Apparatus for storing a bait which contains an insecticidal ingredient

An apparatus for storing a bait which contains an insecticidal ingredient is disclosed. The apparatus includes a flat seat having a hollow cylinder centrally fixed to the flat seat. A cover member rotatably caps the hollow cylinder. The cover member has a flange and a hook ring member depending from the lower face of the flange. The hook ring member retains a radial projection which is formed on the external surface of the hollow cylinder. The cover member has a plurality of openings or notches and the hollow cylinder has a plurality of holes. The holes and the openings can be registered with one another when the cover member is rotated to a predetermined position with respect to the flat seat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an apparatus for storing a bait which contains an 
insecticidal ingredient, more particularly to an apparatus for storing an 
insecticide-containing bait which is in the form of powder or pellets. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Conventionally, baits which contain insecticidal ingredients are widely 
used for killing insects such as ants, cockroaches, etc. Such baits are 
usually made in the form of pellets or powder and are placed at some 
predetermined locations in a house where the insects often appear. There 
is a risk, however, of the baits being eaten by a young child who does not 
know the baits are poisonous. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is therefore a main object of this invention to provide an apparatus for 
storing a bait which contains an insecticidal ingredient in order to 
protect young children from eating the bait. 
Accordingly, the apparatus for storing a bait which contains an 
insecticidal ingredient of this invention, comprises: 
a flat seat having a top face and a bottom face, a central recess formed in 
the top face, a hollow cylinder having an upper end and a lower end formed 
integrally in the central recess of the flat seat, the hollow cylinder 
having a plurality of circumferentially and equally spaced openings formed 
adjacent to the upper end of the hollow cylinder and a plurality of walls 
which define the respective openings in the hollow cylinder, each of the 
walls having a lower portion which is spaced a predetermined distance from 
the bottom face of the flat seat, the top face of the flat seat having 
first and second annular recesses formed concentrically adjacent to an 
external surface of the hollow cylinder in a consecutive relationship, the 
first annular recess having an inside diameter identical to the outside 
diameter of the second annular recess, the second annular recess being 
deeper than the first annular recess, the external surface of the hollow 
cylinder having a radial projection extending into the second annular 
recess at a level so that it is adjacent to the top face of the flat seat, 
the flat seat having a guiding face with a slope inclined downward from 
the top face adjacent to the first annular recess toward the bottom face 
at the outer periphery of the flat seat; and 
a cover member having a cylindrical member which covers rotatably the 
hollow cylinder, the cylindrical member having an upper closed end and a 
lower open end, the lower open end having an outwardly extending annular 
flange which is inclined downward in a slope identical to the slope of the 
guiding face of the flat seat, the annular flange having an outside 
diameter which is identical to the outside diameter of the first annular 
recess, the annular flange having an inclined upper face and an inclined 
lower face which is parallel to the upper inclined face, the lower face 
having a positioning ring member depending from the outer periphery of the 
annular flange and a hook ring member which is L-shaped in cross section 
and depends from the lower inclined face between the outer periphery and 
the inner periphery of the annular flange, the hook ring member and the 
inclined lower face of the annular flange together defining an annular 
receiving groove which opens inwardly, the positioning ring member being 
inserted into the first annular recess, the hook ring member extending 
into the second annular recess, the radial projection of the hollow 
cylinder extending into the annular receiving groove so that the cover 
member can be rotatably retained relative to the flat seat, the 
cylindrical member having a plurality of holes registered correspondingly 
with the openings of the hollow cylinder when the cover member is rotated 
to a predetermined position with respect to the hollow cylinder. 
Other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the 
following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of this 
invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of an apparatus 10 for receiving a bait 
which contains an insecticidal ingredient of this invention. The apparatus 
10 includes a flat seat 11 and a cover member 12 rotatably retained on the 
flat seat 11. 
FIG. 2 shows a top view of the flat seat 11 of the apparatus 10 for 
receiving a bait of this invention. The flat seat 11 has a central recess 
113 formed in the top face 1101 of the flat seat 11. A hollow cylinder 111 
has an upper end 1111 and a lower end 1112 formed integrally with the 
bottom of the central recess 113 of the flat seat 11, as best illustrated 
in FIG. 3. The hollow cylinder 111 has eight circumferentially and equally 
spaced notches 112 formed in the upper end 1111 of the hollow cylinder 111 
and corresponding walls 1121 which defines the respective notches 112 in 
the hollow cylinder 111. Each .of the walls 1121 has a lower portion which 
is spaced a predetermined distance (H) from the bottom face 1102 of the 
flat seat 11. 
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the top face 1101 of the flat seat 11 has first 
and second annular recesses, 114 and 115, which are formed concentrically 
and adjacent to an external surface of the hollow cylinder 111 in a 
consecutive relationship. The inside diameter of the first annular recess 
114 is identical to the outside diameter of the second annular recess 115. 
