AN IMPROVED SELF-SETTING ANIMAL TRAP
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED SELF-SETTING ANIMAL TRAP."-A communication
from abroad by Robert Edwin Dictz, of the City, County, and
State of New York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th January 1873.
"
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Ficlds, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SELF-SETTING ANIMAL TRAP," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Robert Edwin Dietz, of the City, County,
and State of New York, United States of America, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to catch a number of animals suc-
cessively in a single trap, and this object is accomplished by constructing
the trap so that cach animal when caught shall in passing from a dark
into a light compartment in its efforts to escape reset the trap.

page_text: The improved trap consists of two compartments, one of which is
provided with sliding doors, and is dark when such doors are closed,
while the other compartment has grated sides and top so as to freely
admit the light.
The doors are arranged to be simultaneously raised by the arms of a
rock shaft which extends across the trap, the said arms being in the
present instance formed of bent wire in one piece with a yoke, which
when lowered for the purpose of opening the doors is caught and
retained by a notch in a spring plate secured at the top, but free to
vibrate at its lower end.
A platform is maintained in an elevated position by the said spring
plate against which an arm bears, and to the top of the said platform is
secured the bait hook.
The mouse or other animal enters the dark compartment through onc
of the openings beneath the raised doors when the trap is set, and in
endeavoring to reach the bait depresses the platform, the arm of which
forces the spring plate outwards and thus disengages the yoke, when the
sliding doors will suddenly descend by their own weight and close the
openings. The animal in endeavoring to escape will pass through an
opening leading from the dark compartment into the light compartment,
and in doing so will clevate an inclined trap door, thus causing a long
bent arm attached to the said door to bear upon and depress the yoke
sufficiently to cause its re-engagement with the notched retaining spring
and the opening of the sliding doors. In other words the trap will be
reset by the lifting of the inclined door, which will fall by its own
woight to its original position when the animal has entered the light
compartment, from which it cannot escape. The animals can be rc-
moved from this compartment on lifting a hinged lid, and access can
be had to the dark compartment for purposes of cleaning on lifting
another hinged lid.
The frame of the trap is of an oval shape and free from sharp corners,
the whole of the walls of the trap being formed from a single strip of
sheet metal bent to the required shape, and joined together at its opposite
ends. The bottom plato and cross partition separating the two com-
partments impart the required rigidity to the curved frame, which is of
moro economical construction than a frame formed of several straight
strips soldered together at the corners.

page_text: If desired, the arrangement of the parts may be reversed, the bait
hook and notched retaining spring being adjacent to the cross partition
between the two chambers, while the sliding doors are at that end of the
dark chamber farthest removed from the said partition. A shorter arm
in connection with the inclined flap door is also used than in the first
modification.
In some cases the doors are held up by a projection on their rock
shaft which is caught in a notch at the back of the bait hook, the latter
being suspended from a fixed cross bar, and being embrased below the
notch by a slotted arm secured to a spring platform. The weight of the
animal upon the latter causes the slotted arm to press against the rear
of the bait hook and to disengage the notch in the same from the pro-
jection on the rock shaft, which releases the latter and permits the doors
to close by their own weight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patcut
Office on the 22nd July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special.
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, usc,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED SELF-SETTING ANIMAL TRAP," a communication to me from
abroad by Robert Edwin Dictz, of the City, County, and State of

page_text: New York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause 5
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained 1
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say :-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction of trap for
catching a number of animals successively in a single trap, and this 1
object is accomplished by constructing the trap in the manner fully
described hereafter, so that each animal when caught shall in passing
from a dark into a light compartment in its efforts to escape reset the
trap.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall 2
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 are sectional elevations of the improved trap with the 2
working parts in different positions, and Figure 3, a sectional plan on
the line 1, 2, Fig. 1.
'
The trap, as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, consists of two com-
partments A and B, the former of which, when its sliding doors D, D,
are closed, is dark, while the compartment B has grated sides and top so 3
as to freely admit the light.
The doors D, D, are arranged to be simultaneously raised by the
arms a, a, of a rock shaft E which extends across the trap, the said arms
being in the present instance formed of bent wire in one piece with a
yoko F which, when lowered for the purpose of opening the doors is 3
caught and retained by the notched or bent portion of a spring plate G
secured at the top, but free to vibrate at its lower end.

page_text: A platform E hung at d is maintained in an elevated position by tho
spring plate G, against which its arm e bears, and to the top of the said
platform is secured the bait hook f.
The mouse or other animal enters the compartment A through one of
the openings beneath the raised doors D when the trap is set, as shewn
in Figure 1, and in endeavoring to reach the bait depresses the platform
II, the arm e of which forces the spring plate G outwards and thus dis-
engages the yoke F, when the sliding doors will suddenly descend by
their own weight and close the openings x. The animal in endeavoring
to escape will pass through the opening y from the dark compartment A
into the light compartment B, and in doing so will clevate the inclined
trap door k, as shown in Figure 2, thus causing a long bent arm i of the
said door to bear upon and depress the yoke F sufficiently to cause its
re-engagement with the notched retaining spring G and the opening of
the doors D. In other words, tho trap will be reset by the lifting of the
inclined door h, which will fall by its own weight to its original position,
Figure 1, when the animal has entered the compartment B from which
it cannot escape. The animals can be removed from the compartment B
on lifting a hinged lid j, and access can be had to the compartment A
for purposes of cleaning, &c., on lifting a hinged lid k.
It will be observed on reference to Figure 3 that the frame of the trap
is of an oval shape and free from sharp corners, the whole of the walls of
the trap being formed from a single strip X of sheet metal bent to tho
required shape, and joined together at its opposite ends at the point c.
The bottom plate to and partition impart the required rigidity to the
carved frame, which is of more economical construction than a frame
formed of several straight strips soldered together at the corners.
If desired, the arrangement of the parts may be reversed, the bait
hook and notched retaining spring being adjacent to the partition v
between the two chambers, while the doors D are at that end of the
chamber A farthest removed from the said partition. The arm i in
connection with the inclined flap door may be shortened also if
desired.
By another modification, wherein the principle of the trap is still
3 retained, although the combination of operating devices is altered
slightly, the doors are held up by a projection on their rock shaft which
'

page_text: is caught in a notch at the back of the bait hook, the latter being sus-
pended from a fixed cross bar, and being embraced below the notch by a
slotted arm secured to a spring platform. The weight of the animal
upon the latter causes the slotted arm to press against the rear of the
bait hook and to disengage the notch in the same from the projection on 5
the rock shaft, which releases the latter and permits the doors to close
by their own weight.

page_text: platform, all substantially as described with reference to the last modi-
fication.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and scal, the Twenty-second'
day of July One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.