Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 61/655,933, filed Jun. 5, 2012, expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Crawling arthropods, for example, insects and arachnids, can be pests, particularly when they are found in inhabited buildings such as homes, workshops, storage sheds, and the like. The pestiferous nature may range from annoyance when non-biting, non-disease vector arthropods invade a residence or other living space, to health threats when, for example, venomous, stinging, and/or disease vector pests such as certain spiders, or the like, are encountered. Crawling pests may be particularly undesirable in settings that are especially sensitive to health considerations, such as facilities used in the food processing industry. 
         [0003]    One common approach for controlling such pests is through the use of pesticides or other poisons. However, such poisons may present health hazards of their own, and may be undesirable for other reasons, including the risk of causing harm to beneficial insects or to other animals, risks or damage to the environment, and risks to children and pets. 
         [0004]    A common, non-poisonous approach to controlling pests is through the use of adhesive or sticky substrates, such as flypaper strips, to capture and immobilize pests. Flypaper strips are commonly used to capture flying insects, for example, and similar adhesive panels have been used to capture other arthropods. For example, commercial spider traps are available that comprise a tubular substrate such as cardboard having an adhesive applied to an inner surface. Such pests that enter the tubular substrate become stuck to the adhesive. An exemplary prior art trap is shown, for example, in FIG. 9 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,250, to Chiba et al. Chiba et al. is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. As used herein, unless clearly intended otherwise the term “insects” will generally include, but is not limited to, arachnids and true insects. Also, as used herein the term “crawling insects” includes, crawling arthropods whether they crawl exclusively or are also able to fly or engage in other modes of locomotion. 
         [0005]    However, such traps typically must be handled after the pests are trapped in the adhesive, which may cause some risk and anxiety regarding whether the trap contains any recently trapped pest that might still pose a threat to the user. Another disadvantage to such traps is that they are typically have limited access, for example having an entry on only one or two ends of the trap. The high directionality of such a trap limits its effectiveness, particularly for crawling pests, because entrapment requires that the pest approach or encounter the trap from a particular direction. 
         [0006]    It would be beneficial to provide a trap for crawling arthropods that provides protection to the user when emptying the trap, and that provides near-360 degree access to the trap. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. 
         [0008]    A trap for pests, for example for spiders, includes first and second opposed disposable wall portions disposed generally in spaced-apart orientation by biasing elements. Each of the wall portions includes inwardly-facing disposable adhesive panels, defining an entrapment region therebetween. The walls are configured to be urged toward each other against the force of the biasing elements to close the entrapment region such that the adhesive panels contact each other to encase the arthropods therebetween. 
         [0009]    In an embodiment, the first and second wall portions define posts and tubular receivers that slidably engage, with springs disposed in the tubular receivers. 
         [0010]    In an embodiment, the wall portions define at least four ramp portions that provide access to the entrapment region from all sides of the trap. 
         [0011]    In an embodiment, the adhesive panels are separable from the wall portions, and the wall portions define flexible panels that extend through apertures in the wall portions to dislodge the separable adhesive panels from the wall portions. 
         [0012]    In an embodiment, the first and second wall portions are identical. 
         [0013]    In an embodiment, the adhesive panels define irregular adhesive patterns, for example star-shaped, zig-zag, or diamond-shaped patterns, that define a plurality of non-adhesive paths into the entrapment region. 
