Cage traps

An animal trap comprising a base, side walls, a roof, a rear wall, a front end provided with an animal access opening, a door mechanism for the front end of the trap, a trip pan inside of the trap to be actuated by an animal going for bait strategically located within the trap and a linkage between the trip pan and the door mechanism for closing the door mechanism and trapping the animal within the trap responsive to actuation of the trip pan, the door mechanism comprising a substantially impermeable main body panel having a top edge pivotally attached internally to the roof of the trap at a location spaced inwardly from said front end, a reactor element including upper, intermediate and lower portions, the lower portions of the reactor element being pivotally attached to a lower edge of the main body panel and a spring element connected between the main body panel and the intermediate portions of the reactor element urging the main body panel and reactor element apart, the door mechanism having an open position with the reactor element and main body panel squeezed together against the force of the spring element and being located substantially flat against the roof internally of the trap with the reactor element situated between the main body panel and the roof, said linkage including a trigger member for engaging the door mechanism and holding same in the open position, said trigger member being movable to release the door mechanism by actuation of the trip pan by an animal entering the trap allowing the main body panel to drop by gravity to a closed position of the door mechanism accompanied by separation of the main body panel and reactor element effected by said spring element with said upper portions of the reactor plate moving forwardly along the roof of the trap and wherein the main body panel in the closed position extends downwardly to the base of the trap and the reactor element extends across the front end of the trap, a stop for limiting movement of the upper portions of the element away from the main body panel in the closed position of the door mechanism, the door mechanism being movable manually from the closed position to the open position by lifting up on the lower edge of the main body panel, wherein the spring element comprises a leaf spring having opposed arms, one of the arms being connected to the main body panel, the other of the arms being connected to the intermediate portions of the reactor element, and the arms having a junction formed as a finger loop to facilitate lifting the door mechanism from the closed position to the open position.

An animal trap comprising a base, side walls, a roof, a rear wall, a front end provided with an animal access opening, a door mechanism including a main body panel for the front end of the trap, a trip pan inside of the trap to be actuated by an animal going for bait strategically located within the trap and a linkage between the trip pan and the door mechanism for closing the door mechanism and trapping the animal within the trap responsive to actuation of the trip pan, said linkage including a trigger member for engaging the door mechanism and holding same in the open position, said trigger member being movable to release the door mechanism by actuation of the trip pan by an animal entering the trap allowing the main body panel to drop by gravity to a closed position of the door mechanism, wherein the rear wall has a pivot connection with the base for folding the rear wall down onto the base, wherein the side walls each have upper and lower panels with a hinge connection between the upper and lower panels, the lower panel of each side wall being pivotally connected to the base and the upper panel of each side wall being pivotally connected to the roof for folding the side walls inwardly about said hinge connections thereby to collapse the roof and door mechanism when in the open position downwardly onto the base, the trap further including releasable attachments for holding the side walls and rear wall in elevated positions when the trap is in use, and wherein said attachments include at least one U-shaped rod having a cross-bar pivotally connected across one of the roof and base of the trap, the rod having side arms located adjacent to the side walls of the trap, the rod being swingable between a first position to be used when the trap is collapsed wherein the side arms extend along said one of the roof and base and a second position to be used when the trap is elevated for use wherein the side arms extend vertically along the side walls of the trap, and wherein one panel of each side wall includes a clip for receiving a respective one of said side arms in the second position of each U-shaped rod for holding the side walls in the elevated position,

• the door mechanism comprising a main body panel having a top edge pivotally attached internally to the roof of the trap at a location spaced inwardly from said front end, a reactor element including upper, intermediate and lower portions, the lower portions of the reactor element being pivotally attached to a lower edge of the main body panel, and a spring element connected between the main body panel and the intermediate portions of the reactor element urging the main body panel and reactor element apart, the door mechanism having an open position with the reactor element and main body panel squeezed together against the force of the spring element and being located substantially flat against the roof internally of the trap with the reactor element situated between the main body panel and the roof, wherein, when the main body panel drops to a closed position of the door mechanism, the main body panel and the reactor element are separated by said spring element with the upper portions of the reactor element moving forwardly along the roof of the trap, and wherein one of the U-shaped rods includes a cross-bar pivotally connected across the roof, portions of said cross-bar defining a downwardly depending stop arresting the upper portions of the reactor element in the closed position of the door mechanism.