Abstract:
A trap for rodents and the like, comprising an openable housing that, in use, has a normally closed interior space for containing a trapped animal, an entranceway formed in an outer wall of the housing and leading to the interior space, and entrance-closing door means constructed and arranged to permit one-way access into the interior space, and baiter means constructed and arranged for delivering limited amounts of bait into the interior space.

Description:
This invention relates generally to rodent traps and more particularly, to a reusable rodent trap with baiter means for effectively trapping and killing a rodent and then permitting a clean disposal of the rodent carcass. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Devices to trap rodents such as mice, rats and other small varmints have been extensively used throughout the world for many years. The most common and well known trap has a spring-loaded bar or jaw which is tripped when an open bait on a tripping pad is disturbed. This trap is well accepted, economical and an efficient rodent killer. However, it is potentially dangerous: care must be taken when loading bait and setting the trap to ensure the individual&#39;s fingers are not caught, and the trap can be a danger to small children and pets. Killing a rodent in this open trap can be messy and there remains the unpleasant task of disposing of the dead rodent, which means that the trap itself may simply be thrown away. 
     Many attempts have been made to build a better mousetrap. Examples are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,528,191, 3,733,735, 4,567,688, 4,829,700, 5,094,027, 5,148,625, 5,345,710, 5,528,852, 5,564,221, and 5,809,688. They all suffer for one or more reasons. As many have discovered, a rodent trap which is capable of competing in the marketplace with the conventional spring-loaded rodent traps has proved elusive. Any new rodent trap must be economical; it must be easy to use; and it must be effective. Ideally, any new rodent trap must not only have all the economical, ease of use and effectiveness attributes of the conventional spring-loaded traps, but it also must have the other attributes of safety and cleanliness, as will readily be appreciated. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A rodent trap has a housing with a normally closed interior space and a one-way entranceway thereto, baiter means constructed and arranged for delivering limited quantities of bait into the interior space, and said trap and baiter means being readily accessible for rodent disposal, cleaning and bait replenishing. 
     In accordance with the invention, a novel rodent trap and baiter means is simple in construction and economical in cost; it is easy to bait and use, effective in operation, easily cleaned and safe in the presence of children and pets. An object is to provide a transparent trap that will show a trapped rodent without handling; another object is to provide a trap that can be baited with an aromatic bait and yet will dispense it in small amounts as needed, and which thereby entices a rodent into a one-way entrance passageway. These and still other objectives will become apparent hereinafter. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and in which like numerals refer to like parts wherever they occur: 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred two-piece rodent trap embodiment of the invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the assembled two-piece embodiment of FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the assembled rodent trap of FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 4 is a greatly enlarged sectional view taken along line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3, 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of my rodent trap, 
     FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the second embodiment, 
     FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the second embodiment, 
     FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-section of the second embodiment taken along line  8 — 8  of FIG. 7, 
     FIG. 9 is a plan view of another modification, 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another two-piece embodiment of the invention, which has a different interior baiter means, and which is shown partially opened, 
     FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the FIG. 10 embodiment in closed condition, 
     FIG. 12 is a side elevation of the FIG. 10 trap, and 
     FIG. 13 is an enlarged perspective view of the baiter means per se that is shown in the FIG. 10 embodiment. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to FIGS. 1-4, the presently preferred form of the invention is embodied in rodent trap T having a transparent, telescoping two-piece housing that is openable, in use, for baiting and for disposing of dead rodents. The main housing unit  10  has a top wall  11 , a bottom wall  12 , opposed side walls  13  and a front wall  14 ; all defining a rear-opening interior cavity or space  15 . No rear wall is required, as the main housing  10  is closed by a telescoping cover unit  16  having a top wall  17 , bottom wall  18 , opposing side walls  19  and a rear wall  20 . It is clear that this two-piece trap is constructed and arranged so that the front-opening cavity  21  of the cover unit  16  slidably receives the main housing unit  10 ; and a suitable latch or pressure device may be provided to hold the units  10  and  18  in closed assembled relationship, such as pressure bar  22  and recess  23  in the bottom walls. 
     An entranceway  25  is provided leading to the interior space  15  which includes an opening  26  in the front wall  14  and an elongate passageway  27  defined by top, bottom and side walls  28 . It will be seen that some of these walls  28  may be in common with walls  17  of the housing unit  10 , as when the entranceway  25  is located along a lower side wall corner, as shown. The entranceway  25  also has a hinged, one-way passageway-closing door  29  or the like, which may be perforated by holes  30  or the like to pass the bait odors into the passageway to entice the rodent to open the door  29 . 
