GB2258381A

GB2258381A - Box trap.

Info

Publication number: GB2258381A
Application number: GB9209278A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Victor John Naunton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-05-09
Filing date: 1992-04-29
Publication date: 1993-02-10
Also published as: GB9209278D0

Abstract

The invention provides a vermin trap having an externally mounted door 40 having spring means 44 urging the door to a closed position and a latch mechanism 54 for preventing the door from closing until the trap is operated by means of a platform 48. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO TRAPS This invention relates to traps for vermin such as rabbits and is particularly concerned with humane traps which do not damage the animal on trapping.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is shown a known form of such a humane trap. The trap comprises an elongate rectangular cage 10 of Weldmesh (Trademark) or a like material. The cage is closed on all sides save for one end 12 which is open to permit an animal such a rabbit to enter in the direction of the arrow A. The cage 10 has a door 14 pivotally mounted along its upper edge between opposite sidewalls of the cage 10.

Adjacent the end of the cage 10 remote from the end 12, a platform 16 is provided. The platform 16 is mounted on a transverse shaft 18 so as to be pivotal. A latch 20, in the form of an elongate rod, is pivotally connected by one end to the platform 16 so as to be moved, as the platform 16 pivots. The latch 20, at its unconnected end, is supported on a stub 22 projecting from the cage sidewall and, in turn, supports the door 14 in its "up" ie latched position.

In operation, a bait such as a carrot is placed adjacent the closed end of the cage 10 so as to be beyond the platform 16. To take the bait, a rabbit has to enter the cage in the direction of the arrow A and proceed to the platform 16. The carrot is placed so that the rabbit has to walk over the platform 16 beyond the shaft IS causing the platform to pivot and the latch 20 to be withdrawn removing support for the door 14 which then pivots downwardly under its own weight to a vertical, closed position. Stops (not shown) are provided to prevent the door 14 moving beyond the vertical position. The rabbit is then trapped.

Such a trap has many disadvantages. The trap is necessarily elongate to provide sufficient longitudinal clearance so that, when the door 14 drops, the rabbit is further within the cage and cannot inhibit the closure of the door. This elongation causes a rabbit to try to access the bait (by digging for example) at the closed end of the cage 10. In fact, signs of such attempted recovery of the bait are frequently seen when the bait has not been taken and the trap has not been activated. The rabbit has obviously not discovered the open end 12 of the trap because of its remoteness from the visible bait.

The rabbit is usually removed from the trap by tipping the trap onto its closed end. The door drops open and the trapper can reach in, approximately to full arm's length, to extract the rabbit from the closed end of the trap. Unless gauntlets are worn, there is a strong possiblity of a scratched or bitten hand or wrist.

Such a trap requires excess materials, is bulkier than is necessary and, further, is heavier to carry.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved trap wherein the aforesaid disadvantages are minimised or obviated.

According to the present invention, there is provided a trap comprising a cage closed on all sides save one whereat is externally mounted a pivotal door, spring means for urging the door towards its closed position, a pivotal platform within the cage and latch means extending between the platform and the door for maintaining the door open, against the bias of the spring means, the latch means being displaced, on pivoting of the platform, to release the door permitting the same to be closed by the spring means.

It will be realised that, because the door is externally mounted, the cage can be commensurately shortened saving in materials and weight.

Preferably, the cage is of rectanguloid shape and is conveniently made of Weldmesh (Trademark) or a similar material The latch means may be an unsupported strut held, in its latching position, by force of the spring means, between a shaft whereon the platform is pivoted and an extension of the door.

That end of the strut which is arranged to engage the platform shaft, and the cooperating surface of the shaft, may comprise a flat on the one and an arcuate or hemispherical surface on the other.

The extension on the door may be rectilinear or L-shaped so that the door, in its open position, may be latched at 180 or at 90 degrees respectively to its closed position.

Alternatively, the strut may be in two parts pivotally connected together by a knee joint, one part being secured, for example, by welding to the platform shaft, and the other part being arranged to engage the door or an extension thereof to hold the door in its latched position against the action of the door spring. In operation, pivoting of the platform initiates flexing of the knee joint whereupon the door spring causes the joint to flex fully as the door moves swiftly to its closed position.

