WO2009145639A1

WO2009145639A1 - Fish and lobster trap

Info

Publication number: WO2009145639A1
Application number: PCT/NO2009/000198
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frank E L Salvesen
Original assignee: MYKJÅLAND, Bernt
Priority date: 2008-05-30
Filing date: 2009-05-28
Publication date: 2009-12-03
Also published as: NO20082548L; NO329088B1

Abstract

A trap of a folding type suitable for aquatic animals comprising a frame (1, 1'; 2, 2'; 3, 3' ) over said frame there being stretched a netting/web material (6), the frame comprising a polygonal bottom with at least two opposite side edges, said edges being connected to opposite hinge devices (4) that pivotably carry those frame sections that do not comprise the bottom of the trap, and where it to at least one side surface (7,7') is arranged at least one inwards-directed entrance (8,8'), where there to the internal sections of the entrance sections (8,8') are arranged pulling devices (10,10'), said pulling devices (10,10') running to the opposite side surface of the trap for holding the respective entrance sections (8,8') extended, and wherein two pivotable frame parts (3,3') form adjacent sections to each other when rotated to an upright position, said pulling devices (10,10') holding the trap together when mounted to their respective opposite upright frame section (3,3').

Description

FISH AND LOBSTER TRAP

The present invention concerns a trap for aquatic animals, especially fish and lobster, but also crab and other crustaceans. The trap is of a foldable type and comprises a frame consisting of frame parts. Over said frame there is provided a netting or a webbing material forming at least four side walls and a roof section, the frame comprising a polygon, preferably a square foundation with at least two opposite side edges, where there on said side edges are connected two opposite hinge devices that pivotably carry those frame parts that do not constitute the foundation of the trap, and where at least one netting wall includes an aperture forming an entrance to the interior of the trap. The entrance(s) comprise(s) entering sections formed by netting or webbing being connected to pulling devices such as elastics, strings, rope, wire, etc., said pulling devices running to the opposite side surface or wall of the trap to keep the respective entrance section extended when activating the pulling device, the trap being mounted when assembling the respective frame parts to each other. The trap according to the present invention is split into two halves by the pivotable frame parts. When assembled/erected the adjacent frame parts of the two cage halves of the trap are positioned mainly perpendicularly to the foundation of the trap.

Background for the Invention.

When fishing crustaceans such as crawfish and lobster, traps of diverse types are often used, but the common feature of most such traps is that they may not be folded and consequently requiring much space in the form of storage and handling space. In those instances where such traps may be folded down, the foldable parts often comprise complicated extending and locking devices being cumbersome and complicated to handle. Especially set or solid frames of such traps will limit the number of traps that may be transported by the trapping vessel/ship, something that also limits the catch possibilities.

On the other hand the set or solid frame types of traps are structurally rigid making durable frames that are not easily broken or damaged when handled, whereas foldable traps may yield or bend when erected on account of frame parts that are set at an angle to the foundation of the trap.

There exists thus a demand for simple and foldable traps that require very small storage space but that still present a rigid and solid frame structure when erected. Prior Art.

From JP 2001 238570 it is known a fish trap being equipped with a net for holding bait for fishes fastened along the inside of the bottom in the basket fish trap in which the invading route for fishes are formed.

From JP 2005 323564 a device being rather similar to the one depicted in JP 2001 238570 is known, but including a third top extension part of the trap for extending the net of the trap.

From JP 2001 321020 it is known a cage for a fish trap including an opening with an inserted net cylinder having a shrinking property from the circumference into the opening and with an open-holding frame or yarn at the intermediate portion or lower section of the net cylinder to fix the width of the net cylinder and tightly bind the intermediate position to a facing frame with a yarn to stably dispose the net cylinder in the cage of the trap, and thus form a fish-guiding route toward the opening of the net cylinder, as well as a floating fish backward movement-inhibiting portion toward the inside of the cage.

From US patent 4.354.325 there is known a folding trap for aquatic animals comprising a net bag stretched over a frame, where the frame members are hinged together adjacent mid positions thereof permitting swinging between folded and erected positions.

