Abstract:
A device for capturing insects comprises a housing ( 10 ) with a capturing opening ( 11 ) and comprises an immobilizing device for at least temporarily immobilizing the insects. Captured insects are kept in a collecting device ( 13 ) for collecting and retaining after they have passed through the capturing opening ( 11 ). Insects can be captured in a simple and convenient manner by virtue of the fact that a capturing area, which can be influenced at least temporarily by the immobilizing device, is provided outside of the device having the associated capturing space ( 14 ) in order to bring the insects from this capturing space to the collecting device ( 13 ) via the capturing opening, and that the immobilizing device is formed by at least one light source ( 12 ) for blinding the insects. After switching on the immobilizing device, the capturing space must be merely placed over the insect so that the insect then enters the collecting device ( 13 ).

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     The present application claims the priority of German Patent Application 103 42 939.5, filed on 17 Sep. 2003, the disclosure content of which is also hereby expressly made the object of the present application.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for trapping insects in accordance with the preamble of claims  1  or  19 , with which apparatus particularly irksome insects, such as common houseflies, mosquitoes and more especially midges, can be trapped.  
       START OF THE ART  
       [0003]     Numerous methods and apparatuses to catch insects, more especially flying insects, have already been proposed. Paper strips that can be hung from the ceiling and are provided with an adhesive are known in the domestic sector. If an insect comes too close to the adhesive, it remains stuck to it. On the other hand, devices are known where insects can be lured more especially by means of UV light, subsequently being killed on a grid that is supplied with electric current.  
         [0004]     DE 43 27 150 A1, on which the main preamble of claim  1  is based, makes known an apparatus in the form of a hand-held device, where an insect is pulled into a collecting area by means of a partial vacuum, which is generated where necessary. The insects are immobilized or respectively killed by the partial vacuum and can then be disposed of from the collecting area.  
         [0005]     WO-A 93/25073 makes known a laser device for keeping insects away. The laser is used to dazzle the insects until they have been destroyed in front of an opening to be protected, but does not trap the insects.  
         [0006]     DE 695 12 266 T2 uses a light source to attract insects, in this case a surface is illuminated and said surface interacts with a surface that is supplied with electric current and on which the insect is killed on contact. The immobilizing of the insects is effected on contact with the surface that is supplied with electric current. Similar trap apparatuses are known in DE 35 11 215 C2 and DE 198 35 059 A1.  
         [0007]     DE 690 29 727 T2 makes known a comparable apparatus, where a UV light source is used to attract the insects, however, the grid connected behind is provided with a non-deadly electric charge. The insects can be stunned by this and moved into a collecting container. The immobilizing by the electrically charged grid is effected behind the trap opening.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     Proceeding from the state of the art, it is the object of the present invention to create an apparatus and a method for trapping insects in a handy, simple manner.  
         [0009]     This object is achieved by an apparatus and a method with the features of claim  1  or respectively  19 .  
         [0010]     The immobilizing device is effective in the area in front of the trap opening on a trap area or trap region in such a manner that the insect, which is preferably already no longer flying, before contacting the apparatus is already immobilized in such a manner that it can be trapped. The insect then passes into a collecting container once the immobilizing device has been switched off. The insects are gently collected up and can be removed from the collecting container later where required. This is an important advantage, more especially for members of world religions who believe that the soul is reborn again in a different body.  
         [0011]     The immobilizing of the insects is preferably effected by means of dazzling, a pulsing light at a frequency of between 5 and 20 Hertz being the most effective. The fact that pulsing light has this effect on insects seems not to be known in biology. This light is already effective in a trap region at some distance in front of the apparatus, such that the insects detected by the light no longer fly away. Due to the dazzle effect, the insects remain still such that they can be transferred into a trap area by the trap area being slipped over the said insects. The insects can then be moved into the collecting container and once the light source has been switched off and the dazzle effect has weakened, this usually occurs by the insects independently following their escape instinct and escaping into the collecting container.  
         [0012]     The escape instinct can be supported by obscuring the trap area once the insect has been detected. This can be effected by means of a relative movement between trap area and housing, such that the dark housing is guided over the transparent trap area, at the same time, however, the light can be switched off in the trap area. Under certain circumstances, it would be enough to have light entering from the outside in the transfer region to the collecting container. It is preferable to have another light source disposed here also. If the volume of the trap area is also reduced at the same time, the insect, following its escape instinct, looks for the path to the light and consequently passes into the collecting container. A mechanical apparatus, as an auxiliary means, can be installed in the trap area to move the insect forward into the trap opening.  
         [0013]     Further advantages are produced from the sub claims. 
