GB2063042A

GB2063042A - Animal trap

Info

Publication number: GB2063042A
Application number: GB8034981A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: CA MINISTER NATURAL RESOURCES; Canada Minister of Natural Resources
Current assignee: CA MINISTER NATURAL RESOURCES; Canada Minister of Natural Resources
Priority date: 1979-11-13
Filing date: 1980-10-30
Publication date: 1981-06-03
Also published as: AT379054B; CH638659A5; NO149161B; FI66719B; DE3042663C2; DK149542C; NO149161C; SE436824B; FR2469121A1; DK482480A; FI66719C; AU533916B2; FR2469121B1; ATA556480A; NO803292L; GB2063042B; NZ195435A; NL8005993A; SE8007576L; DE3042663A1

Abstract

An animal trap specific to a given range of animal weights includes a spring arm 14 mounted to swing from a horizontal position in which it is retained by trip lever 35 to an upwardly extending position to which it is spring biassed. The arm carries means 17 for entraining a cable 19 having a loop 64 placed to surround lever 35. A spring 43 urges lever 35 to its position retaining arm 14 horizontal whereby animals below a set weight do not spring the trap. A connection 65 is included in the cable and gives under a sufficient force to allow an animal heavier than the upper weight limit to escape. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Humane animal trap This invention relates generally to traps for ani mals, and has to do particularly with an animal trap designed to cause the minimum of discomfort to the animal.

Exemplary of the prior art in the area is United States Patent No. 3,060,623, J. R. Aldrich, issued October 30, 1962, and entitled "Animal Trap".

The Aldrich device includes two arms with a coil spring between the arms tending to bias them apart, with means at the non-spring end of one ofthe arms for supporting a trip lever, the lever having interengagement portions which retain the other of the spring arms downwardly against the first arm until the trip lever has been depressed, at which point the arms are disengaged from each other, and the one arm flies upwardly with respect to the other. A noose-like cable is positioned to surround the general location of the trip lever, and the cable is then entrained over a catch portion at the non-spring end of the upwardly snapping arm, the other end of the cable being anchored in some way, as to a tree.

When the animal presses downwardly on the trip lever, the two arms are disengaged from each other, and spring apart. In so doing, the cable is suddenly jerked tight, and the noose tightens around the foot of the animal.

The basic construction of Aldrich is simple and reliable. The present invention makes use of the basic configuration shown in Aldrich, but includes additional structure representing an improvement over the capabilities of the Aldrich Animal Trap.

More specifically, it is an aspect of this invention to provide a humane animal trap which is such as to be specific to a given range of animal weights, such that an animal whose weight is either greater or smaller than the given specific range will either not succeed in springing the trap, or if it succeeds, will not be retained by the trap. In this way, needless entrapment of animals not aimed at by the trap is avoided.

Accordingly, this invention provides an animal trap specific to a given range of animal weights, the trap comprising: a frame, a spring-arm pivotally mounted at one end to the frame and having means at the other end for entraining a cable, the spring-arm being mounted for swinging movement in a substantially vertical plane between a first position in which it is substantially horizontal and a second position in which it extends upwardly, spring means biasing the spring-arm toward said second position, a trip lever adapted to move between an upper, set position in which the lever is adapted to cause the spring-arm to be retained in said first position against the urging of the spring means, and a lower, sprung position in which the spring-arm is released, a cable having anchoring means at one end and defining at the other end a loop adapted to be placed so as to surround said trip lever, means for avoiding the springing of the trap by an animal lighter than said given range of animal weights, comprising a spring urging the trip lever toward said upper, set position, means for avoiding retention in the trap of an animal heavier than said given range of animal weights, comprising a connector in said cable and joining one portion of the cable to another portion thereof, the connector being capable of releasing said portions from connection together upon the application of a sufficient force.

One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views, and in which: Figure lisa perspective view of a trap built in accordance with this invention, the trap being in the "set" condition; Figure 2 is an elevational view of the trap of Figure 1, partly broken away, also in the "set" condition; Figure 3 is a view similar to that of Figure 2, showing the trap in the "sprung" condition; and Figure 4 is a detail of a portion of the trap.

Figure 5 is an alternative version of the portion shown in Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a detail of a part of the loop seen in Figure 1.

Figures 5 and 6 are on the same drawing sheet with Figure 1.

