Liquid ant bait pack with tear-away tab

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017196214-A1
Application number	US-201614992823-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 11, 2016
Priority date	Jan 11, 2016
Publication date	Jul 13, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A liquid ant bait pack having a primary bait well and a plurality of feeding reservoirs for holding liquid bait is provided in which the walls of the feeding reservoirs as well as the primary bait well are sloped to facilitate ant access to the liquid bait held therein while reducing the risk of the ants falling into the bait and drowning. Ant access is further facilitated by dry platform areas positioned between the reservoirs. The inclusion of multiple feeding reservoirs, the bait well and the dry platform areas provides an increased area over which ants can simultaneously access the bait. The entrance to the bait pack is sealed during manufacture and then readily opened by the consumer using a tear-off tab that can removed without the need for any tools.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An ant bait pack comprising:
an upper half and a lower half sealingly joined to one another along abutting flanges on each half to form a sealed container for liquid ant bait; said lower half having a primary bait well and a plurality of feeding reservoirs formed therein in liquid communication with said primary bait well via a plurality of channels, a depth of the channels being less than a depth of the bait well and also less than a depth of the reservoirs, said bait well being at a rear end of said container, a bottom surface of said bait well being on a same plane with bottom surfaces of said reservoirs; and a tear-away tab at a front end of said container that is removable by hand to reveal an access opening into the otherwise sealed container.

2 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said bait well is generally rectangular with a closed rear wall, two side walls and an outflow front wall opposite said rear wall, said outflow front wall being sloped at an angle of between about 30° and about 60° to facilitate ant entry and exit from the bait well and the bait contained therein.

3 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 2 , wherein each of said reservoirs is generally rectangular and has a front wall and a rear wall joined by two side walls, said front wall and said rear wall being angled at about 70° from the bottom surface of the reservoirs to the top of the respective front or rear wall.

4 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 3 , wherein each of said reservoir side walls is angled at about 75°.

5 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 2 , wherein said channels have side walls angled at about 60°.

6 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said plurality of reservoirs includes a first pair of reservoirs adjacent the bait well and a second pair of reservoirs positioned between the first pair of reservoirs and the tab at the front end of said container, each of said reservoirs in said first pair being in liquid communication with said bait well via a respective upstream channel, each of said reservoirs in said first pair being in liquid communication with a respective one of said reservoirs in said second pair via a respective downstream channel, the bottom surface of the bait well being on the same plane as bottom surfaces of the first and second pairs of reservoirs.

7 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 6 , wherein each of said reservoirs in both pairs of reservoirs is generally rectangular and has a front wall and a rear wall joined by two side walls, said front wall and said rear wall being angled at about 70°, each of said reservoir side walls being angled at about 75°.

8 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 7 , wherein said upstream channels and said downstream channels each have side walls angled at about 60°.

9 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said reservoirs are separated from one another by dry platform areas having a generally flat surface that is above a level of liquid bait in said reservoirs.

10 . An ant bait pack comprising:
a sealed container having a bottom portion with a plurality of bait holding reservoirs formed therein, said bait reservoirs being in liquid communication with one another via a plurality of channels; a quantity of liquid ant bait held in each of said reservoirs; a plurality of dry platform areas between and separating the reservoirs, said dry platform areas having a generally flat surface that is above a level of the liquid bait held in said reservoirs so that ants can access the liquid bait while staying on the platform areas when the liquid bait level in the reservoirs is high enough; and a tear-away tab at a front end of said container that is removable by hand to reveal an access opening into the otherwise sealed container.

11 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 10 , wherein each of said reservoirs has walls sloped at an angle of between about 30° and about 75° to facilitate ant entry and exit from the reservoirs to consume the bait contained therein as the bait level is lowered while reducing a risk that the ants will fall into the reservoirs and drown.

12 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 11 , further comprising a bait well positioned at a rear end of the container opposite the front end, said plurality of reservoirs being positioned between the bait well and the tear-away tab, said bait well being in liquid communication with at least one of said reservoirs through an adjoining channel.

13 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 12 , wherein a bottom surface of said bait well is on a same plane with a bottom surface of said reservoirs.

14 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 13 , wherein said plurality of reservoirs includes a first pair of reservoirs adjacent the bait well and a second pair of reservoirs positioned between the first pair of reservoirs and the tab at the front end of said container, each of said reservoirs in said first pair being in liquid communication with said bait well via a respective upstream channel, each of said reservoirs in said first pair being in liquid communication with a respective one of said reservoirs in said second pair via a respective downstream channel, bottom surfaces of said first and second pairs of reservoirs being on the same plane with the bottom surface of said bait well, a depth of said channels being less than a depth of the bait well and also less than a depth of the reservoirs.

15 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 14 , wherein each of said reservoirs in both pairs of reservoirs are generally rectangular and have a front wall and a rear wall joined by two side walls, said front wall and said rear wall being angled at about 70°, each of said reservoir side walls being angled at about 75°.

16 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 15 , wherein said upstream channels and said downstream channels each have side walls angled at about 60°.

17 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 16 , wherein said bottom portion has a perimeter flange and said container includes an upper portion with a perimeter flange, said bottom and upper portions being sealingly joined to one another along said perimeter flanges during manufacture.

18 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 16 , wherein said bait well is generally rectangular and includes a closed rear wall, two side walls and an outflow front wall opposite said rear wall, said outflow front wall being sloped at an angle of between about 30° and about 60°.

19 . The ant bait pack as set forth in claim 10 , wherein said bait well is generally rectangular and includes a closed rear wall, two side walls and an outflow front wall opposite said rear wall, said outflow front wall being sloped at an angle of about 30°.

Assignees

• Woodstream Corp

Inventors

• Lubic Marko K

Classifications

• B65D1/095

  made of flexible material · CPC title

• B65D1/0238

  Integral frangible closures · CPC title

• A01M1/2011 Primary

  for crawling insects · CPC title

• B65D75/5811

  and defining, after tearing, a small dispensing spout, a small orifice or the like · CPC title

• B65D75/324

  the compartments being interconnected, e.g. by small channels · CPC title