     
    
     SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0014]     The invention is described in more detail below by way of the enclosed Figures. In which:  
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a side view of the apparatus, in the form of a hand-held device, in the initial state,  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  is a front view of the apparatus in  FIG. 1 ,  
         [0017]      FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the apparatus in a representation according to  FIG. 1 ,  
         [0018]      FIG. 4  is a section through the trap sleeve,  
         [0019]      FIG. 5  is a representation according to  FIG. 3  with the obscured trap area applied to a contact surface,  
         [0020]      FIG. 6  is a front view of the trap area in an additional specific embodiment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     The invention is now described in more detail as an example with reference to the enclosed drawings. However, the exemplified embodiments are only examples which are not to restrict the inventive concept to a specific disposition.  
         [0022]     The apparatus represented in the Figures is for trapping insects, more especially flying insects, such as common houseflies, mosquitoes and midges, but also wasps, bees and the like. A hand-held device is represented in the exemplified embodiment, however, in principle, the apparatus can also be used in other ways. In the configuration as a hand-held device, the apparatus can be developed, in principle, in such a manner that it fits in every pocket. Depending on requirement, it can be used particularly in hospitals, clean rooms, in private areas or also in the catering trade where it is used to remove insects that are no longer flying away from the vicinity of customers&#39; foodstuffs and meals.  
         [0023]     The apparatus has a housing  10  with a trap opening  11 , which is disposed in the present case in the wall  14   a  of a trap sleeve  20  which surrounds the trap area  14 . In addition, an immobilizing device is provided for the at least partial immobilization of the insects. The immobilizing device in the exemplified embodiment is formed by a light source  12 , which has the job of dazzling the insects which have been caught in the trap region  24 , which is illustrated schematically in  FIG. 1  in front of the device, or in the trap area  14 . The at least one light source  12  can be an electric light bulb or, equally as good, an LED, wherein more especially a, for example, sinusoidal or square-wave pulsing of the light source has been proven to be advantageous. Once the trap area has been slipped over the insect, the intensity of the light source is preferably dimmed from 0 to 100%, a period lasting approximately two seconds being proven to be suitable for this purpose. The preferably temporary dazzle effect also occurs at constant light, but is worse. Other means can also be used as the immobilizing device as long as it is ensured that they are harmless to people and to higher-evolved animals, on the other hand, however, it must also be ensured that they preferably only accomplish a partial immobilizing or respectively dazzling of the insects.  
         [0024]     The light source  12  preferably shines out of the apparatus with a narrow beam. Consequently, an insect can be sighted, for example, at 1 m away. Although the user then approaches the insect, the insect stops until the trap area  14  has been slipped over it. As the trap area is preferably transparent at least in the front region, the insect does not perceive it initially with its compound eye on account of the dazzle. The trap area  14  must not be a tube; it can equally be defined, for example, by a grid or net. Once the trap area has been slipped over the insect, the said trap area can be obscured in order to move the insect, or respectively to have the insect moved, in the direction of a collecting device  13  for collection and retention of the insects once they have passed the trap opening  11 .  
         [0025]     In front of the trap opening  11  there is provided the trap area  14 , which can be influenced at least partially by the immobilizing device. In the exemplified embodiment, the light source is effective in both the trap region  24  ( FIG. 1 ) in front of or respectively outside the apparatus and in the trap area  14  and dazzles the insects situated in this region. The insects pass from the trap area via the trap opening  11  into a transfer region  15  to the collecting device  13 . The transfer region can be formed simply by an opening, for example the trap opening  11 , however it is preferable for the transfer region to be a separate element or respectively a separate area.  
         [0026]     The light source  12 , which is disposed in the vicinity of the trap opening  11 , is operated at a wavelength that is at least visible to the insect eye. A modulation of between 5 and 20 Hertz, preferably 10 Hertz, has proven to be advantageous. At this modulation, the insect begins to sway and to shake and this makes it easier for the trap area to be slipped over. It is preferable for only one light source to be used, however several can be provided.  
         [0027]     In order to cause the insects to leave the trap area  14  once the immobilizing or respectively dazzling effect has been reduced, the said trap area is obscured. The obscuring occurs in the exemplified embodiment, as a comparison between  FIGS. 3 and 5  shows, by the housing  10  being moved relative to the trap area  14  or respectively to the trap sleeve  20  once the trap area  14  has been slipped over the insect. This results in the preferably opaque housing  10  passing over the transparent trap sleeve  20  as obscuring element  16 .  
         [0028]     The relative movement between housing  10  and trap sleeve  20 , however, has other consequences also. The transfer region  15  is only opened by this relative movement, for example. The transfer region consequently forms, as can be seen at the earliest in  FIG. 5 , a lock that is closable at least on one side. This means that insects situated in the collecting device  13  cannot easily pass back into the trap area  14 . To generate the relative movement, the trap sleeve  20  is mounted on the housing  10  so as to be displaceable in a limited manner preferably in opposition to the force of at least of one resilient element  17 .  
