Remote-controlled cage trap door-opening mechanism

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9807998-B2
Application number	US-201414322261-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2014
Priority date	Sep 24, 2008
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

A remotely activated door-opening mechanism is provided for a cage trap having an animal enclosure, preferably a cage trap as disclosed in U.S. Publ. No. US2008/0115405. The mechanism is mounted outside the enclosure of the trap and is preferably remotely activated by an IR or RF transmitter to open a door of the trap and release a trapped animal when the operator is at a safe distance away. The mechanism may also be manually set with a time delay and may be associated with either a main entry door to the trap or with a secondary escape door located at an opposite end of the trap.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An animal trap comprising:
an animal enclosure having a roof, a closed rear end and a front end with an animal access opening into an interior sized to receive an animal to be trapped;
an entry door movably mounted at the access opening, the door operative in an opened position to reveal the animal access opening and in a closed position to block the animal access opening;
a set mechanism operative with said door and movable from a first position in which the door is in the closed position, to a second position in which the door is in the opened position, said set mechanism being moved toward said door to reach said first position and being moved away from said door to reach said second position;
a trip mechanism for actuating the set mechanism to cause the set mechanism to move from the second position to the first position, allowing the door to close and trap the animal in the animal enclosure;
a remote control unit capable of communicating with said trap at a distance away from said trap by transmitting wireless signals;
a receiver associated with the trap and configured to receive said wireless signals from said remote control unit; and
a door-opening mechanism mounted to said trap and remotely activated when said receiver receives one of said wireless signals from the remote control unit to move the set mechanism from the first position to the second position to remotely open the door and release the animal.

2. The animal trap of claim 1 , wherein said door opening mechanism includes a spring-loaded retractable mechanism coupled at a free end to the set mechanism and secured at an opposite end within a housing mounted on the trap, extension of the free end away from the housing creating an energy store in said retractable mechanism, said energy store being used to retract the free end toward said housing when the door-opening mechanism is activated upon receipt of the one of said wireless signals.

3. An animal trap comprising:
an animal enclosure having a roof and a front end with an animal access opening into an interior sized to receive an animal to be trapped;
an entry door movably mounted at the access opening, the door operative in an opened position to reveal the animal access opening and in a closed position to block the animal access opening;
an actuating mechanism operative with said door and including a set lever movable from a first position in which the door is in the closed position, to a second position in which the door is in the opened position;
a trip mechanism for actuating the set lever to cause the set lever to move from the second position to the first position, closing the door to trap the animal in the animal enclosure;
a remote control unit capable of communicating with said trap at a distance away from said trap by transmitting wireless signals;
a receiver associated with the trap and configured to receive said wireless signals from said remote control unit; and
a door-opening mechanism mounted to said trap and remotely activated when said receiver receives one of said wireless signals from the remote control unit, said door-opening mechanism having energy stored therein that is released upon remote activation to move the set lever from the first position to the second position to remotely open the door and release the animal.

4. The animal trap of claim 3 , wherein said actuating mechanism includes:
an actuating cable secured at a first end to said door and at a second end thereof to said set lever; and
a set lever bracket mounted on the roof transverse to a longitudinal direction of the animal enclosure, said set lever being supported on said bracket so as to be movable in said longitudinal direction from one side of said bracket to an other side of said bracket.

5. The animal trap of claim 4 , wherein said door opening mechanism includes a spring-loaded retractable mechanism coupled at a free end to the set lever and secured at an opposite end within a housing mounted on the trap, said spring-loaded retractable mechanism retracting the free end toward said housing to pull said set lever from the first position to the second position to open the door in response to receipt of one of said wireless signals by said receiver.

6. The animal trap of claim 5 , wherein said receiver is an infrared receiver configured to receive infrared signals from an infrared transmitter at said remote control unit.

7. The animal trap of claim 5 , wherein said receiver is an RF receiver configured to receive RF signals from an RF transmitter at said remote control unit.

8. The animal trap of claim 5 , wherein said retractable mechanism includes a rotatable spool with a torsion spring having a tension, a toothed sprocket and a cable, and said housing includes a latch pawl against which said toothed sprocket is ratcheted when said cable is extended against the tension of the torsion spring.

9. The animal trap of claim 8 , wherein said receiver includes a solenoid operative to release said latch pawl from the sprocket when actuated by one of said wireless signals received by the receiver, release of the latch pawl allowing the spool to spin by the energy stored in the torsion spring to retract the cable.

10. The animal trap of claim 8 , wherein said door-opening mechanism is battery powered.

11. The animal trap of claim 3 , wherein said door opening mechanism is removably mounted to said trap.

12. A trap with a remotely controlled door-opening mechanism comprising:
an animal trap having a trap body defining an enclosure with a front end and a rear end, an entry door at said front end, a set mechanism movable toward the rear end of the trap body for placing said trap in a set condition in which said entry door is open, and a trip mechanism for releasing said set mechanism to allow said entry door to close with a trapped animal inside the enclosure;
a door-opening mechanism operative to open said door while a human operator remains out of arms reach of the trap, the door-opening mechanism including a remote controller configured to transmit a wireless signal;
a housing with a control unit associated with the trap body, said control unit including a receiver configured to receive said wireless signal;
a fastening element coupled to said housing by a retractable mechanism and operatively associated with said control unit, said fastening element being removably secured to the set mechanism and movable between a first position proximal said housing to a second position distal from said housing; and
an activating mechanism responsive to said control unit for initiating movement of said fastening element from said second position to said first position to move the set mechanism toward the rear end of the trap body which opens the door to release the trapped animal, said control unit activating said activating mechanism to initiate said movement of the fastening element and the set mechanism after said operator having said remote controller has moved a safe distance away so as to be remotely located from said trap and said trapped animal, said user activating said remote controller to transmit said wireless signal to the receiver and control unit at the trap.

13. The trap with a remotely controlled door-opening mechanism as set forth in claim 12 , wherein said housing is mounted at the rear end of the trap body and said fastening element is distal from said housing in said second position when the door is closed and, in response to said wireless signal received by said control unit from said remote controller held by said operator, said fastening element is moved to said first position proximal said housing by the retractabl

Assignees

• Woodstream Corp

Inventors

• Kamery Christopher
• Lubic Marko
• Rich Christopher T

Classifications

• A01M23/20

  with dropping doors or slides · CPC title

• A01M23/18

  with pivoted closure flaps · CPC title

• A01M23/16 Primary

  Box traps · CPC title

• A01M23/00

  Traps for animals · CPC title