Improvements in Animal Traps.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 20th May, 1893
CUM PLE DIVIFIOALION
Improvements in Animal Traps.
I, THOMAS MARK HOVELL, of Boreham Holt, Elstree, in the County of Herts.,
Gentleman, 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:-
My invention relates to an improved construction of animal trap, wherein firstly
two open doors situated at opposite ends of one compartment of the trap are
simultaneously closed by the entrance of an animal into the said compartment, and
secondly, by the farther passage of the animal through the trap, it is made to
operate other mechanism whereby the two doors are simultaneously automatically
opened again, and the trap is thus reset for the entrance of another animal.
For these purposes the trap is constructed of three separate compartments
arranged longitudinally side by side. The first compartment has at each end a pivotted
door so arranged as, either by gravity or by spring action to close automatically
when left to themselves. In the middle of the compartment is a pivotted platform
or treadle which is so connected by a catch or detent with a longitudinal spindle
and lever arms connected to the doors, that on the animal entering the compartment
and treading on the treadle, this is moved so as to release the spindle and allow
the doors to close down, the doors being locked in such closed position by catches.
In the side wall of the said compartment is an opening through which the animal,
finding the doors closed, will pass into the second compartment.
In this compartment is a device which when acted upon by the weight of the
animal is made to actuate the spindle in the first compartment so as to reset the
doore in the open position. Such device consists by preference of a sway beam
constituting the floor, and supported by horizontal pivots at an intermediate point
of its length so that the end thereof near the before mentioned side opening tends
either by gravity or by spring action to remain in the lowered position while the
other cod is thus held in a raised position; on the animal entering this second
compartment it will run up the inclined sway beam, and by its weight will cause
the raised end to descend thereby raising the other end.
By such upward motion, this end is made, by a suitable lever connection with
the before mentioned spindle, to turn this and thereby cause it to open both doors
so as to reset the trap. The sway beam also actuates a second spindle connected
to the catches of the doors, so that such catches are disengaged before the doors
are opened.
The animal after actuating the sway beam as described passes through a door
into the third compartment, and the sway beam, relieved of its weight, falls
back into its original position, ready to be acted upon by the next animal caught.
I will now proceed to describe a special construction of the trap operating in the
above described manner for which purpose 1 will refer to the accompanying
drawings in which
Fig. 1 shews a plan of the trap with the top plate removed.
Fig. 2 shews a side view of compartment B¹ with the side plate removed.
Fig. 3 a longitudinal section through compartment B' on line 2 Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 shews a longitudinal section through compartment B on line W W Fig. 1
ooking towards compartment B'.
Fig. 5 shews one end view of the trap with the doors of compartment B' closed.
Fig. 6 shews the opposite end view with the doors of B' open, aud 7 shows a cross
ection at Y Y Fig. 3.
The trap, which may either be of wire, as shewn or of other suitable material.
s divided by two partition walls A A into three compartments B¹, B², B³,

page_text: B' being made to communicate with B by an opening, and 1" with D by
opening C¹.
The compartment B' has its two ends closed by two doors D D which are
pivotted at E to the sides the pivots being so arranged relatively to the centre of
gravity of the doors, that these always tends to turn into the closed position shewn
at Fig. 3. When in the closed position, the doors are prevented from being
pushed open by the animal in the compartment, by hooked catches. F, pivotted to
the ends of the cage and booking into loops G on the upper parts of the doors.
For enabling the doors to be opened, these hooks are first raised out of the loops
as will be presently described.
Along the side of the compartment B' extends a horizontal spindle H, turning
on pivots at the ends and having firstly two arms H' H' that are connected by
rods H' to the lower ends of the doors D, and secondly it has an arm H³ at or
about the middle of its length.
•
Beneath this arm is a treadle I pivotted at l' and weighted by an arm I' in such
manner that it tends to remain in the raised position shewn at Fig. 2. Projecting
upward from this treadle is a post I having a shoulder l' at its upper end. The
post bears up against the arm H of the spindle H when it is in the lowered
position as indicated at Figs. 3 and 7 which arm consequently prevents the post I'
and treadle I from entirely assuming the raised position, until the arm H³ is raised
up to the level of the shoulder I', when the treadle will be free to rise slightly and
will thus bring the shoulder I underneath the arm H³, in which position of the
said arm the spindle H will be turned so as to hold the doors D in the open
position as at Fig. 2 and consequently the doors will be locked in such open
position so long as the post 13 is engaged with the arm H', that is to say, so long
as the treadle I is not depressed by an entering animal. When this is done, the
arm H³, in losing its support, drops, allowing the spindle H to turn and the
doors D' to close. The doors are then locked in such closed position by means of
the book-shaped catches F which engage with wire loops G at the upper parts of
the doors.
