Abstract:
The invented equipment attracts mosquitoes in long distance by carbon dioxide which is created by combustion of kerosene and in short distance by temperature of a landing wall which is warmed up by exhaust gas of the combustion, utilizes not only intake air flow and habit of the mosquitoes to bite but also gravitational force, then effectively and economically traps the mosquitoes which land on the mosquito landing wall.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The invention relates to insects traps, more particularly to devices for attracting, and trapping mosquitoes. 
     2. Description of Prior Art 
     Female mosquitoes bite human and pets and not only irritate them but also can be carriers of malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and West Nile fever. 
     To overcome the above troubles, mosquito coil, chemical repellant are utilized, but they are not effective in reducing population of mosquitoes in large numbers. 
     In order to reduce the population of mosquitoes, several trapping equipments are developed and commercialized such as trademark “MOSQUITO MAGNET.” MOSQUITO MAGNET attracts and catches flying mosquitoes by carbon dioxide in long distance, and by other chemical attractant in short distance. Other trapping equipments catch mosquitoes in a similar way. However, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,779,296 to Robert F. Mosher, II, MOSQUITO MAGNET itself is very expensive, and its running cost is also very high. Furthermore, MOSQUITO MAGNET needs special chemical attractant for Asian tiger mosquito ( Aedes albopictus ) which transmits dengue fever virus. 
     Another type of mosquito trapping equipment is commercialized and named Black Hole. The equipment creates carbon dioxide by a photo-catalysis process and UV light, but trapping performance is poor as described by Cameron, A comparison of four commercially available adult mosquito traps, August 2005, pp 3. 
     There are several methods to create carbon dioxide. The first method is combustion of kerosene, the second one is combustion of liquefied propane, the third one is combustion of liquefied natural gas, the fourth one is fermentation of sugar, the fifth one is liquefied carbon dioxide, the sixth one is chemical reaction of acid with carbonate. Assuming that kerosene price for creation of 1 mol of carbon dioxide is 100, the liquefied propane is approximately 400, the liquefied natural gas is roughly 90, fermentation of sugar is 1,200, liquefied carbon dioxide is 1,000, the chemical reaction of foods grade citric acid with sodium bicarbonate is 9,200. Relatively, liquefied natural gas is inexpensive but it is based on LNG car gas station price and a small bottle is much expensive. Then, the kerosene is selected to create carbon dioxide for the present invention. 
     Several equipments are patented or Patent published. Equipment of U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,243 to Bruce E. Wigton et al has attractant exhaust system coupled to the carbon dioxide gas source. The present invention does not need any attractant other than carbon dioxide. This structural difference clearly distinguishes the present invention from the prior inventions. 
     Equipment of U.S. Pat. No. 6,779,296 to Robert F. Mosher, II does not have such a mosquito landing wall which is warmed up by combustion energy as a crucial element in the present invention. Thus, the prior invention is substantively different from the present invention. 
     Equipment of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0084604 by Emma A. Durand et al is a flying insect trapping one. Then, the prior invention has no such mosquito landing wall as the present invention has. This structural difference clearly distinguishes the present invention from the prior inventions. 
     As described by Osamu Araki, Science on a mosquito (in Japanese), 2007, pp 37 and 38, mosquitoes fly in long distance, searching for high concentration of carbon dioxide. Once they find a concentrated carbon dioxide area, they use their palps to sense heat to suck blood from mammals. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invented equipment, in long range, attracts mosquitoes by carbon dioxide which is created by combustion of kerosene inside of the equipment and is exhausted to outside through the mosquito container of the equipment. The attracted mosquitoes are flying around the equipment, detect temperature of the landing wall warmed up by thermal energy of the combustion, then land on the landing wall, bite, walk around or make a small jump to find blood as their habit. When mosquitoes make a small jump, airflow to inlet of the equipment make mosquitoes to lose their balance and they slowly fall down by additional gravitational force. Thus, the equipment effectively and economically catches mosquitoes. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows front view of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows front view of the modified present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows front view of the further modified present invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows front view of another further modified present invention. 
     
