Patent Application
20230180735
The subject disclosure generally relates to swatting bugs, and more specifically to an apparatus and methodology for repurposing mouse pads as bug swatters.
By way of background concerning conventional bug swatters, it is noted that most are made of plastic material. Manufacturing conventional bug swatters thus contributes to the proliferation of more plastic which harms the environment. With respect to performance, it is further noted that conventional bug swatters are typically lightweight, which limits their “whip” action. As a result, users often miss on their first few attempts to swat a bug. Conventional bug swatters are also notoriously difficult to keep clean. For instance, a swatted bug tends to stick to conventional bug swatters. And although a user may simply wipe the bug off, remnants of the bug will usually remain stuck between the openings of the bug swatter.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus and methodology which overcomes these limitations. To this end, it should be noted that the above-described deficiencies are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional bug swatters, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting embodiments may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.
The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects of the present disclosure, in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
Various aspects directed towards swatting bugs are disclosed. In one example, a bug swatter apparatus is disclosed, which includes a handle and at least one flappable pad coupled to the handle. For this example, a portion of the at least one flappable pad is configured to flap behind the handle when the handle is swung.
In another example, a method that facilitates repurposing mouse pads is disclosed. The method includes obtaining at least one mouse pad and creating a repurposed form of the at least one mouse pad. For this example, the creating comprises attaching the at least one mouse pad to a handle.
In a further example, yet another bug swatter apparatus is disclosed. The bug swatter apparatus includes a handle and a flat surface coupled to the handle. For this example, the flat surface includes at least one layer of adhesive material.
These and other aspects of the invention will become more fully understood upon a review of the detailed description, which follows. Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the following description of specific, exemplary embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. While features of the present invention may be discussed relative to certain embodiments and figures below, all embodiments of the present invention can include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may be discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with the various embodiments of the invention discussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may be discussed below as device, system, or method embodiments it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.
Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
As discussed in the introduction, it would be desirable to create a bug swatter that not only performs better than conventional bug swatters, but is also easier to clean and more friendly to the environment. In a particular embodiment, discarded and overstocked mouse pads are repurposed as bug swatters by attaching them to handles. Such bug swatters are heavier and more dense than conventional bug swatters, which creates a greater whip action. Mouse pads also have a smooth surface that make them easier to clean than conventional bug swatters, which have openings where bug remnants often remain between uses. Furthermore, by repurposing discarded and overstocked mouse pads, the aspects disclosed herein desirably avoid having to source new plastic material, which is wasteful and harmful to the environment.
Turning now to
It should be appreciated that the “flap-ability” of flappable pad 120, as illustrated in
When assembling bug swatter 100, it should be appreciated that handle 110 may be coupled to flappable pad 120 via attachment mechanism 130 in any of various ways. Referring next to
In another aspect disclosed herein, configurations with two strike sides are also contemplated. For instance, a bug swatter 300 is contemplated in which handle 310 is coupled to flappable pad 320 via an insertion of handle 310 into a side of flappable pad 320, as shown. Alternatively, a bug swatter 400 is contemplated in which handle 410 is coupled to a first and second flappable pad, 420 and 440, wherein the second flappable pad 440 has a weight and dimensions substantially similar to the first flappable pad 420.
In yet another aspect disclosed herein, configurations in which the flap-ability of a bug swatter is increased/decreased, as desired, are also contemplated. For instance, as illustrated in
Aspects disclosed herein are also directed towards bug swatter designs that utilize adhesive material. In
During use, it should be appreciated that bug swatter 600 provides several advantages over conventional bug swatters. For instance, whereas conventional bug swatters generally require that a bug be on solid surface (e.g., a table, wall, etc.), bug swatter 600 enables a user to kill bugs in mid-air. Indeed, when conventional bug swatters make contact with a bug in mid-air, they often survive and/or are difficult to find after contact. When making mid-air contact with bug swatter 600, however, the bug sticks to adhesive material 640.
When killing bugs on a solid surface, bug swatter 600 provides several advantages over conventional bug swatters as well. For instance, killing bugs with conventional bug swatters often requires removing the carcass from the surface on which it was killed. Such removal, however, requires the user to handle the bug with their hands, which may be uncomfortable, especially if they lack something (e.g., tissue paper) to pick it up with. When swatting a bug with bug swatter 600 though, the bug carcass sticks to adhesive material 640.
Referring next to
In another aspect disclosed herein, a bug swatter 800 is contemplated that includes a handle 810 coupled to a flat surface 820, wherein the flat surface 820 includes a plurality of removable layers of adhesive material 840. For instance, as illustrated in
In an alternative embodiment, it is contemplated that a plurality of removable layers of adhesive material may be wrapped around a flat surface, rather than layered on a particular side. For instance, the plurality of removable layers may be segmented from each other via a plurality of perforations, similar to conventional lint rollers. During use, a user may thus swat a bug and remove the carcass by peeling away the exposed layer of adhesive material, and tearing it off at the subsequent perforation.
As previously mentioned, aspects disclosed herein are also directed towards repurposing discarded and overstocked mouse pads. In
Referring next to
In another aspect disclosed herein, it is contemplated that the obtaining performed at act 1410 may comprise obtaining at least one mouse pad that includes a pre-existing logo, wherein the creating performed at act 1420 comprises ensuring that at least a portion of the pre-existing logo remains visible in the repurposed form of the at least one mouse pad. For instance, as illustrated in
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, for the avoidance of doubt, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word without precluding any additional or other elements.
The aforementioned systems have been described with respect to interaction between several components. It can be appreciated that such systems and components can include those components or specified sub-components, some of the specified components or sub-components, and/or additional components, and according to various permutations and combinations of the foregoing. Sub-components can also be implemented as components coupled to other components rather than included within parent components (hierarchical). Additionally, it is noted that one or more components may be combined into a single component providing aggregate functionality or divided into several separate sub-components, and any one or more middle layers may be provided to couple to such sub-components in order to provide integrated functionality. Any components described herein may also interact with one or more other components not specifically described herein but generally known by those of skill in the art.
In view of the exemplary systems described supra, methodologies that may be implemented in accordance with the disclosed subject matter can be appreciated with reference to the various figures. While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are described as a series of steps, it is to be understood and appreciated that the disclosed subject matter is not limited by the order of the steps, as some steps may occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other steps from what is described herein. Moreover, not all disclosed steps may be required to implement the methodologies described hereinafter.
While the various embodiments have been described in connection with the exemplary embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function without deviating there from. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment.