To facilitate manufacture, the cage may comprise a sheet of Weldmesh (Trademark) folded thrice to form the four sides of the cage. A rectangle of Weldmesh (Trademark) may be welded or clipped to one end to form the closed end of the trap. U-shaped cradles may be clipped to the cage to provide journals for the platform shaft and a mount for the pivotal door.

Alternatively, the trap may be provided in "knock-down" form in which the end, the sides, the platform and the door are provided as flat panels of Weldmesh (Trademark) with clips, brackets and spring for self-assembly.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a prior art trap; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a trap according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of one form of latch means of the trap according to the present invention; Figures 4A and 4B are views, respectively, of a preferred form of latch means of a trap according to the present invention; Figure 5 is a perspective of one form of cradle providing journals for a door and platform of the trap; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a plug used alternatively to provide each of the necessary journals; Figures 7A and 7B are views similar to figures 4A and 4B of a further embodiment of a trap according to the present invention; and Figures 8A to 11B are views of further traps according to the present invention.

Referring firstly to Figures 2 and 3, there is shown a trap according to the present invention. The trap comprises a box-like cage 30 comprising sidewalls 32, top 34, bottom 36, closed end 38 and door 40. The sidewalls, top, bottom, closed end and door are preferably formed of a rigid wire mesh such as that known as Weldmesh (Trademark) as indicated diagrammatically in Figure 2. Unlike prior art traps, a rabbit trap, according to the present invention, would have a length of approximately twice that of a rabbit as compared to a length of somewhat greater than three times the length of a rabbit for a trap as shown in Figure 1.

The cage 30 may be formed of a first sheet of the wire mesh folded thrice to form the sidewalls 32, top 34 and bottom 36 clipped using, for example, C-clips or welded together along the meeting ends, whereto a second sheet is welded or clipped to form the closed end 38. Alternatively, the cage 30 may be formed from separate panels clipped together or welded to form the cage. If clips are used, in addition to the rigidity provided by the end 38, it is preferable that the clips themselves, or additional rigidifying brackets1 ensure that the cage retains its box-like shape and does not tend to collapse.

At the open end of the cage 30, along the upper edge, a shaft 42 is provided. The shaft 42 may be integral with the door 40 or may be fitted thereto by clips (not shown) In either case, the door 40 is pivotally mounted to the upper edge of the open end of the cage.

A coiled spring 44 is mounted on the shaft 42. The spring has legs 46 one of which engages the door 40 and the other engages the top 34 of the cage 30. Movement of the door to the position shown in Figure 2, from the closed position serves to tension the spring 44 ( or if the spring is pre-tensioned, serves further to tension the spring).

Latch means are provided for holding the door in its open position as shown and for releasing the door when the trap is tripped. The latch means comprises a platform 48 eg. a rigid sheet of wire mesh, mounted by a shaft 50 extending between journals 52 on opposite sidewalls 32 of the cage 30 adjacent the closed end 38 thereof. The platform 48 is arranged so that, if a bait such as a carrot is placed between the platform and the closed end 38 of the cage, a rabbit, to take the bait, must stand on the platform 48 at an over-centre position causing the platform and the shaft to pivot in the journals 52. A strut 54 can be wedged between the shaft 50 and an extension 56 of the door 40, being held in such position by the spring force tending to urge the door 40 towards its closed position.

Referring particularly to Figure 3, the latch is shown in more detail. One end 58 of the strut 54 may locate in a notch or depression in the extension 56. The other end of the strut may be rounded to hemispherical shape and engage an orthogonal flat on the shaft 50. As soon as the shaft begins to rotate (due to the over-centre weight of a rabbit on the platform 48), the rounded end 60 of the strut 54 skids off the flat on the shaft 50 and the door 40 swings rapidly to its closed position under the influence of the spring 44. Spring catches 62 are provided to engage the lower edge of the door 40 as the door moves to its closed position to prevent a trapped rabbit pushing the doo open against the action of the spring.

The extension 56 may be L-shaped permitting the door 40 to be latched open at 90 degrees rather than 180 degrees as shown in Figure 2.

