Right-Angle Animal Trap With Spring-Loaded Striker
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing animal traps, such as poisoned traps and spring-loaded strike traps, are inefficient and cause suffering as they often fail to kill animals in the same location, with dead animals being absorbed into the food chain and requiring frequent servicing due to limited capacity and reliability issues.
Innovation Solution
A trap with two flanges arranged at right angles, featuring an inner passageway with a spring-loaded striker mechanism and trigger mechanisms to ensure reliable and quick killing, along with a bait box to lure animals, and optional infrared sensors and light sensors for enhanced reliability, allowing for efficient and humane animal capture without the need for batteries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If poisoned traps are used, then animals can be killed, but the killing process causes suffering and dead animals may be absorbed into the food chain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the chemical poisoning mechanism with a mechanical strike mechanism. The trap uses a spring-loaded striker that delivers a mechanical blow to the animal's nape when triggered, achieving instant killing without the prolonged suffering associated with poison absorption and without creating biohazardous dead animals that enter the food chain.
2Speed
If spring-loaded strike traps are used, then animals can be killed quickly, but the traps require frequent servicing since they can kill only one animal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the trap into multiple functional segments: a reusable trap body with spring mechanism and a separate, replaceable bait station. The bait station can be easily removed and replaced to reset the trap for another animal, while the main trapping mechanism remains functional and reusable, thereby increasing overall productivity without sacrificing killing speed.
3Adaptability or versatility
If spring-loaded strike traps are configured with multiple access sides, then animals can access the trigger from several sides, but this causes the trap to fail since animals are not always hit by the striker
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetric design elements including a one-way door mechanism and a striker positioned to deliver blows from a specific direction. The one-way door allows animals to enter from multiple sides while ensuring they are oriented correctly for the striker to hit them on the nape, combining accessibility with reliable killing by using asymmetric geometry to control animal orientation.
4Reliability
If the trap is designed with a one-way door mechanism, then animals cannot escape, but this may cause erroneous firings if not properly designed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality differentiation by making the one-way door mechanism specifically positioned and shaped to interact with the trigger only when an animal's body blocks the light sensor. The door's geometry and position are locally optimized to ensure it prevents escape while the trigger mechanism remains selective, activating only when the specific local condition of animal presence (blocking light) occurs, thereby preventing erroneous firings.
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 trap provides a high degree of reliability and efficiency in killing animals quickly and humanely, minimizing suffering and the risk of erroneous firings, while also allowing for easy maintenance and communication of operational status through a built-in SIM card for monitoring and reporting.
Implementation Method 1
a killer mechanism that acts by a striker mechanism which, eg by being spring-loaded, strikes the animal's nape
Implementation Method 2
The trap may comprise two light sensors and two light emitters, wherein the light beams of the two light emitters hit the two light sensors
Implementation Method 3
optional infrared sensors and light sensors for enhanced reliability
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a trap for animals, in particular rats or mice, and for being arranged on a substantially horizontal face, where this meets a substantially vertical face. The trap comprises: a trap housing and a first flange and a second flange that are connected substantially at right angles to the effect that the trap can be arranged in two positions, where the substantially horizontal face meets the substantially vertical face. The flanges and the faces of the trap span, in both positions, a volume which is delimited such as to define a passage in which a rat or a mouse may move. The trap housing further comprises an inner passageway that a rat or a mouse may run into, said passageway extending from the one flange and into the trap housing. Inside the passageway there is a trigger mechanism and a killer mechanism.