         [0014]    In another aspect, a method for trapping crawling pests comprises providing a trap having opposed first and second walls that are elastically biased apart and define an entrapment region therebetween, wherein an adhesive portion is provided on each of the first and second walls. The first and second walls define an upper boundary and a lower boundary of the entrapment region. The adhesive portions define a pattern having a large perimeter defining non-adhesive pathways into the entrapment region. The trap is then positioned in a location wherein crawling pests are expected to encounter the entrapment region, and thus, become adhered to one of the adhesive portions. After one or more pests have become adhered to one of the adhesive portions, urging the first and second wall portions together causes the adhesive portions to become adhered together with the one or more pests encased therebetween. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a trap in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is an exploded side view of the trap shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is an end section view of the trap shown in  FIG. 1  through section  3 - 3 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is an end section view of the trap shown in  FIG. 1  through the tubular posts, with the trap urged toward the closed position; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a side view of the trap shown in  FIG. 1 , showing one of the flexible plates releasing the adhesive panels after the trap has been closed to join the adhesive panels, and then released; 
           [0021]      FIGS. 6A-6C  illustrate in plan view exemplary adhesive patterns suitable for use on the adhesive panels for the trap shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a trap in accordance with the present invention, that is fully disposable; 
           [0023]      FIG. 8  is a plan pattern view for forming the trap shown in  FIG. 7 ; and 
           [0024]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the fully disposable trap shown in  FIG. 7 , shown crushed and ready for disposal. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0025]    A perspective view of an exemplary trap  100  for crawling pests in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 . The trap  100  is suitable for trapping crawling pests such as arachnids, crawling insects such as ants and cockroaches, and the like. The trap  100  may also be used for trapping crawling pests that also have the ability to fly, such as wasps, stink bugs, or the like. The trap  100  has particular advantages for trapping pests that may have unpleasant defense mechanisms, such as stingers, biting mandibles, foul odor or the like, because the entrapped pests may be discarded without the user risking contact with the pest. 
         [0026]    The trap  100  includes a pair of parallel wall portions  102  that are elastically urged apart to define an entrapment region between the wall portions  102 . Entrapment panels, for example, adhesive panels  130 , are releasably retained on the facing sides  101  of the wall portions  102 . Refer also to an exploded view of the trap  100  shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0027]    The trap  100  includes first and second wall portions  102 . The wall portions  102  each define a recessed bed  103  with gently sloped ramps  104 ,  104 ′ providing ready access to the recessed bed  103  from all sides. In this embodiment, the wall portions  102  are generally rectangular with rounded corners. Tubular receivers  106  extend away from two corners of the facing sides  101  of each wall portion  102 . Tubular posts  108  extend away from the facing sides  101  of the other two corners. 
         [0028]    The tubular receivers  106  define an aperture  107  that is sized and positioned to slidably receive a corresponding tubular post  108  from the facing wall portion  102 . In  FIG. 1 , for example, the tubular receivers  106  extend upwardly from the forward corners of the first or lower wall portion  102 , and the tubular posts  108  extend upwardly from the rear corners of the lower wall portion  102 . The tubular posts  108  for the second or upper wall portion  102  extend downwardly to engage the tubular receivers  108  of the lower wall portion  102 , and the tubular receivers  106  receive the tubular posts  108  from the lower wall portion  102 . 
         [0029]    The tubular posts  108  are sized and configured to be inserted into corresponding tubular receivers  106 . In this embodiment, the tubular receivers  106  include an inner rim  106 ′ at the distal end, and the tubular posts  108  include an outer rim  108 ′ at the distal end. The inwardly and outwardly disposed rims  106 ′,  108 ′ are sized such that the tubular posts  108  may be inserted into the tubular receivers  106  of another wall portion  102  with an interference fit, such that the wall portions  102  will releasably snap together. 
         [0030]    As seen in  FIG. 2 , a coil spring or other biasing element  120  is disposed in the aperture  107  in the tubular receiver  106 , and is configured to bias the upper and lower wall portions  102  apart. 
         [0031]    An annular recess  109  is defined in the wall portions  102  concentric with the corresponding tubular posts  108 . The annular recess  109  is sized to slidably receive the corresponding tubular receiver  106  on the other wall portion  102 . 
         [0032]    Refer now also to  FIG. 3 , which shows a section view of the trap  100  through section  3 - 3  indicated in  FIG. 1 . The recessed bed  103  defined in each of the wall portions  102  receives a disposable adhesive panel  130 . The adhesive panels  130  are sized and configured to fit in the corresponding recessed bed  103 , and are retained on the recessed bed  103  by edge retainers  114 . At least a portion of the inwardly facing surface of the adhesive panels  130  is covered with an adhesive that is formulated to entrap crawling pests, such that pests crawling onto the adhesive portions become fixed to the adhesive panel  130  and are unable to escape. 
