Abstract:
An animal trap include, a housing having an open end, a door pivotally mounted to the housing and movable between an open position and a closed position, the door including a slit therein at a lower portion of the door to form an elastic portion below the slit, a close latch provided on the housing near the open end, the close latch cooperable with the elastic portion to retain the door in the closed position by latching the elastic portion between the close latch and the door stop.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to an animal trap for trapping animals such as rats or squirrels which can be reused or disposed of without requiring handling of the animal trapped therein, and which can be easily assembled and taken apart. 
   2. Discussion of the Background 
   Undesired animals such as rats or squirrels can become pests that spread diseases and harm farming, ranching and adversely affect the human life. Poisons are often used to kill these animals. Poisoned animals do not die right after consumption of the poison, but rather travel to unknown places and then die. Therefore, because it is difficult to locate and dispose of the dead poisoned animals, the dead animals start decomposing and emit odor. 
   For the reasons stated above, use of animal traps is advantageous because it does not require use of poison to kill the animals and it is easy to locate the trapped animals. 
   Heretofore, although most animal traps have generally served their intended purpose, they have been subject to one or more of the following disadvantages: 
   1. They have been complicated in construction and thus difficult and expensive to manufacture; 
   2. They have been unreliable in operation; 
   3. They have been difficult to handle because of their weight or construction; 
   4. They have been difficult to set because of their construction and, in some cases, have been dangerous to the user in setting them because of a sensitive setting mechanism which can release the trap while being handled by the user; 
   5. They have been so constructed as to require the handling of a dead animal caught therein if the trap is to be reused; and/or 
   6. They often require the user to kill the trapped animal if the trapped animal is still alive, which is not desirable for the user. 
   The animal trap of the present invention is not subject to any of the above-mentioned disadvantages and possesses many advantages not found in the traps in use at present or in the past. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides in one aspect an animal trap, including a housing having an open end, a door pivotally mounted to the housing and movable between an open position and a closed position, the door including a slit therein at a lower portion of the door to form an elastic portion below the slit, a close latch provided on the housing near the open end, the close latch cooperable with the elastic portion to retain the door in the closed position by latching the elastic portion between the close latch and the door stop. 
   In another aspect, the animal trap of the present invention provides an assemblable housing including a first portion having at least one protrusion, a second portion having at least one hole into which the at least one protrusion of the first portion fits. The first portion and the second portion are connectable together by inserting the at least one protrusion of the first portion into the at least one hole of the second portion. 
   In another aspect, the animal trap of the present invention provides a trigger linkage including, a first elongated member having a first treadle receiver, and a treadle extending from the first treadle receiver, the treadle and the first receiver configured to be readily attachable and detachable from one another. 
   Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an animal trap in accordance with the present invention, after assembly; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the animal trap, before the assembly; 
       FIG. 3  is an enlarged perspective view of portions of the animal trap; 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a door for the animal trap; 
       FIG. 5  is a side view of the animal trap in operation; 
       FIG. 6  is a side view of the animal trap in operation; 
       FIG. 7  is a side view of the animal trap in operation; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of another embodiment of an animal trap, after assembly; 
       FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the animal trap of  FIG. 8 , before the assembly; 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view of the left front portion of the animal trap of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the right front portion of the animal trap of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the left back portion of the animal trap of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the right back portion of the animal trap of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the front portion of the animal trap of  FIG. 5 ; 
       FIG. 15  is a perspective view of the back portion of the animal trap of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 16  is a perspective cut-out view of the animal trap with a door switch and a treadle; 
       FIG. 17  is a side view of the animal trap of  FIG. 16  in operation; and 
       FIG. 18  is a side view of the animal trap of  FIG. 16  in operation. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and more particularly to  FIG. 1  thereof, obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1 , the animal trap is made of a rectangular housing  10  that is completely enclosed except for only one opening where an animal can enter and the door  20  is installed at the opening. Thus, an animal that enters the animal trap through the door  20  cannot exit the animal trap without going through the door  20 . The housing  10  can include at least one housing support  15  attached to the housing  10  to prevent the housing  10  from rolling or tipping. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the door  20  is removable and can be installed pivotally at the open end by inserting the left and right protrusions  21  into the left and right holes  12 , respectively. The holes  12  are formed such that the user can slide the protrusions  21  into the holes  12  and push the protrusions  21  downward to secure the door. The door  20  also includes an elastic portion  23  formed below a slit  22  on a bottom side portion of the door  20 . As seen in the figures, especially  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the slit  22  is formed by creating a cut through the door  20 . The slit extends to the edge of the door. As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , a door stop  11  formed at a lower portion of the open end limits the door  20  to open toward an inside the housing  10  and to prevent the door  20  from opening toward an outside the housing. As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 7 , a close latch  13  installed near the open end is capable of keeping the door  20  in a closed position by latching the elastic portion  23  between the close latch  13  and the door stop  11 . Because the elastic portion  23  is elastic, the elastic portion  23  easily latches between the close latch  13  and the door stop  11 . 
   The housing and the door of the animal trap are made of resilient material with some flexibility, such as plastic or synthetic resin. The flexibility of the material allows elasticity of the elastic portion  23  to slightly bend while sliding over the close latch  13  and to latch between the close latch  13  and the door stop  11 . The flexibility of the material also allows easy assembly of the door. The housing and the door of the animal trap can also be made of transparent or semi-transparent material, to allow the user to see whether an animal is trapped in the animal trap. 