Referring now to Figures 4A and 4B,there is shown a trap according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In these and subsequently described figures, similar reference numerals have been used to denote like parts. The cage 30, door 40 and treadle platform 48 are identical to those described in relation to Figure 3. The latch mechanism comprises a strut 64 formed of a first strut 66 pivotally connected at one end to the extension 56 of the door 40 and pivotally connected at a pivot 68 at its other end, via a knee joint 70, to a second strut 67. The joint 70 is of conventional design and permits the struts to pivot relative to one another in one direction only (upwardly as shown). The second strut 67 is fixedly connected, as by welding, to the shaft 50 of the platform 48.

When the platform tilts, the struts 66 and 67 pivot about the point 68 whereafter the door 40 moves quickly to its closed position under the influence of its spring loading.

Figure 5 shows a metal stamping in the form of a cradle 72 which can be used as shown to provide journals for the door 40 or inverted to provide journals for the platform 48. the cradle 72 comprises a bed 74 and two end plates 76 each apertured at 78 and having tabs 80. The cradle bed 74 is of the same width as the cage 30 and spans the same (preferably externally) to present the apertures 78 at appropriate locations to provide the journals. the tabs 80 may engage the wire mesh of the cage 30 either by inherent resilience or may be bent to clip thereto.

Figure 6 shows an alternative manner of providing the journals. A moulded plastic plug 82 of dimensions commensurate with the mesh size of the material of the cage 30 provides each journal. The plug 82 has a peripheral groove 84 (or has at least two opposed sides so provided) and is a resilient press fit into the mesh of the sidewalls at the required locations. It will be noted that an aperture 86 of the plug 82 is located off centre so that the journal may be located relative to a mesh aperture as required, by corresponding orientation of the plug, on pressing the same into the mesh aperture.

The plug 82 may be replaced by a similar metal stamping of appropriate size and apertured, and provided with metal tabs, similar to the tabs 80, to permit fixing.

Figures 7A and 7B show another form of latch mechanism. The cage 30 is identical to those previously described. The door 40 has no extension 56. The platform 48 is pivoted at its lower end. A rectilnear tie rod 88 serves to latch the door 40 in the set condition of the trap. The rod 88 has a notch 90 arranged to engage a wire of the mesh of the door 40, a cam pivot slot 92 intermediate its ends arranged to engage a wire of the mesh of the cage 30, and a platform notch 94 serving to engage a wire of the mesh of the platform 48. In operation, when the platform 48 pivots, the rod 88 pivots also and is simultaneous drawn to the right (as viewed). The movement of the rod causes it additionally to be lifted by the camming action of the cage mesh wire in the slot 92. the notch 90 releases the door allowing it to close under the action of its spring.

Figures 8A and 8B show a similar latch mechanism to that shown in Figures 7A and 7B. In this case, a tie rod 96 has a door notch 98, a pivot notch 100 and a platform support hook 102. In operation, as the platform pivots, the support hook 102 is drawn down pivoting the rod 96 about the notch 100, and releasing the door from the notch 98.

Figures 9 and 10 both show a trap in which an over centre spring arrangement replaces or supplements the above described door spring loading.

As shown in Figure 9, the door 40 has a spring 104 at one or both sides thereof connected to the cage towards the lower part of the sidewall thereof. In the position shown, the spring 104 is tensioned and the door 40 has moved to an over centre position, the spring maintaining the door in this position against the action of stops (not shown) and/or against the pull of a tie rod 106 connected between the extension 56 of the door 40 and the platform 48. on pivotal movement of the platform 48, the rod 106 is drawn to the right pulling the door extension 56 and causing the door 40 to pivot overcentre whereupon the spring 104 urges the door towards its closed position In Figure 10, the trap there shown has the lower end of a spring 108 connected to a pivoted member 110 on the sidewall of the cage 30. A tie rod 112 connects a free end of the member 110 to the platform 48 and operation of the trap is similar to the embodiment of Figure 9. It should be noted that an extension 56 is not needed in this embodiment but that some form of stop is necessary to ensure that the door is latched in the position shown.