Turning firstto Figure 1, an animal trap specific to a given range of animal weights is shown generally at 10, and includes a frame member 12, a spring arm 14 pivotally mounted at one end 15 to the frame member 12, and having means 17 at the other end for entraining a cable 19.

More specifically, the spring arm 14 is in the form of a relatively thick wire of which the end at 15 is bent into an L-configuration, and passed through suitable aligned apertures in opposite walls 20 of a bracket 21 which is welded or otherwise affixed to the leftward end of the frame member 12. Atorque spring 23 of known construction encircles the leg of the "L" (not visible except for its extreme end 25), and has one of its ends 27 bearing downwardly against the bracket 21, and the other of its ends 28 hooked under and urging upwardly against the spring arm 14.

Thus, the frame member 12 and the spring arm 14 are constantly urged away from each other, and since the frame member 12 is intended to lie flatly against the ground, this will mean that the spring arm 14 is constantly urged upwardly in a counterclockwise pivoting motion, as seen from the foreground in Figure 1. Thus, the spring arm 14 is mounted for swinging movement in a substantially vertical plane between a first position (that of Figure 1) in which it extends substantially horizontally and parallel to the frame member 12, and a second position in which the spring arm 14 extends at an angle upwardly, the angle depending upon the strength of the torque spring 23.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the means 17 on the end of the spring arm for entraining the cable 19 includes a cylindrical portion 30 which is upwardly convex, and which defines the base of an upwardly-opening U-shaped "saddle" of which the sides are defined by a tab 32 and a flattened portion 33 at the rightward end of the spring arm 14. At the flattened portion 33, the spring arm 14 is welded or otherwise secured to the cylindrical portion 30.

The animal trap further includes a trip lever 35 which is adapted to move between an upper, set position as shown in Figure 1, in which the trip lever is able to retain the spring arm 14 in the first position of the latter against the urging of the torque spring 23, and a lower, sprung position (shown in solid lines in Figure 3), in which the spring arm 14 is released.

More particularly, the trip lever 35 is L-shaped, having a vertical leg 37 and a horizontal leg 38. Thus, the trip lever extends upwardly as the leg 37 from a pivot location on the frame member 12 to an elbow 39, and then extends forwardly from the elbow 39 as the leg 38, to terminate in a pan element 40 which is wider than the trip lever itself, and is circular as shown.

The pivot at the lower end of the leg 37 consists of an extension 41 of the leg 37 (see Figure 3) projecting downwardly through a suitably dimensioned transverse slot in the frame member 12, and having a pin 42 in an appropriate aperture, in order to retain the leg 37 in position with respect to the frame member 12. The extension 42 also projects through the leftward end of a spring element 43, which urges the trip lever 35 toward its upper position, i.e. that shown in Figures 1 and 2. More specifically, the spring element 43 is in the form of a "leaf spring", having at its leftward end a transverse slot through which the previously mentioned extension 42 of the leg 37 of the trip lever 35 can pass.The spring element 43 extends upwardly at an oblique angle to terminate at a position intermediate of the length of the leg 37 of the trip lever 35, and merely rests slidingly against the underside of the leg 38.

As can be seen particularly in Figure 2, a manually adjustable thumb screw 45, threadedly engaged with a tapped bore in the frame member 12 at a position rightwardly or forwardly of the leg 37 of the trip lever 35, provides a fulcrum at an intermediate location of the upwardly obliquely sloping spring element 43, thus causing the latter to maintain a constant upward urging against the underside of the leg 38 of the trip lever 35. Adjustment of the thumb screw 45 will in turn adjust the amount of downward pressure that is required on the pan 40 in order to move the pan downwardly and spring the trap. Thus, if the trap were intended for animals of the size of a raccoon, an appropriate setting of the thumb screw 45 would avoid springing ofthe trap by chipmunks and other small animals.

As shown in Figure 3, when an animal of the appropriate size and weight moves the pan 40 downwardly, the spring element 43 is forced to assume a greater curvature, due to the fulcrum function of the thumb screw 45.