     FIG. 4  shows an enlarged view of the door  20 . A strengthening portion  24  formed above the slit  22  makes a portion above the slit  22  thicker than a rest of the door. The strengthening portion  24  is beneficial because the animal may detect the slit  22  and chew around the slit  22 , damaging the door  20 . With the extra thickness provided by the strengthening portion  24 , it is more difficult for the animal to damage the door  20  around the slit  22 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , a top portion of the open end includes a hump  14  and a top portion of the door comprises a hook  25 . The hook  25  prevents the left and right protrusions  21  from sliding out from the left and right holes  12  by engaging with the hump  14  when the door  20  is completely lifted. For example, because the hook  25  is slanted in only one side, the protrusions  21  of the door in a lifted position can slide into the holes  12  without much resistance from the hump  14 , but cannot easily slide out because the non-slanted side of the hook  25  engages with the hump  14 , thereby securing the position of the door. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 5-7 , it is preferable that there is a gap between the door  20  and the bottom of the housing  10  when the door  20  closes. The smell of the bait  80  placed inside the housing  10  can escape through the gap between the door  20  and the bottom of the housing  10 , and attract an animal. The bait  80  is preferably placed inside the housing  10  as far away from the opening as possible. 
   When the trap is set, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the elastic portion  23  rests on the close latch  13  without latching between the close latch  13  and the door stop  11 . Thus, the animal can easily enter the housing  10  by lifting the door  20  as the door  20  swings open inwardly as shown in  FIG. 6 . Once the animal enters the housing  10 , the door  20  closes by itself due to the weight of the door, back to the position shown in  FIG. 5 . If the animal attempts to exit the housing  10  by pushing the door  20  from inside, the elastic portion  23  latches between the close latch  13  and the door stop  1 , securing the door  20  in one position, as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
   The animal trap can be designed to be assemblable, as shown in  FIGS. 9-15 . This embodiment includes a front left portion  110 ′ having at least one protrusion  131 , a front right portion  110 ″ having at least one hole  132  that the at least one protrusion  131  of the front left portion  110 ′ fits, a back left portion  120 ′ having at least one protrusion  131 , and a back right portion  120  having at least one hole that the at least one protrusion of the back left portion fit. 
   As shown in  FIG. 14 , the front portion  110  can be formed by assembling the front left portion  110 ′ and the front right portion  110 ″ by inserting the at least one protrusion  131  of the front left portion  110 ′ into the at least one hole  132  of the front right portion  110 ″. Similarly, as shown in  FIG. 15 , a back portion  120  can be formed by assembling the back left portion and the back right portion by inserting the at least one protrusion of the back left portion into the at least one hole of the back right portion. The housing  100  can be completed inserting an assembly engager  121  of the back portion  120  into an assembly hole  111  of the front portion  110 . The assembly engager  121  and the assembly hole  111  are preferably provided on the left side to guide the orientation of the front portion  110  and the back portion  120  during assembly. 
   The assemblable animal trap is advantageous in that it can be disassembled and the parts of the disassembled animal trap can be stacked together to save space. When stacked together, the disassembled animal trap can fit in a packaging box half the size of the actual assembled animal trap. Hence, with the reduced volume of the disassembled animal trap, more animal traps can be stored in a limited space, thus reducing a storing cost and/or a shipping cost. Moreover, because the assembly of the assemblable animal trap is not performed by the manufacturer but is rather performed by the user, the manufacturing cost is decreased. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 16-18 , the animal trap can further include a door switch  40  capable of propping the door  20  open, a first elongated member  50  having a first treadle receiver  60  at one end and being linked to the door switch  40  at the other end, and a treadle  30  extended out from the first treadle receiver  60 . The door switch stop  18  is provided on the wall of the housing to restrain the movement of the door switch  40 . The door switch  40  and the first elongated member  50  are attached on the inside of the same wall of the housing. The treadle  30  is attachable to and removable from the first treadle receiver  60 , and thus allows easy assembly and disassembly. For example, the treadle protrusions  31  can be inserted into the first treadle receiver holes  61  to complete the assembly. Additional second elongated member attached to another wall having a second treadle receiver at one end can be used for more stability (not shown in the Figures). In this instance, the treadle  30  is attachable to and removable from both the second treadle receiver (not shown in the Figures) and the first treadle receiver  60 . 
   When an animal steps on the treadle  30 , the weight of the animal moves the first elongated member  50  through the treadle  30  to cause the door switch  40  to close the door  20 . For example, both the first elongated member  50  and the door switch  40  can be pivotally installed so that the first elongated member  50  rotates with respect to the first elongated member pivot  52  and the door switch  40  rotates with respect to the door switch pivot  42 . The elastic portion  23  of the door  20  can latch on the door switch  40 , as shown in  FIG. 17 , and the door  20  will be kept in the lifted position. In this instance, the elasticity of the elastic portion  23  makes it easy for the door  20  to smoothly latch on the door switch  40 . Then, when the animal steps on the treadle  30 , the first elongated member  50  will move clockwise, triggering the door switch  40  to move counter-clockwise by lifting one end of the door switch  40 . As the door switch  40  moves counter-clockwise, the door  20  is released from the door switch  40 , as shown in  FIG. 18 . 
   The door switch  40  is elastically installed such that the door switch returns to the initial position after the animal steps off the treadle  30 . The elastic arm  45  can be used to provide such elasticity for the door switch  40 , wherein the elastic arm bends or stretches as the door switch  40  rotates. 
   The animal trap of the present invention is a simple and effective animal trap to trap animals such as rats or squirrels. Because the animal trap is enclosed except at the open end covered by the door, an animal trapped inside cannot exit the animal trap. Therefore, the trapped animal can suffer from suffocation and/or dehydration, which will eventually kill the animal in approximately two to three days. This is advantageous because the user does not need to kill the trapped animal, but rather can wait till the animal dies of suffocation or dehydration. 
   As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.