GLUE TRAP TRAY WITH MULTIUSE HANDLE AND METHOD FOR EUTHANIZING A CRAWLING PEST
20240130353 ยท 2024-04-25
Inventors
Cpc classification
International classification
Abstract
A glue trap includes a tray and a multiuse handle that is integral to the tray, and is a unitary, one-piece construction with the tray. In an alternate embodiment, the trap includes an attached movable handle. Moreover, the handle can be used to strike the glue trap and a captured crawling pest against a hard surface in a method to humanely euthanize the pest before disposing of it.
Claims
1. A glue trap, comprising: a glue trap tray, an adhesive on a top surface of the glue trap tray; and a handle that is a unitary, one-piece construction with the glue trap tray.
2. The handle of claim 1, wherein the handle extends from a length side of the glue trap tray.
3. The handle of claim 2, wherein the handle extends perpendicularly from the length side of the glue trap tray.
4. The glue trap tray of claim 1, wherein the tray further includes a first and a second length side that are parallel to each other.
5. The handle of claim 1, wherein the handle includes a length that is at least as long as a width of the tray.
6. The handle of claim 1, wherein the handle is substantially level with the adhesive.
7. The glue trap tray of claim 1, further including a glue board trap.
8. The handle of claim 1, further including a hole.
9. The hole of claim 8, further including a slit extending perpendicularly from the hole towards an outside edge of the handle.
10. The glue trap of claim 1, wherein the handle is useable to humanely euthanize a captured rodent by gripping the handle to strike the glue trap tray against a hard surface.
11. A glue trap, comprising: a glue trap, including a glue trap tray, an adhesive on a top surface of the glue trap tray; and a handle that is movable from a first position to a second position.
12. The handle of claim 11 further being attached on a length side of the glue trap of claim 11.
13. The first position of claim 11, including a handle storage position.
14. The handle of claim 11, wherein the handle in the second position extends the handle away from the glue trap.
15. The second position of claim 14 being fixable.
16. The glue trap of claim 11, including a second handle that is attached on an opposite side to the first handle's location.
17. A board for a glue board trap, comprising: a board for a glue board trap; and a handle of a one-piece, unitary construction.
18. The board and handle of claim 17 being of an equal thickness.
19. The handle of claim 17, wherein the handle is opposite a length side of the glue board.
20. A method to euthanize a crawling pest caught on a glue trap, comprising the steps of: grasping a handle of a glue trap after a crawling pest has become attached to the glue trap; next, striking the crawling pest against a hard surface while grasping the handle of the glue trap; euthanizing the crawling pest by striking the pest against a hard surface while grasping the handle of the glue trap; and next, disposing of the trap and attached crawling pest when the pest has been euthanized.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0053] The following detailed description is directed to certain specific embodiments of the invention. However, the invention can be embodied in a multitude of diverse ways as defined and covered by the claims. In this description, reference is made to the drawings wherein like parts are designated with like numerals throughout. As used herein, the term glue trap includes both a glue trap and a glue board, unless specified otherwise.
[0054] The present invention solves the aforesaid problems by providing a glue trap that includes a glue trap tray and a multiuse handle that are a unitary, one-piece construction to support a method of humanely euthanizing a pest, as will be discussed below.
[0055] The multiuse handle is preferably at least as rigid as the glue trap tray rim from which it extends, but it may be more rigid or less rigid, and/or extend from a location other than the glue trap tray's rim (e.g., from an exterior wall, a structure attached to the wall and/or rim, etc.). The multiuse handle may be made more rigid by using different and/or additional material(s), or by reinforcing it with a structure projecting from the tray (e.g., a buttress from an exterior tray wall). A hole in the multiuse handle may be used to hang the glue trap on a display hook, and in use, as a location for a string to thread through and tie down the glue trap to prevent it from being dragged away by a rat.
[0056] The glue trap tray may include walls that are a unitary construction with the glue trap tray, and surround part, or all of the adhesive area, to create a pen area. When a wall partitions the adhesive area from the rim, the rim will be substantially level with the adhesive area (i.e., a low rim), so that in use, the rim's bottom surface will rest on whatever surface the trap is placed. Alternatively, the rim may be higher than the adhesive area. (i.e., a high rim).