As seen in the figures, a protective housing 47 partially covers the spring element 43, and protects the thumb screw 45 from dirt and the like. The housing 47 is in the form of a downwardly open, square configuration, U-shaped channel having a top wall 48 and two side walls 49. The bottom of each side wall 49 has a smaller, inwardly open channel 50 adapted to receive the opposite marginal edges of the frame member 12 in a frictional grip. Another purpose of the protective housing 47 is to ensure that the trap is not set off except when an animal treads on the pan 40.

Turning now to the means by which the trip lever is able to retain the spring arm 14 in its downward or "set" position shown in Figure 1, this is seen to include an aperture 52 in the rightward face of the cylindrical portion 30 on the rightward end ofthe spring arm 14, and a projection 54 extending leftwardly or rearwardly from the elbow 39 of the trip lever 35, the projection 54 being adapted to engage the aperture 52 when the spring arm 14 is in the lowermost position shown in Figures 1 and 2, thus retaining the spring arm 14 in this position.It will be appreciated, particularly from an examination of Figure 3, that downward pressure on the pan 40, thus causing the trip lever 35 to rotate in the clockwise sense about the pivot defined by the extension 42 will cause the trip lever 35 to move from the broken-line position to the solid-line position in Figure 3, thus withdrawing the projection 54 from the aperture 52 in the cylindrical portion 30, thus in turn releasing the spring arm 14 to be snapped upwardly in the counter-clockwise direction due to the influence of the torque spring 23.

As seen in the figures, a cable generally shown at 60 is provided, the cable having anchoring means 62 at one end, and having a slide member 63 at the other end, the slide member being engaged with an intermediate location of the cable 60 itself, thus defining a loop or noose 64 adapted to be placed as shown in Figure 1, in which the noose 64 surrounds the trip lever 35, specifically the pan 40 of the trip lever 35. As seen in Figure 6, the slide member 63 has an aperture 63a, and a slot 63b extending from the aperture 63a to the end of the slide member 63.

This provides one of two possible safety arrangements for ensuring that an animal larger than the size aimed at by the trap will not be caught in the trap, but will be able to break free. By exerting a sufficient pull on the loop, an animal of sufficient size will cause the cable 64 to be pulled out through the slot 63b, thus distorting the metal of the slide member 63 in doing so.

A second safety provision consists in a connector 65, which is provided at an intermediate location on the cable 64, and in fact joins two separate lengths 66 and 67, which together make up the full cable 60.

The connector 65 is designed in such a way as to allow the two cable lengths 66 and 67 to come apart and separate from one another, upon the application of sufficient tensional force between the two cable lengths 66 and 67.

More specifically, as can be seen by comparing Figures 1,2 and 4, the connector 65 is a metal bar element 69 which is bent to define a closed loop of substantially rectangular configuration. The bar element 69 has a slot 70 at one of its ends 71, which slot 70 is closed by the other end 72 of the bar element 69, in its normal closed configuration, being that shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The bar element has two apertures at a location opposite the slot 70, these being identified by the numerals 73 and 73a in Figure 4. Thus the slot 70 and the apertures 73 and 73a are located in opposite sides ofthe "rectangle" defined by the bar when it is in a closed loop configuration. The end 73 of the cable length 66 passes through one ofthe apertures 73 and 73a and is attached on the inside of the loop to knuckle means incapable of passing through the aperture.In the figures, the knuckle means is seen to include two washers 76. The end of the cable, after passing through the washers, may be knotted, welded, or in any other manner may be incapable of passing through the washers. The end 77 of the other length 67 of cable passes through the slot 70 and is attached on the inside of the loop to knuckle means incapable of passing through the slot 70. In the figures, the last-mentioned knuckle means also includes washers 79, and again the end of the cable itself which projects through the washers 79 is made incapable of passing through the washers 79 by knotting, welding or other suitable means.The loop defined by the bar 69 is capable of being opened out to the configuration of Figure 4, upon the application of sufficient tensile force between the cable lengths, and this ultimatelywill permit the cable length 67 to slide out free of the connector, through the open end of the slot 70. In Figure 4, the cable length 67 is shown after having slid free ofthe connector, and the cable length 66 is illustrated as passing through the lower aperture 73. The choice of aperture in the case of the item shown in Figure 4 will have a bearing upon the amount of tensile force which must be exerted in order to open the loop defined by the bar 69 into the configuration of Figure 4.

