Patent ID: 11950587
Assignee: STEPHEN P. SHOEMAKER TRUST
Field: Other special machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A rat trap, comprising:
a frame having a first end, a second end, and a central beam connecting the first end to the second end, the second end formed with a slot for receiving a cable;
a tunnel disposed at the second end;
a spring mounted to said frame and attached directly to the frame only at a first end of the spring, and having a free end opposite the first end of the spring which is unattached to any portion of the frame, said spring having a longitudinal axis and a direction of travel along said longitudinal axis;
a cable attached directly to the unattached free end of the spring, the cable including a noose at an end thereof, wherein the noose is inserted into the slot;
a ring attached to the cable;
a switch configured for detecting a presence of an object below the slot;
a column rotatably connected to the central beam, the column configured to keep the cable in tension from the spring when the column is held in a first position by the switch until the switch releases the column to allow the column to rotate to a second position to release the tension on the cable from the spring;
a peg extending from the column and sized to insert into said ring, wherein the peg is inserted into said ring when the column is in the first position to keep the cable in tension from the spring and wherein the peg is disengaged from the ring when the column rotates to the second position to release the tension on the cable from the spring; and
a pulley vertically disposed on the frame at said first end of the frame, said pulley receiving the cable thereon for converting a linear movement of the free end of the spring in a first direction to a linear movement of the cable in an opposite direction to the first direction;
whereupon the moving object is captured inside the noose of the cable as the cable is withdrawn from the slot.