[0057] In a preferred embodiment, the rim (low or high) is a unified, one-piece construction with a tray wall. When the tray includes a wall that ends in a rim, the multiuse handle is preferably formed as an extension of the rim. The handle is contemplated to be gripped by a user to accelerate a trap against a hard surface to euthanize a rat that has been captured on the adhesive area.
[0058] However, with or without a rim, the handle may connect and/or extend from a different part (e.g., a hinge structure), or parts (e.g., rim and wall), of the trap. A manufacturer can use additional material, different material, or a combination of materials and/or structures (e.g., a buttress), as well as different processes (e.g., forming, molding, etc.) to create the desired handle rigidity (e.g., more rigid than the rim, or tray).
[0059] In a preferred embodiment, the handle will extend away from the tray in an approximate perpendicular angle to create the maximum distance between a user's hand that is grasping the handle's end and the tray. Likewise, when the handle is moveable into a second position it preferably extends away from the tray in an approximate perpendicular angle. In an alternate kit embodiment, when a removably attachable handle is joined to the tray, the handle may join at an approximate perpendicular angle to the tray.
[0060] In an alternate embodiment, the multiuse handle may be less rigid than the rim when the handle is used as a tether to tie the trap to a location. For example, when the handle's hole is an elongated slit that is large enough, or can be stretched large enough, to thread the entire tray through to tie the handle around an object that a rat cannot move (e.g., a table leg).
[0061] Since rats often run along a room's baseboards, it is effective for a user to place a length side of a glue trap against a room's baseboard to maximize the distance the rat must travel when running over the trap's adhesive area. A rectangularly shaped glue trap may include a handle that extends from the center of the glue trap tray's first length side and is opposite to a second parallel length side. The second length side may be placed against a wall/baseboard to position the greatest amount of adhesive in a rat's path. Also, the handle being centered on a first length side will give the user the best chance of having a rat captured away from the handle when the rat is caught coming onto a width side of the trap.
[0062] In a preferred embodiment, the handle will include a length to accommodate an adult's grip. For example, a handbreadth's length of approximately four inches or greater. Alternatively, the handle may be at least as long as the width of the tray. However, the handle may be shorter or longer, depending on the manufacturer's shipping concerns (e.g., the longer the handle, the less traps that will fit inside of a shipping container when the handle is not moveable).
[0063] When the glue trap tray has a low rim and a handle of a one-piece unified construction, the handle will lay substantially flat on whatever surface the tray is placed. A benefit of a low rim handle is that the handle will act like an outrigger, or extended base, to prevent a rat from flipping the trap over, and/or dragging the trap away from its original placement when it tries to escape.
[0064] A hole in the tray's handle can be used to secure the glue trap to an object incapable of being moved by a rat. For example, a user can thread one end of a string through the hole and tie a knot around the handle and tie the other end of the string to a table leg.
[0065] Additionally, the hole in the handle can be used to display a trap (or a pair of traps) for sale, by hanging it on a display hook, when the glue trap's packaging allows the handle (s) to protrude from the top of a package. In this way, a manufacturer will save money on packaging by using the trap as part of the package. Indeed, when the glue trap is sold in pairs of two, they may be snapped together face-to-face, to align their handle holes. Labeling (e.g., instructions, bar codes, etc.) can be attached to the bottom of a pair of trays. This can be done either by having information directly printed, etched, etc. on the bottom surface of the trays, or by affixing labels with information to the bottom of the trays.
[0066] In alternate embodiment, the handle may be removably attachable to a glue trap tray as part of a kit. In this embodiment, the tray may have multiple locations to attach a handle, so that a user can attach the handle at the point farthest away from a trapped rat when it comes time to euthanize and dispose of it.
[0067] In yet another alternate embodiment, the trap's handle is not of a unitary construction with the tray, but instead is attached to the tray in such a way that the handle is moveable from a first (stored) position to a second (extended/in use) position. For example, the handle may be connected to the tray via a structure, such as a hinge or rivet, to allow the handle to fold around, or next to, the body of the tray, so that a glue trap can be conventionally packaged (i.e., no part of the glue trap protrudes from a package). When the trap is unpackaged, the handle may then be unfolded into an extended position that is preferably fixable.
