Insect resistant platform
OwnerRobert Gitzeninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A platform for preventing crawling insects such as ants from having access to pet feeders, garbage cans, food stuffs and the like. The platform includes a removable, horizontal cover section, aligned with and parallel to a base, supporting a central, enclosed reservoir and surrounding moat barrier. A series of concentric, staggered walls and baffles runs outside of and parallel to the moat. The walls and baffles reduce evaporation of the liquid in the moat barrier, reduce contamination of the liquid by debris, and reduce spilling of the liquid if the platform is moved or knocked.
Claims17
A moated insect barrier platform comprising:
- a holding surface having a substantially horizontal dimension;
- an overhang substantially perpendicular to and extending downward around the perimeter of said holding surface;
- alignment sleeves, positioned centrally to and extending downwards from the underside of the holding surface to slidably hold the holding surface in alignment to the inside perimeter of
- an inner wall of closed contour defining
- a reservoir for holding liquid, said reservoir being centrally attached to
- a base, with said base being substantially parallel to and separated from the holding surface by the vertical dimension of said inner wall;
- at least one aperture in the inner wall where the inner wall meets the base;
- an outer wall attached to said base, outwardly parallel to and of shorter vertical dimension than the inner wall defining
- a moat for receiving and holding liquid from the reservoir, said overhang defining a perimeter outwardly parallel to and overlapping the outer wall and separated a predetermined distance from the outer wall and from the base.
A method for preventing insects of a predetermined size from
- reaching a source of food disposed on the ground comprising:
- providing a base section including;
- providing a substantially horizontal base portion supporting a central reservoir for holding an insect impeding liquid, with one or more apertures in a wall of said reservoir for the transfer of said insect impeding liquid to a surrounding moat region attached to said base portion;
- providing a substantially vertical lower baffle surrounding said moat region and attached to the base portion, defining a basin for catching overflow of the liquid from the moat region;
- providing a cover section including;
- determining the size of objects to be held on said cover section;
- providing a substantially horizontal holding surface of sufficient horizontal dimension for supporting said objects;
- providing vertical alignment sleeves attached to the underside of said holding surface to slidably fit inside of the wall defining said reservoir, providing symmetrical alignment of the holding surface to the base section so that it provides an air circulation resistant covering of the reservoir;
- providing an upper baffle projecting downwards from the underside of the holding surface and projecting between the outer wall of the moat region and the lower baffle;
- providing an overhang surrounding the perimeter of the holding surface and projecting downwards and substantially overlapping the outside of the lower baffle;
- determining the size of crawling insects to be prevented from accessing the cover section;
- determining a reliable minimum gap between a first and second surface for preventing said crawling insects from crossing from said first to said second surface;
- said gap defining a sole insect traveling path between the base section and the cover section, said traveling path being impeded by the insect impeding liquid contained in the moat region and defining a labyrinth whereby air circulation to the moat region is reduced.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.