Repeating Animal Trap with Selective Viewing and Entry Indicators
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing animal traps either lack the ability to capture multiple animals without resetting or fail to provide an indication of trapped animals, and those that do indicate capture often require viewing the trapped animals, which can be repulsive to users.
Innovation Solution
A humane, repeating animal trap with multiple ingress openings and associated indicators that signal the presence and entry point of trapped animals, allowing for concealed viewing and easy operation, featuring a capture assembly with a ramp and door mechanism that resets for multiple captures and a window for inspection without exposing the contents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the trap provides an indicator signaling the presence of an animal, then the user can detect whether an animal has been trapped, but the user must view the trapped animals which causes repulsion
Solution Approach 1:
The indicator system is segmented into separate visual signals (flags or colored indicators) that are spatially separated from the trapped animals. Each ingress opening has its own associated indicator, allowing the user to detect animal presence and entry point information without viewing the animals themselves through the opaque walls and selective viewing openings.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary indicator mechanism (flags, colored indicators, or visual signals) that mediates between the trapped animals and the user. These indicators convey information about animal presence and entry points without requiring direct viewing of the animals, thus eliminating user repulsion while maintaining information delivery.
2Productivity
If the trap is designed as a repeating trap to capture multiple animals, then productivity increases, but the device complexity increases compared to single-capture traps
Solution Approach 1:
The trap is segmented into multiple independent capture assemblies, each with its own ingress opening, ramp, and indicator. This modular segmentation allows multiple animals to be captured simultaneously through different entry points while maintaining relatively simple individual assembly designs, balancing productivity gains with manageable complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The trap design incorporates universal components that serve multiple functions: the opaque walls provide both structural enclosure and concealment of trapped animals; the indicators serve both to signal animal presence and to indicate which ingress opening was used; the ramp and door mechanism universally prevent escape regardless of which ingress opening the animal entered through.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the trap obscures viewing of animals to hide them from view, then user repulsion is reduced, but the ability to inspect trap contents is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The viewing/inspection capability is segmented into selective viewing openings that are spatially separated from the main trap chamber. These openings allow limited inspection of trap contents while maintaining overall obscuration through opaque walls, enabling users to check for trapped animals without fully exposing themselves to the sight of the animals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary viewing mechanisms (selective viewing openings, windows, or transparent panels) that mediate between the user and the trapped animals. These intermediaries allow limited inspection of trap contents while maintaining the obscuring effect of opaque walls, reducing user repulsion while preserving essential inspection capability.
4Loss of information
If the trap provides indicators for each ingress opening to show entry direction, then information about animal travel direction is provided, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The indicator system employs local quality by providing separate, simple indicators (such as flags or colored markers) specifically at or near each ingress opening. Each indicator locally signals whether that particular opening has been used, providing directional entry information without requiring a complex centralized system. The simplicity of local indicators keeps device complexity low while delivering comprehensive directional information.
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
Enables efficient, humane capture and concealment of multiple animals while providing clear indicators of trapped animals' presence and entry points, addressing the limitations of prior traps by allowing multiple captures without resetting and hiding the animals from view while allowing for discreet inspection.
Implementation Method 1
While the ramp is biased toward the first position of the ramp, the weight of an animal moving across the ramp will cause the ramp to move from its first position to its second position
Data Source
AI summary
A humane repeating animal trap having multiple points of entry hiding the contents of the trap from view while permitting selective viewing of the contents without opening the trap and indicators signaling not only the presence of animals within the trap, but also which of multiple points of entry were used by the animals to enter the trap.