Ant Trap With Movable Platform And Bait
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for eliminating ants in homes are either ineffective in the long term or environmentally harmful, as chemical insecticides persist in the environment and non-toxic approaches often fail to completely eradicate ant infestations.
Innovation Solution
An ant trap system that uses a combination of a base with a central opening for storing environmentally safe liquids, such as sweet boric acid solutions, and a movable platform with a bait trap, where ants are lured into a fatal liquid or swept into a harmful solution, ensuring effective ant elimination without harming humans or the environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemical insecticides are used to kill ants, then ant elimination is effective in the short term, but the environment is detrimentally affected and ants return in the same numbers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effect of toxic chemicals into a beneficial trap mechanism. The bait trap contains a toxic substance that ants are attracted to, and the trap structure (with water or liquid barrier) converts this potential harm to humans into a selective harm to ants only. The toxic substance is enclosed in a way that releases it only to ants, not to the environment or humans.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary trap structure between the toxic substance and the environment. The bait trap acts as an intermediary container that holds the toxic substance and delivers it selectively to ants through the water barrier mechanism, preventing direct environmental contamination while maintaining ant elimination effectiveness.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If non-toxic approaches are used to eliminate ants, then the environment is protected, but ant infestations persist and are not completely eradicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs self-service mechanisms where ants themselves deliver the toxic substance to their colony. The bait trap attracts ants, and as they enter the water barrier, the toxic substance is transferred to them. They then carry the toxin back to their nest, effectively eliminating the infestation from the inside without external intervention or environmental contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a water barrier mechanism (hydraulic element) as the trap structure. The water in the bait trap serves as both a physical barrier that ants must cross and a delivery medium for the toxic substance. This hydraulic mechanism provides a reliable barrier that is impenetrable to ants while allowing the toxic substance to be transferred to them through contact.
3Reliability
If a movable platform is used to submerge the ant path in liquid, then ant elimination is effective, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a movable platform that can dynamically adjust its position to submerge the ant path in liquid. This dynamic mechanism allows the trap to transition between operational states (platform raised for ant access, platform lowered for liquid immersion), providing reliable ant elimination while managing complexity through functional movement rather than multiple static components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The ant trap system provides a safe and effective means to eliminate ant infestations by using sweet boric acid, which is lethal to ants but non-toxic to humans and the environment, ensuring long-term reduction or eradication of ant populations without environmental damage.
Implementation Method 1
using sweet boric acid, which is lethal to ants but non-toxic to humans and the environment
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is an improved ant trap (20). The ant trap includes a base (30) having a central opening (32) and the opening is suitable for storing liquid. A bait trap (38) is located centrally within the central opening to maximize the number of ants in the central opening at any point in time. The ant trap, in an exemplary embodiment, includes an electromechanically operated platform (36), which is movable with respect to the central opening. In a first position the platform forms an ant path from the base to the bait trap. In a second position the platform is moved into the central opening. The central opening is filed with a liquid toxic to ants, but safe to mammals and the environment, generally. For example, a solution of sweet boric acid and water is used to fill the central opening. Upon moving, the platform is immersed in the liquid, thereby exterminating ants found thereon.