Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to rodent traps and more particularly to disposable mouse traps. 
     Mice within human habitations, particularly residences, present a perennial hazard to health and enjoyment of dwelling spaces. Many devices are known to capture and kill rodents. The conventional spring and bail kill trap can be very effective, but the exposed spring-loaded bail can be a hazard to pets and children. Moreover, consumers often prefer to avoid contact with the rodent once it has been killed, and for this purpose fully enclosed kill traps have been developed which freely admit rodents in a set configuration, but once triggered block off the trap entrance so that the dead rodent is not exposed, nor are the remains of the rodent able to extend from the trap. These traps provide a visual cue to their successful use, signaling the user to remove and dispose of the trap and its contents. 
     There is always a need for a rodent trap of this sort that, while effective, is also capable of being produced at low cost, and using automated procedures. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The rodent trap of this invention has a molded plastic base with a cover which defines an enclosed interior. The interior is accessible through a sliding plastic tunnel which offers a passageway with two entryways for rodents. The molded plastic tunnel has a projecting strike member, and is biased by an underlying spring to a retracted position. A trigger engaging member extends from the tunnel to be retained by the catch on a side-mounted trigger to hold the tunnel in an extended set configuration where a rodent may readily enter. When a rodent passes through the tunnel into the interior of the base, it is directed by barriers into a trigger compartment which presents a rodent attracting bait. To reach the bait, the rodent must press against a pivotably mounted trigger, thereby dislodging the trigger from the trigger engaging member which releases the tunnel to be driven by the spring to retract along parallel tracks to bring the strike plate forcibly against the rodent within the trap, usually killing it, and closing the trap, which is then presented for convenient disposal without exposing the dead rodent. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a mouse trap which effectively kills mice and thereafter screens the trap contents from view. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a rodent trap which is economically manufactured. 
     Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded isometric view of the rodent trap of this invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a top plan view, with the lid removed, of the rodent trap of  FIG. 1  in a set configuration. 
         FIG. 3 , is a top plan view, partially broken away in section, of the rodent trap of  FIG. 1  in a triggered configuration. 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the rodent trap of  FIG. 2  taken along section line  4 - 4 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring more particularly to  FIGS. 1-4 , wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, a rodent trap  20  is shown in  FIG. 1 . The rodent trap is economically assembled of six parts: a metal spring  22  and five molded plastic parts. The spring  22  is received within a recessed channel  24  formed in the projecting platform  26  of a plastic base  28 . The base  28  has an upwardly protruding side wall  30 . The side wall  30  has a front opening  32  and a number of barb-receiving ledges  34 . A plastic lid  36  has protruding barbs  38  which engage with the barb-receiving ledges  34  to fix the lid to the base and to close off the trap  20  and define a trap interior  40 . 
     A trigger  42  is mounted within the base interior  40 , and a slidable strike member  44  provides access to the base interior. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the base has an encircling interior wall  46  which extends around the interior. A stub wall  48  projects from the interior wall  46  rearwardly of the strike member  44 , and is aligned with a lower barrier wall  50  which projects upwardly from the floor  52  of the base  28 . Recessed beneath the floor  52  are two parallel guide tracks  54  which receive track-following flanges  56  which extend downwardly from the side walls  58  of a tunnel element  60  of the strike member  44 . The tunnel element side walls  58  are joined to a tunnel top wall  62  and a tunnel end wall  64  to define an enclosed passageway which communicates with the trap interior  40 . Each tunnel element side wall  58  has portions defining an arched opening or entryway  66 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , which allows a rodent to enter from either side of the tunnel element. The tunnel element travels along the guide tracks under the urging of the spring when released from the trigger. The direction of tunnel element travel defines an axis, which is defined equidistant between the two side walls  58 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the spring  22  has a forward loop  68  and a rear loop  70 . The forward loop  68  is engaged by a hook  72  which extends downwardly from the end wall  64  of the tunnel element  60 . The rear loop  70  of the spring  22  engages a spring hook  71  which protrudes downwardly from the base floor  52  adjacent the end of the spring channel  24 . The spring  22  biases the strike member  44  into a retracted configuration, acting to accelerate the strike member towards a rodent within the trap  20  when the trigger  42  is tripped. 
