Single-Handed Trap Linkage for Safe Ladder Setting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing animal traps require two hands to set, posing a safety risk for users when used in inconvenient or elevated locations due to the need to take both hands off the ladder.
Innovation Solution
A single-handed trap design featuring a rotating mechanism with linkages that allows the door to be opened and a trigger to be set with a single motion, using a rotating assembly and trigger mechanism that can be operated with one hand.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional two-handed trap setting mechanism is used, then the trap can be reliably set with both hands, but the user safety deteriorates when working at elevated locations
Solution Approach 1:
The trap setting operation is segmented into two independent actions: door opening (via rotating mechanism 48) and trigger setting (via separate trigger arm 84). This allows the user to complete the critical door opening with one hand while maintaining ladder grip with the other hand, eliminating the need for two-handed operation that causes fall risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating mechanism 48 provides dynamic movement to automatically open the door when activated, reducing the manual effort and time required for trap setting. This dynamic action allows quick one-handed operation while maintaining safety at elevated locations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a complex multi-component trap mechanism is used, then the trap functionality is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The complex trap mechanism is segmented into independent functional modules: rotating mechanism 48 for door control, trigger mechanism with trigger arm 84 for triggering, and linkage arms 50, 52, 54, 56 for coordinated movement. This modular segmentation allows simple one-handed operation of each module while maintaining complex overall functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
Linkage arms 50, 52, 54, 56 act as intermediaries that translate the simple rotational input from mechanism 48 into coordinated movement of multiple trap components. This intermediary system allows complex multi-component functionality to be controlled by a simple single-handed rotation action.
Data Source
AI summary
An animal trap for safely trapping animals that may be safely set with a single hand. The trap has a frame with an opening and a pair of doors that are pivotally affixed to the frame adjacent to the opening. The doors are movable between an open and closed position. A rotating assembly is connected to each door through a corresponding linkage that are pivotally connected to the rotating assembly and one of the doors. The rotating assembly is rotatably affixed to the frame and rotatable between a set position and a tripped position about an axis. A spring biases one of the doors toward its closed position and when the rotating assembly is in its set position. A trigger mechanism is pivotally affixed to the frame and has a set position and a tripped position, rotating the trigger mechanism will trip the trap.