    
    
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 List of Reference Numerals 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 1 
                 Container 
               
               
                 2 
                 Cap 
               
               
                 3 
                 Hole 
               
               
                 4 
                 Electric fan 
               
               
                 5 
                 Trapping tube 
               
               
                 6 
                 Outer tube 
               
               
                 7 
                 Inner tube 
               
               
                 8 
                 Roof 
               
               
                 9 
                 Connecting tube 
               
               
                 10 
                 Base plate 
               
               
                 11 
                 Through-hole 
               
               
                 12 
                 Mosquito landing wall 
               
               
                 13 
                 Post 
               
               
                 14 
                 Kerosene lantern 
               
               
                 15 
                 Holed and cut base plates 
               
               
                 16 
                 Burner 
               
               
                 17 
                 Holed base plate 
               
               
                 18 
                 Holed trapping tube 
               
               
                 19 
                 Kerosene tank 
               
               
                 20 
                 Connecting tube 
               
               
                 21 
                 Table 
               
               
                 22 
                 Table with a sliding shaft guide 
               
               
                 23 
                 Tank plate 
               
               
                 24 
                 Sliding shaft 
               
               
                 25 
                 Coil spring 
               
               
                 26 
                 Compact kerosene tank 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invented equipment is composed of a mosquito container  1  which has a meshed portion and enables to pass through gas but not mosquitoes. A cap  2  is located to cover the mosquito container  1  and the cap  2  has a hole  3 . An electric fan  4  is set over the hole, a trapping tube  5  surrounds the cap  2 , and the upper part of the trapping tube  5  has a horn aperture. The equipment has double tubes inside of the trapping tube  5 . An inner tube  7  is set on a base plate  10  which is supported by posts  13  which are set on the cap  2 . A bottom part of a outer tube  6  surrounds the base plate  10 . Gap between the horn aperture of the trapping tube  5  and the outer tube  6  is inlet of both air and mosquitoes. A height of the inner tube  7  is lower than the outer tube  6 , and a roof  8  is located to cover the outer tube  6 . The inner tube  7  and the outer tube  6  is connected by connecting tubes  9  which hold the outer tube  6  and enable air intake. A kerosene lantern  14  is set on the base plate  10  inside of the inner tube  7 . The mosquito landing wall  12  is formed on the surface of the outer tube  6  except holes of connecting tubes  9 . Through-holes  11  are made on the base plate  10  between the inner tube  7  and the outer tube  6  to pass exhausted gas of the kerosene lantern  14 . 
     When the electric fan  4  is put on and a fire is put on the kerosene lantern  14 , air is taken through the connecting tubes  9 . Exhaust gas of the kerosene lantern  14  heats up the roof  8  and the outer tube  6  and goes via the through-holes  11 , being mixed with fresh air from the horn aperture of the trapping tube  5 , the electric fan  4 , and the hole  3 , to the mosquito container  1 . Finally, the exhaust gas is discharged from the equipment. 
     Mosquitoes are attracted by the discharged carbon dioxide and fly around the equipment, detect the temperature of the mosquito landing wall  12  warmed up by the exhaust gas, and land on the surface. Mosquitoes, this way or that way, try a bite, a walk and a small jump on the mosquito landing wall  12 . When the mosquitoes make a small jump, they lose their balance caused of intake airflow and are fallen to the horn aperture of the trapping tube  5  by gravitational force 
     The mosquito landing wall  12  takes an important role in the present invention because it prevents outer tube  6  from cooling down by airflow and also simulates clothes of human. Without the mosquito landing wall  12 , mosquitoes land on a upper part of the outer tube  6  and trapping number of mosquitoes decreases. 
     Two types of the present invention A and B are operated. Type A has larger diameter of the connecting tube  9  than type B. Both are operated with hurricane lanterns which have capacity of 345 ml, ⅜ inch wick and nominal burning time of 20 hours. The trial operation was done in small fire and continued more than 24 hours. 
     The actual operation was started on Sep. 17, 2010 at the metropolitan area in Tokyo but the type B was stopped after two days due to an accident. The type A operation continued until Oct. 17, 2010. Each morning, trapped number of mosquitoes was counted and kerosene was refilled. Table 1 shows the result of operation with high and low ambient temperature in Celsius. Date responds to actual date of temperature and counted number, so there is one-day delay in counted number. Even it took place in autumn, when mosquitoes are less active than summer, a large number of mosquitoes was counted and data has proved the effectiveness of the present invention. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 Temper- 
                 Temper- 
                   
               
               
                   
                 Trapped 
                 Accumulated 
                 ature 
                 ature 
                   
               
               
                 Date 
                 number 
                 number 
                 High 
                 Low 
                 Remarks 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 September 17 
                   
                   
                 29.6 
                 23.1 
                   
               
               
                 18 
                 97 
                 97 
                 29.1 
                 19.8 
                 No operation 
               
               
                 19 
                   
                 97 
                   
                   
                 No temper- 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 ature data 
               
               
                 20 
                 17 
                 114 
                 29.7 
                 22.9 
                   