Although all of the prior art cages and traps mentioned above comprise foldable frames, none of them disclose a trap comprising two halves being where the trap is split perpendicularly to the foundation of the trap. Said prior art structures consist of scissoring frame structures over which there is stretched a one-piece netting material. Said scissoring structures represent, as mentioned above, an inferior structure when it comes to rigidity, although requiring little space when stored in a folded position.

Consequently there is a need for a trap being foldable and requiring little space when stored in a folded position for increasing the transport capabilities of the number of traps in' a vessel, but that still I simple to erect/assemble and that provides a rigid and strong structure when erected/assembled.

Disclosure of the Invention.

The invention will be disclosed infra under reference to the attached figures wherein: Figs. 1 and 2 show the trap according to the invention in a down-folded position wherein Fig. 1 shows the trap viewed from above and Fig. 2 shows the trap viewed from the side;

Fig. 3 shows the trap in a partly erected condition;

Fig. 4, 5 and 6 show the trap in a erected/assembled condition, wherein Fig. 4 shows the trap viewed from the side and Fig. 5 shows the trap viewed from the front/back (which in the depicted embodiment are equal because the trap is shaped symmetrically), and Fig. 6 shows the trap in a bird perspective;

Fig. 7 shows in detail a possible hinge device assembly for the pivotable parts of the trap according to one embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 8 and 9 show the construction of an alternative bottom of the trap according to the invention.

As shown in the figures the trap comprises a number of frame parts 1,';2,2';3,3' that are pivotably connected to each other through a hinge 4,4'. In the figures the frame is shown in a square embodiment, but it is of course possible to form it in other ways also, e.g. round, oval, hexagonal or polygonal, but where it in opposite surfaces from each other are located two hinges by which the frame parts may rotate.

The frame 1,1 ';2,2';3,3 may be made of a light and water-resistant material such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy, water resistant/tempered steel or plastic (polyethylene, polyvinyl, polystyrene, etc. or mixtures thereof), preferably aluminum/tempered steel or water-resistant steel. In an example the frame assembly may be made of 20 mm aluminum pipes. In an alternative embodiment it may also be possible to make the pipes of the frame as telescoping for thereby to further reduce the size of the trap in a down-folded position. If he frame is made of telescoping pipes, it will be preferred that it is possible to fix by locking the length of such pipes by the aid of locking devices such as snapping locks and/or holes with locking pegs or other known locking devices for such telescoping pipes.

In the shown embodiment the lower frame parts 1 ,1 ' make up a foundation/base surface, to said frame parts 1 ,1 ' a hinge 4,4' is securely mounted so that there is formed a rigid/solid construction. In the depicted embodiment the side parts 2,2' of the frame section lying over the foundation section 1 ,1 ' are twice the length as the side parts of the foundation so that when erecting the frame, these frame parts will form an angle of 60° to the foundation section. This to make the trap cubical as the top surface then will have an equal area as the bottom/foundation surface. This is, however, not required. The angle of the pivotable middle frame parts 2,2' may be fixed by e.g. stopping/locking elements in the hinge 4,4' so that when the frame parts are extended/erected (see infra) the angle is set by the stopping element in the hinge. Alternatively the frame parts 1,1 ';2,2';3,3' may be tied/weaved to the material/netting 6 forming the trap, i.e. knotted to the netting material 6 so that they ar erected automatically when the netting material 6 of the trap is tightened. (In the figures the netting material is only sketched or omitted for clarity's sake. The netting material may be envisaged by the person skilled in the art, and when required important parts such as the entrances to the trap through the netting material as well as the bait bag are indicated.) Instead of knotting/binding the frame parts 1,1 ';2,2';3,3' may be welded, glued or in any other way attached to the netting material 6 of the trap.

The side edges 2,2' ;3, 3' are in the shown embodiment secured pivotably to a hinge 4,4' wherein the hinge 4,4' is made of a solid plate onto which the side edges are mouinted by the aid of bolts. The non-pivotable section of the hinge is in the figure made up uf a U-shaped plate being welded (point-welded) to the foundation frame. Such an embodiment is, however, for illustration purposes, and also other types of hinges will be obvious to use for the person skilled in the art.