Figures 11A and 11B show one further form of latch mechanism of a trap of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a cord 114, for example a nylon cord, is secured to the treadle at one end, passes over a wire of the top of the cage, is taken back beneath the top of the cage 30 to another wire and then up to be fastened to a release block 116. The block 116 is T shaped and is notched at the foot of the upright to sit on a wire of the top of the cage 30. The cord 114 is fastened to one arm of the T-shaped block 116 and the other arm of the block is notched to receive a wire of the mesh of the door 40. Pivotal movement of the platform 48 pulls on the cord 114 causing the block 116 to pivot and to release the door 40.

The invention is not confined to the precise details of the foregoing example and variations may be made thereto.

For example, the cage may be made of materials other than Weldmesh (Trademark) although this is a preferred material providing adequate strength and rigidity. Thus, a much lighter material may be used together with a rigid frame.

The requirement is only that the material be strong enough to resist attempts by a trapped animal to escape.

The spring 44 may be mounted on the shaft 42, the adjacent edge of the door 40 or the adjacent upper edge of the top 34 of the cage.

Other forms of latch means may be provided to latch and release the door; several simple forms have been exemplified.

Whilst the trap has been described as being intended for the trapping of rabbits, it will be appreciated that with little or no modification it could be used for the humane trapping of other vermin.

Claims

1. A trap comprising a cage closed on all sides save one whereat is externally mounted a pivotal door, spring means for urging the door towards its closed position, a pivotal platform within the cage and latch means extending between the platform and the door for maintaining the door open, against the bias of the spring means, the latch means being displaced, on pivoting of the platform, to release the door permitting the same to be closed by the spring means.

2. A trap as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cage is of rectanguloid shape.

3. A trap as claimed in claim 1 or 2 made of Weldmesh (Trademark) or a similar material.

4. A trap as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the cage comprises a sheet of Weldmesh (Trademark) folded thrice to form the four sides of the cage.

5. A trap as claimed in claim 4 wherein a rectangle of Weldmesh (Trademark) is welded or clipped to one end to form the closed end of the trap.

6. A trap as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein the trap is provided in "knock-down" form in which the end, the sides, the platform and the door are provided as flat panels of Weldmesh (Trademark) with clips, brackets and spring for self-assembly.

7. A trap as claimed in any preceding claim wherein U-shaped cradles are clipped to the cage to provide journals for the platform shaft and a mount for the pivotal door.

8. A trap as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6 wherein journals for the door and/or the platform are formed by snap-in apertured plastic plugs.

9. A trap as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the latch means is an unsupported strut held, in its latching position, by force of the spring means, between a shaft whereon the platform is pivoted and an extension of the door.

10. A trap as claimed in claim 9 wherein that end of the strut which is arranged to engage the platform shaft, and the cooperating surface of the shaft, comprises a flat on the one and an arcuate or hemispherical surface on the other.

11. A trap as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein the strut is in two parts pivotally connected together by a knee joint, one part being secured, for example, by welding to the platform shaft, and the other part being arranged to engage the door or an extension thereof to hold the door in its latched position against the action of the door spring.

12. A trap as claimed in claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the extension on the door is rectilinear or L-shaped so that the door, in its open position, may be latched at 180 or at 90 degrees respectively to its closed position.

13. A trap as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein the latch means comprises a rectilinear bar having, at one end, a door notch, intermediate its ends, a camming pivot notch and, at its other end, a platform notch.

14. A trap as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein the latch means comprises a crooked bar having, at one end, a door notch, intermediate its ends, a pivot notch and, at its other end, a platform hook.

15. A trap as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein the door is biased by a spring means such that the door has an over centre position, and a tie bar serves, on pivotal movement of the platform, to move the door over centre whereupon the spring means then urges the door to its closed position.

16. A trap as claimed in claim 15 wherein the spring means is mounted between the door and a pivotal member which latter is moved by the tie bar, on pivotal movement of the platform, to move the spring over centre to a door closing position.

17. A trap as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8 wherein the latch means comprises a cord extending between the platform and a pivotal T-shaped block, one arm of the block providing a door notch whereby, on pivotal movement of the platform, the cord is pulled to pivot the block and release the door.

18. A trap substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 or Figures 2 and 3 as modified by Figures 4A and 4B, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figures 7A and 7B, Figures 8A and 8B, Figure 9, Figure 10, or Figures 11A and 11B of the accompanying drawings.