Collapsible Net Animal Trap for Feral Swine
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current animal traps, particularly those for feral swine, are ineffective due to their large and heavy designs, limited portability, and complex door mechanisms, making them difficult to set up and use in remote areas, and often require human intervention or pose risks to native wildlife with poison use.
Innovation Solution
A flexible net structure with a collapsible net and secondary net, supported by posts, that forms a closed circumferential structure with a trap opening, allowing animals to enter but not escape, and includes a transfer chute for safe animal removal, designed to be lightweight, portable, and easy to set up without intricate door mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If box traps or corral traps are used to effectively trap feral swine, then the trapping effectiveness is improved, but the weight and portability deteriorate making them difficult to transport to remote locations
Solution Approach 1:
The trap is divided into multiple modular components including collapsible walls, separate framing elements, and detachable nets that can be transported individually and assembled at the trapping location. This segmentation allows the trap to maintain effectiveness while significantly reducing the weight burden during transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs flexible netting materials and collapsible wall structures instead of rigid solid construction. These flexible elements provide the necessary containment functionality while being lightweight and easily transportable, resolving the contradiction between trapping effectiveness and portability.
2Reliability
If elaborate door mechanisms are included in box traps to control animal movement, then the animal control capability is improved, but the device complexity increases making setup difficult and requiring human intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The complex door mechanism is completely removed from the trap design. Instead, the patent uses passive containment structures with simple openings that allow animal entry through natural behavior patterns, eliminating the need for elaborate mechanical door systems while maintaining animal control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The trap design allows animals to self-enter through simple openings without requiring mechanical doors or human intervention for operation. The collapsible wall structure and netting automatically contain the animal once it enters, making the system self-operating and eliminating complex control mechanisms.
3Reliability
If box traps are designed with large size to accommodate feral swine, then the animal capacity is improved, but the portability and ease of transport deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The large trap structure is segmented into multiple smaller transportable components that can be carried to remote locations and assembled on-site. The collapsible wall sections and modular framing allow the trap to achieve large capacity when assembled while maintaining ease of transport during disassembled state.
Solution Approach 2:
The trap structure is designed to be dynamic and collapsible rather than static and rigid. The walls can be folded or collapsed for compact transport, then expanded to full size for animal containment, allowing the trap to adapt between transport and operational states to resolve the capacity-portability contradiction.
Data Source
AI summary
A flexible net structure and trap is provided that includes a net, an upper cord, and a secondary net. The net includes first flexible lines. The upper cord is attached to the net at an upper lateral edge and extends a first length of the net. The flexible net structure includes a wall portion that extends from the upper cord to a ground portion and the ground portion extends from a lower lateral edge to the wall portion. The collapsible net is configurable in a closed configuration where the first and second lengthwise ends are disposed proximate to each other. The secondary net is formed from second flexible lines. The secondary net is attached to the flexible net structure in the wall portion and is disposed on an interior side of the flexible net structure. The second flexible lines have a greater cut resistance than the first flexible lines.