Baulking bars are provided at a certain height immediately inside the door-
ways in order to impede the progress of the animal in endeavouring to rush right
through the compartment before the doors have had time to close down entirely
and become locked.
The treadle is prevented by a stop K from being moved over beyond the above
mentioned horizontal position by the weighted arm 12.
In the second compartment B a sway beam L is pivotted at L' to the sides of
the compartment and so weighted at its right hand end-that it tends to assume the
position shewn at Figs. 3 and 4.
When the beam is in this position it will be seen that its inclined surface corre-
sponds with the lower edge of the side opening C. To the left hand end of the
sway beam at Fig. 4 is pivotted a rod M the upper end of which is pivotted to an
arm N that passes through a slot in the partition and has its other end pivotted
loose upon the spindle H. This arm is situated beneath a wire loop P fixed on the
spindle H, so that when this end of the beam L is made to rise, as shewn at Fig. 2,
the rod M and arm N in lifting the loop P, turn the spindle II in its bearings and
thereby firstly cause it to raise the doors D into the open position by means of the
levers arms and rods H2 and secondly to bring its arin H' above the post I ɛ0
as to engage with the shoulder I of the latter, as before described and shown at
Fig. 2. To the beam 1 is furthermore pivotted at a point beyond its pivot L', a
rod Q pivotted at its upper end to an arm R' fixed on a spindle R extending along
the compartment B2, and free to turn in bearings at its ends. To this spindle is
fixed other arms R that project through slots in the partition wall A, and are
pivotted to the catches F. Thus it will be seen that as the right hand end of the
beam L rises as above described, the left hand end in descending will effect the
turning of the spindle R by the rod Q and arm R', and by this means the arms R³
will be made to raise the catches F off the loops G of the doors D before the

page_text: arm N in rising has come in contact with the loop P of spindle H; and consequently
before this is turned for raising the doors.
Near the right hand end of compartment B at Fig. 4 is a transverse partition S
having an opening at bottom which is closed by a sloping wire door T, hinged at
its upper end and resting free on the floor of the compartment at its lower end, so
that it can be readily pushed open in the direction of the arrow Figs. 2 and 4 by
an animal on the inner side of the door.
This door has a wire catch or pawl T which, when the left hand end (Fig. 2) of
the beam L is depressed, automatically passes over its end and thus locks the beam:
in this position, in which it will be seen that the right hand end of the beam.
(Fig. 2) is raised above the opening C, and consequently an animal contained in
compartment B cannot pass back into compartment B. When however the
animal pushes open the door T and passes out through the same, the beam L will.
be liberated from the catch T" and will consequently be free to fall back into the
position shewn at Figs. 3 and 4. In so falling back, the beam draws downward'
the lever arm N again leaving the looped arm P and spindle H in the position in
which they had previously been moved so that the trap will now have been
automatically reset in its original position with the parts as shewn at Fig. 4.
The space
U in compartment B beyond the door T communicates with a space V.
of the compartment B by the before mentioned opening C, and the space V
communicates with the other part of the compartment. B by a sloping wire
door W. At the other end the compartment B³ has a sliding door X through
which the animals contained therein are removed.
From the above description, the action of the trap will readily be seen to be as.
follows:-
The trap being set, with the parts in the positions at Fig. 2, and suitably baited,
in a perforated receptacle at 7, an animal entering compartment B' (which it will
readily do on seeing a clear way through the two open doors) will depress treadle I
and thereby cause the two doors to fall quickly into the closed position, as, at.
Fig. 3.
The animal then seeing no other opening for escape than the opening C, will pass
through the latter into compartment B on to the beam L, here it will run up the
beam which will consequently be overbalanced at the raised end and will descend
into the position at Fig. 2. In doing this the beam will automatically reset com-
partment B as described. The animal in pushing through door T will thereby
release the beam L which will consequently resume its "set position so that the
trap is now completely reset as at Fig. 4. The animal will then pass through
opening C and door W into compartment B³.
"
The beam L has a projecting wire L' at the right hand end, and the door T has
a wire T projecting up through the top, so as to enable the trap to be set by hand,
in the first instance, or in the event of the treadle I being accidentally depressed
without an animal being in the compartment B*.
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 I
claim is :-
-
1. In an animal trap, the combination of a compartment.having two opposite
doors which are operated by a treadle so as to be simultaneously closed and locked
by the depression of the treadle by au animal, with a device, contained in a second
compartment communicating with first one, and so arranged that on being actuated
by the weight of the animal it effects the simultaneous resetting of both doors of
the first compartment in the open position, substantially as described.
2. In an animal trap, auch as is referred to in the preceding claim, constructing
the device for resetting the doors of the first compartment as a sway beam one end
of which is so connooted by rods and levers to a spindle in the first compartment
that on the depression of the other end of the sway beam by the weight of the
animal, the spindle is actuated by the rising end of the beam and is thereby made