Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb, 1887.
Complete Left, 14th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 15th July, 1887.
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK LOTZ of the firm of Lotz, Abbott & Co. of 66 Queen Street
Cannon Street in the City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention, to be as follows:-
:―
For this purpose the body of the trap is formed dome shaped or with inclined sides
and the exterior surface thereof is roughened or coated with a granular substance in
order to afford foothold to the vermin whilst the interior presents a smooth surface
which it is impossible to climb.
A circular or other shaped opening is formed in the upper part of the body of the
trap and within this opening is removably fitted a frame or rim to which are connected
the outer ends of a number of bars the inner ends of which are connected to and
support a central tray or receptacle for "bait" and a groove is formed around the tray
to receive a tie for securing the bait in position.
Upon each of the bars is mounted with capability of oscillating or revolving a
balanced bridge or platform such bridge or platform being so lightly balanced as to
be capable of being depressed on the one side or the other of its axis by an object of
little weight such for example as a small cockroach whilst in consequence of its sides
or wings being slightly depressed on each side of its axis it is normally retained in a
horizontal position.

page_text: The action of the trap is as follows :-
The vermin attracted by the "bait" climb the roughened surface of the body of
the trap and endevour to reach the bait by passing over the several bridges or
platforms when they are immediately precipitated into the interior of the trap body.
When it is desired to remove the contents of the trap the frame or rim together
with its connected parts is withdrawn from the opening in the upper part of the
trap body when the contents of the trap may be disposed of in any customary
manner.
In some cases the trap body may be formed without a bottom or with an opening
therein by which means the trap may be placed over a vessel containing water or
other fluid into which the vermin may fall from the bridges or platforms.
WILLIAM FREDERICK LOTZ.
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings,
Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Vermin Trap More Particularly Applicable for
Catching Cockroaches or Blackbeetles.
I, WILLIAM FREDERICK LOTZ of the firm of Lotz Abbott and Co., of 66 Queen
Street Cannon Street in the City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention, partly the result of a communication to me from abroad by
Henry Abbott while temporarily residing in New York in the United States of
America and partly my own invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
For this purpose the body of the trap is formed dome shaped or with inclined sides
and the exterior surface thereof is roughened or coated with a granular substance in
order to afford foothold to the vermin whilst the interior presents a smooth and over-
hanging surface which it is impossible to climb.
A circular or other shaped opening is formed in the upper part of the body of the
trap and within this opening is removably fitted a frame or rim to which are connected

page_text: the outer ends of a number of bars the inner ends of which are connected to and
support a central tray or receptacle for "bait " and a groove is formed around the
tray to receive a tie for securing the bait against removal or a pin may be fixed in the
centre of the tray for such purpose.
Upon each of the bars is mounted with capability of oscillating or revolving a
balanced bridge or platform such bridge or platform being so lightly balanced as to be
capable of being depressed on the one side or the other of its axis by an
object of little
weight such for example as a small cockroach whilst in consequence of its sides or
wings being slightly depressed on each side of its axis it is normally retained in a
horizontal position.
In some cases the trap body may be formed without a bottom or with an opening
therein by which means the trap may be placed over a vessel containing water or other
fluid into which the vermin may fall from the bridges or platforms; the rim or frame
in this case may be made a fixture with the trap body if desired.
And in order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings more fully to
describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view partly in section and Figure 2 is a plan of a vermin trap
having the improvements applied thereto.
Figure 3 is a sectional side view of the frame or rim separately with the bridges or
platforms removed; Figures 4 and 5 are respectively a side view and an underside view of
the tray or receptacle for the bait and connected parts; and Figure 6 is an edge view and
Figure 7 is a plan of one of the balanced bridges or platforms detached from the trap.
a represents the body of the trap which is formed dome shaped or with inclined
sides and the exterior surface thereof is roughened or coated with a granular
substance in order to afford foothold to the vermin whilst the interior a¹ presents
a smooth and overhanging surface which it is impossible to climb.
A circular or it might be other shaped opening a³ is formed in the upper part of
the body a of the trap and within this opening is removably fitted a frame or rim b
formed with a bead or flange b' on its upper edge to act as a stop in order to ensure
its correct adjustment in relation to the trap a.
To the frame or rim b are connected the outer ends of a number of bars c the inner
ends of which bars are connected to and support a central tray or receptacle d for
"bait."
Lugs or ears d¹ provided with holes d² therein are formed upon the base of the
tray d and through these holes the inner ends of the bars c are passed and then fixed
to the underside of the tray or receptacle d by which means the tray or receptacle d
is firmly supported in position.
A groove d³ is formed around the tray d to receive a tie for securing the bait
against removal or a pin may be fixed to the tray d to receive the bait and hold it in
position.
Upon each of the bars c is mounted with capability of oscillating or revolving a
balanced bridge or platform e which is formed with a groove or indentation e¹ in its
underside to receive the bar c and with turned down lugs or ears e² having holes e*
formed therein through which the bar c is passed and which serve to prevent accidental
displacement of the bridge or platform e.
The bridges or platforms e are formed with their sides or wings slightly depressed
on each side of and below the axis thereof by which construction the wings are caused
to act as counterweights and the bridges e are thus normally retained in an approxi-
mately horizontal position whilst such bridges or platforms e are so lightly balanced
as to be capable of being depressed on the one side or the other of their axes by an
object of even little weight such for example as a small cockroach.
The action of the trap is as follows.
"FAI
The vermin attracted by the "bait" placed in the tray d climb the roughened
surface of the body a of the trap and endeavour to reach the "bait" by passing over

page_text: the several bridges or platforms e when they are immediately precipitated into the
interior a¹ of the trap body a.
When it is desired to remove the contents of the trap the frame or rim 6 together
with its connected parts is withdrawn from the opening a² in the upper part of the
trap body a when the contents of the trap may be disposed of in any customary
manner.
In some cases the body a of the trap may be formed without a bottom or with
an opening therein surrounded by a downwardly projecting flange or rim as indicated
by the dotted lines a* in Figure 1 and the rim or flange b may if desired be a
fixture.
According to this arrangement the trap would be placed over a vessel containing
water or other fluid into which the vermin would fall from the bridges or platforms e.
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 consisting of a body a, formed with inclined sides and having at
the upper part thereof and opening a furnished with a number of counterbalanced
bridges or platforms e all in manner substantially as herein shown and described and
for the purpose stated.
2. A vermin trap consisting of a body a formed with inclined sides and having
at the upper part thereof an opening a² in which is fitted a rim or frame b supporting
the outer ends of bars c the inner ends of which are connected to and support a tray d
and upon which bars are mounted a number of balanced bridges or platforms e formed
with slightly depressed wings, grooves or indentations e¹ and lugs or ears e² all in
manner substantially as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
3. A vermin trap consisting of a body a formed with inclined sides and having at
the lower part thereof an opening a* and at the upper part thereof an opening a³ in
which latter opening fitted a rim or frame 6 supporting the outer ends of bars c the
inner ends of which are connected to and support a tray d and upon which bars, are
mounted a number of balanced bridges or platforms e formed with slightly depressed
wings, grooves or indentations e¹ and lugs or ears all in manner substantially as
herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
1008
WILLIAM FREDERICK LOTZ.
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings,
Agents.