Patent Application
20250169484
The present invention relates generally to insect lures, and more particularly to a membrane covered attractant pod.
In general, insect lures (attractants) are employed to detect, eliminate and monitor for the presence of insects that respond to lure-baited traps, such as for example, the Mediterranean fruit fly, melon fly, codling moth, mosquito, and so forth. Responding insects, on detecting a lure scent, fly until they locate the trap, enter it, and are caught.
The following presents a simplified summary of the innovation in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
In an aspect, the invention features an article of manufacture including a receptacle having one or more compartments, a breathable fabric or membrane designed to fit over the top of the receptacle, and a removable foil lid designed to fit over a top of the breathable fabric or membrane.
In another aspect, the invention features a pod including a receptacle having a compartment configured to house an insect attractant, a membrane designed to fit over the top of the receptacle, and a removable foil lid designed to fit over the top of the membrane.
Embodiments may have one or more of the following advantages.
The breathable membrane can finely control a release rate of the chemicals inside the pod by eliminating sized die cut holes in the removable foil lid, and eliminating a need for the consumer to poke holes through the removable foil lid into the sealed media below.
A breathable fabric or membrane hole size can be tailored to a molecule size of the chemicals used in the pod.
The present invention provides a cost savings since a cap is no longer be needed on the pod.
In essence, the breathable fabric or membrane enables lower cost, finely controlled release rates (affording better catch rates) and ease of customer use.
These and other advantages of the invention will be further understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art by reference to the following written specification, claims and appended drawings.
It is to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings and described in the following specification are exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.
As shown in
The pod 100 includes, for example, a receptacle 105 having one or more compartments 110a, 110b. Although two compartments 110a, 110b are illustrated here, other implementations may include more compartments or less compartments. The one or more compartments 110a, 110b are covered by a breathable fabric 115 designed to fit over the top of the receptacle 105, and a removable foil lid 120 designed to fit over the breathable fabric 115.
Different insect attractants may be housed in the one or more compartments 110a, 110b. For example, attractants may include dry ice, pheromones, octenol, and so forth.
Octenol (1-Octen-3-ol) is an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered secondary mosquito attractant that mimics human breath.
Pheromones are chemicals used by insects and other animals to communicate with each other. Insects send these chemical signals to help attract mates, warn others of predators, or find food. Using specific pheromones, traps can be used to monitor target pests in agriculture or in residential areas.
Dry ice is the solid phase of CO2. At room temperature, it changes (a process called sublimation) into CO2 gas, which attracts insects.
The breathable fabric 115 may be constructed of, for example, nonwoven polyethylene (PE) fibers, polypropylene (PP) fibers, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) fibers, and so forth. In a preferred embodiment, the breathable fabric 115 is water repellent.
The removable foil lid 120 is designed to seal the one or more compartments 110a, 110b when, for example, hot pressed over the receptacle 105. When the removable foil lid 120 is peeled off the receptacle 105, insect attractants in the one or more compartments 110a, 110b in the receptacle 105 are vaporized through the breathable fabric 115 to attract insects to a designed insect trap (not shown).
In the foregoing description, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the concepts disclosed herein. Such modifications are to be considered as included in the following claims, unless the claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
The present application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/604,082, filed Nov. 29, 2023, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63604082 | Nov 2023 | US |
