Apparatus for trapping crustaceans

A trap for crustaceans capable of being knocked down to basic parts occupying a small volume and easy to assemble in little time. Also, sturdy enough to withstand handling, ship movement and underwater currents but at the same time being biodegradable in order to prevent it from becoming a perpetual crustaceans killing trap in the event that the buoy breaks off.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a light, sturdy crustaceans trap capable of being 
disassembled and its parts capable of being stored occupying a very small 
space. It is the small space required for storage and simplicity of 
construction that makes this invention attractive for fishermen since they 
have limited amount of space available in their ships. Also, since the 
component parts are standard for all traps and interchangeable, the repair 
of these traps is a simple operation. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Many types of traps are in existence now but none of them provide the 
features of the present invention while at the same time observing the 
pertinent regulations protecting the ecological balance. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,905 issued to Donald A. Jalbert in 1973 describes and 
claims a lobster trap made out of plastic in its entirety and not capable 
of being readily disassembled in order to save storage space. Being made 
out of plastic entirely, this trap will not be accepted in many states 
that require the traps to be biodegradable to insure the elimination of 
the probability of creating a perpetual crustaceans killing trap. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,655 issued to Walter S. Lowenthal, Jr. provides for an 
all plastic trap capable of being disassembled. However, the component 
parts after disassembling are considerably larger than in the present 
invention thereby limiting its capability of saving storage space aboard a 
ship. Also, Lowenthal's patent describes and claims a rather complicated 
and expensive trap and its components are not interchangeable making it 
difficult to repair. 
Other U.S. patents considered by applicant as relevant in establishing the 
prior art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,821,861; 3,045,386; 3,852,908; 
2,516,658 and 3,826,032. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The object of the present invention is to provide a crustaceans trap 
capable of being easily disassembled and stored in a minimum amount of 
space. By minimizing the storage space it is possible to increase the 
number of traps that a fishing boat can carry thereby improving its 
efficiency. It is also an object of this invention to provide a light, yet 
sturdy, trap capable of being manufactured in large quantities at a low 
cost by using interchangeable standard parts. It is a further object of 
this invention to provide a trap that can be fixed fast if it is damaged 
since the only thing that the fishermen has to do is replace the 
particular component that was damaged.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described herein with 
references to elements illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 9. FIGS. 10 and 11 
show an alternative embodiment for the corner engagements. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the trap consists of six sides; in the preferred 
embodiment four of these sides are substantially rectangular and two are 
substantially square. The side that has the mouth trap 10 is referred to 
as the top 41 and the side opposite to the top 41 is referred to as the 
bottom 42. The other two rectangular sides 43 are symmetrical. The 
substantially square sides 40 and 60 in FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively are 
made out of plastic completely. Side 40 contains the frame for trap door 
50 shown in FIG. 3. 
In FIG. 1 the crustacean trap 1 of the present invention shows the mouth 
trap 10 on the top rectangular side composed of wooden members 30. The 
mouth trap 10 is a molded plastic piece. The shape of the mouth trap 10 is 
not critical but it should have an outer frame 11 with converging sides 
substantially perpendicular to said frame 11 narrowing towards the inner 
frame 12 in order to make it resemble natural orifices which usually have 
a smaller clearance inside. Also, it will make it more difficult for the 
crustacean to escape. A net or any other similar structure may also be 
utilized as a mouth trap with similar results. 
The structure of the trap 1 is held together with four corner columns 20 
which are hollow and made out of plastic. The two corner columns 20 on the 
bottom may be filled up with a heavy material, sand or the like, if the 
user so desires in order to give stability to the trap 1 when it settles 
on the bottom of the body of water. 
FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of the different elements in order to 
facilitate the understanding of the assembly and construction of the 
invention. Side panel 60 is pierced through each one of its corners with a 
corner column 20. Side panel 60 is placed on the floor with all four 
corner columns 20 held upwardly and engaged by virtue of latch 22 and the 
corner columns head 21. The latch 22 is a tension loaded locking device 
integrally formed on corner column 20. The latch 22 can be pressed in with 
the user's fingers when the corner columns 20 are being slid through the 
side panel's corner holes. The latch 22 springs back out when the corner 
column 20 slides all the way in and the head 21 comes into contact with 
side panel 60. The positioning of the latch 22 is aligned with the latch 
orifice 23. Once the four corner columns 20 are fastened to the side panel 
60, the user proceeds with the insertion of wooden members 30 in its 
respective holes 61 of side panel 60. The side that holds the mouth trap 
10 will be the top 41. On top 41 the wooden members 30 that will hold the 
mouth trap 10 will have to be slid through the mouth's trap guides 13 
before insertion in the side panel's holes 61. After insertion of these 
two wooden members 30 that hold the mouth trap 10 in place along a 
vertical axis, the next step consists of inserting wooden members 31 which 
are smaller than wooden members 30 (wooden members 31 are approximately 
one half the size of wooden members 30). It is recommendable to work on 
the top 41 side after all other sides have been completed. Next, wooden 
members 32 (wooden members 32 are about one half the size of wooden 
members 31 and about one fourth the size of wooden members 30) are 
inserted in the trap mouth's holes 14. Finally, side panel with door frame 
40 is aligned with the corner columns 20 and wooden members 30 and 32. The 
corner columns 20 pierce through the corner holes of the side panel with 
door frame 40. Also, the latches 22 will insure a more rigid structure by 
springing out through latch holes 23, as shown in FIGS. 3, 8, and 9. 
Instead of using pin 24, an anchoring clip 70 may be used with the same 
result as shown on FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. As shown in FIG. 7, plastic side 
panel 40 contains the guide 44 on which the plastic trap door 50 will 
slide in and compress the spring loaded lock 51 which will keep the trap 
door 50 in place. 
Side panel 40 may have an attachment (not shown) from which a rope (or 
other connecting means) is tied and the other end of this rope being tied 
to a buoy in order to be able to locate the trap. However, the trap may 
also be used with-out any attachments by simply wrapping the rope around 
the side panel 40 having the door 50. When the trap 1 is hauled the 
crustaceans inside will settle on side panel 60, the possibility of 
escaping is reduced. 
It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and 
described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, and that 
various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be 
resorted to, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.