[0068] The moveable handle may be made of wire, plastic, or other suitable material, or combination of them. In this alternate embodiment, the tray may include a plurality of handles. For example, the trap may have two handles joined to the tray's rim that fold underneath the rim in a first position to allow the trap to be conventionally packaged and may be manually fanned out into a second position to use to strike the trap against a hard surface to euthanize a captured rat. In a preferred embodiment, the movable handle will be fixable in a second position to allow a user to better control the trap and captured rat. However, the handle need not be fixable.
[0069] In yet another alternate embodiment, the invention includes a miniature glue trap (mini-glue trap), with an integral handle of a unified one-piece construction. The handle includes a hole with a perpendicular slit in it, to allow it to be opened and closed to attach the trap to the top surface of a snap bar rodent trap component (e.g., a pedal, a staple, etc.). In this way a second way is provided for a rat to release the catch that holds the snap bar in place (the first way is for a rat to depress the snap bar trap's bait pedal). A rat that attempts to pull its paw free of the mini-glue trap will jostle the catch free and release the snap bar killing the rat. Further, the mini-glue trap/board will delay the rat's escape when the snap bar is released, increasing the probability that the snap bar will instantly kill the rat. In this embodiment, the mini-glue trap becomes a euthanizing multiplier, the very opposite of prior art glue traps that are targeted as inhumane.
[0070] These and other features, aspects and embodiments of the invention will be described in more detail below.
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[0072] The multiuse handle 12 preferably extends from the center of a first length side 13 of the tray 11 in an approximate perpendicular angle 14. Alternatively, the multiuse handle 12 may protrude from another part of the glue trap tray 11 (e.g., a wall's 18 exterior). Further, the multiuse handle 12 may be opposite a second length side 15 of the tray 11 (e.g. when the trap 10 has a pair of parallel sides, such as a rectangle, trapezoid, or parallelogram shape), so that the second length side 15 may be placed against a wall's base/baseboard, in a suspected rat's path to maximize the distance a rat must travel across the trap's 10 surface.
[0073] The multiuse handle 12 includes a hole 16 configured to receive a hook to hang the glue trap 10 on a display. In addition to using the hole 16 to hang the trap 10, the hole 16 may be used to thread a string through, to tie the trap 10 to an object that a rat cannot move. For example, the user may tie a string from the hole 16 to a table leg (not shown).
[0074] The trap 10 includes an adhesive area 17 on the top surface of the tray 11 that is covered by a layer of adhesive, that may be surrounded by one or more walls 18 that end in a rim 19. The adhesive will have a strength (as measured by a tensile strength test, a shear strength test, or a peel strength test) sufficient to hold a struggling rat (e.g., a large brown rat or Indian bandicoot rat). In an alternate embodiments, the trap 10 may be sold without adhesive 17 (for a user to add their own), or with a weaker adhesive.
[0075] When the rim 19 is higher than the adhesive area 17, the tray 11 has a high rim 19, and when the rim 19 is substantially level with the adhesive area 17, the tray 11 has a low rim 19.
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[0099] The method next proceeds to block 40 where the user grasps the trap's 10 multiuse handle 12 after a crawling pest has been captured on the adhesive area 17 of the trap's 10 tray 11. The method next proceeds to block 41 where the user strikes the tray 11 (and crawling pest) against a hard surface (e.g., the inside of a garbage can) to euthanize (i.e., kill) the rat/pest.
[0100] The method then next proceeds to block 42 where the user determines if the crawling pest is euthanized (i.e., dead). If no at block 43 the rat is still alive, the method repeats block 41, until the answer is yes at block 44. Once the rat is euthanized, the method next proceeds to block 45 where the user disposes of the dead crawling pest and the trap 10 into a trash receptacle. Where the method then ends at block 46.
[0101] By providing a method
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[0103] The disclosed invention teaches a new glue trap, and alternate embodiments, that unlike prior art glue traps, may be used to humanely euthanize a trapped rat, or other crawling pest. Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
[0104] Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more, or different ones of the disclosed elements.
[0105] Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
[0106] The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted, and what incorporates the essential idea of the invention.