Patent ID: 8782946

Claim:
An animal trap comprising: an animal enclosure having an animal access opening into an interior sized to receive an animal to be trapped; a door pivotally mounted at the access opening, the door operative in an opened position to reveal the animal access opening and spring biased to swing toward a closed position to block the animal access opening; a set mechanism having a set lever and a spring, said set lever pivotally mounted above said animal enclosure and movable through a range of movement for securing the door in the opened position when the trap is set and said spring providing said spring bias to move said door to said closed position when the trap is tripped; a connecting mechanism operatively and movably connecting said door to said set lever; said set lever having a U-shaped portion and two set lever ends, said set lever being pivotally mounted by said two set lever ends so that said U-shaped portion is movable by pivoting on said set lever ends, one end of said connecting mechanism being operatively and movably coupled to said U-shaped portion, said connecting mechanism remaining operatively and movably coupled to said door and to said set lever throughout pivotal movement of said U-shaped portion, movement of either said door or said set lever causing movement of said connecting mechanism through said operative and movable couplings; a trip pedal movably mounted in the interior of the animal enclosure; and a trip rod and link assembly operatively connecting the pedal to the set mechanism so that a sufficient force against the pedal moves the trip rod and link assembly to allow said set lever to pivot and enable the door to move from the opened position to the closed position by the spring bias of said spring.