         [0033]    Each wall portion  102  is substantially rigid. In a current embodiment, the rigidity is conveniently achieved in a lightweight and inexpensive construction by forming the wall portions  102  with a honeycomb structure, although other construction is clearly contemplated. For example, the wall portions  102  may be formed from a rigid polymeric foam or from a natural material such as wood. Referring again to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , each wall portion  102  includes a centrally located aperture  112  having a flexible plate  110  cantilevered along one edge of the aperture  112  such that the flexible plate  110  can be flexed inwardly, as indicated by arrow  90 . 
         [0034]    The operation of the trap  100  can now be appreciated. The wall portions  102  are typically assembled when the user obtains the trap  100 . Upper and lower disposable adhesive panels  130  are placed into the recessed bed  103  of each wall portion  102 , and are retained on the bed  103  by edge retainers  114 . The trap  100  is then placed in a desired location. It should be appreciated that the trap  100  is accessible from all four sides, by the gently sloping ramps  104 . Additionally, the trap  100  in this embodiment is reversible (invertible), and therefore the trap  100  may be flipped when one adhesive panel  130  becomes suitably filled with pests. The flat outer surfaces of wall portions  102  facilitate placement on any flat surface, for example, on a floor or counter. The entrapment region defined by the adhesive panels  130  is in the relatively narrow region between the wall portions  102 . Therefore the traps  100  are unlikely to become inadvertently stuck to unintended parties, such as household pets, young children, or unwary travelers in an area containing the trap  100 . 
         [0035]    When the trap  100  is sufficiently full of pests, and typically after flipping the trap  100  to allow the second adhesive panel  130  to entrap pests  95 , the user may simply step on or otherwise urge the wall portions  102  together, which is indicated by arrows  92  in the sectional end view shown in  FIG. 4 . As the wall portions  102  are urged together against the elastic force of the springs  120 , the tubular receivers  106  are received into the corresponding annular recess  109 , and the tubular posts  108  are received into the corresponding tubular receiver  106 , to allow the inner surfaces of the adhesive panels  130  to contact each other and become adhered. The pests  95  that have become stuck to the adhesive panels  130  will thereby be crushed and/or enclosed between the panels  130 . 
         [0036]    When the closing force is removed, the wall portions  102  will separate due to the biasing force of the springs  120 . The separation of the wall portions  102  is limited by the interference between the rims  106 ′,  108 ′. 
         [0037]    At least one of the adhesive panels  130  will release from the corresponding wall portion  102  due to the adhesive attachment to the opposing adhesive panel  130 . As illustrated in the side view of  FIG. 5 , the user may then depress the appropriate flexible plate  110  from the recess  112  ( FIG. 1 ) through the wall portion  102  to release the adhesive panels  130 , which may then be dropped directly into a suitable repository. Therefore, the adhesive panels  130  in this embodiment may be removed and disposed of without the user directly touching the panels  130 . 
         [0038]    Of particular note, the trap  100  allows the user to effectively crush, or otherwise immobilize, encapsulate, or enclose the pests prior to handling the trap  100 . For example, by stepping on the trap  100 , any threat from the pests (for example, with a stinger, venom, or the like) can be substantially neutralized, and the user does not need to worry that one or more of the trapped pests may still be active. As a further safety advantage, the user does not need to handle the adhesive panels  130  directly after stepping on the trap  100 . Rather, the user may simply hold the trap  100  by the wall portions  102  wall away from the adhesive panels  130  over a receptacle, and depress one or both of the flexible plates  110  to release the panels  130 , which will drop into the receptacle. 