The third pair of frame parts 3,3' are those frame parts that define the height of the trap in an erected position. If the length of the angled and pivotable frame parts 2,2' is called L, the length of these vertical frame parts 3,3' will be Lcos30° for the trap to obtain a flat top. However, this is not required either. It is preferred that the third pair of frame parts 3,3' in an erect position lie 90° in relation to the lower frame parts 1 ,1 ' to make the frame construction rigid and stable in an upright/erect position, but this is not strictly required either, and in its simplest form it may be possible to omit the third pair of frame parts 3,3'. However, it is preferred to use four pivotable frame parts 2,2';3,3' (or more) as explained above, so that the rigidity of the trap frame becomes optimal. The number of frame parts will, however, have an impact on both the weight and the height of the trap in its down-folded condition so that it is preferred to use four pivotable and two fixed frame parts as explained above.

The breadth of the trap is random, but is preferred to make the breadth so that the foundation area becomes a square (quadratic) to make the trap stable. If the breadth is larger, or if it is wanted to make the base/foundation area of the trap more rigid, there may be placed bracing/stiffening elements/pipes 5 between the frame foundation parts 1,F.

Around the trap there is placed a web/netting material 6. In principle it may be used any kind of suitable netting material in the trap according to the present invention, where one alternative is that the web/netting material is sewn on in a straight/regular fashion. The width of the opening in the netting material may be selected so that a catch of the correct/wanted size is retained inside the trap. In the web/netting material 6 there is included at least one aperture/opening for locating an entrance for the relevant crustaceans, preferably crawfish, crabs or lobster, or fish. It is preferred that it is made an even number, preferably two entrances 8,8' in the netting material to the trap on opposite side surfaces 7,7' running perpendicularly to the pivoting plane for the hinges 4. These entrances 8,8' open into calves (entrance rings) 9,9', to said calves there optionally may be added/coupled counter-lances/poles preventing relevant animals from escaping the trap (not shown). To the calves 9,9' there may be fastened coupling devices such as elastic/rope/wire 10,10' running out through the web/netting material 6 in the opposite side of the trap for, when the trap is erected, tightening/erecting the entrance sections 8,8'. To the coupling devices 10,10' there are fastened hooks 1 1,1 1 '. The coupling devices 10,10' run under the angled frame parts 2,2' of the opposite side surface frame parts and may be secured to the perpendicular frame parts 3,3' of the same side of the trap. In this way the perpendicular frame parts 3,3' are held securely adjacent each other. With reference to the attached figures coupling devices 10 and hooks 1 1 belonging to the trap side 7 will run out through the opposite side T of the trap just below the opposite side's lower pivotable frame part 2' and are secured to the perpendicular frame part 3 of the same side 7 by the aid of the corresponding hook 1 1. This has as a consequence that the opposite side surface 7' with netting 6' will be stretched while simultaneously erecting the same side perpendicular frame part 3. The same thing will happen when stretching and securing the second coupling devices 10' and hooks 1 1 '.

In various embodiments of the trap according to the invention the web/netting material (6) may by knotted, bound, welded or glued to one or more of the frame parts (1,1 ';2,2';3,3';5).-

Since the calves 9,9' and the entrance sections 8,8' and the opposite side edges 7,7' of the netting material 6 are secured (bound, knotted, welded, glued, etc.) to each other, the trap will, when pulling or loosening the coupling devices 10, 10' as explained above, be erected or folded by manipulating the hooks 1 1 ,1 1 ' which are hooked onto their respective perpendicular frame parts 3,3' while simultaneously tightening and erecting the entrance sections 8,8'

