The present invention relates to a vermin trap, and in particular to a release mechanism for a vermin trap that provides controllable and repeatable operation.
Conventional mouse traps include a spring biased arm temporarily held open by a hold down bar, which is dislodged when a mouse releases a catch, typically covered in bait. Conventional traps are inexpensive and disposable, but are difficult to set and do not provide fine control over setting, release or resetting.
Some prior art references, such as U.S. Pat. No. 9,258,990 issued Feb. 16, 2016 to Harvey et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,619 issued Apr. 28, 1992 in the name of Zapata et al, disclose the use of a solenoid actuator to directly open and close the jaws of a mouse trap. Unfortunately, since the solenoids in the prior art references are directly activating the jaws, they need to be very strong, they require a lot of power, and therefore they are very expensive and bulky.
An object of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a vermin trap, that includes a robust release mechanism, requiring minimal power and expense that can be activate, set and reset remotely.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a vermin trap comprising:
a housing;
a catcher pivotally mounted on the housing, configured to be held in a set position and forced into a sprung position for trapping the vermin;
a latch comprising: a base; an actuator moveable on the base; and a latching lever pivotally mounted on the base about a latch axis spring biased into the sprung position and held in the set position by the actuator;
a striker mounted on the housing and connected to the catcher, and including a striker bar configured to be engaged by the latching lever in the set position and disengaged from the latching lever in the sprung position, for moving the catcher from the set position to the sprung position; and
a trigger configured to activate the actuator, thereby releasing the latching lever, and disengaging the striker bar from the latching lever, enabling the catcher to move to the sprung position to trap the vermin.
The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which represent preferred embodiments thereof, wherein:
While the present teachings are described in conjunction with various embodiments and examples, it is not intended that the present teachings be limited to such embodiments. On the contrary, the present teachings encompass various alternatives and equivalents, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.
With reference to
To kill the vermin quickly upon passing through the trap opening 3 and partially into the chamber 4, a catcher for catching the vermin (dead or alive) in the form of a snare 7 may be positioned around the trap opening 3 in a groove 8 formed in the wall at the end of the housing 2 around the trap opening 3. The snare 7 may include a snare opening 9 at least as large as the trap opening 3 to ensure the snare 7 is hidden from view and does not obstruct the trap opening 3. Ideally, the snare opening 9 is the same size and shape as the trap opening 3, but various other size and shape combinations are possible. The groove 8 is accessible, i.e. open, from the top of the housing 2 enabling the snare 7 to reciprocate vertically therein trapping the vermin between the bottom of the snare and the upper wall of the trap opening, thereby breaking the neck or back of the vermin entering the chamber 4.
A striker mechanism for connecting the catcher, i.e. snare 7, to a latch 17 includes a striker arm 11 rotatably or pivotally connected at a first end to an upper end of the snare 7, and rotatably or pivotally connected at a second end to the housing 2, e.g. the top of the housing 2. The striker arm 11 is normally biased, e.g. spring biased, into an upper (“sprung”) position (
The striker arm 11 may also be locked in a lower (“set”) position (
With reference to
The locking lever 24 may be actuated, i.e. disengaged from the fork bolt lever 21, which releases the striker bar 16, thereby releasing the striker arm 11 to lift the snare 7, by the vermin entering the chamber 4 via the trap opening 3 and activating a trigger mechanism. The trigger mechanism may include an electrical sensor 30 or a mechanical force applicator 31, positioned in the chamber 4. With reference to
The solenoid 26 may be activated by any suitable sensor 30 provided in or around the trap opening 3 and/or the chamber 4. As an example, the chamber 4 may include a capacitive sensor 30 on the floor thereof to sense contact by a predetermined amount of force, e.g. above a threshold amount of pressure, such as a mouse, rat or squirrel would apply, whereby smaller insects or animals would not activate the sensor 30 causing undesired tripping of the trap 1. Alternatively, the sensor 30 may comprise a boundary crossing detector, such as an integrated boundary crossing detector, or a separate camera 90, e.g. with boundary crossing software, mounted in the chamber 4, e.g. motion detector, which activates the solenoid 26 upon triggering. The sensor 30 may also include animal recognition functionality, including a controller 80 and the camera 90 mounted in or near the trap 1, e.g. in the chamber 4, which captures an image of an animal entering the trap 1, and compares the image to a database of known animals. Accordingly, the trigger may be activated if the animal matches a known set of vermin or “pests”, e.g. mice, rats, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, birds etc, and/or if the animal does not match a known set of “friendly animals”, e.g. cats, dogs, chipmunks, squirrels, racoons, skunks, birds, human body parts etc.
