HUMANE ANIMAL TRAP

PIEGE HUMANITAIRE POUR ANIMAUX

English Abstract

T I T L E


Humane Animal Trap

INVENTOR



Vital J. Thebeau

ABSTRACT OF DISCLOSURE

An animal trap having an upstanding frame
member mounted on a base, a metal anvil bar connected at one
end to the frame and extending outwardly from the frame general-
ly parallel to the base, a metal striker bar positioned above
and generally parallel to the anvil bar, said bars being
connected at their outer ends to a spring adapted to urge the

striker bar forcibly towards the anvil bar, a trigger pan mounted
below the two bars and connected to a trigger arm extending
upwardly along the frame, a latch arm swivelly mounted on the
upper portion of the frame and containing a notch or recess such
that when the striker arm is moved upwards against the force of
the spring away from the anvil bar, the arm fits into the notch,
said latch having an extended arm contacting the upper end of
said trigger bar such that when the trigger bar is in its upper
position the latch arm is prevented from swinging holding the



striker bar in the set position and when the trigger bar
moves to a downward position on depression of the pan, the
latch arm is free to swing allowing the striker bar to move
towards the anvil bar, and clamping means for forcibly holding
the striker bar down towards the anvil bar to provide a
secondary killing action.

Claims

CLAIMS;
1. A humane animal trap comprising:
a) a base,
b) an upstanding frame member mounted on the base,
c) a metal anvil bar connected at one end to the frame
and extending outwardly generally parallel to the base,
d) a metal striker bar positioned above and generally parallel
to the anvil bar,
e) a spring connected to the anvil bar and the striker
bar and adapted to urge the striker bar forcibly towards
the anvil bar,
f) a trigger pan mounted below the two bars and connected
to a trigger arm extending upwardly along the frame,
g) a latch arm swivelly mounted on the upper portion of the
frame and containing a notch or recess such that when
the striker arm is moved upwards against the force of
the spring away from the anvil bar to the set position,
the arm fits into the notch said latch arm having an
extended portion contacting the upper end of said trigger
bar such that when the trigger bar is in its upper
position the latch arm is prevented from swinging
holding the striker bar in the set position and when
the trigger bar moves to a downward position on depression
of the trigger pan, the latch arm is free to swing
allowing the striker bar to move towards the anvil, and
h) clamping means for forcibly holding the striker bar down
towards the anvil bar to provide a secondary killing
action.
2) A humane animal trap as in claim 1 wherein
the spring is a single coil of one or more turns and is of the
same material and continuous with the anvil and striker bars.



3. A humane animal trap as in claim 1 or claim
2 wherein the clamping means is a ratchet mechanism fixed on
the striker bar and cooperating with notches formed in the
frame member.
4. A humane animal trap as in claim 1 or claim
2 wherein the clamping means is an auxiliary coil spring
connected to urged apart arms, one of said arms being
connected to the said spring and the other to a metal loop
encircling the anvil and striker bars such that when the
trap is set, the loop lies adjacent the spring and when
the trap is sprung, the loop slides along the two bars closing
on each other such as to hold the bars in a closed, clamping
position.
5. A humane animal trap as in claim 1 or claim
2 wherein the frame member is formed of two parallel metal
bars positioned in spaced relation such that the free end
of the striker bar extends therethrough and is able to
travel from the set position downward towards the anvil bar.

Description

'7~

Thi~ invention relates to animal traps and
more particularly to a humane animal trap that will operate
when the'animal is passing through the trap~
There have been many animal trap designs
put forward in the past for catching differen-t types of
animals in various ways. It has been considered that the
type which is designed to strike the neck or back of the animal
as distinguished from the jaw type for grasping and holding
a leg of the animal~ is more humane. A well known type of

trap in present use is the Conibear trap described in U.S.
Patent No. 3,010,245 issued November 28, 1961 to F.R. Conibear.
Other trap deslgns are described in the following United
States Patents:
462,343 to G.H. Wells dated Nov. 3, 1891
654,928 to T.H. Taylor dated July 31, 1900
968J990 to J.R. SchrUyber dated Aug. 30, 1910
lr003r303 to T.H. Taylor dated Sept. 12, 1911
1,455,131 to E.L. Ziola dated ~qay 15, 1923
1,538,201 to J.D. Monie dated May 19, 1925

