the clear plate. Flying insects, such as grasshoppers and other bugs, that contact the wetted clear plate are demobilized and fall into an opening of the power driven auger and are contained and exterminated. The bodies of the wetted flying insects are conveyed with liquid down the auger to a liquid filter and pump that extracts any free liquid, filters the free liquid, and returns the filtered liquid back to the liquid supply system. The liquid filter may include, for example, a conventional replaceable cartridge suitable for filtering the liquid. The flying insect bodies then pass through a chopping device to finally exterminate the insect and chop/shred the insect bodies into small pieces, which are then discharged directly to the outside ground. In some embodiments, one or more energized wires may be positioned in or near the auger to electrocute the insect, which may then optionally be chopped by the chopping device. The exterminated insect bodies are then discharged to the outside ground and act as a natural organic fertilizer. No collection of the exterminated insect bodies for later disposal is required.
The assembled system also includes a power supply (AC or DC) that provides necessary electrical power to the liquid pump and/or the power driven auger (conveyance device). Alternatively, the power supply can be provided by the motorized vehicle power system, other vehicle accessories (such as a power take off), or hydrocarbon fueled, wind, or solar power supply system.
Multiple assembled systems according to the present disclosure can be linked together and pulled jointly across an open field, according to the needs of the operator.
There will now be described preferred embodiments of the disclosure, with reference to the drawings, by way of illustration only and not with the intention of limiting the scope of the disclosure, in which like numerals denote like elements and in which:
In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word in the sentence are included and that items not specifically mentioned are not necessarily excluded. The use of the indefinite article “a” in the claims before an element means at least one of the element is specified, but does not specifically exclude others of the element also being present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the element.
Referring to
The exterminator system 10 further includes a liquid supply system (tank) 11 and liquid pump 13 for pumping liquid onto the outer surfaces of the clear plate 16. The liquid is preferably a clear liquid such as water or light oil or the like. The clear liquid distributor system 17 applies a volume of the clear liquid over the front and/or back surface of the clear plate 16. Flying insects, such as a grasshopper, that contact the wetted front and/or back surfaces of the clear plate 16 are demobilized by the liquid and fall into an opening of the auger 15 and are contained and exterminated. A power motor 14 is operably connected to the auger 15 to drive the auger. The wetted flying insect bodies are preferably conveyed by the auger 15 to a liquid filter and pump 18 to extract any free liquid. The liquid filter 18 filters the free liquid and pumps the filtered liquid back to the clear liquid supply system (tank) 11. The liquid filter 18 may be comprised of a conventional replaceable cartridge suitable for filtering the liquid. While the auger 15 may be a rotating screw, in other embodiments the auger 15 may utilize a pressurized pneumatic or pressurized liquid as a propulsion force, in addition to or in place of a rotating screw, to convey the wetted insect bodies down the auger 15 toward the filter 18 and discharge from the system. The motor 14 may include a pneumatic or liquid propulsion system that provides the pressurized pneumatic or liquid propulsion force.
In at least one embodiment, the filtered (and possibly dried) insect bodies then pass through a chopping device 19 to finally exterminate the insects that are not already dead and cut/chop/shred the insect bodies into small pieces, which are then discharged directly to the outside ground. The exterminated cut/chopped/shredded insect bodies that are discharged to the ground act as a natural organic fertilizer. Collection and later disposal of the exterminated insect bodies is not required.
The system 10 further includes a power supply system 12 (which in some embodiments may be an AC or DC electrical power supply, depending on system requirements) to provide necessary electrical power to the liquid pump 18 and to power the motor 14 that drives the auger 15. The power supply system 12 may alternatively be provided by a power system of the motorized vehicle that is transporting the frame 20 through the open field, other vehicle accessories (such as a power take off), or a hydrocarbon fueled, wind, or solar powered power supply.
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The auger 15 may have any suitable cross-sectional shape. Referring to
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It should be appreciated that other embodiments of the exterminator system 10 may include one or more energized wires positioned in or near the auger to electrocute the demobilized insects, which are then optionally chopped by the chopping device prior to discharge from the mobile system. It should also be appreciated that multiple exterminator systems 10 may be mechanically linked together and jointly pulled across an open field as required by the operator.
Immaterial variations may be made to the embodiments described here without departing from the essence of the disclosure. The various embodiments described above can be combined to provide further embodiments.
All of the U.S. patents referred to in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Aspects of the foregoing embodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of the various patents to provide yet further embodiments.
These and other changes can be made to the foregoing embodiments in light of the above-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, the claims are not limited by the disclosure.