     The lid  36  has a short stub wall  76  which extends downwardly close to the base stub wall  48 , as well as an upper barrier wall  78  which extends near the base lower barrier wall  50 . The lid and base stub walls  76 ,  48  and the lid and base barrier walls  78 ,  50 , serve to define an entrance compartment  80  of the interior through which the tunnel element  60  extends, and a trigger compartment  82  within which is mounted the trigger  42 . 
     A shallow tunnel stop  84  extends downward from the lid in a position rearward of the tunnel element  60 . The tunnel stop  84  serves to limit the rearward travel of the strike member  44  by engaging the top wall  62  of the tunnel element as it moves rearwardly. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the trigger  42  is pivotably mounted to an upstanding pin  86  which, as best shown in  FIG. 1 , is supported on a platform  88  which extends from the base floor  52 . 
     The trigger  42  is a molded plastic piece having two brackets  90  (only the top one being shown in  FIGS. 1-3 ) with pin holes  92  through which the base pin  86  extends. The upper end of the pin  86  is supported against deflection in the direction of strike member movement by a protruding arc segment  94  which extends from the lid  36  adjacent the pin. The trigger  42  has a lower clearance wall  96  joined by a horizontal shelf  98  to a protruding upper wall  100 , shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The trigger  42  may be reinforced by outside ribs  102  running parallel to the shelf  98  as shown in  FIG. 4 . A tab  104  extends downwardly from the trigger clearance wall  96  near the end away from the brackets  90 , and is received within a tab guide hole  106  formed in the floor  52  of the base  28 . A spring  108  is integrally molded to protrude from the base interior wall  46  which has a free end  110 , shown in  FIG. 1 , which engages the exterior of the trigger  42  and urges the trigger toward the strike member. The integral spring  108  may be formed with an upper lead-in ramp  112  to aid directing the trigger into place during assembly. The upper wall  100  of the trigger  42  extends into the trigger compartment  82  to narrow the compartment to increase the likelihood that a rodent passing through the compartment will engage the trigger. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the strike member has a trigger engaging member  114  which projects from the strike member tunnel element  60  towards the trigger  42 . The trigger engaging member  114  has a horizontal wall  116  which extends from the tunnel element  60  side wall  58  towards the trigger  42 , and which joins a vertical wall  118 . The vertical wall  118  extends downwardly along the entire inside edge of the horizontal wall  116 , and extends upwardly to define a barrier wall  120 . A clearance gap  122  is thus defined between the barrier wall  120  and the trigger upper wall  100 . Through this gap  122  a rodent may detect the bait  124  contained within a removable bait cup  126 , best shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 . The bait cup  126  is positioned between the tunnel element  60  and the trigger  42 . It is the bait which draws the rodent into the trigger compartment where it will not only activate the trigger, but also be best positioned for being struck in such a way as to be killed by portions of the strike member  44 . 
     A catch  128  protrudes from the trigger lower wall  96  near the free end  130  of the trigger  42 . The free end  132  of the vertical wall  118  of the trigger engaging member  114  abuts against the trigger catch  128 , thereby holding the strike member  44  in its set position, with the tunnel element  60  extending from the trap interior  40  as shown in  FIG. 2 . In the set position, the strike member  44  is held against the force of the spring  22  which is urging the strike member towards its retracted configuration. 
     As best shown in  FIG. 4 , the trigger engaging member  114  is principally connected to the tunnel element  60  side wall  58  by the horizontal wall  116 . An upper slot  134  and a lower slot  136  defined between the barrier wall  120  and the tunnel side wall  58  provide clearance for the upper barrier wall  78  and the lower barrier wall  50  as the strike member moves along the guide tracks  54 . The lower clearance wall  96  of the trigger is recessed back from the trigger upper wall  100  to provide clearance for the trigger engaging member  114  as the strike member moves from its set configuration to a striking engagement with a captured rodent. 