         [0039]    To reset the trap  100 , the user simply replaces the adhesive panels  130  in the recessed beds  130 , such that they are retained by the edge retainers  114 . The trap  100  may then be positioned in the same, or a different location. 
         [0040]    In a current embodiment of the trap  100 , the entrapment region defined between the adhesive panels  130  is between about 0.3 inch and 2.0 inch, and more preferably between 0.4 inch and 1.0 inch. 
         [0041]    One advantage of the currently preferred embodiment of the trap, as described above, is that the two wall portions  102  are identical, and the simple design requires only three unique parts, the wall portions  102 , the springs  120 , and the disposable adhesive panels  130 . Although this elegant design is not necessary for the present invention, it will be readily apparent this construction provides for low manufacturing costs. In particular, the wall portions  102  each have two tubular receivers  106  and two tubular posts  108  that are symmetrically disposed on the wall portions  102 . The wall portions  102  may therefore be aligned such that the tubular receivers  106  for one wall portion align with the tubular posts  108  of the other wall portion  102 . Although the disclosed trap  100  shown in  FIG. 1  is symmetric about the long axis of the wall portion  102 , it will be readily apparent that the trap may alternatively be constructed to be symmetric about the short axis, or even about the diagonal axis. 
         [0042]    It is also contemplated that the wall portions  102  do not need to be rectangular. For example, the wall portions (and associated adhesive panels  130 ) may be formed with a circular, triangular, or polygonal plan form. Advantageously, the wall portions may include symmetrically disposed receivers and posts arranged such that the wall portions are identical. Alternatively, the wall portions may be not be identical. For example, it is contemplated that a trap in accordance with the present invention may be constructed with a generally triangular plan form, with tubular receivers formed on one wall portion, and tubular posts formed on the opposing wall portion. 
         [0043]    A plan view of an embodiment of an adhesive panel  130  suitable for use with the present invention is shown in  FIG. 6A . In this embodiment the adhesive panel  130  includes a generally star-shaped adhesive portion  132  disposed on the panel  130 , wherein other portions of the panel  130  are not adhesive. Although it is also contemplated that the adhesive panel may be substantially or completely covered with an adhesive, the current shape of the adhesive portion  132  is intended to provide a relatively larger perimeter  134  for the size of the adhesive panel  130 . In particular, a crawling pest entering the adhesive portion  132  becomes stuck relatively quickly. Therefore the interior of the adhesive portion  132  is relatively inaccessible to crawling arthropods, and therefore ineffective for trapping crawling pests. Pests trapped near the perimeter  134  not only block the adhesive portion  132  to subsequent crawling pests, but they may also deter other pests that are very near the trapped pest from entering the trap  100 . 
         [0044]    For the present invention it is preferred to provide a shaped adhesive portion  132  that provides a relatively large perimeter  134  length relative to the area of the adhesive panel  130 . A generally star-shaped pattern for the adhesive portion  132  provides a relatively large perimeter  134 , while also widely separating the adhesive elements near the outer perimeter of the panel  130 . Therefore, pests are more able to enter deeply into the trap  100  before becoming stuck to the adhesive portion  132 . 
         [0045]    Other exemplary large perimeter patterns for the adhesive portions  132 ′,  132 ″ are illustrated in  FIGS. 6B and 6C . On adhesive panel  130 ′, an adhesive pattern  132 ′ comprising an array of transverse triangles are applied to the panel  130 ′. On adhesive panel  130 ″, a zigzag pattern of adhesive  132 ″ is applied to the panel  130 ″. 
         [0046]    It is also contemplated that the adhesive for the adhesive panels  130 , or the panels  130  themselves, may be provided with a natural or synthetic attractant to lure a target insect or other pest into the trap. 
         [0047]    Although the trap  100  described above was constructed using reusable polymeric wall portions  102  with disposable and replaceable panels  130 , a crushable, fully disposable trap  200  for crawling arthropods is shown in  FIGS. 7-9 . In this alternative construction upper and lower adhesive panel portions are incorporated into a stiff but crushable open fiberboard or cardboard trap. This fully disposable embodiment, the trap  200  may be set out to entrap the target pest, for example, spiders, and then stepped on or otherwise crushed to encapsulate the trapped pests, thereby protecting the user from potential danger from recently-trapped pests. 