         [0029]     The light source  12  can either be moved together with the trap area  14  or, as shown in the Figures, can be secured to the housing  10  such that the insect passes closer to the light source when the trap area moves relative to the housing  10 . The movement that occurs in this case can be used at the same time, through corresponding geometry of the housing  10 , to reduce the volume of the trap area  14  in such a manner that the insect becomes distressed.  
         [0030]     According to  FIG. 5 , the relative movement results in the trap opening  11  and the connection opening  18  coinciding, which means that, for the insect, the path, which is otherwise blocked up preferably as a lock, opens into the collecting device  13 . This transfer region  15 , more especially when the trap area  14  is obscured, is preferably disposed such that the insect passes via the transfer region  15  into the collecting device  13 . At the same time, light can pass to the insect via the transfer region  15  such that the insect is lured in this direction. This light can either be the ambient light or also a separate light source. In the exemplified embodiment, the wall of the collecting device  13  is transparent and/or diffused such that a diffused light can pass as far as the connecting opening  18 . If the connecting opening, as transfer region to the collecting device  13 , is opened by means of the movement of the trap area relative to the housing  10 , the insect, as illustrated, for example, in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , passes into a separate container, which is also associated with the transfer region  15  and ends in the collecting device  13 . The insect consequently follows the light and comes into the collecting device  13  via the separate container of the transfer region  15 . The area widens again in the collecting device  13 , which means that the insect cannot pass voluntarily back into the transfer region  15 . Even if it does so, it is kept back by the lock which is disposed at the entry of the transfer region  15  and is formed by the trap opening  11  and the connecting opening  18 . The cross section of the preferably tubular transfer region  15  is adapted to the insects to be caught such that they still pass along this cross section as the escape route, however, after leaving the cross section they do not want to return there. This reluctance is the one side of the lock, the other side of the transfer region should preferably be in the form of an actual opening, which, like a lock, only allows insects to enter but not to leave. Where necessary, it is also possible to provide a double lock.  
         [0031]     In practice, there have been insects that have been reluctant to leave the trap area  14  in the direction of the collecting device  13 , such that the insect could only be caught after a few seconds. Consequently, in order to make use of the device more pleasant for the user, in the exemplified embodiment in  FIG. 6  which shows a view of the trap area  14  from the front, a mechanical apparatus can be provided for lifting off the insect. This apparatus moves the insect situated in the trap area forward into the trap opening  11 , which then preferably remains closed until the insect has found the path into the collecting container  13 . If, therefore, in  FIG. 6  the trap area  14  is slipped over the insect, after it has been dazzled by the light of the light source  12 , the relative movement between trap sleeve  20  and housing  10  results in a wedge-shaped region, for example, coming from the boundary face of the trap area  14  on the user side preferably to the contact surface  28 , which includes the trap opening  11  to the side. In this respect, this wedge-shaped region is part of the connecting region  15 . On the side of the wedge situated opposite to the trap opening  11  there is, as the mechanical apparatus, for example, a wiper  23 , which is represented in the initial or idle state in  FIG. 6  and, after being placed on the contact surface  28 , wipes in a circular manner through the trap area and at the same time moves the insect forward into the collecting container  11 . It stops at the trap opening until the insect has reached the collecting container. A signal of the detecting device  21  or, for example, the actuating of the control device  29  by the user can be used as a signal for this, the wiper  23  then returning to its initial position or, if the wedge-shaped region returns to its initial position and this is desired, wipes over this region, which results in a 360° movement of the wiper. The trap opening  11  is preferably opened when the wedge-shaped region is released and automatically closed when the apparatus is lifted off, such that this forms one side of a lock, which prevents the insect moving back into the trap area  14 . An additional side of a lock can be provided on the other side, such that the connecting region  15  is no longer accessible from the collecting container when the trap opening is open, but once the trap opening  11  has been closed, it is possible for the caught insect to escape into the collecting container.  
         [0032]     As an alternative, in a specific embodiment not represented in a drawing, once the insect has been caught in the trap area  14  and the housing has been placed on the contact surface  28 , the trap sleeve  20  can also be lifted off internally of the obscuring element or of the housing  10 , such that a wiper can “clean out” the trap area  14  under the trap sleeve in order thereby to move the insect forward into the trap opening. Both solutions, moreover, have the advantage that it is consequently easier also to remove an insect from a window pane on which the obscuring effect does not occur to the same extent as it does on another surface. However, in the case of this type of mechanical or electrically driven apparatus for lifting off the insects, an obscuring means is no longer urgently necessary.  
         [0033]     The advantage of the entire apparatus, which is in the form of a hand-held device in the exemplified embodiments, is above all that the insects are only immobilized for the short term, then, however, preferably pass into the collecting device  13  by themselves through their own effort. The insects are consequently not killed which means that it remains up to the user what he does with the insects after “collection”. For this purpose, the substantially closed collecting device  13  is removable from the housing  10  for the transport, release or disposal of the caught insects. Animal conservationists or believers of world religions that believe in rebirth, can, for example, subsequently release the insects.  
