Selective bait delivery apparatus and method for animal control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12336527-B2
Application number	US-202418609578-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 19, 2024
Priority date	Mar 21, 2023
Publication date	Jun 24, 2025
Grant date	Jun 24, 2025

Abstract

A bait station system includes an enclosure formed in part by an upper housing. The bait station system also includes a ramp that forms a bottom wall of the enclosure. The ramp moves from an initial position to an active position in response to a weight that exceeds a target animal weight threshold applied to the ramp. The bait station system also includes a bait hopper that holds bait. The bait station system further includes a bait access chamber that receives the bait from the bait hopper and that is only accessible from within the enclosure while the ramp is in the active position due to the weight applied to the ramp.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bait station system comprising:
an enclosure formed in part by an upper housing;
a ramp that forms a bottom wall of the enclosure, wherein the ramp moves from an initial position to an active position in response to a weight that exceeds a target animal weight threshold applied to the ramp;
a bait hopper that holds bait; and
a bait access chamber that receives the bait from the bait hopper and that is only accessible from within the enclosure while the ramp is in the active position due to the weight applied to the ramp.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an opening that extends laterally through the ramp, wherein the opening is sized to receive a rod that acts as a fulcrum for the ramp.

3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising a lower housing that mounts to the upper housing, wherein the lower housing includes openings that receive ends of the rod that acts as the fulcrum for the ramp.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a ramp weight mounted to a bottom surface of the ramp.

5. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a pin that secures the ramp weight to the bottom surface of the ramp.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising a slot formed in a bottom surface of the ramp, wherein the slot is sized to slidably receive the pin such that the pin and the ramp weight can be moved along the slot to adjust a position of the ramp weight to control a tipping weight for the ramp.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising one or more visual indicators along the slot, and wherein the position of the ramp weight corresponds to a target animal identified by one of the one or more visual indicators.

8. The system of claim 5 , wherein the pin includes a set screw that locks the pin and the weight at a desired position.

9. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a lower housing that mounts to the upper housing, and further comprising one or more access openings in a bottom wall of the lower housing, wherein the one or more access openings provide access to the ramp weight such that the weight can be repositioned along the bottom surface of the ramp.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an animal opening in the upper housing that allows a target animal to enter the enclosure, wherein a size of the animal opening is based on a size of the target animal to prevent larger animals from entering the enclosure.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a first wall mounted to a distal end of the ramp, wherein the first wall includes an opening.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the opening in the first wall is adjacent to a wall of the bait access chamber when the ramp is in the initial position, and wherein the opening in the first wall is adjacent to an opening in the bait access chamber when the ramp is in the active position.

13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a second wall at the distal end of the enclosure, wherein the second wall is adjacent to the bait hopper, and wherein the second wall includes one or more openings to allow scent from the bait to enter the enclosure.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bait hopper includes a tapered bottom wall that causes bait to travel from the bait hopper into the bait access chamber.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein movement of the ramp from the initial position to the active position causes the bait hopper to release a single dose of bait into the bait access chamber.

16. A method of forming a bait station, the method comprising:
forming a portion of an enclosure by an upper housing that is attached to a lower housing;
mounting a ramp to one or both of the lower housing and the upper housing such that the ramp forms a bottom wall of the enclosure, wherein the ramp is movable from an initial position to an active position in response to a weight that exceeds a target animal weight threshold applied to the ramp;
mounting a bait hopper that holds bait adjacent to the ramp; and
forming a bait access chamber that receives the bait from the bait hopper, wherein the bait access chamber is only accessible from within the enclosure while the ramp is in the active position due the weight applied to the ramp.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising mounting a ramp weight to a bottom surface of the ramp such that a position of the ramp weight controls a tipping weight of the ramp.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising forming a slot in the bottom surface of the ramp, wherein the slot is sized to slidably receive a pin that holds the ramp weight such that the pin and the ramp weight can be moved along the slot to adjust the position of the ramp weight to control the tipping weight for the ramp.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein mounting the ramp includes forming a lateral opening through the ramp and mounting a rod through the lateral opening such that the rod acts as a fulcrum for the ramp.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising forming an animal opening in the upper housing that allows a target animal to enter the enclosure, wherein a size of the animal opening is based on a size of the target animal to prevent larger animals from entering the enclosure.

Assignees

• Us Agriculture
• Applied Design Corp

Inventors

• Shiels Aaron B
• Vogt Shane K

Classifications

• A01M25/004 Primary

  Bait stations, i.e. boxes completely enclosing the bait and provided with animal entrances · CPC title