Rodent Trap with Light-Guiding Deflection Barrier
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rodent control devices using snap traps face issues with non-target animals and children being unintentionally harmed, and rodents often avoiding or not being optimally hit due to design flaws such as large inlet openings and improperly placed striking bars, leading to inefficient killing and animal welfare concerns.
Innovation Solution
A tunnel-like housing device with strategically positioned deflection guides and a passage barrier, featuring translucent areas to guide rodents directly into the striking bar of the snap trap, while preventing non-target access and ensuring only one rodent is optimally hit per trigger, incorporating a flow barrier and deflection guides that make passage difficult for rodents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the inlet opening is made large to allow easy rodent entry, then rodent capture efficiency improves, but non-target animals and children can penetrate the housing and be unintentionally harmed
Solution Approach 1:
The inlet opening is segmented into two functional parts: an outer inlet opening for easy rodent access and an inner inlet opening that is smaller and positioned behind a deflection guide. This segmentation allows rodents to easily enter while preventing non-target animals and children from reaching the dangerous striking bar area.
Solution Approach 2:
A deflection guide is introduced as an intermediary element between the inlet opening and the snap trap trigger mechanism. This deflection guide forces rodents to follow a specific path that directs them toward the striking bar, while simultaneously blocking direct access to the trigger mechanism for non-target animals and children.
2Productivity
If the striking bar is positioned far out to increase trap coverage, then more rodents can be captured, but non-target animals and children can trigger the trap unintentionally
Solution Approach 1:
The trap trigger mechanism is segmented into two spatial zones: an outer zone with the deflection guide that is accessible to rodents, and an inner zone with the trigger mechanism that is protected. The deflection guide acts as a mediator that allows rodent interaction while preventing non-target access to the trigger.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the housing have different accessibility qualities: the inlet opening area is open and accessible to rodents, while the trigger mechanism area is protected and restricted. The deflection guide creates a transitional zone that maintains rodent access while blocking non-target access to the dangerous trigger area.
3Loss of time
If rodents run at high speed through the housing, then passage time is reduced, but they can overcome the first snap trap trigger unharmed and may not be optimally hit by the second snap trap
Solution Approach 1:
The deflection guide uses curved or angled surfaces to gradually redirect rodents along a controlled path. This curved guidance system slows rodents down and forces them to follow a specific trajectory that ensures they encounter the snap trap trigger at the optimal position, rather than rushing past it.
Solution Approach 2:
The deflection guide serves as an intermediary that mediates between the rodent's high-speed movement and the snap trap trigger. It systematically reduces rodent speed and directs them toward the trigger mechanism, ensuring reliable activation while maintaining the overall quick passage through the housing.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a partition wall is added to divide the housing tunnel into two halves, then non-target access is prevented, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall is segmented into discrete vertical slots rather than forming a continuous barrier. This segmentation provides structural protection while maintaining simplicity in construction and allowing light transmission, reducing the visual barrier effect that might deter rodents.
Solution Approach 2:
The partition wall has different properties in different areas: solid sections for structural support and protection, and translucent slots for light transmission and reduced visual obstruction. This local differentiation achieves protection functionality while maintaining simplicity and rodent-friendly characteristics.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus for controlling and eliminating rodents such as rats, comprising a tunnel-like housing (1) with a housing lower part (3) having a floor (2) and with a housing lid (4), which can be made to engage with the housing lower part (3) for the purposes of closing the housing (1), with, in each case, one sidewall-side entrance opening (8; 8a) on each end wall (5) of the housing lower part (3), with two snap traps (11) positioned back to back and at a distance from one another on the floor (2) of the housing lower part (3), with a passage barrier (10) positioned between the backs of the two snap traps (11) that divides the housing tunnel into two halves, and with, in each case, one redirection guide (14) positioned in the housing tunnel in the region of each entrance opening (8; 8a), wherein the passage barrier (10) and the two redirection guides (14) each have at least one light-transmissive region and are arranged with respect to one another in the housing tunnel in a position which provides a light path through the housing tunnel for a light beam entering into the housing tunnel through a first or a second of the two entrance openings (8, 8a), which light path passes through the at least one light-transmissive region of the redirection guide (14) assigned to the first (8) of the two entrance openings (8, 8a), through the at least one light-transmissive region of the passage barrier (10), and through the at least one light-transmissive region of the redirection guide (14) assigned to the second (8a) of the two entrance openings (8; 8a) and subsequently passes out of the housing tunnel from the second entrance opening (8a), and vice versa.