Inside the trap there is preferably also located a container 12 for bait, in the depicted embodiment shown as a bait bag made of netting material. Such a container 12 may be present in the form of a netting bag, clamp, wire bag or any other form of holding device for the bait. This holding device 12 for the bait will be located so that the respective animal to be trapped may not proceed towards the bait without passing through the calves 9,9'. As an example this may be ensured by securing the holding device 12 to one of the perpendicular frame parts 3,3' and the bracing pipe 5 in the bottom of the trap by using a rope, wire or elastic so that the holding device 12 becomes located mainly in the middle of the trap when the trap is erected as explained above. In the shown embodiment the bait bag 12 is erected in the same manner as the "calves" 9,9' and the bait bag 12 is in this embodiment cut and sewn mask-straight to achieve resilience in the netting that it is made of . In such an embodiment it is formed a rounded top opening in the bait bag 12, said opening being threaded with a string in the bag by threading the string alternately between the masks all the way (360°) around the bag 12, whereafter the bag 12 is secured to an elastic band (or other resilient device such as a spring or elastic rubber band), and this elastic, ending in a cork, is passed outside the wall of the trap and assists in locking the top of the trap while simultaneously closing the bait bag 12. By pulling the elastic running from the top of the bait bag 12 for tightening the elastic, the top of the bait bag is simultaneously drawn together, and conversely when the elastic is loosened, the locking thread for the bait bag is simultaneously is loosened and the opening thereof is extended. This is an advantage when lowering the frame of the trap because this makes the bait bag 12 easily accessible.

As an example is will be presented that the is a trap according to the invention (as disclosed above) is made of a frame of tempered aluminum pipes with the cross section diameter of 20 mm, where the rigid bottom frame measures 90 x 50 cm, and with an erect height of 52 + 1 ,5 cm, such a trap will in its folded condition have a length that still is 90 cm, a breadth being 1 10 cm and a height of 8,5 cm. This makes the trap according to the invention very well suited for stacking in its folded condition, and it is possible to transport a large number of such traps with a small room for storage on board. The hinge 4 in the shown embodiment has the form of a bent "U" with three point-weldings to the frame at its bottom to secure it to the frame, the four pivotable frame parts/hoops being secured with 4 mm penetrating bolts and with a locking nut on the inside. The difference between length of the innermost hoop and the outermost hoop corresponds to the angle needed to obtain 90°, at the circumference about 4 mm. Between the hinges and the hoops there is placed a 4 mm washer on both sides (threaded onto the bolt, invisible) to make the hinge function more even.

The "calves" (entrance sections) are made of 6" PVC-pipes being cut into 1 cm lengths. The entire cloth/netting is sewn mask-straight, i.e. the netting openings become square, this for erecting the trap in this embodiment and provide it with the required function.

With such a trap as explained in the above example a fisherman who shall store 10 traps in his cabin/sea house may store the traps according to the invention in the same space as 4 traditional ones, and this has simultaneously the effect that a professional fisherman may transport up to three to four times as many traps than before in the same space on board his ship as was used for conventional traps, while the storage volume outside the season is reduced to 30% (i.e. a volume reduction of the trap in a folded condition in this embodiment is 70%). Even if the reduction in volume is partly dependent on what tpe of traps that are relevant, a reduction ratio of the storage space as compared to traditional traps for the same field of use within the interval 50-75% will be possible.

The bottom/foundation of the trap according to the invention may be comprised of h same or a different netting material as the walls of the trap, or the material may in a preferred embodiment be made of a solid bottom part 13. In this bottom part 13 it is located a screen in the form of parallel rods 14 (that may run in a longitudinal or a transversal direction of the trap), in the form of a solid netting or in the form of another kind of rigid material. It is preferred to make the bottom 13 of the trap in the formof parallel rods 14. In this embodiment there will be connected to the bottom frame 14 of the trap a rod 15 to which the netting material may be secured. The rod 15 runs around the entire circumference of the bottom 13 of he trap, and is secured to the frame of the trap by the aid erect securing parts 16 (welded pegs, stays, bolts, etc.). The distancebetween the rod 15 and the bottom frame 1 is not big enough for relevant prey to escape, but will have the effect that prey being too small may escape the trap. Such a construction of the bottom 13 of the trap will also avoid wear and tear between the netting material 6 and the bottom frame 1, especially in those parts where the netting material abuts the sea floor between this and the frame 1 of the trap.