               
               
                 21 
                 16 
                 130 
                 28.8 
                 24.3 
                   
               
               
                 22 
                 28 
                 158 
                 32.7 
                 24.6 
                   
               
               
                 23 
                 53 
                 211 
                 24.8 
                 16.8 
                 No operation 
               
               
                 24 
                   
                 211 
                 20.2 
                 15.8 
                   
               
               
                 25 
                 18 
                 229 
                 22.0 
                 13.9 
                   
               
               
                 26 
                 141 
                 370 
                 24.6 
                 14.8 
                   
               
               
                 27 
                 19 
                 389 
                 17.8 
                 15.6 
                 No operation 
               
               
                 28 
                   
                 389 
                 22.8 
                 16.0 
                   
               
               
                 29 
                 142 
                 531 
                 25.6 
                 19.6 
                   
               
               
                 30 
                 218 
                 749 
                 22.0 
                 18.1 
                   
               
               
                 October 1 
                 4 
                 753 
                 24.2 
                 18.1 
                   
               
               
                  2 
                 134 
                 887 
                 24.9 
                 19.2 
                   
               
               
                  3 
                 84 
                 971 
                 24.9 
                 17.3 
                   
               
               
                  4 
                 42 
                 1,013 
                 22.6 
                 18.1 
                   
               
               
                  5 
                 16 
                 1,029 
                 26.9 
                 19.5 
                   
               
               
                  6 
                 52 
                 1,081 
                 25.7 
                 19.7 
                   
               
               
                  7 
                 10 
                 1,091 
                 24.8 
                 18.0 
                   
               
               
                  8 
                 1 
                 1,092 
                 25.0 
                 18.9 
                   
               
               
                  9 
                 26 
                 1,118 
                 19.1 
                 16.7 
                   
               
               
                 10 
                 3 
                 1,121 
                 23.6 
                 16.8 
                   
               
               
                 11 
                 31 
                 1,152 
                 28.3 
                 17.8 
                   
               
               
                 12 
                 167 
                 1,319 
                 24.4 
                 15.3 
                   
               
               
                 13 
                 94 
                 1,413 
                 26.1 
                 20.8 
                   
               
               
                 14 
                 138 
                 1,551 
                 23.4 
                 19.5 
                   
               
               
                 15 
                 74 
                 1,625 
                 23.6 
                 19.3 
                   
               
               
                 16 
                 64 
                 1,689 
                 24.8 
                 18.6 
                   
               
               
                 17 
                 37 
                 1,726 
                 23.3 
                 18.5 
                   
               
               
                 18 
                 24 
                 1,750 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Anyone who observes the trapping process of the present invention may have the question why mosquitoes do not fly but slowly fall to the trapping tube  5 . The answer is that mosquitoes make a big jump before their flight using relatively long and strong legs to their body, but they cannot make a big jump once they make a small jump and their legs are off the mosquito landing wall  12 . 
     As temperature of a kerosene bottle of the type B equipment got higher, evaporated kerosene caught fire other than wick because of small amount of fresh air intake. As a result of this accident, configuration was modified in the present invention as shown in  FIG. 2 . The base plate  10  shown in  FIG. 1  is holed and cut into two pieces which are holed and cut base plates  15  as shown in  FIG. 2 . The holed and cut base plates  15  are fixed to surround the bottle of kerosene lantern  14 . Thus, a lower part of the bottle can be cooled down by fresh air, and problem of abnormal combustion is solved. 
     In practical use of the invented equipment, daily refill of kerosene is inconvenient. A kerosene tank  19  is set on a table  21  to keep adequate kerosene level between a burner  16  and the kerosene tank  19 , and they are connected each other by a connecting tube  20  which passes through a holed base plate  17  and holed trapping tube  18  as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
     Kerosene is soaked up to a burner by capillary action in the wick and height of the kerosene tank is limited to a few centimeters. Thus, the shape of the kerosene tank  19  is flat and not easy to keep level. In order to improve the inconvenience, the table  21  in  FIG. 3  is modified and a sliding guide is attached. The modified table is shown as a table with a sliding shaft guide  22  in  FIG. 4 . A sliding shaft  24  is placed and a tank plate  23  is fixed at a top of the sliding shaft  24 . The sliding shaft is inserted to a coil spring  25  which is placed between the tank plate  23  and the table with a sliding shaft guide  22 . Selecting adequate spring strength, level of kerosene in a compact kerosene tank  26  can be kept constant. Thus, the invented equipment can be operated for longer time without refilling kerosene.