2G 1,592,155 to G. Redford dated July 13, 1926
1,665,020 to W. Catlin dated ~pr. 3, 1928
1,802,272 to W.R. Rice dated Apri. 21, 1931
2,087,440 to H.J. ~erz dated July 20, 19 37
2,191,570 to R.C. Lewis dated Feb. 27, 1940
3,757,457 to A.M. Martin dated Sept. 11, 1973
3,936,973 to W. Larocque dated Feb. 10, 1976.
It is an object of -the pres~nt invention to
provide a humane animal trap that will strike an animal
passing through the trap on the back or the neck generally


killing it instantly~
It is another object of the invention to
provide an animal trap having a clampir~ means such as to hold
the animal in the trap should it only be stunned on the initial
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striking action.
. This and other objects of the invention
are achieved by an anlmal trap having an upstanding fra~e
member mounted on a hase, a metal anvil bar connec-ted at
one end to the frame and extending outwardly from the frame
generally parallel to the base, a metal striker bar positioned
above and generally parallel to the anvil bar, said bars
being connected at their outer ends to a spring adapted to
urge the striker bar forcibly towards the anvil bar, a
trigger pan mounted below the two bars and connected to a
trigger arm extending upwardly along the frame, a latch
arm swivelly mounted on the upper portion of the frame and
containing a notch or recess such that when the striker arm
is moved upwards against the force of the spring away from
the anvil bar, the arm fits into the notch, said latch
having an extended arm contacting the upper end of said
trigger bar such that when the trigger bar is in its upper
position the latch arm is prevented from swinging holding the
striker bar in the set position and when the trigger bar
moves to a downward position on depression of the pan, the
latch arm is free to swing allowing the striker bar to move
towards the anvil bar, and clamping means for forcibly holding
the striker bar down towards the anvil bar to provide a
secondary killing action.
In drawings which illustrate embodiments
of the invention,
Figure l is a perspective view of the trap,
Figure 2 is a cross-section of a variant
form of the trap,
Figure 3 is a a partial plan ~iew of the trap
of figure 2,
Figure 4 is a partial end view of the trap
of figure 2, and
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Figure 5 is a top view of the tr~gger
mechanism of the trap of figure 2.
Referring to figure l, the trap i5 I[lade
up of a suitable base 10 on which is mounted a frame made up
of two parallel positioned, L-shaped members lla and llb.
Fixed between these members by welding or other suitable
means is an anvil bar 12a which extends outwardly parallel
to the base and terminates in a single spring 13 formed by
one or more coiled turns. The other end of the spring 13
extends inwardly, parallel to and abo~e the anvil bar 12a
to form the striker bar 12b. This bar extends through frame
members lla and llb and terminates in a T-bar 14 convenient
for the user in setting the trap. The single spring has been
designed to urge the striker bax down towards the anvil bar
and stores sufficient energy to deliver a striking force
of somewhere between 200 and 350 inch-pounds of energy. The
spring is also designed to produce a clamping ~orce of about
20 pounds at a 1 inch opening posi-tion. A ratchet device
made up of blade 15 and handle 16, spring loaded moun-ted
on the striker bar 12b, is arxanged to catch into notches 17
cut into frame members lla and 11~. This device gives an
additional resistance to prying open of the trap by the
animal. Clamping and/or prying foxces are valuable features
in humane trap design since they provide a secondary killing
actian should the initial strike merely stun the animal.
The trap is set by ralsing striker bar 12b
against the force of the spring by means of T-bar 14 untll
it takes the position shown in dotted lines. The bar fits
into a notch or detent 18 formed in trigger bar 19 rotatably
mGunted in the fi~ed upper ends of frame members lla and llb.
3tl The trap is set off (triggered~ by an animal passing over

the anvil bar throuyh the trap and depressing a trigger pan 20
rotatably mounted in the frame and positioned just below the

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anvil bar. Connected to the pan is a trigger bar 21 passing
from the triyger pan through sleeves 21~ and 21b to -terminate
adjacent the end of spring latch 19. When th~ trap is set
the upper end o~ the trigger bar mechanis~ is in a position
to prevent the spring latch from swinging sideways. When
the trigger pan is depressed, the trigger bar moves downward
until the end is free of latch 19 allowing the latter to swing
to the side releasing the striker bar for down~lard striking
action. A safety locking action is provided by pin 22
connected to the end of the frame which when positioned in
opening 23 prevents inadvertant setting off of the trap.
Storage of the pin is provided by opening 24.
Figures 2, 3, and 4 show elevation, plan
and an end ~iew of a variant form of the trap. The frame
me~m.bers lla and llb are similar to figure 1 but at their
bottom extend out into a base structure 26. The anvil bar
12a, striker bar 12b with T-bar handle 14, and spring 13
~re similar to the figure 1 version but there is no ratchet
mechanism on the striker bar. In this version the prying
or cla~nping force is provided by an auxiliary spring 27 having
ext2nded arms 27a and 27b, the irst of which is connected
to a loop 28 encircling the spring and the second of which is
connected to a la,rger loop 29 encircling the striker and anvil
bars. Spring 27 is designed to urge loop 29 along the arms
and when the trap is sprung, the loop takes up a position as
shown in dotted lines to provide a clampiny force on the bars
and thus the animal. The trigger mechanism again, co,mprises
a triyger pan 20 which is connected to the spring through
arm 20a and loop 20b and to triyger bar 21 passing through
sleeves 2Ia and 2Ib and up throuyh an opening in spring latch
19~ The operation of the spring latch and triyger bar is readily

shown in figure 5.