An alternative component to replace component 65 shown in Figure 4 is that shown in Figure 5. in Figure 5, a component 81 is seen to be shaped as a hollow, open ended rectangular closed loop having four interconnected sides 82-85, with apertures 86 and 88 in two opposed sides 83 and 85, respectively.

Through these apertures 86 and 88 extend the cable 67 and 66, respectively, and the inside free ends of these cables are secured to washers in the same manner as previously described with respect to Figure 4. By replacing the item of Figure 4 with that shown in Figure 5, only the swivel capability is retained (i.e. the swivelling of one cable with respect to the other), and the release of the cables from connection with each other upon sufficient tensile strength does not take place. However, by providing the release safety feature already described with respect to Figure 6, it is still possible to ensure that an animal larger than that aimed at by the trap will not be retained by it.

As seen in Figure 1, the slide member 63 is curved, and has, at the end opposite that shown in Figure 6, a slot 81 into which the end ofthe cable 64 can fit.

The slide member 63 also has an opening 83 adjacent the slot 81, through which the free end of the cable can be inserted, and then either tied into a knot, welded, soldered or in some other manner rendered incapable of passing back through the opening 83.

Claims

1. An animal trap specific to a given range of animal weights, the trap comprising: a frame, a spring-arm pivotally mounted at one end to the frame and having means at the other end for entraining a cable, the spring-arm being mounted for swinging movement in a substantially vertical plane between a first position in which it is substantially horizontal and a second position in which it extends upwardly, spring means biasing the spring-arm toward said second position, a trip lever adapted to move between an upper, set position in which the lever is adapted to cause the spring-arm to be retained in said first position against the urging of the spring means, and a lower, sprung position in which the spring-arm is released, a cable having anchoring means at one end and defining at the other end a loop adapted to be placed so as to surround said trip lever, means for avoiding the springing of the trap by an animal lighter than said given range of animal weights, comprising a spring urging the trip lever toward said upper, set position, means for avoiding retention in the trap of an animal heavier than said given range of animal weights, comprising a connector in said cable and joining one portion of the cable to another portion thereof, the connector being capable of releasing said portions from connection together upon the application of a sufficient force.

2. The animal trap claimed in claim 1, in which said connector joins two separate cable lengths which together make up the full cable.

3. The animal trap claimed in claim 1, in which said connector joins the end of the cable to an intermediate location therein thereby defining said loop.

4. The animal trap claimed in claim 3, including a further connector joining two separate cable lengths which together make up the full cable.

5. The animal trap claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the force of the said spring urging the trip lever toward said upper, set position is manually adjustable.

6. The animal trap claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the trip lever includes a cantilevered pan element on which an animal can step.

7. The animal trap claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which said trip lever is L-shaped, extending upwardly from a pivot location on the frame to an elbow, and then forwardly from said elbow to a pan element wider than the lever, such that downward movement of the pan element causes horizontal movement of the elbow, a portion of the spring-arm having an aperture, said elbow having a projection adapted to enter said aperture and retain the spring-arm in the first position thereof until the pan element is caused to move downwardly, whereupon the projection withdraws from said aperture to allow the spring-arm to swing toward its second position.

8. The animal trap claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the means on the spring-arm for entraining a cable includes a U-shaped portion opening upwardly, in which the cable can rest.

9. The animal trap claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the said connector is a metal bar element bent to define a closed loop, the bar element having a slot at one of its ends, which slot is closed by the other end of the bar element, the bar element having an aperture at a location opposite the slot in terms of the closed loop, the end of one said cable length passing through said aperture and being attached on the inside of the loop to knuckle means incapable of passing through the aperture, the end of the other said cable length passing through said slot and being attached on the inside of the loop to other knuckle means incapable of passing through the slot, the loop being capable of being opened out, upon application of sufficient force between the cable lengths, to permit said other cable length to slide out free of the connector.

10. An animal trap as claimed in claim 9, in which a further aperture is located opposite the slot in the closed loop, the two apertures being different distances away from said other end of the bar element as measured along the bar element, whereby to provide a choice of release tensile force for the connector.

11. An animal trap as claimed in any one ofthe preceding claims except claims 2 and 4, in which a swivel means is interposed between two separate cable lengths and joins these to make up the full cable.

12. An animal trap specific to a given range of animal weights, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 and 6, with orwithoutthe modification of Figure 5, of the accompanying drawings.