Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 14th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 23rd Feb., 1895
I, JAMES KENDAL of 106 Cheapside, in the City of London, Watch and
Clock Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in mouse traps and consists in improved
means for providing for the mouse's weight trapping him by upsetting the stability
of the trap.
In carrying the invention into effect, I provide a vase or jar or bottle shaped
vessel which serves as the trap. The material of which it is made is distributed in
such a way, and in such proportions through it that its normal position is one of
lying on its side as distinguished from standing up upon its bottom. The balance
of weight in favour of the horizontal position is very little, so that a slight addition
to the weight of that half of the trap which carries the closed end, should make it
turn up upon the latter. To facilitate such assumption of the perpendicular, the
end is more or less hemispherical.
་
The transverse plane (vertical, when the trap is set) which contains the axis
about or upon which the trap turns, may be arranged in the centre of the trap or
more or less to either side of it. I propose to facilitate the act of turning, as well
as to make it sudden, by forming a pronounced annular convexity around the
outside of the trap.
A trap made as above described carries its bait at the closed end or near it.
The bait may be of any suitable kind or type. Provision is made for the trap being
baited by making the closed end of the trap removable. Or the trap may be made
to part through or along the centre.
Suitable devices are provided to prevent the escape of a mouse from the trap.
These may be of any suitable or well-known kind, and may be either automatic,
such as a pair of flaps pivotted to the respective sides of the trap, weights to close
them when the trap is on end and a catch to keep them closed; self-tripping, such
as a trap bridge swinging on a horizontal axis.
Dated this 12th day of April 1894.
LESLIE ANTILL,
Agent for the Applicant.
1, JAMES KENDAL of No. 106 Cheapside, in the City of London, Watch, and
Clock Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
The improved trap consists of a tube and cup joined together by uniting the edge
of the latter to that of one end of the former, the weight of the material of both
tube and cup being distributed throughout them equally on both sides of the
vertical plane which contains the centre of gravity of the trap when the latter lies
on its side.

page_text: :
.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the trap in the "caught”. position.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the trap in the "set" position.
The improved trap has only two component parts. These are the tube a and
the cup b.
The tube may be parallel but I prefer that it be taper, as illustrated, the end of
larger diameter being that to which the cup is joined edge to end. The advantage
of a taper tube over a parallel one consists in this that, the smaller end being
lighter than it would be if it were of the same diameter as the larger one, the trap
will go through the motion of catching more smartly. This will be self evident
after the action of the trap has been explained.
The cup bis shewn as flattened at the bottom on the outside. The object of this
central flat portion is to increase the stability of the trap when it is in the
set position. But the outer contour of the cup may be hemispherical throughout
from edge to edge.
The tube and cup are joined end to edge in any convenient way or they may be
made in one piece. The length of the tube is about twice that of the diameter.
The invention does not limit me as to the material of which the trap is made but
I prefer to use glass. The figures show the trap as circular in cross section but it
may be polygonal because the shape, as to cross section, does not form any part of
the invention, neither does it affect the action of the trap.
b
The important feature of the invention is the distribution of the weight of the
material of tube and cup throughout them. The invention requires that when the
trap is laid down on its side on a horizontal surface c, it shall remain in that position.
To meet such requirement, the centre of the trap's gravity must then be on
à vertical line d drawn from the point where the tube a, the cup and the surface c
meet. The weight of the material of the various parts of the cup and tube are
distributed throughout them in such relative proportions that when the trap is laid
on its side, the tube and cup on one side of the line d shall counterpoise the
remaining portion of the cup on the other side of the said line. The section
in Figure 2 shews this distribution. The cup is thick, gradually diminishing
towards the edge of it--the tube a is thin.
C
The trap constructed as described above is used and acts as follows. The bait e
is dropped into the angle made by the junction of the tube a with the cup b, and the
trap "set" by laying it down on a flat horizontal surface e with the open end of the
tube a touching the latter. This is the "set" position and is clearly illustrated in
Figure 2. It will remain in that position until the small animal, e.g., a mouse, has
advanced into it far enough past the line d to upset the stability of the trap, which
immediately tips up over the convex surface of the cup a till it settles upon the flat
central portion 1. This is the "caught" position and is illustrated in Figure 1.
The tipping action is too rapid and embarrassing for the mouse to have time to
retreat, and escape from the trap in its caught position is rendered impracticable
by the stability of the trap on its bottom and the vertical depth of the trap.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is,
In a trap for catching small animals, the combination of tube, open at both
ends, and cup joined by its edge to that of one end of the tube, the weight of the
material of both tube and cup being distributed throughout them equally on both
sides of the vertical plane which contains the centre of gravity of the trap when the
latter lies on its side.
Dand his 10th 1
1005
LESLIE
ANTILL,
1, Gresham Buildings, Basinghall Street, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.