     The strike member  44  has a vertical wall which acts as a strike plate  138  which extends in the direction of the strike member motion towards the rear of base  28 . The strike plate  138  extends the full height of the barrier wall  120 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the strike plate  138  extends parallel to the rear barrier wall  48  but offset towards the trigger a small amount, for example about ⅛ inch. The strike plate  138  is an off-axis wall which extends towards the interior, and which is configured to strike portions of the rodent outside the tunnel element  60  when the trap  20  is triggered. 
     The operation of the trap  20  is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The user removes the bait cup  126  from the base  28  by rotating it to disengage the bait cup projecting flanges  140  from their engagement with the base floor  52  surrounding a bait cup opening  142  located within the trigger compartment  82 . The user then places rodent bait  124 , for example peanut butter, in the bait cup  126 , and returns it to its position within the base  28 . Because the bait cup  126  is removed and introduced through the underside of the base  28 , the user need not remove the lid  36  from the trap. To set the trap, the user grips and pulls on the sidewardly projecting flanges  144  of the tunnel element  60  of the strike member  44  which are accessible exterior to the base  28 . The tunnel element  60  is thus extended to reveal the two entryways  66  and the trigger engaging member  114  is brought forward until the integral spring  108  urges the trigger  42  to engage with the trigger engaging member, and thereby hold the strike member  44  in the set position as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     One of the sidewardly projecting flanges  144  may have a protruding pointer  145 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , which is always positioned outside the base interior and which extends over indicia  152  placed on the platform  26  of the base alongside one of the guide tracks  54 . The indicia  152  may be molded into the base, or may be applied such as on an adhesive-backed label. The indicia include a region indicating that the trap is “set” as shown in  FIG. 2 , and another region, closer to the side wall  30  indicating that the trap has been activated and that a rodent has been “caught” as shown in  FIG. 3 . The words “set” and “caught” are spaced from each other in the axial direction of travel of the tunnel element  60 , so that when the trap is in a position with the tunnel element extracted, the pointer  145  is near the indicium “set”, and when the tunnel element is retracted substantially within the interior, the pointer is near the indicium “caught”. 
     In the set position, the only access to the bait for a mouse  146  is through the entryways  66  and thence through a passageway  148  defined by the tunnel element  60 , the lower barrier wall  50 , the upper barrier wall  78 , the lid  36  and the interior wall  46  on the entrance compartment  80  side of the base  28 . When the mouse  146  enters the passageway  148 , it must progress through the tunnel and then make a turn into the trigger compartment  82 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the mouse looks into the trigger compartment the bait  124  is directly ahead, but shielded by the wall  118  of the trigger engaging member. The gap  122  presents a route to the bait  124 . As the mouse moves towards the gap  122 , it will engage against and displace sidewardly the upper wall  100  of the trigger  42 , thereby causing the trigger to pivot about the pin  86  and releasing the trigger catch  128  from the free end of the  132  of the trigger engaging member  114  of the strike member  44 . Once released from the trigger, the spring  22  accelerates the strike member along the axial path defined by the guide tracks  54  towards the rear of the base  28 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , this rapid retraction of the strike member brings the vertical wall  118  and the strike plate  138  into contact with the mouse  146  and forcibly displaces it towards the rear of the base. Because the mouse&#39;s head was within the trigger compartment when the trigger was engaged, it is likely that the strike plate  138  will crush the torso of the mouse  146  between the strike plate  138  and the wall  48  at the rear of the base, usually causing death. The tunnel element  60  may be a little more than 3 inches long. Because the mouse is partially within the trigger compartment when struck, there is adequate space within the trap to entirely contain the rodent&#39;s remains so that none will project beyond the trap interior. The retracted tunnel element  60  gives an easily perceived signal to the user that a mouse has been caught. The trap  20  and the mouse therein may then be disposed of by the user without the need to ever come directly in contact with the mouse remains. 
     It is understood that the invention is not limited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.

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