When constructing the trap bottom 13 with a completely or partially enveloping rod 15 that lies at a distance from the trap bottom, it will also be possible to knot/tie the netting material 6 to this rod 15 as well as securing this with an additional rope 17 (see Fig. 9). The distance between the trap bottom 1 and the enveloping rod 15 will lie within the interval 1-10 cm, more preferred 1,5-7 cm, even more preferred 2-4 cm, most preferred 2 cm.

Such a construction of the bottom part 13 of trap will assist in making the trap construction rigid. The material of the bottom section 13 will preferably be made of a metal or metal alloy (e.g. aluminum or an aluminum alloy) or of a plastic material. The material of the trap bottom may also be steel to provide the trap with a sufficient weight making it redundant to provide the trap with sinkers/additional weights. A weight of 8- 9 kg with 6mm rods in the bottom will be a relevant embodiment, where the distance between the rods my be about 10-5 mm, more preferred 15-30 mm, most preferred about 22 mm. For increasing the weight of the trap it is possible to increase the diameter of the bottom poles 14. One possible material of the trap bottom 13 ma be black steel that optionally may be plasticized to limit the corrosion.

Claims

1. Trap of a folding type suitable for aquatic animals comprising a frame (1,1';2,2';3,3') over said frame there being stretched a netting/web material (6), the frame comprising a polygonal, preferably square bottom with at least two opposite side edges, said edges being connected to opposite hinge devices (4) that pivotably carry those frame sections that do not comprise the bottom of the trap, and where it to at least one side surface (7,7') is arranged at least one hole (8,8') in the form of inwards- directed entrances, where there to the internal sections of the entrance sections (8,8') are arranged pulling devices (10,10') such as elastics, strings, ropes, wire, etc., said pulling devices (10,10') running to the opposite side surface of the trap for through a pulling action holding the respective entrance sections (8,8') extended, characterized in that two pivotable frame parts (3,3') form adjacent sections to each other when rotated to an upright position, said netting/web material (6) being individually stretched over and associated with the individual respective adjacent pivotable frame parts (3,3') thereby forming two trap sections when the trap is in an upright erect position and splitting the trap in two, said pulling devices (10,10') holding the trap together when mounted to their respective opposite upright frame section (3,3').

2. Trap according to claim 1, characterized in that there are mounted "calves" (9,9') to each entrance section (8,8').

3. Trap according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the angle that the pivotable frame parts (2,2';3,3') with respect to the foundation surface (1,1') of the trap is fixed by the action of locking devices located in the hinge (4).

4. Trap according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the angle that the pivotable frame parts (2,2';3,3') form to the foundation surface (1,1 ') of the trap is determined by their coupling to the frame parts (2,2';3,3') to the netting/web material (6).

5. Trap according to claim 4, characterized in that the web/netting material (6) is knotted, bound, welded or glued to one or more of the frame parts (1,1';2,2';3,3';5)

6. Trap according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it additionally comprises a container for bait (12)

7. Trap according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame parts are made of aluminum, acid-resistant aluminum, steel and/or plastic.

8. Trap according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pulling devices (10,10') comprise an elastic band.

9. Trap according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connecting elements for the pivotable frame parts (2,2';3,3') comprise hooks (11,1 V).

10. Trap according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame parts (1,1' ;2,2';3,3') are comprised of telescoping pipes.

11. Foundation/bottom (13) for trap according to any of the claims 1 -10, characterize de in that the foundation (13) comprises a rigid frame (1), to said frame (1) there being attached a number of spokes or a netting (14), and to said frame (1) there being secured a completely or partly surrounding pole (15) by the aid or upright pegs (16), and to said pole (15) there is secured a web or netting material (6).

12. Foundation according to claim 11, characterized in that I comprises a number of parallel spokes (14) lying at a distance of about 10-50 mm, more preferred 15-30 mm, most preferred about 22 mm from each other.

13. Foundation according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the foundation gives the trap a weight og 8-9 kg, where the foundation comprises 6 mm parallel steel spokes.