Animal trap

A mousetrap in which the spring-loaded trapping bail is held in the set position by a dog disposed on a tab resiliently hinged to the frame of the trap. A trip lever causes the tab to be moved away from the bail when the bait is touched, so that the dog releases the bail, which then moves under the action of a coil spring to trap the animal.

This invention relates to an improved animal trap, particularly suitable 
for but not limited to the trapping of small animals. 
Animal traps for small animals, such as mousetraps, of the type in which a 
bail arm is urged against one end of a platform by a strong coil spring, 
and held in a set position at the other end of the platform by some sort 
of pawl or other releasable engaging member, are well known in the art. 
See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 869,594; 891,880; 1,333,875; 1,458,404; 
1,462,102; 1,483,688, and 1,796,503. 
These prior art traps, however, generally suffer from undue complexity and 
consequent manufacturing expense, and/or inability to place the bait 
before and independently of the setting of the trap. The latter problem 
results in difficulty of setting the trap without injuring one's fingers. 
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved 
animal trap overcoming the aforementioned disadvantages of prior art 
devices. 
As herein described, there is provided an animal trap comprising a frame 
including a platform, an animal engaging element comprising a generally 
U-shaped bail, means for rotatably mounting said bail on said platform, 
for rotation about a transverse axis parallel to the platform between a 
tripped position adjacent one longitudinal end of the platform and a set 
position adjacent the other longitudinal end of the platform, spring means 
for urging said bail toward said tripped position, a tap resiliently 
hinged to said frame adjacent the other longitudinal end of said platform, 
for movement toward and away from said platform, means secured to said tab 
for releasably engaging said bail in a set position thereof, so that said 
bail is released upon movement of said tab with respect to said platform, 
a longitudinally disposed trip lever having a trip arm at one end of said 
lever, and a bail release arm engaging said tab at the other end of said 
lever, said trip arm being disposed between said pin and said one 
longitudinal end of said platform, and bait retention means connected to 
said trip arm.

As best seen in FIG. 1, the trap 10 comprises a unitary structure made of a 
suitable thermoplastic material such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene 
(ABS), and includes a frame 11 with a tab 12 resiliently hinged thereto at 
one longitudinal end of the frame, a pair of transversely spaced ears 13 
and 14 in the form of inverted hooks, and a bail engaging dog 15 extending 
upwardly from the tab 12. 
To add strength and rigidity to the frame 11, it is provided with a 
peripheral ridge 16 formed in the platform 17 of the unitary thermoplastic 
structure, and with various reinforcing ribs disposed below the platform 
17. 
A unitary steel wire structure comprises a pin 18 extending between and 
secured in position by the ears 13 and 14, and a U-shaped bail 19 having 
one end integral with one end of the pin 18, and another end formed as a 
hook 20 engaging the adjacent end 21 of the pin 18. Preferably, the 
material forming the integral pin 18/bail 19 has some elasticity, so that 
the hook 20 is urged against the pin 21 thereby. 
Wrapped around and coaxial with the pin 18 is a relatively strong coil 
spring 22, having at one end thereof an offset finger 23 which urges the 
bail 19 against one end of the platform 17, i.e., in the tripped position 
of the bail 19, shown in dashed lines. The other end of the coil spring 22 
has an extension 24 which abuts the platform 17. 
A longitudinally disposed trip lever 25 (not visible in FIG. 1) has a major 
portion disposed below the platform 17, with a trip arm 26 extending above 
the platform at one end of said lever, and a bail release arm 27 coupled 
to the dog 15 and the tab 12 at the other end of said lever. 
The bait is supported and held in position by a thermoplastic deck 28 
essentially parallel to the platform 17 and disposed above it, and an end 
portion 29 of the trip arm 26. 
To set the trap, the bail 19 is rotated about the pin 18, against the 
action of the spring 22, to the set position shown in solid lines in FIG. 
1, the bail being retained in position against the action of the spring 22 
by the shoulder 30 of the dog 15. 
When the bait is touched, the trip arm 26 is depressed, causing the bail 
release arm 27 to rotate the tab 12 away from the platform 17, so that the 
shoulder 30 of the dog 15 is moved away from the adjacent portion of the 
bail 19, thus releasing said bail, which thereupon is rapidly rotated 
about the pin 18 by the urging of the spring 22 and offset finger 23 
thereof, to trap the animal between the bail and the platform 17. 
Although as shown in FIG. 1, a slot 31 is provided for ease in 
manufacturing and assembly of the trap 10, said slot can be eliminated if 
desired, resulting in an increase in strength of the platform 17, so long 
as a hole in the platform 17 is provided for the trip arm 26. 
Alternatively, the major portion 25 of the trip arm 26 can be provided by a 
sufficiently stiff plastic member formed integrally with the tab 12, in 
which case the structure of the tab itself in conjunction with the 
adjacent portion of said plastic arm, acts as the bail release arm 27.