         [0034]     According to the Figures, the apparatus includes a handle element  19 , which makes it easy to grasp. A control element  29  for actuating the light source is provided on the handle element  19  itself. The light source is supplied with power, for example, from a battery  26  in the battery compartment  25 . The control elements are disposed, for example, on a printed circuit board  27 . The trap area  14 , which is disposed in the trap sleeve  16 , preferably extends forward beyond the housing  10  as shown in  FIG. 1 , such that when the trap area is slipped over the insect, the demarcation of the trap area  14  can be detected.  
         [0035]     As the trap area  14  is no longer visible after it has been obscured by being introduced into the housing  10  on account of the relative movement, a detecting apparatus  21  can be provided in the transfer region  15  for detecting the passage of caught insects, as shown in  FIG. 3 . This detecting apparatus can either show that an insect has passed the transfer region or there is at least one signal transmitter  22  provided which gives an acoustic or optical signal when an insect passes through on account of the signal from the detecting apparatus. In addition, the transfer region  15  can also be transparent, which means that the user can observe whether the insect has passed into the collecting device.  
         [0036]     It has been shown that the dazzle effect is also dependent on the ambient light. If the insect is dazzled too strongly at night, for example, it can be several seconds before the dazzle effect is weakened and the insect begins to escape. In order to optimize this, a light sensor can be provided additionally to detect the ambient light, such that the light source is tuned in a corresponding manner to the ambient brightness.  
         [0037]     Preferred wavelengths of the light are in the green, blue and white range, whilst red and infrared have proven to be less advantageous; the choice, however, is also dependent on the insects to be caught in each case. The trap area itself, in the exemplified embodiment, has a diameter of between 20 and 40 mm and the housing in the region of the trap area  14  has a diameter of between 25 and 45 mm. For better sealing, for example, on an uneven support base, a rubber pad or a rubber contact ring can be provided, where required, in this region at the bottom edge of the trap area.  
         [0038]     The apparatus itself operates as follows: The immobilizing device is initially effective in front of the apparatus and more especially in front of the trap opening  11  out of the apparatus into the trap region  24 . Consequently, the immobilizing device can influence trap region  24  and trap area  14 . An insect situated in this region is consequently already immobilized from a certain distance, such that the trap area  14 , which can be influenced by the immobilizing device and is disposed in front of the trap opening, can then be slipped over the insect that is situated on the contact surface  28 . The insect caught in this manner then passes, due to its escape instinct or with the assistance of the mechanical apparatus for lifting off the insect—such as, for example, the wiper  23 —via a transfer region  15  into the collecting container  13 . The wiper can, for example, be transferred into its initial position by means of a spring or an electrical drive means. In the exemplified embodiment, the immobilizing device is a light source, which is not there for attracting the insects but for dazzling them. Once the dazzle effect has been reduced, the insect preferably passes independently into the trap opening  11 .  
         [0039]     The light source is operated at a wavelength that is at least visible to the insect eye. Once the trap area  14  has been slipped over the insect, the transfer region  15  is obscured. A relative movement between the at least partially transparent trap sleeve  20  and the housing  10  can be effected for this purpose, for example, such that the housing  10  darkens the trap area. Thus, the transfer region  15  is opened, as trap opening  11  and connecting opening  18  to the collecting device  13  come in coincidence. At the same time, the volume of the trap area  14  is reduced by means of the relative movement between trap sleeve  20  and housing  10 . This movement can also be used to switch off the light source  12 . All this influences the insect&#39;s instinct to escape. The instinct to escape is increased by light passing via the transfer region  15  towards the insect, such that the insect is lured in this direction. When the insect passes through the transfer region  15 , a detecting apparatus  21  can detect whether the insect has actually passed in the direction of the collecting device  13 , so that an acoustic or optical signal is output. The apparatus can then be removed again from the support on which the insect has been caught, and can be used again.  
         [0040]     It is obvious that this description can be subject to the most varied modifications, amendments and adaptations, which range in the region of equivalents to the attached claims.  
       LIST OF REFERENCES  
       [0000]    
       
           10  Housing  
           11  Trap opening  
           12  Light source  
           13  Collecting device  
           14  Trap area  
           14   a  Wall  
           15  Transfer region  
           16  Obscuring element  
           17  Resilient element  
           18  Connecting opening  
           19  Handle element  
           20  Trap sleeve  
           21  Detecting apparatus  
           22  Signal transmitter  
           23  Wiper  
           24  Trap region  
           25  Battery compartment  
           26  Battery  
           27  Printed circuit board  
           28  Contact surface  
           29  Control element