Alternatively, as illustrated in
With reference to
With reference to
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With reference to
To capture the vermin upon passing through the opening 43 and into the chamber 44, a catcher for catching the animal (dead or alive) in the form of a door 47 may be positioned above the opening 43 pivotally mounted from the top of the housing 42 into the opening 43. The door 47 may be at least as large as the opening 43 and may be pivoted up into the chamber 44 to ensure the door 47 is hidden from view and does not obstruct the opening 43 until activated. Ideally, the door 47 is the same size and shape of the opening 43, but various other size and shape combinations are possible. The door 47 may rotate from a horizontal set position parallel to the top of the chamber 44 to a vertical or angled sprung position blocking the opening 43 trapping the vermin in the chamber 44. The door 47 may be pivotally attached to the top of the housing 42 proximate the mid-way point of the housing 42 and extend outwardly from the opening 43 in the set position, whereby in the sprung position the door 47 drops into the chamber 44 greatly reducing the volume of the chamber 44 and limiting the vermin's ability to move around in the trap 41. A compression spring 54 may be used to spring bias the door 47 into the lower sprung position, for example by mounting the compression spring 54 to the upper wall 45 of the housing 42 or an upper surface of the door 47, whereby the outer free end of the door 47 gets forced into the compression spring 54 when locked into the upper set position (
A door locking feature for holding the door in the lower spring position may comprise a locking arm 51 rotatably or pivotally connected at a first end to an outer free end of the door 47, and slidable or reciprocatable at a second end relative to the housing 42, e.g. along the top of the chamber 44. The locking arm 51 may be spring biased into a vertical, down (“sprung”) position, with the first end thereof extending downwardly, when the door 47 moves, e.g. pivots, downwardly for engaging the animal in the chamber 44. In the illustrated embodiment, the second end of the arm 51 is mounted to the housing 42 via a track mounted to the upper wall 45 of the chamber 44. The vertical or past vertical position opposing rotation of the locking arm 51 prevents the door 47 from being lifted up by the animal. Alternative means for spring biasing the door 47 and the door locking feature are also possible, including forming the locking arm 51 out of a resilient material.
The locking arm 51 may also be held in an upper (“set”) position by forcing, e.g. manually or mechanically, the locking arm 51 and the door 47 to rotate against the force of the spring bias, whereby the locking arm 51 and the door 47 are folded together and positioned above the opening 43 parallel to the upper wall 45 of the housing 42.
To hold the door 47 in the upper set position, a striker mechanism including a striker arm 56 may be connected to the door 47 for engaging a latch 57 mounted on the housing 42. The latch 57 may be comprised of the same elements as the latch 17, 17′, 17″ or 17′″, as hereinbefore described, or any other suitable latch. In the illustrated embodiment, the striker arm 56 comprises an elongated U-shaped striker arm, but any suitable size and shape of striker arm are possible. The striker mechanism may extend from the door 47, the arm 51, the housing 42 or any combination of the door 47, the locking arm 51 and the housing 42. As illustrated, a lower end of the striker arm 56 extends from proximate the outer free end of the door 47 through a bracket 61 on the locking arm 51, and through holes 62 in the upper wall 45 of the housing 42 for holding and guiding the striker 56 as the door 47 rotates. The striker arm 56 may comprise a door pulling portion 63, e.g. comprised of a pair of curved or arcuate rods mirroring the radius of curvature of the door, and a striker bar 64 at an outer free end. As the striker arm 56 is vertically lifted from the down sprung position, the door pulling portion 63 engages and pushes in the locking arm 51, e.g. via the bracket 61 and/or by pushing the inner ends of the locking arm 51 proximate the holes 62, thereby unlocking the door 47 and enabling rotation of the door 47. Subsequent lifting of the striker arm 56, pulls up the outer free end of the door 47. As the striker arm 56 is lifted vertically, the door pulling portions 63, e.g. the curved rods, facilitate movement, e.g. rotation, of the striker 56 as the curved rods are fed through the holes 62, until the striker bar 64 engages the latch 57 in the upper set position.
A reset arm 71 may also be provided for mechanically resetting or repositioning the striker mechanism back into the set position. As illustrated in
In this embodiment, a trigger, which may comprise a mechanical or electrical sensor 75, as hereinbefore described with reference to sensors 30 or 31, is provided configured for de-activating the latch 57 and/or activating the catcher, e.g. the door 47. The sensor 75 may comprise a plate 76 suspended from the top of the chamber 44. The plate 76 may be mechanically linked to the locking lever 24 or electrically connected to the solenoid 26 (See
Bait for attracting the vermin into the chamber 44 may be provided in the form of a bait box 77 slidable into a bait holder 78 in the rear of the chamber 44, e.g. behind the sensor 75. The bait holder 78 may comprise a mounting bracket or a container with an opening 79 accessible from the upper wall 45 of the housing 42 for easily replacing the bait or bait box 77 inside the chamber 44.
