Electrical support structure and method and apparatus for preventing crawling insects or other crawling pests from entering electrical devices mounted on support structures above ground

A support structure for mounting an electrical device and for preventing undesired pests capable of climbing a gap of a predetermined size from reaching the electrical device without the need for chemical repellants, said structure comprising;

• a support vehicle having a top edge and a bottom end, said top edge supportedly connected to said electrical device;
• a sleeve having an inside surface for receiving said support vehicle in relative close fit tolerance and having an outer surface, said sleeve having a ground side end and an upper end, and said sleeve being disposed above ground on said support vehicle;
• a projecting member secured to the ground side end of said sleeve and extending outwardly from said outer surface of said sleeve, said projecting member having an underside surface and an edge surface, and a topside surface, said underside surface, said edge surface, said topside surface, and said outer surface forming a first pathway for movement therealong by the crawling pest leading from beneath said projecting member to the upper end of said sleeve;
• and
• an obstacle member secured to the upper end of said sleeve and circumscribing the upper end of said sleeve for blocking movement of a pest along said first pathway, said obstacle member having an inside surface ending in an edge separated from said topside surface by a distance greater than said predetermined size, said inside surface providing a second pathway leading in a direction away from said upper end of said sleeve and away from said first pathway.

A pest preventer, for location on an electrical facilitating structure, which prevents a crawling pest capable of climbing a gap of a predetermined size from reaching a protectable area via the structure without the need for chemical repellents, said preventer consisting essentially of:

• a first surface bearing member for location on said structure for positioning a first surface with respect to ground for defining a first pathway for movement therealong by the crawling pest which a crawling pest must take in order to reach the protectable area from ground, said first surface disposed leading away from ground and toward the protectable area, said first surface bearing member having an end edge;
• obstacle means secured along the entire extent of said end edge and including a second surface bearing member having a second surface depending towards the ground and having a bottom edge being spaced away from said first surface by a distance greater than said predetermined size, so as to prevent the pest from climbing onto the bottom edge of said second surface bearing member, said second surface confronting said first surface and being spaced apart from said first surface by a distance greater than said predetermined size at least for a portion of its extent,
• said obstacle means physically blocking pests from passing from said first pathway across said edge onto the structure,
• said second surface defining a second pathway being disposed in a direction leading away from said first pathway toward ground, said obstacle means cooperating with said first surface for generating a phototactic barrier along said first pathway by shadowing thereof.

A pest preventer, for location on a structure which is disposed between ground and a protectable area, and which prevents a crawling pest capable of climbing a gap of a predetermined size from reaching the protectable area via the structure without the need for chemical repellents, said preventer consisting essentially of:

• a first surface positioned with respect to ground for defining a first pathway for movement therealong by the crawling pest which a crawling pest must take in order to reach the protectable area from ground, said first surface disposed leading away from ground, from the structure, and toward the protectable area, and having an end edge;
• obstacle means secured along the entire extent of said end edge and including a second surface depending towards the ground and having a bottom edge being spaced away from said first surface by a distance greater than said predetermined size so as to prevent the pest from climbing onto the bottom edge of said second surface from said first surface,
• said second surface confronting said first surface and being spaced apart from said first surface by more than said predetermined size at least for a portion of its extent,
• said obstacle means physically blocking pests from passing from said first pathway across said edge onto the structure,
• said second surface defining a second pathway being disposed in a direction leading away from said first pathway toward ground to a point having an elevation different than the elevation of said end edge for discouraging continued movement by a pest along said second pathway toward ground when the pest is using -tactic response modes either individually, concurrently or serially,
• said obstacle means cooperating with said first surface for generating a phototactic barrier along said first pathway by shadowing thereof to discourage continued movement by the pest along said first pathway toward said protectable area when the pest is in a positive phototactic response mode or using ultraviolet light for navigational orientation,
• said obstacle means being disposed relative to said first surface for generating a geotactic barrier to disorient the pest's foraging for a source at a particular elevation,
• said first and second pathways being disposed relative to the direction of scent from the protectable area for discouraging the pest from movement along said first pathway toward said protectable area.