HUMANE ANIMAL TRAP

PIEGE POUR ATTRAPER LES ANIMAUX SANS LES FAIRE SOUFFRIR

English Abstract

TITLE
HUMANE ANIMAL TRAP
INVENTOR
Vital J. Thebeau
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A humane animal trap including a coil spring mounted on a frame
and having its ends adapted to be spread apart when the trap is set. One
end of the spring is held by a latch pivotally mounted for sideways
movement on the frame. This latch is shaped so that in order to hold
the spring, it must be held by one end of a trigger which is mounted for
vertical swinging movement on the frame. When the trigger is struck by
an animal, it swings upwardly thus disengaging the latch and causing the
one end of the spring to move downwardly towards the other end of the
spring.

Claims

CLAIMS:
1. A humane animal trap comprising anchor means, an upstanding
frame member secured to said anchor means, a coil spring having its ends
extending outwardly to form an anvil bar and a striker bar, a latch
pivoted on an upper portion of said frame adapted to engage said striker
bar when said bars are spread apart, and a trigger adapted to retain said
latch in engagement with said striker bar whereby pivotal movement of
said trigger causes said trigger to disengage said latch so as to free
the latch from said striker bar which then moves downwardly towards the
anvil bar.
2. An animal trap as claimed in claim 1 wherein said frame
comprises a pair of spaced apart members and said spring is mounted
therebetween.
3. An animal trap as claimed in claim 1 wherein said trigger is
pivotally mounted on a side of said frame so that upward movement of said
trigger causes its end to disengage said latch, thereby allowing said
latch to swing sideways.

Description

ll~B12~:~
This invention relates to animal traps and, more particularl~,
to a humane animal trap capable of striklng a killing blow to an animal
attempting to pass through the trapO
Traps are now being designed to strike a killing blow to the
neck or back of the animal rather than grasping the leg of the animal
thereby causing a slow death.
These prior devices suffer from various deficiencies including
malfunction in extremely cold weather due to freezing of the trigger
mechanism.
This invention is an improvement in the trap described and
claimed in my prior United States Patent No. 4,255,892.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide
a more reliable and weatherproof trigger mechanism.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a
mount to secure the trap to a tree branch so that the trap and the animal
caught therein will move to one side when the trap is activated so as not
to prevent other animals from reaching other traps on the runway.
A still Eurther objec~ of this invention is the provision of a
trap having a trigger adapted to swing upwardly when struck b~ the
animal.
~ ccordingly, the present invention provides a humane animal
trap comprising anchor means, an upstanding frame member secured to said
anchor means, a coil spring having-its ends extending outwardly to form
an anvil bar and a striker bar, a latch pivoted on an upper portion of
said frame adapted to engage said striker bar when said bars are spread
apart, and a trigger adapted to retain said striker bar in engagement
with said latch? whereby pivoted movement of said trigger causes`said
trigger to disengage said latch so as to free the latch from the striker
bar which then moves downwardly towards the anvil bar.
In the drawings, which illustrate an embodiment o the
invention,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trap in accordance with
this invention in the closed or sprung position; and
Figure 2 is a top plan view of the trap of figure 1.

~ 3 ~2Sl
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Referring now in detail to the drawings, a trap shown generally
at 10 in figure 1, includes a frame 12. The frame 12 is made up of two
parallel members 14a and 14b. the frame 12 may be formed of a single
strip of sheet metal bent back on itself at 16. Fixed between the mem-
bers 14a and 14b is a coil spring 18 having one of its ends 20 fixed
~hereto so as to form the anvil bar. The end 20 of the coil spring 18 is
bent back around a block 21 received between the frame members 14a and
14b, and welded to one of the frame members~ A bolt 27 extending through
the frame member 14a, 14b, and the block 21, holds the frame members
against the block 21. The other end 22 of the spring 18 forms the
striker bar. The striker bar 22 terminates in a loop 23 for the conven-
ience of the user in setting the trap 10. The loop 23 also increases the
mass of the striker bar 22 thereby increasing the stricking force of the
striker bar 22. The single spring 18 is capable of providing a striking
force of between 200 and 350 inch pounds and a clamping force of about 20
pounds when open approximately 1 inch.
The striker bar 22 may be held initially in the raised posi-
tion~, as shown in dotted lines, by a cotter pin 24 received Ln a hole 25
in the frame. In use, however, the striker bar 22 is held by a bent
portion 26 of the latch 28 mounted on the frame 12 as by a bolt 30
extending through the frame 12. The latch 28 is adapted to swing side-
ways. ~ trigger ~2 is pivotally mounted on the side of the frame 12 by
means of a pin 34 welded to the frame and a cotter pin 35 extending
through the end of the pin 34. When the trap is set, a Eree end of the
latch 28 is engaged by the end of the trigger 32 to prevent sideways
swinging movement.
In use, the trap 10 is secured to a tree limb shown at 40 by a
screw eye 42 whlch is pivotally fastened to the frame 12 as by a bolt or
cotter pin 44 extending therethrough and through the frame 12.
The cotter pin 24 is withdrawn prior to actual use of the trap
so that only the latch 28 and trigger 32 will hold the striker bar 22 in
the raised position.
~hen the trap is sprung by a squirrel, it can rotate away from
the limb so as not to interfere with the passage of other squirrels on
the limb 40 if a pl~rality of traps 10 have been set on the same m nway.