As illustrated in
With reference to
To kill the vermin quickly upon passing through the opening 203 and partially into the chamber 204, a catcher for catching the animal (dead or alive) in the form of a snare 207 may be positioned around the trap opening 203 in a groove 208 extending between the snare box housing 223 and the main housing 222 through the front wall 227. A snare plate 229 may be mounted on the front wall 227 for supporting the snare 207 during reciprocation. The snare 207 may be connected to the snare plate 229 via a fastener 230 extending through an elongated slot 231 in the snare 207 into the snare plate 229, enabling the snare 207 to reciprocate in and out of the chamber 204 of the snare box housing 223. The snare 207 may include a snare opening 209 at least as large as the trap opening 203 to ensure the snare 207 is hidden from view and does not obstruct the trap opening 203. Ideally, the snare opening 209 is the same size and shape of the trap opening 203, but various other size and shape combinations are possible. The groove 208 is accessible between the snare box housing 223 and the main housing 222 through the front wall 227 enabling the snare 207 to reciprocate therebetween trapping the animal between a side of the snare 207 and the wall of the snare box housing 223, thereby breaking the neck or back of the animal entering the chamber 204. The front wall 227 is slanted or vertical, i.e. perpendicular, relative to the base 224, whereby any vermin exterminated by the trap 201 will fall or slide back down the front wall 227 out of the way of the opening 203 enabling the trap 201 to be used and reused multiple times without having to remove the exterminated vermin from the trap 201. Ideally, the opening 203 is positioned far enough off the ground, e.g. 4″ to 12″ and/or on top of a mound or sloped area that the dead vermin will fall further away from the trap 201 and not block the opening 203. A motorized arm may be provided to move the dead vermin away from the trap 201. Alternatively, a container, such as a bucket, may be provided with or without a trap door to collect vermin exterminated by the trap 201. The trap door may be controlled by the trap controller 80, e.g. opened when the snare 207 is sprung or reset.
A striker mechanism for connecting the catcher, e.g. snare 207, to the latch 17 may include a striker arm 211, which may be rotatably or pivotally connected at a first end to an upper end of the snare 207, and rotatably or pivotally connected at a second end to the front wall 227 of the main housing 222. The striker arm 211 is normally spring biased into an upper (“sprung”) position (
The striker arm 211 may also be locked in a lower (“set”) position (
In the illustrated embodiment of
A reset arm 271 may also be provided for mechanically resetting the striker arm 211 back into the set position under control of the trap controller 80. As illustrated in
In this embodiment, a trigger, which may comprise a mechanical or electrical sensor 275, is provided configured for de-activating the latch 17 and/or activating the catcher, e.g. the snare 207, as hereinbefore described with reference to sensors 30 and 75. The sensor 275 may comprise a plate 276 suspended from the top of the chamber 204. The plate 276 may be mechanically linked to the locking lever 24 or electrically connected to the solenoid 26 (see
Any one or more of the latch 17, the striker bar 16, 64 or 216, the reset arm 71 or 271, the reset motor 72 or 272, the trap controller 80, the camera 90, and the sensors 30, 75 or 275 may be retrofitted into existing traps to upgrade their functionality providing “smarter” and more effective traps. All of the traps 1, 41, 141 and 201 may include a modular construction facilitating set up, take down, part replacement, feature upgrades, and cleaning.
With reference to
In some embodiments a camera 90, e.g. video or still, may be provided on or near the trap 1, 41, 141 or 201 configured to capture at least one of still images or analog or digital moving images, e.g. video, for recording or live streaming of what is in and/or around the trap 1, 41, 141 or 201, and in particular what is in or entering the chamber 4, 44 or 204. The camera 90 may operate either continuously or upon activation of the sprung indicator, which may also be sent to the user, providing an indication of what and if anything has been trapped, i.e. indicating an urgency of when the trap 1, 41, 141 or 201 should be recover, reset etc. The camera 90 may be activated by and/or include a proximity sensor or proximity sensor controller that activates the camera 90 and records when there is movement near the trap, which would save data and power by only using data when a vermin was near the trap, i.e. in a predetermined zone. The size of the predetermined zone may be adjusted via the controller 80 based on the location of the trap 1, 41, 141 or 201, and the type of vermin. The camera 90 could stop recording after a predetermined time limit, e.g. 1 minute, or after the trap is actuated or when no movement is detected for a predetermined time limit, e.g. 1 minute. The camera 90 may include a live cam, a webcam, and IPcam etc, with or without night vision capabilities, e.g. IR LED's. The camera 90 may be controlled by the trap controller 80, which may control the position, the zoom and the focus based on automatic controls or controls signals provided by the user via the user controller 81.
