Abstract:
An animal trap comprising a housing which is constructed of a sidewall that permits visual observation of the internal chamber enclosed by the sidewall of the housing. There is formed an entrance opening within the sidewall and mounted in conjunction with the entrance opening is a restrictor. The restrictor permits entry of an animal into the internal chamber but prevents exit of the animal from the internal chamber.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The field of this invention relates to a device that traps animals and more particularly to a device that is to trap an animal without causing injury or death to the animal. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Animal traps have long been known. In the past, animals have been trapped for their furs and also because certain animals are nuisances. Common animals that are nuisances are mice, rats, gophers, ground squirrels, possums, and even coyotes. Also, a dog or a cat could be a nuisance animal in some instances. The subject matter of the present invention will be discussed primarily in relation to mice, but it is to be understood that it could be used in conjunction with other animals. 
         [0005]    In some environments, mice can be a most undesirable problem. Mice can not only be unsanitary, but they are capable of causing destruction. In a home, an infestation of mice is exceedingly undesirable. On a farm, mice can infest certain areas, such as a grain silo and actually cause loss of income to the farmer. 
         [0006]    In the past, there have been designed numerous types of mouse traps with the most common form of a mouse trap including a springable wire which is designed to come against the body of the mouse causing the mouse&#39;s death. When using of such traps, many people don&#39;t like to remove the mouse from the trap and reuse it. Therefore, the entire trap is disposed of along with the mouse. If one has a significant mouse problem and it happens to be that for every mouse caught there is a trap that is being disposed of, the overall cost for catching the mice can become significant. 
         [0007]    There are two primary disadvantages to the prior art type of spring traps for catching mice. The first disadvantage is that it is only capable of catching one mouse at a time. To overcome this disadvantage, there are used a plurality of traps placed in a given area in order to possibly catch all the mice that have infested that area. This requires that the placer of the traps remember where each and every trap is placed. At times, the user of the traps may forget where a particular trap is placed, and if a mouse is caught by that trap, the mouse will deteriorate and can possibly cause a rather unsanitary condition. 
         [0008]    The second disadvantage of the prior art spring trap for mice is that almost invariably the mice are killed. Some individuals prefer not to kill living creatures. Therefore, these individuals still desiring to rid themselves of an infestation of mice find it undesirable to use such a trap. For that end, it would be desirable to design some kind of a trap that would capture the mice in a live state. The mice are then to be disposed of at a remote location. It would also be desirable to design some form of a trap that permitted a plurality of mice to be captured at the same time rather than just capturing a single one. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The basic embodiment of the present invention comprises an animal trap comprising a housing having a sidewall. The sidewall encloses an internal chamber. An entrance opening is formed in the sidewall with a restrictor being mounted in conjunction with this opening. The restrictor permits entry of an animal into the internal chamber but prevents exit of the animal from the internal chamber. 
         [0010]    A further embodiment of the present invention is where the sidewall of the housing is constructed of a screening material. 
         [0011]    A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by the including of a handle on the housing with this housing permitting manual transporting of the housing to different locations. 
         [0012]    A further embodiment of the present invention is where the basic embodiment is modified by the housing being of a dome shape. 
         [0013]    A further embodiment of the present invention is where there is included a tray mounted in conjunction with the housing with the tray functioning to close the internal chamber or to be movable to open the internal chamber in order to remove a captured animal from the internal chamber. 
         [0014]    A further embodiment of the present invention is where the just previous embodiment is modified by the tray being slidably movable relative to the housing. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is to be made to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangement shown in the drawings. 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a top plan view of the basic embodiment of animal trap constructed in accordance with this invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view through the animal trap of this invention taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the animal trap of the present invention taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view through a portion of the tray of  FIG. 3  taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ; 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0020]    Referring particularly to the drawings, there is shown the basic embodiment of animal trap  10  of this invention. This basic embodiment is shown principally in  FIGS. 1-3 . This basic embodiment of animal trap  10  is constructed of a housing  12 . The housing  12  is shown to be of a dome shape. However, other shapes could be utilized such as, for example, the truncated pyramid square shape housing  14  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  and the truncated pyramid retangularly shaped housing  16  shown in  FIG. 7 . The housing  12  includes a sidewall  18  that is formed of a screening material. Typical screening material would be a wire screen. Other than screening material, a solid structure may be used. Also, although it is desirable to be able to visually observe that internal chamber  30 , such is not a requirement. The sidewall  18  may or may not include arcuate shaped support rods  20  that are mounted in conjunction with the screening material of the sidewall  18  as such may not be necessary as the wire screen itself may provide sufficient strength. If the support rods  20  are used, the number of the support rods  20  could comprise any desirable number, not necessarily the twelve in number that are shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
         [0021]    Formed within the sidewall  18  is an entrance opening  22 . The entrance opening  22  is shown at the apex of the dome shaped sidewall but could be at any location. This entrance opening  22  may be formed by a support ring  24  that is located about the entrance opening  22 . The support ring  24  is fixedly secured as by welding to the support rods  20  and also to the screening material of the sidewall  18 . Typically, the support rods  20  will be constructed of a metallic material. 
         [0022]    Mounted in conjunction with the entrance opening  22  is a restrictor  26 . The restrictor  26  can take any of numerous forms, but the most desirable form for the restrictor  26  is that it comprises a plurality of wire members  28  (such as twelve in number) that are arranged in a truncated cone shaped pattern. The wire members  28  are fixedly secured to the sidewall  18  and are bent and extend past the support ring into the internal chamber  30  which is enclosed by the sidewall  18 . The wire members  28  are sufficiently rigid but still are flexible and are capable of deflecting. The free end of the wire members  28  define an access opening  32 . An animal, such as a mouse or a rat, is to be able to readily climb on the exterior surface of the sidewall  18  and slip through the entrance opening  22  sliding past the wire members  28  of the restrictor  26  and passing through the access opening  32  to then become confined within the internal chamber  30 . Once the animal is captured within the internal chamber  30 , it is not able to conduct itself back through the access opening  32  to gain its freedom exteriorly of the animal trap  10 . 
         [0023]    In order to achieve portability and transportability of the animal trap  10 , there is mounted a handle  34  on the sidewall  18 . The handle  34  is movable between a lower position lying against the sidewall  18  to an upper position located substantially transverse to the sidewall  18 . The handle  34  is to be graspable to permit the transporting or portability. 
         [0024]    Fixedly secured to the sidewall  18  substantially closing the internal chamber  30  is a tray  36 . Tray  36  comprises a solid member which is fixedly secured as by wire ring  38  to the sidewall  18 . The tray  36  typically will comprise a metallic sheet metal material. Formed within the tray  36  is an exit opening  40 . Mounted on the tray  36  in the area directly adjacent the exit opening  40  is a slider flange  42 . The slider flange  42  forms a slot  46 . A door  44 , which comprises a thin sheet material member, is mounted in conjunction with the slot  46 . The door  46  includes a handle  48 . The handle  48  is to be used to facilitate manual movement of the door  44  from a closed position closing of the exit opening  40  to an opening position to permit exit of any animal contained within the internal chamber  30 . It is to be understood that they tray  36  and door  44  could be in many other forms all of which will permit emptying of the contents of the internal chamber  30 .