     The baiter means B for the trap T, in one form of the invention disclosed in FIGS. 1-4, comprises a reservoir or receptacle having contiguous walls  33  and a bottom wall  34  constructed and arranged to form a bait holding cavity or well  35  for containing a flowable poisoned bait  37  (FIG. 4) which preferably is in liquid form, but may be granular. In a preferred arrangement, the top of the reservoir is open and the upper margins  36  of the side walls  33  are substantially in the same horizontal plane as the top wall  11  whereby the open top of the reservoir will be closely covered by the upper wall  17  of the end cover unit  16  when telescopically assembled on the main housing section  10 . The reservoir in this embodiment includes valve means constructed and arranged to release the bait upon demand and, in the preferred form, the valve means may be a roller ball  38  rotatably mounted in one of the side walls  33  exposed to the inner space  15 . Thus, the liquid bait  37  will adhere to the side of the ball valve  38  within the reservoir well  35 , and the ball will rotate in the side wall as it is licked by the rodent so as to deliver the bait coating for consumption. It should be noted that the baiter “box” B can be formed as a separate four-walled unit, or one side wall ( 33 ) may be a common wall with a side wall  13  of the main housing (as indicated in FIG.  7 ). The ball valve  38  can also be positioned in the bottom wall  34  instead of a side wall. 
     Referring to FIGS. 5-8, a second embodiment of the trap T has a similar main housing unit  110  with a top wall  111 , a bottom wall  112 , opposed side walls  113 , and a front wall  114  defining a rear opening interior space  115 ; and an entranceway  125  with a door  129 . In this embodiment the rear side opposite the front wall  114  is open and a rear wall closure panel  116  is provided to vertically slide across the rear wall of the baiter box and in opposed channels  124  to enclose the space  115 . The baiter B is also similar—having contiguous side walls  133 , a bottom wall  134 , an open top and a roller ball valve  138  for metering bait  137  from the reservoir cavity  135 . The open top ( 136 ) of the baiter B is closed by a lid or upper wall  139  rigidly secured to the rear closure panel  116  and removable therewith for replenishing the bait in the baiter cavity. It will be seen that the top wall  111  of the main housing is notched or removed, at  140 , to accommodate the open top of the baiter B and the closure lid  139  therefor. 
     FIG. 9 illustrates that the baiter box B can be mounted on the exterior wall  213  of a trap T in a manner that locates the roller ball valve  238  in a long side wall  233  of the baiter and the side wall  213  of the main housing. The open top of the baiter B will be closed by a sliding or hinged lid  239  and, in this embodiment, the main housing unit may have an integral rear wall ( 220 ) provided, of course, that a trap door or other movable member is provided for removal of the rodent carcass, which will be observable through the transparent walls of the main housing. 
     Referring to the two-piece embodiment of FIGS. 10-13, a trough-type baiter has a V-shaped reservoir  335  with opposed, downwardly converging side walls  333 , V-shaped end walls  332  and an open top  336 . One wall  333  may be vertically disposed and in common with vertical wall  328  of the passageway  327 , but the baiter extends vertically to the top wall  311  of the front section  310 . The top wall  311  is cut out or notched to expose the open top  336  when the rear closure section  316  is slid back or removed. Thus, the baiter B can be filled and the reservoir  335  will be closed by the top wall  311  of the rear section  316  when fully telescopically assembled on the front section  310  as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. The vertical wall  333  of the baiter trough of FIG. 13 is slotted, at  331 , across its lower edge to provide an elongate opening  340  through which poisoned bait will gravity feed. This baiter trough is constructed and arranged along the one passageway wall  328  so that the slotted opening  340  has a leading end ( 341 ) disposed in the passageway  327  in front of the trap door  329  so that a very limited amount of bait is available in the passageway and the rodent will push the door open and be led further into the trap T to get more bait. The slot ( 331 ), in one form, is tapered from the leading end ( 341 ) so that more bait will be delivered and available as the rodent progresses along the passage way beyond the doorway  329 , which will naturally fall into a closed position behind the rodent. An alternative form of the opening  340  would be to provide a series of feeder ports or openings (not shown) along the lower edge of the baiter B, and other variations will be readily apparent. 
     It should be noted that the viscosity of a flowable aromatic bait (i.e. liquified peanut butter) will be important in the performance of the baiter B. In the FIGS. 1-9 embodiments the bait adheres to the ball-type valve ( 38 ,  138 ,  238 ) by surface tension as it rotates in the well ( 35 ); whereas in the FIGS. 10-13 embodiment the bait will settle in the trough by gravity and be licked out or seep through the slotted delivery means. 
     The baiter B is constructed of a strong plastic material, and a feature of the invention is the transparency of the trap T which thereby permits visual inspection to determine if any rodent has been caught and/or killed as well as allowing inspection of the condition of the bait. It will be seen that the latching means for locking engagement between the front and rear sections  310  and  316 , when fully telescoped in closed position, may be cooperating embossments  322  and  323  formed in the side walls  313  and  319  on at least one side of the trap T. The side walls are sufficiently yieldable to accommodate sliding movement of inwardly formed bosses  322  on lower side walls  319  along the front section and into locking position (FIG.  11 ). It will be understood that more than one valve ( 38 ,  138 ) may be provided, and the valve may be positioned in a baiter bottom wall ( 34 ,  134 ,  234 ) as well as on a side wall ( 33 ,  233 ). Further, although the preferred form of the invention lends itself to the use of poisoned bait as a viscous liquid (a peanut butter oil or the like), other types of poisoned feed or grain may be used with other types of valve dispensers or with gravity feed baiters. 
     The disclosure is intended to cover changes and modifications which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.