The trap controller 80 may also enable and/or disable the trigger, e.g. the sensor 30, 75 or 275 and/or the latch 17 based on a smart recognition system, e.g. one or more of a facial recognition system, an animal recognition system or an object recognition system. When the trap controller 80 includes smart recognition functionality, e.g. animal recognition, the controller 80 may activate the camera 90 mounted in or near the trap 1, 41, 141 or 201, e.g. in or beside the chamber 4, 44 or 204, which captures an image of an animal or creature or portion thereof, e.g. nose, paw or leg, in a predetermined zone, e.g. close to or entering the trap 1 or 41, 141 or 201, and then uses some form of smart recognition, e.g. compares the image or portion of the image to a database or library of known animals, e.g. body, face or nodal sections, found in a memory either directly connected to the trap controller 80 or the user controller 81 over a suitable network. Accordingly, the trigger and/or the latch 17 may be enabled by the trap controller 80, when the smart recognition considers that the animal matches a known set of vermin or “pests”, e.g. mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, racoons, skunks, birds, etc, and/or disabled when the animal does not match a known set of “friendly animals”, e.g. cats, dogs, chipmunks, squirrels, racoons, skunks, birds, human body parts etc, depending on the situation. Accordingly, when the trigger and/or the latch 17 is enabled, the vermin is then able to activate the trigger and release the catcher, as hereinbefore described; however, even if a friendly animal were to engage the trigger, the catcher would not be released. The animal recognition system may include a computer software application stored in non-volatile or non-transient memory and executable by a central processing unit providing in each trap controller 80, the user controller 81 or some other suitable controller in contact therewith.
In addition, each trap controller 80 may also be able to control the reset arm 71 or 271, i.e. the motor 72 or 272, locally via a user interface on the trap, or remotely, to reset the trap 1, 41, 141 and 201 from a remote location, e.g. 10 feet up to 100 miles or more, using a user interface on the central controller 81.
The trap controller 80 may also control the trigger, e.g. sensor 30, 75 or 275, e.g. the boundary crossing detector mounted in the chamber 4, e.g. motion detector, which activates the actuator, e.g. solenoid 26, upon triggering. When the sensor 30, 75 or 275 includes smart recognition functionality, e.g. animal recognition, the trap controller 80 may activate the camera 90 mounted in or near the trap 1, 41, 141 or 201, e.g. in the chamber 4, 44 or 204, which captures an image of an animal or creature or portion thereof, e.g. nose, paw or leg, entering the trap 1 or 41, 141 or 201 and compares the image to a database or library of known animals, e.g. bodies, face or nodal portion, found in a memory either directly connected to the trap controller 80 or the user controller 81 over a suitable network. Accordingly, the trigger may be activated by the trap controller 80, in response to the animal activating the boundary crossing detector and/or when the smart recognition considers that the animal matches a known set of vermin or “pests”, e.g. mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, racoons, skunks, birds, etc, and/or if the animal does not match a known set of “friendly animals”, e.g. cats, dogs, chipmunks, squirrels, racoons, skunks, birds, human body parts etc, depending on the situation.
The smart recognition system may include a smart facial/vermin/object recognition version, which initially uses a simple database to determine when to set off each trap 1, 41, 141 and 201, but over time aggregates images/videos from each individual trap or all traps in the network to build up a database. The trap controller 80 and/or the user controller 81 may analyze data and build up and continually update a database of vermin and/or “friendly” animals, determining when to trigger the trap, which will provide a better solution over time to only allow the trap to be set off by the designated vermin.
If a friendly animal or creature is detected by the camera 90 and the trap controller 80, an alarm or indicator, such as a visual alarm, e.g. a light, and/or an audible alarm, e.g. a speaker or buzzer, 95 may be provided for emitting a warning signal to scare off the friendly animal from entering the trap 1 or 201 or to scare the friendly animal out of the trap 41 or 141.
A keypad and/or display 99 may also be provided on each trap 1, 41, 141 or 201 to provide control, e.g. on/off, reset arms 71 and 271, and/or an indication of power, connectivity, “set” or “sprung” etc. The display 99 may include buttons, e.g. analog or digital, and/or lights, e.g. different colored LED's.
Each trap 1, 41, 141 and 201, i.e. the trap controller 80 and the actuator, e.g. the solenoid 26, may be powered by any suitable power supply, such as solar power, a DC power supply, e.g. a battery power supply, or an AC power supply, e.g. a standard wall plug.
Data from each of the traps 1, 41, 141 and 201 may be collected, e.g. via each trap controller 80 communicating over a suitable network or direct connection, in a central or distributed database. Info/data such as: how many times trap release, reset, how many animals caught, type of animal, variation of species, e.g. type of rat, time, temp, type of bait used, gps location, time activated. The data may be aggregated, analyzed and summarized to provide more information, which will enable the user to be more successful at trapping/killing the vermin they desire to trap/kill and avoid endangering other species of animals.
The foregoing description of one or more embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.