AN IMPROVED VERMIN- TRAP
Year: 1884

page_text: I, GEORGE EDWARD SMART, of Tunbridge Wells in the County of Kent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED VERMIN-
TRAP to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce a "humane" vermin trap and for this
purpose I use a trap of the ordinary kind with jaws and a spring to close them.
To prevent the jaws closing right against each other I place a screwed stud
preferably through the spring with a wing nut upon it so that by adjusting the
nut upon the screw the amount of play left to the jaws when the trap goes off can
be regulated.
One or two set screws at the ends of the jaws may also be used, in addition to
or instead of the screw stud above described, to prevent the jaws entirely closing.
Some soft substance, such as india-rubber is placed when required upon or between
the jaws so as to give a soft though firm grip.

page_text: I GEORGE EDWARD SMART of Tunbridge Wells in the County of Kent do
hereby declare the nature of this Invention for "AN IMPROVED VERMIN TRAP"
and in what manner the saine is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
"
The object of this Invention is to produce a 'humane" vermin trap and for this
purpose I use a trap of the ordinary kind with jaws and a spring to close them.
To prevent the jaws closing right against each other I place a screwed stud
preferably through the spring, with a wing nut upon it so that by adjusting the
nut upon the screw the amount of play left to the jaws when the trap goes off can
be regulated.
One or two set screws at the end or ends of the jaws may also be used in
addition to or instead of the screw stud above described to prevent the jaws from
entirely closing. Some soft substance such as india rubber is placed when required
upon or between the jaws so as to give a soft though firm grip.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 represents two ways of securing the
rubber; Figure 2 is a complete elevation of a trap embodying one form of the
Invention; Figures 3 to 8 inclusive are detail views explanatory of the Invention.
Referring to Figure 1 N° 1 A is the jaw upon or in which is formed a channel B
extending all round the jaw, in which is placed the india rubber or other soft
material C, which projects sufficiently to grip the leg of the animal without
injuring it and without its being damaged by the metal part of the jaw. Figure 1
No 2 is similar to N° 1 but the rubber is laid upon the ordinary jaw and a strip of
metal or equivalent A¹ is laid upon the rubber and rivetted or screwed to A the
rivets or screws passing through the rubber as shown.
Figure 2 shows an ordinary trap, but a hole is made in the spring D through
which passes the pin E rigidly or otherwise secured to the trap at E¹ and screwed
at its upper end upon which is placed the thumb nut F. As shown in Figure 2 the
nut is screwed down a little so that the spring D cannot rise to its full extent; the
result of this is that when the spring is up as shown the jaws are not entirely
closed, thus leaving room for a rabbit's leg or what not, which would be securely
held but not cut off as so often happens with a trap of the ordinary construction,
letting the animal escape terribly maimed, or if it does not escape at all events
spoiling the skin for commercial purposes.
If the nut be screwed further down a larger opening between the jaws will be
left; if screwed back the opening will be smaller, the trap at last acting like an
ordinary one if the nut be screwed back far enough.
This trap may of course also have the rubber as in Figure 1 if desired.
In Figure 3 the same screw and nut is employed for regulating the spring but in
addition to this a set screw G is fitted in one of the jaws; this prevents the jaws
from closing entirely even with the shock as the trap goes off, so that whereas in
the case of Figure 2 the jaws would entirely close for a moment (if nothing was in
the trap) by the sudden rising of the spring, in Figure 3 they would not do so.
The amount of opening of the jaws may be regulated by turning the screw G in or
out, as will be well understood. The same object could be accomplished by having
projections on the inner face of the jaws, and for some purposes this would do, but
I prefer the screw on account of its adjustability.
In Figure 4 two set screws are shown, one at each end of the jaws, and in this
case there is no need for the pin and nut E and F which may be advantageously
employed in Figure 3.

page_text: Figure 5 is a modification of Figure 2 in this case a loop H surrounds the
spring D, and is held down by the pin E which has also a loop or equivalent E²
and the nut F as before, but the pin passes through a portion of the trap itself
instead of through the spring and the nut is underneath instead of on top.
Feet I are by preference used with this form to keep the trap steady and the nut
and screw clear of the ground these feet can also be used with the other forms of
traps if desired.
Figure 5* is an end view of Figure 5 and shows the two feet under the jaws of
the trap.
In Figure 6 the pin E passes through the spring D as in Figure 2 but is secured
by a ring K to the loop L in the bottom of the trap; this gives considerable play
to the pin to accommodate itself to the position of the spring D.
The same principle is carried out in Figures 7 and 8 as in the other views, but
the spring is controlled by a ring M large enough to allow the spring to entirely
close the jaws as in Figure 7. A wedge N is secured by a string or equivalent to
the trap and by placing it through the ring as shown in Figure 8 the latter is
prevented from rising to its full extent, the spring being similarly affected.
According therefore to the size of the wedge N and the distance it is pushed
through the ring M, is the extent of closing of the jaws regulated.
Those who are acquainted with the working of the ordinary form of trap are
well aware of the frequency with which the foot of the vermin is clipped off, thus
releasing the victim and subjecting it to great suffering besides leaving the trapper
with the foot only instead of the whole animal; also that the kind now generally
in use invariably terribly mangles whatever it retains between the jaws. Now
my improved traps retain the animals in an unmangled condition; and a further
advantage is that they can be so set if desired as to retain animals of a certain size
only, so that young rabbits for instance, of a useless size would escape.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A vermin trap having soft cushions or faces for the purpose specified.
2. The combination with a vermin trap of the screwed pin E and nut For
equivalent device, whereby the travel of the spring is controlled for the purpose
specified.
3. The combination with the jaws of a vermiu trap of one or more set screws or
equivalent device G for the purpose specified.
Dated this 29th day of September 1884