The second annular recess 115 is deeper than the first annular recess 114. 
The external surface of the hollow cylinder 111 has eight radial 
projections 116 extending into the second annular recess 115 at a level 
which is adjacent to the top face 1101 of the flat seat 11. The radial 
projections 116 are equally spaced and are below their respective notches 
112. The flat seat 11 has a guiding face 117 with a slope inclined 
downward from the top face 1101 adjacent to the first annular recess 114 
toward the bottom face 11102 at the outer periphery of the flat seat 11, 
as best illustrated in FIG. 4. 
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, the cover member 12 has a cylindrical member 
121 which can rotatably cap the hollow cylinder 111. The cylindrical 
member 121 has an upper closed end 1211 and a lower open end 1212. The 
lower open end 1212 has an outwardly extending annular flange 123 which is 
inclined downwardly in a slope that is identical to the slope of the 
guiding face 117 of the flat seat 11. The outside diameter of the annular 
flange 123 is identical to the outside diameter of the first annular 
recess 114. The annular flange 123 has an inclined upper face 1231 and an 
inclined lower face 1232 which is parallelled with the upper inclined face 
1231, as best illustrated in FIG. 6. The lower face 1232 has a positioning 
ring member 124 which depends from the outer periphery of the annular 
flange 123 and a hook ring member 125 which is L-shaped in cross section 
and depends from the lower inclined face 1232 between the outer periphery 
and an inner periphery of the annular flange 132. The hook ring member 125 
and the inclined lower face 1232 of the annular flange 123 together define 
an annular receiving groove 1251 inside of the cylindrical member 121, as 
best illustrated in FIG. 6. The positioning ring member 124 is inserted in 
the first annular recess 114 and rests on the bottom of the first annular 
recess 114. Therefore, the cover member 12 can be stably positioned in the 
first annular recess 114 of the flat seat 11 when the cover member 12 is 
rotated relative to the flat seat 11. The hook ring member 125 extends 
into the second annular recess 115 and the radial projections 116 of the 
hollow cylinder 111 extend into the annular receiving groove 1251. The 
cover member 12 can thereby be rotatably retained relative to the flat 
seat 11, as best illustrated in FIG. 7. The cylindrical member 121 has 
eight holes 122 registered correspondingly with the notches 112 of the 
hollow cylinder 111 when the cover member 11 is rotated to a predetermined 
position with respect to the hollow cylinder 111. The inclined upper face 
1231 of the cover member 12 and the guiding face 117 of the flat seat 11 
together define an annular inclined face from the lower portion of the 
holes 122 to the bottom face 1102. The annular inclined face allows the 
insects, such as ants and cockroaches, to climb into the hollow cylinder 
111 through the holes 122 of the cover member 12 and the notches 112 when 
the cover is mounted to the flat seat 11 and rotated to the predetermined 
position. 
It is noted that cover member 12 is made of a flexible material. Therefore, 
the hook ring member 125 of the cover member 12 can be bent in order to 
detach from the radial projections 116 of the hollow cylinder 111. A bait 
which contains an insecticidal ingredient may be placed in the central 
recess 113 before the cover member 12 is mounted to the flat seat 11. 
FIG. 8 shows a bottom view of a cover member 12 of a second preferred 
embodiment of the apparatus for storing a bait of this invention. In this 
embodiment, the structure of the cover member 12 and the flat seat 11 is 
similar to that of the first embodiment except that a plurality of equally 
spaced ribs 127 are connected between the positioning ring member 124 and 
the hook ring member 125 of the annular flange 123 of the cover member 12 
and a protrusion 118 is formed on the bottom of the first annular recess 
114, as best illustrated in FIG. 9. A plurality of partitions 128 are 
defined between the ribs 127. The protrusion 118 extends into one of the 
partitions 128 of the annular flange 123. FIG. 10 illustrates the cover 
member 12 and the flat seat 11 of the second preferred embodiment of the 
apparatus for storing a bait of this invention as they are rotated 
relative to one another. The protrusion 118 is stopped by one of the ribs 
127 when the cover member 12 is rotated counterclockwise to the 
predetermined position, thereby allowing the notches 112 of the hollow 
cylinder 111 to register in the holes 122 of the cylindrical member 121. 
In reverse, the protrusion 118 is stopped by an adjacent rib 127 when the 
cover member 12 is rotated clockwise, allowing the notches 112 to misalign 
with the holes 122 and thereby causing the notches 112 to be closed by the 
wall of the cylindrical member 121. Therefore, the apparatus for storing a 
bait of this invention can guard against young children accidentally 
eating the bait. 
With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous 
modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope 
and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention 
be limited only as indicated in the appended claims.