         [0048]    In  FIG. 7  the fully disposable trap  200  defines upper and lower panels  202 , each having a large perimeter adhesive pattern  232  defining non-adhesive pathways deep into the trap  200 . The adhesive pattern  232  is defined on the inwardly-facing surfaces of the panels  202 , the opposed surfaces thereby defined facing beds to define an entrapment region therebetween. The disposable trap  200  is invertible, similar to the trap  100  discussed above. In this exemplary embodiment, the adhesive portions  232  are patterned to correspond approximately to the adhesive portion  132  shown in  FIG. 6A . It will be readily apparent that other patterns, for example those shown in  FIGS. 6B and 6C , may alternatively be used. 
         [0049]    The upper and lower panels  202  are joined and held in approximately parallel orientation by four spaced apart perimeter posts  206 ,  208  (two visible in  FIG. 7 ). Therefore, the interior of the trap  200  is accessible from all sides. In this embodiment, two diagonally opposed posts  208  (one visible) further define opposed flap portions  208 ′ that extend from the center portion of the post  208 , and are configured to bend outwardly (e.g., by the user pinching the tab portions  208 ′. The tab portions  208 ′ thereby provide outwardly-extending tabs to facilitate placement and moving the trap  200  during use (for example, flipping the trap over), allowing the user to keep their fingers away from the interior of the trap  200 . The tab portions  208 ′ also aid in maintaining the trap  200  in the open position shown in  FIG. 7 . 
         [0050]    In a current embodiment, the trap  200  is formed from a flat panel of a stiff paperboard, although it is contemplated that other materials, such as a thin polymeric panel, may alternatively be used. Paperboard (and most thin polymeric panels) will typically have a stiffness such that the posts  206 ,  208  easily maintain the upper and lower panels  202  in the desired spaced-apart relation. In addition, the posts have an inherent elasticity in bending, such that the posts  206 ,  208  will flex to elastically bias the upper and lower panels  202  apart. 
         [0051]      FIG. 8  shows the trap  200  prior to assembly by the user, in plan-form. The flat panel  201  includes the upper and lower panels  202 , and the posts  206 ,  208 . The posts  206 ,  208  are scored or perforated  207  along the edges joining the upper and lower panels  202 , to facilitate folding the trap  200 . The side entryways for the trap  200  are defined by the corresponding apertures  214 . In addition, scoring or perforations  205  are optionally provided approximately on a midline of the posts  206 ,  208  (including the tab portions  208 ′). The perforations  205  facilitate the upper and lower panels  202  coming together in approximate alignment when the trap is crushed. 
         [0052]    The upper and lower panels  202  are provided with respective patterned adhesive portions  232 . It is contemplated that, for packaging, the adhesive portions  232  may be overlaid with a protective, peel-away strip (not shown) that would be removed by the user when initially setting up the trap  200 . An end flap  210  with an adhesive strip  212  extends from one end and is configured to fold over the opposite panel to assemble the trap  200 . 
         [0053]    Therefore, to set up the trap  200  the user simply chooses a suitable location for the trap, and folds along the perforations  207  on either end of the posts  206 ,  208  to define the approximately rectangular trap volume. The peel-away strips (if present) are removed to expose the adhesive portions  232 , and to expose the adhesive strip  212 . The adhesive strip  212  is pressed against the outer surface of the corresponding panel  202 . The user may then pinch the tab portions  208 ′ to define the outwardly-extending grips. 
         [0054]      FIG. 9  shows the trap  200  crushed after use, which may be accomplished by simply stepping on the trap. The tab portions  206 ,  208  extend outwardly, and the trapped pests are safely encapsulated between the upper and lower panels  202 , facilitating safe disposal of the trap  200 .

Technology Category: 1